Be smart while fishing on thin ice? A NOT so friendly public service announcement.

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BE SMART WHILE FISHING ON THIN ICE

That has to be one of the most idiotic things I have ever heard! How is there a smart way to do something that is not only dangerous, but incredibly stupid?

January 1st is the official start to the ice fishing season in Maine.  Stepping foot outside today, it isn’t difficult to understand that conditions are NOT favorable for making thick, clean ice in more than half of the state, yet on one facebook group there are plenty of people posting pictures of their ice fishing adventures, and even a few people admitting that they have already gone through thin ice this winter.

Naturally, many members of the group are calling people who are fishing on thin ice names like stupid, idiots, and morons.

If you ask me, the smartest way of being around thin ice is to STAY OFF IT!!! I mean really…How many fish are you going to catch? Will those fish be worth potentially losing some gear? How about your life? What about the lives of the people who have to come out and rescue your soggy corpse?

I GET IT!  I DO!  I have wanted to go ice fishing since March!  But it is not safe now… We live in Maine people. It WILL get cold, and the ice will come. I assure you, the fish will still be there. Sure, some idiots will gamble, and win. They will post pictures about how much fun they are having, and they will post pictures of all the fish they caught. But some people win when they play Russian Roulette, or drink and drive, or tease mean dogs…So what?

The good folks at the Department Of Inland Fisheries And Wildlife shouldn’t have to tell you to stay off the ice. But they, as well as police, and fire fighters will be the ones risking their lives to come get you when you lose.

If you MUST go fishing on thin ice…May I suggest a life vest?  That way you might have a chance to remain afloat long enough to get out of the water, and it might even help stave off hypothermia for a few extra seconds…And if you don’t manage to survive your plunge into cold water, it will make it MUCH easier for wardens, and rescue divers to recover your body, so your family will have a corpse to grieve over.

Some idiot WILL go though the ice this year, and they will die. They may be on foot, on a snowmobile, or in a truck or car. I WILL blog about you, and I will tell everybody how stupid I thought you were. Save your family the humiliation…If you want fish so bad…BUY IT!

Doug Alley

About Doug Alley

I grew up in Bath, Maine in an upper lower class family with 3 step sisters, a step brother, and a little sister. After high school I spent 3 years serving in the USAF at Elmendorf AFB in Anchorage AK. I've competed in, and won, demolition derbies. I've competed in, and never won, stock car races. I am the 47-year-old father of an 11-year-old boy who is pretty sure he is smarter than I ever was. We live on a little less than an acre of land in a 1973 mobile home in Stetson with my wife Jen, some cats, a few chickens, and rabbits, and a couple of goats. I hunt, fish, camp out, dabble in photography, gardening, and I cook in variable degrees of near success.