Angler goes through the ice on Coon Lake in East Bethel!

[prov1900]

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I'm no cop but I have several friends who are. I am often amazed, and in disbelief when they tell me of their encounters with random stupidity while on duty. They have a tough enough job to do without people second guessing their every move.

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Well said Mac!! Things happen. Emergency responders aren't always right, but at least they are there to try. Soldiers make mistakes as well, but like cops/ems/firefighters, they are there for the rest of us. What do you say? Let's move on and talk about fishing.

[broman]

Everyones missing the big question.

"Did they catch anything and how was the bite?"

[fishinJohn]

Since no one was hurt this is a great learning experience for everyone who hears about it. I won't bash police because I am glad they are there. I do think situations like this could be practiced and discussed more thoroughly if becoming a police officer required a four year degree instead of two. A lot of people asked about age of cops after a 20 year old off-duty shot up his friend's pizza party and a longer program could help, at least a little. If you are dedicated to helping people four years would not be too much to ask.

[metrojoe]

My comments were about this one specific situation.

[prov1900]

I agree with you in a sense. Do you think that 20 yoa Wisconsin cop wouldn't have shot up that pizza party if he had a 4 year degree? If he wasn't a little older and more mature. Not a chance. It takes a little more than education and even maturity or lack thereof, to kill a bunch of innocents. I agree with you that maturity is key though. Some people mature at different times, I have seen 10 year olds more mature than 40 year olds, we all have.

This is getting kind of off topic to the original poster. In all fairness, I never really read the article or anything like that. I find it interesting though that people think that good decisions are based on education level. The smartest people I know are ones who barely graduated high school and nothing else. Like they say, there is book smart and there is street smart.

And metrojoe, I know what you are saying. I am in the field, so have come under scrutiny for split second decisions so I feel their pain. I also feel the pain of the fisherman. The cops were probably at fault here. It happens. I wasn't there as most of us on this HSOforum weren't either, but I can only imagine that they (both parties) were faced with a split second decision. This site is really good about not bashing emergency responders, but it seems like there are always a few more than ready to put all the heat on law enforcement when ever they can. Should they be ticketed? Maybe. Should they have to pay for this particular decision the rest of their lives...doubtful.

[Lip_Ripper Guy]

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I think they were safe until someone else made it not safe.

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That is, indeed, the bottom line.

If I am sitting on 8" of ice and someone drives a big rig diesel next to my fish house, causing the whole area to break apart and I fall in, it is their fault. I was safe until their lapse in judgement caused me to no longer be safe.

[Shack]

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I think they were safe until someone else made it not safe.

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That is, indeed, the bottom line.

If I am sitting on 8" of ice and someone drives a big rig diesel next to my fish house, causing the whole area to break apart and I fall in, it is their fault. I was safe until their lapse in judgement caused me to no longer be safe.

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You do bring up a very good point.

This spot is not the greatest fishing spot in the state, but it one of the first spots in the area to ice over enough to at least tip up for northerns. That is what I have done in past in this area, this time of year.

With the ice as thin as it is this time of year, my gear would consist only of a hand auger (with sharp blades), a tip up rigged and ready to go, possibly an ice scoop and then a depth weight. Head out and plunk a hole, drop your rig, place tip up and head back to shore or very shallow area to watch for flags. As you can see in the video the channel in not that wide and this is why this type of tip up fishing is easy to do in this area.

As for these guys being out in channel waiting by their holes, that is pretty risky in my book (speaking from experience in this spot). I guess it is all up to being out there and knowing your limits at that moment.

Again, like DTRO said "just be glad no one was killed or hurt". Also this is learning point for fisherman in the area and the Sheriff.

[upnorth]

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Should they be ticketed? Maybe. Should they have to pay for this particular decision the rest of their lives...doubtful.

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We really don't need to crucify them, but like anyone else, if the screw up they should be held accountable for their actions.

[Ranger sport]

If the sheriff has ever used a airboat on thin ice, he would know that the weight of the airboat would break through the ice and create waves under the ice that would break any ice that the waves hit. Lack of training? At least everyone is safe!!

[Shack]

I know this could be wrong, but I have searched all day on internet for a report and have found nothing to back this up. Someone prove me wrong if they can. I found in the past someone can search a fraise and find something in minutes, were I fail to find in hours. I thought I read in a local paper that Anoka County was one of the couple local counties that just bought a new latest and greatest hover craft. I know they where using it (again for possible one of the first times in action) during a Carlos Avery fire a month ago.

Again, just speculating for sake of conversation, but this might have been one of the first deployments of this new state of the art unit on frozen water.

I know locally in my area, this will be the first year of a local county owned hover craft (verses a private firm they subcontracted out to for these type of services). Again I could be wrong.

In this channel on Coon Lake, it gets narrow and there are a lot of shore structure and maybe docks out during winter. I firmly believe the operators of this hovercraft did not know till the last minute of fisherman being out on ice. I could see how they would blend into shore line structure. This would explain the responding back after a 911 call. If they knew (I do not have speakers on my computer at work, so all I could do is watch channel 9’s video clip and I have dial up at home) people where involved, they would have responded back right away.

[Blainebob]

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Everyones missing the big question.

"Did they catch anything and how was the bite?"

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Thats what I'm saying. Only glad to see that my fellow anglers got out OK. I've talked to Anoka Count Sheriffs before,and was told those airboats go 60 MPH!

[Macgyver55]

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If the sheriff has ever used a airboat on thin ice, he would know that the weight of the airboat would break through the ice and create waves under the ice that would break any ice that the waves hit.

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A good friend of mine has one (hovercraft) that I have worked on for him and I have driven several times. Like any vehicle it can react differently in different situations. One time, he was on open water and heading towards ice, he wasnt sure what would happen so he backed off the throttle (just at the wrong time) and the skirt came down right at the same time he contacted the ice, it caught tossing him from the drivers area. Luckily, the skirt was the only thing damaged. We have been cruising on thin ice and come to a stop and didnt break through, only to start accellerating and have the ice break up for a bit, then stay solid again all within a short distance.

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Air boats don't handle turns well and they don't stop on a dime either. You get pointed in the right direction and need to use a combination of throttle and rudder, craft will slide into turns Add ice breaking underneath you and turns become difficult, catching an edge in those conditions is a great concern. Its the type deal once you get going you need to keep going. Theres a big learning curve to operate them.

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From my somewhat limited time with them, his description is spot on with what my experience was. This means that if he was traveling at a good clip, by the time he saw them and tried to stop it may have already been too late to change the outcome. Or, it quite possibly could have made things worse due to a larger wake or catching the edge of the ice himself and causing an even bigger calamity. First responders do the best job they can. We cannot expect them to be all knowing in every situation.

Why not assume the best in the guy and realize that maybe his experience told him that in this situation maintaining his speed was the thing to do. Or, that maybe he really didn't see them until it was too late, or foolishly assumed that no one would be silly enough to go out on 2 inches of ice. Whatever the case, the majority of the public has never driven or ridden in a hovercraft so its pretty bold to sit back and say he shoulda, coulda, woulda without any real firsthand knowledge of the situation or the equipment in question.

[upnorth]

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Why not assume the best in the guy and realize that maybe his experience told him that in this situation maintaining his speed was the thing to do. Or, that maybe he really didn't see them until it was too late,

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Doesn't sound much different from your typical road accident. And someone is usually held accountable for their actions there. I have had a few accidents and believe me I never planned them out. Just situations that got out control. But I was still held accountable for my mistake.

[mnwild]

I actually know who this guy is, I was amazed when I saw it on ch 9 news. I will say this guy isnt an (Contact Us Please), he does know the difference between right and wrong when it comes to summer or winter fishing. He has been going out there for years this time of the year and never had a problem. Its just unfortunate that this happened, I am just happy that he made it to shore safe,

[Shack]

mnwild,

I will assume you know the fisherman? Or are you talking about the hovercraft operator?

[mnwild]

Yes the fisherman. He use to work with my brothers years ago.