A caller rattled our deadline reverie Tuesday afternoon with a report of a vehicle that appeared to be stuck, perhaps through the ice, on the lake in the area of Jarvis Bay.
That call sent us scurrying to see for ourselves and snap pictures. It appears a couple of people had driven onto the lake’s ice from the area of Petro Beach and become stuck in the snow. We didn’t struggle through snow drifts to see if it was more serious because they were digging snow and rocking the vehicle. Perhaps just stuck we concluded. (See our Facebook page for pictures.)
But it reminded us that the end of the ice fishing season is nearly upon us. March 31 will be here before we know it. And with it comes the time to remove the various and sundry huts that have mushroomed around the lake’s shores this winter.
The warmer weather of the last couple of days, and water caused by snow melting, heightens the need, in our mind, for anglers to act sooner than later.
Members of Sylvan Lake Management Committee have done an admirable job again this year in raising awareness of their annual campaign to have the lake’s surface cleared of debris before the crack and crunch of ice signals the end of safe travelling in the area.
This weekend’s weather report suggests daily temperatures as high as 8 and 9˚C. The same report says there will be continuous highs of above 0˚C right through the end of the month.
Therefore we’d urge and plead with sportsmen and women who enjoy our lake during the frigid months to continue to be the responsible people we know they are and undertake the process of removing what’s been brought onto the ice.
We remember last year when there were just a handful of shacks or other structures left at the end of the fishing season. Our hope this year is that everyone will have acted responsibly and collected their belongings before others have to struggle to remove them in the face of rapidly deteriorating ice conditions.
Please do your part to keep our lake and its environs pristine.