Ice Fishing on a Budget?

My father in law is 77 years old and remembers the time not long after the great depression and how life was for him and for his parents who went through it. He lives to fish and he does it cheaply. From making his own lures (copper, no paint, that’s his secret, don’t tell him I told you) to constructing his own mini shanty and heating it with wood chips in the stove he built. I think it’s a safe bet that what some of you guys here spend in gas for the season covers his two trips to canada in the summer plus what he spends while out on the ice in the winter.

He is on the low end of the scale as far as budgets go. I don’t think we need to be that cheap but I am really curious as to what a moderately low budget setup would be and still have success on the ice.

Would $200 be a good start? Not to endure -40 wind chills or other extremes. What would get the job done reasonably well on a nice winter day?

For $200 you could be comfortable in real cold temps and have good equipment.
Shawn

So what would you recommend to purchase with $200? This is more for those just starting out. Where to start from and with what?

What do you already have and what do you need? I’m no stranger to a budget, but I’m not clearly seeing what you are looking for. Clothing? Rods, reels, flashers, auger, tackle?

Used hand auger, $50
Used fish shack, $100
Used poles, tackle, line, minnows and beer. $50.

This is assuming you have enough boots and clothing already. We will assume also in the tackle budget a couple of those fancy lead clipon weights to check depth and one or two DNR lake maps from the bait store.

You pay for used beer?

Everything. And this isn’t for me – if Florida wasn’t Florida I’d try living there. lol

I just know there are a lot of people out there who are probably interested in it but have no idea how to start out. If they want to target crappies what should they be looking at in the aisle at fleet farm? Or if they want to try walleye what would be best for that?

If you had to start all over from ground zero with only $200 what would you buy to get going again?

What a great question, I have spent so much time gearing up that I don’t spend any time remembering how little money I spent when I was younger. I would get the best auger I could and some way to stop the wind with the $200.

Ben Putnam wrote:

You pay for used beer?

Times are tough man, suppose if a guy was hurting Busch, Milw.Best and such tastes pretty close to used anyways

On a serious note though I’ve been looking to maybe get started ice fishing this year, just OK equipment some used, some new a guy is looking at $500 minimum to get some stuff that will last, and not require hand drilling.

Lx-1, cheap auger or hand auger, $25 lite weight rod combo, 5 gallon bucket. Ice scoop. And just a few jigs and some Euro large and you should be good to go. Forget the fish house. Man up and stand on the ice like grandpa did it.

That guy really needs some fishing buddies. I have seen college groups out fishing where one guy has an auger, another guy has a shelter, and the rest just have flashers and fishing poles. When you’re on a $200 budget, you really have to rely on scoring good deals. An older-working gas auger could go for $50-$75 if you are lucky to find one. A lower end used flasher could be found for $100. Maybe a used mid-class rod/reel combo could be found for under $50. The most important pieces of equipment are the tools for getting through the ice, seeing what’s down there, and being able to bring what you find to the top of the ice. Then once you’re ready to add more into the budget you can prioritize your needs and begin upgrading. The value of purchasing towards hobby isn’t in the dollar amount, it’s in the return the investment brings you. If you’re happy fishing with the basics, why change? If the hobby grows into something more important to you, the value you allocate to it may increase as well.

Mike W wrote:

Forget the fish house. Man up and stand on the ice like grandpa did it.

Yes!

All of my rods/reels and tackle for ice fishing isnt worth 200$.Throw in a hand auger and still not at 200$.My locator does double duty on the boat and ice,but for years I got by with an old lowrance flasher,the interference was terrible while fishing near new electronics and bottom/target separation was horrible but I learned how to read it and could catch just as many fish as friends with the new technology.It was a hand me down so I paid nothing for it but they can be found for dirt cheap 20$-50$.I dont have fancy gear or the latest greatest electronics (likely because i choose to fish more then work) but thats whats great about fishing,a guy doesnt need the best stuff to be successfull.Hand auger used 30-40$,used flasher of some sort 20-50$,couple 20-25$ rod/reel combos,a few jigs,hooks,weights 20$.You could easily be catching fish on the ice for under 200$

The hole comes first, in ice fishing, a good hand auger like a 6or 7 inch lazer would be the first thing. rod and lures next. I would hate to go without the camera and locator but if i didnt have thos things i still would catch fish.

Craigslist. A couple months ago I found a 1 man Frabill Ultra Lite house for $20, never used. Earlier this week I found an unused 6″ strikemaster lazer hand auger for $20. That would leave a guy $160 on the tight budget…or just sweet deals for setting up an early ice rig

There are good deals on new or like new gear out there, you just need to sift through the beat up stuff.

I started ice fishing about five years ago when I retired to a home on a lake. I needed to fill in those long winter days and fishing has always been a great diversion.

My ices fishing gear has grown but the key was starting with a good power auger.

When I started, I purchased a rod a few jigs and some wax worms (less than $50) and would fish in holes left by other fisherman with a 5 gal plastic bucket. They knew the lake and they didn’t mind my company, if they were still on the ice.

I started shopping CL and found a 25 year old Strikemaster with a chipper blades that had sat in someones garage for years for $65. Some carb work and blade sharpening, I now have an easy starting power auger that freed me to fish anytime and any place.

Then added a Marcum Showdown 3.2 for CL for $150. I have now spent over $200, but it was not all at once.

Since then I have add a Smitty sled, sent the Marcun in for an upgrade, added a Eskimo popup, a Buddy heater, an ice armor fishing suit, a couple more rods, jigs and lures.

I have fun fishing. I have yet to spend more than $200 in any one season.

I still have not pull a walleye through the ices but crappies, sunnies, bass and northerns are frequent visitors to my hole.

Some help with my search for walleyes would be appreciated.

My first ever purchase was a Clam 2000 and a Big Buddy Heater on Craigslist together for $125. I was overjoyed. Auger came next, fished w/o electronics first then found a deal on my first flasher. It can be done!

Seems to be a recurring theme – use Craigslist. (makes sense)

What about the smaller gear like lures. As @djshannon mentioned above, is there more specific needs when targeting walleye on the ice? Or is that simply a matter of being where the walleye are.

Ice fishing on a budget looks to be very doable.

I should have a couple buddies of mine write this and not me. But I can tell you how to fish on a budget very easily (their way). You find a guy who has the equipment. You tell him to bring his wife’s flasher for you to use. You ask him what lures would probably work best. You buy one or two of those lures (different ones) $8. Buy a $20 combo (the one the backreel isn’t gonna last). You have him drive you to the spot while stopping at the bait shop you offer to buy bait since he is driving. You get ONE scoop of minnows $3 One cup of waxies $3. You get to the location you watch him drill holes and setup the house if it’s cold it’s a good idea to do it from the warm vehicle. You let him get the equipment in the shack grab a chair put bait on your hook and drop it down while he is still setting up and organizing the shack (probably have one coming up the hole before he has his line in). You lose one of your lures on that sweet 2lb factory line that has been on it for over a year and the backreel breaks and ask to use one of his rods. You don’t like the other lure you bought so casually reach in his tackle bag grab one that looks good lose that and tell him you’ll get him next time. After a couple lost lures you don’t give two f’s anymore if he is watching and you go through his tackle and grab whatever you want. You apologize for only getting one scoop and one cup of waxies when you quickly run out. You then watch him take down the shack and load the vehicle. You head to the cleaning place, watch him clean the fish. You offer to wash the fillets and bag them. That my friends is how you can fish for $34. If you’re having a good day you could kick the ice scoop down the hole as well.

I think that’s more like fishing on someone else’s budget. I hope your wife got her flasher back!

tedroost wrote:

I should have a couple buddies of mine write this and not me. But I can tell you how to fish on a budget very easily (their way). You find a guy who has the equipment. You tell him to bring his wife’s flasher for you to use. You ask him what lures would probably work best. You buy one or two of those lures (different ones) $8. Buy a $20 combo (the one the backreel isn’t gonna last). You have him drive you to the spot while stopping at the bait shop you offer to buy bait since he is driving. You get ONE scoop of minnows $3 One cup of waxies $3. You get to the location you watch him drill holes and setup the house if it’s cold it’s a good idea to do it from the warm vehicle. You let him get the equipment in the shack grab a chair put bait on your hook and drop it down while he is still setting up and organizing the shack (probably have one coming up the hole before he has his line in). You lose one of your lures on that sweet 2lb factory line that has been on it for over a year and the backreel breaks and ask to use one of his rods. You don’t like the other lure you bought so casually reach in his tackle bag grab one that looks good lose that and tell him you’ll get him next time. After a couple lost lures you don’t give two f’s anymore if he is watching and you go through his tackle and grab whatever you want. You apologize for only getting one scoop and one cup of waxies when you quickly run out. You then watch him take down the shack and load the vehicle. You head to the cleaning place, watch him clean the fish. You offer to wash the fillets and bag them. That my friends is how you can fish for $34. If you’re having a good day you could kick the ice scoop down the hole as well.

That is some funny stuff. I usually take a pizza along and cook it in the wheelhouse so I can feed my buddies too.

Give me a holler if you are ever looking for someone to go fishing with. I have my own flasher. Lol

I do enjoy taking people fishing. You never know you might introduce someone to something they really enjoy, like my buddy did for me a few years ago.

I’m not sure wether or not $200 is your entire fund towards gear, or if that’s just what you have to work with for now, but try building up piece by piece. Scout ebay, CL, and amazon. Price point your gear next to other retailers price points to see what kind of bargain you can get away with. Over the past two months, I’ve spent probably $200 on over $500-$600 worth of equipment, all from just shopping smart. Once you get the basic idea of what you NEED, that’s when you can start to study up and scout out the best deals/values for the equipment that works best for you, in your case, within a $200 budget. SHOP SMART. Do a little extra googling and i guarantee it will save you TONS.

There’s a one man Frabil flip over in the classifieds here for $80.

.

tedroost wrote:

I should have a couple buddies of mine write this and not me. But I can tell you how to fish on a budget very easily (their way). You find a guy who has the equipment. You tell him to bring his wife’s flasher for you to use. You ask him what lures would probably work best. You buy one or two of those lures (different ones) $8. Buy a $20 combo (the one the backreel isn’t gonna last). You have him drive you to the spot while stopping at the bait shop you offer to buy bait since he is driving. You get ONE scoop of minnows $3 One cup of waxies $3. You get to the location you watch him drill holes and setup the house if it’s cold it’s a good idea to do it from the warm vehicle. You let him get the equipment in the shack grab a chair put bait on your hook and drop it down while he is still setting up and organizing the shack (probably have one coming up the hole before he has his line in). You lose one of your lures on that sweet 2lb factory line that has been on it for over a year and the backreel breaks and ask to use one of his rods. You don’t like the other lure you bought so casually reach in his tackle bag grab one that looks good lose that and tell him you’ll get him next time. After a couple lost lures you don’t give two f’s anymore if he is watching and you go through his tackle and grab whatever you want. You apologize for only getting one scoop and one cup of waxies when you quickly run out. You then watch him take down the shack and load the vehicle. You head to the cleaning place, watch him clean the fish. You offer to wash the fillets and bag them. That my friends is how you can fish for $34. If you’re having a good day you could kick the ice scoop down the hole as well.

We must have the same buddies!