Ice Fishing

[oster]

Gearing up for the upcoming ice fishing season, Thought I'd start a thread on tips, locations... general discussion.

Pretty big into fly fishing but will only be my second season of ice fishing, so to start it off, looking for suggestions on what fish finders you guys use?

Cheers

[SJW]

I have an underwater cam for a fish finder. Makes it fun.

[syscal]

I bought the Deeper sonar a couple years ago.

[ThePenIsMightier]

Nothing beats ice fishin in Queebec.

Why don't you go snowshoe into the Bell Centre to watch back-to-back sold-out Simple Plan shows, then go eat some Montreal smoked meat, you bagel-munching, rope pissers!





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[killramos]

What’s it take to get involved in Ice Fishing? I wouldn’t know the first thing, most of my fishing is off the west coast.

I hear it’s popular at my lake place in the winter (Travers) and wondered about giving it a shot. Might take some material time off through December so sounds like fun?

[ExtraSlow]

Ya get yourself warm boots, a bucket of KFC, a case of strong beer (cooler optional), a comfortable chair, and a tent or hut to keep the wind off.

As far as I know that's all you require. I'm sure some fancy dudes need more, but that's good enough for me.

[killramos]

Ya get yourself warm boots, a bucket of KFC, a case of strong beer (cooler optional), a comfortable chair, and a tent or hut to keep the wind off.

As far as I know that's all you require. I'm sure some fancy dudes need more, but that's good enough for me.

I see no downside here. Catching fish entirely optional.

[ExtraSlow]

I see no downside here. Catching fish entirely optional.

They don't call it "catching"

[syscal]

I'm dying for this season.

Been going the past couple years. We have tent, sleds, heater, snowshoes (lower K forced this one), and whatever else...and a hand auger.

Ugh, huge mistake. The tent was upgraded on warranty to one nearly double the price, no complaints there and shout out to Cabela's for having amazing customer service.

Anyway, you drill a few holes by hand in 3' of ice...and you settle on a spot when you get tired. Sonar or not, it's more or less a forced decision. Not great for catching, but the beers are cold.

Keeping my eyes out for a decent used powered auger this year. Problem is they are either super expensive, old, or the plastic doesn't hold up in our dry/cold weather. I'm going for a 10" diameter.

[SJW]

I’ve got all the gear except sonar. Get a shack.

[dimi]

Start with the basics, see if you like the sport first.
Hand auger ($120 – the blue Swedish one is amazing). You don’t need a power auger as long as the blades are sharp, and it’s a good way to warm up if you’re getting cold. Ice Fishing rod ($40-50 – spend $20 extra and get a decent one). Line/Lures/Bait etc. ($50-100 ish depending on where you fish). Licence is $30. All in all, you can get it done for close to $250.

Overdress and layer heavily. It’s going to be colder than you think and you’ll be standing around for hours. Especially critical are good gloves, due to taking them off to handle fish/bait hooks etc. Bring a comfortable chair. I usually use ifishalberta for ice thickness reports early in the winter. Make sure you have at least a good 6”- 8” before getting on the ice, if in doubt drill more holes.

As far as places to go, my go to is spray lakes. Close to town, beautiful mountain views, and they stock that lake heavily so you should be able to get a few lake trout (limit of 3, albeit most tend to be 10”-16”).
Good luck.

[killramos]

I like to fish spray in the summer just for the fun of it. Good to know.

[cam_wmh]

Have you guys ever done one of those all inclusive ice fishing weekends? I’m interested, without buying all that specific gear. A year,y trip would be fun I imagine.

[tonytiger55]

What kinds of fish do you guys end up catching?

[syscal]

In the prairies it's pike, pike, and more pike...and then a walleye before more pike.

Trout in the mountains.

I haven't hit anything else in the times I've gone, but I'm more of an opportunistic fisher - meaning I go when I have time, vs going at the best time.

[oster]

88231

Built a power box for all my ice fishing accessories ��

[ExtraSlow]

Good thinking, that'll run your KFC warmer nicely.
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[oster]

haha that's perfect .. chum the water with a little chicken too

edit: 300 F..??? i need one

[ExtraSlow]

Last time I went ice fishing I actually caught something. Really slowed down the chicken eating.
If it's a sunny day you can watch the chicken bones slowly sink down and the fish rise up to nibble. Real David Attenborough shit right there.

[ExtraSlow]

Anyone looking to be fancier than me, Cabela's and bass pro have a bunch of ice fishing stuff for sale this week. Huts, fish finders, rods, augers outerwear etc.

[oster]

Don't tempt me.

Going thru my gear tonight to see what i need.

Anyone been out yet?? Trying to plan something this weekend

[ExtraSlow]

Jesus, it's been so warm, don't sink your truck.

[killramos]

+1 It’s barely winter yet haha. I wouldn’t be walking on no ice.

[oster]

Theres a few that have 3+" :burnout:

[SJW]

We should do a beyond ice fishing get together. I have all the gear plus a tent for 3 peeps. Heat too. Probably not until late dec. jan. feb.

[tonytiger55]

We should do a beyond ice fishing get together. I have all the gear plus a tent for 3 peeps. Heat too. Probably not until late dec. jan. feb.

If any of you dont mind donating, deboning and cleaning up the fish.. I want to try making south Indian fish curry...

[oster]

Heading out tomorrow, if you don't hear from me, don't wait around....

[oster]

Beautiful day yesterday. Managed to find some ice, but there’s not much out there yet. Suspect after this week there should be some good Spots. Barrier was far from frozen over.
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[ThePenIsMightier]

Beautiful day yesterday. Managed to find some ice, but there’s not much out there yet. Suspect after this week there should be some good Spots. Barrier was far from frozen over.
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The ravages of Climate Change have shifted frozen bodies of water by a full 90°. When will the world wake up and notice!!?

[ExtraSlow]

Stay safe out there kiddies.
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[oster]

Yeah there is no way that ice was safe to begin with.

[oster]

Thread died, everyone must be ice fishing...

Been a slow year for me so far. Been to Eagle, Dalemead, upper/lower kana, spray, Crowsnest a few times and some lakes out in B.C.

Anyone else have some luck? 8952389524

[r3ccOs]

Thread died, everyone must be ice fishing...

Been a slow year for me so far. Been to Eagle, Dalemead, upper/lower kana, spray, Crowsnest a few times and some lakes out in B.C.

Anyone else have some luck? 8952389524

I think we should raise this thread from the DEAD

I grew up ice fishing in Winnipeg but really we I mean we drove sleds and atvs while our friend's dads who drank in shacks built out of 8x10s with full stoves and generators. Fishing of course was a different game all together... and mostly you targeting fishing pike, perch, walleye when you were actually fishing. Most of the time we did sight fishing, by chainsawing out huge 2x3 chunks of ice, unless it was too think and we needed to auger... and usually that would require an extended auger.

Anyways, fast forward up to a couple years ago - the season prior to covid... I figured I'd just pick up a manual auger, couple rods, a tip-up, a sled and the small accessories and have at'er. I'd say it was pretty uneventful, but in BC lakes, would still catch a couple trout in a day. After freezing my butt off, I also picked up a popup tent, Mr. Buddy heater and started carrying around firewood or portable fire pit, to make a winters day more enjoyable for the kids.

AS its fishing and not catching my tips are the following:

Use bait if you can that target the fish you want, but for me using raw shrimp works best for Burbot. Otherwise then its nightcrawler, leeches etc.. and then last resort, ball of trout dough.

The lure depends what you're jigging for, but definitely for ice fishing, bright luminous colours, heavy and loud. - from spoons, to specific rattlers.. but sometimes just jigging a white "salted squid tube" also attracts specific fish like Burbot

Keep moving - try shallow/deep at different times of the day. Some fish will just not be active.
If you have a good quality 1/2 drill with a big battery... buy the adapter or buy the cabala's kit. I even have a 1/2 ryobi drill that I have a 9amp battery which I can get through maybe 25+ 8inch deep holes.

get a Sonar/Flasher Fish Finder - the cheapest and most versatile being the Garmin Striker 4 portable package, which comes with the Ice transducer and battery. Do not do what I did and not suggest you buy the more expensive striker 4 PLUS unless you really want the advanced mapping (which is useful for a HUGE lake on a bass boat).. its about 100+ more for the EXACT same device. and I mean it, its exactly the same features.

I thought the differentiator between fishing and catching is the lure and your location... I stand corrected, the fish finder is a game changer. Using the trad or flasher mode, not only does the sonar pick up the fish activity, but your lure's position to let you dangle and lure the fish.

[SJW]

I haven't been ice fishing yet this year. I usually go to Badger lake a few times for giant pike or Mckenzie lake as I live there.

Been thinking about converting my 8ft enclosed trailer into an ice fishing shack with wood stove. Tow it out on the ice with a quad.

[ExtraSlow]

Best piece of Ice Fishing equipment is a bucket of KFC. I could sit in one of those tents for hours eating KFC and drinking beer. Ice Fishing is great.

[oster]

Been out a few times this year. Spray, upper/lower, chain, few lakes in BC. A lot of fun, have more experience since starting this thread and seems to have pretty good success, r3cc0s tips are spot on.103796103797

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[B.Spilner]

We rented a little hut on gull lake for the night. Been slow so far, couple pike and a burbot showing up on the camera.