Ice Fishing With A Bad Back

Not going to happen, tried it once this year and made things worse. Won’t be out in the trap again until I’m 100%. But what I can do is watch Youtube videos. Fishing With Bryan Prokuski is the next best thing to being there myself. He fishes like me, popping a camera down a hole and seeing what comes through, except he’s got a much nicer Aqua-Vu than I. Yeah, I like IDO as well, but my first choice is Bryan or Nick Lindner’s live streams with their underwater camera footage.

I have the same Problem. Lower back surgery 18 months ago and still recovering.
Fishing memories on you tube helps. Check out Clayton Schick underwater videos of Walleyes. Clearest pictures I have seen.

A couple of tips for fishing with a bad back.

Take Aleve, Advil, etc. BEFORE you go fishing – WAY easier to prevent the pain before it starts than to stop a “pain avalanche.”

Have someone else drill the holes, or get an auger that doesn’t grab at the bottom of the hole so that you don’t get jerked around by the auger or have to be braced for it to maybe grab. ION augers are probably the smoothest.

Good luck.

#1 Stretch at home before you leave. You can do it on the ice before you start if you want. You will get more hackling from your fishing partner.
#2 go with a buddy. Preferably one with a good back so they can help you load stuff back into the truck and pop holes.
#3 build a Smitty sled. My house used to suck to pull. Even with 2 people. The Smitty sled makes pulling it so easy. I barely even notice it behind me.

Good luck. I hope you get back onto the water soon.

Let your buddies do the heavy lifting, leave that pull-over at home, pre-medicate, and wear an abdominal binder. I also wear a couple of “stick on” body warmers stuck to the back of my flannel shirt. When bending to look down the hole, it pressures to the warmers into my lower back like a heating pad.
Or….you could drag a portable generator out there and wire yourself to an electric heating pad. Jus sayin’.

I’ve had back issues since my late 20’s, 65 now. Along with bad knees and arthritic hands now. My best cure in a word for winter fishing is “Florida”. But if that’s not an option. The last few years I ice fished, and deer hunted. I used a Thermacare back wrap when it was really cold. Keeping it warm goes a long way to keeping the pain at bay. Odd as it sounds. Good boots keeping your feet warm. Reduces the cold blood circulating through your lower body, back to your core.

Fishing is hard on backs… all there is to it! Nuttin ergonomic happening in the boat or on ice.

Get well. Keep the core exercises up!

I have a bad back as well, and one piece of advice is to make sure you have bibs that have a nice sturdy belt sewn in.

I have a pair of nice Striker floating bibs that are super warm and nice, but they absolutely KILL my lower back. 1/2 day in those bibs and I’m toast. My old Ice Armor bibs have a nice thick belt that takes SO much weight off of my shoulders/back. It’s really crazy how big of a difference it makes.

Probably won’t solve our whole problem, but one thing to at least experiment with. It’s like hiking with a big backpack. The chest/belly straps make a huge difference.

My last of 5 back surgeries was on 28 Oct for a spinal cord stimulator implant. Even though I hurt like Hades, I still find a way. Walking any distance is out. Sitting on something without a back rest is def out. Standing for any length of time is def out.

Have taken an el-cheapo slush scooper and attached it to a 3/4″ sq wooden rod to scoop fish from the hole. This helps. As stated earlier, some type of long-release over-the-counter pain reliever is a good idea.

Back issues are literally the worst. Thankfully mine has been good for the most part and I typically only have issues for a day or so then its good to go, but it sucks getting old.

As others have mentioned, Stretch.

Had a car accident 6 days before Christmas last year. Broke 2 vertebrae in my back. Surgery and they had me up walking the day after.

Here we are a year later and if I stay on top of stretching and core work outs it does awesome.

Tge good and bad of my accident. First the bad, my back goes out really easy. Now the good, it goes in just as easy with stretching.

It’s amazing how much strength your whole body looses with a back that isn’t 100%.

I’ve had my back fused (ALIF) for a little over 3 years now and doing great. Ruptured disc at L5-S1 for so long it was bone-on-bone by the time they approved surgery, 10 years after it began. Three thoughts below:

I cannot hammer home physical therapy enough… if you get lazy in keeping up with that core strength and stretching it will creep back. Make it part of your daily routine. I find that when I do something stupid and I’m sore the next day… it’s because my glutes start compensating and pulling on things. A Theragun (Amazon knockoff in my case) to the glutes has been a huge help.

Secondly; I highly recommend investing in a CargoGlide/Bedslide. Bring your gear out of the truck right to a good level and form lift from there. No awkward twists or bends. They don’t give them away but they are worth their weight in gold.

Lastly, if you are pulling something out there, one of those pulling harnesses might help a lot so you can just walk normally.

Best of luck!

I have had back issues since I was in college (worked at fedex during the summers). Stretching is definitely number one. Working out is #2. If I start feeling my back getting tight or having pain I know I need to start working out because my back muscles are getting weak. Within a few workouts back pain is gone.

My top Christmas gift I got this year has been a game changer too. Got a percussion massage gun. This thing is like an electric meat tenderizer for your muscles and boy does it work. Does wonders for any soft tissue tightness. Feel like a new person after just a week with it.

TENS unit. Stick those pads on and let juice flow.

Ron Burgundy wrote:

TENS unit. Stick those pads on and let juice flow.

Those are great too. Got that treatment for my back during college baseball. That’s a good one.

Arthritis, fused c5/6/7 pain every morning, stretching , muscle relaxers, Aleve, muscle pounder, Tens Unit, physical therapy. Ageing sucks, pain sucks . All these things help keep me somewhat sane . Good luck .

I’ve had low back issues since my late 20s also. Hit the fan a couple years ago when I ruptured a disc.

As others have said getting your core muscles in shape is key. Also stretching the leg muscles as they can pull on your back.

I’ve received that electro therapy before and it’s wonderful. I had no idea you could buy a TENS unit like that and for that cheap. Will be looking for one.

I can’t do electric stimulation. I have an internal defibrillator. Electric shocks are not my friend.

mahtofire14 wrote:

Got a percussion massage gun.

Haha. That’s what I got my wife for xmas too.

Bass Pundit wrote:

I can’t do electric stimulation. I have an internal defibrillator. Electric shocks are not my friend.

If it’s from your ICD it’s your friend!

Before the lumbar fusion. Darned thing really hurt. No discs didn’t help matters.

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