Excessive hole drilling

[mr_jman]

If I'm on a lake I know, I will start with about 2 - 6 holes in the area I like and go from there... On a new lake I will generally drill about 6 - 10 holes at varying depths preferably. I like to use half moon shapes, giant circles, or a "+" shape. All of these are great search tactics for me!

I will fish my 5 or 6 holes and if i find fish ill fish, and usually drill more holes in that immediate area.... if Nothing ill pick one hole and drill another 5 or 6 off of that. I'll do this all day long if I don't get tired and the weather isn't miserable! If at the end of the day I have 50 - 100 holes drilled then that's just the way it is. If I'm not fishing my old holes then those are free to anyone! I'd appreciate you not fishing the last 5 or 6 I drilled though!

I can understand complaints if your putting 100 holes around houses or the "public spots" which in that case just drill 2 - 4 and sit there IMO... The fish will probably show up at "prime time" and then it'll be over. I prefer trying to catch fish all day so I'm going to get away from the crowds and search for them.

To each their own out there really... Respect the space of others, but if you want to drill 2 and sit thats fine... If I'm 20+ yds away and drilling my holes 5 - 10 at a time I don't know why you'd complain about it! If I come out at "prime time" then I will drill 2 - 4 holes at most and set up but usually still away from the crowds if possible. If possible all my holes will be drilled and i'll have 3 - 5 "HOT" holes to jump to during prime time! All that searching pays off and those of you that have done it know what I'm talking about!

[cichlid_baby]

People... if you want peace and quite and not have to deal with the company of others and what they might do that might intrude on your so called evening of relaxation.. fork up the money to buy your own lake so you can fish alone.. or stay home.. turn your phone off and turn the TV on ... GOD forbid.. someone should even call you and interrupt your evening plans.

Get used to it... Public places are gonna have other people there doing other things that might not be how you would do things.. but all of it legal and within their own right.

Like I said.. if you don't like it.. move... or change the laws and make it illegal for someone to even start an auger within your hearing range.

[OnAFly]

If I know the general area of where I want to be I drill a 4X4 or 5X5 array of holes to start off. If I'm seeing nothing, I try to move in a direction where I see something different on my vex. If I still don't see fish and don't see any difference in structure/depth, I drill drill drill until I'm satisfied I'm not going to find anything or find fish.

No map in the world tells you there is a 20 square foot spot in the middle of weeds or a flat that holds the right density ow weeds, the right kind of weeds, the gravel piled on the bottom 6 inches high, the couple stray rocks....you get the point. Sometimes you have to drill to know.

These spots aren't usually very populated, so bothering other people isn't a problem. I wouldn't do the same in a shanty town. I would agree that is rude(and usually won't get you anywhere)

[KrabbyPatties]

Nobody is trying to 'dictate' what you can do. If you're happy making a ton of noise while everyone else in the area has to suck it up or leave, knock yourself out. Me, I prefer to fish in ways that don't step all over the people around me. I'm just calling excessive noise production what it is...a complete lack of courtesy.

[cichlid_baby]

Bottom line...

If you don't want to stick your foot in an ice hole.. don't go out on the ice.. kind of hard to fall in if you're not anywhere near it. This is also easily avoided if you look before you step.

If you don't want to hear or see anyone drilling holes during your so called prime time... don't go out fishing during prime time... or better yet.. don't go out on a public lake.

If you don't want to be bothered by the guy hole hoping and running his auger every once in a while as he is moving around..... turn up your ipod.

In reality.. the fish don't care for the most part.

Ever fished in a boat before and tried to verically jig with your main motor or kicker motor running the whole time? Fish still bite and are still caught with all that noise.

[CAMAN]

If you don't want to stick your foot in an ice hole.. don't go out on the ice.. kind of hard to fall in if you're not anywhere near it. This is also easily avoided if you look before you step.

LOL!! I think the saying goes, you can drill a single hole in the middle of Mille Lacs and and someone will find a way to step in it.

[KrabbyPatties]

Please.

You're really spinning this. I don't recall ANYONE saying they "don't want to hear or see anyone drilling holes" or complaining about someone "running his auger every once in a while".

What most people object to--and what I suspect most people have experienced at one time or another--are the guys who come out, often during the best part of the evening bite, but not always--and just run the snot out of their auger while everyone else has to listen to it. You think it's going to end......but then it doesn't! And yes, if they decide to do it nearby, it DOES sometimes affect the bite. I've had good bites put down by the onset of loud noise by nearby fishermen--we're not talking nuclear physics here. Loud noises can and do spook fish.

It's pretty ridiculous to suggest that anyone who objects to rude behavior that happens to be legal should leave and go somewhere that isn't public. Wouldn't it be a better solution to have people exercise a little self-restraint and courtesy? If you're sitting on a park bench and I walk up and fart by you, are you the one who's wrong if you get irritated but don't leave or should I just not do that???

Anyway, it's pretty clear that you aren't going to understand why someone who is trying to enjoy an evening of fishing wouldn't want to hear the constant drone of your auger motor nor do you seem to be able to differentiate between a reasonable amount of noise and the obnoxious, so I'll just let it go now. With 10,000+ lakes out there, we're pretty unlikely to end up on the same one anyway. Have a nice winter.

[Korynta]

I just get used to it because if i want to fish in the conveniant spot people come and go all day, so 1 guy drillin 100 holes or 50 guys drillin 2 its still the same amount of noise.

[OnAFly]

"It's pretty ridiculous to suggest that anyone who objects to rude behavior that happens to be legal should leave and go somewhere that isn't public."

100% agree.

[cichlid_baby]

Wasn't making any suggestion... merely pointing out that you have a choice to make... either sit there and learn to accept it that it's going to be part of the experience on a public lake that gets that kind of traffic.. or remove yourself from that environment of which you feel so offended by.

Again.. you choose and control only what you can control.. and ignore the rest.

Personally.. I've never been all that bothered by someone else drilling holes or setting up nearby... it's just not on the list of things that are worth that much of my time to worry about.

I seem to enjoy my evenings out more.. when I don't worry so much about whatever everyone else is doing or not.

[Big Tom]

When there's not much snow cover I'll walk around with a jug of water and a vexilar. A lot easier and quieter than popping holes. I guess you have to decide if you want to fish or drill?

[Knoc]

OMG... now you guys actually think you can dictate what others do, or how they can find their fish when we are all on a public lake that none of us own to ourselves.

If you don't like what is happening around you.. you can always move..

Dont you think that is a little selfish? People in here are always talking about taking kids ice fishing. How safe is it to take a child with ice fishing when they have to dodge a couple hundred holes? Kids get bored and like to get out of the ice house and walk around and explore but sometimes cant because someone made the ice look like swiss cheese around all the houses. Does that sound fair to you?

What do you think would happen if there were 50 people out there who ALL punched 100 holes each on any lake? Does that sound like a lake you would want to fish on or take your kids too?

Drilling tons of holes (with others around trying to fish)in my opinion is selfish, rude and them people deserve a good ticket.

Also when I said do your homework, I meant check out maps etc. Any flasher you should be able to spit on the transducer, set it on the ice and check the depth. You think drilling tons of holes until you stumble on where the fish are sitting because your flasher told you takes skill? Doesnt sound like much sport to me. People who check out the maps, shore lines and using your own skill and knowledge to find fish due to the layout, weather conditions, time etc. in my opinion is what makes a REAL fisherman. A fisherman others will respect.

[scott b]

Hey look dude. Sometimes some people drill holes to try to find more fish. No need to pick on the non lazy. I have a small boy but watch him with a constant eye when on the lake. And when he gets older I will teach him the importance of moving to find the fish.

[gac12]

Great Thread!

[Slab_Supper]

I like making swiss cheese and am not scared to share my holes with others. The more the merrier! Only thing that I ask is that people tell me what they are using...

[dan z]

hole poppon's the only way to ice fish IMO. I will stake out an area with a map and pound holes until my arms hurt and then go back to the 1st holes and start looking for fish. no fish equals no jig down the hole. sometimes I wont even drop a line in a certain set. I dont have time to sit on no fish.

[noodlerod]

I dont wanna hear that crapola about drilling during "prime" time. Gimme a break. Not everybody can be on the lake and set up at by what you consider "prime" time.

come drill holes by me at prime time and you might not like the outcome

its called curtisie and respect !!!!!

[TruthWalleyes]

come drill holes by me at prime time and you might not like the outcome

its called curtisie and respect !!!!!

LOL...Everyone thinks they're big until they open their mouth

[TruthWalleyes]

When there's not much snow cover I'll walk around with a jug of water and a vexilar. A lot easier and quieter than popping holes. I guess you have to decide if you want to fish or drill?

+1 That works great on thin and clear ice. I went through a gallon of water saturday before i found the fish, then i pulled 50 in two hours...Had i needed to drill - there would have been over 100 holes.

I probably only drilled 15 that day though...that was enough with the hand auger. Should probably start up that power auger one of these days.

[Hardyboy]

come drill holes by me at prime time and you might not like the outcome

its called curtisie and respect !!!!!

So what your telling me is that when i get done with work or when i was able to get my son from hockey or school and get to the ice to spend time with him or just to get myself on the ice to enjoy a little fishing and i happen to be somewhere in the vicinity in what you call "prime time" that your going to be mad and let me have it?

Now in my opinion (and that is what this thread is is personal opinion) your attitude is rude and selfish. Not everyone has the same schedule. That might be the only time a person was able to get on the ice. I'm pretty sure from what i know of most people here is that there sole purpose is NOT to get as close to someone as possible and try to ruin other peoples good time.

You wont see me getting mad if someone is out drilling holes after i got settled in because i understand that life happens outside of my little world. If people bother me i find a little hole nobody is on and i fish there. If i want to fish somewhere there are other people then i go into it with the full knowledge I am not the only person on the lake and that's just the way it is.

[TruthWalleyes]

Now in my opinion (and that is what this thread is is personal opinion) your attitude is rude and selfish. Not everyone has the same schedule. That might be the only time a person was able to get on the ice. I'm pretty sure from what i know of most people here is that there sole purpose is NOT to get as close to someone as possible and try to ruin other peoples good time.

You wont see me getting mad if someone is out drilling holes after i got settled in because i understand that life happens outside of my little world. If people bother me i find a little hole nobody is on and i fish there. If i want to fish somewhere there are other people then i go into it with the full knowledge I am not the only person on the lake and that's just the way it is.

Well said. +1

[Barbelboy]

This thread is great. Now I have validation for telling jet skis and water skiers to stop making noise while I fish this summer, or someone who deer hunts within 1 mile of me on public land because I feel they are too close, and I can tell kids not to swim off of their dock because it interferes with my dock fishing for bass. How could somebody be so rude as to enjoy public property and infringe upon my "experience".

I've drilled 2 holes, I've drill 200. Try not to be a jerk, but try not to be an overly sensitive pain in the you know what either. How the heck am I supposed to know how you want ME to ice fish? I've used this line about 100 times on this web site. If I am enjoying the out doors and not breaking the law, but you don't agree with how I'm going about it, leave me alone! It is an impossible task to predict what makes other people happy, so i'll enjoy the outdoors in my own legal and ethical way and hope some dope doesn't try to enforce their "version" of what is acceptable on me.

[MNice]

No big deal either way, I am not going to let some drilling bother me, it's not my lake.. If you drill real close, I'll say hi and shoot the bull with you. Life is short enough to get your undies in a bunch over such a trivial thing. Relax & enjoy the day!!

[noodlerod]

LOL...Everyone thinks they're big until they open their mouth

[CaptainMusky]

come drill holes by me at prime time and you might not like the outcome

its called curtisie and respect !!!!!

Actually its courtesy. BTW where is your hotspot? I will be sure to take you up on that offer. LOL

Some people need to relax. There is a lot more to life and you will be a lot happier if you dont sweat the small stuff.