Ice Fishing Basics

I know it is late in the season for a post about ice fishing, but I have a friend who wrote a post on his site about some ice fishing basics that I thought would be good to pass along.  You can check out his website at http://ponderosaoutdoors.com/.  I found his post helpful for anyone interested in starting out ice fishing. The following post is his writing not my own.

 

I’m not really sure how I feel about ice fishing. I believe I have come to the conclusion that it is just what you do when you want to get outside and there is snow everywhere you look! I didn’t grow up ice fishing, but over the years many people have been willing to get me started on the basics. Last year was the hardest I had ever hit the ice fishing scene. I was graciously invited several times by Kevin Jones to go ice fishing with him and his family. Before this I usually just roughed it out on the ice with temperatures often times dipping below zero and the relentless wind howling at 25 mph! The first time I met up with Kevin on the ice he had what I considered to be beautiful, an ice fishing tent! The giant red Eskimo Quick Fish 6 posed on the ice like some camp from an arctic research team. When I entered the tent the warm air from the heater inside welcomed me. This was ice fishing! If i was going to be out fishing all day in the nasty winter conditions I was going to be warm doing it. I simply had to have one! Little did I know I would soon get my chance. Kevin and I fished pretty hard all day and caught many trout in the 14″ range. While sitting in Kevin’s “new that year” ice tent, I started to admire the new blades he had put on his ice auger. Sitting on a bucket, pole in a stand, I picked up the auger to get a closer look at the blades. Bad move! Kevin continued to fish as a looked the auger over, but when I went to put it back disaster struck. While I carefully and strategically went to place the auger back to its spot one of the blades barely touched the side of the tent! Ouch! Instantly a 4″ slit appeared in the tight wall of the tent. How do I fix this? Maybe Kevin won’t notice? There was no getting around the fact that I had just cut a hole in a $250.00 ice fishing tent. the only words that could come out of my mouth were, Kevin, I just put a hole in your tent. Kevin’s response, ya right, haha. As soon as his eyes met the light coming through the hole no words were needed. Uh………..that sucks. Interestingly enough Kevin shared the same thoughts I did. Well, I said to Kevin, looks like I’m getting an ice tent earlier than expected! I was not happy with myself that I had made such a dumb error, but it is a beautiful thing to have such a great excuse to give your wife about buying new gear! That day of ice fishing was one of mixed emotions and learning, but the important thing is that we got out and caught fish. Since my day of hard lessons learned I have used my “new” ice fishing tent to protect myself from the elements and I am happy to have it as part of my fishing arsenal. Make sure that when you go fishing that you keep your hands to yourself and to your own gear! Obviously these were some of my fathers words that fell on deaf ears.

Here is a quick video of some ice fishing basics:

I hope this information is helpful for anyone starting out with the sport of ice fishing, and I would also like to encourage you all to check out Earl's website at  http://ponderosaoutdoors.com/.  Thanks Earl for letting me share your post.