For St. Thomas ice fishing enthusiasts, this winter’s corroding ice conditions have not put a damper on their favorite pastime.

Earlier this month, for the first time in decades, Hennepin County banned all cars, trucks and SUVs from driving on all local lakes until further notice. The ban was issued because of eight separate incidents of vehicles breaking through the ice.

Senior Tony Trulen, a member of the St. Thomas Fishing Club, said the ban has not stopped him from fishing, but it does prohibit him from fishing at the areas and lakes he enjoys the most.

“I’m fishing at a lot of smaller lakes instead of the bigger lakes,” Trulen said. “I’ve gone up north quite a bit more since the lakes are safer for driving, but it hasn’t really affected how much I fish.”

The ban has also not stopped the St. Thomas Fishing Club from successfully planning two trips during the winter, one to Upper Red Lake and another this month to Mille Lacs.

“We usually only stick to one or two ice fishing trips because we don’t usually plan too much in the fall,” said senior Dan Reichert, president of the St. Thomas Fishing Club.

Although the St. Thomas Fishing Club has not experienced any negative repercussions because of the ban, junior Amanda Lundeen said that her family-owned bait shop, Lundeen’s Tackle Castle, has experienced economic hardship.

“I know the ban has affected the businesses because I know people who won’t go out ice fishing if they can’t drive from their warm car out to their warm fish house,” Lundeen said.

Lundeen said that resorts in northern Minnesota have also experienced a low turn out for ice fishing because many people traveling from the cities prefer to keep their fish houses in storage.

“A lot of the people from down here (Hennepin County) that go ice fishing up on Mille Lacs and on other lakes in the area will just store their fish houses up there,” Lundeen said. “But (for) some of them this season, it was less expensive to keep their fish houses in storage.”

Like Trulen and Reichert, the ban has not stopped Lundeen from ice fishing either.

“I love winter, and I love to ice fish. It’s always been something I have done with my family and by myself,” Lundeen said.

One tip Reichert gives to students who are ice fishing locally is to have fun but still stay safe.

“It’s a better thing that it’s warmer outside because you can enjoy fishing, but don’t bother driving your truck on the lake since so many trucks have already gone through,” Reichert said.

Sara Kovach can be reached at kova7636@stthomas.edu.