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

[DTro]

If you use multiple batteries for a vex or marcum, camera, lights for the porty ect, you can keep them "alive" longer between charges by using a soft sided cooler, the 6 pack kind, and when you get to the lake open up one or two hand warmers and throw them on the bottom of the cooler and put your batt. in on top of them and zip it shut. The heat from the hand warmers will keep your batteries nice and warm. They will hold that charge up longer when they are kept warm. Ever get to the lake and go and hook up your vex battery and it is at 3/4 strenght when it was fully charged at home/ They loose some strenght when they get cold. My X-mas tip of the day!!

I took your advice on this one and it's a great idea. I haven't been using the handwarmers, but more the lunch cooler idea. I found a very inexpensive one at Target and have putting my extra battery in there. Not only does it protect it and keep it warm, but it has a handle and makes for easy taking in and out to charge.

Oh BTW, I paid $6 and I noticed today at Target that they were on clearance for $3, so I bought another one.

[Shack]

I kid you not!! I have seen this work and used it myself.

If you use a deepcycle, car battery, small tractor, ATV/Sled battery (never tried on my Marcum battery), and use it for lighting or other reasons, it starts to get low on charge for ya, take it outside and bounce/drop it (not hard enough to crack the housing) on the ice a couple times. Hook your lights back up and you will not believe how bright they will be. If you are on a hot bite during the evening, this can gain you an extra half hour or so of light if your battery is going dead.

Good luck!

[bottom-bouncer]

How about a gas cap for the auger that does not leak.

[tsande00]

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

Best tip of the thread! Can't wait to try this one out.

[79LumaCraft]

Got tired of my poles getting all tangled up in line and lures going to and fro, so I have plastic golf club tubes that you can buy in the Spring at Fleet Farm, cut them in half, and sheath each of my rods. Has worked awesome.

[Surreal Deal]

I didn't read through all 7 pages of this thread but if nobody else mentioned it, carry a small repair kit for your house - some duct tape, needle & thread, and definitely some extra nylon lock nuts for the arms.

[Boar]

In my otter, I went to a car dealer in my town an asked if they had any replaced rubber truck bed liners, got it cheap, took it home an with several blades in a utility knife, I cut out the floor pattern an cut ten inch holes in it in spots where i always drill my 8 inch holes. Now I have a nice slip proof rubber floor an it roles up an fits in my tub. Kinda heavy for you guys that go on weight when dragging but its really makes a nice stable an safe floor. Boar

[rickl1968]

Tip and Trick for your ski-doo trailer.

Use of old box liners..........

Cut 8" wide strips for your trailer, they act as perfect runners for your skis. Your carbides follow the groves, and line up your sled perfectly every time. Use stainless screws or bolts with washers to attach to trailer. I drilled ablong holes through the plastic to leave room for expansion in the sun.

[FrontenacPike]

Lets dig this one from the archive grave yard and see if anyone has anymore to add. I'm itching for the season and this topic went so well the first time.

New tips:

Lively Bait: To keep a minnow constantly moving, take a nail clippers and cut off the bottom half of the tail. This will throw the minnow of balance and he will constantly be moving to keep him self upright.

Hot Feet: A small exercise mat (cut to preferred size) or a piece of styrofoam between your boots and ice will make a world of difference. Carpet works but gets water logged.

Garbage: Fill an old sock with a few plastic grocery bags. Makes great garbage bags or fish transporters.

Waxies: If crappies or gills are reluctant to bite, try hooking them one time just under the head. They will engulf the whole thing.

Ziplock: Keep your cell in a ziplock bag when fishing alone. If you ever do fall through, your phone will still be dry and you can call for help.

Iced up guides: Spray a little fish attractant or WD-40 onto your guides it will keep the ice off them.

Anyone else have any new stuff they read or heard of over the summer and cant wait to use this winter...please add.

[stumper]

If you are fishing "circling gills" out of the same hole you have your ducer in, hang it directly in the center of the hole. When the fish reaches the surface/ducer ,just hold tension on the line a couple seconds and the ducer/fish will unwrap each other. When the ducer is tight against the side of the hole, the line stays pinched between the ducer and the ice and wont unwrap.Keeps you from having to lift the ducer out on every fish.Never lost a fish using this method.

Make up a set of jumper cables so that you can use your flasher battery to jump start your quad/ATV if you ever get stranded with a dead battery.They dont need to be very big and will fit in a ziplock in your toolbox on the machine.

Use your GPS off of your boat on your ATV instead of a hand held unit. Much easier to see the contour lines and save you the cost of buying another GPS.

[RebelSS]

My lures are stuck in closed cell HD foam rubber strips (used to isolate medical glass slides) that I cut to fit in all the top trays of my tackle box...about 3" x 1 1/4". I bought some velcro strips and stuck the "loop" side to the bottom of the rubber strips, and the "Fuzzy" side I sewed on the top cuff of my parka sleeve, so it half encircles the end of the sleeve.

I grab the foam strip with the 8-10 lures I intend to use that day (in addition to the rigged 4-5 rods I also have) and stick it to the velcro on the sleeve. I hate to waste time looking for a lure; this may be extreme, but you don't have to sit down the rod, bend over and grab the tackle box, blah, blah. Just pick one off and go to it.

[slipperybob]

Open floor plan on hub shelter. Build yourself an ice livewell with a few auger holes. Even if you don't scoop out the shavings, putting a few fish in it will eventually melt the ice, along with the heat from the heater. If you so incline to fill it up with water, you can also just spud the bottom through.

[PiedmontAngler]

My tip is make sure you have fresh line on your reels so you don't have to endure the ribbing of fellow FMer's as you lose the big one at the fishing contest because of a massive rats nest at the reel.

I have many of these other tips in use already. Thanks for the great tips guys.

[Northlander]

Oh yes I remember that one well man. I still get a chuckle out of that. Trade ya a marcnifier for some fresh Trilene XL.

[PiedmontAngler]

Don't get me started man, I've already had my 24 hr sentence this year.

[Ed Carlson]

If you tend to loose you stopper for your camera or on ice sonar unit, replace them with the Vexilar Smart Stops...they come in 2 packs for $3. I call them Squirrel Nuts....LOL!

To install, simply Unhook the camera cable from the monitor, slip the Vexilar Smart Stopper on the cable through the loop, and thread it to the appropriate use area.

With the provided safety loop on the Squirrel Nut, they can't fall off. They will work on all UW Cameras, tri-pods, hole cover style suspension systems, and all the various factory stand out style suspension arms and floats.

[FrontenacPike]

Does anyone have any tips for spooling new line on a reel to get rid of its memory? Nothing worse than your first outing with new line and it goes shooting out as you flip the bail.

[Ed Carlson]

Try "Ardent Line Butter" line treatment, and also do not over tighten the line when spooling up. Also try not to overfill the spool...leave an 1/8 from the trip off point of the spool taper.

Over tensioning the line while winding will develop permanent spool memory on mono lines, so light to mildly firm tension is all that is required while spooling up mono line.

Use line that is low temp friendly, and is rated to be spinning reel manageable. In general, the higher the Fluorocarbon % the more complications you will see in deep cold, so a blended Fluorocarbon behaves much better.

The "Ardent Line Butter" treatment really helps prevent deterioration of line and it lessens ice beading on the line that causes the eyelets to freeze up. It also helps to prevent the line roller bearing from freeze up. Icing at those points will produce line twist, and cause spooling problems on mono lines.

[slipperybob]

Does anyone have any tips for spooling new line on a reel to get rid of its memory? Nothing worse than your first outing with new line and it goes shooting out as you flip the bail.

Baitcasting reel or fly reel

[FrontenacPike]

Sliperybob

When I posted I was thinking of my ice rod (open face). If you have any suggestions for open water spools...please share as well.

[pulsar_nx]

FrontenacPike, for starters when filling with new line lay the spool down on the floor so that the line comes off counter clockwise. Why counter clockwise, because that is the way that the reel will pick it up thus it wont be twisting the line through the whole spool.

My other trick if that doesn't work or I forgot to, is to put the reel or spool with line under hot tap water. The heat seems to give it a new memory.

[lutzy]

I am new to hard water and have gotten many good ideas from this page. I don't have any tips because as I said I am new to this, but I wanted to get it back on the front page to hopfully get more tips on here. Thanks to all that have shared.

[tsande00]

Insulated batteries for portable fishing:

I took a small sandwich cooler and drilled 2 small holes in the lid. I then placed some very small threaded rod (3/32 I believe) through each hole and secured with locking nuts on each side of the cooler lid. Inside the cooler I keep 2 vex batteries and some alligator clips/test leads. I connect the inside threaded rods to one of the batteries using the 2 leads/alligator clips. What you end up with is a battery that is kept insulated and that is easy to grab and taken in the house to recharge when you are done fishing. With the "battery terminals" (threaded rod) on the outside of a cooler you've essentially created an insulated, lightweight battery with a handle. Just be sure to clearly mark the positive and negative or it could get ugly. ;-)

I connect my portable's lights and fan system through a switch box to the exterior of the cooler when I start fishing. Keeps the batteries warmer and convenient in one spot. Also, if my flasher happens to go dead I have a spare battery.

Very simple and took about $2 in materials (cooler I had laying around) and 2 minutes of time. The cooler can also double as a bait cooler in the summer by simply taking the batteries out.

[BartmanMN]

My battery is wrapped in foam tape and then covered in electrical tape. This keeps the battery warm, so the life is extended. It also helps with the banging around in the bottom of the bucket or fish house.

[Far-I]

Use your GPS off of your boat on your ATV instead of a hand held unit. Much easier to see the contour lines and save you the cost of buying another GPS.

Is it ok to do this? Nothing in my chartplotters screen would freeze would it, like LCD crystals or whatever? I was thinking about this idea the other day, how nice it would be to mount my chartplotter onto my trike and have a nice, large, detailed display of the lake bottom as i ride vs. my little black and white garmin's display. Not sure if there are recommended temperautres for these open-water units though. I know that the Showdown I have has a heated display to keep LCD crystals from freezing....