Ice Fishing Etiquette

[hawkeye43]

Please do not drill holes in the roads that are plowed on the lakes. It may seem harmless at the time but the snow piles on the sides will push the water up and may make the hole alot bigger. I saw where a truck broke a front axle because the front wheel went in the hole. Not cool.

[federline]

Wow, this can be a hornets nest, can of worms, or whatever other reference to contained creatures... but as someone else pointed out there are themes:

- ask resorts and bait shops for the latest scoop

- respect space

- be friendly

- pick up trash

- never assume, just go ahead and ask

- don't be noisy

- drive slowly and carefully, whatever your mode of transpo

- don't drill holes in the roads

- have fun

- be safe, don't partake in natural selection!

We all have yin-yang stories. I was out on 5 Mile all alone in the perm last year, and 3 guys tooled up, I opened the door and they put all their stuff down and we shot the bull for a good 5 minutes. They politely asked if they could setup about 40 feet away on an inside turn. That approach will usually work with me.

On the other hand, while I was away one week, some guys plowed over a fresh snowbank barely 15 feet from my solitary lonely shack (there wasn't another shack for at almost a mile), setup a wheelhouse, flooded the whole area making slush all over (wonder what they expected would happen), and left a snowshovel froze in the ice, too, handle up.

Common sense is not so common, sometimes. If you have it, you will be fine.

[AugerDog]

Everyone here has great suggestions. The biggest ones I saw are:

1. Pick up your trash. If you brought it, take it with you.

2. Be friendly and most will be back to you.

3. DON'T drill at prime time. (remember that prime time can change from day to day.)

4. If fish are on a certain structure, remember that they do move so there is no need to set up on top of someone. I like my space so I stay away from the villages. I've found that too many lures in one spot will push out the fish anyway so I tend to set up on a nearby structure and wait for the parade of fish to move to me.

5. This one is my own. I really hate these guys with big old Ice Castles who just have to have a TV, DVD, Satellite dish, etc. and need to have generator to run it all. These things are noisy and take away from the quiet, serene experience that ice fishing is supposed to be.

[AugerDog]

Quote:

"1. Pick up your trash

2. Enjoy yourself

3. Be the person your dog thinks you are

As far as drilling at prime time...Get over it. People have jobs, family and school wich might dictate what time they can get on the ice. We ALL have drilled at prime time. Can't be avoided. Just try not to be too close to the grinch. It reminds me of poker. You always remember the bad beats but never the ones in your favor."

I think what people are trying to say is that if you have to drill at prime time, just don't do it next to someone who is already set up. Lakes are big. perhaps you can try fishing away from everyone. Most augers can not be heard from a couple hundred feet away. At least not as easy.