A friend of mine was ice fishing and saw two children maybe ages 4 to 5 on the ice with their farther and said he witnessed things that bothered him enough to tell me and asked if I would write about it this week. Taking kids ice fishing is awesome and even though Monica and I do not have children, common sense comes into play, and it should be done in a certain way. The saying, kids will be kids comes to mind and I get that, but my friend said the two little ones were throwing snowballs, chasing each other around yelling and running from one ice fishermen to another while their dad ice fished. Was the farther watching them like he should? He was not. Here is the thing that bothers me the most. Ice fishing holes average 6 inches, but there are some that can be 10 inches (largest allowed) and a child’s foot can easily step into one of these holes and either fall and get wet if there is slush on top of the ice or seriously hurt themselves. If this happened, how many people bring extra boots, socks, clothing, gloves or mittens with them? I would say very few. And taking a trip to a hospital is never a good thing.

These two little ones ran up to my friend and started talking to him for a few minutes before heading over to other people fishing. Did this bother him? Not really, but here’s the thing. Some people enjoy the solitude of ice fishing by sitting on a bucket staring in a hole and do not want to be bothered. I was told nobody got upset or was rude to the two kids, but there were a few comments made after they left. Maybe this dad is divorced and forgot this was his weekend with the kids and didn’t want to change his plans. Or he could be one of those parents that don’t watch their children and believes its ok to let them run all over. I’m sure everyone has been somewhere and witnessed this.

If you want to take kids ice fishing, maybe pick a warmer day, dress them for the weather and bring hot chocolate and some snacks. Maybe don’t fish yourself but teach them how to ice fish and keep the kids interested by choosing a lake/spot that is known for abundance of panfish, but above all be vigilant and know when it’s time to leave.