Anyone into hard water fishing?

[camper4lyfe]

If the weather ever gets cold, I'm looking to do some ice fishing. Anyone out there looking for some company?

[Cgrutt]

Not local but would love to learn about ice fishing. They bring up some monsters on Lake George during ice season.

[Pissed Off Patriot]

About the only time I get out on the ice is when there is ice racing on my lake.

But you are welcome to try. I'll be inside. lol

[usmcveteran]

I don't ice fish but think the ponds might be frozen over by Braddocks bay but not positive.

[alistair]

Not local but would love to learn about ice fishing. They bring up some monsters on Lake George during ice season.

Plenty of ice fishing down our neck of the woods. I know they fish in Glenmere Lake (Florida) and in the lakes just outside Monroe.

[camper4lyfe]

Not local but would love to learn about ice fishing. They bring up some monsters on Lake George during ice season.

It's fun, especially on a nice day. And the beer always stays cold!

Just be sure to dress warm!!

[DarthVader]

We also have a lot people who ice fish down by me on Lake Champlain,the only problem is there is not a lot of ice let,there is some but it is still fairly thin right now,the fisherman have been walking on it only and using spuds while they walk...

It has been about 15 years since the last time I went ice fishing,so I want to go try it again this year but not till I know there is enough ice to fish on,the other problem where I am is the lake level is very low so you would need to walk out further to get in deeper water,now since the water is so low here the shore line is having a hard time to make ice to get onto the better ice..

I know we have some really extremely cold temps coming this week and there saying we should get near -20 below by Wednesday so that is really going to help making ice here on Lake Champlain...

[camper4lyfe]

Yeah it's 50 here today. Definitely no ice yet. So much for that bad winter they were predicting lol

[DarthVader]

Yeah it's 50 here today. Definitely no ice yet. So much for that bad winter they were predicting lol

Yeah that is for sure,the weather patterns have change so much every year,right now we should have anywhere between 2 to 3 feet of ice making it very nice to drive your car or truck on the ice..

[Lord Timelord]

Ice Fishing is easy!

1. Get yourself a Fishing License.

2. Buy Ice Auger (either manual, gas, or electric powered). The best ones on the market are the LAZER brand, and are 'cut to the bone' uber sharp!

3. Buy a set of FIVE Ice Fishing Tip Ups. By NYS DEC rules, you can have Five Tip Ups and your Two Jigging Rods. The Jigging Rods can only be in the water when you are physically next to the poles. If you get up to leave to go to your tip ups, the rods must both be out of the water with the lures positioned so they are not directly above the ice fishing hole. A Set of Five Tip Ups and two ice jigging rods will set you back about $150.00, depending on what brand you purchase.

4. Bait, I prefer live minnows as they catch the fish better than lures imho.

5. Sled. You can use a standard snow sled, but the good ones are JET SLEDS. They look like a normal sled, but have high walls to help hold your gear inside them. They also sell elastic covers to keep all the stuff inside the sled and dry/snow free. The smaller Jet Sled will cost you about $40.00 and the cover is another $15.00, so $55.00 for the sled and cover.

6. (Optional) Ice Fishing Sled/Shelter Combo. I have a Clam Fish Trap, which is basically a HUGE sled that is combined with a canvas shelter. It accordions over the built in seat (which is a very comfy full sized plastic/padded boating seat). You can carry over 100+ pounds of gear easily onto the ice and drag it by it's drag rope.

It's even easier to drag if you wear a Deer Drag Harness, and affix. a six-foot rope to the D-Ring on the Harness at the middle of your back (when you're wearing it). At the end of the six foot rope, you attach a carabiner to it. Then you can clip the carabiner onto the tow rope of the sled and drag it out onto the ice with a lot less physical work.

A decent one-man Ice Fishing Shelter will help you on the days when the wind is really blowing hard, as it will allow you to sit down in the shelter, and pull the cover over you to get out of the wind. For the truly brutally cold days, I have a Mr. Heater Propane Heater that I can fire up to warm up the inside of the ice shelter (don't worry, it has built in ventilation windows for using heaters safely).

Of course the Ice Fishing Shelter is going to run you from $250.00 to $500.00+ bucks, depending on what you want. This is optional, but without a shelter the best you're going to do is sit out there exposed in the elements for 6-8 hours. Even with the best clothing on you're going to want a break from the wind from time to time. For the first five seasons I did not have a shelter, and I still caught plenty of fish. I would hop into my friends shelter to warp up a few times each outing to keep my core temps up, as when we went out it was usually for 10-12 hours (basically before sunlight to dark).

Here's a picture of my Ice Fishing Setup below. Here you can see the sled bottom with drag rope, and padded/plastic boat seat that rides on a rail system so you can position it where you want (before you fill it up with your stuff... LOL).

You can see my Lazer Ice Auger on the left, a small cooler to transport my minnows so the water doesn't freeze solid, and the old standby 5-Gallon Bucket with my Jigging Rod. Also standing up out of the bucket is my Extendable Ice Scooper . Everyone laughed at it when I got it, but NO MORE! As it telescopes to over 45" and I can scoop out all of my ice holes without having to kneel down/over to clean them out. This is something you do OFTEN while ice fishing in really cold temps, as you need to keep the holes clear to keep them from freezing over.

Inside the sled to the left of the seat you can see my Tackle Box. To the Right of the Seat you can see the Elastic Canvas Cover that completely covers the sled when fully broken down. The accordion top can drop down to 1/2 it's height, the seat folds over, and then you can put the cover over everything. This way nothing can fall out of the sled while being dragged, and it all stays clean and dry inside. Also inside the sled that you can't see is my backpack with other stuff, and some food/soda that is underneath the canvas cover.

If you look at the other fisherman in the background, you can quickly pick out which ones are new to the sport (the guy at the 10 o'clock position sitting on his bucket with a jigging rod, the guy at the 12 o'clock position with a small shelter/sled, the guy at the 1 o'clock position with a one man sled/shelter that is a different brand/style from mine, and of course mine in the foreground.



So the wind is ripping, it's -15F outside with a 30mph Wind... what do you do??? You get inside you shelter dummy! Sit on the seat, grasp the top of the shelter, and swing it forward over you and down the ground. The whole process takes a couple of seconds, and then you're completely out of the wind! NICE! You can see one of my Ice Fishing Tip Ups directly straight out through the window almost dead center. Although you cant see it in the photo, I have the five tip ups spread out from left to right. All are visible looking out this window while sitting inside out of the wind.



So what do you do while you're inside waiting for a Tip Up Flag to go up? You try your luck at using a Ice Fishing Jigging Rod with a lure to catch them the old fashioned way! Here you can see that the top cover has been pulled all the way over, and there is a 'skirt' around the shelter that sits on the ice to help keep the wind out. In this picture it was a particularly windy day, with 30+mph winds, so the skirting is getting a good workout from the wind since it's hitting my tent from my front left as seated in the tent. You can see the hole that I drilled with my auger, and the ice there is approx. Nine Inches Thick. I use a 7-Inch Wide Auger, which is about as large as you want to go with a hand powered one as it's a workout to drill out several holes. It's also 'good practice' to not go too large on the drill holes as people can break though the larger ones and get soaked if they are snow covered. At seven inches usually your foot will break the crust but your foot won't go into the hole... keeping your leg nice and dry!



While sitting in the tent, you try to catch fish on the jigging rod (something that I am not very good at). I catch a few fish each outing this way, but I catch far more fish on the tip ups. I believe this is because there is no movement on the ice, which carries though the water. Obviously the fish hear you and GTFO. When it's quiet near the tip ups, they go up often. The best fish I've caught off of the Tip Ups is this Pike pictured here.
Sorry for the small pic, but it's the only one I have of this fish.

So in the end, you can have a pretty good beginners setup for about $200 bucks, and for another 200-400 bucks add a nice Ice Fishing Shelter down the road to Ice Fish in Style!

*EDIT*
I forgot my Safety Equipment!

If you look on my boots above, you'll notice that I have Ice Cleats pulled over my boots for sure-footed traction on the ice. When the ice is Dry or covered with snow, it isn't that bad. But when the ice has melted water on top of it... HOO BOY is it slippery! Do yourself a favor and spend $10 bucks on a pair so you don't wind up on your head!

In the last small picture (the one with the Pike), you'll notice a weird Orange Colored Tube thingy on my neck. That is my Ice Picks. They store into each other and you wear them on your neck with a long coiled cord. If you ever break though the ice and get completely submerged, the shock to your system is going to be severe!

You only have about 60-120 seconds in weather like that to get out of the ice before you'll become too fatigued and won't be able to pull yourself out. That's where the Ice Picks come in. If you take a dunk, pull out the picks, put in in each hand, and slam the tungsten carbide tips into the ice and pull ourself out of the water. They are SUPER STRONG and will not break. I pulled myself out of the water twice so far, the second time it being so bad that I had to lay flat on the ice and drag myself about twenty yards until I was past all of the shattered ice. Without the pics, I could have easily lost all my energy and drowned.

Survival Tip:
If you are ever submerged in ice and are not able to get out on your own power, do the following, as it can save your life! Get both Arms Soaking Wet, and lay them on the Ice at the edge of the hole. Your clothing will freeze to the ice, keeping your head above water if you pass out. Many people have been rescued after they passed out and a passerby found them and got them help!

Stay Safe and have FUN!

[DarthVader]

Problem right now is we need some ice up my way to have a good time,all the people I know fishing on the ice are walking from the shore line out to go fishing and they have a spud in there hands checking the ice out as they walk,my self I will not go out on the ice till there is at least a good 6 to 8 inches and if I drive on it has to be at least a good 12 inches and up at least with a car as to truck it needs to be a lot more..

[Wildman]

I used to be into ice fishing but kinda lost interest and have not been in a few years. I have been on lake George a few times and now just refuse to ice fish there. I think I just prefer the warm weather and plan on doing a lot of fishing from my boat this year even though its not a fishing boat.

[camper4lyfe]

It's tough leaving a warm house and warm car to go freeze on the ice, but in a sick twisted way it's a lot of fun.

[Stringman]

I went fishing on Saratoga Lake yesterday. There was a foot of ice, no snow on top so wear your creepers. I fished from 12 - 3pm and caught Bluegill, some Perch, Crappie, Pickerel and a lot of Bass jigging in 7 - 8 feet of water. I'm going out again this afternoon and try for more Perch and 'Gills. If I have a good day, I'll let you know.

[Chicken Shoot]

I went fishing on Saratoga Lake yesterday. There was a foot of ice, no snow on top so wear your creepers. I fished from 12 - 3pm and caught Bluegill, some Perch, Crappie, Pickerel and a lot of Bass jigging in 7 - 8 feet of water. I'm going out again this afternoon and try for more Perch and 'Gills. If I have a good day, I'll let you know.

Thanks for the invite douche nozzle!!! I've never been ice fishing!! LOL