Winter

Hobbies which require a lot of equipment can get costly easily. Especially when you realize after buying and trying it out the first time that you don’t like your new hobby at all. I would therefore recommend to go out there and talk to some people first in order to get some advice and a feeling for what the sport is like. Probably they even have a second fishing pole for you to try. Maybe you even have a few friends who do ice fish. Just ask them to take you out.

In my case my co-worker was telling me about it and I thought it would be cool to try, so he hooked me up.  If you don’t know anybody who ice fishes, you can probably make some new friends by going out there and ask them about their hobby. After all what else brings people better together than common interests, especially when they are fun.

After you decided to make ice fishing your hobby it’s time to get the right equipment. Like with every sport there are no price limits when it comes to equipment. But you don’t have to spend a fortune to catch fish, the following list contains the minimum equipment requirements.

Minimum:

• Jigging rod: It’s your main tool for ice fishing, the short fishing pole which comes handy while standing or sitting over the hole.
• Hooks: a couple of small 10 or 12 hooks are required to attach the bait and later to catch the fish.
• Bait: Some kind of maggot will do the job.
• Bucket: The bucket can be used to store the fish as well as a seat.
• Ice Auger: That is the tool used to drill holes into the ice.

Optional:

• Skimmer: A tool which is used to clean off the ice from the hole. Looks like a big table spoon with holes.
• Hook disgorger: A tool which helps you to take the fish from the hook.
• Tip-ups: It is basically a trap with a living bait for bigger fish like northern pikes. A tipped up flag indicates a bite.
• Living bait: Shiner, are little shining fish which are used as bait to catch big fish.
• Sled: Helps you to transport your equipment to and from the ice.
• Shanty: A shelter which protects you from the wind and cold.
• And more: There are no limits to the professional….

Before you buy the stuff ask your new friends if they can borrow stuff for the beginning. Check if there are places to lease the equipment if you just want to try it for a weekend. Craigslist is always a good place to find cheap equipment second hand. Make sure you have the license to be allowed to fish. Regulations may vary from state to state. For Wisconsin check out this official governmental Site . There are usually also license free weekends during the season!

Check on the weather and make sure that it has been freezing temperatures below 34 F (0 C) for the past weeks. The ice has to be at least 4 inch (10cm) thick. Check on the internet for a lake close by which is suitable for ice fishing. Make sure to inform friends that you intend to go and better go in company. We went to the Wind lake to take part in the yearly fishing jamboree by the local Lions club near Muskego 30 min South-West of Milwaukee. That’s where Tim and his family is going to ice fish for years.

I would say this is probably the most important factor for having a good time. Better dress two layers too warm. You can always take clothes off if necessary. Since you are just sitting still and most likely within a harsh wind you will feel cold pretty quickly in your regular winter clothes. This is definitely the reason why my first time ice fishing was a real torture. Although I thought I would be dressed  way too warm in my thickest winter clothes, I was already freezing before we even started fishing and it was only 23 F (-5 C). The wind and sitting on ice makes a huge difference. The cold crawls up through your boots and gets into your legs really quickly until your whole body is just shivering. Therefore really thick boots with woolen socks and thick snow pants are key!

The ice conditions on a lake can differ throughout the lake. It’s important therefore to follow the right track onto the ice. Again it makes sense to talk to locals and other ice fishers, safety comes first. Just last week an older man died while being out on Lake Geneva early in the morning. Make sure you are not alone! When accessing the lake take care of the borders of the ice because they are the thinnest. As soon as you are on the ice itself you should be fine. Look out for old ice holes, cracks and wet or slushy spots on the ice. Make sure to look back at the spot you entered the lake on, because on large lakes you might lose your orientation quickly.

How to find the right spot? Well this often based on the knowledge of the experienced ice fisher who knows his lake well and can tell you where the fish hide. In the beginning you should just take an area close to people who are already fishing. We parked the cars at the Sportsman’s Landing a cozy little pub where the jamboree would take place later that day. Afterwards we went over to the house of one of Tim’s local friends and asked him for the conditions. After we accessed the lake safely we went to a Tim’s favorite spot on the lake.

We started to drill a couple of holes probably 5 feet (1.5m) away from each other for the jigging. Afterwards we drilled another 3 holes about 20 (6m) feet away from the center for the tip-up traps. Make sure that you don’t drill into old holes on the ice, this might lead to cracks which you should prevent. During the drilling a lot of slush piles up next to the holes, some remains even in the holes. So we started to clean off that ice with the skimmers we brought.

We installed the tip-up traps after the holes were drilled. These traps are simple wooden frames with a flag connected to a spring and a line and a hook with living bait, a little fish called shiner. As soon as a fish chucks the shiner and tries to swim away he triggers the trap which is tipping up the flag. Back at the center we unpacked our jigging rod and unwrapped the line. Make sure the line is as long as from the floor to your nose tip. In order to adjust the length you have to pull out the toothpick from the float and move it to the right spot on the line. Attach the bait to the hook and make sure that the hook is completely hidden within the bait.

Now we come to the fun part, since the tip-ups work mainly on its own I will explain the jiggling more in details:

• Let the hook with the bait sink down into the hole.
• Move the rod slowly up and down or sidewise, you don’t want to scare the fish away but you want to tease him so that he is taking a bite.
• Let the jiggling rod sit for a while and start over again.
• If no fish is biting, change the hole after 45 min.

If you curious about the fish you can catch and the minimum size and limits you can catch please refer again to the governmental site, keep in mind that sizes can vary sometimes depending on the lake too.