28 Years Later... thoughts and experience

[Slabasaurus]

I've been around a while... I've lived in town a while... I fished on boats a while... but never made it out on ice.

28 years it took me to wander out on the ice with a rod, chair, shack, buddy, buddy heater, and a nice little crank auger. Well, i've noticed some things.

I, as have many on the forums, have been struggling with gear needed to start out, vs what makes it a bit easier, nicer, etc. I am amazed at the difference between what you NEED to get out on the ice, and what you COULD USE to make life a lot easier. Also amazed how much more expensive one alternative is than the other.

I will be picking up a power auger pretty much as soon as I can. I know the lakes I fish most often well enough to identify where fish should be, that i'd rather ice-troll and be hoping that there are fish down there, rather than be positive I'm going to have to manually drill through another 2 feet of ice.

That said, shortly after I pick up a power auger, I'll be pickin up a flasher of some sort. And a sled... for sure going to get a sled. A sled would have been really nice to have this weekend. Portable GPS would be nice, but I'm only going to pick one up if I plan on tryin new lakes out a lot.

How did we do? Well... we went up to my cabin (bout half way between Rice Lake and Hayward WI). Arrived just before sundown on staurday night, had lines in by 6. I was fishin the bottom with a small buckshot spoon tipped with a crappie minnow. We were set up in about 20 fow, so I'd drop the spoon to the bottom, let it sit a minute, reel up probably a foot or two, and then start jigging. Apparently this is what they wanted... as I caught a handful of decent crappie with this technique. Might I also add they were relatively soft biters, not sure I would have pulled em up without a spring bobber.

Here's the first fish I iced... ever... All of em I caught saturday night were between 10.25" and 11"

Sunday was trickier. Set up in the same structure as before, and had more bites than we did on Saturday, but were not able to ice any of em. Had a great time though, I'll be back out soooon. My landlord is gonna let me borrow the ATV to get out to a local Lake this week.

I'd still rather be driftin along the break just off my shoreline up in WI, jiggin for eyes (but catching crappies). That said, Ice fishin is a blast. I will take it as an acceptable alternative to open water.

[Twins Guy]

slabasaurus-nice work! i am a couple years ahead of you but also started my ice fishing at age 28. can't believe it took me that long to get started but better late than never. over the last couple years i have acquired many of the "needs and wants" but i am still small time. drive a hatchback and get nervous taking her on the ice, no snowmobiles or atvs, no permies or wheelhouses, pull my otter cottage by hand, finally drilling with power! i think the biggest aid to my ice fishing has been a flasher. the fact that you are catching fish without one is a great start! and your catch rate will probably go up exponentially once you can see what's going on under you. i've got a spare now-if you want to see what you're missing let me know.

you mentioned somewhere between rice lake and hayward. my in laws have a lake place near siren-but my efforts have never yielded such impressive crappies! haven't been up there this year but might have to give it a shot again.

tg

[Jim Almquist]

Glad to hear that you finally made it out

I think over time you will begin to realize just why it is such a popular sport and soon you will need all the goodies and things that make it more comfortable. My dad is 86 and still wants to hit the ice but could careless about boat fishing and he was a very avid boat fisherman in his day.

[walleyehunter80]

what lake are you on up there? My wifes uncle has a cabin up on slim lake near where you are talking its near stone lake, wi. I can use it anytime and would like to go up ice fishing this year sometime

[Crm7290]

Beat you by about 8 years by starting at 20.... But I too love it. Its a great alternative to bass fishing all summer.

its a good thing you found an alternative!

[MN BassFisher]

Yeah, stick with it Slab! I have been a fisherman since I was a child (I'm 24 now) and this is the first year I've dove into ice fishing, bought a hub shelter, power auger, and flasher. I am loving it now and I used to get bored with ice fishing. I can now fish all year long!!

[Slabasaurus]

After another old school sesh with a hand auger and no flasher, I decided enough was enough. Up north we had some good ice. The lake i live on down here was not good ice. Not by a long shot. Holy {yeah, don't worry, I wont use that word here]

Online I found an Ice35 for cheap, and an Eskimo Mako for cheap (with a storage bag!), and free shipping on both. They'll be arriving wed and friday, respectively.

Not sure if I'll make it back up to the cabin before President's day weekend, but I hope to. My place is on Big Chetac near Edgewater, had it since June 18th of this past year.

I go up 3x a month in the summer, and usually 2x a month during winter.

[zamboni]

I first ice fished when I was about 6. Things were simple then- no power augers unless you were really, really rich. No flashers. No portables, and not even really any permanents. I didn't ice fish again for a really, really long time. Graduated HS, joined the Navy, moved around the US quite a bit, including back to Minnesota and hated every minute of winter. After having kids and living in Kansas City my wife (at the time) and I decided to move to my hometown. Due to my deep hate of winter, I needed a winter hobby. Snowmobiling was out- I cannot afford a new machine, and can't afford an older one that breaks down all the time. My other option of joining a polar bear swim club didn't sound too appealing so I decided on ice fishing. I go with my 67 yr old dad often, and have taken my now 7 yr old son out a few times. Getting close to both has become what I live for every year. In july, I now wish it was january. I wander into Gander Mntn, Scheels, Cabellas in october and ask the salesmen when the ice gear will be out. What a great way to enjoy winter in the nations icebox. It can get spendy, but compared to snowmobiling, the costs pale in comparison. You will soon find yourself addicted, it is very easy to get hooked.

[Deitz Dittrich]

Ha ha ha.. welcome to the addiction!!!!!!