Basics of Ice Fishing: Written by someone who knows nothing about ice fishing.

I think it is safe to say that I am “hooked”, and yes, that is a bad pun. Last week I took my Christmas gift cards and headed to Cabelas.  I was in search of the cheapest entry-level ice fishing gear that exists. Since Cabelas had practically sold out of everything, I purchased a cheap rod, five or six jig options, and an ice scoop thingy. I had already purchased a used $10 manual auger from Facebook marketplace...(with new blades). 

I am from the South, and there is no doubt that I know nothing of ice fishing. I have had to watch many Youtube videos and ask questions of strangers in Cabelas, my customers, and other folks over Instagram. I expected it to be pretty straight forward... in many ways like deer hunting. Climb in a tree or blind, sit, and wait for something to come by. 

I compare it to deer hunting because the lake is the equivalent of the woods, a doe is a crappie, and monster buck is a pike. There are a lot of lakes and a lot of woods, and from what I can tell, people take this way more seriously than I expected. Now I need to also mention that I am a traditional hunter in the sense that I do not spray doe urine on trees, buy buck bombs, or use ozone cent machines, as I find them to be somewhat of a scam. I thought the same for ice fishing. I observed people with underwater HD cameras, fish finders, and all these items that I would have thought to be a waste of money. However, from what I can tell, unlike deer hunting, ice fishing accessories are almost essential. 

Now before people start sending in their opinions, saying you don't need all the fancy tools to ice fish, let me say,  I understand. As i already stated, I do not have anything fancy when it comes to ice fishing. I sat on a cooler for four hours with a string on a stick,  basically just bouncing it along and praying for a Hail Mary. However, after seeing folks around me with some of the modern accessories, I want to have them, too. 

So, in the near future, I want to buy an ice shelter. I nearly froze my fingers off last weekend with the wind leaving any exposed skin red and dry. After I get my hands on the ice tent, I want to get a gas heater, but it's not a priority at the moment. The real thing that I find making ice fishing easier is what is called a flasher. A flasher is a sonar fish finder that lets you know when the fish are near your area. Essentially it is letting you know when to actually start jiggling your bait. This takes a lot of the “flying blind” aspect out of the game. Much like when bird hunting, you only turn on your mojo flapping decoys when you see birds. This way you don't burn your battery all day, and in this case, don't have to constantly shake your rod up and down praying for a miracle. 

Another point to make is that choosing your lake is critical to what you catch. The larger the body of water, the larger the fish. As stated, I am from the South. I can catch panfish all day... and even bass. So I am not too focused on those. What I am intent to catch  would be Pike and Walleye. I have yet to catch either, and in order to do so, I need to go to a larger body of water. 

Now through the almighty powerful Google and Instagram creeping, I have found that lake Minnitonka is the place to be. This is where serious Minnesota ice fisherman go. (I recommend googling it) People have what looks like neighborhoods and trailer parks out on this endless white abyss. Folks drive their fish shacks out there and stay the weekend. They have beds, TVs, ovens, grills, and more. So I do not know how long I will be living here, but I can't move to this part of the country and not experience that while I am here. 

In conclusion, life would be pretty boring if we did not try out new things. You don't need the newest camo to kill a deer, after all, people used to wear red flannel and accomplished the same task. The same can be said about ice fishing. You don't have to have the new Garmin Fish Finder 200x Gold Pro Sport blah blah blah. Just the basics will work, and get the same job done.

 Many of you might be wondering if I caught anything last week, and the answer is, yes. A whopping 3 inch baby bass. So I can only go up from here! Thanks for reading, and as I learn more, and hopefully, catch something a bit more exciting, I will make sure to write about it. In the meantime, get outside. Netflix will always be there.

“Ya gotta start somewhere”-Brother-in-law