Laura Lundquist

For the Tribune

You’re rolling the dice if you drive on the ice in sections where the water is shallow. That’s the lesson that six fishermen learned on Fort Peck Reservoir during a single weekend in mid-February.

After a few chilling months, a Valentine’s Day chinook wind blew through central Montana, causing temperatures to climb into the 60s for a few days. During that time, the sun and the warmth whittled away at the ice in shallow areas of Duck Creek Bay. By the weekend, a slippery stage was set for vehicles to fall through the ice.

One by one, four ATVs and two pickups went to the bottom, although fortunately the water was only 4 to 6 feet deep.

“In one weekend, that’s a real record-breaker,” said Steve Schindler, a Walleyes Unlimited of Montana founding member who’s fished the area for decades.

Every year, at least one angler miscalculates and goes through the ice, although most live to tell the tale. Even diehards like Schindler and walleye fisherman Elliot Garfield can sheepishly recite a few incidents that taught them their lessons.

Garfield, who ended up helping to retrieve one of the ATVs a few weeks ago, learned 24 years ago how unpredictable Duck Creek can be.

While growing up, Garfield memorized Fort Peck’s every twist and turn while riding along in a pickup as his father and uncles searched for walleye under the ice. They’d never had an accident, so Garfield was feeling cocky when, as a 17-year-old, he drove his pickup into Duck Creek to ice fish by himself.

It was early March and the fishing was good. But then it started to rain. Jumping into the truck, he tried to drive out following his previous trail across the ice. But he lost the trail as the ice turned black, and suddenly, he saw white caps in front of him.

“I hit the brakes, but it was too late. I slid right in at that same reef where the two (ATV) side-by-sides went in. But 20 to 30 years ago, it was me and my pickup in 10 feet of water,” Garfield said. “I barely got out of it. I almost got trapped between the truck and the ice, and I probably would have been ripped in half. That was one accident that really changed my mind.”

Garfield never drove a pickup on the ice again, but ATVs had arrived on the scene by then. He started riding a 4-wheeler and now puts thousands of miles on his ATV every winter fishing the extent of Fort Peck Reservoir, adding to his ice expertise.

Sometimes, he’ll see others try to follow his path as he flies across the ice. But because warming ice can open up without warning, that’s an accident waiting to happen, Garfield said.

“You never follow — that’s the No. 1 mistake. If you’re in their group and you’re right on them, then you can follow. But otherwise, you gotta judge that ice, you gotta pick and choose, watch where you’re going and make your own trail,” Garfield said.

That’s the lesson that Schindler learned, too.

On an early December morning in 1976, a 20-something Schindler headed out with six friends to ice fish on Nelson Reservoir northwest of Glasgow. His friend’s pickup got a 30-minute head start because Schindler’s group had to make a stop in town.

As Schindler approached the reservoir, he could see his buddies across from the inlet in the distance. He started following the road they’d used to cross the ice and was going about 30 mph when a friend yelled, “Christ, that’s open water!”

A fissure about 100 yards long had opened in the ice in front of him. Just like Garfield had, he hit the brakes. The pickup just seemed to go faster.

“All the sudden, it dawned on me that we’re not going to stop. So I gunned it, thinking I could jump the gap —it was only a foot or two wide,” Schindler said. “Well, I’m here to tell you that pickups don’t jump very well.”

The truck came to an abrupt stop as it nosed into the edge of the ice on the opposite side. It didn’t sink immediately, so the four friends were able to clamber out before the truck sank the 6 feet to the bottom. A new GMC pickup, it had only 1,300 miles on it.

In hindsight, Schindler knows what happened. Most of the water was about 25 feet deep, but the crack opened up above a long underwater gravel bar where the water was shallow. No snow covered the ice, so the sun had beat through to the rocks below, melting the ice in that spot.

“The other truck was 30 minutes ahead of us — that’s how fast things happen. It’s unreal,” Schindler said.

Schindler, Garfield and others have watched the ice-fishing season get shorter over the years. A few decades ago, when the ice thickened to between 2 and 3 feet by February, no one really had to worry. Now, Elliot said, it’s rare to get more than a foot and a half of ice, so fissures appear more frequently. So with March being the best month for fishing, more rigs might be lost.

“The ice is different now than it was 10 years ago — it just doesn’t get as good as it used to. I don’t know if it’s global warming or what,” Garfield said. “If guys don’t have the right map, don’t realize what’s underneath them when they’re on the ice, they could be in trouble.”

Safety tips for ice fishing

•First, if you have any doubts about the ice, then stay off of it.

•Blue ice is hard ice. Watch out for any ice that is opaque, gray, dark or porous

•Watch for pressure ridges — areas of open water or thin ice where ice has cracked and heaved due to expansion from freezing

•Test ice ahead of you with a spud bar or auger

•Don’t leave children unsupervised

•Reminder: Lakes and ponds do not freeze at the same thickness all over

•Moving water weakens ices by wearing it from underneath. Avoid ice on rivers and streams, or where rivers and streams enter a lake, pond or reservoir

•The least safe ice occurs early and late in the season

•The following are minimum conditions needed for ice thickness: 4 inches, one person with gear; 5 inches, small group spread out; 6 inches, snowmobile or ATV; 9 inches, small automobile; and 12 inches, pickup truck or SUV. The latter two are not recommended, but if you must then proceed at your own risk

•Dress warm and waterproof

•Check in with local sport or bait shops before setting out for a trip

•Check out ice conditions by asking other anglers and local sources

•It’s okay to bring a life jacket or flotation device

•Tell people where you’re planning on going before you leave

•Carry a pair of long spikes on a heavy string. This can be used to pull yourself out of freezing water if you happen to fall through the ice