Ice Road Truckers

When I first saw the Ice Road Truckers show on TV a couple years back, it was easy to relate to the danger and value they portrayed these people endured and had. I had spent a few winters on and off over the years working on Mille Lacs ice roads and had seen about everything that could happen when dealing with a lot of weight on ice that has to be always considered shakey at best.
Where would the oil industry be in some parts of the world without Ice Road Truckers? And where would several thousand anxious ice fishermen be every weekend at Mille Lacs, Lake of the Woods, Upper Red or Winnie, to name a few places, without Ice Road Truckers?
These guys (and a gal or two) have to risk their lives often each winter, sometimes several times a day or week. On big sheets of ice like Mille Lacs, major change of temperatures force the ice to expand or contract. A cold snap like the past couple weeks leaves gaping cracks surrounding the entire ice sheet. The Ice Road Truckers have to create safe ways to cross those cracks, even when they have a six ton fish house hooked to their truck. And then make sure it's also safe for every angler to drive in their tracks. Having experience to analyze the situation and create a safe plan is a must. Or tradegy could strike in a split second. In the process of setting a big steel bridge over the crack, the Ice Road Truckers have to work on the edge, literally. Ice isn't meant to bend. But it does several inches when you drive up to an open crack while setting a bridge in place. Bend it too far, especially if there is a hair-line crack a few feet away from the main one, and a big piece can break off. I did that this past week and got very lucky. That ain't good! Everything could be sinking fast into 30 plus feet of water. On our big, popular lakes like Mille Lacs and the others mentioned above, that scene goes on with every 20 to 40 degree temperature swing, long before any anglers are out casually roaming the ice looking for fish. Relatively, in a safe setting.
I thought this would be a good subject today, after reading internet postings how some, a loud minority, think that $10 is too much to pay for the use of access to the lakes via these Ice Road Truckers efforts. It's amazing the cheapsakes can pull a fish house that cost 5 to 15 thousand dollars with a 30-40 thousand dollar truck, and expect someone to risk their lives so they can catch a fish, for less than $10-$20. Especially when the other options are anything but good. My advice to the few that complain about ice travel costs? Buy a plow, a bridge, and....the experience it takes to use it all correctly, and then do the math!
The good thing is that a huge majority of ice anglers appreciate the efforts and risk these Ice Road Truckers put out, and pay the access fees without question. It's too bad though, that most of the time, the only ones they hear from are the ones that complain.
In the meantime, for some, walleye action on Mille Lacs has been very good. As usual, the reports are all over the board. Some getting skunked. Some getting a few. And some getting easy limits including big ones. And thankfully, to the Ice Road Truckers, they have been doing it all safely! contact Steve at 651-270-3383 or sf1954@embarqmail.com