Looking back to the old days Of Ice fishing.... Share your stories.

[fisherhawk55]

The jig of choice was als gold fish ,and hand made buck tails white and green and mooselook warblers,and kastmasters gold or silver

[Riverat]

Seems it was about 1968 when I was fishing on Milton 3 ponds when I heard my first Power Auger running out on the lake, I thought that was the coolest thing ever. I started with a chisel in the late fifties and than a spoon type auger(ugh)and than a corkscrew type with a T-handle and than I save up enough for a power auger. I've had 5 different bobhouses, each a little better than the last.
Used to chase flags, now I walk carefully. Use to fish on 3-4" of ice, now 8-12". Use to go out with hopes of catching lots of fish, now I just enjoy getting out.
Thanks for the thread Salmonemia, It is reviving lots of fond memories.

[OldCaveman]

   

I have a set of Charlies tip-ups from Berlin. I remember paying 10 bucks apiece for them 30 years ago. That was a lot of money back then but I still fish with them today and have only had to varnish them once and change leaders occasionally.

 I nave heard them called Charlie traps, maybe Roland's predecessor?

are these traps still made today? Also, what was the jig of choice back in the day say 60's 70's?

  I was wondering last night if Roland is still with us? Nice guy
  Great post Salmonemia

[jibbs]

are these traps still made today? Also, what was the jig of choice back in the day say 60's 70's?

roland still lived in Berlin...Google Roland patry berlin nh and give him s call ...he has billions of these traps

[milo44]

I started ice fishing about 20 yrs. ago in my early teens  with a buddy of mine and his brothers,father and grandfather.... i had nothing of my own but then had plenty of tip-ups. and jig poles..which were all homemade..learned alot for my buddys dad and grandfather..we would go around and get all the tip-ups out and ready but weren't allowed to bait them and set them..until years later for fear that we wouldn't set them at the right depth....we would get a flag and 4-6 boys would take off running for it punching kicking and tripping each other the whole way to be the first one there and to have a chance to catch the fish,  and his grandfather would just sit there and laugh and shake his head but we had alot of fun and that's all that matters i my opinion.

[Yukoner]

My ice fishing memories go back to Lake Simcoe, Ontario, in the mid 1950s.  My dad used to take me there, and it was so much fun.  No augers, no pop-ups, no special jig rods, walked everywhere, and pushed and 4X8 plywood hut on homemade sleds.

We used salted minnows for whitefish on handmade tip ups, and swam what we called trout decoys for lakers.  Caught a  lot of "ling cod" which we never kept until a carpenter friend of dad, who was from Finland, went fishing with him one time.  "Oh, dem de berry bess fiss."  Have eaten a lot of burbot since then!

After I got married, my wife and I moved to the Kirkland Lake area.  Lived on Kenogami Lake where we caught pike and lake trout for dinner any time we wanted fresh fish. No hut, regardless of temperature we just went out, chiseled a hole, and fished with handlines.

Oh, and there was a lure back then called a LUJON JIG.  It was made by the same manufacturer that produced the Johnson Silver Minnow. Some of you will remember that lure.  It came in three sizes, and caught everything.

Have lived in the Yukon since 1971, and still don't ice fish from a hut.  Nobody up here does.  I have seen two permanent shacks on the ice up here in 46 years, and even they are not on the ice every year.

Seems the further North we went, the tougher everyone was, and we just did as the Romans were doing. Have had an Eskimo popup for six years, and used it three or four times.  Slow learner.....

Ted

[mowbizz]

My late, dad and his best friend Walter (late) were the outdoors figures and mentors that introduced us to hunting and fishing. Now,at 68, those old days are crystal clear in my memories.
Ice fishing with the elders was always on Winnipesaukee off Little Barndoor Island. If the ice allowed, and it usually did in those days, we drove out in either a Willys pickup or an International Scout...if we had to walk, we parked on Sewell road and crossed through a yard to access the ice from Sewall Point. We drove out from the Wolfeboro town dock or from an access someone plowed out at the foot of Jockey cove.
The bait was always from Martels where the owner doled out what smelt you needed for the day...if they were out or closed it was on to the next stop...Waldren's Dugout in Meredith. Then the long drive back around the lake to Wolfeboro. There were 2 chisels between the 4 of us (my brother and I and the elders) so we took turns chiseling through as much as 3 feet of ice sometimes (my dad stressed that you had to make as perfect a hole as you could and with time they came out nearly round and even from top to bottom) No jigging ever, just tip ups and the tiniest gold hooks (now outlawed). the days were from before sunup to sundown and then a long sleepy drive down rt 28 to get back to Salem (before rt 93 was built) The elders were happy when we reached driving age at 15 or so...they welcomed the sleep and we boys were excited to be driving and given so much responsibility.
We had Hibachis and charcoal to cook up anything from venison, kielbasa, burgers,dogs or whatever anyone brought. Lots of cocoa and coffee, soda and later on beer and the ever present blackberry brandy! We were usually rewarded with some nice lakers out there but sometimes we got the skunk too...
Those days shaped us boys into ethical sportsmen as my dad and his friend were also employed as "special"policemen part time and their larger circle of friends included several state troopers so there was never any thought of doing anything illegal!
My personal best laker came from there...never weighed it but it was probably 7 or 8 lbs. and in those days the lakers were all pretty decent it seemed.
Never had a bobhouse until last year and I upped the ante and got an Ion auger too. Good times!

[winnisquamtrout]

Grew up fishing In western ma. My grandfather was one of the people in charge at the quabbin so he would take me to spots on the quabbin where he knew the trout were. I learned from him how to read the surrounding leading into the water and using judgement on how the structure of the water will be. Also he knew the state hatchery folks so when stocking season came we had a leg up on the spots that were hard to reach. The lessons I learned from that man on trout fishing will last a lifetime. Can't wait to pass them down

[Coffin Dodger]

Great thread I had forgotten about.
Thanks for resurrecting this Yukoner. 
So nice to read about the "olden times".

I'll stick with my original comment.

Thanks, for all the old stories.
Roccus, was hoping you'd share as I knew you must have some good ones. 
Great topic, Salmonemia.
Modify message

[HuntnFish603]

we used to net them too.... I sold shiners I netted to Bill at Bills bait on Marston st..he also bought Tommy cods from me  I trapped in the tidal creeks around Plum Island.... On sunday morning the sluice ways from the mills would be shut down... we used to dip shiners by the thousands just by throwing bread balls over the net.... latter we netted at Bartlet brook when the ice froze over ...   a 4' X 4' hole cut with a chain saw is a scary thing on 2" of ice... Now a days if some one saw you cutting a hole in the ice that big.. you'd be arrested...

Hey Joe was that Billy that sold bait out of his basement?  Wow I remember getting bait there with my old man some 30-35 years ago. That's a memory I haven't thought of in a loooong time.

[fishingidjit]

I also reread these posts , great resurrection of some awesome stories!

[mikez]

Even though I was raised in a fishing family,  dad didn't ice fish.
I got introduced to ice fishing as a teenager by attending a knock down dragout teenage drinking party on the ice. Somebody brought a chisel, traps and bait to go with the snapps and buds.
Long after most of my friends were puking down the ice holes i was hauling perch and pickeral out. I was hooked. Scored some old second hand stuff for free that same winter, never looked back. Never drink on the ice either. Eww.

My take away from those days;
I always used a chisel and it seemed the ice was 15 inches every winter. I learned to make my hole selection very carefully. Very rarely cut extra holes. Each hole had to count.
No such thing as electronics.
That's why I have little patience with the modern trend to drill 50 holes and clump all over the ice searching with gadgets. Nobody knows how to read a lake or understand the movement of the target species anymore.

No gadgets for me, no extra gear to carry or buy, I don't have to quit over a dead battery and I still catch as much as I want.
Something to be said for the old days.

[bikrsrule]

These are some great stories,
I was lucky to move to the suburbs of Manchester by Stevens pond when I was 11 " it was surrounded by woods back then, no highway. I dont even remember now where I got my tip ups and chisel but I do remember heading down to "the pond" at first light on a Saturday morning, that is if I could get someone to drive me over to second st on the west side to Caza's bait shop for some tommy cods, cheaper than shiners and lasted much better. 75 cents a dozen, my weekly allowance. Would chisel my 6 holes.." quite a chore" set my 6 tip ups, never jigged back then and it seems all we caught were pickerel and perch even though the pond had bass we never hooked into em. Stay the whole day either with a couple buddies or alone, no matter I was hooked. That was a long time ago, like most have said, no augers back then. by the time I was 15 or so I did get one of those spoon augers, thought I was the cats ass..what a pos that thing was, was easier to chisel..Times sure have changed. Thanks again for the memories..BTW..I started ice fishing in '67...

[ice dawg]

I remember seeing my first electric ice auger back in the seventies. The guy showed it to me and it was made from a Chrysler starter mounted to a steel plate which had bicycle handle bars welded to it. He had jumper cables attached to it and a button type switch to turn it on. I think the auger may have been part of a Mora hand auger. He hooked it to the battery of his pickup, hit the switch, almost disappeared in a cloud of ice shavings and when the auger went through the ice he got very wet. I walked over to see if he was ok and he said he had learned two things, it needed a reduction gear and when something scares you, release the button. Never did see him or his auger again.

[SALMONEMIA]

I remember seeing my first electric ice auger back in the seventies. The guy showed it to me and it was made from a Chrysler starter mounted to a steel plate which had bicycle handle bars welded to it. He had jumper cables attached to it and a button type switch to turn it. I think the auger may have been part of a Mora hand auger. He hooked it to the battery of his pickup, hit the switch, almost disappeared in a cloud of ice shavings and when the auger went through the ice he got very wet. I walked over to see if he was ok and he said he had learned two things, it needed a reduction gear and when something scares you, release the button. Never did see him or his auger again.

LMAO  that is too funny. I can see it in my
Mind still laughing hilarious

[onestring]

We would use schoole rods or make ur own no reels two nails in the broom stick handle wrap line around the nails then hand line all the fish had an old wooden sled with metal rails drilled holes in the 4 corners put a dowl rod with tarp stapled to the dowels as a wind break our heater was an old metal Folgers can with charcoal or some little pieces of wood had an old spoon style spoon auger looked like a spade shovel with a t on top we never fished flags and very rarely moved once we set up and would catch our fair share of fish one lake we would fish had an osprey on it we started feeding it blue gills and crappies and save the trout for ourselves well it would sneek  up behind us and steal our trout off the ice the more it stole trout from us the less and less it would eat the gills and crappies this went on for years it was like it would remember our group it would squawk  at us tout tout lol that's what we said anyway

[johnnh]

That note about spoon augers brigs back some memories of fun times. We had spud bars that my grandfather made for us and the bottom of the lakes in the far northern Adirondacks (upstate NY) are decorated with them. One of my friends picked up a spoon auger and life changed. We ran around drilling all sorts of holes and while we waited for the flags to fly, we played pond hockey using the little ice pucks that the spoon auger left behind. Never lost a puck again
Those days are long gone now, but those memories and the great stories in this chain about the old days are very enjoyable
Thanks for sharing everyone

[MainelyNH]

I picked up my first pole nearly 25 years ago at the tender little age of 4 at Lake Massabesic in Auburn. There's pictures floating around with the hysterical reactions to my first panfish. I was 5 when I hit the ice with my dad and his good friend whom I still address as "Uncle" Jerry.

For a couple of years at least I can remember them sharing one snowmobile, a light blue hand auger, an ancient Winnipesaukee chisel that I have since inherited, some tip ups, a bucket of cusk traps, a couple jig poles and a big orange 8x10 bobhouse. I wasn't allowed to use the hand auger until it was replaced with a Jiffy Model 30. I can only assume Dad was more worried about me dulling the blades than chopping my toes off with a chisel 

With 4 bunks, heater, stove and bathroom the bobhouse was incredibly heavy and with 12" wide galvanized skis it was even more incredibly difficult to move and haul around and was only ever used for sleeping, cooking and going to the bathroom. We always fished outside. It was base camp though and was put on Winni in pretty much the same spot every year. Sometimes we'd fish close by, other times we'd take the Indy 650 to different parts of the lake. Uncle Jerry drove while I rode in a dogsleddish looking wooden box on skis with my helmet on and all our gear while dad stood on the back. I'm sure it was a sight to see.

My sister started coming along when she was old enough. In short time she earned the honorary title of Fisher Chick for her uncanny ability to pick the most productive holes! We spent every weekend on the ice including an annual 9 day/10 night stretch during winter vacation. There was always a half barrel burning at night, beers, my dad's traditional blackberry brandy and friends. Some of my friends and I built a 6x6 bunk house in high school to put alongside my dad's. Its sole purpose was for sleeping. No heat, no windows and it slept 8 people on several occasions.

My dads last season was 2012 due to a bad divorce with my stepmom and he got rid of anything that was worth something including his bobhouse. Since then I've branched out, expanded my range and experienced ice fishing on different bodies of water. Fished most of the lake trout/salmon lakes and anywhere there's white perch or cusk but Winni is still my favorite.

Not much has changed for me in 25 years of ice fishing as far as gear or technique. Though I built my first bobhouse (I don't count the bunkhouse) a few years ago on a popup trailer that calls Alton Bay home for the winter. It's not the party it used to be. Just the wife, the dog, myself and the occasional friend. Still don't use electronics but Ive since gone back to the hand auger and I no longer target trout through the ice as I prefer cusk, white perch, crappie and the occasional panfish. I also don't use the Winnipesaukee chisel anymore for fear of damaging or losing it.

Maybe not the good OLD days. (No that wasn't an old joke ) But those are my good old days. Filled with friends, fishing and good times. Looking forward to creating another 45 or more years worth of memories with my kids and grandkids.

[YT125]

Wow great stories... I was first introduced to ice fishing as a Cub Scout, our leader took us all to Turtle Town Pond. When we got there the holes had all been drilled by a hand auger, we had a big fire on the ice for roasting hot dogs after this I was hooked.. by father was not much of a fisherman so he introduced me to his cousin who was.. he would take me to Winni with him to his bob house and taught me how to cut sucker bait and jig with a wooden stick, we would sit in that little bob house heated by an old kerosene heater and jig for hours. As I got older and into high school ice fishing became like a party for underage teenagers.. we would set out what seemed to be a 50 tip ups and sit by a fire telling stories and drinking beer that some 21 year old would buy for us, we would stay on the ice for hours.. all this reminiscing makes me want to go spend a day with a big group of friends on some out of the way pond and drink beers and tell stories!!!

[JIGGIN-]

I started ice fishing when i was 10, 43 years ago. My grandfather took me out on Newfound, Pikes Cove. We had to walk to the bob house in what seemed like 4' of snow pulling a sled with wood (for wood stove) and then make several trips back and forth to bring our gear, food etc etc...on a wooden toboggan sled. Everything seemed to fall off every few steps. After getting the fire started and smoked out, it was a constant open and closing the door due to being too hot and then too cold. No windows, just a 4 x 6' house with a door on one end. I was always near the wood stove and not near the door.
We also had to chop out our holes with a dull chisel as we didn't have any augers. Personally i hated ice fishing. I think my grandfather brought me a long to do all the hard work so he could fish Lol.
I have to admit though, i learned a lot from him on how to suck it up and push forward cause there was no slacking, bait my hooks, cut my suckers etc etc...but more importantly i learned what i didnt like about ice fishing so in the future i could improve upon those things.
Fast forward to when i turned 15 years old and started Ice fishing with my buddies. It was pretty much an excuse to hang out and party, a place we could go and drink (underage) without being caught. At the time i was dating the game wardens daughter which helped too.
Fast forward to when i turned 20 years old and met my wife (or soon to be wife). When we were first married, i didnt ice fish as we started having children, building a family together and i needed to be part of that more than hanging out with my buddies. As the kids got older, ice fishing came back into my life and i brought them out with me. Built my own bob house that would accommodate the family and taught them how to cook on the bob house stove (they could make a mess and it wasn't a big deal). With the cost of raising children, i had to start trapping my own bait to save money. As time went on, i ended up building 2 more houses before finally building the "log cabin" house i have now. Each house got better and better upgrades and more and more improvement than when i fished with my grandfather such as no wood stove, got an ice auger, mode of transportation etc etc...

Fast forward again to today, my wife and i still ice fish every weekend together, we created the Newfound Circus so that we could build a community for Ice fishermen and women to bond, celebrate and help each other out during times of need. We started with 4 people in the Newfound Circus originally about 20 some odd years ago and now we are up way beyond that in terms of Circus member numbers and each year it continues to grow.

[Coffin Dodger]

Good story and history, Jiggin.
I can envision your grandfather looking down on you today, shaking his head and thinking "what a spoiled kid". 

[JIGGIN-]

Good story and history, Jiggin.
I can envision your grandfather looking down on you today, shaking his head and thinking "what a spoiled kid". 

Agreed.

[SALMONEMIA]

Nice story jiggin thank you for sharing.

[Steve H.]

I stumbled on this post and thought it was well worthy of reviving in advance of this ice season.  So many great stories here that bring back memories of growing up just outside of the Merrimack Valley in the 80s.
We'd get our bait at Froton's in Salem or DiGloria's in Methuen.  Anyone remember those places?

[bart]

An old thread revived is very fitting for the subject, I like it! 

I dug around though some old things and revived the old days of ice fishing last year, kinda...


And built an old school ice fishing sled

Just ignore the flasher... 

[esox_xtm]

Good on the Hot Seat bart! Never used one ice fishing but the old man got me one for deer hunting when I was 11. Noisy to sit on and puking those little white styro beads all the time. At least if I got "displaced" in the woods I could follow the beads home  One probably belongs in the Smithsonian...

[bassin140]

Lots of good memories with my dad and uncle's ice fishing. Unfortunately my dad has passed and one uncle as well however we try and now pass the ice fishing to our kids now. I remember setting tipups all over greenbay. However the best part of this was not the actual fishing as a kid.
1) Grownups would shovel a hockey rink for us (they completed this task before the beer drinking)
2) Grownups drink lots of beer...
3) The beer drinking would allow us kids a chance to convince our dads and uncles to let us drive their vehicles and do donuts (pretty cool for a young kid)
4) Me and cousins hiding behind trucks and throwing snowballs at tipups and watching all the drunk grownups get to flag thinking there was a big pike on other end hehehe
5) Knowing you would repeat the next day because what the hell else you gonna do in the dead of winter in the Northwoods

[Arctic Addict]

I'm 47 and have been ice fishing the lakes region ever since I can remember.  As kid, I remember our first "portable" ice shanty.  It was an 8'x 8' skid house that my Dad lag bolted together.  We would drag each 4x8 panel to the fishing grounds using a Honda Big Red ATC and then bolt the hardside together.  We used a spud to chip our holes and ironically, I don't remember ever being cold.  I also don't ever remember crapty ice seasons like recent times.  For me, there is just something about sleeping out on the ice.  I love it.  Fast forward to present day, my son is 17 years old.  He has been ice fishing with me every year.  The plywood collapsible ice shanty has been replaced with a wheelhouse that I built with my son and best friend.  We typically fish the every weekend with friends and family.  This includes my father and my father-in-law who is in his mid 80's.  These moments are some of my best memories.  Unplugged, out on the ice with the people that I care about the most. 

[SALMONEMIA]

I stumbled on this post and thought it was well worthy of reviving in advance of this ice season.  So many great stories here that bring back memories of growing up just outside of the Merrimack Valley in the 80s.
We'd get our bait at Froton's in Salem or DiGloria's in Methuen.  Anyone remember those places?

I'm from Salem  born in methuen. I dont recall them. Where were they located?

[DR.SPECKLER]

My absolute best memories of icefishing days/years past are sitting on my lantern box at night with a lantern by the hole hissing away and watching the little styrofoam float dancing around the hole from the emerald shiners,then watching the float slip under the water about 4” before setting the hook and catching nice specks.no fancy gear but pure enjoyment..