Fly the Team Iceshanty Flag! Iceshanty Proshop
My Dad, always said that days spent fishing dont count against your time on earth..
I bet they count if you die while fishing. Drowning, eaten by shark, bear attack, getting caught in an auger, hypothermia, angry fellow fishermen attack, angry wife attack, you never know. Lightning, hailstones like a bowling ball, somebody drops a shoe out of an airplane. Could be anything.
You can ice fish successfully for almost nothing. A hand line, warm clothes, a spud, a license which u already have. I seem to have more success when I hit the ice as a minimalist rather than taking all the toys.
No.
As I said, I’ve been fishing all my life and I love to catch fish, it’s just that I knew my tendencies to go all in on outdoor pursuits I love, so I avoided ice fishing. Now with kids gone, and debts paid, my wife gave me the green light to jump into ice fishing as I have steadily grown to fish more and hunt less nearing retirement. After buying my ice suit on clearance, I just tackled rods and reels. I didn’t want to spend money on a bucket full of rods and reels, knowing a lot of guys eventually reach past their pile for a select few they live by, so I decided to buy five quality outfits to serve all my purposes. I’ve scoured old threads on here and other sites for a consensus on rod makes and models, and I’ve read all the debates on what is custom and what is not, and what is cheap and what is too expensive for ice fishing. While there appears to be many happy customers for many different kinds of rods, the two that stood out the most to me and appears to have been written about more than any others is Thorne Brothers and TUCR. My ice fishing time will be spent almost entirely going after bluegills, crappies and perch on inland lakes along with whitefish and the occasional walleye on Green Bay. From the hundreds of opinions I’ve read over several years of threads, I special ordered two rods from Thorne Brothers, a Quiverstick and Powernoodle, and three rods from TUCR, a Precision Noodle, a Bullwhip, and a Precision. All rods will have REC guides and straight cork handles. To go along with those rods, I picked up five Okuma Ceymar C-10 spinning reels with the upgraded carbontex drag washers from TUCR.Thanks for all the reviews and opinions you have given over the years that have led to my purchases. I look forward to using them next year.
Yup, what he said except a few more things: A spud is perfectly fine for cutting holes in 6 or fewer inches of ice, beyond that you need a basic 6 inch hand auger. I am a tipup fisherman so would not go on the ice without them so ad those to the jigging rod as basic gear, but the point about being a minimalist I could not agree with more. So many guys just keep buying more and more gear every season, and I laugh at them because I outfish them by a lot with my basic gear that I have had for over 30 years ( I am 56 and have been on the ice every year since I was 22 ). Having a ton of expensive gear might make you feel better, but KNOWLEDGE of the lake and what the fish like for bait is what will get you success with ice fishing. Knowledge is earned from fishing a place repeatedly, and it is not given away and can't be bought.You are not close to being too old to start this sport. GO FOR IT, it will change your life like you can't even imagine.
The more toys & paraphernalia you have, the less attentive you are to what’s happening to your bait/ lure.