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Authorities rescued a group of fishermen from an ice floe that broke away from the Lake Michigan shore in Oconto County Monday morning.

Oconto and Brown County sheriff's deputies and the U.S. Coast Guard helped seven men and one boy return to shore. Two ice fishermen decided to stay out on the ice floe, said Oconto County Sheriff Mike Jansen.

The fishermen drove all-terrain vehicles across a 5-inch gap in the ice next to the shore in the town of Little Suamico, about 3.5 miles south of Oconto, around 10 a.m. But then the wind began to shift and the gap in the ice increased to 30 to 35 feet. A resident on shore noticed the fishermen were in danger and called officials.

"Throughout the morning the wind was picking up and they didn't notice the crack was starting to open. They were about a mile to the east of the crack," said Deputy Troy Sherman.

Jansen said the ice floe is roughly one mile long and 1 ¾ mile wide.

The seven men and one boy who needed help getting off the floe reached shore by 1:45 p.m. Monday. There were no injuries.

As for the two anglers who didn't want to leave the ice floe, the sheriff said "the Coast Guard is standing by until they make up their minds."