With warmer weather and rain over the weekend, ice fishing season may be coming to an end. Temperatures reached above freezing and southeast Iowa received more than an inch of rain, which Fisheries Management Technician Vance Polton says has put ice conditions at Lake Darling in question.

Polton adds that this may mark the end of the season, “While there’s still some people out on the ice, the edges have definitely gotten in pretty poor shape. I don’t expect that to improve with the weather forecast. We’re getting real close to the end of ice fishing season and what we definitely don’t want is a repeat of what was happening last year towards the end with people falling through the ice.”

According to Polton there were five reports of people falling through the ice last season at Lake Darling. In the situation of falling through the ice, Park Ranger at Lake Darling Zach Haworth recommends to fight the initial state of panic and to stay calm. Once the initial shock subsides, start kicking your feet to propel you on top of the ice, then slowly crawl away from the opening.