I am going to give it an honest effort this year. Kind of like an Atheist witnessing Armageddon... I am a soft water fisherman to the core and generally find ice fishing more dangerous than its worth, but I am going to give'er this year.
What do I need?
I am not going out and buying all kinds of stuff only to find I can't stand it... but
I will buy tackle.
I started with a couple of jigging spoons. But I do remember as a kid fishing with a hook and worms on the St-Laurence catching pike, perch and walleye. I would imagine that is a thing of the past...
I will mostly be targeting whitefish and pike. I am not talking 100FOW lake Simcoe whitefish either... these guys seem to be in the 30 to 60 range in these waters (Right Kevin and Paul?).
What kind of hooks (If any)?
Do I need snaps and swivels? Leaders?
What do you have in your kit?
Craig
Starters Ice Fishing Kit - I Want To Learn!
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Yannick Loranger
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Auger, spoon to clear holes, jig heads, treble hooks of all sizes, jigging rods, split shot sinkers. Rod holders and tip-ups if you want. If you fish the ottawa get big sinkers (1oz bell sinkers) to tie drop-shots or for pickerel rigs. If you want specific lures, silver or gold Mepps Aglia, #40 Williams wablers in mettalic colors, Swedish Pimple, Buck Shot. Leaders for pike for sure, fluoro for panfish leaders. That's all I can thing of. I'd love to give you a crash course at first ice!
Yannick
Yannick
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Bass Addict
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Re: Starters Ice Fishing Kit - I Want To Learn!
A Good set of Winter Tires to start offcprince wrote:I am going to give Ice fishing an honest effort this year..
What do I need?
Craig
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highlander
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Warm clothes, that's the main thing.
For pike grab at least one of the heavy duty orange covered tip-ups at c-tire with a snelled hook/minnow and some split shot. I always seem to get into pike with my tip-ups -- but then not everyone likes those so, to each their own.
A pull sled is handy too.
I'd be happy to get out with ya, It's hands down more social than softwater fishing I find.
Ian
For pike grab at least one of the heavy duty orange covered tip-ups at c-tire with a snelled hook/minnow and some split shot. I always seem to get into pike with my tip-ups -- but then not everyone likes those so, to each their own.
A pull sled is handy too.
I'd be happy to get out with ya, It's hands down more social than softwater fishing I find.
Ian
and then you'll wanna get a portable shack,a sonar unit,a heater and a myriad of jigs and lures and all the other paraphanalia because you'll be hooked on ice like the rest of us.....good luck , and join the party!fisherguy33 wrote:Auger, spoon to clear holes, jig heads, treble hooks of all sizes, jigging rods, split shot sinkers. Rod holders and tip-ups if you want. If you fish the ottawa get big sinkers (1oz bell sinkers) to tie drop-shots or for pickerel rigs. If you want specific lures, silver or gold Mepps Aglia, #40 Williams wablers in mettalic colors, Swedish Pimple, Buck Shot. Leaders for pike for sure, fluoro for panfish leaders. That's all I can thing of. I'd love to give you a crash course at first ice!
Yannick
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troutnmuskiehunter
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bucketmouth
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cprince
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I have enough friends that have augers... so I don't need to dip into that *yet*... I will also shy away from shack fishing at this point... I think... tip ups and the like kind of what got me bored.
What got me kind of thinking that ice fishing needs to be given a fair shake was fishing with those two crazy Quebecers; 24/7 and his uncle Bassaddict. These guys fish sort of like I fish in the summer... kind of a run and gun approach.
Drill 6 to 10 holes in a likely area.. jig them for about 10 to 20 minutes... if the don't produce; Move on!
I like that.
No offense to those that do the shack thing, but I find that to be less fishing than playing cards around a fire watching tip ups. Hard to concentrate on any one of those activities.
@fisherguy33
The Ottawa below Quyon/Arnpror... doesn't do much for me. PLEASE... don't take it personally. I know there are a lot of great fish to catch in that area... but my attitude is; if I am prepared to catch and possibly kill a fish, I had better be prepared to eat it too. I am not prepared to eat any fish out of The Ottawa in that stretch. I don't want to start a debate, or controversy... but I am a little old school about the whole thing. I would NEVER eat one out of the St-Laurence or Lake Ontario either. Makes me think of this:
<embed src="http://www2.goyk.com/aw333sas0903/videos/swill.wmv"><br>
All this to say... I would love to take you up on your crash course Yannick... but on a body of water other than The O... We will talk... maybe a Fish Hawk type outing at a lodge with hut rentals and fish we can all agree are edible!
Still looking for people's tackle ideas!
What are the "Go To" size hooks to use? Is Power Pro still a good idea in the winter?
Craig
What got me kind of thinking that ice fishing needs to be given a fair shake was fishing with those two crazy Quebecers; 24/7 and his uncle Bassaddict. These guys fish sort of like I fish in the summer... kind of a run and gun approach.
Drill 6 to 10 holes in a likely area.. jig them for about 10 to 20 minutes... if the don't produce; Move on!
I like that.
No offense to those that do the shack thing, but I find that to be less fishing than playing cards around a fire watching tip ups. Hard to concentrate on any one of those activities.
@fisherguy33
The Ottawa below Quyon/Arnpror... doesn't do much for me. PLEASE... don't take it personally. I know there are a lot of great fish to catch in that area... but my attitude is; if I am prepared to catch and possibly kill a fish, I had better be prepared to eat it too. I am not prepared to eat any fish out of The Ottawa in that stretch. I don't want to start a debate, or controversy... but I am a little old school about the whole thing. I would NEVER eat one out of the St-Laurence or Lake Ontario either. Makes me think of this:
<embed src="http://www2.goyk.com/aw333sas0903/videos/swill.wmv"><br>
All this to say... I would love to take you up on your crash course Yannick... but on a body of water other than The O... We will talk... maybe a Fish Hawk type outing at a lodge with hut rentals and fish we can all agree are edible!
Still looking for people's tackle ideas!
What are the "Go To" size hooks to use? Is Power Pro still a good idea in the winter?
Craig
You say that now....but you won't on the ice....very few actually make the moves on ice like that.....guys fish community spots, known spots and sit and wait em out....without a machine to move yourself around the ice you'll settle in an area....walking in even calf-high snow sucks.cprince wrote: Drill 6 to 10 holes in a likely area.. jig them for about 10 to 20 minutes... if the don't produce; Move on!
I like that.
For those species you'll need a decent M/H rod (large eyelets) with a reel with a decent drag.....add to that 4 tip-ups or some time of setup you can use for pike....
On your tip-ups go with Dacron to a fluro lead to a quick strike or direct to a quick strike....pike aren't line shy....For me....nothing on ice is better than knowing something is swimming away with your 10 inch dead bait in its mouth.....if that doesn't excite you...you may as well stay home!
Your call on the line choice for your jigging rod.....since you will be outside and your line is going to freeze I'd go with an ice braid....power pro ice is good..then a fluro lead. A small snap swivel is fine.
For baits....all jigging spoons are decent. You can't really go wrong with any of them...you'll find your favorites....
I think you'll enjoy the ice Craig.....time will tell.
RJ
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cprince
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LOL! You might be right... but they don't fish as much as I do... so I need to know the other 80% of the time when I am with other people or alone!TroutnMuskieHunter wrote:Just go with the amigos as they are die hard ice fisherman and you know them inside and out from softwater fishing with them....you'll learn everything you are asking about
it's a no brainer to me
Not only that... I will learn how THEY fish... there are many other ways (I would think) how to fish. Kind of part of the reason I am on this site to begin with; Learn from as many sources as possible.
Kind of like those Ralien odd balls in the Laurentians.. you know... that cult... the say that Monogamy makes you stupid. I think they might be on to something.
Thanks for the tid-bits of info RJ... I will try both Hunter Gatherer and the Nesting styles of fishing this year!
Craig
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Yannick Loranger
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A few pointers for a newbie ice fisherman:
#1 rule of ice fishing: the more you jig, the more you catch!
#2 rule of ice fishing: jig until you can no longer feel your fingers, then jig some more.
#3 rule of ice fishing: If an aerial photo of your spot doesn't look like swiss cheese by the end of the day, you didn't fish hard enough.
Craig, buy an auger you cheapo.
Yannick
#1 rule of ice fishing: the more you jig, the more you catch!
#2 rule of ice fishing: jig until you can no longer feel your fingers, then jig some more.
#3 rule of ice fishing: If an aerial photo of your spot doesn't look like swiss cheese by the end of the day, you didn't fish hard enough.
Craig, buy an auger you cheapo.
Yannick
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Fishing 24/7
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-Warm under clothes (no cotton)
-Warm winter coat/pants
-warm boots/socks/hat ect...
-hand auger or power auger you decide
-couple of rods ( I have 2 ultra light and 2 mediums)
-4-5 tip ups for when fishing for pike
-a sled to put all your stuff in it
-glow in the dark lures ( all kind of sizes work for different species)
-rateling lures ( excellent for walleye)
-leaders for when fishing for pike
- a folding chair or bucket
- Bait bucket for minnows
- the usual sinkers ( I use the bell sinkers when fishing with tip-ups)
-small/medium tackle box ( I have a Plano® Adjustable StowAway® Utility Boxe and it works fine in all conditions. Very light and does not freeze and crack in cold conditions)
Don't get me wrong I'm no pro but that's what I have and it works pretty well and makes a fishing experience fun fish or no fish.
Hope this helps.
-Warm winter coat/pants
-warm boots/socks/hat ect...
-hand auger or power auger you decide
-couple of rods ( I have 2 ultra light and 2 mediums)
-4-5 tip ups for when fishing for pike
-a sled to put all your stuff in it
-glow in the dark lures ( all kind of sizes work for different species)
-rateling lures ( excellent for walleye)
-leaders for when fishing for pike
- a folding chair or bucket
- Bait bucket for minnows
- the usual sinkers ( I use the bell sinkers when fishing with tip-ups)
-small/medium tackle box ( I have a Plano® Adjustable StowAway® Utility Boxe and it works fine in all conditions. Very light and does not freeze and crack in cold conditions)
Don't get me wrong I'm no pro but that's what I have and it works pretty well and makes a fishing experience fun fish or no fish.
Hope this helps.
|Dore|