Newsgroups: rec.outdoors.fishing
Organization: mailEnteringNews at Honeywell SRC


In the following post I will try to respond to Rick's post and show how
it is done around Minnesota.
> 
> Well, it's getting to be that time of year again, and in my neverending
> quest to get more anglers active in the sport of ice fishing, here is kind
> of a "Frequently Asked Questions" list that I post annually...
> last updated 1/93.  If you have any suggestions/input, let me know!
> 
> 	We are allowed 5 tip-ups and 2 hand lines per person in most waters.
> 	We are (of course) allowed to use live bait.
> 
In MN we are only allowed 2 lines per person (tip-ups or handlines).

> 
> -How to locate the fish?
>        1. Fish near other ice fishermen!!  Chances are they are die-
Open the trap door in your fish house.  Drill hole.  Drop line in.  Move
house to another spot with alot of houses around if no fish are caught
within the last week.  (Start by putting your house next to a bunch of
others).

> 
> 	2. Fish VERY close to the bottom.  Water is most dense at 39.2 
> 
Start with one line just under the ice and the other on the bottom.
If no fish are caught, move the bottom one up and the upper one down
until fish are found.  Then fish both lines at the same depth.

> 
> 	3. You can bring a portable "flasher" or graph type depth finder 
> 
If you bring a flasher you won't need to find the depth the fish are at
by moving your baits up and down.  The flasher will tell you where they
are.  The flasher will also show your bait.  Just "tap the fish on the nose"
with your bait.  A home-made transducer mount can be dropped right into
the hole you are fishing out of.  (Duct tape the transducer to a broken
hockey stick, then nail it to another one to form a "T".)

> 	   I also read somewhere that you could attach the transducer to a 
> 	   broom handle, put a plastic bag around the end filled with 
> 	   (non-toxic) antifreeze/water solution, and prick a tiny hole
Please don't dump any antifreeze onto (into) my lake.

> 
> 	4. Try and locate a bend or break in the weedline and fish it.
>
The best way to "find" a spot is to drive around until you find somebody
with a pile of the fish you are after laying next to their hole(s).  A
snomobile or ATV will work but I prefer a car or better yet a 4x4 if the
snow is deep.  It is a hell of a lot warmer in a car than on a sled.  You
don't know what cold is until you drove around on a sled with a -50 F
wind chill.

> - What baits and lures are good?
> 	My favorite jigging lures are the Swedish Pimple, and the Jigging 
> 	Rapala.
Too much work.  We prefer the bobber method.  Jigging takes away from
quality TV watching.

> 	Other people fish with tiny "ice flies"- essentially tiny weighted 
> 	jigs with rubber legs or hair, tipped with some small hardy grub.
An ice fly with a grub will take most panfish.  An ice fly with a crappie
minnow will take crappies, walleyes, pike, muskie, and just about
anything else that happens by and is hungry (bullheads, carp and eelpout
included).

> - How to fish with these baits/lures?
> 	If you use live bait (minnows), use tip-ups.  The tip-ups I use don't 
> 	really "tip up"; when open, they look like the x-y-z axes, with a 
> 	spool of line hanging underwater (to prevent freezing), and a flag 
> 	attached to a piece of flat spring steel to signal when you get a bite.
> 	I also own a tip-up that is different than the rest- it's called a 
> 	"Windlass".  Basically, it's fully above the water (so it's difficult 
> 	to use if it's REAL cold and freezing out), and it jigs the live bait 
> 	using the wind- there's a metal paddle on it that your line goes 
>  	through.  In the past 5 years I've had this tip-up it has out-
> 	performed 8 other normal tip-ups that my friend and I use.   Some 
> 	outings, it is the only thing we catch fish on.  It costs ~$12, but 
> 	it's worked so well for me that I feel it's worth buying at least one.
Tip-up force you to run out of your warm house.  We don't use them much.
If you are using a tip-up, you just ain't fishing unless it is a "Windlass"
tip-up.  Windlass is the name but they are refered to as "Wind tip-ups"
around here.  They cost about $10 in MN.

> 	Use a solid braided trolling/icefishing line on the tip-ups, NOT 
> 	monofilament (you won't be able to see mono/untangle it out on the 
> 	ice).  Tie on a good swivel, then a 3-4' mono leader using a surgeon's 
> 	knot; the lighter the better (note that the pound test of mono goes UP 
> 	at cold temps).
I didn't know there was another way to use a tip-up.
	
> 	This a really great tip...
> 	If it's going to be REALLY cold out while you're fishing, you
Bring extra wood for the furnace.  ;-)

> - How to stay warm and dry? (I won't bother with shelter...)
Put tar-paper on your roof.
> 	Remember that you are on hard *water*, and don't kneel down everytime 
> 	you want to rig up a new bait or look down the hole- your knees
> 	will get wet.
Don't forget to put your boots back on when you run out to grab a tip-up :-)

> 	Dress in layers.  If you get too hot, you can open up or take off
> 	a layer or two.
Or just open the door of your shack.  :-)

> 	Tight boots will make your feet cold due to reduced circulation.
Loose boots slip on faster when you have to go out and check a tip-up.

> 	Bring one heavy set of gloves/mittens for standing around between
> 	bites, and bring one set of thin light gloves for fooling around
> 	setting up tip-ups.  That way you won't get your primary set of gloves
> 	wet by handling fish or bait.
> 	Cut off an old pair of socks, and put the ankle-parts over your 
> 	wrists to warm them from the wind (wrist-warmers).
> 	Bring coffee or hot chocolate in a thermos.  Bring lunch or snacks.
Bring lots of cold beer.  Especially for the new guy you stuck next to the
furnace who has to keep putting logs in the fire.

> 	Bring something to sit on, like a wooden box on a sled/skis or 
> 	a 5 gallon plastic pail- especially if you're going to jig all day.
Bring lawn chairs, they fold up small and are much more comfortable than a
bucket.

> 	If it's sunny, bring sunglasses unless you like squinting for 6 hours 
> 	straight, and not being able to see inside the house once you get home.
Just keep the drapes shut (if your shack is so furnished).

> 	Remember that wool is warm even when wet.
>
Other necessities:
A color TV is good but black and white will work in a pinch.  Make sure
the VCR plugs in.  A remote would be nice but my house still isn't that
long where a guy would have to get up to change the station.  Next year...
Have a t-shirt and shorts on underneath your winter clothes, it can get
awfully hot if the new guy puts too much wood in the furnace.
Oh, bring an marine extra battery if the new guy brings his flasher with.
There is nothing worse than having the TV and VCR go down.
If you have a satellite dish, bring it home with you when you leave.
Somebody will steal it for sure if you don't.  (You need the dish because
you can't run cable across the lake)

> -  Is there an ideal depth to fish? 
> 	YES!  Within 4-12" of the bottom, noted above (unless you're fishing
The last two weeks the crappies have been three arm-lengths below the surface
until the 6 o'clock news is over.  Then they move down to 4 lengths.  They
move back to three about the time the 10 o'clock news ends and Cheers starts.
Not too many are caught after Cheers is over.  We call it the Cheers bite.

> - Can regular spinning tackle be used ?
> 	Sure, but it's a little more difficult to handle the rod and control
> 	the line/bait with your line going down this one tiny hole.  You'd 
> 	be better off making a short jigging rod from an old rod tip/handle 
> 	or buying one- you can get inexpensive rod for maybe $6.  But if you 
> 	don't want to invest the time or money, the big rod WILL work... 
>  	until I procured a second short rod, I used to bring a full size rod 
> 	with me as my second rod... hey, a long pole is better than no pole!
I use a couple of broken rods.  3 feet is nice, 2 feet will work in a pinch.
(My dad and brother break at least one pole a year, an endless supply of
ice fishing poles :-) )  Duct tape your summer spinning reels on the end
of the broken tips.  1" pipe insulation makes a good handle.  If you have
some, tape it on the rod 1st, then tape the reel on.  If you are a rod
maker you can get fancy and make a good handle but that just sucks worse
when a fish pulls your custom rod and reel in the hole.

> - What's an inexpensive yet effective way to cut holes?
Your friend's 10-inch gas auger.  ;-)
I have an 8-inch hand drill.  A lot of work this time of year.  A good way
to dull up the blades is to re-drill an old hole with your hand drill.  The
gas auger doesn't seem to mind.
The easiest hand auger I ever used was a 5-inch scoop type.  Remember, the
bigger the hole, the more work you gotta do to drill it.  A fish would
have to be nearly 16 inches around to not fit in a 5-inch hole.  Don't
worry about a five inch hole being to small unless you got big plans.  If
it is too big for the five inch hole you probably forgot the gaff and
couldn't land the thing anyway.

> - Is this safe??
> 	Well, I think so, provided a healthy dose of common sense
>       ...
>
>       and other characteristics of the ice can sometimes be unnerving.  Once
>       on a small pond, with at least 8" of solid ice all over, I found I
>       could make the water in fishing holes near shore slosh around
>       by going to the middle of the pond and bouncing up and down.
A car driving by on the ice makes waves.  The water moves up and down in
your hole(s).  Even if the ice is over 2 feet thick.
 
>       ...
> 
> 	When ice is really thick and solid, some anglers just drive their cars
> 	out on the ice.  Personally, I think this is nuts, and I'd never do 
> 	this with MY car (try and explain THIS one to your insurance company!),
> 	but I have been out on Lake Champlain and other lakes in cars.  (It 
> 	was either ride out or walk 3 miles to catch up to my partners.)  On 
> 	Champlain, the ice was maybe 38" thick, so I felt pretty secure.
If the ice is only around 12" - 14" thick drive with the window down or
if it is warm enough with the window down and the door cracked.  THE
SEATBELT COMES OFF AT THE LANDING!!!  My rule of thumb is:  If there
is a 4x4 out there the Monte ain't going in.  Nine out of ten times when your
car goes through you don't even get your feet wet.  They USUALLY break
through the ice and pause a minute before they fall the rest of the way to
the bottom.  (Tell that to the nine year old kid that went under Green Lake
last month, their truck was the 1 in 10 that drops like a rock)  Most ice
fishing accidents occur when booze is involved or, believe it or not, the
person is on a strange lake and drives into an open hole.  (Many lakes are
spring fed and the ice in that area never forms or is very thin at best)
I don't know of any car insurance policy that covers you when you drive out
on the ice.  Agents don't even want to hear that you drive out there.
I bought a 71 Chevelle from my brother for $200.  Since I can't afford
a sled it works well.  I leave it parked next to my rink out on the lake.
It sure beats driving around to the landing every time I want to get out
to my shack.  If I had chains I could move my shack with it.

Make sure your baits are in the water if the guy next to you starts
punching holes with his gas auger.  Sunfish bite better when the thing
is cutting holes.

Tony Dean, a TV fishing/hunting guy from the Dakotas
did a story on ice fishing last year.  They put a guy under the ice
in a wet suit with a camera.  The gas auger made the least amount of
noise under the ice, it was quieter than the hand drill.  (The opposite
above the ice)  The spud made a hell of a racket underwater.  His
conclusion...  USE AN AUGER, NOT A SPUD!

Domino's does deliver.  Make sure you give the guy a good description of
your house and where it is.  The 1/2 hour deal doesn't apply out on the
ice if he can't find your house.

The dumbest thing I ever heard...  We were fishing one night, the beer was
running low and we had the munchies.  This guy pulls up and asks us if we
knew where Peterson's shack was.  We told him no, in fact we don't even
know the guy.  Then he asked us if we wanted this pizza he had.  Dumb
question!

> 
> -Heard anything new lately?
>

The 11th annual Golden Rainbow Ice Fishing Contest is this Sunday (the 24th)
on Forest Lake.  Entry fee is $31.  They used to release a tagged
rainbow trout worth $100,000 to the guy who caught it.  Nobody ever
caught the thing so now it is just biggest fish wins.  1st place is a
1993 Explorer.  2nd, 25th, and 50th places are 16 foot Alumacraft boats with
25hp Mercs and trailers.  3rd place is 7 days in Hawaii for two.  20th, 40th,
60th, and 80th places are 4 days in Las Vegas for two.  75th place is a
Polaris Indy sport 440.  100th place is $10,000.  There are all kinds of other
prizes like new power augers for 15th, 30th, 45th, 55th, 65th and 85th.
Clam Sleeper (portable fish house) for 4th.  Clam Classic for 99th.
Fish Trap for 101st and Ice Eyes, a hand held sonar for 102nd place.
ANY fish over 2.5 lbs is worth $200.  ANY fish over 1.5 lbs is worth $100.
103rd thru 200th fish over .5 lbs gets a Lightning Rod and $50 CASH.
The first 100 fish over .5 lbs gets a dip net full of prizes worth $140.
I'll be out there.

> 
> ---
> Rick Inzero				        rochester!cci632!rdi
> Computer Consoles Inc. (CCI)			uunet!ccicpg!cci632!rdi
> Rochester, NY					rdi@cci.com
> 
> When you hear a dull "thump thump" sound from beneath the ice when 
> going out ice fishing, you know it's going to be a good day-  
> the fish are jumping!!  -from my ice-fishin' buddy Dave
> 

Sorry my response to my favorite winter time hobby took so long, my server
has been down for a few weeks.  We don't take ice fishing too seriously
even though there are few people who spend more time on the ice than me
and my friend the Hurricane do.  I hope the people who read the above post
see all the :-)'s and don't go flame crazy.

Ice fishing really is a lot of fun!

--
- Matt Rein
- mrein3@CFSMO.Honeywell.COM

A watched bobber never bobs. -from MY ice-fishin' buddy Dave (the Hurricane)