01-04-2010, 03:30 AM
I went through the ice once at Lost Creek Reservoir a few years ago. I was fishing with a good friend of mine from work. The ice was somewhere around 6-8 inches thick that day and the weather was not Icey cold , just a dull gray type of day in the winter.
We had decided to get on the ice from the parking area west of the dam, and go down the hill to the ice . Once there we headed North just past a little point I remember talking to my friend side - by -side and then all of a sudden I am in the coldest water I have have ever been in in my life.
This happened so fast It took a second to register in my mind that I had just fallen through the ice . I was carrying my Ice Auger and a bucket with my gear in it, somehow I had pulled the Auger into my chest and that was all that was holding me from going under. My friend started shouting for help from some other people that were fishing near by . They got the rope from my bucket and tossed an end with a loop on and helped me to get out.
I have never been so scared in all of my life, and I still thank those folks today. I don't remember thinking about anything except how am I going to get out of this. After I had been out for a bit we went back over near the hole and we could see that someone maybe the day before had cut out a large hole with a chainsaw and over night the hole had glazed over and covered with a little snow to look like the rest of the Ice. I just stepped in a bad spot
As for lessons learned , I was very glad that I had brought that coil of rope with me and that I wasn't alone. I carry a few more safety items with now , you can never be too careful.
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