As the warm weather continues to plague us ice fishermen here in Northern Utah, the chance of falling through the ice becomes more and more real every day.  I saw this video today and it is one of the most informative I have seen on self rescue after falling through the ice.

I have been to on site places that showed the methods this man uses, but none of them ever said anything about the fact that the person falling in would go through what is called “water shock”.  I can only imagine what the body must go through going from dry and warm, to icy cold and wet in a second or two time period.  I’m also certain that if I ever fall through the ice, my first instinct would be to get my body above the water and run to safety.  That would mean shooting straight up until my feet were out of the water and then running on top of the water and ultimately back to the truck.  At that point any gear that was left on or near the ice would become the property of anyone who found it as it would be my last ice fishing adventure and I would no longer need any of the gear.

So, take a look at this video and I hope no body viewing it will ever need to use this information.