‘Reely’ cool hobby presented at Zelienople library
ZELIENOPLE — Ice refuses to be silent. A pop, crackle, break — all noises that might scare off anglers while ice fishing — belong to a white winter soundscape.
But hearing a crack doesn’t mean that you have to scurry to land, said Jess Rohrdanz, Northwest Region outreach and education coordinator for the state Fish and Boat Commission. In the bitter cold, ice contracts. Tree bark splits.
“If you spend a lot of time outdoors in the winter, you know it’s just noisy,” she said.
Rohrdanz was 3 years old when she started fishing with her father. Raised in Mercer County, Rohrdanz is no stranger to outdoor adventuring, its rewards and its mishaps.
Fishing can easily be a year-round sport, she said, as she shared her knowledge of ice fishing Saturday, Sept. 21 with community members at Zelienople Area Public Library.
With milder winter days ahead, Rohrdanz said she doesn’t count on ice fishing to be an option in Butler County this coming season.
But if residents feel inclined to try the sport, she recommends going farther north than Moraine State Park, to the Pymatuning Reservoir in Crawford County.
“I think it’s beautiful out in winter,” she said. “I love snow … it’s having that opportunity to connect with nature and be out there.
She said Pymatuning boasts resident bald eagles, which an angler might see flying overhead while ice fishing.
“There’s beauty in nature, even if it’s not lush and green,” she said.
Noting safety, Rohrdanz said it’s a good idea to bring a friend when ice fishing. The practice involves catching fish through a hole made in a frozen body of water.
Out on the ice, fishing can be a relaxing experience, but there also are a number of safety precautions to take, she said.
For one, anglers should use a tape measure or ice skimmer to check the thickness of the ice before determining whether fishing is safe. Rohrdanz said ice should be at least 7 inches thick to hold two people. For one person, a minimum of 4 inches should suffice, she said.
Signs of weak ice can point to danger ahead. Warm temperatures, sunlight, rain, slush, discoloration and moving water can all indicate unstable conditions for ice fishing.
So can logs and other material protruding from the ice. Rohrdanz advised to ice fish away from structures like docks because wood and other materials can absorb heat and warm up the ice.
She recalled one winter day working at Point State Park in Pittsburgh, when part of the river froze over. A visitor stepped out on the ice, only for it to break off and float away down the river.
By the time Rohrdanz called 911, the floating visitor was too far from the park for staff to pull him back to shore. River rescue crews responded to the scene.
“He assumed the ice was stable,” she said. “He didn’t know. It broke off, and he was on an iceberg going down the Allegheny harbor.”
Rohrdanz has fallen into frigid waters while ice fishing herself.
“An unpleasant experience,” she said.
Besides dressing for the weather — Rohrdanz recommends layering a long-sleeve fleece or silk sweater that you can zip over a wool sweater, wool socks and gloves, and waterproof boots — safety equipment is essential.
A float suit can double as a warm winter coat and pants, and unlike a life jacket, it keeps the entire body afloat in the water if the worst should happen.
A throw-bag rope can pull someone to safety and having an ice awl handy can be a life-saving tool because it enables a victim to crawl out of a hole by using the attached picks.
Despite the variety of gear needed, ice fishing doesn’t have to be expensive, Rohrdanz said. The outreach and education coordinator prefers “old-fashioned” augers to cut into the ice instead of powered ones.
To test the ice, she uses a digging tool from a farm, which works the same as any ice spud.
After the lecture, Dan Fritz and his son, Noah, of Zelienople, said they might try ice fishing this winter. The father-son duo fish regularly. It’s both a relaxing and challenging experience, Fritz said, and an activity that can be enjoyed year-round.
