Ice fishing tips.. Please

I am off on my first ice fishing venture, The family and I that is.
I have been looking for drawings of how to make a "tip-up", no luck so far..
We fish almost daily in the summer, but this ice thing is new to me. My visit to Bass pro today landed me many new poles, Gas auger, tackle and plenty of questions..
Where on a small lake does one begin? Depth up to about 200', all rock, lots of little islands..
Is there a site that I can visit? If I'm going to freeze the least I want to do is drag home some fish..
(Lake trout, pickeral/walley, perch, maybe some bass and pike are what await my eager gear..)

Did it all the time when I was a kid. Dad always knew where to set up the house.

All I have for you is:

• Dress warm -- especially your feet.
• Whether you're fishing inside or outside, secretly bring a little backpacker/mountaineering stove with you -- and suprise everyone with steaming hot tea! After you're all set up and everyone's fishing, pull out the stove and work your magic. Don't answer any questions -- just give them the hot tea! It may be the best memory they carry away from the whole trip! There's nothing like a 'mug up' on the ice.
• If there will be Equimouix in the party, bring lots of sugar.
• Hope that someone else in your party really knows what they are doing.

As stupid as that advice sounds it will take you a long, long way. It has worked very well for me in the Far North.

Don't forget to shut off your cell phone.

I used to work for a company where one of the fellows lives out in Minnesota and does ice fishing. Another friend of mine who now lives in Texas did that when growing up in Minnesota. Don't know a thing about it and besides, the last time I went fishing was like thirty-two (32) years ago when I lived in Hawaii. . .

Enjoy your ice fishing expedition Pydpiper!

Pydpiper said:

I have been looking for drawings of how to make a "tip-up", no luck so far..

Click to expand...

Living in California we don't ice fish, we just grow the ice in our "iceboxes"
ice fishing has a lot of stuff and sprtsmans's guide has them for $3.47.

um... stay warm, don't get wet?... :laughing: Just kidding! Actually, don't listen to me, I've never been ice fishing. From the little I've heard it sounds like fun. Good luck and enjoy!

As you're *sawing the hole* - try not to stand on the inside of the circle . Above ALL else - be sure the ice is thick enough to be on it ! and don't park your car next to where you're fishing .

Oh Yeah ....don't get too far from land in-case > :toilet:



Yes ........ I AM very serious !
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Never done it myself. You got me interested in looking around the net though and I came up with this site that seems to have some good Ice Fishing Tips.

Good Luck.

Great link Netthinker..
Sub, thanks for sharing, that was a great story.

Ok, no time to make orders, I was hoping to make my own, or at least expand on something already available..

Great info guys..

I had never done any ice fishing before, so I just set up close to where all the ice shanties were out in the lake-that seemed to work well . The guys that fish the lake all the time know the good spots,and are usually clustered around together on the lake.

It's a pretty desolate place, we have snowmobiled across the lake on many occasions, I do not recall ever seeing another fisherman..
The Fishing store here said that if I can locate the lake on his fishfinder GPS he has set up in the store (voice activated 15" screen..Mmmm) he could give me the co-ordinates to set up initially.. It's difficult to do, Northern Ontario has more lakes than land..

Incidentally, up there resides a company who has 2 bedroom huts, you set it all up on shore, food, clothes, refreshments.. Then they drag the whole thing out to the lake for a week..
Fishing in your tee-shirt through a hole in the living room floor, 3 feet from the fridge.
Probably not for everyone, isolation can have catastrophic affects on people, but my little family strives on that type activity, we are most at home deep in the woods or miles onto a lake, just never a frozen one..