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Visited Echo State Park this morning. Got there at 8 and walked across to the west side towards the dam. Ice seemed pretty consistent all across. The pressure ridges looked scary but we went across them anyway with no problems. We fished for about 45 minutes and were looking for the perch with no luck so we decided to cross another pressure ridge. BIG MISTAKE!! My son and I both fell through up to our chests. Luckily we had ice awl's around our necks and were able to claw ourselves out! Please be careful out there where it's early in the season! The ice was a good 3-4 inches everywhere we checked but those pressure ridges are scary!
We ended up with one nice sized rainbow but obviously had to leave.
Good luck out there and be safe!
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Glad you guys made it off safely. Those are some scary moments, but you were prepared.
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Man I am so glad your ok.
Hope Cookie dosent read your post or i will never get her on the ice
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I rarely say much on her but man I gotta be candid. Who the hell goes out on first ice crossing pressure ridges...and with your kid! If ya wanna scare a kid half to death and maybe they never ice fish again here is your blueprint. You then offer advice to the group about being careful...ya simply cannot make this up....your risking your life, your sons life, and anyone who may have come to help...for what? A fish?....let all that sink in before you step back onto the ice.
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I will second that !! Pressure ridges on lakes get people every year . First ice and pressure ridges are even worst ! Glad you are OK . Lets all learn from your experience and have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year !
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It was brave of you to admit your mistake so that all us can learn from it, too. I know that no one goes out on the ice to take unreasonable chances with their lives. I've got the frostbitten toes to prove that we most all push it a little far sometimes in the pursuit of fish and game. What I was happy to see is that you were prepared.
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The older I get the more I would rather be considered a good man than a good fisherman.
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Just an FYI, I posted a quick note about this on some facebook fishing pages suggesting people be careful tommarow. Seems I really upset one person doing so. Not sure why they got upset. I think it's a great oppurtunity to just get everyone to step once and bar twice. Anyway if I upset anyone here, my intentions were simply to put ice safety into everyone's mind that ventures out tommarow.
Cheers
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Also....a guy fell through at Willard south marinia today.....the ice is unstable....
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Thanks for posting a heads up reminder to everyone, you were prepared and everything worked out for the best except the shortened trip. Ice even when we know it is thin can be deceptive around pressure ridges or separations between different plates of ice that froze later than the main sheet. Springs or bubblers or current rips cause thin sections as well that are not easy to detect. First ice is usually the best and spring thaw ice is most deceptive and the hard one to judge, the edges usually go first keeping you off the melting slush pack. Thanks For Posting!!
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Thanks for posting a bad experience and a warning. Another suggestion is to never cross pressure ridges walking beside another person. Safer to do it alone and also if the first person falls through the other person can attempt a rescue rather than joining in needing rescuing.
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