[TroutFishingBear]

Who here icefishes besides me? What do you think the pro and cons of icefishing are?

 

[fishing3o3]

ive done it once, for a middle school after hours get together, its soo hard to know if you have fish on...

 

[jamiehughes]

there are no cons of ice fishing, i guess dragging all your junk in deep snow a long ways. that sucks.

 

[TroutFishingBear]

there are no cons of ice fishing, i guess dragging all your junk in deep snow a long ways. that sucks.

It is good exercise though. You don't get that good of exercise on a boat with a motor!

 

[Zman]

TFB

I ice fish regularily...usually once a week...sometimes 3 or 4...and I will drive a ways to do it...have gear for it so I am serious about it...

The biggest Pro...I am fishing...usually it is quieter than the summer...I think you have access to bigger fish and more fish...you can park right over a spot...gpss to the same spot...

Cons it can be pretty cold, have to watch snowstorms so you dont get caught...I think ice fishing you can put a good hurt on the numbers of a lake...especially for big fish...I think you get a lot more bait fisherman on the Delaneys hiding inside ice houses using bait...which is a shame...so there might be increased mortality because there are more bait fishing...and I bait fish too...so I am not just coming down on bait fisherman...

I heard they are going to outlaw scented plastics on fly and lures only waters...how do they hope to enforce that one?...lure smelling dogs?...if I have a 6 by 12 inch plastic case of plastic lures can you tell me which ones are scented?...I think if they are going to error on the plastics issue on gold medal waters they should have just outlawed plastic all together...trout figure out pretty quickly that a fly isnt real through the ice...but I have deep hooked fish on inch and a half plastic...and I was withing two feet of the rod jigging a spoon on the other rod...so it wasnt unattended...they think it is real and swallow it at times...so it ought to be interesting...

I love ice fishing...but I still love the warmth of summer more...and I am a Minnesota boy that thinks we dont have winter in Colorado...

 

[Zman]

Oh one other con and most of you wont like me on this one...power auger noise...winters version of jet skiers...UGH!...I can drill two holes with my 6 inch before a power auger is done with one!...I have caught trout to 8 pounds through those holes...a big Mac probably wouldnt fit but all other species will...so for the most part it isnt a size issue...I dont like gasoline residue on my hands either...so I strongly dislike power augers...

 

[jamiehughes]

shoot, i love them big ol power augers, would'nt go out there without one. i guarantee that up at the delaneys late winter you would never beat the old 10 inch jiffster drilling through 24 inches of ice to have a 6 inch hole, alot of those fish wont come up through a 6 inch hole..would'nt that be a bummer. thats why i went up to a 10 inch hole verses an 8 inch hole. makes it easier to get my special ice fishing net down there so i don't lose them pigs. i think the auger noise gets the fish riled up some.. 2 years ago in the delaney ice tourney i drilled 2 holes, cleaned em and dropped a lure down and !!bang!! hit my 2 nd place fish on the drop, saw her on the vexilar,she was just hanging out down there.

 

[TroutFishingBear]

I miss icefishing :'( Even if I spend 2/3 of the winter and hundreds of hours on the ice hunting the big mack and never get the big mack (hundreds of small ones though), I still always have that hope. I also like to go catch trout at vega, some years you can go up there and get 100 dinks from 10-14" that are great eating, other years you go up there and get maybe 8-10 BIG fish. A 25" 6 lber on one drop and then a 22" 4 lber on the next drop and then breaking off a monster fish on the next drop...can't beat that. I also miss going out to crawford, icing 3 pike and hundreds of perch. I miss staying at crawford late at night and catching the hell out of the nice crappie...god I miss icefishing.
As to the fish swalloing plastics less than 1.5", I find this not to be true but oh well. I have caught some MONSTER gills lately that have SWALLOWED cricket flies however. I think if there is a size limit on plastics there should be a size limit on flies. That or no size limit on flies or plastics at all. My favorite lure for icefishing is a blue ratso in the largest size.

I miss firing up the power auger and hearing it chip ice for the first time of the season (I use a hand auger oftentimes though as well and leave the power auger at home when ice is <8" thick.). I miss hearing the hum of my vexilar, and seeing my ratso as I lower it down, then seeing a line appear 5 feet under it then charge up and WHAM! Bow on!

Heck, I even miss the naps I sometimes take in the middle of the day when fishing is slow...the sky a mile up and blue as can be is also missed. I even miss the cold on my hands when I take my gloves off to battle a monster rainbow or a dinky laker. I miss the slight hit of a laker, which is nearly indetectable...

COME ON WINTER!!! A LITTLE LESS THAN 5 MONTHS AND I WILL BE ON THE ICE!

 

[Zman]

The eight pounder was from south delaney...she had no problem coming up through a 6 inch hole...or did the 5 pounder the year I won the Lake John derby...like field of dreams...if you get them started up the hole they will come...I have drilled two holes through 20 inches of ice many times at the Walden contests while waiting for nearby power augers to get done with one...while thinking to myself...I wonder if they will finish today?...maybe they need to switch to the Jiffy 10 inch...instead of the Glacial 2400 they are using...they need to do like the Saratoga Wyoming contests too...you can drive out there to set up your shed and camp before the contest and then again when it is over...by Sunday the fish are so spooked from vehicles they dont know which way is up...

 

[OURAY]

TFB, Summer just began. I love ice fishing to but lets enjoy a little more open water fishing first!

 

[Guest]

I just got into ice fishing this past winter. I love it, because it is a whole new way to get out on the lake and fish. There is only one problem. I suck at it. I don't have a vexilar or anything, so I pick a spot and stick to it. Also I use my 8 inch manual auger, which is pretty tiring. Maybe it's because I always go to Eleven Mile. I hear that's a tricky ice fishing spot, but if you hit the spot you'll bring in trophies. I don't know what I do wrong, but I just plain suck at it. I'll stdy up and try again this year. I think I need to go with someone who knows what he or she is doing.

 

[Guest]

is there any other way to fish? zman you are so full of sh!1!! ill bet anything you have to lose you cant drill two six inch holes faster than my power auger. real men dont waste time drilling holes by hand

 

[jamiehughes]

so what if you happen to get a double digit fish on the line, which if you fish the delaneys is !!!!very!!!! possible, that fish will not come up through a 6 inch hole.unless you are using 15 lb test( we use 6) i would hate to take that chance just to say you don't want to use a power auger. i admit a lot of people don't take care of their equipment and the augers don't always run so good, but i have seen guys out there trying to cut a hole with a hand auger. i have all four of our holes drilled,cleaned,vex's set up,shelter set up and fishing and they are still drilling. i've drilled many holes for non power owning people. i guess a hand auger would be okay if you always fish by yourself and don't have to move alot to find the fish. and by the way if you do cheat and use bait at the delaneys, which i admit i have years ago. the real big fish don't hit that stuff anyway in my experience. i think that with bait you will catch lots of small to medium fish but no monsters.. maybe if you're lucky. but all of our 5lb and bigger fish that we have caught in the last 2 years here have come off of plastics. and tfb i too miss the naps when nothing is going on, those vex's sometimes can put you to sleep, least that's always my girlfriends excuse. to each his own, but i won't fish without my luxuries(auger,shelter,heater,food,vex's) i'd rather not fish, that actually is alot of the fun for me being in a shelter and being able to sight fish for the big ones. when you see the fish below that take your breath away(the pigs) and they swim up to your lure and do a little sniffing and you do a little sweating, (do i jig it or not) then they suck it in and fish on, thats what it's all about!!!

 

[Zman]

Dont get me wrong I like my modern conveniences like my Clam ice fishing shelter...but it is more of a warming tent for me...I drill a lot of holes and move a lot...getting a few fish or hits out of a hole and moving after the commotion makes the action slow a bit...

It only takes less than a minute with a sharp 6 inch Mora to go through 20 inches of ice...it also serves as a way to warm up when you are going it by sled and moving...and I know I am full of sh1t but that is beside the point...I have been scooping out my freshly drilled holes while two guys are still working on the same hole with a power auger...sorry but I have seen it too many times...worse...listened to it...just reporting on what annoys me...and what I have seen...maybe they have old dull blades...do you need to replace them on a power auger?...I replace mine once a year and sometimes twice if I have gone a lot or there is grit on the ice...it is why I never go to Georgetown anymore...too much sand and grit...a sharp 6 inch blows through the ice...and no I havent fought a 10 pound fish yet...but I have been close with an 8...so I will cross that bridge when it happens...I also use four pound line like I do for wipers and dont have a problem breaking off fish (knock on wood...usually)...and that gets changed a lot too...

 

[hunterfishercamper]

I love ice fishing. i only go during tournaments though. have no way to get to the places. i like to cross the divide because there is better ice fishing. at granby i can usually limit out in hours or catch a ton of fish. Unlike open water.

 

[idratherbfishing]

I ice fish also. Got all kinds of toys for it. Shelter, gas auger, underwater camera. For some reason none of them make me a better fisherman. Go figure, buy all the stuff but you still gotta fish the right place, with the right bait/lure, at the right time, and right presentation. Who knew it was that hard?

But seriously, I do enjoy ice fishing. This upcoming winter I hope to expand the number of waters I fish. I would love to get up to 11-mile or Williams Fork or Stagecoach or Grandby or.................

Dan

 

[Guest]

fish them all dan there all great.as far as getting a big ten pound or better fish out of a six inch hole its no problem.ast talo i landed her 15lb .you just have to know what your doing. any how back to power augers yes you do have to change the blades or at least sharpen them! i personally had problems with hand augers like serious back problems that was caused by the twisting motion.besides i love the smell of gasoline in the morning!

 

[fishhard]

I love me ice fishin.. My personal favorites are granby, dillon and chatfield.. didnt fish chatfield last year through the ice hopefully this year thow.. Hopefully see yall on the ice..

 

[jdferguson]

I have never done it personally... However,, I really hope to get to this year. HINT, HINT, if anyone needs a partner to freeze his a$$ off with please let me know.

John

 

[Guest]

john you can come freeze your a off we me any time cept i use a power auger, have a snowmobile and ice hut and a vexlar you know all those modern convenices that make it a miserable experience.