What Not to do when Ice Fishing Please share

[chad austin]

Originally Posted By: servocam

Thanks. My son, first time ice fishing, 5yo. He is now 7 and I rarely go w/o him. [/quote']

I started taking my son when he was four years old and have only left him home one time on a company trip to Lake of the Woods, he's 13 now and a great fishing partner. When it comes time to load up for the weekend he has most of the stuff in the wheel house before I even get home from work. That is a great pic that he will enjoy later in life (to brag about how early he started ice fishing)

[BrandonJ]

Do not drill 20 holes, set-up your shat shack, directly NEXT to me. When there is literally a thousand other spots to catch fish. Do not be a spot poacher.

[pulleye16]

Don't be "that guy" in every sense of the word.

[TruthWalleyes]

Don't be the noisiest person on the lake.

Respect others space.

Practice selective Harvet.

Take bait, trash, minnow heads, etc home with you.

DO NOT DRIVE CLOSE TO OTHERS.

DO NOT DRIVE FAST ON LAKE.

DO have some fun!

[GotALunker]

don't leave your garbage on the lake...you know who you are. The rest of us are not your mother and the lake isn't your garbage can.

[Jarrid Houston]

Keep space

respect others

take off what you take on

fish by the rules

be safe

[OnAFly]

Don't drive your snowmobile as fast as you can right next to people fishing.

No one cares how loud your sled is. You just look like a d hole.

[Jim Uran]

Don't go by yourself on sketchy ice!

Don't leave your garbage on the lakes.

[butsy]

before each season, and periodically throughout, check the fittings on your propane tank and heater- i had a buddy light one that leaked thru the fittings, and suddenly i had a flaming propane tank between me and the fish house door. i was able to grab the tank and pitch it out the door before it exploded, but man do those things burn hot. NOT to be trifled with.

ever since, i have been pretty religious about checking the fittings- even carrying a little bottle of soapy water to bubble test on long trips when i know the tank gets jostled around.

[sausageman]

Two costly mistakes in two days

1) Packed up my open end truck with my fish trap, poles and power auger the night before but forgot to tie it down. The next morning while I was driving up Hwy169 toward Mille Lac I heard a loud clunk....the fish trap along with my power auger are nowhere to be seen. I found a severed gas tank here, the power head in the snow bank, a broke fish pole laying on the road and my open fish trap in the middle of the road. Lucky I had my vexlar in the cab.

2) Next day, I buy a new Jiffy power auger at the old Holiday store near University and 694. The power head is in one box, the 10" auger section is in the other box....then while I was driving west on 694, I glance in the rearview mirror just in time to watch the box with the auger in it, fly out the back only to get smoked by the bus behind me.

Painful memories

[JeffB]

Mistake #1 Not bringing your warmest gloves and boots when fishing Upper Red out of a portable when it's -30 degrees with a 30-40 mph wind.

Mistake #2 Getting mad and telling your buddy to shut up after he asks if your warm enough three times. Because he will probably not tell you are on fire till it spreads from your bibs to your coat.

[Sonicrunch]

Never keep your cell phone in your front shirt pocket.

This.

[Finlander]

Don't ever use a chisel for making a hole in the ice unless you're the only one fishing the entire lake! Wanna make the fish lookers not takers, start pounding the ice like a wood pecker and see!

There's no reason with the high tech augers now available.

[deadeye]

Wear your ice cleats!

Last time I used my otter wild 2 ice house I was pulling it out of the back of my truck and it sort of took me for a ride. It was full of gear so I'm sure it weighed 250lbs and I was on glare ice so when I pulled it out of the truck it pushed me (I had no traction) over taking me out at my ankles and I did a front flip and landed sitting in the sled on top of my gear wondering what just happened. As embarrassing as it was I wished someone could have caught that on video so I could have seen exactly how that happened. If I had my cleats on it would have never happened.

[bASS_BLASTER]

1. Do not drive fast

- You may hurt yourself

- You may hurt others

- You may run into someone's tip-up (Sorry guy on WBL 2010)

- When its bright w/fresh snow, you won't be able to tell where the road is or how deep is the snow.

2. Do not leave your auger blade expose b/c you're in a hurry to fish

- Someone might step on it

- It will cut your tent open (Spent a whole afternoon sewing my tent)

- Its just plain dangerous

3. Be not try to pick your auger without any gloves (cut me-self open)

4. Secure any loose items, keys, wallet, phones, etc. (no brainer)

- My wife lost her phone

- I lost jigs & lures

5. Respect others by keeping your distance.

6. Practice selective harvesting. Ice fishing season is when fish and their population is most vulnerable. Everyone and just about anyone can fish with very little equipment, sit on top of a hole possibly fish a whole school -vs- open water, not everyone owns a boat and fish move around all day long.

[servocam]

Don't ever use a chisel for making a hole in the ice unless you're the only one fishing the entire lake! Wanna make the fish lookers not takers, start pounding the ice like a wood pecker and see!

There's no reason with the high tech augers now available.

Be sure to have the spud bar rope around your hand so when you punch through it does not slip out of your hands and end up on the bottom of the lake (my brother 20 years ago)

[Gordie]

Be sure to have the spud bar rope around your hand so when you punch through it does not slip out of your hands and end up on the bottom of the lake (my brother 20 years ago)

Or Ice saw ask BNS

[Hardyboy]

Always cover the holes in your permanent or a muskrat may take up residence in your house.

I hope you were able to get pictures

[Fishaholic2011]

Wow Kodiak, did you accidentally kill a Musky you caught through the ice.

[Gordie]

Me and a buddy were trailering my 8x10 perm back to the house after the season closed. Buddy say's "Hey, we better tie this thing down". Naaaaaah, I reply. This shack is so heavy theres no way it would come off. Going down the road at 50 m.p.h. and watching it slide on the road behind me was one of the most nerve wracking, embarrisng moments I had ever experienced. No injuries were caused in my [PoorWordUsage] move thanks to the man upstairs. Whew! BC

Big country i know that feeling but it was with a off road jeep that I had

[Gardiner14]

Dont think your BA in your pick up and make your own roads and get stuck, their there for a reason. Took me at least 3 times before figured that one out, But someones gotta go first i guess...

[FrontenacPike]

A couple years ago it rained hard and all the rain water rose the ice sheet pulling it away from shore. The ice was looking awful after all the rain and the weather people were saying the 7 day extended out look was all 40's & 50's. I decided it was now or never, and wanted to get mine off before the (what was left of the ice ramp) was completely gone. I was able to get it off the lake, but I shredded a tire and bent my axle. The next day I went back to the lake and helped the other 30 shacks off the lake using wheelers.

The part that makes this my dumb moment was the weather men were wrong and a cold front moved in knocking the temps back into the teens until the end of the season. The water receded and within a week people were driving their permies back down the landing. All said and done it ended up costing about $500 and 17 hours of labor.

[hookncook]

Don't drill half way down the ice with a 10'' auger because you need a cool coat rack or erect a flag for a basecamp. If you have that much of a desire to do so, please complete the hole. Half holes don't freeze over and snow tends to crust over them to make s pit fall trap.

If you see someone do this, kindly walk up to the half hole and tap it with a smaller bit.

Tip:2 Don't eat yellow snow.

[Down Deep]

Don't install a shelf in your perm above a hole. Me and my buddy thought is was a good idea when were setting up a wheeled house. About halfway though the season he was fishing and stood up. He bashed his head on the self causing it to dislodge from the wall knocking his cellphone, glasses, keys and a jig box into the hole never to be seen again. A very expensive lesson.

PS. We were lucky he had given me a spare set of keys to hold while were on that trip. Handing over a spare set of keys to my fishing partner is something I do on all my trips. Over the years this practice has saved the day several times . We have a rule, keys go in your pocket and are always at hand.

[bikeoutback]

First year I owned my SM 8" auger I was out with two buddies with a 2 man pop up type fish house. They were in the ice house and I "added" a tarp onto the ice house with bungee straps. To keep it up I drilled my auger into the ice half way and put the tarp over it and down to the ground making a simple 1 man added room. Tossed in my lantern and fished till late evening. Didn't realize that the condensation ran down the tarp and ultimately donw the auger blade and into the hole. We tried for hours to chip away with tire irons. Even tried pouring boiling water down the hole but never freed it up. All we could do was mark it with bright orange and I bought a new auger blade the next week.