first time ice fishing

[Jim in CT]

Been dying to try ice fishing, took a few cub scouts with a guide to a lake in CT.

Loved it!

He had these fish finders, they were so precise, you could easily see your jig moving up and down, could clearly see a fish moving towards your jig.

I was watching one cub scout reel up a fish, you could clearly see the fishing being brought up the water column on the fish finder. then this big blob came out of nowhere, went to his fish, and swam away, and he reeled up a perch that was bitten in half by a pike.

Man it was fun. Hated when it was time to pack up.

[The Dad Fisherman]

It is addictive, wait til you can go out and have a couple of beverages while you’re out there.
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[Jim in CT]

Originally Posted by The Dad Fisherman

It is addictive, wait til you can go out and have a couple of beverages while you’re out there.
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i’ve talked to you a few times about ice fishing, i just loved it. if i had a grill or stove out there, and if
the sun came out for
more than 30 seconds, it would have been great.
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[hq2]

The guys further north up in Maine and NH do it right. They tow
the bob houses out there with heat, watch football playoffs with
portable TVs, drink scotch and party with their buddies while they
fish (hey sometimes they even catch fish too!). THAT'S how you
ice fish. Down here, you don't see many shantys; doesn't ice up
long enough or thick enough to make towing 'em out worthwhile.
I dunno, sitting out down here exposed on the ice shivering doesn't
look like much fun to me down here (people do it on my pond); I
usually just X country ski in the winter.

[Clammer]

Hq2

I ve seen them this year ...hey are using pop-ups with a tent material /////////////////////securing it to the ice .
it goes up like in 10 minutes ……… then all the comforts of home

[Guppy]

Originally Posted by Clammer

Hq2

I ve seen them this year ...hey are using pop-ups with a tent material /////////////////////securing it to the ice .
it goes up like in 10 minutes ……… then all the comforts of home

Pt. scotch no tent.......

[The Dad Fisherman]

Originally Posted by Clammer

Hq2

I ve seen them this year ...hey are using pop-ups with a tent material /////////////////////securing it to the ice .
it goes up like in 10 minutes ……… then all the comforts of home

Yeah, I have one of those, carry it out as a backpack and it pops right up, 3 person size.
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[hq2]

Guys I saw on our ice today didn’t have a tent; just a lot of gear. Had a fire going on the ice. A flag went up “Oh hey we finally got something!” They dash to the hole. One of them falls on his butt about four times. Looked like the three stooges. I dunno, maybe they were imbibing some of those aforementioned beverages, eh Dad? Looked pretty cold, but not all that much fun; unless you like having a sore butt.
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[Jim in CT]

we moved around too much to really be able to use a shelter. as soon as the school moved on, guide would
move around, drilling holes, put his fishfinder in, unless there was a school under the hole we moved on. did a ton of walking. was a mild day, we never got cold. i can definitely see the appeal of setting up a shelter and bringing a stove out there and cooking breakfast sandwiches and maybe chili for lunch.

i used my corkers which seemed to help, i was the only one who didn’t slip or fall and it’s not because i’m more coordinated.

Great way to get some kids outside. they were screaming and laughing for 4 hours, ate like pigs, slept like rocks.
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[Guppy]

Originally Posted by Jim in CT

we moved around too much to really be able to use a shelter. as soon as the school moved on, guide would
move around, drilling holes, put his fishfinder in, unless there was a school under the hole we moved on. did a ton of walking. was a mild day, we never got cold. i can definitely see the appeal of setting up a shelter and bringing a stove out there and cooking breakfast sandwiches and maybe chili for lunch.

i used my corkers which seemed to help, i was the only one who didn’t slip or fall and it’s not because i’m more coordinated.

Great way to get some kids outside. they were screaming and laughing for 4 hours, ate like pigs, slept like rocks.
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Awesome!
The tippies, bait , grill, augers, sleds, chairs, jigging, food,,,, on any day is special.....
Catch one of those bright sunny mild days and the next thing you know the sun is going down and can’t figure out where the day went..

Come September there’ll be nothing else on those kids mind ( and yours:-) )

Nice job again Dad

[PaulS]

We went out yesterday - was pretty cold. One of the guys (friend of a friend) showed up w/his quad as we a mile walk on the ice to the spot we were going to fish. The quad made things much easier.

I had a 25" Pike. Was bringing it out of the hole and the line broke. He was kicking on the surface and I reached in and grabbed him. Somehow was able to hold on. Got him out and a friend took 2 pictures then the Pike shook and he slipped out of my hands right into the hole. It looked like he dove right into the hole. We all thought that was the funniest thing. Easy come, easy go.

The guys brought Moose jerky, venison chops and venison sausage.

If anyone brings their kids, some of us will bring skates and skate with them if the ice isn't too bad (couldn't have skated with them yesterday). Kids love ice fishing but if it is slow and there is nothing else to do, they can get bored easy.

Ice was 14" but this warm spell will shut things down on a lot of ponds in Ct.

[Clammer]

I use to skate every time the ice was clean /

no snow or slush ..matter of fact I had more fun skating after the snow got rained on & froze over …...all those ruts & bumps / little hills /

one time I wore my hockey pads because of the crash landings on my knees …

But I was always the 1st to a flag if I wanted to be

[hq2]

They shoulda had some on yesterday; would have saved them
from falling all over the place. Actually, you know if you wanted
to skate out to your tip ups out a ways, that might be a kind of
fun way to ice fish; put 4 or 5 lines out and have a nice afternoon
skating from hole to hole. Looks better than just sitting there
freezing.

[Jim in CT]

Originally Posted by Guppy

Awesome!
The tippies, bait , grill, augers, sleds, chairs, jigging, food,,,, on any day is special.....
Catch one of those bright sunny mild days and the next thing you know the sun is going down and can’t figure out where the day went..

Come September there’ll be nothing else on those kids mind ( and yours:-) )

Nice job again Dad

Some pics.

I have to say, having that fishfinder was a big plus in my book. He actually had two identical units, one that we could use while fishing to make sure we were at the right depth, one he used to scout prospective holes. He fishes fulltime on the Bassmaster series, these came off his boat. I'm guessing you could go cheaper than these if you wanted, and see the same benefit.

[Jim in CT]

his fishfinder

[Guppy]

Dangles on a monstah....
Those things are cool. You can see the jig depth and watch the fish come up for it...

I’m a shinner guy all day long..... :-)
B877512B-0D40-4BC6-936B-0AA31E484895.jpeg

[Jim in CT]

Originally Posted by Guppy

Dangles on a monstah....
Those things are cool. You can see the jig depth and watch the fish come up for it...

I’m a shinner guy all day long..... :-)
Attachment 67755

i changed back and forth between jigs and shiners. you use a similar fishfinder? it showed any fish, 100 feet in any direction. it was awesome.
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