Ryan Hills, left, and Bill McKeown do some ice fishing Thursday on frozen Lake Arthur.

FRANKLIN TWP — Rangers at Moraine State Park spotted the first ice fishermen of the season over the past week.

On Thursday, anglers found between 4 and 6 inches of ice on Lake Arthur.

Bryan Moore, ranger supervisor, said the park has a policy of never declaring when the ice is thick enough to walk on and start fishing, for liability's sake. But Moore confirmed that the fishermen he has spoken to are enjoying the conditions.

“With these ice fishermen,” Moore said, “when there's ice on the lake, they want to go fish.”

Bill McKeown and Ryan Hills, both 38, walked onto Lake Arthur at 7 a.m. Thursday. Both men had the day off work, and they intended on spending it enjoying the outdoors and catching their dinner.

At around 1 p.m., when they had three fish between them and had endured six hours of cold, the pair was still feeling good.

“It's better than work, right?” Hills said to McKeown with a laugh. “It's better than work,” McKeown replied.

Thursday was the first time Hills had gone ice fishing. The two are hunting buddies, so McKeown showed Hills the basics. Hills ended up making their first catch. The men were targeting crappie.

McKeown said he likes the parallels between ice fishing and hunting. The ice takes the verticality out of fishing, he said, leaving fishermen to find their targets by moving around the ice. It simplifies things, in a way.

“That's one reason I do like ice fishing,” McKeown said. “You're actually out hunting for them, on the ice. It's hunting for fish.”

They sat with a fishfinder at their feet. It flashed with colors indicating that fish were flitting around under the ice.

“These things make it like a video game,” McKeown said, pointing at the lights.

The pair drilled 10 holes around their area before the auger broke. They moved from one hole to the next throughout the day.

They were using small jigs holding wax worms. McKeown said they needed to change lures and retrieval styles frequently.Moore, the ranger, said one of the most important safety tools an ice angler can carry is a set of ice picks. Hills had a set dangling off his wrists.“If I were to fall in,” Hills said. “I could grab the ice and try to pull myself out the best I can. You can try to save your life.”He has already had one too many experiences in ice cold water.“I fell in once duck hunting,” Hills said. “Cold water, it's miserable. It was about a half-mile walk back to the truck, stripped down because you don't want the wet clothes on.”Moore encouraged those fishing on the ice to consider similar safety protocols.“Cold water is not fun,” Moore said.But ice fishing, the pair of fishermen agreed, has its perks.“It's not crowded,” McKeown said. “It's not hot. There's no mosquitoes.”Besides carrying safety equipment, the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources has recommendations for ice fishermen: wear life jackets, spread out your group over a wide area, and check the ice periodically for any changes in depth. Cracked sections of ice, or areas where logs and other debris stick out of the water, should be avoided.Lake Arthur is hosting the Western Pennsylvania Hardwater ice fishing tournament Sunday.

The two men started fishing around 7 a.m. and had caught three fish by early afternoon. Shown are a perch and crappie they hauled up.