Great day on the ice so far, caught lots, a couple eaters, we’ll have a walleye fry this weekend for sure. Fuckin eh boys. Happy place.
Now I just need a late session 28+ incher and I’ll be ecstatic!
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I was born and raised in WI but have never been ice fishing 
. My dad hated the idea of 'freezing his ass off on the ice'.
I'd like to bring out my 4 year old with me and sit for a few hours. Anyone have advice on roughly 100-200 worth of gear to get started? I'd like it to stretch gear as much as possible - so stuff I might not need to turnover for a little while even if I get into it a little bit more. I'd trade quality for convenience in most cases, keeping it as simple as possible. I think some sort of shelter would be good with a young one, assuming I could haul it by myself.
Any other ice tips would be appreciated. I don't have much interest in driving a car out, I'd rather drag in to a spot. Etiquette tips? Last thing I want to do is bother an old timer by dragging all my newly purchased shit behind him!
If you wanted to spend 100-200, you'll need to go onto second hand market big time. if you don't mind a little bit of labour if your ice isn't very thick, it isn't hard to use a hand auger to drill the ice. Take you a couple minutes a hole max. (our ice gets upwards of 30-40" thick, hand auger is a nightmare)
If the weather is decent, and not windy, its not bad to sit outside at all, grab a couple cheapo rod/reel combo's ($25-35)-for a 30" long medium action rod. and some 5 gal pails or lawn chairs to sit/relax on. A used hand auger may hit you $40-60 maybe? I don't know how your US stuff will go. Grab
As far as etiquette, if it's not crowded, don't go set up camp beside anyone, they wont be too pleased. But most people out there are pretty cool if you ask questions when out there, maybe walk out/over to a group and mention its your first trip out and if they have any tips for you. Ask at a local fishing shop what they are catching on for lures at the time/area
Kinda funny, coupla Saskatchewan boys went viral this week
https://www.ckom.com/2021/01/22/two-saskatchewan-friends-go-viral-with-ice-fishing-video/
Quoted from presqueisle:Full moon tonight..
[quoted image]
right on, i'm heading out in the morning to meet up with a buddy and fish/beer all day, should be a beaut! Warmed up like 20 deg Celsius since Tuesday
EDIT: looks like you have a Strikemaster 40v auger?
Ok, since I’m waiting for the fish to start biting..this thread is about STORIES too
I could have won one of those Funniest Home Video shows once, if someone had been filming..
Was ice fishing with my boy years ago, he was 2 ish. Tip up flag goes up and I’m pulling in a good one. My boy keeps trying to look straight down the hole, getting in the way a little. I keep saying ‘hey get back a bit’, but he was curious. Well, if anyone has caught a big Northern Pike thru the ice they know that they will sometimes give one big last kick once their head is coming thru the hole, and they come flying out like a missile launch.
Well it did, and the look on his face... and he took off running like it was chasing him.
The fish was as big as he was!
Good times.
Quoted from presqueisle:Yep that’s the auger. Bought last year and love it.
Got mine a couple weeks ago, awesome. Got the free second battery
It’s a luxury compared to what I was using. Hopefully it’ll hold up for years. I guess they got the kinks out and this is a good one.
Would like to get to Canada fishing..never been. Can’t complain about this little area though. Wisconsin’s Last Wilderness is the motto. Dark skies and Superior lake effect snow. This year is down though.
Quoted from presqueisle:Can’t complain about this little area though. Wisconsin’s Last Wilderness is the motto. Dark skies and Superior lake effect snow. This year is down though.
It's actually on our short list for vacation destinations this year. Looks like a great area.
Absolutely slayed them this morning. Slowed down for the afternoon now, I’ll wait for the evening bite. Stopped by lumber yard on way out this morning.
Had them cut a sheet of plywood to fit exactly in back of truck. Now I have a floor I can slide in and out of truck easily. Love it
Even brought up one big slippery burbot.
416A0633-8F45-4D32-9AF5-A15E17920B43 (resized).jpeg58B26712-AB29-4774-86EA-2BB5521ED6E1 (resized).jpegB2011126-9EB2-40E5-92D5-E3A1FA800FBF (resized).jpeg[url=https://imgur.com/oIp2EtL][img]http://i.imgur.com/oIp2EtLl.jpg[/img][/url]
I caught this pretty big sunfish on my tenkara rod last fall. I'll be trying to catch lots of smallmouth and creek/river fish with it in 2021.
Quoted from Pinhead306:A bit of a slow weekend but atleast I got out.
[quoted image][quoted image]
I've been using PK rattle UV spoons lots this year. Went to a rattle with 2 trebles on Saturday for the morning, did well with that
Quoted from gliebig:Going to focus more on snakehead this year. [quoted image]
That looks like our "Burbot"
Quoted from gliebig:Going to focus more on snakehead this year. [quoted image]
Are they a real issue where you are?
Quoted from Coindork:Are they a real issue where you are?
Spreading like crazy. I don't mind. They are a blast to catch.
Gliebig, those are some hogs. Nice going. Snakeheads sure are fun to catch. I haven't targeted them in about 4 or 5 years. Like you said, the good news is they are spreading closer to home. By the way, how do I post photos from imgur on this website? My normal posting method didn't work here.
Ok, another story.
I caught a Wisconsin State record fish a few years back.
I let a pole dangle off the pier while doing something else, and the bobber started bobbing. Pulled it up and it was a tiny (3-4”) fish I had never seen before. It had a bid head and narrow body. Let it go and later googled it. It was a Sculpin, a bottom feeding fish I had never seen or heard of.
Forgot about it until I read an article in the local news a couple months later (caught in the same area I’m in) about a guy who had a similar experience. Well, he took it a step further and realized there wasn’t a State record recorded for this tiny species of fish. He went into a DNR office and inquired, and sure enough no one had ever recorded one. They supposedly all laughed, and the guy is now a State record holder.
Quoted from presqueisle:Ok, another story.
I caught a Wisconsin State record fish a few years back.
I let a pole dangle off the pier while doing something else, and the bobber started bobbing. Pulled it up and it was a tiny (3-4”) fish I had never seen before. It had a bid head and narrow body. Let it go and later googled it. It was a Sculpin, a bottom feeding fish I had never seen or heard of.
Forgot about it until I read an article in the local news a couple months later (caught in the same area I’m in) about a guy who had a similar experience. Well, he took it a step further and realized there wasn’t a State record recorded for this tiny species of fish. He went into a DNR office and inquired, and sure enough no one had ever recorded one. They supposedly all laughed, and the guy is now a State record holder.
I've caught a bunch of those. I started seeing them 20 years back in door county. We had a DNR warden hang out with us for a while when we pulled one in. He called it a "goby" at the time. Said they were an invasive species and aggressively pursue bass eggs (maybe all eggs, but we were targeting smallies at the time). He told us to leave them on shore.
It's been a long time since I've seen one, but I also havent fished anywhere north of the dells in years now.
Nice. Hope they are Hangry!
I guided a duck hunt at -34 True Temp when I was a dumber, younger me.
Took longer to setup and breakdown than to shoot our limits, but the clients would only hunt for 10-15 minute intervals and then switch places in the still running truck!
Warden stopped by and just shook his head at us.
Quoted from northerndude:I bites yet. One swiped at a hook, we have beer and patience
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you actually fishing , drinking beer and on pinside at the same time ? man you got it made ! so Canadian !
great pic!
Quoted from northerndude:I bites yet. One swiped at a hook, we have beer and patience
[quoted image]
more importantly... u have alcohol and a wood stove! they don't need to bite to have a good time on the hardwater! maybe a cribbage board! troopers tho in this weather!
Quoted from Dee-Bow:great pic!
more importantly... u have alcohol and a wood stove! they don't need to bite to have a good time on the hardwater! maybe a cribbage board! troopers tho in this weather!
Troopers???? Lol
Yeah, not a problem, ha
Buddy was just out for a piss and saw - some brain dead left his rod last Saturday on the ice with his line down the hole, LMAO, free rod
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Went out today for my first time ice fishing with a friend of mine. Always wanted too. We were on a small lake and didn’t get a single bite in 5 hours. No one else on the lake was either.
My friend couldn’t believe it he said on his worst days ice fishing he would always catch at least a small perch.
Still a lot of fun just being out, and maybe tomorrow will be different.
Quoted from Bull:My friend couldn’t believe it he said on his worst days ice fishing he would always catch at least a small perch.
Still a lot of fun just being out, and maybe tomorrow will be different.
they always say that.. that's why it's called fishing.. not catching! the more times you go.. the more you learn to tell them fish stories too! you also seem to forget about the slow days and only relive the days you couldn't keep 'em off the hook!
You have alcohol so at least your catching a buzz...
Story...went to a company Christmas party or something with my wife and met some of her co-workers. Next day she asks me what I thought of some of them. I told her I couldn’t fish with them. She was like WTF are you talking about. Explained what it means to be able to fish 12 plus hours with a buddy and someone you like out on a boat catching nothing. You better have something in common to talk about and like the bastard....To this day she asks me after meeting people if I could fish with them
Back on topic, looks like fun and I never ice fished but would love try it some day. Where I live the only winter fishing I’ve done is fishing the warm water discharges from power plants cooling turbines or whatever. A sauna for fish in the winter...
Ok fellas, another morning out. Don’t think I’ve missed a weekend since Xmas.
She’s been Slllooooooooooww fishing for 3 weeks. Should start picking back up in a week or two to finish up season. Either way, I’m warm, it’s cold as duck outside. Coffee and hot chocolate and soup In the thermos’
7788B882-9BAF-4BAA-A4E5-26186049AADB (resized).jpegSpent a cold night on the ice but smashed a few quality ones. A little last mountain lake gold. I will post a picture of the outside of the shack when I can get one.
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Ashland, NE
Newmarket, ON