Twin Cities angler and TV personality purposefully breaks through ice

News item: DNR conservation officer Anthony Bermel of Babbitt last week observed on a local lake that "some brave souls were out fishing on very thin ice."

Steve Pennaz is a winter angler who has broken through thin ice and lived to tell about it.

He dunked himself into frigid water on purpose, for a segment on his TV show, "Stone Cold Fishing," which is broadcast on Fox Sports North, among other regional networks.

A well-known Minnesota angler who will be inducted into the Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame in March at the Northwest Sportshow, Pennaz was curious about how much, or how little, effort would be required to pull himself onto solid ice after breaking through.

Information gleaned from the experience might also come in handy personally, he figured, because in winter he spends a lot of time on frozen lakes and rivers, fishing — and has for many cold-weather seasons.

A couple of decades back, for example, Pennaz won the U.S. National Ice Fishing Championship. He also was a member of the U.S. squad that competed in the first-ever World Ice Fishing Championships in Finland in 1990 (U.S. anglers won the bronze medal).

Pennaz also can recall a time some years back when he was on Mille Lacs in winter and watched a pickup and then a car go through the ice.

This occurred about halfway between shore and where he and his brother were fishing at the time — the same route they needed to follow to reach land.

Thus Pennaz's interest in determining whether he could pull himself back onto solid ice if he ever broke through.

"I live on Lake Independence, and I knew where on the lake there was an area of thin ice next to an area of solid ice," Pennaz said. "This was last winter. The camera crew stood on the good ice, while I walked out and broke through."

Pennaz wore clothing typical of ice anglers for the experiment, including boots, long underwear and fleece pants. Frabill, the manufacturer of winter fishing gear and clothing, is a sponsor of his TV show, and he donned that company's branded ice-fishing jacket and pants.

"The temperature was about 10 degrees, and when I broke through, I did have a sense of panic," Pennaz said. "Surprisingly, the cold didn't affect me the first minute or minute and a half. It took the cold water longer than I thought to penetrate to my skin."

Pennaz's Frabill jacket, like similar products from other manufacturers, is fitted with "ice spikes," which are designed for use if a winter angler breaks through. The spikes — so the theory goes — when punched into solid ice will enable an angler to pull himself out.

"When I went through I reached for the spikes right away," Pennaz said. "I poked the point of one of them into the ice and tried to pull myself up onto the ice with it. But the spike didn't hold. It just dragged across the ice."

Ditto when he punched both spikes into the ice — both slid.

"What I realized was that I had to get horizontal in the water, or at least as horizontal as I could get, before the spikes would hold," Pennaz said. "When I was in that position, I was able to pull myself out of the water and onto the ice."

Once on the ice, Pennaz rolled some distance away from the hole until he was sure he wouldn't break through again. Then he stood.

The experience left him with a new outlook on ice travel — and an awareness of how difficult it is to climb out of water onto ice after breaking through.

"I don't think I'll ever go onto ice again without spikes with me," he said. "But even with them, it's a challenge to get out of a hole. In fact I would say spikes are the only way a person has to get out."

Unless, that is, all ice on a lake or river is thin when an angler or other unfortunate soul goes through. In that instance an angler would be forced to exert enough energy to create a path, icebreaker style, between him and shore.

Better, Pennaz says, to be as sure as possible that ice is safe before venturing out.

"And bring spikes," he said.

Dennis Anderson • danderson@startribune.com