WATCH: Fisherman Goes Viral After Sinking His Truck In Northern Minnesota Lake
You have to hand it to this ice angler for making the most out of a bad situation.
The El Niño-fueled warm winter Minnesota has been seeing this season is continuing to cancel winter events and impact outdoor activities that are usually taken for granted in this part of the world when winter rolls around.
While the state did see a brief blast of arctic air, conditions most of this season have not been favorable for developing the amount of ice we normally see on lakes around Minnesota by this time of year. Because of that, there have been a number of ice anglers who have needed rescuing or broken through the ice this winter.
One such unlucky ice fisherman is Chris Brown. Brown's girlfriend's nephew Tyler Prebeck shared a video on January 29 that showed Chris's Ford Super Duty F350 pickup truck pointed straight down, having broken through the ice on Lake Winnibigoshish in Northern Minnesota.
In the video shared on TikTok, you can see Brown's Ice Castle fish house on the ice, eventually revealing his truck - still hitched to the fish house - completely submerged in about 22 feet of water on Lake Winnie.
Brown recounted the incident with The Drive, sharing that he has been fishing with the same truck and fish house since 2017. He explained that 16 inches of ice is "the golden number" for him to head out on the ice with his rig, which is what he says was the amount of ice on Winnie during his trip.
Brown said that he and his girlfriend noticed a spot on the ice where two cracks came together on the main ice road they were driving on, giving them pause for a minute. After assessing the situation, he decided to put his truck in reverse, only able to back up about 10 feet before breaking through the ice.
He told The Drive "We had five, six seconds to bail out or we would have been at the bottom of the lake with it." Thankfully they acted quickly, and luckily it didn't happen in deeper water. They had been fishing in deeper water the day before, which may have led to the fish house also ending up in the lake or making the truck harder to retrieve.
The initial video, since being published last Monday, has gotten 4.6 million views on TikTok. At one point in the video, you can see someone even fishing through the hole the truck made in the ice. May as well have a little fun with the crappy situation.
A second video was shared, which has now seen over 7 million views, showing the truck being rescued from the watery deep by a recovery crew.
Just another reminder to be careful as you venture out on the ice this winter! Even a designated ice road for anglers ended up leading to issues for Chris and his girlfriend. Thankfully they made it out safely, but their truck had a different fate.
The 10 Commandments Of Ice Fishing In Minnesota & Wisconsin
Gallery Credit: Nick Cooper