By Doug Fletcher,Staff Writer

Rose Stone puts it this way: It’s an abnormality.

“I haven’t seen a year like this,” she said.

Stone and her family run Stone’s Bait Shop in Lewiston. She has spoken with loads of ice anglers and, when she can, grabs some traps, an auger and a bait bucket for a day of fun herself.

Typically, mid-February is a busy time at her shop and others like it that cater to people who hope to derrick fish through holes chiseled in the ice. Not this year, Stone said; business has been on the slower side.

That’s because ice conditions haven’t been exactly ideal.

Warm weather in early January meant ice didn’t set up well on many of the region’s larger lakes until later in the season. Then another warm snap in early February resulted in open water in some places.

One such place: Sebago Lake, according to a weekly update from the state Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife.

“There are locations on the lake where wardens have observed snowmobiles crossing the ice that if those snowmobiles had stopped, they surely would have broken through,” said Col. Tom Santaguida, chief of the state’s Warden Service.

He issued a caution for people planning on visiting Sebago, as part of the department’s weekly ice fishing report. And Santaguida isn’t alone in his concerns.

“I’m a bit worried about that,” said Warden Sgt. Norm Lewis. “There’s a big ice fishing derby coming up there soon,” he added. “Last week there were only a few inches of ice in some places there.”

Lewis said that with so much snow covering lakes after last week’s storm, even the colder-than-usual temperatures aren’t likely to produce much ice.

Snow and slush act as insulation, Lewis noted.

It also tends to grab machines venturing across softened surfaces.

“I’ve heard about snow machines bogging down,” said Stone, “and not just machines, but people, too, walking across lakes that are all slush.”

Lewis said he hasn’t heard of trucks or other vehicles breaking through ice recently, but he also suspects that many drivers are avoiding lakes that have less-than-perfect conditions.

Still, he said, some trucks were on Bryant Pond on Tuesday as he headed off to make his patrol rounds.

Lewis supervises wardens working throughout Oxford County and much of Androscoggin County. He said the conditions vary widely across the district.

“I’ve seen solid ice on Bryant Pond and open water on Middle Range Pond (in Poland) on the same day,” he said.

Lewis said about 85 percent of the ice fishing grounds in Oxford and Androscoggin counties should be safe for fishing. People need to be cautious wherever there is moving water, such as on rivers, and near any dams, Lewis said.

He and Stone both said people venturing onto the ice should double-check it for safety.

“I always tell people to be careful,” said Stone. “Do a lot of testing.”

“The thing about ice,” said Lewis, “don’t take anything for granted.”