True story. Last week I was talking to my buddy (guy I duck hunt with also) about how we did not trust the ice anymore and it was time to hang up the ice huts and start fishing the pier. Another guy we work with was calling us sissys, and told us the "ice is fine". "There is 10 inches of ice left out there". we went on to tell him that yes, there was 10'' out there but getting to it was the hard/unsafe part.
Not but a few minutes after that conversation my wife called me at work and asked me if i was still going to ice fish. I told her no because I did not trust the ice. She told be "good" because she was driving along the bay front and thought the ice looked unsafe. I forwarded her concern to both of my buddies, Todd (guy I hunt with) aggreed. Tim (oddly enough went to high school with my wife and has known her for years) said to me "Yeah, what the hell does she know"? This is where it gets good...stay with me.
Tim was out on the ice fishing that night and noticed an abandoned ice hut with a large hole next to it. He went to see what was going on and saw no tracks leaving the large hole in the ice. To his credit he called the Coast Guard, the CG called the fire dept, and within 15 minutes there was a full blown search and rescue effort in progress. Divers, ice rescue teams, and a helicopter flown in from Detriot.
So Tim stayed on the ice (still fishing) and watched this whole rescue operation. He watched two firefighters fall through the ice trying to reach the empty hut. (still fishing) The fire Chief could not see his two firemen and was getting nervous about them. A guy (on shore) that knows Tim told the chief that he had tim's cell phone number and called him. Tim told the fire chief that his guys went through the ice but had the situation under control. (he is still fishing)
The Coast Guard shows up with a boat and starts dragging it across the ice to the empty ice hut. Tim is still fishing. This is where we are not sure what happend. I am guessing they told Tim to pack his stuff up and get the hell off the ice. Now the news teams are there filming this whole thing.
So guess what was on the news that night? Tim falling through the ice coming back in. He was lucky that it was only waist deep where he went through.
The next day...headline in the paper "ICE FISHING OVER" the picture for the story showed the CG guys helping yet another fisherman out of the water.
Now I bet you are wondering what happend to the empty ice hut. The guys that were fishing there fell in, got them selves out and went to shore and went home. THEY NEVER TOLD ANYBODY!!! They just left all their stuff out there GPS unit, hut, poles, sleds, augers and whatever else they had with them. STUPID! All they had to do was tell the authorities what had happended and the whole search and rescue thing would have never happened. I would hand them the bill for the effort made to find their frozen bodies that were not there.
They put other lives at risk because they are too stupid to warn or tell anybody about what happened to them. What is wrong with some people?
So the next day at work we had a field day with Tim. I asked Tim if remembered the warning my wife had given to us. He told me; "OH SHUT UP"! So the next time the woman in your life has a bad feeling about something...Think about what she is saying. Even if you think "What the hell does she know"?
Not but a few minutes after that conversation my wife called me at work and asked me if i was still going to ice fish. I told her no because I did not trust the ice. She told be "good" because she was driving along the bay front and thought the ice looked unsafe. I forwarded her concern to both of my buddies, Todd (guy I hunt with) aggreed. Tim (oddly enough went to high school with my wife and has known her for years) said to me "Yeah, what the hell does she know"? This is where it gets good...stay with me.
Tim was out on the ice fishing that night and noticed an abandoned ice hut with a large hole next to it. He went to see what was going on and saw no tracks leaving the large hole in the ice. To his credit he called the Coast Guard, the CG called the fire dept, and within 15 minutes there was a full blown search and rescue effort in progress. Divers, ice rescue teams, and a helicopter flown in from Detriot.
So Tim stayed on the ice (still fishing) and watched this whole rescue operation. He watched two firefighters fall through the ice trying to reach the empty hut. (still fishing) The fire Chief could not see his two firemen and was getting nervous about them. A guy (on shore) that knows Tim told the chief that he had tim's cell phone number and called him. Tim told the fire chief that his guys went through the ice but had the situation under control. (he is still fishing)
The Coast Guard shows up with a boat and starts dragging it across the ice to the empty ice hut. Tim is still fishing. This is where we are not sure what happend. I am guessing they told Tim to pack his stuff up and get the hell off the ice. Now the news teams are there filming this whole thing.
So guess what was on the news that night? Tim falling through the ice coming back in. He was lucky that it was only waist deep where he went through.
The next day...headline in the paper "ICE FISHING OVER" the picture for the story showed the CG guys helping yet another fisherman out of the water.
Now I bet you are wondering what happend to the empty ice hut. The guys that were fishing there fell in, got them selves out and went to shore and went home. THEY NEVER TOLD ANYBODY!!! They just left all their stuff out there GPS unit, hut, poles, sleds, augers and whatever else they had with them. STUPID! All they had to do was tell the authorities what had happended and the whole search and rescue thing would have never happened. I would hand them the bill for the effort made to find their frozen bodies that were not there.
They put other lives at risk because they are too stupid to warn or tell anybody about what happened to them. What is wrong with some people?
So the next day at work we had a field day with Tim. I asked Tim if remembered the warning my wife had given to us. He told me; "OH SHUT UP"! So the next time the woman in your life has a bad feeling about something...Think about what she is saying. Even if you think "What the hell does she know"?
But they do get plenty stiff in the cold water when they drag them up.
