Anglers stranded on L. Winnipeg for 26 hours

[kickingfrog]

Link has a video.

 

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/fisherman-stranded-overnight-1.3440550?cmp=rss

 

 

A Selkirk, Man., ice fisherman wishes he had checked the weather forecast before heading to Lake Winnipeg on Sunday and getting stuck in blinding snow for 26 hours.

Joey Halldorsson and his brother-in-law Ron Berens arrived on the lake in clear weather around 7:30 a.m. Sunday.

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"Normally we check the weather and do it right. If it's going to blow on that lake, you stay off of it, but we just for some reason didn't check. We just went," said Halldorsson. "If I had known there was a blowing snow warning like that coming through, I wouldn't have even went."

He and Berens went seven kilometres offshore near Chalet Beach south of Matlock, Man.

Joey Halldorsson fishes on the Red River in summer. (Joey Halldorsson)

Less than two hours later the weather changed, Halldorsson said.

"We looked outside and you couldn't see 10, 15 feet in front of you," he said.

They thought they could wait the storm out.

"It just never let up," Halldorsson said.

The storm eased around 5 p.m., so they packed up and tried to drive through 1½-metre snowdrifts.

"We got about 50 feet away and got stuck. Then we dug it out. We got another 10 feet and got stuck. We fought our way back to the shack, got back in the shack," he said.

Joey Halldorsson and Ron Berens created a makeshift stove and cooked fish they'd caught to eat while stranded on Lake Winnipeg for 26 hours. (Joey Halldorsson)

They fried fish they had caught with a makeshift stove they built from a pan, their propane heater and a bucket. They greased the pan using a leftover sausage from a breakfast sandwich and drank melted snow.

"It was survival mode 101," he said.

The weather calmed again around 8 p.m. and they tried to drive away again, Halldorsson said.

"Another bad decision."

They got stuck again in the snowdrifts and couldn't leave their vehicle.

"Tried to get out, and it was just a wall of white," he said.

They were forced to spend the night in the truck.

"You're hearing the ice crack underneath you, and you're like, 'Oh my God.' That ice is known to open and close. It wasn't fun."

They knew there were other shacks around them, but Halldorsson said they couldn't see them in the dark with blowing snow.

"We weren't that far from the shack, because when we got [up] in the morning we looked behind us and the shack was maybe 100 feet away," he said.

Ron Berens fishes on the Red River in summer. (Joey Halldorsson)

Without chargers, Halldorsson's phone died and they relied on Berens's phone to get help. They contacted Halldorsson's sister, who called the coast guard and the Selkirk RCMP.

"They were concerned," Halldorsson said of the RCMP officer who called him. "He says, 'Maybe we'll come out in the Ski-Doo,' and we didn't feel right."

Halldorsson said he didn't want the RCMP to come out, because he didn't want to put them at risk.

"You're looking for a needle in a haystack, especially when you can only see 20 to 30 feet in front of you," he said.

The RCMP kept calling every couple of hours to check up on the men, Halldorsson said. They also called St. Andrews Towing.

"When you can't see your hood in front of you and there's ice ridges and cracks, you don't know what you're going to be driving into," said Robert Stutsky, owner of St. Andrews Towing.

Stutsky made sure they had enough fuel in their car to keep warm through the night, he said. He told them to crack a window and make sure the truck's exhaust pipe was clear of snow until his company could come in the morning.

Halldorsson and Berens sent Stutsky GPS co-ordinates, and Stutsky showed up with his track truck around 9 a.m.

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RAW: St. Andrews Towing pulls out stranded fishermen0:10

"When we got up to them there was a snow drift up to the top of their hood almost," Stutsky said.

The St. Andrews Towing track truck flattening the trail at Lake Winnipeg. (St. Andrews Towing)

He pulled Halldorsson and Berens to the shoreline, then flattened the trail out of the lake and towed them out.

It was a $700 tow.

"I was like, look, I'll give you 10 grand. Just come get me," Halldorsson said.

"It's just an eerie feeling," Halldorsson said of being stuck. "Your life flashes [before] your eyes."

Halldorsson said they should have stayed in the shack until the propane heater ran out and waited until the morning before trying to drive.

He said he will probably go ice fishing again, but next time he will check the weather and move the shack closer to the shore.

"It will be a lot more thinking, a lot more stuff involved after you get into a pickle like that," he said. "You never think about it until you're in it."

[Rod Caster]

Yikes, scary stuff.

 

This isn't nearly as bad, but once I got caught on Nipissing during a snow/wind storm with my Dad, and the worst thing we did was jump on the sled and tried to aim for home. After 20 minutes we drove by the neighboring shack, we did a full circle, but still couldn't find our shack. Eventually we found a shack with someone in it so we stopped, and as it turns out, that person was also lost and had 'broke' in!

 

Next time, I'm settling into the shack and just hunkering down.

[Rizzo]

Stranded in an ice fishing hut with heat...I can think of worse places to be stranded. Most of them involve my mother-in-law.

[Steelheadphycho]

Stranded in an ice fishing hut with heat...I can think of worse places to be stranded. Most of them involve my mother-in-law.

 

LOL!

My sentiments exactly!

[irishfield]

LOL Roger !! Stay in the hut and fish through the night.

[Old Ironmaker]

We, 2of us, got snowed in overnight in a shack on Erie 25 years back on Long Point Bay. You couldn't see 5 feet at 2 PM. No cell service, enough food and not enough Brandy. Once it got dark I knew we were in for the night, No way a sled was going to come out on the lake with 50K plus winds so loud we couldn't hear a thing with zero visibility. Once it got dark at 5 I knew we were in for the night. Knowing the wood was not going to last we kept the hut just bare able with wind chills around -25. Wood was the challenge. We knew we would run out around 2 AM then freeze to death as there was no gaurentee they could come out at dawn. The plan was to tie mono to the drawer of the short straw and make a run to the shack about 50 feet west of us. Take it apart and crawl back. 4 pound perch mono would not be safe and it would be a last chance scenario only. We considered cutting clothing and making a rope. It took all our effort to keep the snow from blowing under the shack until we figured we would wet the snow from the lake and freeze it solid, good move. Once the snow stopped blowing in we broke shelving to burn then started pulling plywood off the floor, not easy as it sounds with a 6 inch knife. Of course we didn't catch a fish all night. The wind stopped blowing around 5 AM, and they got to us just after dawn. Not a fun experience but an experience never the less. We kept our heads but I won't say I wasn't concerned we both were. This lake can kill you faster than a bullet. We were back out a week latter and a small diameter 100 foot nylon cord and more food than needed are a staple now when I do go out, energy bars, many of them. And I check exactly where the closest hut us and where with my mini compass, a small camping hatchet too, better than live minnows on the ice.

 

Oh plus an extra bottle of Brandy, or 2.

 

edit: My fishing pal Felice made fun of me for bringing a pot of chile, half a dozen sausages, potatoes in foil and a loaf of Calabrese bread. He wasn't making fun of me at 2 AM when he was licking the pot of Chile clean. Not to diminish the plight of the Lake W fisherman, but I would have been very happy to be stuck I a truck with heat and reclining seats, a propane heater plus owning a cell phone with service. There was zero service here then and didn't even bother bringing my Motorolla brick on the ice. The batteries lasted a few hours then and had to be plugged in if you weren't using it. It looked cool though.

Edited February 10, 2016 by Old Ironmaker

[Fishwilly]

Stranded in an ice fishing hut with heat...I can think of worse places to be stranded. Most of them involve my mother-in-law.

Yeah I hear ya lol

[BillM]

Never leave home without a hand held GPS. Don't need to see when you've got one of those

[netminder]

We, 2of us, got snowed in overnight in a shack on Erie 25 years back on Long Point Bay. You couldn't see 5 feet at 2 PM. No cell service, enough food and not enough Brandy. Once it got dark I knew we were in for the night, No way a sled was going to come out on the lake with 50K plus winds so loud we couldn't hear a thing with zero visibility. Once it got dark at 5 I knew we were in for the night. Knowing the wood was not going to last we kept the hut just bare able with wind chills around -25. Wood was the challenge. We knew we would run out around 2 AM then freeze to death as there was no gaurentee they could come out at dawn. The plan was to tie mono to the drawer of the short straw and make a run to the shack about 50 feet west of us. Take it apart and crawl back. 4 pound perch mono would not be safe and it would be a last chance scenario only. We considered cutting clothing and making a rope. It took all our effort to keep the snow from blowing under the shack until we figured we would wet the snow from the lake and freeze it solid, good move. Once the snow stopped blowing in we broke shelving to burn then started pulling plywood off the floor, not easy as it sounds with a 6 inch knife. Of course we didn't catch a fish all night. The wind stopped blowing around 5 AM, and they got to us just after dawn. Not a fun experience but an experience never the less. We kept our heads but I won't say I wasn't concerned we both were. This lake can kill you faster than a bullet. We were back out a week latter and a small diameter 100 foot nylon cord and more food than needed are a staple now when I do go out, energy bars, many of them. And I check exactly where the closest hut us and where with my mini compass, a small camping hatchet too, better than live minnows on the ice.

 

Oh plus an extra bottle of Brandy, or 2.

 

edit: My fishing pal Felice made fun of me for bringing a pot of chile, half a dozen sausages, potatoes in foil and a loaf of Calabrese bread. He wasn't making fun of me at 2 AM when he was licking the pot of Chile clean. Not to diminish the plight of the Lake W fisherman, but I would have been very happy to be stuck I a truck with heat and reclining seats, a propane heater plus owning a cell phone with service. There was zero service here then and didn't even bother bringing my Motorolla brick on the ice. The batteries lasted a few hours then and had to be plugged in if you weren't using it. It looked cool though.

I'll bet you'll only do that once.

 

I know it's the wrong lake, but I had Gordon LIghtfoot in the back of my mind while reading that story lol

[Sinker]

Title should read anglers stranded because of their own stupidity.

 

You dont travel out on a big lake like that in the winter without at least a compass. I dont go anywhere without a gps AND compass.

 

S.

[Headhunter]

GPS and compass are great, but they won't show you the pressure crack you are about to drive into.

HH

[Sinker]

GPS and compass are great, but they won't show you the pressure crack you are about to drive into.

HH

No but your eyes will.

 

S.

[Headhunter]

Not as in this case where the weather was so bad that they couldn't see the front end of their truck!

HH

[Freshtrax]

Crazy ordeal, I learned many moons ago to point sled towards home on arrival and carry a compas. Saved my butt once or twice.

[Sterling]

Everyone should have one of these in their vehicle and ice shack;

 

http://www.walmart.com/ip/2600mAh-Portable-Mobile-USB-Power-Bank-External-Battery-Charger-for-Cell-Phone-backup-Purple/41475521

 

That, and all the other stuff mentioned here like a compass, GPS, wood, etc.

[Old Ironmaker]

When the wind is blowing driving snow in Blizzard like conditions and you have shelter stick the compass in your pocket and stay put until the weather passes. Give the GPS coordinates to the authorities and stay put. If you only have a sled for shelter then you have no choice but to move and find shelter. The goal is not to reach home base it is to find shelter. If you have walked out and do not have shelter and get stuck in a Blizzard, my condolences to the family. To freeze to death can't be a great way to die. It has to be slow, unlike burning to death or drowning.

Edited February 11, 2016 by Old Ironmaker

[manitoubass2]

Crazy ordeal, I learned many moons ago to point sled towards home on arrival and carry a compas. Saved my butt once or twice.

Its never saved me but its a habit of mine too!