Help with ice fishing

[Ksam1234]

Sooo I went out for the first time ice fishing today and loved it ! Now I’m wondering if anyone has any help on how to start and on safety. I’m looking to buy those safety ice grip things you wear around the neck Incase you fall in.  Not sure what they are called so any help would be nice. Looking for decent ones just to be safe. 

[12poundbass]

Just Google “Ice fishing ice pics” 

 

Enjoy the ice fishing. It was ok when I was a kid. I’m not a fan of it now. Maybe if I was one a school of walleye it would be fun. 

[Ksam1234]

6 minutes ago, 12poundbass said:

Just Google “Ice fishing ice pics” 

 

Enjoy the ice fishing. It was ok when I was a kid. I’m not a fan of it now. Maybe if I was one a school of walleye it would be fun. 

It helped cure the itch a little 

[12poundbass]

50 minutes ago, Ksam1234 said:

It helped cure the itch a little 

Give it time ?

[Bluebasser86]

Don't go by yourself.

Tell someone where you're going, when you're going, when you're returning.

 

Ice fishing is pretty fun when the fish are biting. The ice never really gets thick enough here. It's too bad because there's a couple places with pretty good ice fishing for panfish and stocked trout.

[PourMyOwn]

I'm headed out as soon as my partner is ready. I target perch and crappies, but do catch bass too. 

I would spend a little time this summer finding spots for next year.  I'm hitting weedbeds near drop offs and other things like rock piles mostly. Also, get a flasher,  otherwise you are fishing blind. Tons of videos on that. I like Marcum, but they are all good.

Good luck!

[Fishin Dad]

We have to ice fish around here so we don’t go crazy in winter.  I hit the ice 1-2 times per week and have a couple bigger trips as well per season. I have a floating ice suit.   Striker ice they are called.   You go through, you float.   They are warm, padded knees, pockets everywhere, and warm as can be.  I do bring ice picks early and late season as well.   We are driving trucks on the ice now, so picks won’t do much for us here now.  
Grab a quality ice suit, a sonar unit of your choosing, a Milwaukee drill and strike lite auger bit, and fall in love with the ice game!  It scratches my itch until the bass open up again. ?  

[MassYak85]

Like others said going with someone is the safest option, but I'd be a hypocrite if I said to never go alone so you just have to be prepared. Realistically if it's not brutally cold, you have ice picks, and are in fair shape you should be able to self rescue. If you DO go alone, watch some videos on how to self rescue, don't go alone on 3" of ice when it's -15, don't walk 2 miles away from your car, go to a lake you are familiar with. The more familiar are with a lake the safer you'll be. Does it have springs, inlet streams, is one shoreline rocky (warm up quicker), is there a natural channel, is there an outflow at a dam, do birds winter there (I've seen swans keep a spot open that had a foot of ice everywhere else). 

 

Just be smart, spud your way out, even if it's a foot of ice at the ramp. Avoid any current or rivers. If you want another level of safety wear a float suit or a life jacket under your coat. Let people know where you're going. Avoid isolated ponds where you might be truly alone with no one around. Don't go out in harsh conditions. KNOW THE BODY OF WATER.

 

Any of the ice picks sold should be fairly decent I think, Frabill makes good ones. I think I have Eagle Claw. 

[gim]

Let's be honest here people.  If you have to worry about ice picks and a floating suit, you shouldn't be out there.

[MassYak85]

Just now, gimruis said:

Let's be honest here people.  If you have to worry about ice picks and a floating suit, you shouldn't be out there.

Not true at all. You'll hear "there's no such thing as safe ice" from a lot of guys and they're right. Doesn't matter how thick the ice is there are too many variables to just assume an entire lake is safe based on the hole you drilled at the ramp. I've stood on 12 inches of ice before and 200yds away was open water, why?.... Birds. Those birds decide to leave and it gets cold one night well now you have a football field sized area of unsafe ice where the rest of the lake would hold a truck. Safety measures are not excuses to go out on sketchy 2 inches of ice, they're important because you just never truly know. 

[MN Fisher]

17 minutes ago, MassYak85 said:

I've stood on 12 inches of ice before and 200yds away was open water,

I can attest to this. When I lived in Bemidji MN, you could stand on 16" of ice and be close enough to where the Mississippi kept open water in the channel between Lake Bemidji and Lake Irving to cast into it.

[Mr. Aquarium]

When you first go to check the ice keep drilling holes as you walk out. I tie a rope around a tree then around my waste

ice thickness can change quickly. You can be on 6 Inch of ice. 10 feet away can be 2 inches.   If I know the pond is “safe” After I checked it with the rope. Then I won’t use the rope anymore just the ice picks.  
 

I LOVE jiggin. It’s really fun. 

[Ksam1234]

10 hours ago, Mr. Aquarium said:

When you first go to check the ice keep drilling holes as you walk out. I tie a rope around a tree then around my waste

ice thickness can change quickly. You can be on 6 Inch of ice. 10 feet away can be 2 inches.   If I know the pond is “safe” After I checked it with the rope. Then I won’t use the rope anymore just the ice picks.  
 

I LOVE jiggin. It’s really fun. 

That’s smart idea thank you

[Michigander]

I took the Kayak out in mid December because I found a pond that was only half frozen with a thin sheet of ice. I was working a lure over the paper thin ice and wanted so badly for a fish to try and get it. Sadly no luck.

 

Also, if you want to experience some serious noise, go ice breaking in a kayak. Wow, that was loud. All the sound reverberates through the kayak and right into your ears. Won't be doing that again if I can help it.

[collinfiske_RFC]

I work in backcountry EMS and this is a video that circulates every year when lakes start to lock up. It an older video but the MD does a great job explaining what to do if you fall through. Most of it is still considered best practice. 

 

 

CPF