Why ice fishing?

Tegg I love taking first timers out on the first ice crystal clear void! could be 10in thick but you will see a hard man turn into a little girl on that stuff

Take the ice off and it’s still fishing. Same game, different set of rules.

If someone said they didn’t like ice fishing my grandpa would always say they didn’t know what was good. and he meant it!!!!

Personally I’ve been hooked on the ice for quite some time. it was the freedom to go fishing on my own whenever I wanted wherever I wanted. When I was younger without a boat and without the desire to take my dads large boat

hnd wrote:

its the flasher. if i didn’t have a flasher i wouldn’t ice fish. its like a video game. a totally different way to fish thats a blast.

Ice fishing with a Flasher is like Nintendo whereas open water is like whatever game counsels the kids are playing with today!

I prefer my open water fish finding toys…

Attachments:

1. 

   CameraZOOM-20170910112958239-1.jpg
   

2. 

   CameraZOOM-20170917103441917.jpg
   

More time in the winter than the summer- work, family, yard work, garden, vacations, etc.

I am becoming more and more fascinated with trying to catch each individual fish on the flasher. Figuring out all these tiny details is the difference of catching one or not.

Easier to get out for quick outings. Can leave all my gear in the back of the pickup, under the topper, safe and protected, and walk out at any time for a quick hour or two of fishing. Or bring along the ATV after a few minutes of loading/unloading. In the summer too much time is wasted in hooking up the boat, removing the cover, taking off the transom rod thingy, straps on trailer, driving 15-60 minutes to landing, waiting in line to launch, launching by myself and tying boat to dock, parking, walking back to boat, then finally off fishing. Repeat everything to head home, clean boat, put cover back on, etc. Before I know it, the 3 hours of free time I had, 1.5 of it is spent driving to the lake and dealing with boat things. In the winter, the 3 hours of free time I had, 1 hour of it is spent dealing with driving to lake and ATV things.

Cost. Nearly everything is cheaper. Plus little things such as getting minnows and wax worms to last weeks longer in the winter vs. the summer.

Born and raised here in Minnesota. One thing I hate about living here is the winter. Would be perfectly happy I’ve I never saw ice or snow again. Hopefully global warming keeps doing its job making Minnesota winters shorter and shorter. I’m sorry but just cant figure out why a guy would have fun starring down a 8 inch hole for hours and hours. I’ll take open water any day of the week. Plus I seem to find more yahoo’s ice fishing just because its easier to do because you don’t have to have a boat. I still ice fish but i just do it to pass time in the winter. I really don’t enjoy it at all. Cant wait to start seeing the cigarette buds and beer cans and trash all of there ice again.

I think the number reason for most of us is that there is less going on during the winter so it’s less of a debate on whether you are going fishing this weekend. In open water season, there are so many things going on every weekend competing for your time and attention.

For those of us in the cities, open water fishing also means dealing with the boat ramp, summer traffic, etc. It’s hard for me to motivate myself to get out on a nice Saturday knowing all of the hassle I’ll have to deal with. I can see now why some people get a slip for the season. I’d use my boat so much more if I did.

I think half the fun of ice fishing is dealing with the gear. Buying new stuff, customizing what you have. Look at how popular that Thorne Bros portable shelter modification event is. Look at all the threads on iceshanty.com on permanent builds, smitty sleds, etc. It’s fun finding a new way of customizing your gear to make it easier.

When you can’t drive out, there is something so primal about pulling everything you need out on your smitty sled through the elements. Starting the heater, maybe cooking some food. It’s similar to the reasons why guys who may not even hunt make the annual trek to the deer shack every year.

I do agree, however, that ice fishing popularity would not have grown like it has without the electronics. Without a flasher, you might as well just set out some tipups and hope for a pike drive by.

It’s great to be an ice fishing retailer. Look at how jammed packed the St Paul ice show is. Look at how busy Cabela’s is during ice season.

Mat Peirce wrote:

Adventure!

that really is it right there in a nut shell. Ice Fishing is really a lot about adventure. I don’t get that same emotion while in a boat.