By: L.A. Van Veghel
Ice anglers know that they must be aware of speeding snowmobilers who go from tavern to tavern and sometimes from tavern to tavern on a series of lakes and then unsafely speed on ice that is sometimes too thin for these heavy yet small vehicles. Some, but certainly not all, snowmobilers hit speeds to 70 mph on ice where there are open water limits of 40 mph. Snowmobilers have been known to run over ice anglers' tip-ups. I've even had an ice sailboat do that to me on Nagawicka Lake.
Drivers' licenses should be required for operating any powered vehicle that hits those unsafe on bumpy ice speeds where ice pedestrians are on the ice in droves. Drunk people are not supposed to drive cars or trucks. The same should be mandatory for ATV'ers and for snowmobilers. Members of safe-minded, quality snowmobile clubs are given bad vibes by these drunks.
Ice anglers who get drunk and have snowmobiles or ATV's can be equally obnoxious and unsafe, both for their lives and for the lives if other people. Doing doughnuts around their own tip-ups as I've witnessed on Little Green Lake both meant these people caught no pike, and it meant others around them couldn't catch fish due to these drunks' ice cacophony. These people were both unsafe and completely rude. Getting drunk does not mean these irresponsible people own the lakes. Yet, who wants to confront a violent drunk at the time of the obnoxious behavior? Anglers go fishing to get away from this kind of stuff.
Why do we have to put up with these adults who are irresponsible drunks? Let's start giving them "dui" tickets. Drunk driving is drunk driving. Recklessness is recklessness. Fools are fools. Abuse is abuse. Have a happy new year and watch out for ALL drunk drivers.
MILWAUKEE FISHING EXAMINER as printed on the WISN-TV website.
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