Getting stuck on the ice in the slush?

[bmc]

I like to fish by myself and was contemplating this scenario...With all the snow we have on the local lakes now the slush is really forming. How do I get out if I get bogged down in the slush? I have a winch on my Polaris Sportsman 400. I have an idea to make something homemade that our local Search and Rescue teams uses to pull blocks of ice out when they're are doing winter dives. Anybody else ever contemplated this scenario?

Thanks,

Brian

[Roofer]

I would carry something with me to stick in a hole that you drill with your auger. Then you have something to attach your winch to. Without a winch, you are on your own besides shoveling away.

[Bjjams]

I had this happen to a friend. He had an old hand auger with him and he drilled a hole dropped the auger down and wedged it in the ice. It took a couple holes and the auger was completely ruined but he got off the lake that night.

[dewyg]

I have had this happen to me several time with my Polaris 400. I made a 30 inch steel bar with an eye in the middle. You hook the eye to your winch and fit the bar in you ice hole side ways, and winch yourself out. I try not to go out and do this often because it is always labour intensive.

[Dozer]

Ive had an idea for a couple of years for just this scenerio. Baciscly I would look like a letter J that has a loop on the top to hook the winch to and you would put the "J" on its side with the bottom part in a hole you drill in the ice the pull on it. Its hard to describe but Ive got a picture in my head but just havent gotten to building it yet.

[landscaper]

i would like to see more of this "J" if you got more info

other wise i would say...drill a hole...place a bar of some sort in there and hook the winch to it i guess

[dogs]

What I am contemplating is a bar that is long enough to go through a hole drilled, that has connection for pulling, so when dropped through it would try to come up side ways and lodge. Now to retrieve from hole through ice allow the bar to lower with slack and have a short piece of rope/line on one end of said bar so that the bar may come out hole staight up.

pick idea apart.

[dewyg]

Thats what I made without the rope on the one end. It works well and with the rope then you can pull it straight up.

[LakeDocktor]

I use the same set up, however, I just use a metal game gambrel. Drill a hole, hook the winch up to the gambrel and drop the gambrel down the hole. It will lodge on the bottom of the ice and you can get right out. Once out, just jiggle the cable and the gambrel will turn sideways allowing you to pull it up straight.

[Ryan_V]

a good old fashioned shovel got me out of the slush last year on mille lacs several times!

[Rippinlip]

Some great ideas here and I never thought about getting stuck. My question is do you guys carry your auger out 50 feet every time you get stuck? I know last year at the ICE show there was some screws that screwed into the ice and they held unbelievable, after this conservation I am looking for them. That way I can have the screw with me, put the winch in free spool and walk to the end of the cable.