DES MOINES, Iowa — The Iowa Department of Natural Resources is warning Iowans that the warm weather could lead to thinning ice and reduced ice fishing in the state, especially across southern Iowa.

“You’d think we’d have great ice because we got so cold for so long, but we didn’t have a snow cover to act as an insulation blanket,” said Mick Klemsrud, Spokesman for the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. “For whatever reason this has been one of these weird years, we’ve had a lot of our lakes, even up north, they didn’t completely freeze over so they had these pockets of open water.”

The lack of snow has played a role in ice melting faster.

“Between the cold weather and lack of snow cover, we should have excellent ice thickness and quality, but that’s not the case,” said Craig Cutts, chief of the Iowa Department of Natural Resources Law Enforcement Bureau.

At Badger Creek Recreation Area near Van Meter there were a handful of ice fishermen on the ice, with the bright sun creating warmth and causing some of the ice to turn to pools of water. But, the lake was still fit for fishing.

“Right now it’s probably about seven inches,” said Dave Van Varcom, of Urbandale. “It was about nine or 10 last week so we lost a couple inches with this warmer weather, but still plenty thick for me. I like to have at least four or five inches. Some of these people go out there with two inches, I think it’s pretty dangerous.”

Fishermen here worry not just about ice thickness, but also when the fish are biting.

“This rain is coming in tonight, so I thought this afternoon would be the day to go,” said Dan Verhassett, a fisherman from Johnston. “Maybe tomorrow morning would be better, I don’t know.”

“They say the fish bite best right before the ice comes in, and right before it goes out,” said Van Varcom. “We didn’t catch any today, but we sure had fun.”

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