I need some help

Kevin Stenberg

Kevin Stenberg

Well-Known Member
My daughter wasn't here this morning. So I went out just to fish. The perch turned off about 2;30. Called the wife about 3;30 said the fish quit but I was going to stay till closer to dark to see if any sunnies moved in.
I no more that hung up. And sure enough the sunnies came in and stayed in for about an hour and a half. Most of what I caught was 7.5" to 9 ". Up here they run 1/2 lb. to 3/4 lbs. Most of the time I use the ice scoop like a fish net. So I don't break the line when pulling them out of the hole.
Tomorrow is going to be a magnet dragging day.
 
KHornet

KHornet

Well-Known Member
I am not normally a sympathetic person, but in this
case, you have my most sincere sympathy. Good
luck in retrieving it!

Paul
 
Kevin Stenberg

Kevin Stenberg

Well-Known Member
Well I was out dredging the bottom for about 2.5 hrs. this morning. And didn't have any luck. I used the more powerful HF magnet.
By the time I was done the water was so thick with floating sediment. I had to pull the magnet/camera up 4 feet to see if anything was on the magnet
 
RBHarter

RBHarter

West Central AR
Maybe you should drop a marker and swim for it when it thaws ? Or maybe get the kids to . I've lost some stuff in lakes that was a pain to replace , that wallet back in 1986 would be a hellish nightmare to replace now . I can't imagine what a gun is like . How do you explain to the guy taking the report that it IS lost but you know exactly where it is within a 10ft circle you just can't get to it ..........
On a brighter note your the only guy I know who can straight up look at somebody and say " I lost my gun(s) in a tragic ice fishing accident " and be completely honest to passing even digital testing .

It's not the least bit funny right now but some day it'll make a great teaching story .
 
Rally Hess

Rally Hess

Well-Known Member
Kevin,
Try your local Fire department. They probably have a diver looking to log some under ice diving time for his rescue certificate. I know a guy who lost his dentures in a muskeg lake and that's how he got them back. You can drop a pole through the hole you lost the gun down, and the diver can use that as a pivot point. Tough to get anything to stick to a magnet in muskeg because the muskeg gets between the magnet and the metal.
 
oscarflytyer

oscarflytyer

Well-Known Member
Rally Hess said:
Kevin,
Try your local Fire department. They probably have a diver looking to log some under ice diving time for his rescue certificate. I know a guy who lost his dentures in a muskeg lake and that's how he got them back. You can drop a pole through the hole you lost the gun down, and the diver can use that as a pivot point. Tough to get anything to stick to a magnet in muskeg because the muskeg gets between the magnet and the metal.
Click to expand...

PRICELESS suggestion! FD or Mil Divers. TRAINING is key word!
 
Kevin Stenberg

Kevin Stenberg

Well-Known Member
All I had was bad luck. It ended up I spent 3 days dragging as far out from the hole as I could get. Using the heavy duty HF magnet, on my improvised 18' all thread rod. My dredging rod was a real rube golberg affair. Magnet - my Fish camera (to see if anything was on the magnet) - a safety line - 3/5' sections Allthread - shooting tripod to hold the rod steady for inspection (in the house)
When I realized there wasn't 2 foot but 4' of silt bottom, my hopes for a favorable outcome kind of disappeared. But I had to try. At least all of the time I spent dredging was done inside my heated house. An not outside in the wind.
I try not to think about it now because I get very depressed when I do!
THANKS EVERYONE for your incuragement though. Kevin
 
Kevin Stenberg

Kevin Stenberg

Well-Known Member
Oscarflytier I did look into your sug. of the diver. Yes they would help. But I would have to pay time and material. I figured it would be money not well spent.
 
fiver

fiver

Well-Known Member
you know after all that, you now have a way to manipulate the bottom of the lake and can set up some structural features to maybe hold more fish.
 
F

freebullet

Guest
Sorry to hear it was unsuccessful.

I recovered a tackle box with a dip net on stove cleaning brush rods in 23' of water. It wasn't fun to get or clean up.
 
Rally Hess

Rally Hess

Well-Known Member
Kevin,
Couple ideas you might try if your fish house is still in that location. If you know someone who has a metal detector they could possibly locate your pistol by putting extension cables on the detector foot. At least that would put you in the ball park for diving later.
If you want to dive when the weather gets favorable, use a cinder block, a boat bumper, and a small twin loop chain, to make a marker you could sink in that location. The bumper should be deep enough that the ice moving during break up, doesn't move your cinder block. Also be advised using poly rope in a bog lake is not a good choice. The bog is tannic acid and will deteriorate the rope rather quickly.
If you mark it now you would have an excuse to go fishing all summer too!
I've had to help retrieve several chisels and one fish finder so far. Amazing what goes down the holes during winter fishing.
Good luck.
 
JonB

JonB

Halcyon member
Kevin,
Have you gone swimming yet this summer...The lake should be warm enough by now.
 
Kevin Stenberg

Kevin Stenberg

Well-Known Member
Jon i don't know if i could dive even to that depth and do any good searching. I have never swam deeper that i could stand. I didn't mark the spot with Rally's idea. But the spot is still on my GPS.
 
JonB

JonB

Halcyon member
I was pulling yur leg.
Growing up, living on the lake, I "was" a pretty good swimmer when I was younger. Although, I was never able to free-dive much deeper than 10'. So 18' with 4' of muck, It would take a miracle to recover it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.