Two fishermen rescued from floating ice on Upper Red Lake

[MNfan]

SHOTLEY, Minn. - Two fishermen are back on land after the ice they were on broke and began drifting on Upper Red Lake this morning.

"They were in 9-feet of water on a piece of ice that is sinking," Beltrami County Sheriff Phil Hodapp said. "They were in about as dire of a situation as you can be."

A call shortly after 10 a.m. reported the men were drifting across the lake and emergency crews scrambled to get equipment to rescue them. One of the concerns was the wind and reaching the men before the men sank into the lake.

The Bemidji Fire Department sent its Hovercraft and emergency workers from other agencies also scrambled to get to Upper Red Lake to assist. In addition, there were calls for at least one helicopter to join in the search and rescue effort.

About 11:30, a dispatcher reported the fishermen were back on land.

The men were on a piece of ice west of Shotley and north of Pioneer Road, Hodapp said.

It isn't clear how thick the ice was that the men were on, he said.

"It's not thick enough, especially on Red Lake, to be out there," Hodapp said.

The lake may have ice on it, but Hodapp said the wind came up this morning.

[Cecil]

Someone has to be the first one, might as well be them...

[mrklean]

spendy mistake there

[MinnGuy]

Were the fish biting?

[BartmanMN]

Now that's "ice trolling"

[fins&feathers]

technically where they ice fishing so you can have two lines or was it open water fishing so they can have one line? .........

in all seriousness its good to know that they made it back safely

[BassFisherman]

^ +1 lol

[Finlander]

Boy I betcha they had fun! First ice I have my 12' duck boat close to me just in case!

[DaSwede]

spendy mistake there

Too bad they had to put rescue workers' lives at risk because they couldn't wait. Not just a spendy mistake...a selfish one.

[leech~~]

It wasn't Jonny P was it?

Glad their ok. Wonder how much gear they had to leave floating away?

[Stick in Mud]

Well at least there IS ice on Upper Red!!!!

[dmichaelm]

I was thinking the same, spendy mistake. How much you think that rescue runs you?

[MikeH55343]

Exactly how did they get off the ice?

[Loon]

Solid use of taxpayers' dollars.

[Knoc]

Morons.

[Stick in Mud]

So how exactly does this work....do these fellas have to pay all or at least a portion of the cost of their recovery? Or does the city/county/state cover the cost of all those hovercrafts, copters, firemen, etc. etc.?

[Bemidjifisher]

Ok facts:

There was 6" of ice, the strong south wind broke off a large sheet.

The fishermen were standing on the ice when I arrived. I drove our hovercraft out and picked them up and drove them back to shore. The crack in my estimation was around 400 yards wide when we rescued them.

Their wheeler and fish house remained on the ice sheet.

Yes the fish were biting and they had their limit and were just leaving when the sheet broke off.

Trent

[Agronomist_at_IA]

Ok facts:

There was 6" of ice, the strong south wind broke off a large sheet.

The fishermen were standing on the ice when I arrived. I drove our hovercraft out and picked them up and drove them back to shore. The crack in my estimation was around 400 yards wide when we rescued them.

Their wheeler and fish house remained on the ice sheet.

Yes the fish were biting and they had their limit and were just leaving when the sheet broke off.

Trent

Never see or been involved with something like this. So I'm kinda wondering what happens to the 4 wheeler and gear? Do you just let it sink in the lake?

[Bemidjifisher]

You hope that it refreezes and go get it... Was still floating when we left..

[chad austin]

My brothers father in-law, Gene, was ice fishing on superior a couple of years ago for the first time and said there were about 10-12 trucks that were brave enough to get about 100 ft from open water. At about 300 ft they would stop and drill a hole partially through the ice and drop what looked to be an anchor in the hole and proceed towards the open water, stop at 200 ft and auger another hole, drop the anchor and proceed.

Gene later ran into one of these local guys and asked what the whole anchor deal was all about and they explained to him that if the ice sheet that they were on happened to break off they would be able to use their truck to close the gap and get off the piece that broke away.

A little hard core for me but it worked for them I guess.

[Rippinlip]

Thanks to you that risked your lives to rescue those fisherman.

No matter how we look at this, it is 2 lives saved.

Thanks again.

[chris63]

I hear the song "there's always tomorrow"from Rudolf the red nosed reindeer.Lol c63

[dav13id]

hello chris

[PurpleFloyd]

So if they had their limit did anyone ask what they were using, Jigs, Live Bait, Vex or Marcum and the other important stuff?

[CrewJones]

Could have been any of us. Lucky everyone is okay hopefully the wheeler and gear serve as good structure for future trips