Tip and Tricks for Ice Fishing....why didn't I think of that sooner!!!

[Bigslugger]

STRAP THE BATTERY ONTO YOUR FLASH

Lost mine tonight so there is a great tip if you don't have it done already

[WIFisher]

STRAP THE BATTERY ONTO YOUR FLASH

Lost mine tonight so there is a great tip if you don't have it done already

If you buy a Marcum it is pretty tough to lose your battery;)

I modded my FT Scout and put a boat seat in there. Then i took the old seat and mounted that on a plastic top to my 5 gal bucket.. Works very well as a backup seat or for hole hopping. Very light also..

[Bassboy1645]

interesting tip with the seat....not gonna lie they do suck for fishing anymore then about 2 hours in the flip over....

I know what your saying about southerners and ice fishing

I Love pulling the "oh my god spread out and lay flat on the ice" trick to newbies when the ice cracks gets em everytime lol

[buzbunni]

I keep a box handy where I place all my burned-out light bulbs. I use them in my darkhouse.

[buzbunni]

Tip 1:

Don't bother wasting your velcro for that. Broccoli bands work better. Just wrap one around the spool and voila! I usually keep about a dozen of them on hand at all times.

Tip 3:

If you lose your rubber stopper for your ice pod, don't bother buying a million replacements. The cork from a bottle of wine works just as well. Just cut it in half and cut a slit down the length of it.

Great tips! Especially the wine cork tip. I know I'm gonna lose that stopper down the hole one of these days!

Side note: It's getting tougher and tougher to buy wine with cork these days.

[buzbunni]

For saving minnows, it helps to change the water often. City water will kill them. I melt some snow in a 5 gallon bucket.

Great tips Chickey

I have never had a problem using city water. A couple of drops of Tap water conditioner/Aquarium Dechlorinator will take care of the deadly elements in most cases. Alternatively, if you leave water in an open bucket for 24 hours or so, most of the chlorine will evaporate, leaving the water habitable for the minnows.

Only change out 1/2 of the water each time, and those guys will live for quite awhile in a cool garage...bubbler or no.

[hamms-scooter]

Propane tanks should NEVER be kept inside while in use. You may want to research that tip before you go out again.

Please explain then how you go about using a 1 lb cyl on any heater? Same as having tank in sled to me.

[hamms-scooter]

A square kitty litter bucket will hold a genz pack perfectly for you vex guys.

[3littlemonsters]

works also for the marcum... i placed a small piece of styro in the bottom 4 padding

[newoodhntr]

I took some fishing line and tied a bobber to the rubber stopper for the ice pod, now it floats.I lost one and came up with this idea.

[TyGuy02]

STRAP THE BATTERY ONTO YOUR FLASH

Lost mine tonight so there is a great tip if you don't have it done already

Don't worry man, even with the velcro strap on a marcum I've seen one go down the hole. It only works if you use the velcro strap!

[fishing tech]

May have beed mentioned already, I haven't read all the post. A set of cheater glasses to wear when tying your knots

[g_anoka]

Readers used to be my most important piece of fishing equipment. Now I wear bifocals, the joys of growing older.

[Iceseeker]

Then they get foggy and you can't see anything.

[Ferny]

I always have a small diamond hook sharpener on my lanyard. It also has a forceps, a fingernail clipper, and a small UV LED flashlight.

Always wax your zippers on a tent or portable with a candle. Not melted mind you just scrape a normal candle back and forth on the zipper. It does wonders as a lube and deters ice build up.

Always carry a knife. Never know when you need to slice something.

Keep a spare key in your wallet.

Tie a loop knot when tying your mono line to your spool. Then when you attach it make sure slip the line through the loop. Then put that loop around the spool so it tightens (not loosens) when winding. It saves time when respooling in the cold.

Use small computer fans in a perm to circulate the air.

Use compact fluorescent bulbs with an inverter in the perm.

Slush Inhaler into a pail for perm to keep the floor dry.

Always bring a bag or two for garbage and throwing your fish in. It keeps the snow off of them and makes it easy to carry them and no stinky bucket when it warms up! Then we don't have to pick up your garbage either!

Keep your beer cold and your line wet!

Ferny.

[magicstix]

On your porty after a few years of service, check the bottom for smoothness. If its rough you can sand it with electric sander, start with 40 or 60 grit to knock down the big stuff and work up to 320 grit, then wax it with universal ski wax. It will almost pull like new again.

I did this on my 1 man after one day it pulled like it was 250lbs. I was like OMG what is wrong here, thought I was going to have the big one that day. I've since done it to my other portys and what a difference it makes.

[jwmiller33]

Problem: Your jigging spoon or jig spins once you get it to the depth you want to fish

Solution: Attach a small swivel 10-12" above the spoon, I like using the swivels more for walleye/perch fishing and crappies too. Finicky crapps or bluegills may not like the swivel though in clear water

i read a similar suggestion on a post on the swivel thread a week or two in this forum. i too think a spinning jig is a huge turn off to fish, especially finickly ones. the past 13 days i was on gull lake in brainerd and mille lacs for 2 days, and was having problems with new line and the jig spinning. i tried the swivel thing... i put a 2 way swivel about 5 feet above my jig. i would watch my jig as i dropped it down the hole to see if it would stop spinning and it never did.. the swivel was not doing what it was supposed to be doing.. i tried putting the swivel closer and further away from the big, as close as 1 ft, as far as 10, same result. i then put on one of these

i put this on while i was panfishing yesterday, and i was using a tiny little ratso jig. the swivel was almost as large as the jig and i thought it might deter the fish. well, we ended up catching around 100 fish between me and another guy. needless to say, the swivel attached to the jig is now my preferred method

[CALVINIST]

I'm going to Grand Rapids thursday thru sunday and it will be COLD! I'm gonna try something this weekend to keep my batteries, camera, gps, headlamp, and cigars cozy warm during this very cold weather. I bought a few of the large, all day hand warmers. I'm going to line a very small cooler with a folded hand towel, then put a hand warmer between one of the layers, put my electronics and stogies on top of that, then put another towel on top of the electronics. Hopefully this will keep the batteries longer and my stogies from drying out.

[buzbunni]

...and my stogies from drying out.

I'm a big fan of the X-treme travel humidor.

Stores your stogies at the proper humidity, protects them, and it floats too!

[blackdog1101]

I've got one of those cigar caddies too and they work well. A cheap alternative I've used in a pinch for day trips is an empty, clean Gatorade bottle. The mouth is wide so you can get cigars in and out easily. If you don't fill the bottle with cigars, put in a crumpled up napkin or two so the cigars don't rattle around in there. Put the cap on tight and it's waterproof. I wouldn't do this for multiple day storage, but for a day in the boat, on the ice, or in a backpack, it works great.

[buzbunni]

A cheap alternative I've used in a pinch for day trips is an empty, clean Gatorade bottle. The mouth is wide so you can get cigars in and out easily. If you don't fill the bottle with cigars, put in a crumpled up napkin or two so the cigars don't rattle around in there. Put the cap on tight and it's waterproof...for a day in the boat, on the ice, or in a backpack, it works great.

Great idea!

[fazer]

Xenon puck lights work great in a portable (12volt ones-don't use the transformer). I mounted 3 on a 1X3 and hang it in between the poles in my 5600. One is actually enough to light a 5X6. Run it off a 12volt lawn mower battery and lasts for 6-8 hrs. Bout 6 bucks ea.

[Finlander]

Why don't they put reverse on ice auger so you could push the slush out of the hole by a flip of a switch?

[Cowdy]

1) To remove slush from you holes, I keep the auger at full throttle as I pull it out of the hole which brings all the slush and ice chuncks with it.

2) For those pulling portables behind your wheeler or sled.

Instead of using the plastic hyfax supplied by the manufacturers to prevent wear on the bottom of the sled, I use snowmobile ski "Skags" with carbide and attach to the bottom of my sled. a.) keeps the sled off the pavement and rough ice.

b.) You can drive as fast as you want on "glare ice" and not have to worry about your portable swinging out of control behind you. It works absolutely perfect and the skags last forever.

3. As for organization. I'm very anal. I framed in my sled (Frabill Preditor) as like a bass boat so that I have specific compartments for everything i.e. propane tank, heater, rods, extra vexi or led light batteries..... also it's carpeted so you have a nice area covering the entire sled to place just about anything.

4. When installing LED lights in a portable. Wire them up to a switch (one, two or three toggle) so you dont have to have all lights on at once if not need i.e. over your holes.... Also, I built a compartment which is completed padded to prevent batteries from banging around and also keeps them warm.

5. When hauling your portable on a trailer with the cover on, using a wrachet strap around the entire perimiter of the cover to prevent it from blowing off during transit. (Based on Experience unfortunately)

6. Use dry teflon spray on your portable house telescoping poles and zippers. Keeps everthing slidding very nice. I also spray it on the bottom of the house poles that touch the ice to prevent the poles from freezing to the ice while fishing if you forget to pop the house up once in while.

This thread was a FANTASTIC! idea. I've learned a great deal of info which I will put to practice in two days when I go up north.

Good luck everyone! Be safe and God Bless!!

Cowdy

[trollingforeyes]

Put your 20 lb tank in one of those plastic dairy cases use to hold milk. Mine never freezes and it also says standig up.