Ice Fishing's Greatest Innovation

[popriveter]

I catch a LOT of fish using a hand auger and no flasher. I think the modern ice fisherman is a little over-reliant on technology.

A flasher is an incredible tool for finding fish on a new lake or a tough day, but I've got a lot of friends who've said they'd go home if they forget theirs. Funny thing is, I catch just as many fish as they do, and I seem to catch just as many fish on days I fish blind as I do when using a loaner flasher.

When I get cold, I cut more holes. It really isn't that bad to cut 20 holes with a hand auger until you hit about 20". Late in the season, it's a lot cheaper to buy a 6-pack for a friend with a power-auger than it is to buy a power auger. Everyone wins.

I guess my favorite innovation is friends who buy all the cool stuff so I can tag along in February instead of wrapping up my season early.

[palisade1kid]

I catch a LOT of fish using a hand auger and no flasher. I think the modern ice fisherman is a little over-reliant on technology.

I've been ice fishing for 45 years.When I was a tyke all the way to about38 I fished blind and yes I caught fish.We all did.

Yet when I went to a flasher and learned how to use it and learned all it could tell me I became a better fisherman.

[Ed Carlson]

There are fewer of us now that did all there ice fishing with the aid of an ice chisel.

I did all may holes with a bar for many years....can't say I miss it much either. We moved less, pondered the move more prior to a move, sometimes for days or weeks, then off we went and speculated on the best spot and chipped away again. It had to suck bad to want to move any time soon after a big move and a reset of a perm. So I certainly understand the argument for the power auger being a key innovation.

My first power auger changed mobility and certainly lessened the work load. And I'm not too likely to be without a power auger either fueled or an electric auger today. I will still keep a bar and a hand auger handy, they all have there time and place, as does an ice saw.

Yet we were blind and spent more hours wish'n then fish'n tell we got the first Vexilar model 120 S.O.S. (1969) sonars on the ice with Jimmy Rigged a ducer and taped them onto screen window hinges..yet we had a plan..kinda-sorta. Some years latter the Vexilar DE-12 (First tri color VPG sonar (1976) was born, and after that in 1988-89 the Vexilar FL-8 system improved on ice convenience 100 fold and the Vexilar Ice-Ducer was introduced...it all changed and changed exponentially after that on all fronts of the ice fishing game. We now had the tools in hand to really hunt fish on the ice, and do it efficiently.

I agree, power augers increased mobility, and that made the system a part of what it is today...but I'm solid on my conviction that sonar was the key to rocking the ice world and really getting it rolling.

[DonC]

Ed u forgot about the poles and reels used in the old days.....a broom stick with a nail in the end and 2 pegs to wrap the line on. Chopping a spearing hole with a chisel in 3 ft of ice was a chore as I recall And don't forget to put the rope around your wrist

[jBohmer]

I started ice fishing a couple of years ago after being invited to go with a buddy. After watching him check the depth through the ice with his flasher and watching him operate it while we were fishing I did not go out on my own until I got my own. I will not go out without it, especially in the heavily fished Metro lakes.

Checking depths through the ice, seeing suspened fish, and being able to set your lure depth within inches easily are the winning flasher points to me. I may have missed an advantage or two, but I do think that any of the other choices allow such an aid to ice fishing. You can always dress warmer, find a hole to fish through, use a map, or sit behind a vehicle, but if you take my flasher you take my fishing time.

I should mention that I may not go out without an auger too. I think that is a very very close second, but if I could chip through the ice I would still go out. I may not if my flasher is down.

Just my two cents, good topic.

[tsande00]

I think the greatest tool we have available to us today is the flasher. That being said, I think the greatest innovation however is the power auger. Without the power auger, people in large would not be interested in mobility which in itself has revolutionized the sport more than anything.

With the desire for mobility comes flip over shacks and cold weather wear.

I am leaving GPS off my list because I have had reasonable success getting on the spots I want with lakemaps.

Power auger for sure.

[Modern Ice Angler]

You do that season round though? Even with a great hand auger, drilling 30+ holes through 20"-36" of ice would be too much work for most people...myself included.

My answer might be a flasher too, but I think some people are too quick to jump on it, taking some of our other advancements for granted.

Actually, yes I do that year round. I have a 6" auger, though, so to be fair I'm at an advantage. People usually raise their eyebrows at me after I punched another dozen holes since the spot we were at didn't work.

That said, a power auger would make this task easier.

[Lip_Ripper Guy]

If I forgot the gas auger at home, I would either use a hand auger or chisel. If I forgot my flasher, I'd go get it, buy a new one, or sit and drink beer. By far, the greatest piece of equipment out there.

[jwmiller33]

Actually, yes I do that year round. I have a 6" auger, though, so to be fair I'm at an advantage. People usually raise their eyebrows at me after I punched another dozen holes since the spot we were at didn't work.

That said, a power auger would make this task easier.

i can't help but chuckle at the irony of this post and your username

[Rippinlip]

Flasher for me, how many suspended fish in 30' plus never seen a bait when we use to fish 6-12" off the bottom?

Vexilar all the way!

[fishersofmen]

Agreed, Flasher. I tried to fish without one last year in between buying a new one and ended up just going home. Man we have been spoiled with all this cool stuff!

[popriveter]

First ice, last year, my friend Beau took 2 old school ice fishermen (and their jiggle sticks) out to a Wisconsin lake. By the time he had his power auger drug out, portable shack set up and vexillar running, they'd already patterned the bluegills and had their limits on the ice. They ended up filling his limit before he ever caught a fish.

I'd never argue there aren't advantages to all the tools (flashers are especially handy for suspended fish), but I try to streamline and use just what is necessary. It's a lot of fun to find success without over complicating it. I think a lot of fishermen forget that. We're guys, we obsess over our hobbies and toys.

I use a 6" hand auger and I think I cut more holes because of it. It is how I stay warm. I will buy a flasher some day, but I have one available to use whenever I want it, and I rarely bother. It kind of makes fishing feel like a video game.

[Modern Ice Angler]

i can't help but chuckle at the irony of this post and your username

To be sure! Although I do use a prodigious amount of technology while fishing (GPS, flasher) as well as other modern ice angling accessories (st croix spring bobbers, artic armor bibs, glow fishing lures, etc). I'm looking into getting a gas auger, but so many of my compatriots complain about theirs incessantly I have steered clear to date.

[Mainehazmt]

Im going with the power auger without it I cut few holes 40" of ice with a hand auger just makes the day suck! and even better with an Icegator!

[skippie]

I think the flasher also, it really was what started the drive it make more and better products, like better rods, cameras, power augers, flip houses and cold weather suits. knowing the fish were there and the depth/bottom makeup that drove the innovation, and being able to see your lure, no more watching a bobber for hours.

[looneyducer]

These are all good tools, and they have all had an impact on the sport, but the guy who first taped a reel to an ice rod changed the world.