8 fishermen rescued

[Lee Borgersen]

...... 8 fishermen rescued from shifting ice on Green Bay.

Apr 7, 2013   |  

 
A U.S. Coast Guard airboat speeds away to pick up more stranded fishermen after a drop-off at Sand Bay Beach on Saturday.
 


 
The U.S. Coast Guard and Door County fire departments rescued eight ice fishermen from four different locations on the Green Bay side of the peninsula after fierce southeasterly winds opened up wide gaps in the ice Saturday afternoon.

At least two of the anglers didn't realize they needed to be rescued until they noticed a helicopter flying overhead and an airboat coming to retrieve them.

The winds of at least 20 mph and gusting to nearly 40 mph had shifted the ice, which was still thick enough to support all-terrain vehicles and even pickup trucks

Southern Door Fire Chief Randy Massart said ice-breaking operations since the start of the shipping season have made it possible for the ice to shift in high winds like Saturday's.

"Once the ice breaker goes through, it's not locked ice from here to Marinette anymore," Massart said as he watched the scene unfold from the water's edge along Snake Island Road in the town of Nasewaupee.

The Southern Door, Brussels-Union-Gardner and Sturgeon Bay fire departments were called to help Door County sheriff's deputies and the Guard locate the stranded fishermen after numerous reports were called in, BUG Fire Chief Curt Vandertie said.

BUG volunteers retrieved two men off Chaudoir's Dock. They had driven onto the ice from Sugar Creek County Park, and when they left they drove north and south looking for a place where the gap had not opened, leading to multiple reports from the shore, Vandertie said.

The Guard airboat picked up the two Milwaukee fishermen not far off Sand Bay, two more off Little Sturgeon Bay, and three near Sherwood Point.

None of the fishermen required medical attention, officials said.