Lake Winnipeg ice fisher calls for more support after hazardous winter
Posted April 12, 2025 1:42 pm.
A seasoned Manitoba ice fisher is asking for more support at Lake Winnipeg after a challenging winter of pulling stuck vehicles out of the ice.
Rick Gergatz, who moderates the Lake Winnipeg Report on Facebook, says this year they’ve seen a very fractured and active ice surface, along with an influx of fishers.
“What we were finding is, it was all hours of the day and night, and they were endangering themselves and the people going to help them. We couldn’t coordinate it anymore,” said Gergatz. “It was becoming a 24-hour-a-day situation, and we were just not equipped for that.”
Lake Winnipeg becomes a parking lot with 500 to 1,000 vehicles at busy times, and the sheer stress of that on the ice causes it to crack.
“We have a strong homegrown contingent that are hardcore,” said Gergatz. “They’re out there two to three times every weekend.”
It’s the ice ridges that cause the most issues. They’re hard to see from a distance but can swallow your tires before you even realize what’s happening. These more dangerous conditions are expected to persist—and worsen—according to a climate change researcher at the University of Manitoba.
“With things becoming more variable, and working with ice that may be less thick than it used to be, I would expect less predictable situations,” said Alex Crawford, assistant professor of Environment and Geography at the University of Manitoba.
Paired with the increase in fishers, Gergatz says it’s no longer possible for him to coordinate rescues for everyone.
He also mentioned the need for commercial involvement—such as having huts on the ice with the proper equipment.
Gergatz will continue to post important information for fishers on the Lake Winnipeg Report Facebook page.
