Even with bad weather my son and I decided to hit strawberry.. I left layton at 315 am and headed to brigham to pick my up my son.. ariving at 415.. well it snowed all the way to the berry.. we got there at 745 and unloaded the snow machine and headed to the narrows.. At a very slow pace.. The snow was at leaset 3’ deep.. With both of us on the sled & pulling my gear it was a very hard pull.. I didnt think we going to make it.. But finally made it.. Dug out the snow to only find slush.. once we drilled our hole up came the water.. we had 6 inches of standing water.. See attached photo.. we decided to head to renagade area.. slow paced again.. once there we did manage to catch 14 cutts.. All in the slot.. Well when we left i decided not to take my tracks back and head straight across the lake.. BAD BAD IDEA !!! things went fine till we hit the center of the lake.. We came to a very fast stop.. We ended up pulling the sled out by hand several times.. we would pull it out just to make it 3 more ft.. we did this for a better part of an hour.. once we hit solid ground (well kinda ) i took all the gear back then came back for my son.. IT KICK THIS OLD MANS BUTT !!!
I feel for you, Same thing happened to me 2 years ago when the machine broke through the top layer of frozen slush and fell in about 2 feet of slushy water. I thought we had gone through the ice and where going to sink.
Looks like you have your very own private pond. A lot of work to go through, but I hope well worth it to your son as he gets older. A trip for the memories. Not sure how you got to the narrows your post did not say, if you did not, next time take the road. It might take 30-40 minutes but it is well worth not dealing with the SLUSH MONSTER!
My thoughts exaclty !!! We went straight across the lake.. but it was still cold enough not to break threw..More snow means more slush. More slush means more roads !! 
Sheeese, After reading that story, my butt is all a pucker, and the sweet is reuuing down the preverivle crack!!! (my backside).. Damn I hate the slush monster.
Yuck… well that may put a hurtin on my plans to go this saturday, without a snow machine, but looks like it might be worth a couple hour trek on foot if the catching is good. Its my first saturday off in 3 months, and probably the next three, so im doin it either way!
Those pictures are awesome but my butt is sore from just looking at them. Had that same experience a week ago at Mantua and it definitely wasn’t worth it. If I wore hip boots or waders it would have been okay but still torture. It was the combined torture and the ice water soaking into the sorels that made it not worthwhile.
Holy moley!
So you don’t recommend it for a 4 wheeler
The pictures of the swimming trout are classic. Thanks for sharing. I agree it’s a lifetime memory for you and your son.
David, what you complaining about – not every day one has the pleasure of having their own livewell without the bother of even launching the boat![;)] Been there done that (minus the snowmobile) and will do it again (I am a slow learner).
So how does this work. I haven’t dealt with "the slush monster"before. At least not like this. Is this how its going to be for the rest ice fishin season…Do I need to buy some water wings? Bring a raft? Mask and snorkel?[crazy][fishin]
I feel your pain. We took a wheeler over to the narrows a couple of years ago and on the ride back did just as you did. Decided to go down the middle of the lake. We broke through to the slush layer and dug and pushed and dug and pushed, only to get completely soaked and not be able to get the bike out. I finally called the marina and asked them to send a rescue squad as neither one of us could feel our legs. We started walking, leaving the bike, and two fellows on snowmobiles picked us up once we were on firm snow. We left the bike till the weekend when we paid them to go chip it out of the ice. Never again. We now stay on the paths of others.
So how does this work. I haven’t dealt with "the slush monster"before. At least not like this. Is this how its going to be for the rest ice fishin season…Do I need to buy some water wings? Bring a raft? Mask and snorkel?[crazy][fishin]
It is not uncommon to get slush after substantial snow falls on the ice. Often, (especially this time of year) most of the slush will freeze and become ice and as a result most of the slush disappears until warmer weather or the next snow storm.
I feel for ya man. Been there … done that. I spent three hours trying to get out there and three hours trying to get back and never even droped a line! So I’m glad to see you were able to catch some. Cool pics there too I might add!
I agree with kentofnsl in that after a snow storm, things warm up and turn to slush. I have learnt to NOT do the Berry thing shortly after a snow storm. I wait till several days of VERY cold non precip weather before I venture out there any more. That Renegade area sure is tempting but one has to be VERY careful and selective as to when to try to ice fish there. That’s in my humble opinion anyway.
sorry for the late reply.. But i did see a few wheelers out there but they were only 100 ft out from the marina.. I wouldnt take one out any futher..
Thanks, I was really kidding. I do appeciate the reply though. It’s good to hear they were able to get out with the wheelers at all. Great story! Thanks again.