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Old 10-28-2011, 01:47 PM   #1
Rockfish9
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Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: Reading Mass/Newburyport/merrimack river
Posts: 3,735
Ice fishing sytems : Gear tranport.

Seeing as John R has been kind enough as to give us an Ice fishing forum.. we might as well use it...

I'm going to put up a series of interactive threads covering gear transport..gear( tip uups jig sticks, augers and spuds as well as terminal tackle etc.).. clothing.. fish/structure.. and any other related topic we deem needed for everyone to add on to so we can quickly build a data base for both novice and vetrans to use..

I use the term system because, most ice fisherman tend to morph their gear into specific parts of the season...of coarse there are exceptions...at this writing I have no pictures of my various "systems" here at work.. I promise to get them up over the weekend..

Ice fishng is a simple sport .. all that is required is a hole in the ice and some method of enticing a fish to strike a lure or eat a bait..but.. in my experience. it never stays simple for very long..

some fisherman just pile gear in a bucket, sling a pick or auger( I've seen axes used here..scarry!) over their shoulder and are good to go.. others use said bucket (s) in a small plastic sleds.. some have store bought sleds made for the purpose.. some like a pack basket... then there are the home made sled crew .. some of these are real works of art and engineering.. I used to belong to that fraternaty but no longer have the desire to drag a heavy sled over deep snow or load it into my truck... some do as I do and use something from each method.. I've gone modular...as i said pictures latter..

Early season.. if Im just going to jig for a few hours ( trout are suckers for a jig).. I'll load a few jigging rods, coffee and snack and terminal tackle in a pack basket carry my chisel ( also called a spud) and go.... it's light and allows me to "stick and move" I'll also use this last ice to get in a little fishing before dark after work as the days get longer..

I'f I'm going to spend the day and fish bait.. i'll bring ,my sled, loaded with cooking gear and depending on ice thickness.. hand auger or power auger.. I have removable auger mounds on my sled in case i go to man made power...

once the snow gets deep.. it's back to the pack basket... in it goes the tip ups... thermous and terminal gear.. the bait bucket is light enough to ride in the sled with the layes of clothes I keep peeling off.. the auger goes over my shoulder...a few years back I sold my 3hp 30lb+ auger and opted for a 2hp 20 lb model.. and went from a 10" hole to an 8" hole.. 8" is more than I need most days.. it sucks yto get old.... the last few season I've had to wear snow shoes on most of the trips.. they are a godsend when you have 12 or more inches of snow and 12" of slush... it seems to have been the norm the last few season..

I've packed terminal tackle in each of my sysyems... thus, I never remove my hooks or weights from my sled, basket or buckets.. ditto for the hook outs and pliars.. having multiple set ups allows me to be on the ice with out ever wondering if I forgot something..

I'll post pictures latter.. I'm looking forward to see what you guy's do.. as no two icefisherman rig up the same..

A good run is better than a bad stand!
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