worst day on ice

[slamminsam]

I know there is a "best day ever" on the ice topic, but I'd like to hear some "worst day ever" on ice stories.  (is that a bad topic?)  May be one could learn from these. 

Mine....the first day I bring my wife out with me and she catches the biggest, and most fish in the group of us.  All be it that she was in the "hunney hole", had my vex, and I had to show her everything....took away from "my" ice time.  Plus, we had to leave 'cause she was cold  .  Would not stop complaining about the wind all morning...even in the shanty.  Ohhh and on the way out, I broke through up to my knees with one leg.  Lost a glove getting out!!  Hummmm.  Did have fun warming her up though  .  May be it wasn't so bad.

[big bobber]

there is this tiny lake up the street from my house(private)so i finally get permission to fish it...this day is planned out and i know there are HUGE gills in there!so we make a plan to go in a few days ...and im tellin EVERYONE about how im goin to slay slab blugill!!!1brought my buddy with us ...all set up....havin a beer...waiting....wait ing....waiting...i start to get this look from my partner...im like...chit!i dragged him all the way here and cant even mark a fish!evidentally...the fish do not ever bite in the winter....to be so pumped about something....and then the big let down....then had to explain that we didnt even get a bite in my AWESOME PRIVATE LAKE NO ONE ELSE CAN FISH!LOL!

[jlaclair]

I hiked up a mountain to a remote pond that is 75' deep, it was late season and had plenty of ice, marked one fish the time I was there, no bites, its started to rain so I grabbed my gear, then is lightnings and I have an auger on my back, I book it to a lean-to and the ice breaks now I am running up a slab of Ice with 60' of water behind me...I launch myself onto the ground having gone in up to my waist but remaining dry I rolled into the lean-to. the storm let up and I began my hike down to only have it get sunny out...

[Jig4M]

Any windy day!!!!!

[missoulafish]

Any day I forget my Vexilar.

[big bobber]

MISSOULA FISH...are ther any good lakes around cascade mt for good ice fishing???my father in law has a camp in the mtns there and would like to get any info in case we ever get out that way during the hardwater season!

[Jig4M]

Any day I forget my Vexilar.

Yeah, I can see how that would make for a bad day no matter what.

[Fish the Rapala]

Last weekend went out to find some perch. For a day that started off good it sure took a turn for the worse!! Ended up breaking my Fenwick Rod, than the Quantum reel that was attached to it. Both are unsalvageable... Than I was using my LX7 that I bought myself for Christmas, only to have it conk out on me for no reason at all!! (I called marcum and we got it going again) After the LX7 died I went to my trusty LX5 and wouldn't you know it I broke the base of it. I decided that was enough and in the process of packing up I jabbed my pinky finger with a hook and had to use pliers to pull it out. I was finally all packed up and ready to leave when I noticed the running board on my King Ranch was cracked and that someone had backed into my truck and drove off!!!!  It was a horribly expensive day when I add everything up, but the fishing was decent so I guess that makes up for it.... That and I can laugh about it now.

[missoulafish]

yup! get over to the Montana report page and read up on Canyon Ferry, Hauser and Holter reservoirs. Cascade is kind've right in the middle of a lot of opportunities. You might have to drive for a couple  hours though. Still worth it.

[big bobber]

thanx missoulafish!

[da man cave shack]

When there is no ice.

[Sixxer]

Went ice fishing one day with my 7 year old and the wind picked up to 60mph gusts. The 949i was anchored down but it was moving like there was a tornado overhead. Caught one good rainbow (18") and then packed up and headed out. Even walking off the ice was a chore and had to tie my son to me with a rope so he would't blow away.

[markjsolomon]

IT was a weekend

I rented a sleeper hut with my girlfriend thought we would have some fun and stay on the ice not haven't to worry about drinking and driving etc...

All weekend we caught 5 or less pan fish and wasted about 300 bucks on the rental....5 crazy expensive pan fish

[eriksat1]

I was alone fishing a big lake towing my stuff on a sled behind a snowmobile. I started hitting bad slush under about a foot of snow, finally the snowmobile bogged down in the slush and I was stuck. No way I was getting out by myself. I had to leave all my stuff and walk about a mile across the snow covered lake to a bar where I could call someone for help. This was before cell phones. This has to rank up there as my worst day ice fishing. It took 3 of us to finally get the snowmobile out of the slush back onto good snow, and pretty much burned up a whole afternoon. When it was done I was to tired and wet to fish.

[Woodland]

IT was a weekend

I rented a sleeper hut with my girlfriend thought we would have some fun and stay on the ice not haven't to worry about drinking and driving etc...

All weekend we caught 5 or less pan fish and wasted about 300 bucks on the rental....5 crazy expensive pan fish

Good thing you didnt catch anymore at that price tag!

[slamminsam]

Forgot the VEX!!!  Oh my gosh.....once you go vex (or any electronics) and forget it...........it's like fishing naked.  That must of been a bad day.  Great stories guys...keep 'em coming.  I feel better about mine already. 

[Woodland]

my worst day on the ice was two years ago. Just got a new to me sled, a 81 yamaha enticer. Got everything unloaded and fired up the sled and off i went. Found some nice perch and was heading back when the sled i was towing behind hit a ice berm and everything went flying! turned the sled off and hiked around picking up my stuff and inspecting everything before putting it back in the tow sled. Well i went to start the sled and the pull start broke! didnt know how to use the emergency starter so i took my tools out and started dismantling the pull start assembly. 1.5 hours later with dark setting in i still couldnt get that darn spring back in the housing! and to boot all the people that were on the ice were heading to the trucks. Hiked over to the last guy on the ice that ha[ppened to have a wheeler and he was nice enough to pull my sled back to the truck. When we got to the truck it was a pain to get that thing loaded into my truck without power. I had to put on my emergency brake which i knew would stick! Luckily it is a light sled and i can squat some weight but not without kinking my back! road home in some discomfort, with my parking brake not disengaging (ended up aiming for a big pothole and the impact disengaged the stinker)  and had the chiropractor put me right the next day, but it was by far my worst day on the ice. I dont know what i would have done without the help from the friendly fisherman

[nodakclam19]

My worst day on the ice is when I was 13 years old, and I personally didn't own any gear but my neighbor let me borrow one pole, a tip-up, an auger and a scooper. I got all dressed up in my winter gear then trekked a mile and a half onto the lake my cabin is on through 2 feet of snow. As soon as I got out there I fell into the snow and didn't move for 5 minutes. After catching my breathe I went to start the auger, but it didn't work. I pulled that thing for 20 minutes and nothing happened. I was so mad I just walked all the way out there for nothing. So I began the long walk back and 30 minutes later I got back just to find out my neighbor removed the spark plug and forgot to replace it. I then got a job the next summer doing yard work and treated myself by buying my own ice fishing gear.

[lefty2053]

Went to my favorite spot and drilled holes until I got tired of it. Every hole had so much ice flowing down from the river you couldn't get your lures past it.

[nitram]

 Auger quit after two holes, in the Wong spot and not the depth . My son was with me ,and he is angry, sonar would not work, fished any way.
Got a pile of nice gills and even kept a few. Worst day on ice Ive had, now driving home in a blizzard that's differant.

[petrgill]

2 winters ago when we had all the slush under the snow/layer of ice.  There was water trapped between 15in of ice and a top layer of snow /thin ice.  Every step you'd break through the top layer and into the water, it was like walking in mud to your knees.  The 5600 sad in a puddle so getting your fet dry was impossible and the holes were so flooded the tip ups actually floated.  Got a couple of pickeral and that was it.    That was probably the only time I didn't enjoy myself on the ice ever.

[JPascavage52]

Late February 2011, I was in my last semester of college. It was an unseasonably warm Friday with temperatures around 65, and I decided to skip classes and head out for some last-ice action at Yellow Creek Lake (Southwest PA). Unfortunately, little did I know it was also one of the windiest days on record. I packed the car, got some bait, and headed out to the lake, one side of the lake had honeycombing ice and spots of open water, the other side looked good and had a few guys out, so I decided to give it a try. I loaded my stuff into my sled (as a broke college student, all I had to carry my stuff was a dinky lightweight plastic kids sled from Wal-Mart, and an old 5 gallon paint bucket). There was about a foot of water between the shore and the ice, but I easily overstepped this and walked out. Once out further, there was a good 6-8 inches of ice everywhere. I set up tip ups and homemade “tip downs” (made from broken open water rods and reels, using a small bobber as a strike indicator) with shiners, fat heads, wax worms, and even tried jigging. For about three hours I did not have a single bit of action, while I noticed the other guys near me having several flags, one guy pulling up a respectable Northern Pike, and a guy with nothing more than one jigging rod catching crappies. It was embarrassing, so I started moving around trying different depths and everything. Most of the other guys on the ice left, and it was just me and two other guys in the distance. I tried for another hour and a half, and still had no luck, and the wind was starting to get to me, so I decided to try one last jig, and head home. Now, I had my auger and bait bucket on the ice, and my 5 gallon bucket on the sled. I also had a fly box full of ice fishing lures, jigs, and spoons, probably about 100 dollars worth that I inherited from my uncle. I pulled out a jig, and left the box open in the sled, with my gloves and hat in the bucket. As I was tying the jig on, I noticed one of the strike indicators on my “tip downs” moving before it descended down the hole about 40 feet away. I quickly ditched what I was doing, and headed towards the hole, thinking maybe my luck was turning. About halfway there, a huge gust of wind suddenly swept across the lake, and I heard a “thwoop thump thumpity thump thump thump” behind me. I turned around, and sure enough, the wind had swept my sled and flipped it over, and before I could react, my sled and bucket were being thrown across the lake at great speed as if being guided by force, with my gloves, hat, wax worms, and open tackle box still inside. They were headed towards the open side of the lake, and I didn’t want to risk getting wet to retrieve them (and they were moving too fast for me). The contents of my tackle box spilled and scattered all over the lake, I decided to salvage whatever was nearby. But, my strike indicator was still down, and line was still going down the hole, so I decided to at least bring up the fish that was on, and say I didn’t get skunked. I pulled up an absolute lunker (sarcasm) of a maybe four inch bluegill. At that point, I had enough, so I retrieved about a quarter of what was in my tackle box, and accepted that  I would have to carry my auger, bait bucket, and tip ups/ rods all by hand off the ice. I grabbed my auger in one hand, my bait bucket in the other, and my rods under my arm, was not comfortable carrying, but had to do it somehow.

My heck of a day still wasn’t complete quite yet… As I neared shore, I noticed that the previously mentioned “foot or so of water between shore and the ice” had melted, deteriorated, and grown to about 4-7 feet. I decided to walk around and try to find a better way off, and if I couldn’t find one, I would have to just grin and bear it, and wade out, no biggie, the water was only about thigh high. I walked a bit, around a point, and was relieved to see that someone had thrown a picnic table in the water. I rushed towards it, not remembering for a second that the ice would be getting thinner as I moved toward the edges. Sure enough, just feet from the picnic table, the ice broke, and I was thrown off balance, face first into about knee high water. Luckily, the water wasn’t too cold. I just trudged out of the water and onto dry land, looking like I had come there to swim rather than ice fish. The one fish that I caught took about 6 hours total to catch, and only cost me about 100 dollars in lost gear.

[Woodland]

I remember another one. It was winter break and during the courting faze  with my soon to be engaged girlfriend and knowing she likes catching big fish trout i decided to take her on a little trip. Two nights before the trip however she feel while night skiing and messed up her knee pretty bad. That wouldnt stop me no sir. So we drive up the night before and stayed at my place where i went to school (3hrs from home) which allowed for a short 45 min drive to the designated lake. Now she has a bum knee and the weather that morning is a blizzardy mess. Still we drove all that way we should at least give it a try. So we get to the spot and low and behold the storm had dropped about 10" of fresh stuff and as we make our way out onto the ice it becomes pretty obvious she cant walk in the snow with her knee. So i convince her to get in the sled and i started pulling her the 1/4 mile to the fishing spot. wouldn't you know it half way there we encountered a slush pocket. So here i am pulling a sled with my girlfriend, all the gear, and post holing through 12+ inches of snow into 6" of slush! Get out to the spot and i am so sweety i put here in my one man and commence  to freeze my butt off, while the winter storm around us picks up juice and the wind starts blowing. We didnt catch a dam thing and i think she drove home because i was so cold and so done in by dragging her out there and back! she said yes a few days later so that was pretty cool!

[IceBalls]

Late March, about 60 degrees, lake 1/2 frozen & 1/2 open water.  Checked the ice and found about 6 inches, but "milky looking".  Walked out about 150 yards to 15 ft. of water, still had 6inches of ice, and put out our tip ups in a blazing sun.  Fishing was amazing with Perch, LM Bass, Picks, Gills all hitting with abandon.....but the ice was beginning to feel "funny" as we walked.  Decided to leave and went over to pick up our power auger, then.....  BAM.... ice broke underneath me and in I went.  I won't go into details, but, it took my buddy and two other husky guys to pull me out with a safety rope we carried.  We got our a$$e$ off the ice and left over two thousand dollars worth of gear out there.
The following day I got a call from the local State Police Captain who asked me if I would like to have my gear back!!!  I was blown away!!  The local rescue squad and the State Police had used their rescue boat to break the ice all the way from the other side of the lake to where our gear still resided on a thin layer of ice, and returned it to me!! Amazing !!!
LESSON LEARNED:   Don't fool with Mohter Nature.......late season ice is NOT SAFE !!!

[Loudmouth879]

My worst day was when I was drag racing snowmobiles on the ice with a buddy of mine... I had a 600 he had a 440 so I blew him out except I turned the wrong way and he t-boned me. Got thrown off the sled and blacked out in the air. Luckily the only damage was to the sleds (mine one of the guide wheels was bent and the foot rail bent up, his the whole front end was caved in). and the other time was went out and the battery for my vex died but i limited out on trough that day but that night drove in lake effect snow to get a new battery. The other bad days have been when I haven't caught fish which is not many

[Icefisher40]

Auger quit after two holes, in the Wong spot and not the depth . My son was with me ,and he is angry, sonar would not work, fished any way.
Got a pile of nice gills and even kept a few. Worst day on ice Ive had, now driving home in a blizzard that's differant.

Why were you in Wong's spot?

[edfalc]

i havent had a bad day on the ice yet

[Yooper77]

In the 90s a guy from my hometown was ice fishing a few miles out on Munuscong Bay. The fish were nowhere to be found so he was playing around on his fairly new Polaris 2 stroke ATV (not sure what kind), and it blew up. Somebody gave him a ride back to shore, so he can grab his truck and snowmobile trailer and drive it out closer to the dead ATV. When he drove the truck over the pressure crack the wheels caught the ice and tore the axle right off the trailer. Finally he got the ATV back to the truck they lifted it into the box a little too fast causing it to the front of the box and smashed out his rear window.
That was a very expensive day. Lucky for him he was single, I would not want go home and tell my old lady all of that!

[reddog11]

I know there is a "best day ever" on the ice topic, but I'd like to hear some "worst day ever" on ice stories.  (is that a bad topic?)  May be one could learn from these. 

Mine....the first day I bring my wife out with me and she catches the biggest, and most fish in the group of us.  All be it that she was in the "hunney hole", had my vex, and I had to show her everything....took away from "my" ice time.  Plus, we had to leave 'cause she was cold  .  Would not stop complaining about the wind all morning...even in the shanty.  Ohhh and on the way out, I broke through up to my knees with one leg.  Lost a glove getting out!!  Hummmm.  Did have fun warming her up though  .  May be it wasn't so bad.

You forgot to write you like the Jets.

[nocod]

I went out last winter and forgot my float suit,still went fishing ,just a little chilly,another time forgot my auger but had a spud bar so just chipped my holes.