When ice fishing, CO alarms are the catch of the day
Feb. 28, 2019
It can take less than 20 minutes for carbon monoxide to reach deadly levels in an ice house. Always bring a CO alarm and fresh batteries when you go ice fishing.
There aren’t many great things about the cold, snowy weather we’ve had so much of lately, but ice fishing is one of them. And if you’re an ice angler yourself, you probably take certain precautions out of habit: Make sure the ice is thick enough, dress warmly, tell someone where you plan to go, don’t fish too close to another ice angler.
Sadly, there’s another important precaution at least one person forgets almost every year: practicing carbon monoxide (CO) safety in the ice house. If you have a heating or cooking device for your ice house that burns fuel, it can emit deadly levels of CO if it malfunctions or it’s not properly ventilated.
And if you’re thinking you’ll just step outside or turn off the heater once you smell gas, think again: CO gas has no color, odor, or taste. You can breathe in deadly lungfuls of it and never know it. What’s more, CO can reach deadly levels in less than 20 minutes, as this video demonstrates.
That’s where CO alarms come in. You need one for your ice house. The battery-operated kind you have in your house will work fine, but don’t take one from your house to bring ice fishing; your ice house needs its own alarm. They’re reasonably priced at most home improvement and many department stores.
Although you should change the batteries in your home CO alarms twice a year, you’ll want to change the ones in your ice house CO alarms much more frequently. Cold weather drains batteries, so the fresh ones you installed last weekend may not work by this weekend. Always bring an extra set with you.
So while you’re checking the ice conditions, bundling up, and staking out your fishing area, take some time to think about CO safety. Is the heater you’ll be using rated for indoor use? Is it in good repair, and will it be properly ventilated? Do you have a CO alarm (portable or otherwise) and fresh batteries at the ready?
If your answer to all of those questions is “yes,” you’re ready for your winter adventure on the ice. Happy fishing!
