To fish or not to fish

[Tikkaman]

-12 degrees this morning here in MN.  Work has been cancelled today but thinking of hitting up the hard water.  How cold is too cold for the rest of the shanty crew?

[AlaskaOutdoorsmen]

For me, it is about -20.  I have fished in -38 before and it is just too hard on the equipment.  After you are set-up and the heater is going, all is well until it is time to break everything down and head back.  That is when folding up a frozen shelter to fit back in the sled is a major chore that has the tendency to break or pop the seams or any other weak point.  Also, everything has to be done inside the shelter as that is too cold for a second line outside or to take any pics.  Now if I had a hardside shelter already set up on a lake, I would not hesitate to fish without regard to the temperature.

[klamathkp]

Ive been out when its -30 before. Its tough but still a great time! On New Years I was out in -17 and it wasnt bad at all. I would say go for it, this year may turn out to have not the best of ice conditions so take advantage of it when you can!

[Tikkaman]

Ive been out when its -30 before. Its tough but still a great time! On New Years I was out in -17 and it wasnt bad at all. I would say go for it, this year may turn out to have not the best of ice conditions so take advantage of it when you can!

I couldn't take the boredom of sitting on the couch anymore and I went for it.  Drilled a few holes in 3 different spots ranging from 14-18 fow.  Moved 3 times to the spots that I drilled.  Everything went pretty smoothly getting set up but the fishing was slow.  A few small sunfish in 2.5 hours roughly.  Packing up wasn't to bad either.  We have good ice around here but not quite enough to drive on yet

[Whopper Stopper]

Glad to hear you made it out!

             WS

[nicjohnsrud]

The coldest I've been out in is -20F. It was pretty darn cold but still a good time. Honestly with the family and work, if I can get out, I think I would at least try in any cold weather. The only thing I would avoid is very heavy winds, because my shanties are both hubs. Glad to hear you made it out

[klamathkp]

I couldn't take the boredom of sitting on the couch anymore and I went for it.  Drilled a few holes in 3 different spots ranging from 14-18 fow.  Moved 3 times to the spots that I drilled.  Everything went pretty smoothly getting set up but the fishing was slow.  A few small sunfish in 2.5 hours roughly.  Packing up wasn't to bad either.  We have good ice around here but not quite enough to drive on yet

I'm glad you made it out Tikkaman! Even a slow day on the hard water is way better than a day at work! Haha. Tight lines buddy!

[SDFlagChaser]

So, since this is the ice fishing pictures section, where are the pictures?

[Tikkaman]

So, since this is the ice fishing pictures section, where are the pictures?

My fault on that, sorry I haven't done the photobucket thing yet

[macker13]

For me it's more dependant on the wind. 

You are right that things tend to get broken the colder it gets.  I had the clear plastic on my window crack at -20 a couple years ago, but had it out last year in -30 degrees with no problems.  I just went slower and things went well. 

Just don't lick the poles on a double dog dare or someone will have to call the fire department.   

[1967walleye]

As long as the wind isn't much I would go.

[iluvpounders]

I went out on Monday I was set up by 6:00 am and caught crappies and sunfish consistently until about 10:30. I was cold but worth it. Luckily I could drive out so as I was setting up and my fingers started freezing I could sit in the truck and warm up for a minute. Also my lighter fell out of my pocket at home so I had to resort to using my emergency matches that I keep in the truck.

[redneckdan]

This reminders me of a thread in the general forum debating flasher versus shelter as to which big purchase to pursue first. General consensus seemed to be flasher then bucket butt it til next year.

Well, that's all fine and dandy. That fancy flasher is gonna do you a whole ton of good when you are sitting at home because the weather is too nasty to go sit out on the ice.

I was out last sunday at a balmy -18F with thirty mile per hour winds. Nobody else was out. I hammered the eyes. Even the DNR guy who came by after lunch and raided my coffee pot for about an hour was surprised how good the action was. And how warm it was in my 1200xt with the heater going. I saw at least a dozen people stop at the launch in the afternoon, get out to check the conditions then turn around and go home.

A LX-7 is very high on my wish list. But the shelter and transportation came first. Otherwise I probably would have been one of the folks who turned around at the launch and missed some great fishing.