Officials with the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission are warning those who have plans to embark on a winter fishing expedition to use extreme caution on Nebraska lakes.  The Game and Parks Commission reports that two all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) recently fell through the ice of a northern Nebraska lake.

Conservation officer Heath Packett, of Gordon, says two ATVs carrying three riders broke through the ice on Cottonwood Lake in Cherry County on Monday.  According to Packett, each of the riders safely escaped the frigid water, which was about 8 feet deep at the site of the accident.

Due to the accident, officials have banned the use of ATVs on the lake.  ATV use has also been prohibited on nearby Home Valley Lake.