Schiess: Falling through the ice at Henrys Lake

“How deep is the ice,” I asked Damon Keen Tuesday morning before heading out past the Hatchery.

“About 3 inches, but last weekend we had punk ice and it was not safe,” he replied.

After visiting with Keen and two other Idaho Fish and Game employees fishing near the shore, my two companions and I decided to head down the ice to the mouth of Pittsburg Creek, one of my favorite early season ice fishing spots. With the temperature hovering around zero, we passed an ice hut with two fishermen from Preston who had a large hybrid laying on the ice.

I was leading the way over water that was about three feet deep when I left the clear ice and started across a patch of snow about an inch deep covering the ice when I heard a dull crack. “That’s odd,” I thought as I continued. Two steps later the punk ice under the snow slowly gave way and I was up to my waist in the cold water.

It was the first time in 60 years of ice fishing to go through the ice and I was not prepared for the thoughts that rushed through my mind. My first thought was, “there goes my fishing trip and I’ve wasted the day.” Next was the thought of a soaked wallet and the third was to check my cell phone.

My companion just behind me saw what was happening, heard a crack and went immediately to his belly and did not get wet while the companion behind him started coming to my aid and went through the ice with one leg.

The slushy ice would not let me crawl on top until I had broken it all the way to the solid three-inch ice. Keen helped me get back to a heated cabin, took my wet clothes to his dryer as I warmed by the stove. Everyone wanted to talk about the experience, but soon left me to go out to the solid ice to fish.

“This is the latest I have ever seen the lake freeze over and the ice has still not frozen solid,” Keen explained. “Last weekend we had four people go through the ice that looked good. We need to get cold enough temperatures to drive the freezing temperatures through the snow to get the ice built up before this weekend.”

Most years see Henry’s freeze over in three or four bitter cold nights in a row. But this year saw the lake cap over on Nov. 30 with snow falling the next two days, insulating the thin ice spots hidden under the snow. As I watched the ice from the window, I noticed some of the snow patches turn from a white to a gray and then water.

“Early this morning I was tempted to go out beyond the buoy to start fishing,” said Keen. “I am sure glad I did not as I would have had to cross the snow field out there.”

Before I left, that snow field by the buoy was a dark gray indicating water seeping through the punk ice.

Some fishermen have been fishing the Goose Bay where some of the ice is now six inches deep or off the Henrys Lake State Park on four inches, but the ice around Staley Springs, the County Boat Dock and the Cliffs have been marginal at best.

Please do not take chances – ice fishing can be very enjoyable, but it can also be deadly. Had any fishermen gone through the thin ice over deeper water, it could have been more than a chilling experience.

Punks have never been good and punk ice hidden under snow can be deadly.