Happy Friday, after all conditions and factors considered the Fuel-n-Food 3 day contest is officially canceled.
I was out yesterday on my snowmobile, and saw enough bad spots to make this decision. The issue is not that there isn’t good ice. It’s Between 11” and 7.5” thick where there is ice. There is a perfect amount of snow on it too about 3” and no slush.
The issue is there are also many spots that have no ice at all or 4 foot of open water along cracks that some of them run as long as a mile.
Like from fish house to Sinclair Point. These areas show up as dark spots in the snow, and when I rode over them (with a snowmobile) they were completely open with no ice.
If riding a wheeler or side x side you wouldn’t ride over them you would be in!!
In my opinion you can not safely on a wheeled vehicle get from one side of the lake to the other.
Since 90% of ice fishermen use them to fish you can not safely hold a contest where you are expecting contestants to be all over the lake, and drive to the weigh station.
Also add in the fact the 3 day goes over 2 nights, (That’s what makes it so fun) and a lot of us start getting a little more wild…. Me included, its a recipe for disaster.
Trust me I want to have this contest as much if not more then anyone. A lot of planning and pre-purchasing of prizes and supplies goes into it before winter even starts let alone through out winter right up until now, to only have it cancelled, it’s a bummer.
I know people have been out all season and know their fishing spots and they are safe, but the lake is just not safe for the masses. Knowing the conditions and the mild weather this winter, I would not ever be able to live with myself if something terrible happened to anyone during it. It’s also not fair to the first responder’s that would be risking their own lives to save ours.
Thank you everyone for understanding. See you next year.
