Indiana Conservation Officers responded to a call for help on the White River on Jan. 24 and rescued five hunters after their boat froze into the White River near Haysville.

At 11:37 a.m., officers responded to the call for help just east of the Haysville bridge.

Not having an icebreaker boat, the officers sent the next best thing – an airboat – to rescue the stranded hunters. Under weather conditions of 12 degrees and snow, with the area of the river nearly frozen from bank to bank, officers deployed an airboat, reached the hunters, and brought them safely to shore.

Plenty of ice – but not all of it is good ice

Indiana has been slammed by an Arctic front of historical proportions, and multiple days of bitterly cold temperatures has brought fishable ice to pretty much the entire state.

Even though there is plenty of ice, ice fishermen and ice skaters need to be aware all ice is not safe ice. For safe fishing and skating, 4 inches is advised.

Even if there is 4 inches of good ice, the thickness may be compromised by many factors. One being, snow is a great insulator and may slow the progression of ice. Another is animal activity under the ice can reduce ice thickness. Beaver and muskrat runs can greatly reduce the thickness especially coming out of a lodge.

One of the greatest dangers for ponds and lakes is upwelling springs. Years ago, I was ice fishing a small pond I thought I knew very well. Ice was thick, running from 6 to 8 inches of clear ice under a couple of inches of snow.

The holes I had been fishing had slowed on the action and ready to find a new spot, I started across the ice looking for a new spot to spud a hole.

Carrying the heavy spud bar, I tapped the ice in front of me. It was a habit I had acquired from many years of ice fishing. Tapping with the spud bar just insured the ice was good. I didn’t think tapping with the spud bar was really necessary, as the small pond had adequate ice for fishing.

Walking and tapping my way to the far side of the little pond, I was suddenly shocked when the spud bar broke through what was only an 1½ inches of ice just a foot and a half in front of me.  I immediately froze, carefully lifted the spud bar and began to slowly back up, retracing my steps.

Once I was eight or 10 feet back from the thin ice, I could barely make out a slight darkness to the ice under the light covering of snow. I could make out an area about six feet by 10 feet where the ice looked to be unsafe. The unsafe area of ice was caused by a spring welling up warm water. Later the same year when the pond held only an inch or so of ice, I could plainly see an area where I encountered the thin ice and there was no ice at all! Warm spring water had almost been my undoing.

Another area of questionable ice is any river or stream. My advice is to stay off river and stream ice all together. Areas of current can minimize the amount of ice. Where the water runs fast, the ice will be thin. Again, an unknown spring on rivers or streams can quickly reduce safe ice thickness.

Firewood for home use at Tippecanoe River State Park 

The public is invited to cut up and remove certain downed trees at Tippecanoe River State Park for firewood.

Trees eligible for firewood have fallen because of natural causes or have been dropped by property staff for safety. They are along roadsides or in public areas such as campsites and picnic areas. Permit sales and cutting end March 20. The cost of one pickup-truck load is $10. A load is defined as an 8-foot standard pickup truck bed without any modifications including sideboards. Additional charges will be incurred for a larger truck and trailer load. All proceeds will be used for resource management and restoration efforts at the park, including replacement of trees in campgrounds and other public areas.

A firewood permit must be obtained for each load at Tippecanoe River State Park’s office between 8:30 a.m. and 4 p.m. ET, Monday through Friday.

Permits are not available on weekends and observed state holidays. Wood may be cut and removed between 8:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. ET daily. For more information, call 574-946-3213.

Firewood cut at Tippecanoe River State Park is for personal use only and cannot be sold.

Tippecanoe River State Park (on.IN.gov/tippecanoeriversp) is at 4200 N. U.S. Highway 35 Winamac, 46996.

‘till next time

Jack

Readers can contact Jack by writing to this publication or by email at jackspaulding1971@outlook.com. Jack’s two books, The Coon Hunter And The Kid and The Best of Spaulding Outdoors, are available in paperback or Kindle download at Amazon.com.