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Rescued 1 day, fishing for Erie walleye the next
(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-02-09 08:54

Bratton said he wants to respect ice fishing culture while finding a way to recoup the county's financial losses and step up regulation.


A US Coast Guard craft, used in a rescue mission to rescue stranded ice fishermen on a slab of ice that broke free and floated away from the Ohio shoreline, is seen on Lake Erie at Oak Harbor, Ohio February 7, 2009. Some 150 fishermen were rescued from an ice floe in wind-whipped Lake Erie on Saturday after it broke loose from the shore due to warmer weather, officials said. [Agencies]

Bratton estimated the cost of the response at $20,000 but said the rescued anglers wouldn't have to cover it.

"We're not looking to send you a bill at this point," said Harold Stanton, the fire chief in Lucas County's Jerusalem Township. "We're not looking to arrest you."

One fisherman died Saturday of an apparent heart attack. He had fallen into the water while trying to find a route to land and collapsed after being pulled back to solid ice.