Ice newb

So I’m an NC born and raised fella.

This is my second “winter” in MN. Didn’t get out last winter, but looking to start ice fishing.

Any tips on gear for the budget minded angler just looking to break the ice (bad pun lol) on ice fishing.

Been an open water crappie fisherman for most of my life. Got plenty of “open water” gear but looking to be able to start ice fishing…. If it gets cold enough this year haha

Input in gear for a starter?

I can’t go full on, so I may have to sit in the elements and tough it out this year, just looking to get started.

Not afraid of a hand auger. Mostly looking for advice on those, best set ups to just get me out there and get started on metro crappie.

Disregard, found a recent thread with a lot of good info. Not sure how I missed it.

Your best bet is to find some friends that go out. You will get better help that way. You know that you can go high tech or low tech. Besides it more fun to fish with friends and safer!!!

Craigslist this time of year can be great for deals on people wanting to get rid of stuff if your on a budget. Otherwise inexpensive ice rod/reel combos are readily available at most sporting goods stores. Small tungsten jigs with small plastics can be great or small jigs with hair. You can tip with euro larve for bait. It also doesn’t hurt to have a small selection of jigging spoons like slender spoon from custom jigs and spins or vmc tingler spoons. Everybody has there own preferred colors but a combination of both natural colors and bright patterns is a good start. Depth finders like a vexilar or marcum can be VERY expensive so use your own descression on wether or not you need one. I personally would not go out without one. Hand auger might not be a bad deal this year (I have one you can have, needs new blades), but if you really like ice fishing in the future get a power auger. It really becomes a game changer when there is 24 inches of ice. If you can bear sitting outside make sure you have warm clothing and good socks and gloves. Nothing ruins a good day worse than cold hands and feet. Shelters are all over the place in availability and price, if you do get one make sure to thinking about heating it. Sunflower heater on a propane tank is the cheap way to go, big buddy heater are a fairly common heat source for many guys here.

Hope it helps, now for ice!

What part of NC?

tonkaiceman wrote:

Craigslist this time of year can be great for deals on people wanting to get rid of stuff if your on a budget. Otherwise inexpensive ice rod/reel combos are readily available at most sporting goods stores. Small tungsten jigs with small plastics can be great or small jigs with hair. You can tip with euro larve for bait. It also doesn’t hurt to have a small selection of jigging spoons like slender spoon from custom jigs and spins or vmc tingler spoons. Everybody has there own preferred colors but a combination of both natural colors and bright patterns is a good start. Depth finders like a vexilar or marcum can be VERY expensive so use your own descression on wether or not you need one. I personally would not go out without one. Hand auger might not be a bad deal this year (I have one you can have, needs new blades), but if you really like ice fishing in the future get a power auger. It really becomes a game changer when there is 24 inches of ice. If you can bear sitting outside make sure you have warm clothing and good socks and gloves. Nothing ruins a good day worse than cold hands and feet. Shelters are all over the place in availability and price, if you do get one make sure to thinking about heating it. Sunflower heater on a propane tank is the cheap way to go, big buddy heater are a fairly common heat source for many guys here.

Hope it helps, now for ice!

Thanks for the advice. I may have to take you up on the auger. What do I need to do in terms of getting new blades?

Not too worried about keeping warm. I work outside all winter anyway. I’ve got enough propane/gas powered odds and ends that I can find a way to stay warm until I get a Mr Heater.

Getting a hole in the ice and potentially a flasher is my biggest concern.

monstermatt wrote:

What part of NC?

About 30mi north of Charlotte near Mooresville

gary d wrote:

Your best bet is to find some friends that go out. You will get better help that way. You know that you can go high tech or low tech. Besides it more fun to fish with friends and safer!!!

Great advice Gary👍

I believe the auger is a mora hand auger 8″ I think you could go to like a fleet farm and get a new pair of blades and hardware for around 30 bucks. Don’t quote me on that price though.

Don’t have many friends up here yet other than a few I work with. None are really serious ice guys and one that is the most serious generally just does trips up north for toothy critters, and doesn’t mess with “little 10in crappie in the cities”.

I’ll figure it out, just have to get started.

Thanks for all the leads thus far. If I can liquidate some stuff I don’t use, I’ll get more serious on Craigslist.

Shortly after Christmas, Fleet Farm will have a huge sale on ice fishing gear. Keep an eye out for the flyer. Craig’s List is great for just about any gear you might need, too. Talk to the people ice fishing where you fish. Some are quite secretive, but others are very good at sharing everything they know! (And some of them ARE that good! Not every ice fisherman is just hot air!) and keep watching the IDO Show….you won’t regret it!

I am always looking for new guys to hit the ice with. I live in Apple valley and usually fish the prior lake area and west towards Waconia. It would be fun to fish another Tar Heel😀. If you are interested shoot me a pm and we can set something up when we get ice.

monstermatt wrote:

I am always looking for new guys to hit the ice with. I live in Apple valley and usually fish the prior lake area and west towards Waconia. It would be fun to fish another Tar Heel😀. If you are interested shoot me a pm and we can set something up when we get ice.

I’m in the north metro but will travel. What part of NC you from?

Ed Stern wrote:

Shortly after Christmas, Fleet Farm will have a huge sale on ice fishing gear. Keep an eye out for the flyer. Craig’s List is great for just about any gear you might need, too. Talk to the people ice fishing where you fish. Some are quite secretive, but others are very good at sharing everything they know! (And some of them ARE that good! Not every ice fisherman is just hot air!) and keep watching the IDO Show….you won’t regret it!

Every “ice fisherman” I know (not many) are just that lol. Hot air. Just an excuse to get out and drink.

I’ll keep a watch out for the fleet farm ads and if history is any indication, the one or two gifts I get for Christmas are likely to be cabelas gift cards that will likely get used for ice gear.

Asheville. I am also up to travel a little. I have pretty much all the gear all you’d have to do is meet up with me and go fishing!!!

Thanks for the offer Matt. Hopefully we’ll will get some ice soon. Go figure that when I try to put both feet forward and get gear, we have no ice.

Post up in the Trip Swap forum when you’re looking to get out. Many of the gear hounds here will not only enjoy the company but likely have extras of just about everything.

Make sure you get some kinda flasher. Off CL you should get one for 150 -200. A flasher is a must it is so you can see your jig and fish and it is way more enjoyable to fish with.

I have an older dave genz “clam trap II” 2 person flip over that id be willing to give you if you want. ive used it for the last 5 years and it does the job but this year I upgraded to an otter. I was going to try to sell it but id rather give it to a new comer interested in joining the ice fishing community. PM me if you are interested.

Wow the generosity here is incredible. PM inbound. I do have a few things, not of substantial worth, that I’ll post on the classifieds for someone that can get good use. Things I’ll give away that I can’t/won’t use.

crappie55369 wrote:

I have an older dave genz “clam trap II” 2 person flip over that id be willing to give you if you want. ive used it for the last 5 years and it does the job but this year I upgraded to an otter. I was going to try to sell it but id rather give it to a new comer interested in joining the ice fishing community. PM me if you are interested.

If he doesn’t want that portable and you’re still looking to get rid of it, I may be interested.

crappie55369 wrote:

I have an older dave genz “clam trap II” 2 person flip over that id be willing to give you if you want. ive used it for the last 5 years and it does the job but this year I upgraded to an otter. I was going to try to sell it but id rather give it to a new comer interested in joining the ice fishing community. PM me if you are interested.

PM sent crappie. Thanks for the offer!

Always great to hear of new fisherman. If you are getting started and are looking to get in crappies I would invest 150 dollars in a fl 8 or something along those lines because the crappies will suspense over deep water typically and they can vary greatly in depth Also I would invest in a power auger because you will want to drill alot holes in search of those schools. I would look on Craigslist you can find a good one for 150 bucks. Target deep basins with spoons or tungsten kids with waxies. Good luck and tight lines

Thanks for the tips. I’ll get into a power auger eventually, right now my biggest concern is a flasher.

Crappie would be my main target but of course I’m up for most anything. Just figured they were probably the most plentiful around my area.

I’ll look for a flasher after I get back from NC at Christmas.

A flasher and a hand auger is a recipe for torn rotator cuff…

Drill hole, sweat, check for fish… Drill another hole.

Get a gas auger, it’ll be cheaper than shoulder surgery… Or you could just do like I did and deal with the pain and use the shoulder money for a gas auger

Nothing worse than sitting over an ice hole not marking poop and having no energy to drill another darn hand hole!!

PS. I gave my hand auger away for free…AS A JOKE!!

FishBlood&RiverMud wrote:

PS. I gave my hand auger away for free…AS A JOKE!!

I’m on the way to rotator cuff surgery anyway lol.

I’ll get a gas auger one of these days, but for now, this will have to do lol

minnesota outdoors north wrote:

same here, been fishing and scuba diving Tonka for 45 years… I will take you out when the ice gets better… I fish alone and no houses within 1000 yds…yes, my secret spots…so secret I do not know of them…lol
anyway shoot me a pm and let me know what species you are after…

thanks,
Gary

Thanks for the help! Will have to get up with some of you guys when ice gets fit to be on.

Just need to find a flasher now. I may or may not have a Ruger pistol I’d let go (legal and proper paperwork/permit required) in trade of a flasher. It’d have to be the right one of course.

What are some staples for crappie and walleye fishing through the ice.

I’ve never caught a walleye before. Ain’t got em in the lakes I fished down south.

Would love to catch one, or more obviously lol, but I figure having a back ground in crappie would make crappie a lot easier to target for me.

Justin Karriker wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>FishBlood&RiverMud wrote:</div>
PS. I gave my hand auger away for free…AS A JOKE!!

I’m on the way to rotator cuff surgery anyway lol.

I’ll get a gas auger one of these days, but for now, this will have to do lol

Something else to consider, if you already have the drill is an adapter. http://www.icemasteradapter.com sells one cheap, and if you call the guy who owns it he’ll walk you through your best auger/drill options for what you have. 25 bucks or so is an economical way to save your shoulder while saving for that power auger.
Welcome to IDO by the way!
-Rev