Three people in the water on Houghton Lake

[ih772]

Tonight the rescue hovercraft pulled three people from the open water in front of the Cut river. I was a couple hundred yards away from there and as darkeness fell the fog formed and visibilty was less than a 1/4 mile. I told my fishing partner tonight would be the night someone went in the water an unfortunately I was correct. Guys if you're in that area stay at least several hundred yards away from the front of the mouth as the ice is thin a couple hundred yards west of the open water.

[The Whale]

Good advice !

[bigbob]

man i hope there ok ,we are going up next weekend we will stay away from that thanks

[ih772]

The water is only waist deep there but still quite a shock when you fall into it. I watched them pull the sled out by hand this morning. Five guys pulling on a rope and eventually they got it on top of the ice where it belongs.

[bigbob]

wow thal about shrinkage :yikes:

[Houghton laker]

when venturing out onto any frozen body of water, you should always use caution and stay away from river mouths!! Especially when were having a warm winter with many thaws like this one!!

[ih772]

when venturing out onto any frozen body of water, you should always use caution and stay away from river mouths!! Especially when were having a warm winter with many thaws like this one!!


But that would take some common sense and maybe a little effort to look at a map....:rolleyes:

[lawnguy]

Hate to be the one to bring it up.... Alcohol involved?

[TheNatural]

with the weather as warm as it has been is it really worth it.

[Ed Michrina]

I'm sure the guys didn't want to dunk in the water. I am also going to bet they did there best to stay dry and safe.

Sounds like the fog rolled in and these guys got turned around. It Can happen to anyone. As far a a gps. Not everyone has one. Plus If you don't hit the mark you cant use it (80% of the people don't hit a mark going out on a nice day). a compass is no good if you don't trust it. the poor guys got turned around. It happens to the best boaters , ice fisherman outdoor hikers/snowmobiles in fog and snow.

It sound like they got most of there equipment out, So I'm sure they are ok.

Great Safety reminder and Information. Thanx.

;) If Alcohol wasn't involved, Why the heck would they be ice fishing? ;) Don't throw stones:lol:

[I'm Hooked]

Good advice!!!! Until the weather cools down for safe ice, I think I'll be hitting the streams for steelheads! T.

[Houghton laker]

with the weather as warm as it has been is it really worth it.


Close to a foot of Ice up there....no problems being on it...just have to stay away from river mouths!

[skamaniac]

HL hit the nail on the head. Lots of good ice on lots of lakes, but you have to be aware of river inlets, springs and so forth. All that info is available at your local bait shopm all you have to do is ask. As far as GPS goes, with all the money guys spend on gear, today a hand held GPS can be had for around a $100 bucks. It may not have mapping capabilities but it will get you from point A to point B and back without being a genius to learn how to use it. As far as marking your waypoint from your launching spot, who wouldn't do that nice day or not. It's another waypoint you have in your library for future use. I was just thinking the other day, i need to back up my waypoints because if something happend that my GPS crashed i would be an unhappy critter.

[bucknduck]

My family and I were there yesterday and the area I was fishing in had thick ice. In fact drilling holes with my hand auger, I brok through the ice with only the last spiral still above ice.
When we were leaving I saw two ducks flying and as a duck hunter I told my wife that there is open water somewhere around here and sure enough the river was open.

[Houghton laker]

i need to back up my waypoints because if something happend that my GPS crashed i would be an unhappy critter.


I just wrote all mine down a month ago in a log book.....Just in case!:lol:

[ih772]

There is some freeware that allows you to download and upload waypoints, routes, tracks and so on to your GPS. Look up "USA photomaps" in your favorite search engine. It's what I use and the price is right.