Through the ice . . .
We fished Lake Winona on Saturday with 12 inches of good ice. Typical spring conditions near the shore line as a result of lake levels going up and the sun heating up the land mass.
I introduced an avid fisherman (60 years) to ice fishing 5 years ago, he is hooked. My mentoring included, never go near open water. I left Winona at 3:00 and he stayed for awhile with another friend.
When they left, he took a short cut to get back to the road and was to close to a dock with an active bubblier, looked like a fountain, hence open water. The ice under foot gave way and he went into the lake up to his neck.
He started using his ice picks as his friend approached and then he went through the ice over his head. They both made is to shore and the only loss was 2 iphones, very close call . . .
At the same time I was back on Winnisquam drilling holes out front and the ice thickness was 1" to 5" but the water was only 12" deep as I understood my environment, not so much at Winona. Got up this morning and put all the winter gear away. Not going ba until the boat will float . . .
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