Atlas Twp.- A sunny, early spring day nearly turned tragic for a pair of local men.
A veteran ice fisherman and Gale Lake resident said he should not have ventured out on the ice Saturday for some late March fishing. The resident, 78, who asked not to be identified, said he headed out on the ice at about 9 a.m. and planned to fish until about noon.
‘My nephew, who is 60-years-old, came out on the ice a few hours later. We were fishing only about 60 feet off shore.?
At about 2 p.m., the lake resident decided it was time they returned to shore.
‘I stood up from my seat and picked up my bluegills scattered near my ice hole. I then walked over and helped my nephew pick up his fish too. My nephew was walking behind me a few feet, heading toward shore when he went in’it happened so fast.?
‘I was still standing on the ice and I reached back toward him with my ice spud for him to grab on to’that’s when I went in the water, too. It was about 5-feet deep where I was and I could touch bottom. My nephew was wearing a nylon jogging outfit, so he floated in a little deeper water, but his arms were still on the ice? neither one of us went under the water.?
The fishermen yelled out to some nearby neighbors to call 9-1-1. At about the same time, other neighbors came out and tried to reach the resident’s nephew using a long weed rake.
‘I was only in the lake water for about 5 minutes and my nephew was in for maybe 20 minutes before we were pulled out. We were close enough to shore that the water was pretty shallow.?
The two men were transported to Genesys Medical Center in Grand Blanc. However, they did not receive treatment.
‘We have an active muskrat den near the shore, that may have been stirring up the water making the ice weaker in the area we were walking,? said the lake resident. ‘It’s really no excuse’we should have been off the ice earlier in the day than we did.?
The lake resident said he’d like to thank his neighbors, the Atlas Township Firefighters, the first responders and the Genesee County Sheriff deputies that came to their aid during the ordeal.
After fishing for more than 70 years, the lake resident, a Mt. Pleasant, Mich. native, said this was the first time he went through the ice.
‘My father was also an ice fisherman and once speared a 28-pound Northern Pike through the ice,? he said. ‘The flesh of the fish was pink from eating so many trout’for that reason and its size my dad appeared on ‘Michigan Out-of-Doors? with Mort Neff. Now I made it on the news, too’but for a different reason.?