DULUTH, Minn., Jan. 28 (UPI) -- A Wisconsin ice fisherman who, along with an 80-year-old friend, survived a wild 2-hour ride on chunks of ice in Lake Superior says it was "awful."
Mike Popko, 61, of Saxon, Wis., and Skip Wick, 80, of Hurley, Wis., were stranded in rough waters Saturday but managed to stay upright on big ice cakes after 8-foot swells undermined the ice in Saxon Harbor east of Ashland, Wis., the Duluth (Minn.) News Tribune reported. Wick and Popko had been fishing with 50 to 75 others when the ice began to crack without warning.
Wick told the newspaper he was about 500 yards from shore at the time. As the ice broke up around Wick and Popko, Popko said he didn't think he would survive.
"It was awful," Popko said. "It was like a bowl of Jell-O with all this busted-up ice. He (Wick) and I would be in troughs between the waves, and we couldn't see each other.
"I looked at the situation and thought, 'Am I going to drown or get crushed to death?'"
Ashland Fire Department rescuers estimated the swells were 8 to 12 feet, the newspaper said.
Lt. Tom Walters said the conditions were the worst he has ever taken on in an ice rescue.
"How [Wicks and Popko] were able to maintain their balance going that high up in the air and back down is beyond me," Walters said.
Wick had prior experience, having been on ice floes four or five times in the past.
"This isn't my first rodeo," he said.
He said he isn't about to give up ice-fishing on Lake Superior, something he has been doing for going on 60 years.
Popko said his wife wants him to promise "never to go out there again."
"But fishing is one of my favorite pastimes," he said.
