Safety measures for ice fishermen following incidents in northeast South Dakota

RAPID CITY, S.D. (KOTA) – You can never be too careful when out on the ice.

After several cars fell through the ice at a popular ice fishing spot in northeast South Dakota over the weekend, it serves as a reminder of safety measures people can follow when fishing on a frozen lake or pond.

When ice fishing or going out on the ice in general, the team leader of the Rapid City Pennington County Water Rescue Team, Matt Curley, recommends it’s better to be accompanied by someone or multiple people instead of on your own.

In addition, it’s a good idea to wear life jackets in the case of an emergency. He also wants people to understand that no ice is safe ice, meaning there’s always a risk no matter the thickness of the ice.

“The minimum thickness for hard clear ice would be two inches. But again, like we said, we don’t recommend that anybody goes out on the ice just because we never know with the freezing and thawing, what the conditions of the ice actually are,” Curley said.

According to the South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks Facebook page, they recommend as well when on the ice, to always wear ice picks around your neck and have rope nearby.

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