Two ice fisherman were in for a big surprise when the reeled in a live bird from freezing waters in northwestern Pennsylvania earlier this week . In a video titled , 'Shocking ice fishing video from Pennsylvania ! ' , Nicholas Colangelo filmed his friend Fred Christensen pulling a live red-breasted merganser out of a hole in a large sheet of ice in Monday . Red-breasted mergansers dive into the water while foraging for food and can usually stay under for a little under a minute - so the fisherman pulled up the line at the perfect moment . Catch of the day : Three men were ice fishing in northwest Pennsylvania when the caught a red-breasted merganser on their line as it was diving for food . Christensen , who was fishing for muskies with Colangelo and friend Luke Wholey , told Daily Mail Online that he realized immediately that he was n't pulling up a fish , but he was n't expecting a bird . ' I was n't exactly certain what flashed passed the hole , there were colors that just did n't set well with me so I was hesitant of grabbing something I had n't yet identified , ' he wrote in an e-mail interview . ' [ It ] Was n't until I saw feathers that I realized what was going on . ' 'My jaw hit the ice , ' Colangelo told the Washington Post . ' I was absolutely shocked . ' Colangelo said that though he and his friends go fishing regularly and have seen mergansers dive under water for long stretches of time , he was n't expecting to catch the bird on his fishing line . ' I 've never heard of anything like this happening , ' he told the Washington Post . 'It was so unusual . ' In the video , Christensen can be seen pulling up the fishing line out of a small hole in the water until he eventually reaches his hand in and pulls out a squirming live bird . Unexpected : Fred Christensen , pictured on Monday , said he was n't sure what he was pulling up on the line , but he was certain it was n't a fish . Unusual : Christensen was hesitant to reach into the water at first , but he grabbed the merganser and likely saved it from drowning on the end of the fishing line . After Christensen posed for a picture , the men untangled the bird and set it free into it 's natural habitat . 'It did n't take long to realize it was n't happy , I just grabbed the mean end as soon as I saw the chance , ' Christensen wrote in an e-mail . ' I figured controlling its head and body would make unhooking and tangling much faster , I treated it the same as I would a fish . Thankfully Nick was there to help , it would have been a difficult task to accomplish alone , ' he added . Colangelo told the Washington Post that the bird was only minimally tangled and easily made its way back to its flock . Christensen said that he had never heard of people catching a merganser through the ice , but said that it occasionally happens 'in open water in ares where large amounts of water birds like to congregate ' . The three fishermen do n't kill anything that they catch while fishing and release it all back into the wild . ' I would just sincerely like to say that the environment , the fish the birds - that 's what 's high priority , ' Colangelo told the Washington Post . Catch-and-release : Red-breasted mergansers dive into the water looking for food . The men untangled the bird from their fishing line and set it free to return to its flock . Christensen said that there 's 'no sense in killing ' the fish they catch , and that you never know a fish 's full potential if it 's killed . ' I 've seen and have caught fish I 've released even years prior that have had identifying scars or characteristics that could n't be mistaken , ' he said . 'When you experience catching a fish that you 've caught before it is a good feeling to see that the fish is still alive and well . It gives you that much more incentive to let them all go , ' he added . The three men often fish for musky , a rare and large species that is known to be difficult to catch . The freshwater fish is often spotted around the Great Lakes region and through Canada . Colangelo and Wholey hit headlines last month after catching a 53-pound musky while ice fishing n northwest Pennsylvania , according to CBS . The men estimated that the fish was about 30 years old . They were one pound away from matching a 1949 state record for biggest musky catch . Christensen that that three days prior to catching the merganser , he had another unusual bird encounter . ' I watched a bald eagle wipe out a Canadian goose and carried it as far as it could until it realized it was extremely heavy , ' he wrote . 'It just so happened it dropped less than ten yards from where I was quietly sitting waiting for a flag to pop . ' 'Most would find this crazy uncommon , but for me it 's just a typical day on water , ' the fisherman said . Under the ice : Christensen , and his friends Nicholas Colangelo and Luke Wholey fish for muskies in northwest Pennsylvania . Reeling it in : The fish , found mostly in the Great Lakes region and in Canada , are rare , large and difficult to catch .
Fred ##son was fishing for trout in northwestern Pennsylvania . Friend ##o Colangelo filmed himself watching the bird Monday . Christensen was n't sure what to expect when he put his hand in the water . The fishermen untangled the red - breasted merganser and pulled it free .