Glamorous Part of Ice Fishing

[hanson]

- minus 5 degree air temp this morning

- 8" of snow on the ice

- 3/4 mile to 1 mile hike to the fishing spot

- out of shape ice fisherman

- overloaded Otter sled cause I wasn't thinking

- 4"-6" of ice

- Lots of snow on little ice = Flooding & Slush!

- Slush freezes to everything- boots, pants, augers, rods

Talk about a miserable, bust your a$$, trip on the ice. I think I need a lung replacement as well after today.

But... we caught fish!

[eurolarva]

Pulling the sled today was like pulling it on sand. A guy had to tow mine up the hill or I would have died. I will be going back on monday. I can use the work out or the heart attack

[SP180]

Did that Thursday in blizzard conditions pulling the portable with a power auger and all the goodies up and down a dike with 3 foot drifts. I was only hoping for the heart attack so i could have been put out of my misery. But we caught fish too

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[Kylersk]

I got tired of dragging my otter lodge around early ice, so this year I picked up an otter den. Havnt been out yet, but I imagine it'll be alot easier to lug around than the lodge.

[harvey lee]

I did the same thing this year and purchased a Den and that house is very easy or at least much easier to haul around the lake and also rides atop the snow. My Lodge doesnt move until the wheeler or snowmobile can go out.

[otis]

In spite of all that horror and misery......would we have it any other way??!!

[Grant Pearson]

Sandmannd and I went up to the big pond with fishingrookie123 and when we got there, it was -16, a good foot of snow, 7 inches of ice, and a full loaded sled with A LOT of heavy gear. Needless to say, many stops were needed to get to the fishing hole. It was a great day though, and a few good laughs.

[hawkeye43]

You didn't fall on the ice and bang your head hard?? or better yet slip and catch youself before you fell, throwing your back out so you couldn't go to work for few days. Now that would have been a day.

[LMITOUT]

Winters like this is why I'm glad I don't build an insert for my Otter....just more weight to lug through the snow until you can get the ATV out.

[LODFFB]

I must be in training. I have a 4 year old boy and 1.5yr old girl the like to lay on a blanket and have dad drag them around the house. And not slow all the time dad GO FAST, yeah sure OK let me catch my breath. Plus they like to go in the BaG they sit in the middle and grab the 4 corners and carry them around,, 1 at a time please.

[mltjanderson]

Hanson, I believe you forgot the last part. PRICELESS

[Lunder99]

Glad I'm not the only one who thought they were going to die yesterday pulling the gear around.

[Jim Almquist]

Nothing like a little resistance training to get the heart rate doubled

[Nutty Fisherman]

What do you mean heart rate doubled? : I think mine went 6 times that. It was a hard pull.

[hanson]

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Hanson, I believe you forgot the last part. PRICELESS

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Exactly... wouldn't have had it any other way.

The problem right now unlike a lot of years is we don't have a lot of ice, with a ton of snow on top of it. Early ice for the last few years has involved walking out on bare ice being careful that your fish house doesn't run you over. Really pretty easy getting around if you got your cleats on.

We're also at that point (6" ice) where I'm uncomfortable driving my sleds out there. Couple more inches and I'll be OK but most lakes won't have 6" of uniform ice everywhere as they don't freeze up evenly, and add in the snow cover insulation factor too.

Funny how put ourselves through hell just to catch a couple fish!

[DTro]

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Talk about a miserable, bust your a$$, trip on the ice. I think I need a lung replacement as well after today.

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Not sure how eager I would be to do that again

BTW, these were one man houses that we lugged out there. Boy I'm out of shape

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But.....we caught fish

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That was the upside

It was a day of firsts for me.

First time on the ice with my Arctic Armor. I couldn't be happier. Trudging through slush that was freezing on contact, kneeling in that same slush, 5 degrees with a slight wind. I was toasty the whole time! I had sweat pants and a sweatshirt/tshirt underneath.....that is it.

First hole drilled with the Nils Master. What can I say...."like butta"..... very impressed.

First time with my Marcum LX-5. Big improvement from my VX-1 last year, the adjustable zoom rocks.

First fish caught with my Jason Mitchell rods, with Abu 1000 reel. The 28" Walleye worked great for the cats. Stiff enough to handle larger fish, yet sensitive enough to detect the light biters.

and of course my first Ice Cat of the year.

*crossing fingers for no major snowstorms to cancel the Cool Cats gathering this year*

[rockman]

So is an ATV out of the question for getting around with that much snow on the ice, where you guys were at? Dragging my house through that much snow with a bad back may not be the best thing for me.Nice fish, and pics.I gotta head over that way,sometime soon.

[DTro]

I wouldn't have felt comfortable at all with an ATV. Heck it was bit troubling with all that slush on foot.

There was a couple of sleds buzzing around though.

[Shack]

Nice fish guys!

Go figure, some of the first images of ice fishing from you guys and cats was the result. I also almost could a guess you two where up to somthing yesterday (not seeing you guys on this site).

Way to make a great point!

I had finished up getting everything ready yesterday and I am going to fire up sled today (also get trailer going).

No pulling for me, I heading out with sled.

[hanson]

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So is an ATV out of the question for getting around with that much snow on the ice, where you guys were at?

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I don't think the snow would be an issue but ice thickness might be for another week or so. This snow cover is obviously insulating the ice, more than I thought it would. And look at that nasty slush in a couple of those photos. Yuck!

I always err on the conservative side when I consider bringing my expensive equipment onto early season ice over 40' of water so the sleds stayed at home this time.

[harvey lee]

Looks to have been a good day on the ice. I really dont care for those long pulls walking through the snow as one really does earn there fish. I wish I was 20 years younger and about 100# less.

Nice job.

[rockman]

I should have added that I am looking at going a few days down the line here. 4-6 in. of ice yesterday,or today,isn't enough for me to take the wheeler out. Yea, I also have worked too hard to buy that much equipment, to have it become man made fishing structure.

[Glockwinger]

Hanson,

I had a very similar situation! I'm not quite to the 40 year mark, but I felt about 70 pulling that sled full of all the gear! I had to take a break every 50 feet or so pulling through slush and snow, then ice forming on the bottom of the sled making the sled pull like a chisel plow! Still had a great time even though we only caught a few small dink crappies. Gotta love first ice!

[Eric Wettschreck]

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But... we caught fish!

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So, why give a rip if you need a new lung? You got fish!!!!

It's kind of blowing my mind that here in SW MN a lot of the lakes have 8-10" of good clear ice an farther nort not so much. We have snow too. Apparently not as much.

[Tyler Holm]

Nice fish boys. It's get the wheels turning upstairs as to how I want to approach my next morning on the ice. Might leave the panfish gear at home. If all goes well, I might as well put the panfish gear away for the winter!