ON THE ICE

As the cold winter days’ approach, here in the Midwest, most lakes, rivers and canals freeze, which forbids most carp anglers to do what they love. There are areas, mainly canals, next to power plants that do not freeze because of the hot water discharge which can be fished at, but those are limited and tend to be heavily occupied by anglers in these cold months. There are carp anglers, who go on the ice to catch carp and this form of fishing is getting more and more popular, but I am not that brave, yet. I do not have any experience fishing on the ice and as a matter of fact, last year was my first time.

Although, I know a lot of people, who regularly go ice fishing in winter, I never felt an urge to go with them, until recently. Last weekend, an opportunity came for me to do that and I said, yes. It wasn’t really cold that day so I figured, it will be a great time spend with friends and learning something new. Ice fishing is a completely new territory for me, so to see all the gear, learn the techniques, approaches intrigued me, because I am always open to try new things and experience something new.
Beautiful winter morning, welcomed us that day on the lake and with high spirits we got on the ice. My second time on the ice, so I was a bit uneasy standing on this frozen lake, but I was assured that ice thickness will easily support me. I have also learned some cool facts, for me, about the ice thickness and who and what can go on it. Many anglers will go out with 2.5 inches of good ice for walking, but the recommended is 4 inches, 5–6 inches for sleds, ATV’s and snowmobiles, 7–12 for light cars and 14–16 inches for full-sized trucks. I can tell you this, although I do believe the tests and statistics, you will never see me riding a car on the ice. 

When we got to the desired spot, the search for perfect location begun. We have drilled numerous holes and lowered the camera on to the bottom to observe the fish. We were looking for semi weed covered areas, because those areas are preferable by fish as a hiding, secure location. This actually proved to be a fact, because when we were in “desert” spots, we have not notice any fish, but in the weedy areas, we saw fish standing or slowly swimming by. Once we picked our target fishing place, it was time to set up the shanty. I saw various structures on the ice that day, small camper, pop-up shanty and the one we have used, which flips behind when not needed. Cool setup, which we simply pulled behind the ATV to our location, we sit on it, pulled the cover from behind us to create nice and secure enclosure.  

To drill holes, we have used power augers, which make this task a lot easier compare to manual ones. It took me couple tries to get a hang of it, but after that, the task became just like a second nature (hahaha, just kidding). When the hole was drilled, we have used the skimmer, a large metal spoon with holes in it, to remove new ice as it forms and to clear slush left over from making the hole. There are various auger sizes available and the most popular tend to be the 6-inch, smaller 4-1/2-inch is used for small fish and large 8-inch when you are targeting larger walleye or pike.  
I have also learned about two, main ice fishing techniques. The first one is using a small, light fishing rod with very small lures or jigs. It was a weird feeling when I got that rod in my hand, because I thought I am holding a kid’s toy rod. When you go from typical 12-foot-long carp rod to something that’s about 2 feet, I truly felt that it will break as soon as I hook the first fish. What’s truly amazing is the technology and craftsmanship of these rods, that for their size they can withstand powerful, fighting fish. This technique is assisted with electronic sonars, which are like indicators of what is happening beneath you. On these sonars, I was able to see a position of my jig in relation to the bottom of the ice and to the lake bed. These sonars will also show you fish in your area and the depth that fish is on. You are watching for these fish indicators to appear on your screen, put your jig or lure at that depth and hope for the bite. I was at first fishing without a sonar, and to be honest I was fishing blind. Later on with the sonar, it was like a night and day. 

The second ice fishing technique is using, what is known as tip-ups, which are made from plastic or wood. There is a clever mechanism attached to them consisting of a spool with a line attached to a metal piece which is connected to the flag, the flag which later is a bite indicator when the fish takes the bait. Each of the tip-ups had a black line on the spool (I don’t know why the line was black or why it was so thick) which was attached to the swivel, to which we have attached the fishing line with a hook on which the small minnow was placed. We have also used two different theories for the depth placement of our bait. First one was about 4 feet under the ice and second was about a foot off of the bottom. The clever setup of this simple tip-up, informs the angler when the fish strike by lifting the flag. The whole fight with the fish happens by hand holding the line and allowing the fish to fight. When the fish pulls, you release the line through the finger tips and when it stops, you pull on the line. I found the hard way, that it takes same skills to do that properly, because I have lost a fish just because how I was pulling and releasing the line. Line got tangled on my hand and fish broke the fishing line. Like everything else, ice fishing requires practice to learn and master the fishing techniques. 

That particular day, although I was told it was a slow day, we have caught pikes, bass and numerous bluegills. It was a truly a neat experience and I have gained a lot of respect for ice fishing anglers. Ice fishing is not for everyone and I believe it takes a special character, determination to do this regularly. Once you become that person then you can call it, a hobby or a passion. Will I ever do this again? Of course, I will. Will I call this my new hobby? No, I don’t think I can call this my new hobby. I did enjoy the experience, the anticipation, the chase and I hope there will be more opportunities for me to do it all over again. I would like to truly thank the guys that were there with me, for their patience, teachings, and being supportive. Thank you and see you soon, back on the ice.