Most "ingenuitive" ice fishing inventions....

[Spud_bar]

I've come across many "interesting" ice fishing inventions and techniques that boarder insane. Anyone know the sort of things I'm talking about?

[Bussman]

Like licking your transducer when its not reading so well due to ice build up?

[Chuckles]

How about the use of egg shells for "chum". 

[APU GARCIA]

My dad built an electric auger using a Datsun starter and a few pulleys. It uses power from the truck battery so if ya don't have the truck it don't work. It has a 6" auger and you have to have some beef on ya to operate it, its really heavy but when I am drilling head to head with a jiffy 3hp 8" I can do 3 holes to there 1, and thats through 3' of ice. This thing really cooks!!  I'll borrow a camera and take a picture of it.

[Spud_bar]

sounds impressive. I've heard the egg shell thing before however My great grandfather put egg shells on the lake bottom so that he could distinguish when a leary northern would swim past while he was spearing. I think maybe that's where that chumming came from.

[Reelinrolly]

I believe it was trapper who told me this one, if you have problems with yoru hole freezing over colour a pingpong ball black and drop it in your hole.....the sun heats up the ball and the water just a bit...plus the ping pong ball is blown around the hole and keeps the hole from freezing up

[Spud_bar]

I believe it was trapper who told me this one, if you have problems with yoru hole freezing over colour a pingpong ball black and drop it in your hole.....the sun heats up the ball and the water just a bit...plus the ping pong ball is blown around the hole and keeps the hole from freezing up

good idea. I'll have to try that one. aren't simple, inexpensive ideas great! even better when they work! haha.

[Ice Dog 67]

I know they work, but those Finicky Fish Factories are the damndest thing I've ever seen as far as ice fishing goes!

[Reelinrolly]

Germ has a few pretty good tricks up his sleave as well....but ill let him give out his ideas...lol....start bugging him boys

[TroutFishingBear]

well, for chumming the day before we fish nothing is better than poking holes in the top of a can of catfood and then dropping it to the bottom. lake trout will come into this area and now be there for you to catch the next day

[trapperdirk]

Actually the ping pong idea is not my idea just something I read on here . I just help spread the word . LOL

                       TD

[Reelinrolly]

well, for chumming the day before we fish nothing is better than poking holes in the top of a can of catfood and then dropping it to the bottom. lake trout will come into this area and now be there for you to catch the next day

Is that not littering??

[TroutFishingBear]

well, for chumming the day before we fish nothing is better than poking holes in the top of a can of catfood and then dropping it to the bottom. lake trout will come into this area and now be there for you to catch the next day

Is that not littering??

Using WD-40 and other things for water is worse, and besides if they don't invent some biodegradable can that I can switch to i'm still going to do it. It works

[Spicoli]

Whenever it is really cold and we are fishing with eyeballs and they freeze a guy that i fish with all the time will pop the one he wants in his mouth to unthaw it.

[Blaine]

A guy I know puts a bunch of shiners in a big glass jar and lowers it down on a rope. He then jigs a few feet away in another hole for crappie

[MeadowPikeman]

IFB that catfood thing might work but would be considered unethical in most arena's, especially up here that would be considered downright illegal and disrespectful. we chum with sucker meat and this works fine and there is no can of cat food to leave on the lake bottom for a couple hundred years.

[icy mike]

Not that I would ever do this, but it is possible to save salmon roe during the summer and freeze it with something heavy, say small rocks, in the middle of the eggs.  This will cause the roe to sink instead of float.  The eggs slowly thaw and thus attract, say, trout.  Fish the same spot the following day and low-and-behold a plethera of piscatorical pursuit.

If fish clear-shallow water throw a hand full of egg shells in the water to make the fish stand out more.

I have made some dandy rod holders out of doubled up bailing wire twisted together.

Icy Mike

[Spud_bar]

Very interesting. not sure about sucking on fish eyes. Using eyes in mn is illegal so I haven't tried. has anyone ever used a device called a yo-yo reel? I have a couple that my grandfather from Arkansas gave me and what the are is a sort of spring loaded reel that you can let off about 6-8 feet and set at a given depth. when a fish gives a tug on the reel the line is given immediate tension by the spring. I've never used it but it's a good idea.

[2 dogs]

My buddy (the village idiot as my wife says) has tried the 2 quart jar full of shiners with me along a couple of times. All I noticed was some pretty healthy shiners at the end of the day?

[Reelinrolly]

well, for chumming the day before we fish nothing is better than poking holes in the top of a can of catfood and then dropping it to the bottom. lake trout will come into this area and now be there for you to catch the next day

Is that not littering??

Using WD-40 and other things for water is worse, and besides if they don't invent some biodegradable can that I can switch to i'm still going to do it. It works

Just because it works doesn't mean its right.....I used WD-40 a couple years ago....and it worked...but after I thought about it I found it to be harmful to the environment so since then I have strictly used scents or nothing at all (I was in the wrong).....if dumping a barrel of oil in your surrounding area produced fish....would you do it???

[TroutFishingBear]

well, for chumming the day before we fish nothing is better than poking holes in the top of a can of catfood and then dropping it to the bottom. lake trout will come into this area and now be there for you to catch the next day

Is that not littering??

Using WD-40 and other things for water is worse, and besides if they don't invent some biodegradable can that I can switch to i'm still going to do it. It works

Just because it works doesn't mean its right.....I used WD-40 a couple years ago....and it worked...but after I thought about it I found it to be harmful to the environment so since then I have strictly used scents or nothing at all (I was in the wrong).....if dumping a barrel of oil in your surrounding area produced fish....would you do it???

you would be surprised what is down in the bottoms of the lakes, for example anchors and such. A can of cat food is the least of pollution. think about it logically. But of course I am looking for something maybe a little less pollutant, but believe me a can of catfood is not near as bad as what is down there already


talk about ingenuitive, at a reservoir in my area overpopulated with a bunch of starving rainbow trout 100 fish days or more are the normal, and a guy I know who finished a cigarette caught a fish using the rest of the cigarette for bait

[Reelinrolly]

isn't that called a whip up??

[MeadowPikeman]

IFB if there's alreay a bunch of crap on the lake bottom its ok to make it worse??? if you threw that in the water on any of our lakes and you were with me you would be walking home. yes lures might litter the bottom but you would intentional dump a box of sinkers over the side of the boat would you??? i use a aqua view and see very little garbage on the bottom and hopefully it would stay that way seen one fishing rod all last year on the lake bottom. FM is that your whip up??? was thinking about building a couple for trout.

[oakorchardfishking]

well, for chumming the day before we fish nothing is better than poking holes in the top of a can of catfood and then dropping it to the bottom. lake trout will come into this area and now be there for you to catch the next day

Is that not littering??

Using WD-40 and other things for water is worse, and besides if they don't invent some biodegradable can that I can switch to i'm still going to do it. It works

Just because it works doesn't mean its right.....I used WD-40 a couple years ago....and it worked...but after I thought about it I found it to be harmful to the environment so since then I have strictly used scents or nothing at all (I was in the wrong).....if dumping a barrel of oil in your surrounding area produced fish....would you do it???

you would be surprised what is down in the bottoms of the lakes, for example anchors and such. A can of cat food is the least of pollution. think about it logically. But of course I am looking for something maybe a little less pollutant, but believe me a can of catfood is not near as bad as what is down there already


talk about ingenuitive, at a reservoir in my area overpopulated with a bunch of starving rainbow trout 100 fish days or more are the normal, and a guy I know who finished a cigarette caught a fish using the rest of the cigarette for bait

so... let me get this straight! just because there is already some junk on the bottom of your lake, this means it is O.K. for you to add some moRe to the pile? you seem to be quite young IFB, so let me put this into perspective for you!!!
lets say you are telling just 5 of your closest fishing buddies of your "cool" chumming idea... O.K. so now there are 6 of you doing this, possibly all on the same lake even. then lets say that your buddies are each telling a few of their closest fishing buddies... you see where im going with this? if this action continues... i could never begin to put a date on it, but lets just hope that when you are an elder that you can still fish that wasteland lake.... or even better.. think about the future of fishing to come for your children and grand-children! KEEP GARBAGE OUT OF THE WATERS.... CARRY IT IN, CARRY IT OUT!!!
do you really want to hear this kinda story from your grandkids.... "hey grandpa, guess what? dad took me fishing today on that lake you and him always used to go on. all we caught though was a couple of rusty tin cans and some other junk!"   

[ny_angler]

Its not rocket science ... how about screwing and eye bolt into  the can and drop it down with a stick across the hole  retrieve the can when your done  or want to freshen ..  but above all  else take out a little more than ya carry in .

[JigAwhopper]

I tried the cat food can chumming idea,  with the rope and the stick,  etc.  Also tried a block of frozen chopped up smelt to attract fish to my hole.  Neither one worked very well and I don't bother with that junk anymore.  I rather drill holes and look for active fish instead.

[Fat Boy]

Very interesting. not sure about sucking on fish eyes. Using eyes in mn is illegal so I haven't tried.

In the 2005 Ice Guide I saw pics of some soft plastic eye imitations.  They might be worth checking out plus you don't have to thaw them out in your mouth

I heard that fish eyes are pretty tasty with some ranch dressing

[nepa old man]

Whenever it is really cold and we are fishing with eyeballs and they freeze a guy that i fish with all the time will pop the one he wants in his mouth to unthaw it.

Was he on fear factor ?   

[majormaj]

You have probably heard this one:  if the ice is thick enough drill a hole down to the bottom of the ice and poke a little hole through so it fills with water.  Works great for a livewell for panfish or keeping chubs or shiners.  My little minnows eventually found the hole in the bottom and got away.

[GEM_EYE_GUY]

I chummed a can of cat food once . . . caught a bunch of flatheads.
Then I tried a can of dog food . . . all I got was bowfin.
Either can attracting TROUT just doesn't make sense.