Ice fishing???

[Bankbeater]

Nope. Not for me.  I've got plenty to do with rods, reels, and tackle.

[JbroBass]

I haven't in many years, but back in the day when I was fishing a lot I think I enjoyed it as much or more than open water fishing. Especially as a late teen when I discovered beer. What's not to like about sitting around a fire, drinking a few beers with friends, and waiting for the flags to go up? 

[Standard]

Minnesotans that don't like ice fishing?  What's the world coming to... ?

 

Can't wait to get out on the ice.  Picked up a new hub shelter and a Livescope.  Camping on the ice is the plan this year, with the goal of catching at least one lake trout.

 

Of course, with all the new gear I have a feeling mother nature will thumb her nose at me and we won't have walkable ice until the end of January...

[Black Hawk Basser]

On 11/18/2021 at 10:44 AM, Standard said:

 

Of course, with all the new gear I have a feeling mother nature will thumb her nose at me and we won't have walkable ice until the end of January...

I fear I may have cursed western Iowa as well after buying a Strikemaster Lithium 24V auger and building a couple rods.  I hadn't made any major ice purchases for a couple years, so I am more than excited to get out there this year.

[desmobob]

Nice...  you and Standard probably ruined it for everyone.  And I finally have a snowmobile to get around on this year!  Oh well...

 

 

?

[NYWayfarer]

I ice fish without the ice. The river here does freeze by mid January. It’s open water in November and December with an occasional skim of ice. 
 

19 degree air temps and a dusting of snow won’t keep me from open water.
 

 

If I get skunked 3 outings in a row I will call it a season. No hard water fishing for me. Contrary to popular belief it can be an expensive pastime. Clothing, Sonar, Drill, Shelter and Transport add up.

[gim]

21 hours ago, NYWayfarer said:

Contrary to popular belief it can be an expensive pastime. Clothing, Sonar, Drill, Shelter and Transport add up.

I wouldn’t necessarily say that. I know some people who don’t even use a shelter.

 

Of course you still could drop $15 grand on a ice castle, but given how much you could spend on a new bass boat these days, that seems reasonable.

[desmobob]

The old timers or low budget guys do it with layers of warm clothes, a home-made spud (ice chisel) for chopping holes through the ice, a jigging stick (cut from plywood or made from a dowel with ears or pegs to wind the line on) and a 5-gal bucket or two for carrying gear and fish and sitting on.  

Maybe five bucks in line, hooks and sinkers total expenditure.

 

Other than semi-permanent home made ice shanties, the portable shelters are a fairly new thing around my area and certainly not required.

 

Of course, like any other hobby, you can take it as far as your desires/budget allows.

 

[Black Hawk Basser]

Oooh, 17 degrees here this morning, but super windy.  If we have another couple of those overnight lows with no wind, we'll be on our way..

[gim]

After this cold snap, it looks pretty warm. They’ve been wrong before though.

[Standard]

On 12/3/2021 at 4:38 PM, desmobob said:

Nice...  you and Standard probably ruined it for everyone.  And I finally have a snowmobile to get around on this year!  Oh well...

 

 

?

Yeah I think it's my fault.  I also took all of next week off in hopes of there being some ice.. sounds like I'll be heading a few hours up north.

[MassBass]

Hey, ice fisherman here, been going since very young. I have caught landlocked salmon, pike, bass, and copious perch and pickerel. I am a trap guy. Jigging is secondary, when all the traps are set up and there is some time without flags. Jigging is great for yellow perch, but the big esocoid or largemouth will most likely come on a trap. I used to drink heavily on the ice, some good times but the past few years I don't drink. Now a lip of long cut dip, that is nice on the ice. Copious water and tea. 

 

There is always a question of whether you should move or stay in a spread. If you have 5 traps set, it is a lot of work to pack up, move everything. Ideally you want to get some signs from the traps. If the flag near the shallow bay keeps going off, it may be worth it to drill a hole or two in the bay and move a deep trap shallow, for example. Sometimes waiting can pay off, by moving the minnow up or down in the same hole. 

 

It is a lot of work and a lot of gear. I am not sure where the notion that ice fishing is cheap came from; a bucket of traps, a gas auger, live bait, Jigging rod, tackle and accessories, you are looking at a hefty price tag to get into it successfully.

[throttleplate]

yes it is very expensive considering you may need a 4 wheel drive vehicle, snowmobile, tow tubs, portable shelter.....I could ice fish any time but my honda civic is best suited for dirt roads and pavement and the amount of ice gear needed wouldnt fit into the civic.

[newbiedmv]

From what I've read I don't have the patience,  cold tolerant body, or lakes that have safe ice.

Spring, summer, and fall are good. I've only found 4 coves that were perfect and the weather was perfect. Coves with no boat traffic, quiet, ducks swimming around, and overcast. 

I'd sneak in on the TM from around 300 yards out and catch stuff on every third cast. MD really doesn't have safe ice anywhere anymore. In the late 70s it did.

[gim]

On 12/25/2021 at 3:07 PM, MassBass said:

I am not sure where the notion that ice fishing is cheap came from; a bucket of traps, a gas auger, live bait, Jigging rod, tackle and accessories, you are looking at a hefty price tag to get into it successfully.

Relative depending on what your comparing it to. Compared to a bass boat, it’s dirt cheap. You can get a nice portable shelter, auger, flasher, and several ice fishing setups for under 1500 bucks easy. A minimalist new aluminum bass fishing boat is still significantly more than that.

 

Compared to fishing from shore with a couple rod n reels? Ya it’s probably more expensive than that.

[MassBass]

2 hours ago, gimruis said:

Relative depending on what your comparing it to. Compared to a bass boat, it’s dirt cheap. You can get a nice portable shelter, auger, flasher, and several ice fishing setups for under 1500 bucks easy. A minimalist new aluminum bass fishing boat is still significantly more than that.

 

Compared to fishing from shore with a couple rod n reels? Ya it’s probably more expensive than that.

You could compare a new snowmobile to your new aluminum bass boat. Look at the ease of access for open water fishing compared to ice fishing; the great barrier is getting through the ice. You must have the adequate equipment to do that, or you would have a better time skiing. Chisels are useless in thick ice, and I think they fry your shoulders. Even lugging the gas auger from hole to hole to hole can be hard, but it is all necessary to even get a line in.    

[gim]

3 minutes ago, MassBass said:

Look at the ease of access for open water fishing compared to ice fishing

Ice fishing actually has way more participants here than open water fishing does. And it’s not even that close either. The limiting factor here is a watercraft, not an auger or chisel.

[MN Fisher]

2 hours ago, gimruis said:

You can get a nice portable shelter, auger, flasher, and several ice fishing setups for under 1500 bucks easy.

If you want to go really cheap

 

Ice chisel to make a hole - $30

5 gallon bucket to carry gear and fish - $5

Warm clothes - just layer what you got

Ugly Stick ice combo - $30

Selection of jigs and some plastics - $30-50

License - $25

Lake Map - there's some free online you can print out.

 

Lets you get out into the basins that during open water you need a boat to get to....under $150 to get fishing.

[TnRiver46]

10 hours ago, MN Fisher said:

If you want to go really cheap

 

Ice chisel to make a hole - $30

5 gallon bucket to carry gear and fish - $5

Warm clothes - just layer what you got

Ugly Stick ice combo - $30

Selection of jigs and some plastics - $30-50

License - $25

Lake Map - there's some free online you can print out.

 

Lets you get out into the basins that during open water you need a boat to get to....under $150 to get fishing.

And the occasional free supper of crappie or perch !

[MN Fisher]

31 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

And the occasional free supper of crappie or perch !

Pike and walleye too...with the occasional LMB.

[MassBass]

22 hours ago, gimruis said:

Ice fishing actually has way more participants here than open water fishing does. And it’s not even that close either. The limiting factor here is a watercraft, not an auger or chisel.

yeah, but possibly, I think if there are friends of a buddy, and 'ice fishing' is walking out onto the lake with a sled of beer, then you have a situation where there is a mess of guys on the lake, someone drives by the lake and says, 'wow, look at all the ice fisherman', when in reality only a small amount of them are serious about bringing fish to the hole and actually own the gear.      

[gim]

32 minutes ago, MassBass said:

yeah, but possibly, I think if there are friends of a buddy, and 'ice fishing' is walking out onto the lake with a sled of beer, then you have a situation where there is a mess of guys on the lake, someone drives by the lake and says, 'wow, look at all the ice fisherman', when in reality only a small amount of them are serious about bringing fish to the hole and actually own the gear.      

Oh I agree with that 100%. Most of the people I know who ice fish could care less about actually catching fish out there.

[newbiedmv]

Summer fishing also. 2 chairs poles bait and beer and you good to go.

 

[throttleplate]

back in the day when i ice fished i was always inside a friends ice house with heater, tv, stove.

I didnt own any gear and didnt need to as everything was set up ready to go when i got there.

The only thing i cared to catch was a buzz, the fish was a bonus. Many times i drove off the lake at night in a blizzard which added excitement to the whole experience.

[Black Hawk Basser]

17 hours ago, gimruis said:

Oh I agree with that 100%. Most of the people I know who ice fish could care less about actually catching fish out there.

Those guys aren't called fishermen, they are called idiots.  They are the same lot that take a dump on the ice and leave their cans and other trash in a hole in the ice to freeze.