OAK HARBOR -- Helicopters and boats are working to rescue hundreds of fishermen stranded on an ice floe that broke free west of Sandusky, authorities said.

Rescue units from Cleveland to Detroit have been dispatched. The ice floe broke free about 10:45 a.m, near Crane Creek State Park, near the Davis Besse nuclear power plant in Ottawa County, authorities said.

"We have begun to move some of the people," said Coast Guard Petty Officer Bill Colclough. "We're doing everything we can to get to the people."

Police and fire units from dozens of municipalities, as well as the Canadian Coast Guard, have joined in rescue efforts. There are no reports of injuries at this time.

Unprecendented numbers of fishermen have taken to the ice this winter, as thicker ice allowed fishermen to go further out onto the lake. But today's unseasonably high temperatures appear to have caused chunks of ice to melt.Yesterday, law enforcement officials worried that the high tempertures and shifting winds could cause problems.

Ice fishermen towing trailers with snowmobiles and all-terrain vehicles filled the parking lot at Catawba Island State Park Friday.

"It's really busy for a Friday morning," said park ranger Christopher Desh. "I expect the weekend will be a madhouse."

More worrisome than increasing temperatures were 25-knot winds from the southwest that are bringing the higher temperatures, as well as ice-melting rains over the next week.

"It's not a good combination," said Ottawa County Sheriff Robert Bratton. "Big winds can mean shifting ice, large cracks opening up and stranded ice fishermen. Everyone will be ready, just in case."

Volunteer fire departments along the western Lake Erie shoreline and the U.S. Coast Guard do the heavy lifting when anglers are stranded on the ice. The ice-fishing scene has been relatively quiet for a couple of years, mostly because of poor ice for big-water anglers.

Fatalities are rare, but three ice anglers wandering in fog off Middle Bass Island in February 2001 went through the ice and drowned.

In 2005, about 45 anglers were rescued from an ice floe near Crane Creek State Park.