Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Ice Fishing -Darwin Award contender

I sold all my ice fishing gear two years ago. It was getting so that we had ice I considered safe only about two months to 10 weeks or so, and that was with it being sketchy at both ends. I didn't like to go out if it was less than four inches because of the very real chance of thin areas near springs and such.

Some of the highest lakes are already fishable here, but none of the lower ones are. Normally, they've got at least a skim by now, but we're under what seems like a perpetual Indian summer this year. It's 42° at 8 a.m. today, and will hit 55°. I have a golf tee time in an hour. Won't even need a jacket. And it'll be like this at least another week.

When I lived in Alaska a buddy and I decided to head out to his cousins place for a visit. The road in is impassable in winter due to a steep ice covered hill. When we got there it was slick so we went around to the winter route, which was crossing the frozen lake. When we started across in the truck we noticed everyone came out of the house onto the front lawn. Look at that, they came out to greet us!

When we got across to the house we proudly drove up onto the lawn and climbed out. First thing one of them said, "You're the first ones across, we weren't sure you were gunna make it".

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

As a person (16 year old kid) who has fallen through ice on the Mississippi river (back channel) it was one scary as hell moment!

I heard the ice crack and was instantly waste deep in water. i broke ice all the way to the bank (about 6 feet) and by the time I got out my buddy was starting a fire... There I was rotating in front of bonfire wearing only my underwear with wet clothing hanging on brush..

Needless to say, neither one of us told our folks!!! My best buddy and I practically lived on the river all four seasons. The "good old days" of youth!

The dude showed up with a buddy this afternoon, my neighbor said they made it about 100 feet before breaking through. The guys were able to break their way back to shore but not before the police, sheriff, ambulance, and my neighbor got there. The one complained of chest pain and shortness of breath while the other was "just" hyperventilating. Both ended up in the hospital. At least the Fire Dept was cancelled though they will each get a $500 bill for the page.

It was bad enough the one guy walked out there yesterday, bringing out a buddy when temps passed over 32 degrees around 4 AM and was about 36-38 degrees and sunny when they went in is beyond belief. I guess when one passes 70 years old there isn't much to live for - at least for some people.

I wonder if they learned anything from this experience and also wonder if they are the same people who place a plank over open water from shore to the remaining lake ice in the spring. That is something else I have trouble believing.

Sounds north of Eden to me, NH.

Those idiots who drive 18 wheelers on frozen-over lakes on "Ice Road Truckers" have gotta have a couple of screws loose! I guess somebody's gotta do it, but I don't think I'd ever be that desperate for a paycheck!
Jerry

At the same time as those ice road truckers are bailng over the top, I read that the biggest US icebreaker can break through 8' of ice while running at 10 knots. The Russians have a nuke that can do 13'.

When the cold comes it doesn't relent 'til mid-March. But I'm chicken. There was the year I was on early ice with the Explorer behind me. The ice was 10 inches and crystal clear, just like you'd want in your drink. The ice was growing and when it does that it cracks and groans. A lot. Don't know how many times I turned expecting to see the Explorer slowly sink. After that I got got a good deal on an ATV. A friend of a friend drove it into a field approach one night (drunk) and not only had no money for repairs but needed cash to pay for his car insurance(!). But that's another story.

Using a plank to reach solid ice is very common here - and not dangerous at all. What happens is that the lakes begin to rise with incoming water. The ice sheet "fit" the shore with lower water, but as the water rises, the sloped banks create a band of open water or thin ice all around simply because the lake is wider now. Using a plank or ladder between solid shore and solid ice solves the dilemma of how to get across that band.