Excessive hole drilling

[noodlerod]

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.

I totaly agree and it dosent bother me a bit if im panfishing or northern fishing the point I was trying to make is if you are a knowlegable fisherperson and you know someone is walleye fishing (which I mainly am ) have common courtesy and respect and dont go out to ruin someone elses experiance by drilling holes at "prime time" right next to them give them a lil space ! excuse the grammer not an english major

[Summett]

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!!

And with that Lady's & Gentleman...we have a WINNER!!! Nicely done MNice!

[reinhard1]

there has got to be a minority of fishermen that are rude. i certainly havent run into any of them. of course a lot of places i fish there arn't that many people out anyway. now that i'm retired i can fish anytime of the day. but there are those [probably the majority] who cant make it out in the morning or not until the afternoon for one reason or another.

in shallow water drilling a hole i have noticed does affect the fish nearby [i have seen this on my camera] however in deeper water it seems like it doesnt bother the fish. not a scientific study, just what i have observed. even foot traffic should be limited on shallow water but not on deeper water. so it would seem it would be polite to not drill next to someone in shallow water just for that reason.

sure it's public water, but there should be common courtesy involved in anything we do, not just ice fishing. here in the cities on local lakes there is constant noise factor. snowmobiles, cars and trucks, and wheelers driving by. am i going to yell at some guy drilling a hole near me? Heck no. i like people and enjoy good conversation. Loud drunks and foul language, now that is another story. not that hard to pack up and move. good luck.

[noodlerod]

very well said reinhard by the way i like you posts your a standup guy I to dont run into this very often as for where i choose to fish but once or twice a year it does and im just not the type of guy to pack up and move

[cichlid_baby]

Some of you guys still don't understand... I'm all for showing the kids the great outdoors but...

If you are afraid your kids are gonna fall in the lake because someone has cut many holes in it to fish.. then don't take your kids to a lake that you feel they are going to be at higher than usual risk of that happening... what makes you think that it's anyone else's fault if that God forbid was to happen? Keep an eye on your kids, teach them about ice safety and require that they look before they step. Be prepared for the worse case scenario and have an emergency back up plan. If your assesment is that it's just too risky to have your kids out on the lake.. then you're better off not to bring them along.

Remember NO ICE is SAFE ICE...

I can't imagine telling the guys in my fishing party to not drill so many holes around a point, hump, or structure because there's a guy in the house over there that has brought his 2 kids with him today.

How is it anyone else's responsibility to take care of your kids for you?

I highly doubt that anyone is drilling so close to your front door that it would even make any difference other than you just being annoyed that you now have to share the ice with someone else and you can't control every little thing that goes on around you any longer.

[jwmiller33]

Maybe we should petition to get a law created to establish a quota on number of holes being drilled in the ice per day of fishing. Along with that, we can add a sub section to the law stating you need to have sharp blades on your auger or else you can't use it because it takes too long to drill a hole. And while we are at it, we mind as well outlaw all boat motors under a certain horsepower because it simply takes them too long to get across the lake and disturbs MY time on the lake having to listen to their slow engine get them across the lake.

Give me a break! It is PUBLIC PROPERTY. There is absolutely nothing wrong with drilling as many holes as your heart desires while on the ice.

FWIW, Using water on the ice to use the transducer without drilling a hole only works for about the first month of the hard water season, or until we get substantial snow accumulation on the ice.

Sure, it might be disrespectful to be near someone and drill a bunch of holes, but I think we are missing the point here. Regardless of the outdoor activity, there are always going to be those folks who are disrespectful on the water year round. Whether that is someone cutting you off while trolling in the boat, a wakeboarding boat doing circles 50 yards from your hot spot, a snowmobiler doing hot laps around your fishing shack, or a Dave Genz wanna-be drilling 50 holes once they set up 50 yards from you. The point is, you have to learn how to deal with the disrespectful people in this world. For me, whenever I hit the lake (hard or soft water), I pick a spot that is FAR away from the crowds/beaten path. However, there are a few times where I will be limited to where I can get (ie plowed roads), and in those certain cases, you have to understand and change your expectations that there are going to be other people fishing around you. My advice is don't sweat the pety stuff. Life is too short to get worked up over a 2hp small engine running for ten minutes within ear shot of you.

[Borch]

I generally don't wet a line with fewer than 30 holes drilled unless my wife hits me with a snow ball, (tough to do right now) after she's seen fish on the Hummingbird Ice 55. I'm a firm believer in covering ice and only fishing where the fish are at right now. That means there are times where I might drill holes all day before I find the fish I'm looking for.

I also give other fisherman plenty of space when I'm doing this. This practice has paid huge dividends for me over the years when others have gone home with little to no fish caught. At times the fish school tightly and move in the search for food. Having extra holes drill makes keeping on these fish a possibility that just isn't there if you drill two holes and sit on a bucket or in your shelter.

Just the system I use. Running and gunning...

[cichlid_baby]

The guys who can sit on two holes all day "fish bite or not" are always gonna think that the guys who are drilling 30+ holes are "excessively drilling".... and they will come up with all kinds of reasons to justify why you shouldn't do exactly what you are doing "running and gunning"...

Excessive hole danger.. their kids might fall in.

Excessive noise.. you're too close because they can hear you and you have awaken them from their afternoon nap.

You're drilling during prime time.. you should have scheduled your arrival and fishing time, drilling time, around their schedule in order to not disturb them after they have drilled their two holes and cracked opened their can of beer.

By the way... don't you dare light up your glow jigs because that will make all their fishes leave their holes and show up under yours.

[Knoc]

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.

For me it has nothing to do with the noise. Its the safety part when I take a kid fishing that it bugs me. I like to take my nieces and nephews out because alot of them dont come from outdoorsy families, so I like to have them enjoy the hobby. Which includes playing and sliding around on the ice during slow times. 100 holes around makes it a little tough.

[Jarrid Houston]

Swiss Cheese is the frequent term used when referring to this type of behavior, and the guys that do it, are working hard for the fish. I usually punch about 100 holes everytime Im out. Unless of course I have them dialed in, and only need to use a couple holes, or if its like unbearable conditions, and I am gonna be in the shack allday anyway. I try to keep my distance from people when fishing, but I put in the time, mark my coordinates on the GPS, and just know th lakes that I fish pretty well. So if there is some people in the area, I really dont give a hoot. I am there to fish, and part of my fshing habit, usually consist of hole hopping. I am a polite guy, so I usually talk to people before setting up, but more often than not, I am the first one to the sport anyway so its really never a problem for me. I usually offer people to go ahead and share the holes anyway.

[rundrave]

For me it has nothing to do with the noise. Its the safety part when I take a kid fishing that it bugs me.

What about the saying that no ice is safe ice? If your all about safety than you should leave the kids at home since no ice is ever safe ice.

You could fall through today, tomorrow, the middle of January etc if your on the ice there is always the opportunity to fall through. There could be 4ft of ice, but there is always the possibility you or a kid could go through the ice somewhere one way or the other.

I can see where your coming from, and I give you props for taking kids fishing. But if your stance is strictly from a safety aspect you need to remember that being on the ice period can not be safe. If you use the same discretion you use for being on the ice and apply it towards looking for holes you will be alright.

[Scott K]

On a nice day, scouting a new lake, I will swiss cheese the heck out of it. But I will do it out away from every one else. On a lake I know, where I have the structure marked already, I will usually drill 10 holes, and fish those 10 holes. If for some reason I want to fish a public hole, I will distant myself from the others as much as possible, and make a few holes and fish them, most likely inside my portable.

3 years ago, I was sitting on Lake Washington, about 100 yards from the crowd, 2 guys come over by my house (within 20 feet), and drilled about 60 holes around 2 side of my house, then started drilling between my house and my truck, wich I had parked about 20 feet from my house, because there was only 11 inches of ice at the time, that was the last straw in my case, it is a public lake, but they need to respect others as well, so they need to share it with me, and I was there first. I not so kindly yelled at them, and I got the "you dont own the lake" , I am pretty sure I was never as mad at anytime in my life when I was fishing, as I was then, rather then getting into a fist fight, I packed up my stuff and moved off the lake. It is called RESPECT people! There should be more of it out there! To this day, I avoid busy lakes, or public spots, because of people like this.

[monstermoose78]

He should not fish in a boat because it could spring a leak or fish from shore because it may slide into the water. I think he should just not fish and leave the rest of us alone!

[cichlid_baby]

That's right... exactly.. NO ICE is ever SAFE ICE...

I take my kid out close to a dozen times a year on the ice.. She's been taught where she can be, where she can step, and what she can do and what she can't do when she is out on the ice with me. That's all my responsibility as a parent.

At other times where I've taken out other family's kids or friend's kids to show them the outdoors because perhaps they don't have the same oppurtunity to get outdoors in their household... I've always had to make the decisions on what is a safe enough environment and activity for the children to be in. It has never included any other person or party out on the ice.

I would never dream of telling some other fisherman that his 10 inch holes were unsafe for my kids, or that his 30+ holes were making it unsafe for my kids to goof around on the ice.. or that his loud auger was making it hard for my kids to catch their fish.

I would simply decide to take my kids elsewhere if I really felt for their safety or I would leave them at home.

[Borch]

For me it has nothing to do with the noise. Its the safety part when I take a kid fishing that it bugs me. I like to take my nieces and nephews out because alot of them dont come from outdoorsy families, so I like to have them enjoy the hobby. Which includes playing and sliding around on the ice during slow times. 100 holes around makes it a little tough.

I can understand that as I've had those encounters with my kids as they were growing up. I've never been a fan of 10" holes because smaller kids can literally fit down one rather than just getting their foot/leg wet. But again it has it's applications. Again I typically am a ways from anyone else when I drill a pile of holes. There's generally plenty of undrilled ice left for the kids to play on.

Take Care,

Jeff

[Knoc]

[

What about the saying that no ice is safe ice? If your all about safety than you should leave the kids at home since no ice is ever safe ice.

You could fall through today, tomorrow, the middle of January etc if your on the ice there is always the opportunity to fall through. There could be 4ft of ice, but there is always the possibility you or a kid could go through the ice somewhere one way or the other.

I can see where your coming from, and I give you props for taking kids fishing. But if your stance is strictly from a safety aspect you need to remember that being on the ice period can not be safe. If you use the same discretion you use for being on the ice and apply it towards looking for holes you will be alright.

Ill take the odds of falling through 8 inches of ice vs stepping into the 500 holes outside the door.

It all boils down to courtesy. Do you want to be selfish and think of only yourself and catching fish, or think of others and their experiance out on the lake that day as well?

Like I said before, a big lake, noone around, punch away. Drill until your arms fall off. I just think its rude when there is a shanty town and a person is walking in between houses 8 feet apart to punch 10 holes in the middle. I see alot more professional wanna-be's now more than ever. "Babe Winkleman punched 200 holes on Mille Lacs so now I better". Sad.

[Barbelboy]

How about mandatory life jackets for all children under 18 years old with a 20' tether with a float on it?

Sigh.........Knoc, this is not directed at you, so please don't take offense.

But no, I don't think of other people's experiences on the ice. It's my time, my money and my family & friend's experience that I consider. I'll be polite, cordial, considerate and ethical, but in the end I won't let anyone else dictate how I'm going to spend my time outdoors. (I like the reinhart policy) If the ice is so dangerous because hundreds of thousands of people participate in a wonderful Minnesota past time maybe it's time to consider flooding your yard and creating an ice rink where nobody can cause problems.

And the world is full of rude people. We'd all better get used to it and develop a thicker skin, or we'll all have long frustrating lives filled with anger and disappointment at how others act.

[noodlerod]

3 years ago, I was sitting on Lake Washington, about 100 yards from the crowd, 2 guys come over by my house (within 20 feet), and drilled about 60 holes around 2 side of my house, then started drilling between my house and my truck, wich I had parked about 20 feet from my house, because there was only 11 inches of ice at the time, that was the last straw in my case, it is a public lake, but they need to respect others as well, so they need to share it with me, and I was there first. I not so kindly yelled at them, and I got the "you dont own the lake" , I am pretty sure I was never as mad at anytime in my life when I was fishing, as I was then, rather then getting into a fist fight, I packed up my stuff and moved off the lake. It is called RESPECT people! There should be more of it out there! To this day, I avoid busy lakes, or public spots, because of people like this.

this is exactly what I was talking about (some guys dont know what RESPECT is)except i wouldnt have left or moved

[noodlerod]

It all boils down to courtesy.

Like I said before, a big lake, noone around, punch away. Drill until your arms fall off. "Babe Winkleman punched 200 holes on Mille Lacs so now I better". Sad.

+1 WELL SAID

[cichlid_baby]

Like I said before, a big lake, noone around, punch away. Drill until your arms fall off. I just think its rude when there is a shanty town and a person is walking in between houses 8 feet apart to punch 10 holes in the middle.

Everyone can see you are grossly over-exaggerating this to make your point as I bet that this rarely if ever occurs in the real world.

Only makes your point come across weaker than it already is.

[muc33]

Courtesy of course, but I would have to say, I and my fishing partner usually fish just the two of us and not many others, and it's pretty easy to have us hopping 50 plus holes in a pretty small area. We were out Saturday in and area less than a baseball infield and had at least 50 holes, those darn perch were hard to keep pinned down.

[TruthWalleyes]

The safety of kids argument is quite funny. Take care of your own kids folks....Mine doesn't leave my eyesight. If you care for them, protect them, don't rely on others to protect them for you. Golly Jeeze.

Besides, If a kid steps into a hole, its more than likely going to be one of the holes you drilled since the kid is most likely closest to your holes.

[Feathers Rainin]

Unless you are in 10 feet or less an auger will not bother Walleyes too much. I have actually used it to attract fish in to our area on LOTW, Red, Winnie, etc. Now when I am fishing 5 feet for walleyes I get a little irritated but there is really nothing you can do.

If you want peace and quiet drive out to the boonies or purchase land on a private lake. If not, it is public waters and there isn't much you can do so you my as well not get yourself worked up. Fishing is meant to relax and have fun. A lot of people let the fun get ruined because they worry too much about everyone else.

Drill on and hop those holes. If your kids don't fish because of some auger noise I guess they are destined to video games.

[MinnGuy]

Assuming you have a transducer with a 12 degree cone, in 20 fow you looking at less than 4 feet of coverage. This gets even less if you are on a slope unless you are really good at reading your sonar. I wouldn't conclude there are no fish in range strictly by looking at the sonar without at least trying to draw fish in for a couple minutes minimum.

So on average you spend 5 minutes per hole getting to the new spot and drilling. Then fish the hole for 5 minutes to be sure you aren't on the edge of the school. 100 holes X 10 minutes per hole divided by 60 minutes per hour. 16 hours?

I drill and move my share but talk of 100 + holes on a daylight-short winter day seems like alot. To each his own....

[TroutYammer]

Although it is legal to drill 100 holes per day you will find that it is typically the same crowd that rides around all summer pounding the lake while wearing a Titanium NutCup, in a $40,000 boat, equipped with 250HP+, an Extreme Netman, sonar, radar and GPS. We all know who you are, we know that it is legal and anybody that know's how to catch fish also knows that it is excessive and unecessary. Victims of those marketing the outdoors for profit.