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Nnev

Fire on the ice

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Nnev

I've heard both ways... Is it illegal to have a fire on the ice when I'm out ice fishing? Obviously i'm cleaning my mess not leaving a pile of wood for people to hit with their sleds etc. I've tried to find documentation on the subject but have come up short.

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scandiman

Not illegal but use common sense. Don't burn any foreign objects (ie. chairs, etc) and clean up after yourself. 

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Garbie

I had heard over the years it was frowned upon. Not sure if there is any real law against it though. I didn't want any trouble so I used to use a hunk of an old drum. Now I have built a sleigh that is towable and burn everything in it. I asked a rookie officers a few years ago about it, he  stated "had no issue with it" and gave me a green light on it.

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dunnhuntin

The environmental protection act prohibits depositing waste into or over water. The definition of waste under this act includes ashes. 

 

As long as you bring a metal bucket to keep the fire contained and take the ashes off the lake you should be fine.

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robbo

Dunnhuntin is right,  if you want to be 100% legal, keep it contained.  A little ash, not a problem.  4 red pines dragged out and left behind, 1/4 burnt, not cool.  Like most "minor" law enfractions, I go with the rule of: if you're an a$$, you'll answer to everything.


going fishing is okay, going catching is great!

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robbo

On a side note, it's nice to hear of different acts being quoted outside of the regs book.  It's amazing how many laws we are supposed to know and abide by.  I mentioned to one of our Guys in Green during hunting season, while answering many questions, that the size of the rule book we have to follow is incredibly vast.  It was nice to hear an agreement in response and that many only come up upon talking to particularly colourful individuals.


going fishing is okay, going catching is great!

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smokerscully1

Building fires up against the bank can be problematic also. I don’t think it was illegal but years ago a couple of forest fires were started on islands in Onamon Lake by ice fishermen whose fires smouldered underground all Spring and popped up in dry weather.

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sinker7

I asked an MNR biologist a few years back about this. He mentioned there is no problem with burning 'just' wood on the ice. Leftover ash and charcoal is not harmful. Charcoal is a natural filtration media - as used in aquarium set-ups.

 

I remember fishing a small lake for the first time after a large forest fire consumed the entire shoreline around the lake. We fished the lake the following year after the fire had gone through. The water had turned extremely dark from all the run-off(ash/charcoal) according to guys that had fished it before the fire. Water visibility went from 4ft to less than a foot. Needless to say the walleye fishing was great. You could catch walleyes in the middle of a glass calm, hot summer day  with no problems in less than 5 ft of water - consistently. A couple years later as the water cleared up the walleye fishing went back to normal. You have to chase the walleyes in the 15-20ft range on the sunny calm days.

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Bear

We use a drum out of an old washing machine, mounted on skis.  It is portable and keeps all the mess in the drum, you can also use it with an old fridge grate on top to cook your lunch.  We usually pack it with wood for the trip out and dispose of the ashes when we are done for the day, burying them on shore in the snow.

 

Bear

 

 

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mad scientist
On 2/5/2018 at 7:24 PM, dunnhuntin said:

The environmental protection act prohibits depositing waste into or over water. The definition of waste under this act includes ashes. 

 

 

The Ontario Environmental Protection Act, and its associated regulations, is a pretty interesting piece of legislation.  It covers a lot of topics, and can be interpreted in a lot of ways.  Certain parts of the Act are written in such a way that, in order to protect against industrial-scale polluters, they legally affect a lot of commonplace, Joe Average activities as well.  Burning on the ice is one of these.  Dunnhuntin is correct; s.24(2)  of the Act says "No person shall discharge or cause or permit the discharge of any waste on ice over any water except in accordance with the regulations."; and s.40 says "No person shall deposit, or cause, permit or arrange for the deposit of, waste upon, in, into or through any land or land covered by water".  If you dig around in the various definitions of "waste", you will find ashes included.

 

However, in interpreting these two sections of the Act, consider some of the other ways this could be applied...not only does it prohibit deposition of ashes in a lake, but also on land...so your campfire ashes could be considered illegal if you leave them behind.  Human waste is included in the definition of waste, so taking a pee behind a tree could also be interpreted as illegal.

 

You'll never get a CO, or any other law enforcement person, to go on record saying that it's ok to do something that is a direct contravention of any piece of legislation.  However, they also have discretion in laying charges and issuing warnings.  

 

Point is, yes, if you leave a mess on the ice (ashes, garbage, poop...) there is legislation in place that can get you slapped.  Use some common sense, clean up after yourself, and you should be ok.

 

EPA link: https://www.ontario.ca/laws/statute/90e19#BK70

 


I'm going out to fish. - John 21:3

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Adrian

Like they say, take the experience and only leave footprints

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sinker7

Thanks 'Mad Scientist'.

 

My apologies...I will retract my first paragraph to my previous post. Though this was the answer I was given it appears to be against current legislation.

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