WINNIPEG — Winter is far from over but ice fishers are being booted from the Red River at Breezy Point so ice cutting can start.
The annual $1 million ice cutting and ice breaking program starts early February at Breezy Point, and fishers there have been given notices to pack up their ice shacks and leave in just over a week.
“That’s way too early,” said Andy Middlestat, “the ice isn’t even that thick.”
Middlestat says it’s been so mild this winter with little snow pack, he wonders if there’s a need to cut the ice, “Does it really need to be done this year? Every year is so different.”
But Darrell Kupchik, with the North Red Waterway Maintenance Corporation, says it’s a risk he’s not willing to take.
The ice cutting program started after a massive ice jam in 2011 caused widespread damage to homes at Breezy Point, wiping out the community.
The program has seven ice cutters that start cutting February 9, and the three Amphibex’s hit the ice February 17.
Fishers say if the ice cutting didn’t happen, they’d be able to stay on the ice into March.
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