BIG LAKE, Minn. - On Big Lake in Sherburne County, the catch of the day is a little meatier than what folks are used to.
"It's kind of a wow factor," said Big Lake Fire Fighter, Jason Smith.
The latest victim of Mother Nature's unpredictability is a mud-clogged Chevy Trail Blazer whose owner blazed a trail that many drivers have gone down this winter.
"It's kind of a heck of a way to destroy a vehicle," said Smith.
Sunday, the driver, his son and girlfriend narrowly escaped after the SUV broke through the ice.
"The ice conditions are very, very bad," said Nick Christenson.
Tuesday afternoon, Nick Christenson and his crew with Bob's Towing and Recovery pulled that vehicle out of 46 feet of water.
And while Christenson may not be rescuing cars from a snowy ditch this year, he says since January the phone calls to rescue them from the bottom of the lake have been non-stop. He says almost every weekend he hears from someone who needs his help.
It's good money, but not always a good time.
"Every crack we're looking at each other, it's scary," he said.
They use a Bombardier All-terrain Vehicle to fish the vehicles out. Each rescue costs at least a couple thousand dollars.
But that's nothing compared to what the Big Lake Area Jaycees have to pay.
"To get that news now is like, are you serious!?," said Greg Green with the Jaycees.
Green says the Big Lake Area Jaycees were forced to cancel their big fishing contest, which was supposed to be in two weeks on Big Lake. It would have raised $10,000 for the organization.
"This year was our tenth year. We were going bigger and better," he said.
But because of the unsafe conditions, the Sherburne County Sheriff's Office is giving people until Thursday to get their vehicles off Big Lake and nearby Mitchell Lake.
They're not the only ones, other counties, including Hennepin made the same order for its lakes after several vehicles went through the ice this month alone.
And while one man's loss is another man's gain, if it's all the same to Nick Christenson, he'd rather be doing something else.
"We're just as nervous as anyone else out there," he said.
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