The Estevan Wildlife Federation is urging people to remove their ice fishing shacks from Rafferty Dam due to deteriorating ice conditions.
EWF member Garry Leslie told the Mercury that the ice on Rafferty never really had the opportunity to develop any thickness this winter. He started fishing on Rafferty in early January, and noted the ice was usually about 16 inches thick.
He believes the ice was about 36 to 40 inches thick in early February 2015.
“In the past month, the condition of the ice and the quality of the ice was definitely deteriorating, because when you would open a hole, instead of crisp ice chips coming up, it was more like slush and a snow cone, a softer type of ice that was coming out of the holes,” said Leslie.
The 16 inches of ice they had this winter was safe to drive on, but it wasn’t quality ice. It has been of lower quality for much of the winter because of the above-average temperatures. A lot of nights the temperature remained above the freezing mark.
“At this time of year, because the temperatures are warming up … and the sun is rising higher in the sky, the ice downgrades,” said Leslie.
The ice is still safe to drive on, he said, but that won’t be the case for much longer. If there are a few more days in which the temperatures are well above freezing, there will be a rapid deterioration.
Some shacks are still on the ice, but others are being removed. Leslie can tell that some of the shacks haven’t been used consistently this winter.
Leslie was previously out on Rafferty a couple of weeks ago to remove his shack from the ice.
There wasn’t any snow on the ice at that time, and there were surface puddles.
Anglers are legally required to remove their ice fishing shacks by March 15.
“I think it would be extremely questionable whether you’d still be able to get out on the ice on the 15th of March,” said Leslie. “I would say you’re not going to be able to get out there if you waited another two weeks.”
Not only is there a safety risk of vehicles and shacks falling through the ice, but there are environmental concerns. If a vehicle or a structure falls into the ice, it would expose the fish and other species in the reservoir to pollutants such as gasoline, diesel, oil and antifreeze. All these are toxic to the environment.
“There are a lot of good reasons to take your shack off earlier rather than later this year,” said Leslie.
Estevan received a late blast of winter on Feb. 29, when temperatures were below normal for one of the few times in the month. Leslie said it wouldn’t add any depth to the ice, but it would freeze the surface. And while a shack might become frozen to the ice surface, it would have been a good day to remove the shack from the ice.
The Heretics Motorcycle Club is scheduled to have an ice fishing derby on the reservoir on March 5. As of the Mercury press time, the event was still going ahead as scheduled.
