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Article Excerpt
Safety on thin ice
by Chad Elmore
The best fishing during hard-water season occurs when lake ice is most dangerous. A creative solution helps keep anglers safe on very cold days.
The Saturday morning when I visited a boat dealer near Madison, WI, it was 32 degrees warmer than it had been the day before. However, the welcomed heat wave -- it climbed to 10 F just before noon -- wasn't enough to reverse the effect cold weather had on area rivers and lakes.
The dealer, Inland Boat Works in Monona, started in the 1940s as a manufacturer of wooden power boats. It was making fiberglass boats when production ended in the early 1970s. Today, Inland sells new boats and accessories from the same location. Down the ramp from Inland's service shop, housed in a restored Quonset hut, the Yahara River still flows between Lake Monona and Lake Waubesa, but because it's January it does so under ice and snow.
Boat sales can be slow during Wisconsin's winter months. This year, Inland has something new advertised on area billboards. The dealer is attracting serious fisherman who aren't going to let several inches of ice lay between them and quality time on the lake.
Parked in the showroom among brightly colored boats is the Wilcraft amphibious ice fishing vessel. A combination of an ATV and a jon boat, the Wilcraft was designed for a specific purpose. But as often happens when brand-new machines are in the hands of end users, its creator and its dealers are discovering that its usefulness will not be limited to fishing trips on frozen lakes.
Necessity, mother of invention
Tom Roering, president of Wilcraft manufacturer Multifarious Inc., is an avid ice fisherman living near Minnesota's Twin Cities. In 1998, his permanent ice house was falling apart. He wanted to replace it with something that would be more mobile and help keep his young kids...
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More articles from OEM Off-Highway
Real-world ramifications.(Emissions), February 01, 2009
Efficient, effective, compact.(Education), February 01, 2009
Fire and ice.(Editor's Notebook), February 01, 2009
Beat the heat.(Feature), February 01, 2009
Team problem solving.(Fluid Power Series), February 01, 2009
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