Fabner1
01-27-2009, 09:08 AM
The following is Ice Fishing information I have gleaned from years of trial and error.
I mainly fish for Bluegills so take that into account. Ask Questions, 99% of Ice Fishermen are great people who will share their
hard earned lessons.
Get a bucket taller than a 5 gallon. Buy some type of comfortable lid to sit on. They make whole and half covers. I use a bucket organizer that goes around the outside to hold my rods and strainers (skimmers). I use a bungee to hold them in place. You will learn how important this is after you lose a few items leaving the ice.
Buy an Auger to bore holes. I have a spud, a 5 inch and a 7 inch hand Auger. I choose which one on the day I'm going.
Buy a Plastic sled to pull all your equipment out on the ice. I see Cabelas has one with two molded bucket holders for about $50. I carried my bucket and auger until I got old.
Buy one round Tip-up that will fit inside the bucket. I use a small Bluegill or Perch that I catch for bait. If I find a dead Pike Minnow I will use that. Pike don't seem to care if the bait is dead or alive. Dead Smelt work great. If you want to be able to release a Pike without too much injury, use a circle hook instead of a treble.
Buy a cheap well functioning spinning reel and a 24 inch rod. Those Schooley type rods and reels are for children. I use 4 pound Stren Hi-Vis Gold line for my main line and I blood knot a 5 foot length of 1 pound Berkley Fireline Crystal Micro Ice to the Hi-Viz for my leader. Forget bobbers unless you are going to take small children fishing. I don't even use spring indicators anymore. The Hi-Vis Gold and tug of the bite are your bite indicator and you can reel up your fish in instead of backing up on slick ice! Forget a lead depth finder. When your jig line goes slack you are on the bottom (or a fish has taken it on the way down). You are about six feet tall, so if it is so many feet over your head you just add it to six if you have to know how deep you are fishing. Start fishing from 6 to 12 inches off the bottom. You can move up from there to any depth you want. This is were a fish finder comes in handy because you can see where the fish are suspended.
When you go to buy jigs choose # 8, 10 or 12 hooks and hold one cupped in your hands so you can look in and see if it glows. If it doesn't glow put it back. If you find that someone is really catching them on one that doesn't glow you have permission to buy one. A fish "bites" by inhaling the bait in to its mouth. If they feel any resistance they simply blow the bait out. I have very good luck for all types of panfish on a vertical , glow in the dark, Ice Tiger that looks like a little white minnow. I also like a Mark's Custom Tackle, Green Super Glow, that looks like a little Perch. I think you have an advantage buying a horizontal oriented jig because they go directly in the fish's mouth. I use CMT tackle's Super Glow Shad Darts. They have many sizes and lots of colors. I like the White/Glow Trout color best. I also like Jammin Jigs, jigs. Tie your jig on with a loop knot that allows your bait to swing freely back and forth. I have recently been using the little metal snap hooks that allow you to change jigs without having to tie a knot with cold hands and old eyes. Always buy extra jigs. I lose four or five jigs a season to big Bass and Pike. I have lost three already this season. (One to a Bass that looked to be 4 - 5 pounds!)
I should have been a brain surgeon! I fillet all my panfish starting from the smallest. That way you won't do the big ones and throw the small ones out.
As for Fish finders I bet 99 % the people on this site learned to ice fish without one. I have a Vexilar, but only for the last three years. I caught thousands of fish before I got a Vex. I can't see a new Ice fisherman putting out $350 to $500 for a finder and I know they are going to have a tough time justifying it to their wife! If there are open holes left by someone else, just jump from hole to hole until you find fish. If not bore some and do the same. If you don't get a bite in a few minutes move to another hole. Be out on the Ice at 3:30 PM and fish until dark. You can fish all day or whenever you get a chance but in my opinion 4:00 PM until Dark is the best time to panfish. Carry lots of Plastic grocery bags in your bucket to put your fish in. It will keep your bucket and sled from smelling. Buy a small pair of curved Hemostats to remove hooks in tough places. You can clip them to the outside of your coat where they will be handy when needed.
As you can probably tell I am a veritable cesspool of useless and uninteresting information. If I think of things I left out I will post them later.
I mainly fish for Bluegills so take that into account. Ask Questions, 99% of Ice Fishermen are great people who will share their
hard earned lessons.
Get a bucket taller than a 5 gallon. Buy some type of comfortable lid to sit on. They make whole and half covers. I use a bucket organizer that goes around the outside to hold my rods and strainers (skimmers). I use a bungee to hold them in place. You will learn how important this is after you lose a few items leaving the ice.
Buy an Auger to bore holes. I have a spud, a 5 inch and a 7 inch hand Auger. I choose which one on the day I'm going.
Buy a Plastic sled to pull all your equipment out on the ice. I see Cabelas has one with two molded bucket holders for about $50. I carried my bucket and auger until I got old.
Buy one round Tip-up that will fit inside the bucket. I use a small Bluegill or Perch that I catch for bait. If I find a dead Pike Minnow I will use that. Pike don't seem to care if the bait is dead or alive. Dead Smelt work great. If you want to be able to release a Pike without too much injury, use a circle hook instead of a treble.
Buy a cheap well functioning spinning reel and a 24 inch rod. Those Schooley type rods and reels are for children. I use 4 pound Stren Hi-Vis Gold line for my main line and I blood knot a 5 foot length of 1 pound Berkley Fireline Crystal Micro Ice to the Hi-Viz for my leader. Forget bobbers unless you are going to take small children fishing. I don't even use spring indicators anymore. The Hi-Vis Gold and tug of the bite are your bite indicator and you can reel up your fish in instead of backing up on slick ice! Forget a lead depth finder. When your jig line goes slack you are on the bottom (or a fish has taken it on the way down). You are about six feet tall, so if it is so many feet over your head you just add it to six if you have to know how deep you are fishing. Start fishing from 6 to 12 inches off the bottom. You can move up from there to any depth you want. This is were a fish finder comes in handy because you can see where the fish are suspended.
When you go to buy jigs choose # 8, 10 or 12 hooks and hold one cupped in your hands so you can look in and see if it glows. If it doesn't glow put it back. If you find that someone is really catching them on one that doesn't glow you have permission to buy one. A fish "bites" by inhaling the bait in to its mouth. If they feel any resistance they simply blow the bait out. I have very good luck for all types of panfish on a vertical , glow in the dark, Ice Tiger that looks like a little white minnow. I also like a Mark's Custom Tackle, Green Super Glow, that looks like a little Perch. I think you have an advantage buying a horizontal oriented jig because they go directly in the fish's mouth. I use CMT tackle's Super Glow Shad Darts. They have many sizes and lots of colors. I like the White/Glow Trout color best. I also like Jammin Jigs, jigs. Tie your jig on with a loop knot that allows your bait to swing freely back and forth. I have recently been using the little metal snap hooks that allow you to change jigs without having to tie a knot with cold hands and old eyes. Always buy extra jigs. I lose four or five jigs a season to big Bass and Pike. I have lost three already this season. (One to a Bass that looked to be 4 - 5 pounds!)
I should have been a brain surgeon! I fillet all my panfish starting from the smallest. That way you won't do the big ones and throw the small ones out.
As for Fish finders I bet 99 % the people on this site learned to ice fish without one. I have a Vexilar, but only for the last three years. I caught thousands of fish before I got a Vex. I can't see a new Ice fisherman putting out $350 to $500 for a finder and I know they are going to have a tough time justifying it to their wife! If there are open holes left by someone else, just jump from hole to hole until you find fish. If not bore some and do the same. If you don't get a bite in a few minutes move to another hole. Be out on the Ice at 3:30 PM and fish until dark. You can fish all day or whenever you get a chance but in my opinion 4:00 PM until Dark is the best time to panfish. Carry lots of Plastic grocery bags in your bucket to put your fish in. It will keep your bucket and sled from smelling. Buy a small pair of curved Hemostats to remove hooks in tough places. You can clip them to the outside of your coat where they will be handy when needed.
As you can probably tell I am a veritable cesspool of useless and uninteresting information. If I think of things I left out I will post them later.