Idaho Falls

In my experience, letters from insurance companies rarely bode well. Earlier this fall, however, a local State Farm agent sent me a personalized note that pleasantly surprised me. It was a simple hand-written letter reminding me of how we had met while loading up our ice-fi shing sleds the previous winter up at Henry's Lake. Along with the letter was a three-fold brochure—the kind I always toss away without even looking at it. "Thought this might interest you," he wrote. "As you may recall, sometimes the hard water isn't so hard." For nine-plus months, I'd done my best to learn a thing or two from the incident he was referring to. It was the fi rst weekend after ice-over at Henry's, and my friend Kevin and I decided to roll the dice. After tip-toeing a couple hundred yards beyond the open water at Staley Springs, we started to drill. The hand-auger cut through in less than 20 seconds. That alone should have sent us packing. "That guy's into one over there," Kevin said. Twenty yards away, toward the open water of the springs, a fellow ice-angler plucked out a plump resident cut-bow. I'm convinced that when the ice broke, the poor sap never felt it coming. Watching a person fi ght for his life, even for a few seconds, is like a movie scene unfold- ing in slow-motion. First comes the stiffened posture, followed by a deer-in-the-headlights gaze. If you're watching closely, you'll see the ice bend just before it breaks. Then comes the descent, the initial splash, the fl ailing of arms, followed by more splashing. Somehow, out of sheer adrenaline, the guy kicked and clawed his way out of the slush. His buddy laughed nervously, then stated the obvious: "We are so done here." They were packed up and off the ice in less than 60 seconds. Following that spectacle (not to mention a less dramatic incident of our own), Kevin and I led a mass exodus of anglers off the ice. It just seemed like the proper thing to do, even though the fi shing that morning was spectacular. If there's an added upside to skirting an on-ice tragedy, it's that you'll tend to be more mindful on future outings. For ice thickness, the Minnesota Dept. of Natural Resources has some solid guide- lines to consider. If it's new ice with a thick- ness of 4 inches or less, just stay off. More than 5-7 inches means you can probably risk a snowmobile or ATV. Also be mindful that "white ice or 'snow ice' is only about half as strong as new clear ice. That means double those thickness guidelines when traveling on white ice." State Farm offers a full creel of safety checks, mostly of the common-sense vari- ety: Bring a friend. Don't fi sh alone. Spread out. Pack a rope and a pair of screwdriv- ers to claw your way out. And for obvious reasons, don't drill too many holes in one place. There's also some good info on avoid- ing fi shing near plants, since plants produce heat as they decay. Don't let cautionary tales stop you from getting out there this winter. Just keep safety in mind, especially when it comes to ice thickness. If you need to get a heads-up on conditions, Sportsman's Warehouse is a great source of information, as are the numerous bait shops up the valley. Also be sure to check out the East Idaho Outdoors Facebook page as the lakes start to freeze. I have a feeling that if the 2017 stream sea- son is any indicator, we should be poised for great year of fi shing on the hard water. { B A C K W O O D S — W I N T E R } 38 EAST IDAHO OUTDOORS MAGAZINE  —  FALL/WINTER 2017 FALLING into Winter BY STEVE SMEDE

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