Favorite Way To Ice Fish?

Since its so cold outside it must be time for sharing everyones favorite way to ice fish. We can do that from the warm comforts of our homes. What is YOUR favorite way? Thanks, Bill

in my opinion the only way to ice fish is in a shack with a bobber. no jigging for me, its way to cold holding on to that poll, even with that spotsmens multi heater/cooker on full blast.

i don’t go for none of those iddy bitty pan fish either. i can catch a hole pile of little sunnies in the summer. i like fishing at foster arends in Rochester where there are some pretty nice rainbows. it can be really fun when your there as they’re stocking it. drill a hole right next to the one they’re dumbing em’ in and you pull em’ right back out. that doesn’t really count as fishing though

Gotta be jigging with my Vexilar in front of me… I can not sit and watch a bobber or a tip-up…. We jigging, we jigging, we jigging…
Hoggie

I always enjoyed setting up a bunch of tip ups for Northerns out on Birch or Clear and then getting a rip snorting fire cooking on the shore to roast duck breasts and brats.
When I reflect back on some of those outings they were some of the best times I spent with family and friends. Sometimes we even caught some nice pike.

I would have to say jigging a ice jig with bait using a locator, flasher works best, and watching for fish and then adjusting the jig to the depth that the fish are at as you can see the jig on the locator.

my new favorite way to ice fish is vicariously through all you guys who still do that!… me Im a river rat…. and long for the boat in the current…..
though with that being said.. I plan on being at the FTL ice fest on south center.. just to buzz around and smooze around….. i have no license for my wisconsin ice house …..so I wont be able to show you guys HOW I ice fish……

I’d have a say jigging vertical spoons with half a minnow, have to have the FL-8 on, seeing the fish move in, adjusting your movement and having a big walleye crush it. okay I can’t sleep again. Jack.

i agree with hawger i am the same way

Getting in your Fishtrap…in or on the edge of Weed beds in clearer lakes and sight fishing large Bluegills….You learn a lot by “reading” the fish and their actions and can alter presentations accordinly…I love chasing big Gills.

Tough call …. But #1 would have to be main channel ice in 5-20 feet of water with hairjigs on current breaks or structure. Wingdams aren’t just for softwater yaknow. For walleye and sauger.

I can’t believe some of you wimps. You don’t ice fish?? You think it is too cold, too boring – where are you wussys from? This is hard water country – there is nothing that beats sitting on an upside down 5-gallon bucket on a -10 degree day with a 25 mph wind blowing up your behind watching your ice hole slowly close up to the size of a dime. Where else can you experience the thrill of catching 5 inch perch and watching them freeze into perchcicles before you can get them off the hook. The only thing that even closely resembles this experience is a root canal with no novacaine. I eat this S___ up!! More ice fishing, Drill Sergeant!!

Can I get an AMEN from the congregation? I’ve had some of my best days when the weather was the worst. Get out and enjoy it.

I used to live on a big Northern Wisconsin Lake. Almost literally. In winter I would set tip-ups and then be in my shack. Jacket and boots off, radio and heater going, hot beverage and my knitting. I have knit complete sweaters while in my shack. People thought I was wierd too. Can’t imagine it. One time, on a real cold day a couple fellas opened the door of my shack, saw me, feet up and knitting, they said nothing and quickly left. Just don’t understand it. Caught quite a few walleys and northerns too. Beat watching tv.

Hey, Woolybugger – You don’t take knitting orders do you? I was thinking a nice knit stretch hat in a Blaze Orange that would enhance the color of my eyes. Maybe even some kind of knit sweater in a cammo pattern to help thin the look of my belly? No, that won’t work – you would have to shear a lot of sheep to make that work. Your post kind of flashed me back to Grumpy Old Men – I can see you perfectly with your feet up, the radio on, and your knitting needles going. It kind of creates a Norman Rockwell painting kind of memory.

Now I’m into woodworking and backed up a little with orders, not knitting so much anymore. Thinking about how to design an ice shack where I could have my table saw, jointer, planer, lathe and a couple of small tools.
Actually, I will probabally just build another knitting shack to put on the back waters, problem is that the season is so short here that it is not hardly worth putting a shack out.

Here is my favorite way to ice fish…

In a ice house on Mille Lacs with some buddys playing cards having a couple of my favorite beverages, rattle reels in most all the holes and a jiggin pole by my side !! CPR

Nice sweater…did you get a bowl of soup with that? Looks good on you though.

Good One, Dave. It does look good with the walleye though.

actually I was hoping maybe SuperDoos come in that color? what dya think there EC?

Don’t let them give you a hard time, EC. Although I have to agree that would be a great color for a tube bait. We could name it the EC. That is a nice fish – I’ve tried the same thing, bunch of friends in an all night house on Mille Lacs, good card game, lots of fishing. If I remember the experience correctly, I got a tremendous headache from all the gas being passed, all I could catch was perch, and I never won a single hand of cards. The next morning it was -25 wind chill and the truck wouldn’t start. It doesn’t get much better than that. I can’t wait to go again.

Hey !! Back in ‘ 91 when that picture was taken, that sweater was in !! To bad i wasn’t thinking of creating do’s and ringworms in that color back then….

Shallow Mississippi backwaters for crappies, hands down. If you get in the right spots, you can see the fish through the hole. Trigger finger doesn’t make you a better fisherman but it sure is fun to watch slabs approaching your jig. The shallow water makes landing the fish easier, too.

Thats whats neat about fishing in a portable ice house in shallow water as you can watch the fish right through the hole. Just like ”Fish TV”.

I would also have to say shallow water crappies or gills but without the shanty. Love to drill alot of holes and hole jump with my 4 and 4 1/2 foot through the blank rods. The feeling of fighting a fish with the longer rods is ah……….indescribable. All my shorter rods stay home unless I’m going to dunk minnows.

I do my best ice fishing with a swedish pimple and minnow. I cant go anywhere without my flasher. Modern technology, aint it great.

When I ice fish, which I love to do; I take the Vex, and my Aqua Vu. I enjoy catching fish, but am more interested in discovering what lies beneath the ice. I use this information and apply it to my open water fishing. Yesterday, at one of my best big gill spots, I discovered a huge anchor stuck in a submerged tree. When I work an area, I honeycomb the place and am not real mobile for the day. Don’t get me wrong, when I find a hot spot, I fish more than look.