When ice fishing, anglers must avoid several critical safety and operational mistakes, most notably venturing onto untested ice sheets without verifying thickness meters, ignoring local weather warnings, and congregating too many heavy vehicles or permanent shacks too close together on thin ice. Additionally, anglers should avoid consuming excessive alcohol while operating motorized snowmobiles or augers on frozen water bodies, leaving trash behind on the ice, and forgetting essential safety gear such as ice picks and flotation suits.