Lesson Learned!

[fishnhuntnboy]

Watch where you are walking while on the ice. You may just walk into one of your own holes. This happened me yesterday on the ice and i laughed about it. When it happened i looked up at my dad and see if he noticed and he just started laughing. I played it off like nothing happened cause i just kept walking but man i am now going to watch were i walk lol.

[harvey lee]

I use to drill 10" holes and stopped after I stepped into one. For kids, those 10" are hazardous.

A long time ago when my father took us fishing, my brother stepped into a huge hole and went down to his knees. He was not laughing as it scared the you know what out of him.

[Jim Almquist]

If you are a kid the 8" holes are a hazard too. When I was 7 or 8 we went to Lake Minnetonka fishing and back then it was our dress shoes and rubber boots for footwear and I stepped in a hole and lost them both. It got me out of church the next day but I could not go fishing either. My older brother ends up catching the boot that day and just had to dry it off and I was good to go.

[jwmiller33]

i think everybody steps in a hole from time to time... especially when you fish past sunset, and are packing things up in the dark.

[JBMasterAngler]

I stepped in a 10" hole last year, fell in to my knee, and couldn't get my foot back out. Pulled my foot out of the boot, reached down the hole and was able to save the boot. Luckily I carry foot warmers for an emergency, they came in very handy as it was a long, cold walk back to the landing

[goblueM]

as a kid i got my foot stuck squarely in one of our holes... we had to get my foot out of the boot then drill another hole next to it!

i also remember falling through the ice up to my chest, getting rescued, then continued fishing for an hour. I don't know WHAT my uncles were thinking... I didn't remember being cold until getting into the car though

[Big Dave2]

I also got rid of my 10" auger after my son was born. A small enough kid can go right down one of those.

Now he's 9 and still has a hard time keeping his feet out of the 8" holes I drill!

[icehousebob]

One friend of mine had all his kids in his big fish house catching Crappies one evening. He turned to help an older kid and his toddler daughter screamed. He turned and grabbed her coat, as she was waist deep in an 8 inch hole. He rigged a cable and harness to the fish house ceiling so it could never happen again. Kids can get into trouble in an amazingly short time. There was no permanent damage, as the girl still loves ice fishing.

[zamboni]

Went out with a buddy tonight. He had a rough night. His girlfriend brought us McDonalds out, and he walked into shore to get it, he got back into the shanty and told me he fell on the ice under some loose snow and hurt his hip, shoulder and hit his head pretty good. Then packing up, we folded up the shanty, and he stepped forward and twisted his ankle in a hole we were using.

[KTapper]

I did that at night once and I ended up really cutting my leg and got a decent bruise. You could really hurt yourself, also remember the holes that you put slush in!

[Nathansdad]

I stepped in a hole about ten years ago. If I didn't have a crotch I'd still be going! Put a quick end to that fishing trip.

[Glockwinger]

My daughter slipped off a chair and down a 9" hole up to her waist when she was about 5 years old. I think it scared us worse than it scared her. Luckily we were in a permanent on Mille lacs and we were able to dry her off and change her clothes. She kept right on fishing. I only use an eight inch auger now.

I don't see the need for a 10" hole in the ice. Some kids were using a 10" to fish panfish on a lake I was on today...I had to watch where I was stepping with my 9 year old son when we left the lake so he didn't loose a boot.

[fishwacker1]

I walked out to a honey hole on Spring Park Bay (Minnetonka) one night. Got out to the coordinates, did not even fire up my own auger. None the less someone else had been out that day with a 10". 11PM and wind chill told me to go home. Up to my crotch freezing. That night I was lucky. Could be worse!

[RonWBasser]

If you have kids.... go over this stuff on land first. They can never be too careful and you always have to be watching out for them just in case. And yes my son, 8 at the time, ended a day fast for us when he got his foot stuck in an 8 inch hole.

[Bigtime22]

At our work fishing trip to URL last year, one of my coworkers managed only two steps into our rental before going in. I don't think he was too happy with the laughing and the jokes for the rest of the weekend. Not only can you get hurt badly, your ego can catch quite the beating. Just hoping I'm not the one that finds the hole this year.

[jigging-matt]

Had my daughter at a kids tournament a couple of years ago. After telling her to watch her step I proceeded to step in not one but 2 "10" inch holes in a span of 5 minutes. All while trying to help a friend fold up his homemade portable. First time I barely made it in the hole. Second time bounced my crotch off the ice. My friend had a hard time stopping laughing. Was pretty funny after all was done.

[PiedmontAngler]

I stepped into the first 10" hole I ever drilled right after I got the 2nd one drilled. Turned around and stepped right into the 1st hole. Up to the crotch, luckily the ski pants kept the water out of the boot. Good thing there weren't too may people around to see it. I had the buddy heater between my legs to dry for 4 hours before heading off the lake for the night.

Surprised I haven't dropped anything down the holes while fishing though. Probably just jinxed myself there...