Today was a day I dread all ice fishing season, I finally caved in and put my gear away for the season. I know we still have (good) ice but for somebody who has been on the underside of the ice looking up , this ain't no time to be pushing ones luck. I fell completely through , over my head and nobody within voice range. I was lucky to have my shanty rope in hand with my shanty still on dry land was enough drag to aid me out. I fell through @ St. Marys Sail Boat Club right at the lift area so the water is 9-10' deep. I felt my feet hit the bottom had enough sense to push off and the main thing is I didn't panic. Scared , scared the crap right out of me, hell we had 13" of ice , but it had rained the day b4 and rotted the edges and it was about this time of the year back in 1990. The day I went through the temp had dropped back down in the teens and by the time I got back to my truck my clothes were froze solid, my hair was covered in ice , my boot strings were froze , the only thing I had going for me is that my truck was still warm and I did have some socks but no dry clothes. I drove by the hospital thinking about stopping but I was bare ass naked , I took my seat covers off to wrap up in , decided to go home (13 miles) walked in the house dropped my seat covers and went straight to bed, at this time hypothermia was kicking my ass, I couldn't stop shivering , my lips were blue my body was beat red and my skin hurt like hell and the only thing I could feel was pain. My wife forced me out of bed and made me get in a warm tub, I took my blanket in the water with me and when I warmed up reality set it. So be careful out there and ask youself 1 question , is that 1 fish worth my life.
