# What's your worst/funniest Ice fishing story



## Tattoo Mike (Jan 7, 2002)

Mine would be I forgot my cleats and spike for my shanty and it was wind. I got up to strech and off my shanty went. I was at Metro and it went almost all the way to the point before being stopped my a fisherman. I was near the jet ski launch when it happened. It spilled stuff out the whole way, broke a pole and almost took out 2 other fisherman with thier backs turned. I yelled and they moved just in time. Anyway I was running and falling after it the whole way. Think about it now its funny but when it happened man was I bummed. And its hard to run in all those articles of clothing on the ice.


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## jnpcook (Jan 19, 2000)

I started a tradition two years ago of taking my father ice fishing during the Free fishing weekend that they started in the winter. He had never ice fished before and was excited to see how it was done. We drove over to Lake St. Clair and headed out near Lago's restaurant. When we finally made it out to where the pack of shanty's were we set up. I then realized that I did not have my cell phone although I remember having it when we headed out. I walked all the way back with my fathers cell phone trying to call my number to see if I could hear it ring and also looking for the cellphone in the snow. I didn't find it and headed back to the shanty. My father then decided to try and look for it and repeated the same routine. When he finally got back to the shanty it crossed my mind that I never turned on the phone  We decided to forget about it for then and start fishing. It was quite cold that day and I do not have a heater. Instead I brought a Coleman lantern to keep us warm. I fired it up and it was nice and toasty in the shanty. I asked my dad if he smelled something burning. He said yes and then I noticed his sleeve on his winter coat had melted from coming in contact with the lantern. I was trying to keep my composure and not laugh when my dad looked over at me and said, "You might want to check your coat". I looked at my sleeve and it was melted and the down feathers were pouring out of the sleeve. Needless to say it was a trip we will never forget. We had a fun time although we didn't catch many fish. I later got a call from someone who had found my cellphone and we made arrangements for me to pick up the cellphone from him. I couldn't believe it. If you are a member of this site, thank you very much. This was about 2 years ago.

John


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## Guest (Sep 4, 2002)

To make a long story short. 

I almost drowned at Metro beach. I managed to get out, got home about 200pm, then watched the divers search for me on the 6 o'clock news.

As soon as I realized they were looking for me, I called the Macomb county sheriff. They were not very happy to say the least. It wasn't my fault, some old lady told them she seen me go under, even though I walked right past her on the way to my truck.

Oh yeah, this was on a Sunday. On Monday I was the butt of the jokes on Drew and Mike on WRIF.


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## catchem79 (Sep 3, 2002)

Several years ago a Me and a couple of guys I worked with went to Erie. It was a funny winter that year, got warm then got cold again. We went out of Brest Bay Marina. It had rained the day before but there was still a good 12 to 18 inches of ice. The ice was cracked all over the place and it seemed like everplace a few cracks came together there was a small hole going all the way through 99% of these holes were only 2 or 3 inches in diamiter. My two buddies were in front of me on a snowmobile I was on an old Honda big red three wheeler. I was trying to catch up to them and suddenly come upon one of these holes that was about 8ft. in diamiter. Of corse the ice was real slick. I couldn't stop, couldn't turn because of the slick ice. I put my feet down and was ready to bale as the nobby on the front tire caught the edge of the hole and I stopped. The water was swerling in the hole and I though about just letting the big red go and jumping back to safe ice. I loved that three wheeler almost as much I love my boat so I tryed letting off the brakes and pushing with my feet backwards to try and back out of the hole. My feet slid and the front wheel went in further. Now the frame was on the ice and I couldn't get the machine into reverse either. I think my freinds were about a half mile out by now I looked up for them and they must have realized I wasn't behind them any more and they turned around. I must say me life flashed before my eyes. Well thankfully they got back to me and pulled from behind to get me out. My one buddy was ready to go home but after I got out I was ok so we went fishing. As I recall we did pretty good too but I haven't been out on Erie ice since. I may brake down an try in this year if I here there bighting and the ice is solid allover.


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## jpollman (Jan 14, 2001)

Mike,
All I've got to say is "Been there, Done that".

SAME situation except that I was at Stoney. In fact, I think it was either Amos, Joe's Cat, or Northern Outdoorsman that said they were there that day and saw the whole thing.

I don't even venture out on the ice without my shanty achor anymore ! When it gets closer to the the season, I'll post the info on how I do it. It's quick, simple, cheap, and effective.

I HATE THE WIND !!!


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## Mike (Nov 26, 2000)

My buddy forgot his cleats. No snow on the ice, so I loaned him one of mine. Well, made it about halfway to where we were going to set-up, and I slipped. The non-cleated foot went out from under me, I landed on my posterior, and launched my lantern about twenty feet (ouch!). 

Still have the lantern, bent the handle back into shape, and replaced the globe. I carry extra cleats with me now. 

I also had to chase a shanty a few years back... Good times!

Mike


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## Fishfoote (Jan 2, 2001)

Headed out on Hubbard Lake late in the season with FishBomb and FishFactor. Ice was probably 6 to 8 inches with an equal amount of slush and water on top. We had three 180 to 200 pound guys, three portable shanties, one gear sled and one ATV. We put together the shanty/sled train, FishFactor jumps on the back rack, I jump on the front rack and Fishbomb takes the driver's position...away we go. We're cruising at what seemed like 20 mph, hydroplaining across large area of water throwing huge slush wakes in the deeper stuff, and all of a sudden we seem to be going down hill pretty quick. A flash of me being the hood ornement to a 1,000 pound, 20 foot long ice train flashes through my mind and I bail off to the left landing/rolling in about 6 inches of water and slush. FishBomb and FishFactor make it safely across the mini lake before stopping - thinking I fell off and not total sure I hadn't been run over. Outer layers soaking wet, I still managed to fish for a few hours in the warmth of my fish trap.


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## outdoorsman69 (Dec 14, 2000)

the first time I took my son we went out to saginaw bay to try to hook up on some perch. He was a real good sport about it I set up the shanty and let him sit in it while I cut a couple of holes. I got the holes cut and slid the shanty over them and started to get things situated inside. Once I got things set up inside he was anxious to get back in so I told him to sit in my chair while I got the poles and bait in. I turn out the door and right back in and what do I see? A 3 yr old up to his nuts in a hole in the ice!! Made for a real short trip. I took him the following year out on a local lake (so if he did it again wouldnt waste a tank of gas) we talked about what happened last year for a week before the trip. You guessed it he did it again! He's gonna be 8 this season he gettin better at it 4 yrs and runnin dry every time . By the way this will be his little sisters first year on the ice. o boy  

DCG


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## keyman (Aug 21, 2002)

Well two years ago ,afetr waiting and waiting we had some ice on my favorite pond here in Indiana. However it wasnt but a couple of inches so ,since Im a big ole boy I desided to take my little jon boat and fish out of it ( just in case ). It was going great, I was catching fish and having a ball.......until the sun came out. Well a little more cant hurt then I'll leave ,I thought. After a few more fish the next thing I knew the boat was in the water.No problem ...I'll take the oars and push myself back on the ice............nope. I spent the next two hours busting the ice with my spud all the way to the bank !! It sure can melt fast.


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## riverboy (Mar 20, 2002)

I was shivering on the river in Saginaw Walleye fishing. I didnt have my portable shanty with me I was just sitting on my old sled. The tank on my heater went dry. So I screwed the old tank off and tried putting on a new one. My fingers were extremly cold I was fumbling around screwing the new tank on,the heater part slipped out of my hand and of course it you guess it. My mr heater fell right in the hole. and sank to the bottom. My buddy seen the whole thing happen. He fell off his bucket rolling around on the ice laughing his ass off. I didnt find it as funny then but now its a pretty good laugh!


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## sfw1960 (Apr 7, 2002)

It was one of those nice warm 40 degree thawing days about ten years ago...
I was with a good friend in Kent county we attempted to get on McGavin lake (10-14" ice) , a small dark water private lake for some big ,juicy crappies... after walking thru the swamp & getting to the "edge" of the lake , I place one foot out onto the "shelf" & bounce my fad @$$ a few times , which resulted in a nice knee high 'soaker'...GRRR!.... I say "F*%# this !! lets go!" ... so we go back thru the swamp (which was flexing & sponging as we walked out to the lake...) as we are about halfway to the road I hear behind me SPLOOOSH!!! as my buddy Donovan is almost gargling black smelly goo & up to his waist ... mmmm... kinda pissed!!!
We jump into the truck & start down 6 mi. Rd and suddenly he blurts out , McCarthy's gotta be good (no swamp to swim thru!) , so I figger... WTH...we're already wet & it's fairly warm... WHAT THE H&[[ was I thinkin'??
The shelf is broke away from shore... but pretty thick... 
I stretch my DRY leg out & step into the water a lil bit.....
BOING , BOING , BOING... SOAKER NUMBER TWO!!!!! 
[email protected] [email protected] [email protected]!!!! ... BOTH boots chock full O' water!!!
So my bud Donovan says.... I'll just use one of these here 12 foot rental boats & slide 'er onto the shelf... WE CAN GET OUT THERE!!!!
He procedes to push one of the liveries 12 ft. boats out onto the shelf with an oar & smiles broadly , throwing a "flex" with both arms as if he's a world class weight lifter , showing off for the camera.....VICTORY!!!!!
nope.... KERSPLOOOOSH!!! The whole dang boat plummets thru the foot thick ice & he loses his balance on the way , missing the gunnel with his hand as he is on his way to certain pain he falls as I watch his whole arm plunge into the crunchy icy treat awaiting him... KEWHAAAM!!! his armpit STOPS him from a complete @$$ soaking !!!!
BOY!! he was in pain , but I couldn't help but laugh... we were STOOPID to even try that trick a second time... live & learn , or die tryin' I aways say....LOL
 Robert


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## The Whale (Jan 12, 2001)

A Group of five of us rented a cabin on Munuscong one year during the ice season. Of course, can't control the weather which for our luck turns out to be about 10 degrees with a 25 MPH wind !!! Damn cold, ya know. We get all our gear loaded on a couple four wheelers and a snow machine towing a few sleds and head out across the bay. White out, I mean you can't see ANYTHING. Cruising along and I'm riding on a sled with gear being pulled by the snowmobile when we hit a "slushpond". Holy crap ! Thought we were going threw for a minute. Freaked me out. Stuck but good. Everyone on the quads were laughing at us and wouldn't come into the slush to help us out. Two of us, now soaking wet and starting to freeze up solid, finally get the sled moving and get out of the "pond". Too far from shore to go back for dry clothes, did not have a clue where we were on the ice, so screw it !, set up the shanty, get the heater going right away, and start peeling off layers of now frozen solid clothing to begin drying out. Looked like a Chinese laundry in that shanty, steam rolling out everywhere, hilarious. All of a sudden, we start to hear what we think are gunshots ! Turns out to be the soda pops we brought were now EXPLODING from the severe cold outside the shanty. Too stupid to leave them out there, so we bring them in. Yep, kept on exploding now inside the shanty from thawing too fast. Damn, what a trip. Can't wait to do it again !!!


Whale


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## keyman (Aug 21, 2002)

I am glad to see Iam in good company.This has been great. LOL The stuff we'll go though trying to have a good time.


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## Tattoo Mike (Jan 7, 2002)

Yea it kinda fakes you feel less dumb when you see so many other people do stuff like you do. thanks for sharing guys.


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## Tattoo Mike (Jan 7, 2002)

Just wanted to bump it back up and see if anyone has anything to add.


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## ESOX (Nov 20, 2000)

Easter Break, 1978. Drove my trusty '71 Demon out on Anchor Bay to do a bit of fishing. Several hours later, it's getting dark and we are heading back in. All of a sudden my buddy screams "STOP!!!!" I slam on the brakes, and we stop about 20' short of a 4' gap in the ice. Cruise up and down for miles, no luck finding solid ice to shore. I went out on the lake about 3/4 of a mile and got up to about 80 mph. We hydroplaned across the gap. On the other side we spun for what seemed like forever, and came to rest about 200 feet from a breakwall. Guy behind me who saw what I did tried it in a pickup. No luck, he nose dived in about 2 1/2' of water. That was the last time I ever drove a car on the Bay.


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## Banditto (Jun 9, 2000)

Fishing on Houghton lake a long long time ago. Used sleds to fish off of, mine without lights. So before it gets too dark we decided to head back because I had no running lights. 

I know the lake pretty darn good, so does my buddy--he has a resort near Funland. So we are going 60mph towards home when all of a sudden I am looking at a light from shore. In my mind a light bulb goes off. Well if that light is straight in front of me, we are now heading straight for the pressure crack which at that point had who knows how much open water--the most I ever saw 60 feet? Who knows. As soon as I thought of that my buddies helmet whips back towards me and I see the fear in his eyes. He throttles up to 80mph, and I follow his lead. Just as soon as we did that I look down and nothing but black open water--water splashing up everywhere.

Couldn't tell when the water ended and the ice began again. We were full throttle and hauling ass toward safe ground. 

How long did we run over open water? Felt like minutes...


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## bigcountrie1 (Oct 27, 2002)

About 25 years ago my dad took me fishing on a lake near fremont MI. You had to go down quite a hill to get to it. We had all our stuff in one of those little plastic sleds for kids. (probably mine at the time.) Anyway, we got set up and the fish weren't biting too well. Dad decided to move around a little and try to find some fish. There was little 9 yr old me fishing like a big man all by myself while dad was moving around. Now my father was prone to keep a bottle of snow-snake medicine in his box and I decided that if it kept him warm on the inside it would me too! By the time dad got back to where I was I had about half the bottle gone and was laying on the ice with my line all over it and jigging my bobber up and down in my hole calling "here fishy, fishy, fishy." The part that dad wasn't impressed with was that he had to pour me into that little plastic sled and drag me up that big hill. Then go back and get our equipment. He really wasn't impressed when he got me home and mom figured out what was up! I think he paid for it the rest of the winter!


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## koby (Jul 20, 2001)

Last year i experienced HYPOTHERMIA for the first and last time

IT IS NOT FUN!!!

I had 6 layers up top, 4 layers of pants, 2 hats and 2 pair of socks in decent boots

My buddy and I began fishing at daybreak and the temp was about 30, and a west wind began to blow, and blow hard. We had a shanty set up with heat, but even in 30 mph winds and the temperature plunging, i never used it....BECAUSE I WAS RIPPIN EM UP, and my buddy, sitting smartly in the shanty had zip.

After about 3 hours of sitting back to the wind, a strange, almost euphoric feeling overtook me...it was as if i was high as a kite, like an opiate high if youve ever experienced it, and the sky seemed crisp and clearer than ever...and i couldnt figure out for the life of me why i was taking the deepest, easiest breaths ive ever taken

AND THEN IT HIT

my heart began to flutter, i felt it stop for a second, speed up rapidly then slow down again, and my breathing became even deeper and then it went back to normal....for about a minute

then the really scary part....the entire left side of my body went numb and i thought for sure i was right then and there having a stroke....i immediately went to my buddy in the shanty and told him i thought i was having a stroke (not having hypothermia before, i did not realize the symptoms)...and we walked about a mile to his house

i really thought id NEVER make it to his house and thought for sure i was going to collapse!!!

but i made it (obviously)

we took my temperature.....a nip under 95, like 94.7....apparently, IF YOUR INTERNAL TEMPERATURE DROPS BELOW 94, you go into SHOCK and its hospital time

it was close, but a hot shower, a bowl of soup and 4 cups of super hot tea, and the symptoms slowly subsided....the rest of the day i felt like i had been run over by a truck

im 35 and i love fishing, but after that experience, im now unwilling to almost die for the perch or walleye!!!

IF YOURE OUT THERE THIS SEASON PLEASE BE AWARE OF THE POSSIBILITIES!


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## Banditto (Jun 9, 2000)

bigcountrie1 laughing my arse off. Thinking about my kids would do the exact same thing--gotta keep that part in mind for my little trouble makers.


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## Dead Bird (Oct 2, 2001)

first ice allways makes me remember the trip to the raft for some gills and perch.... 

there was one guy out so I said "self this must be safe".... jump off the boat docks and off to catch fish...

I set up by the guys and start pounding the gills... two guys pull up and see us catching fish... they promptly head out... but they never make it out... the first guys goes in after jumping onto the ice his buddy than goes in trying to help him... two guys in the water... bad really bad... people at the raft see and call the fire dept...

15 min later all is good but the ice at the docks is all busted up because of the rescue... every place we tried getting off was open water or really thin ice... 

the fire dept is just waiting for us to see if we would be next.... we picked what we thought was the shallow part... in we went holding our buckets high... that was the coldest ten yards I can remember... never went in over much over my waist but it was plenty cold.... drove home in my underwear with the heat on high... 

Is there ice yet... LOL


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## stelmon (Sep 21, 2000)

I USE to ice fish but haven't in a long time because of no interest but when I did, I have quite the experiance one time. It was a boyscout trip on a lake near us. I beg and beg my dad to come. I brough my best friend and he brought his shanty and all his ice fishing gear because we had none. It was really really windy that day. We tried setting up the shanty but everytime we did, it blew away. So here everyone is, either with anchored down shantys or just sitting there. Eventually we gave up and fished for an hour and said screw it. 

My dad also had an experiance when he was younger. I believe he was out on houghton lake. I don't know if he was ice fishing or if he was out there for fun. He said he was doing 60 across the lake when he seen a big open part of water. He knew if he slammed on the breaks, he would slide under. So he gas it harder and hydroplaned across and made it through. He still would take one of those out on the ice 

As far as ice fishing though, people always ask me, so you going to do a little ice fishing this year. They ask me why and I just tell him I have no interest in it. I would like to get back into it, but the ice needs to be real safe. People also have to be catching fish or it just get's real boring for me. 

Anyways, who wants to fish for ice jk


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## Gone Fishing (Jul 31, 2001)

Icefishermen.......definitely not playing with a full deck! I have also proven that our maker did not intend for us to walk on water! Hey guys, boats float. Sleds, trucks, ATV's, and icefishermen don't! See where I'm going with this? OK, I'll lay off. Have fun and we'll see ya in the Spring!


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## Timdog (May 15, 2001)

My brother and I were doing some early season tip-up fishing on a small W. Michigan lake. It was cold so we weren't worried about ice it was thin but stiff. As we were walking back towards shore he commented on going thru. I told him I wasn't worry because I was walking in his tracks and I'd know to stop before I followed him thru. No more then said that and thru I went it was only 4' so all I had was a long cold walk. Another time we were out on Muskegon Lake and a guy jumped down on the ice from the GT docks. Thru he went with a small child in his arms. The kid was dressed in a little snow suit so he bobbed like a bobber. Lucky for him we had just stepped of the ice tent. He pushed the child out on the ice then we threw him a rope and pulled him out. Last I seen him he was headed to the car with a pretty relieved look. I always carry a 100' rope and float cushion out on the ice reguardless of ice thickness. Be safe everyone


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## eyeskater (Dec 26, 2000)

Two stories:

I was fishing a local lake many years ago using tip-ups and live chubs, along with about six other guys. We had all walked out to our areas, which were about half a mile from the parking lot. Suddenly, one guy heads for shore in a hurry complaining of abdominal cramps. About 3/4 of the way there we see him start shucking off his coat and coveralls in a big panicky hurry. He squats down and drops a pile on the ice just in the nick of time. Obviously relieved some, he starts to stand up and move away....instead he slips once, twice, and down he flops right into the goodies. Poor guy had to ride home with himself too.

Walleye fishing on Saginaw Bay many years ago in early February. We had found fish and worked on them for a couple days, about 3.5 miles out of Linwood area. A huge wind came up in the middle of the day, mostly blowing out of the N-NW. About 4pm we noticed that no other anglers were coming out, so we got worried and packed it in for the day. About 1.5 miles out we found what we feared - a 100 foot wide crack that stretched as far as we could see (miles) in both directions. The water was absolutely black except for the chopping whitecaps on top. We rode along the crack for about 2.5 miles, heading south, and the crack worked its way ever closer to shore. Eventually, we spotted the Coast Guard with a rescue boat on shore. They were signalling us to stop and let them "rescue" us, but we declined. We knew we'd be leaving $6,000 each in gear behind, and by now we were only 150 yards from shore. We eventually found an ice jam in the crack and rode the quads across to safety. The Guard questioned us about how we made it in and whether others were out there, then we buzzed it back to the trucks. This situation taught me more than I can relate here, but I always remember the day we stayed too long.

eyeskater


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## jpollman (Jan 14, 2001)

eyeskater,

Thanks for the GOOD LAUGH ! I needed it this Monday morning.
That's about the BEST story on this thread. I've still got tears in my eyes from laughing so hard.  I can just visualize what that must have looked like. I really don't blame anybody from making him ride home ALONE !


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## Steely-Head (Dec 2, 2001)

eyeskater that first story had me in tears!


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## QuackerStacker (Nov 21, 2001)

I have two painful stories related to over indulgence of whiskey and ice fishing. During my early college years, a bunch of us guys that worked at the local sporting goods store had an ice fishing outing. Well, the fishing stunk, and it turned out to be a great day to get loaded. One of the guys catches a perch of about 5" long, and I remember that I have no money for the bar afterword. Anyway, the guys pitch in and I swallowed the perch whole. Pretty soon, a whole crowd of bored fisherman are surrounded around me and I'm sucking down live perch right and left. Ended up w/ plenty of bar money (think it was about $80).

Last year, a buddy and myself went to a local lake. Once again the fishing was slow and the whiskey goes down quick when its cold. Well I'm on my bucket all this time, and it starts to get dark and it's time to go. I stand up and find out just how drunk I really am. During the mile walk back to the truck my buddy had to hold on to my elbow since I had fallen about 20 times, broke my flasher, and nearly my nose (blacked out momentarily then). Proceeded to vomit all over myself. To add insult to injury, he had a limit of big gills. I can't remember seeing him catch a single one.


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## salmonslammer (Jan 28, 2001)

Having ice fished for 30 yrs now, I ve got quite a few, but here is a short one. Mount P Gary and I were fishing the saginaw river for eyes during the last few days of the season. We had caught a couple but not anything of great size. Having been in the shanty all day, I suggested that we try to do some hole hopping as twillight set in. We had been outside about 15 min when Gary gives a fish on yell. I reel my rig in and head over to where he is with the gaff. As I get there I hear his drag taking off. We both have 8# line so I figure that it is a decent fish. After about 10 min of line disappearing under the ice I suggest that he tighten the drag a couple of bumps. Right on! that stops the fish from running. After another 20 min of gaining line, trying to get the stupid lantern to fire and estimating the weight on the behemouth walleye that has been suckered by our tactics, the swivel pops up through the hole. OK now I'm up. I've seen alot of fish lost at the hole and pitty the fool holding the gaff. All right two feet to the fish so I get the gaff in position and set the hook......Onto the ice flops a 16#.................shoppingbag!!!!! Some how his jig had hooked the handle (it was the plastic kind) and the bag had opened up and had become a big drift anchor!! Laughed about that till the tears froze to our face!!!
This is my daughters first year of Ice fishing so I'm sure she will be the focus of many stories this year...........ALMOST TIME!!!!


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## Tattoo Mike (Jan 7, 2002)

Well with all the new members we have got recently. I was wondering if anyone had a new story to add yet.


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## scottyhoover (Dec 24, 2002)

I had a scary experience in the wind yesterday on the saginaw river. I saw one guy, a very large guy at that, go tumbling head over heals in his shappell while he flew downriver, with the shanty acting as a sail. His friend was clinging to the side and still couldn't stop him, as the ice was like glass. There was another shanty fishing next to that guy, and he also went for a big ride. They didn't stop till they hit the shoreline by ojibway. So I foolishly anchored my shappell to the ice and I still got so scared my legs were shaking, so I hauled @ss and got out of there, in a hurry. I shoulda listened closer to that guy when he said get off the ice......scary stuff. Stay off the river when the gusts are that strong and they are coming from straight south or north...right up the gut.


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## buckslayermichigan (Jan 7, 2003)

yeah i gotta lot of them mostly funny but this one wasnt. went out walleye fishing on the sag. bay didnt have a machine so i walked out about 3/4 of a mile it was spring and the fish were in shallow. caught a small one it was getting dark so i decided to start walking in. a guy on a four wheeler with his daughter stopped and asked if i wanted a ride in so i said yes big mistake. the only place i could sit was on the front rack and i had both hands full with my spud ,bucket, and bait so i couldnt hang on anywhere. and he couldnt see very well with me on the front. so he takes off way to fast for a guy whos just sitting there with nothing to hold onto. well you guessed it he hit someones hole from earlier and i went flying it was like slow motion when it happened im trying to get rid of stuff in mid air to catch myself on the ice didnt work, i landed right on my head all i remember is seeing a flash of stars. when i came to he was standing over me asking if i was alright. no i wasnt i couldnt see out of my left eye. i finally got back to my car and i could see alittle better but not good after about a week it cleared up but it would black out on me every once in a while for the next 3 years i finally had to go in and get a cat skan done not an enjoyable experience. they didnt find anything wrong and it hasnt blacked out in about a year. i didnt go to the doctor because of no ins. at the time stupid i know. just thought i would share this. next one will be funny. be safe buckslayermichigan


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## TeamPolarisracing (Nov 7, 2002)

those are all great storys


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## leapin lunker (Jan 13, 2003)

On another post I wrote of our first ice fishing trip after moving to Michigan - St. Clair Shores. Well, we had never fished the ice in the wind and in fact this was maybe our fourth time ever on the ice. We have a dock that juts out 70 feet into the water and during 1996 the water was maybe 5 feet deep at the end. It is a great launching place for our ice adventures in that you only had to step down the ladder two rungs to be on the ice. 

So, we get prepared to truck our stuff to the dock and we notice it is pretty windy, but nevertheless we are determined to go. When we get out off the shore about 300 feet or so, we begin to set up our shanty. I am inside pushing the telescoping poles into place and she is on the outside getting the gear ready to offload into the tent. Well, as I am pushing up the poles the wind catches the opeing of the tent and I take off like a sail boat toward the main body of the lake. Donna has jumped on the sled part of the shanty and is digging her boots into the ice in an attempt to slow me down. We probably slid 100 yards or so, it seemed longer, before the gust died and the sled stopped. All this time I am enclosed inside the tent and can't see out. Once stopped I pop out and look around but don't see Donna anywhere. I call out and hear a muffled cry, but looking around I still don't see her. As it happened, she was hanging onto the sled part of the shanty and once the wind gust died and we slowed to a stop the shanty spun around and the loose tenting had enveloped her. She was completely buried and I had to unfold her out of it. 

We hurriedly closed the shanty up before another gust could catch it and walked it back to our equipement while laughing at ourselves. Unbeknown to us an old timer was sitting on his ice bucket several hundred feet away and was having a hard time staying upright from his laughter. Once we got back to the dock we opened a few beers and dug a hole next to the pilings where we were safe.

Rookies we were, but are no longer.


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## Garret (Aug 2, 2002)

I was about 12 years old ice fishing Walnut Lake with a friend. We set up for spearing pike and had just closed off the shanty and started focusing on the 2' x 4' hole. After about 15 minutes I was in that daze...You know the one...where your super quite and so relaxed it's almost mesmerizing. Totally focused on spotting anything coming into the hole. That's when It happened!

A Muskrat shot into our hole at lightening speed and I screamed out...beaver!...
beaver!!!...BEAVER!!!!! The muskrat came in wearing this scary smile on his rat like face. We jumped up, freaking out as the water rat disappeared out of sight. This was the first of three such episodes of muskrat swimming into our spearing hole over the next few years. Every time, beaver!...beaver!!!...BEAVER!!!!! The third time ended in muskrat acupuncture. He wasn't fast enough to outrun my buddy's good aim. His father offered to cook it up for us. I have to be honest, It tasted like crap. 

We still joke about the smile on that muskrat's face and me screaming out beaver!...beaver!!!...BEAVER!!!!!


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## William H Bonney (Jan 14, 2003)

I can't remember who posted it, but it was recent 

About the coleman heater catching on fire and handing to your buddy and saying "here, do something with this".

About 6 years ago that SAME EXACT thing happen to me and a buddy on Walled Lk. 

I'm talkin word for word the exact same words came out of my mouth!

The only difference was our shanty zippers were frozen shut and we couldn't get out.

So what does my buddy do?: shuts off the gas


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## ultradennis (Oct 22, 2002)

Thanks for sharing the funny stories. I was ROTFLMA! Still am actually and will again when I read them tonight for a good chuckle!

-ultradennis


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## Tattoo Mike (Jan 7, 2002)

Yeah thats why I dug the post abck out. There are a ton of funny stories on here. Also from a few guys I know what NOT to do now. LOL


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## Fidel Casserole (Jan 3, 2003)

I posted this a few weeks back under a different thread...so my apologies if this isn't new to you!
--------------------------------------------
I was out fishing New Years day 2003 on the north lake at Stoney Creek with a couple of friends. Got out of the clam jr shanty when a buddy had a flag go up on his tip up. 

Low and behold a large gust popped up and managed to jerk the shanty around enough to pop it off of the anchor right after I get to his tip up. I took off running after it, lost a cleat, took a fall, but the thing was just too fast to catch. At this point I realize I can't catch it so I stop running. All was looking well as the shanty zooms towards the south shore. Just as the thing is about to land on shore it gets stuck in the wind tunnel caused by the opening in the south shore, for the dam. I decide I better start running again and also notice 2 cars on the park road watching the show. Sure enough the shanty takes a left and goes right into the open water above the dam and begins to float away. 

Forgetting that the dam was there I walk over the road to get to the other side and to my surprise....I see my shanty still floating, after dropping about 10 - 20 feet. It wasn't looking good though because the shanty was going to have to float about 100 yards of open water before reaching ice. I think if I had left both floor boards in the thing would have floated all the way to land or ice. So the thing is listing badly, as water was pouring in through my fishing hole, I'm panicking about how I will get the thing. 

Luckily for me the thing floated close to shore so I was able to wade out and grab the thing before it sunk to the bottom. To my surprise what I thought was knee high water ended up being chest high. So there I am...swimming with my shanty trying to get it back to shore as in takes in water thru the fishing hole. Thankfully one of the gawkers got out and helped me pull it to shore. He asks me where my car is and tells me I better run back to it. 

Ever try to run in soaked boots and clothes? lol That lasted about 10 yards...max!! Unfortunately my car was parked about 1/3 to 1/2 mile away so it made for a hell of a walk. I literally had to remind myself not to stop for fear of not making it back.

Spent the next 30 minutes dressed in nothing but my undies while driving around the park to warm my car up. Good thing a ranger didn't stop me! lol After realizing my (so called) fishing buddy isn't going to check on me, I put my boots pants and shirt back on and drive over to pick my shanty up.

At the end of the day I lost my heater and a couple of shanty poles but I did recover my reclining coleman chair and the 2 books I had brought out.


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## sfw1960 (Apr 7, 2002)

Fidel ,
No fun there!!!
I was going to remind "US" about Tom , Bill & myself - the great perch and fire adventure!
http://www.michigan-sportsman.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=30196&highlight=the+secret+spot 

http://www.michigan-sportsman.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=30550&highlight=on+fire 

That dang stove has a history!!!!!


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## Ed Michrina (Dec 25, 2002)

At the time I have only been ice fishing a few years. Me and my buddy went out on a budget ice fishing trip. He picked up a 32 oz beer cuz that all the money he had. So I being the nice guy looked for the cheep beer and bought a case of Bush beer. Well the ice was slick and we walked 3/4 of a mile out at Metro. We set up the shanty drilled the holes and started to fish. Just before I was ready to reach under my seat for a nice cold one. my buddy looks under my seat at my case of beer and asked a question that I didn't want to hear " What does the N.A. stand for on your bush. You got it Non Alcohol Beer  Well on went the coat and 2 hrs later I arrived back at my shanty with the best beer my credit card would buy.


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## Connor4501 (Dec 15, 2003)

Ed Michrina said:


> At the time I have only been ice fishing a few years. Me and my buddy went out on a budget ice fishing trip. He picked up a 32 oz beer cuz that all the money he had. So I being the nice guy looked for the cheep beer and bought a case of Bush beer. Well the ice was slick and we walked 3/4 of a mile out at Metro. We set up the shanty drilled the holes and started to fish. Just before I was ready to reach under my seat for a nice cold one. my buddy looks under my seat at my case of beer and asked a question that I didn't want to hear " What does the N.A. stand for on your bush. You got it Non Alcohol Beer  Well on went the coat and 2 hrs later I arrived back at my shanty with the best beer my credit card would buy.


Ed, I'm almost on the ground LMAO... :lol:


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## mikenyo (Dec 20, 2004)

I went out this Sunday on Houghton Lake with my son and dad. The day started out pretty good, caught a pike on a slammer within about 30 minutes of getting set up. Shortly after sitting back down in the shanty I got a call on the cell phone to see how things were going. Ignoring my dad advising otherwise, after the call I set the phone on a shelf and went back to fishing. After about 10 minutes I stood up to stretch my legs, bumped the phone and it fell on my lap. I jumped in the seat, tried to grab the phone and knocked it on the floor. Bent over to pick up the phone, bumped with my big foot and off it goes - bullseye, straight into the ice hole!!! SON of a B----!!!
Naturally I had to hear remarks the rest of the day like "if we call your phone maybe the fish will answer and tell us when they are going to start biting"

By the way, not another bite for the rest of the day!!


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## AeroSmythy (Jan 8, 2005)

About fifteen years ago I took my girlfriend (now my wife) ice fishing on Indianwood Lake where my folks lived. She loves to fish and is just a tad bit competative. We were out about noon. It was a beautiful sunny day with the temperature about 32 degrees. We were just fishing on 5 gal. buckets catching the occasional gill and perch. Seems I was having a little better luck than her this day so she was not very happy. She said that's OK I'm going to catch the biggest one and make all your "runts" look silly. (Yea, OK). A few minutes later she starts getting a bite. I look over and her rod is bent over pretty good. She has her head right over the hole anticipating pulling up her lunker when out pops a muscrat. :yikes: She screams bloody murder and falls backwards off her bucket. I fall off mine laughing until I had tears in my eyes. Now she's really U-P-S-E-T and calling me everything except the son of God. We settle back down and get back to fishing I'm still trying to control my chuckles while she's still cussing me in low tones when I get a bite. (Oh, great she says, just rub it in). I just smile and reel when out comes the same muscrat!! Now I'm on my butt off the back of the bucket and she got the biggest, and last, laugh. :evil:


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## stampman (Dec 30, 2003)

Just last weeks fishing trip to LBDN on a windy day. A gust of wind knock my propane heater over heading for the canopy of my fish trap. As I drove for the heater, I knock my box of lures right in the fishing hole.( about $ 200.00 worth). I reach in the hole about 8 in. into the water to save the lure box. My big foot hit my new Shimano reel and rod in the other hole. Heater in one hand lure box in the other.I had to say good bye the rod an reel. If I only had a third hand.


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## Whitetail_hunter (Mar 14, 2012)

Bump, gotta be some new good story's.


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## 7mmsendero (Dec 2, 2010)

Funny, I always wear a life jacket under my carhart. Great back support and warm. One day I'm fishing with a good friend last ice. Walleye are staging, and we limit out in 30-45 minutes. I finish first, so go sit with my friend in his 2 man. He's got the heater going, so I unzip my carhart. He sees the life jacket and says "life jacket, what the heck? Are we safe?" I'm pretty sure he was genuinely scared. 

Scariest, which is why I wear the life jacket, I almost walked into an open pressure crack when there was no snow on the ice. It was still dark, calm morning, everything looked the same, and my cleats saved me from going in.


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## K-zoo (Jul 19, 2008)

This was back in the early 1980's, Swan Lake, Allegan County. My buddies Dad had a place on the lake and we would fish it almost every weekend for specs and pike. His Dad had a single man home made wood shanty that he would pull out when we were there. There were 3-4 of us in our group all running tip ups. My buddies sister came out later with her boyfriend Rick. He started to set up tip ups and must have set about 6-8 of them for the two of them. Back then you were only allowed 2 lines in the water. The old man, a seasoned veteran, saw what was happening and told Rick he might want to pull some of those lines because the C.O. was known to check people there quite often. Rick blew it off and said it would be O.K. A little while later the old man pulls his binoculars out of the shanty to check flags and sees the Man in Green (back when they wore the green Refrig-I-Wear suits) coming across the lake from the boat landing. He gets to us and check our licenses and starts counting tip ups. Something doesn't add up. He asked each one of us what ones belonged to who so we showed him. Rick was the last guy standing, the C.O. wrote him a ticket for too many lines. We laughed so hard we were crying. Rick got so mad at us that when he pulled his lines he didn't even reel in the line, just pulled everything up and slammed them into his bucket and took off. The lines were all tangled and frozen in a mess in that bucket. We still laugh about it to this day!
Good times!


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## Michael Wagner (Jul 17, 2007)

My buddy & I used to bet on the Lions and if they would make it to the playoffs, loser paid for an icefishing trip up north for Super Bowl week end. We were fishing south end of Big Bradford lk (it`s a very, very long lake) he stepped out of his shanty to holler at me he was catching perch and his shanty took off in the wind, he started chasing it about 100 yards out it started barrel rolling with him still chasing it, as they went out of sight I was laughing and tears were rolling till I realized lunch and beers were in his shanty. He had to come back and get the truck keys go to the other end and get it. His heater was on, he had 2 paper plate size holes melted into it and we had to duct tape 2 tree limbs to the poles that got bent. We don`t bet on the Lions anymore they became a bigger joke than the shanty ordeal.


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## perchyanker (Jan 26, 2011)

Can't believe I never seen this thread before.......I notice almost all these stories involve the wind and never had a hole shanty go sailing but, had a chair go about 100 yards last year just as I reached a big group of people on the lake and was kinda embarrassing. Here is a ice fishing story that don't involve the wind.

15-20 years ago me and a buddy were fishing a canal in Grosse lle and had a old blue tarp type shanty that only opened on 1 side. Think we caught a few small perch and brought some left over pizza with us. So we eat the pizza and just toss the crust outside the door the shanty and fish on for a little and then my buddy decides to step out for a minute. So he steps out and with momentum and the clumsy ness of bulky boots and many layers he is like 1 foot out the door in mid air and 1 still in the shanty he notices what I say is still the biggest opossum I have ever seen eating that pizza crust so he is like already committed to stepping out and is in mid conversation and I hear "OH MY GOD!!! as he steps over it and i jump up to figure out what is going on and he turned that step into a somersault followed into like a 30 yard i'm on fire roll. The opossum never moved from 6 inches from the door of the shanty but it scared the crap out of him. So now i am in the shanty now and the opossum sits right at the door snarling playing opossum with nothing to back him up with and I am in no way stepping over this thing on purpose. So i am trying to get my buddy to grab the auger and use it to push him away fro the door so i could get out but he wasn't having no part of it and would not get closer then 10 yards from it. After poking at it a few times with my ice scoop I start to worry about pissing him off and coming in the shanty so I decide I'm gonna kick it. So i clear a corner to corner in the shanty and start practicing a 3 step kick and practicing and practicing because I was worried about what was gonna happen after I made contact with it. Because the way the door was it had no idea it was coming and actually kicking the flapping door into him. So after about another 10 minutes of lining this kick up I finally went for it and it went about 5 feet and continued to do the same thing but allowed me to get out of the shanty now and after a little motivation with the auger it ran back into the woods.


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## Thirty pointer (Jan 1, 2015)

While fishing in the dark at the power plant in the soo a king salmon started jumping .It had an eel stuck on it and my wife says it going to jump in the boat .As she says this it jumped one more time and landed in our bass Tracker .A 15 lb salmon that has not been hooked puts up quite a fight in the bottom of the boat .


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## jpcnorthwood (Mar 17, 2008)

I'm from Texas and we don't ice fish in Texas. I've been in Michigan for 14 years now and my 2nd winter I decided I'd try ice fishing. I waited until February because I was scared of falling through the ice. I only possessed knowledge of ice fishing I could learn from the Internet. So I find a spot that a few people were on and slowly walked out on the ice. I'm sure I looked like a fool tiptoeing my way out on ice a foot thick. I drilled a hole and started fishing fairly near an old man because I figured he would know what to do if anything was to go wrong. After about 30 minutes the lake lets loose the loudest pressure crack I've ever heard and I must of jumped about 10 feet up off my bucket. The old guy thought it was funny and reassured me the ice was fine and it was a noise that you hear and something to get used to. Each consecutive pop the ice made I jumped a little less but it took a few years to feel safe out there.


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## MISTURN3 (Jan 3, 2012)

not my story but one a buddy told me......4 friends drove from Jackson to Saginaw Bay years ago......drove a few miles out on the bay and they pull out the auger......blades were on backwards, no tool to fix it with, guy who drove (and whose auger it was) was so pissed about them giving him a hard time, packed his things and drove home - talk about a long ride for nothing.......


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## xhoosiericeman (Dec 13, 2016)

Last week I drove 1 hour to selfridge...and forgot my auger. I found one hole and jumped in another guys after he left...one time I bought the nicest ice rod and reel ever I paid 60 for it. I drilled my hole dropped my jiggin rap down jigged it a couple times set it on the ice to get something and bam pike dragged the rig under water fished all of 15 seconds with it


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## PerchPatrol (Mar 31, 2006)

I was ice fishing and drinking beer on Grand Lake 20 yrs ago. A friendly dog from one of the houses on the shorecame along and hung around us for a couple of hours.
Fishing was slow, so when I finally got a flag on the tip-up, I ran over there excitedly, followed by the dog.

I pulled up the tip-up and removed the 24" pike & tossed it onto the ice.

The dog promptly picked up the pike (small dog, so the head and tail were dragging) and raced towards shore.

I ran after the dog, slipping and sliding, falling on my a&% all the way to the shore. The dog ran up the porch steps of a house & dropped the pike in front of the door. I ran up to the door to grab the fish & scared the older woman out of her wits who had just opened the door to let the dog in. She thought I was some kind of a lunatic until I showed her the pike.

My buddy was rolling all over the ice laughing at the whole mess. I even think the dog was laughing at me!

Now that I am older and wiser, I would have let the dog have it!


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## Pugetsound (Feb 5, 2002)

Not an ice fishing story but close enough. I took my son about 7 and his friend trout fishing opening day on a local lake in Seattle. The water was about 40 degrees and we were on a fishing dock without rails. My son was all set up so he stepped back while I was helping his freind. I hear a swoosh, turn around, and saw the top of my son's head in the water. I pretty much dove , grabbed his hair, and heaved. Once back on the dock and making sure there weren't any other issues, I told him he had a freebie. He looked at me and said f**k that was cold. His poor friend who would never be allowed a freebee by his parents was in awe. They wanted to try to keep fishing but it only last about 10 more minutes.



outdoorsman69 said:


> the first time I took my son we went out to saginaw bay to try to hook up on some perch. He was a real good sport about it I set up the shanty and let him sit in it while I cut a couple of holes. I got the holes cut and slid the shanty over them and started to get things situated inside. Once I got things set up inside he was anxious to get back in so I told him to sit in my chair while I got the poles and bait in. I turn out the door and right back in and what do I see? A 3 yr old up to his nuts in a hole in the ice!! Made for a real short trip. I took him the following year out on a local lake (so if he did it again wouldnt waste a tank of gas) we talked about what happened last year for a week before the trip. You guessed it he did it again! He's gonna be 8 this season he gettin better at it 4 yrs and runnin dry every time . By the way this will be his little sisters first year on the ice. o boy
> 
> DCG


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## LynnCartwright (Jan 8, 2017)

Here's a funny one. My now husband, moved up here from Oklahoma. We were just starting to get our ice fishing gear together. We were up at the local bait store ( Anderson Pro Bait in Port Huron), trying to pull all our supplies together. My husband, being a friendly guy, starts talking to a couple younger guys. He tells them, we got everything but a shanty. These nice guys tell him "well, why don't you come out with us tonight". I should have prefaced this by saying my husband is not a small guy..6'4" and at that time about 300lbs. So I thought this was a really grand gesture on there part. So, we go home and wait for the call. I can't tell you how excited David was when the call came. So off he goes to Lexington Harbor. I stayed home and waited for his return. To my surprise he was home about 40 minutes later. I figured the guys never showed. Not the case, they were there as promised. The shanty wasn't quite as large as what he expected, two man hub, which already had two men in it. They made the best of it and my husband set himself up on an bucket. The bucket was right on the bottom flap edge, so it was a precarious perch for such a large man. Needless to say, the first time he tried to move, didn't even get a line in the water over he goes, taking the shanty, minnow bucket and both men with him. They found themselves legs up on there backs, minnows everywhere. They could hear laughter coming from the other shanties...this was not missed. He was so embarrassed, it ended his fishing trip. He tod them thanks very much and left. Such a nice gesture gone awry, luckily this did not kill his desire to fish and we have our own shanty now. Thank you guys for inviting him, sorry it turned out like it did, but what a great story to tell.


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