On January 12, a Minnesota man died in Mille Lacs Lake after his truck broke through the ice and sunk. Other ice fishermen found the body of 80-year-old Richard "Dickie" Gadbois floating in the hole his truck had made, pulled him to shore, and called 911.
Gadbois was wearing a lifejacket but was unfortunately pronounced dead after being brought to an area hospital.
Mille Lacs Lake is in central Minnesota, two hours from Minneapolis. The lake is the second-largest inland lake in the state and offers phenomenal ice fishing opportunities. Ice fishermen flock to the lake each winter for the walleye and northern pike, setting up veritable villages of ice houses.
While the lake typically freezes thick by mid-December, Minnesota has had an extraordinarily wet and warm winter. According to the Mille Lacs Country sheriff, the ice was only about six inches thick where Gadbois's truck broke through. The recommended thickness to drive trucks on ice is 13 to 17 inches.
Gadbois was a well-known owner of the charter boat company Mille Lacs, in the Mille Lacs Lake community. His last Facebook post on the company's page has become flooded with comments from local community members paying their respects.
This winter has seen a slew of ice-fishing accidents in Minnesota, likely in part because of the warm winter. Four people in Minnesota have already died in ice fishing accidents in the 2023-2024 season, surpassing the three people who died throughout the entire 2022-2023 season.
On the same day that Gadbois died, a 16-year-old boy was treated for hypothermia after his snowmobile broke through the ice on Little Rock Lake, south of Mille Lacs Lake. The night before, two men were rescued after their UTV broke through the ice of Upper Red Lake in northern Minnesota. The local sheriff's office had restricted vehicle access to Upper Red Lake on December 30 and had just lifted the ban the day before the two men fell through.
Before going on any ice, check with local bait shops for conditions. Test the thickness with either an ice augur or a cordless drill with a long bit. Remember that ice thickness varies on lakes and ponds, so check the thickness in every area that you plan on being in. Ice should be at least 4 inches thick to walk, skate, or ice fish on.
READ MORE: How to Identify Solid, Fish-able Ice
