IceShanty.com's Ice Fishing Community
IceShanty Main => General Ice Fishing Chit Chat => Topic started by: IceRover on Dec 09, 2007, 05:13 AM
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With cable & satellite TV programs & promotions, Internet and technology development in gear; augers, flashers, portable shelters, GPS and so forth etc; just wondering how many of you if any are pre-era or have you always been user friendly. How far back do you go? Besides chopping a hole through the ice with an ax in my younger days and not having much luck, it has been fourteen years for me since I bought my auger and started regularly.
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18 years for me.
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i probably started when i was 5 or 6 when i went
with my father and uncle.didnt really start going
out myself until i was 16 or 17.all i use are
tipups and jig rods.no flashers or any other stuff.
only thing i have updated is a power auger.
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46 years for me lol!
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Ive been fishing for 25 years but just started on the hardwater last year and my first time out I realized I have missed out on a lot of fun. I like to keep things simple, my dad has a gas auger and a shanty and thats it other than a single burner stove for coffee and food.
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Started on my dad's pond back in 1975 was 8 years old at the time. Been hooked from that day on.
IC
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this is my 3rd season. wish I would have started 20 years ago when I had the chance :-[
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this will be my 54th year at ice fishing.
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This is my 15th year. I have just about every toy for the Ice, Don't tell my Wife. ;)
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I've been sitting on frozen lakes 15 years. Started taking my son when he turned 8 (that 6 yrs on ice for him). Started my daughter when she turned 6 (3 yrs on ice for her).
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4th season for me, have been obsessed ever since
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20+ years for me. :thumbsup:
They say the first thing to go is the memory, just wish I knew where it went!! :wacko:
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Started fishing with dad when I was 11 in Colorado,been doing it every since,Im 47 so thats somewhere in the 35-36 year bracket,man how time flys.............
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25 years and counting, sitting on a 5 gal bucket, freezing, and loving every minute! ;D
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Third season for me. Wish I would have started when I was growing up in northern Maine....never knew. Got hooked on it in while living in AK (a friend took me with him, and I've been living it/breathing it since). Hardwater is the best kind of fishing there is. Just bought my LX-5 ;D
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"Forty sompthin"
:tipup:
NBG
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21 years for me, man has there been a bunch of improvements in equipment and electronics since then. Started with a pole with 2 dowels sticking up on the handle to wrap the line around. I can't wait to see what the next 10 years will bring us!!
Ed
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This will be my 5th season this year, many more to come....It was a hard start for me as none of my firends or familt did it, they were all open water guys, and broke tradition, I have since converted all most all of them
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20 or so years... If anyone sees my memory, tell it I'm looking for it ;D
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this will be my 5th year. wish i would of started earlier though!!!
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I started in the mids 70s when I was about 15. Then I didn't go again till the mid 80s, when I went with a couple guys guys from works. I got serious about it maybe 5 years ago.
Roy
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30 years give or take
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It's been 15 yrs since I bought my first ice auger, I can't believe I just said that.
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10- 15 years or so
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Ive been at it for five or six years now. Now I look forward to winter like never before. And I cant wait to get my son started. Totally addicted to the sport of ice fishing now ;D
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I started ice fishing in 1964. Seems like just yesterday........
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I started ice fishing with my dad in about 1952. :woot:
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My dad introduced me to ice fishing when I was around 6 years old. I guess that racks up to a full 12 years by now.
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Been going every since i was about 11-12 years old so about 10 years, before that it was one or 2 trips a winter
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Had at least 2 trips a year with grampa until he died and then I started going out by my lonesome. Maybe 20 years but really only 3 years or so with any regularity.
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Been ice fishing since I was 6 or 7 so I'd have to say 20-21 yrs.
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I've ice fishin for 57 year's, there werent even any plastic bucket's to sit on yet. We made are own spoon's out of lipstick tube's, today there called Phebe's. The only bait we used was bacon strip's untel we got are first Perch, then we used there eye's.
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Started when I was 4-5 with my dad and uncles, fishing a local lake loaded with snot rockets mostly, lots of action. 25 now so about 20 years. Had little technology, opened old holes with a chisel or axe, or if the ice was too thick to chip through we'd use a chain saw. Stick and line to jig with, and smelts we'd hang on a line tyed to a willow stick stuck in the snow.
Now I use a power auger, good rods and reels, a flasher, and tip-ups.
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I started when i was 5. looks like 58 years. My grandad taught me to fish hunt and trap.
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Started in '67 when i was 10 with an uncle, been hooked ever since. So been doing it 40 yrs now.
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passively (meaning not trying too hard or catching much) - 10yrs
actually trying this will be my fourth season
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I too started going out with my dad around 4-5 years old....I started going out myself around 14.....so 27 years overall, and 17 years without supervision :)
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I don't remember not fishing. I asked my Dad a few years ago when he started taking me along on fishin' trips. He looked at me like it was the most obvious question in the world.
"When you could walk" he said.
That would make it about 37 years. ;D
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This is my 5 or 6 year not sure ,wised i started a lot sooner.
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its my 26th year its like yesterday my love for GOD,my family ,ice fishin' is a close third i try to incorporate all 3 daily in my life, i believe its possible to do both with priority in place i hope and pray that i keep it that way. mo
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37 yrs for me
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25 years for me.
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Started in the winter of 81... with a home-made spud and some traps that
were so old. Still have those traps, hung in a place of honor, I bring one or
two out every once in a while.
I got introduced by my best friends dad. An old depression era guy with great
stories. Every year, i introduce someone new to the game... Every year, i get
asked by some... so when are we going again?
Reading this site in the last few years has helped me spend a few more $$s
on toys - all worth it!
-g
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Let's see. I'm 50 years old and I've been icefishing for 51 years.
My mom told me she still went icefishing with dad while she was pregnant with me. So I figure if I was on the ice a few times, that year should count too. ;D ;D
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This will be my 6th year I think. Will be 63 tomorrow and wish I would have started way back when? Just fish small lakes mostly for pan fish, but since I got my vex I can say I have never been skunked. Dont want a shanty as I move around a lot. A sled with 3 buckets, Blue suit and vex And I am good to go. Retired so I go when we have the Ice. Never home, home is where ever I am at. GOOD LUCK TO ALL.
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probably started ice fishing for 20 years ago but there was an 8 year break in there. started ice fishing seriously again when I was back home on leave 5 years ago. since then I have been on the ice every chance I get. good fishin
chimo
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I'v been fishing since I was about 3 and ice fishing since about 6 now I'm 33. Hmm, thats a lot of years. I think I have a problem here, Do you think I need help?(((((FLAG))))) :tipup:
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just started ice fishing 4 yrs ago. fished the open water since i can remember but my parents don't like the cold so i didn't try ice fishing until i met a couple friends who did it. now I'm hooked.
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It's like 10 years now ??? and i love every cold day of it :laugh:
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31 of the 33 years I have been on this earth, I have been ice fishing, or at least playing in my dad's minnow bucket
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My dad started me on the ice when I was around five. I wish we still got ice like we did back then, that was 23 years ago. NW Indiana needs some safe ice, I'm going crazy here!!! :o
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I've been ice fishing since I was about 3. Its a serious addiction now.
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I don't remember not fishing. I asked my Dad a few years ago when he started taking me along on fishin' trips. He looked at me like it was the most obvious question in the world.
"When you could walk" he said.
That would make it about 37 years. ;D
Same story here.
I hope that I can get my dad on the ice this year. Funny how he's the chairman of one of the biggest ice-fishing derbies in West Michigan and it's been about 5 or so years now since he's been on the ice after his back, hips, and knees went. I've got a few good "road-fishing" spots he should be able to handle and he shouldn't get cold sittin in his conversion van most of the time. Thirty years ago he was helping me on the ice - it's only fair that I help him now.
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This is my 3rd season 8)
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38 years.
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my father carried me in the woods & on the water since i was 3...i can remember ice fishing around 8 years old..well kind of ...we kids were dads beer runners.... ;) ;D ;D a family tradition i hope to pass on to my 4 grandsons.... ;) :laugh: :laugh:
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Off and on for more than fifty years.
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First went when I was 7. Then there were some years in between I didn't go but have been out every winter for last 4 years. So 16 years in total since I started.
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Well, I was 5 when my dad started taking me, first thing on the ice I sat down and ate the peanut butter sandwich my mother packed for me, then my dad would put down a yellow ice fly on a long (well it was as long as I was tall) ::) jiggin' stick, and a bobber, the bass loved it. I'd watch that bobber slowly go down, I'd grab the stick put it over my shoulder and waddle away from the hole (they dressed me in everything they could get on me). Bass usually weren't legal in MI during the ice fishin' season so they went back in. I was told they were illegal fish so's they had to go back, well I couldn't say illegal so's I called 'em "Legal" fish, not bass. My dad and his buddies got a big chuckle outta this. Seems like that was just yesterday. ::)
So, I've been at it for 59 yrs now. :o :laugh: :laugh:
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22 years
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21 years for me but I am only counting from the first time my dad let me pick the lake and the spot to fish. my son's are 17 and 12 and they have been ice fishing since birth but they don't get to pick the spot or the lake yet. ::) Now I know why it took my dad 20 years to let me pick a spot ;D
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this is my first year
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Started in 1962, let's see, that makes.....OMG!!!!!.....ALMOST 48 yEARS!!!! tHOUGHT i'D BE DEAD BY NOW!!!
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4th or 5th year now.
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22 years.
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This will be my 2nd year on the ice! :tipup:
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Really had to stop and think about this .... probably went out with Grandpa, must be 48 or 49 years ... boy have things changed...... thanks for the memory's !
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This will be number 47 if we get ice here Pa.
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Really had to stop and think about this .... probably went out with Grandpa, must be 48 or 49 years ... boy have things changed...... thanks for the memory's !
Man, talk about experience! If you totaled up the years offered by these replies alone you are talking many, many, many years of ice fishing knowledge. Reading along here and enjoying your comments strongly brings back memories of years past especially of our departed family, and friend fishing buddies. We lost one of our regular crew a few years back and now we have him and other loved ones with us is spirit each and every trip that we make. By discussing what they would have to say or do in any given situation keeps them close to our hearts and sure to be remembered till it is our time to join them. Rehashing their antics from time to time always brings a smile to our faces and to us that is what it's all about, good times and that's what ice fishing does for us. Really enjoy reading all of your replies and I thank you for sharing your thoughts & participating together.
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20+
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let's see-1st went out with my father and uncle in 1952 on a local pond -55years
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I went out a few times with my dad when I was younger but really just picked it back up about 4 years ago.
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I have been fisdhing the hardwater for about 15 years started out with my grandfather useing old homemade wooden tipups in the past 5 or 6 years I have upgrading to all the modern day equipment. :tipup:
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31 yrs i'll have to dig out a pick of me pullin eyes from Oneida at age 6 and post it.
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I started icefshing 51 years ago and bought my first auger in 1969 WOW been a long time. Started my son when he was 3 ,lost a lot of skimmers those first years but wouldnt change it for anything
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Not enough to quit!!! ;D
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Ever since I was a little kid (going with my dad)
Going by myself, this is my 3rd year now
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If you went with your father as a kid ,you are never fishing alone !! ;)
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i have been on the hard water for 7 years. actually enjoy it more than open water fishing.
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Well ya know yer gettin' old when something like this happens.
About 5 years ago I was ice fishin' on a local lake, the bite was slow, so I had my eye on these two old retired guys sittin' about 10 yds to my left, just in case they started catching more fish than I was, I wanted to know why. When this young feller approaches me from the right and says, "I noticed you were catchin' a few fish and I can't seem to get a bite" Well, I gave the lad a few pointers and he thanked me and as he turned to walk away I heard him say, "My dad always told me to pay attetion to you Old Timers". :o :o First thing that came to my mind was that those two old guys I been watchin' must be ancient. ::)
When I went to work the next day I told everyone the story and that I was now an officially an "Old Timer". ;D :laugh:
Heck, I wasn't even 60 yet! :P
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Started 46yrs. ago before augers,shacks and snowmobiles were needed to go fishing. My dad would take the whole family out on the ice for a day of fishing. There would be five kids and mom and dad,he would chisel the holes use homemade traps and we had great fun. I still remember the open fire cooking hotdogs and hot cornchowder and hotcoco.
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32 years and still am as excited to go as I was the first day.
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This will be my 4th year ice fishing. Hoping to get some done soon.
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about 35 or so...this could be my last if I end up in the drink...on....THE KING!!
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Started when I was 8 years old in Manitoba. Froze my toes quite a few times because I was always waiting for the next bite. I am now 28 years old and I can afford the good winter boots so my toes don't freeze.
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Don't really know for sure but it has to be close to 40 years....
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Starting my seventh year on the ice. I have a former co-worker (and now fishing companion) to thank for that. My friends and family think I'm nuts. All I tell them is "don't knock it until you've tried it" and they are more than welcome to join me anytime.
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started at 2 years old with grandpa, so 30 years.
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As near as I can figure 32yrs.
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I'm 29 now......and I've been ice fishing since I was about 5.
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well this will be my 16th winter, so i guess 16 years...my parents and extended family have been taking me out every winter since i was born
this is only my second winter on the shanty
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With cable & satellite TV programs & promotions, Internet and technology development in gear; augers, flashers, portable shelters, GPS and so forth etc; just wondering how many of you if any are pre-era or have you always been user friendly. How far back do you go? Besides chopping a hole through the ice with an ax in my younger days and not having much luck, it has been fourteen years for me since I bought my auger and started regularly.
It's been 20 years for me, just got all the toys over the last 5 years or so. I love every time I'm on the ice. Just got out the 1st time this year this last weekend and caught some nice blue gils.
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It's been around 60 years for me. My dad used to take us to black lake NY for perch. In those days we only
used tip ups. We would build a fire (if the ice was thick enough) or sit in the car watching for flags. We always caught a lot of perch and sometime a walleye or two, with an ocasional northern thrown in. I can
remember how cold we used to get in those days, now we have the clothing and boots so the cold is not a
problem any more. It was only spuds back then, a chisel on the end of a pipe, it was a real chore if the ice
was thick.
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30 years for me. :)
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around 30 years for me also :tipup:
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25 years for me, the old man used to put a permanent shack on big creek when i was a kid, and pack up the family for some cheap entertainment, good topic by the way!
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I've been ice fishing on and off for about 20 years now. My first trip was with my dad and his buddy out on Lake Superior. It was a beautiful day, with the temps around 40 degrees. We caught our limit of Lake Trout and headed on home for dinner. What a great day!
I've been ice fishing every year now for about the last 10 years. I can tell you all without any doubt, that I would take a day fishing on the ice vs. open water any day of the week!!!! :tipup:
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This will be year #6 for me. Still looking for that elusive monster Northern or 'Eye
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off and on for 25 years
more serious for the last 3 years (shanty, power auger, etc.)
Gotta admit, locating this site helped reignite my interest
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off and on for 25 years
more serious for the last 3 years (shanty, power auger, etc.)
Gotta admit, locating this site helped reignite my interest
I love this site maaan!! ;D
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This while be my second year.
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I started about 30 years ago, it was tough, dad would bring out a spud bar and a hand axe. fished in blue jeans with my pajamas under them. had those green steelshank boots. never caught anything big, but I still could never fall asleep the night before our trips. In some sadistic way we sure had alot of fun.
Went in the Army, discovered girls ect. ect.
Got back into it a few years ago, was up in Pa. went past Tobyhanna Lake, saw a derby taking place on the ice and the love came back!!!!!
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I just started last year, A friend signed me up for a tourney on sacandaga lake so I bought some tip ups and rods. Can't wait for safe ice this year....Maybe I'll catch something besides one hammer handle pike ::)
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my father took me out when I was about 4-5 on Lac St Louis outside Montreal. They used to put skates on my and put a hockey stick in my hand so I could go out and clean out the holes! I didn't do much ice fishing from 16 until 34 but have been hard at for the last 15 years. in all about 20 years on ice.
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33yrs. for me.
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I fished with my brother-in-law one Saturday afternoon five years ago and I have been enjoying it ever since. I remember the ice being quite thick and he only had a hand auger. Lesson learned that day - buy a power auger! The auger and a set of cheap end of the season sale Polar tip ups were my first investments into the sport. Each year I now look forward to the start of the ice fishing season and dread the day the season ends.
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about65years i'm now 75 old ken
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It's 6 years for me
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Man…I don't know about you, but reading this thread to me has been like being transported back into time to an ice fishin’ reunion or rendezvous of sorts. Reading all the interesting yarns and times of yore to present is enjoyable. Feel like having a beer but it's to early, or is it? :woot:
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Im 40yrs and been ice fishing for 33yrs ;D
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Though I went out a few times as a youth, I've really been at it hard-core since 2001, when I got my FL8.
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started when I was 19....in 1959....graduated from spud bar,spoon auger,mora,lazer,jiffy legend.....red flyer sled,coffee can toilet paper soaked in kerosene..and years later portable shanty of all types appeared.... .genz fish trap when they where white,was the best home made shanty out there for the solo fisherman....very few fisherman...but that was not the good old days,did not have the clothing,boots or equipment... ::)
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It's been 33 years for me also. Spoon auger, an old jiggin' pole with two nails for wrapping the line around and a bucket. We shared the scooper. :tipup:
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I've been ice fishin for 41 years.
I too remember the ole green hornet stick.
Our home made spud bar and the plywood shack.
Gramps being the prankster was famous for bringin onion leaves and burning them in the wood stove to get the guys droolin.
1 day me & my brother stuffed a perch in the smoke pipe.
Boy did Gramps chew us a new azz. ;D
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wow....lets see,,,,i grew up on a lake in wisconsin, and most winters we had a shanty out there that we built out of 2x4's and sheet metal. My dad worked for a printing company and we used the old sheet metal that they would run print off of...it would sound pretty neat when the wind hit it just right....and then we used an old beater to jump the pressure cracks when we would go out on the big lake for walleyes...we had an old 47 ford pick up witha shanty built on the back, so we could sit in there, stay warm and watch tip ups.....grillin polish sausage, the works....then we moved to VA when i was 16 so that kind of put the kibosh on ice fishing for a while...but now im back at it for that past 3 or 4 years....So number of actual years on this ice is probably 15, but in my blood for all 47
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Ice fished back in the 1970's but had no fishing partners. A friend got me started again in 2003 and I think I enjoy it more then open water fishing. Thanks for getting me started again John.
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34 years or so. Holy cow, that long. :'(
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33 years and still going strong!! love this sport!
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My buddy and his father took me too mendon ponds when i was 8 yrs old.I'm 38 and have been addicted ever since i walked on water. :thumbsup: :clap:
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25+ years for me and learn something new every year. Gotta love this sport!
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Little over 40 years....
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Started out when I was 12 on Lake of the woods in Decatur Mi. on Johnsons channel. A hatchet to cut a hole, one of moms big kitchen spoons for a dipper and home made poles. Good old red coleman single mantle and a 5 gallon bucket. Good old days were not so good looking back ??? ::) Sure had a lot of fun though. Now a fl8se, Jiffy 30 and more poles and jigs than I care to mention, Buddy heater, And most of all--Proper clothing. I am 45 now so I guess that would be 33 years for me. :o :o If the good Lord is willing, I hope I have 33 more :icefish: :icefish: Steve
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Dad was rushing mom to hospital, thought he would save time by eliminating 25 miles off trip by cutting across the lake that cold Jan 7, 1964 evening. He got stuck so mom delivered me on ice (cool eh ;D) and its been said I came out jigging. But since I can remember age 7. So 37 years ago.
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My mom and Dad have a photo album of me playing in the snow on the lake whem i was about 2 years old. Dad has always taken me fishing and I still love it today. Hopefully heading out this weekend with my dad. just another year to add to my 21, and his 35.
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This is my 21st year icefishing!
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50 yrs... and still get anxious for every season and every fish. :P
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38 yrs. on ice fishing. Since I was 5 or 6. Hope to go another 30+ years!
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I'm 33 years old and I've been on the hardwater for 28 years. My father took my brothers and I out when we were kids. I have been hooked ever since. Moral of the story, take a kid icefishing. You'll change his life for the good.
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since i learned to skate, about 4 yrs old, 44 years. i still use some of the same tipups, pretty beat up.
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Since the late 60's, Except for a 6 year hitch in the Corps, I suppose 30+. Still have some of the old ice-pick sticks. Kept them for the memories.
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29 years and counting!!!!
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total, about 10 years for :) me
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id say about 8 years since i first tried it.But three years of real fishing persuit
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Started at 4 years old with my dad and grandpa went every winter had a blast catching rainbows and browns 12 years later learned to jig for macks woo hoo been doing it ever since i am 47 now soon to be 48 LOVE the ICE !!!!! And this site (IceShanty)Hey if i cant be fishing might as well be here reading all these good threads !!!
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37 years and still drilling holes. I have graduated from the chipper, to the hand auger, and now a power auger.
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15 years for me. ;D
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At least 60 yrs from old photos of me as a kid summer fishing and 42 years of ice fishing when I got out of college and moved up here to NY. I got a tv and underwater camera last week to add to whatever is new that comes along. Always try adapting to change.
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I'm 28 yrs. old and honest to god have been open water fishing for 28 yrs. My dad is and always has been big into bass fishing, and he said I was fishing before I could walk. I've been ice fishing for about 15 yrs or so. My dad doesn't do ice........
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27 of my 33 years, and no plans on stopping.
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Since I was ten and keep on doing it. :tipup:
Keith
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I started in1977 with a spud bar, a rod with 2 dowels for holding the line, and some corn borers an" old" ice fisherman neighbor had given me.The next year, he got a sweedish spoon auger and boy did I think that was great. Had that spud beat all to heck. With the exception of 3 years uncle sam thought I needed to spend in Germany, I haven't missed a year(27). Ice fishing is part of my being. I live, eat and breath it. It's who I am. It has a pull deep in my sole I can't resist, kinda like the migration of animals every year. I just have to do it. This is the only place that people really understand it, and don't look at you like you should be committed, To the brotherhood of icemen I salute you.
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My third year as a serious ice fisherman. Now I enjoy it more than fishing any other time of year!
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About 20 years for me...
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18 years for me
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24 years for me ;D :clap: :thumbsup: :bow:
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30 years for me and my oldest boy is 7 and he is working his third ice season and my 3yr old sun is hitting his second talk about work but the enjoyment of taking them out is priceless the oldest like jigging and he is pretty serious about it the little man loves the tip ups he things there great set the hook give him the line and the tug of war begins
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4 for me ;D . and there's better than a :tipup: (FLAG) ;D
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This is only my second season of doing any serious ice fishing. I wish I had started 30 years ago.
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mid seventy's
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my dad started taking me regularly when i was old enough to walk. have pictures catching fish on my jiggin rod at about 3 and have been going ever since. thats about 19 or 20 years for me.
still keep it kinda simple. the only upgrades i have made is all plastic tip-ups and just last year got a new aqua-view.
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I'd go with thirty as well; though open water would be about 50. The part of PA I grew up in didn't have much of an ice fishing scene when I was young, but now the decent lakes get mobbed when there is ice, and naturally some aren't nearly as good as they were, due to over harvest and IMO ridiculous limits for panfish. Also in some cases, the introduction of additional species have screwed up the balance, as well.
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This thread is great reading.
Brings back many memories, heck I've even got a couple of them old swedish (scoop shaped) augers out in the shed. I can remember my dad dressin' up in a WW2 sheepskin bomber suit and felt pac boots.
Did anybody else ever rig their Lowrance Green Box with a motorcycle or lawn tractor battery for usin' on the ice, we even made up special sinkers with about 8" of welding rod with a 1" disk of metal soldered on to it so's we could mark our depth fishin' deep for perch. Attached our trasducers to a dowel or broomstick with hose clamps and hung it from a bucket. When the school of perch moved from under us we'd take the dowel off the bucket and shove the transducer under the ice on an angle and sweep 360 degrees until we picked 'em up and then moved that direction. Gotta figure out how to do that with my vex. ::)
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Winter 94, Marsh Creek State Park Penna.A friend told my brother about ice fishing there and we went up and self taught ourselves and moved on from there Its was one heck of a find and we did it together as brothers.
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With cable & satellite TV programs & promotions, Internet and technology development in gear; augers, flashers, portable shelters, GPS and so forth etc; just wondering how many of you if any are pre-era or have you always been user friendly. How far back do you go? Besides chopping a hole through the ice with an ax in my younger days and not having much luck, it has been fourteen years for me since I bought my auger and started regularly.
I went ice fishing for the 1st time in 1957 and started regular ice fishing in 1962
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Twenty five years or better.
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I've been ice fishing and answering this same question for over 40 years. Still never gotten tired of dealing with either one!
:tipup:
NBG
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26 years for me. i've been fishing since i could hold a rod,(i'm 46) but never even saw icefishing until i was 20. been hooked ever since! :icefish:
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Must be about 43 years for me. I can remember the first time my dad took me and when I drive by that lake today it makes my smile. :) I was bundled up like that kid in "A Christmas Story" and it took as much work as that too! Boy, did we have lousy cold weather clothes and boots compared to what we have today. Everything was cotton and when you got it wet you were screwed. The boots were those green rubber ones or galoshes and barely insulated if at all. My memory is crap but I remember that day, laying on the ice and looking down the hole we chopped with a spud, thinking how awesome it was to see "inside" the lake. Can't believe all the equipment chages we've had since those days. All we ever had was a bucket with rods, a dipper and a spud. Last year was the first year I ever missed an ice fishing season due to a broken leg. Haven't been out yet this year but I plan on going Monday to a bluegill lake my dad used to fish in the 60s.
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30 years. as soon as I could walk from the truck to the ice, Dad started taking me. Luck for me I can just remember one or two trips with my Grandpa. I can remember coming back home and my dad, grandpa and Grandma would sit and clean them. As soon as they were cleaned, out came the cast iron skillet. I can still remember watching my grandma knaw on a bluegill tail.
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Been about 6 years for me. Never went as a kid, don't know if my old man has ever been, might have to take him one of these days. Been addicted to it ever since, even more so that the guys who introduced me to it. Tightlines.
Paul
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geez, its been years. i can remember my dad letting me chop holes and me letting the chopper go after the first hole. home we went.gotta be atleast 33 years for me.
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TWENTY FIVE FOR ME
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20 years of me
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three years now wish i knew about this site three years ago
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i got turned on to it back in the 80's,, but my huntin,fishin partner wasn't ok with it since he dosn't swim..
i never new anyone else that did ,,,,but i do now..and you gotta love this website.. meeting more hard water junkies every year........
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Been ice fishin 50 yrs 1st started age 2 in 1957 still ice fish the same lake that i started on. i started my son at age 2 also on the very same lake i started on. of course used a shanty, amazing how kids love it. Love all the new electronics that we have nowdays. not to mention the ice augers, used to use a spudbar (man) bought a auger in the 80's (mora) still use it. We had ice in the 80's that the spudbar woudnt break thru at 2.5 feet thick
(crossbar stopped at 2.5 ft. on spud) Ice actually got almost 3 ft thick that yr. (Ncentral ind). I only sraight line with yellow 4lb test line, learned that from an old friend in the 80's very fun and addictive, i swear by this technique............. ......THe Gaddabout
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Been on the ice since 1950 when I was 2 years old. Lot's and lot's of good times and great fishing......although the older I get the harder it is to do things that used to come with ease.
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way over 100 :)
started in about 95 was a tipup/ no fish catcher till about 02-03 been obsessed/serious since then :) I try to get out at least 40 times a year Been out 30 already this year :o
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Open water fished all my life. A good friend got me into ice fishing around 1981-82 and all we ever did was go put out a spread of tip-ups...hang out, cook and eat (we always had plenty of food) shoot the bull and make a social event out of it. It wasn't until about ten yrs. ago that I started jigging and only the past 6-yrs or so that I began to take it seriously. Now my ice fishing is about 50/50. If I have kids along I string tip-ups and let them do the chasing. If I'm with the Mrs. I'll set the Slammers and some tip-ups and jig too, but if I'm by myself (and it seems to be more so nowadays) I just jig. It all depends on where I'm fishing and who's along. For the most part, I've been ice fishing for about 25-26 yrs...WK
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Wow :woot:, someone needs to add up all these years! That kind of experience all in one place is why this Website is #1. Thanks to all who shared.
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34 yrs for me. Started when I was 10. Uncle's and cousins got me started.
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I've been icefishign about 15 years, and really diehard about it for around 8.
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I've been ice fishing for about 8 yrs now and love it, actually i jigged for the first time the other day and it was great, always wondered what peaple did when the fishing was slow, i would drink beer and sit by the fire usually!! lol!!
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23 years , my dad used to pull me out onto the ice on a sled when the snow was too deep , and I used to have to bring exta boots and pants due to falling in the snow covered holes . Sure do love the sport and what kind of lifestyle it opened up for me , it was the first type of fishing I was involved in , and now we have this site that helps the sport out so much more ( saves on the gas also with the guys posting conditions )
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:)I never get enough of the ice, only been doin it since 1954 and I still have my first tipups, if only they could talk. :tipup: :tipup:
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3 yrs for me.
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My Dad, god rest his soul, introduced me to the sport when I was around 4....i'm 42 now and have been at it ever since! That's like 38yrs...seems like just yesterday! Miss ya pops!! :tipup:
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I have ice fished with my dad since I can remember. I did take a break durin the relationship of my ex wife because she thought that the money for the lincense and everything should be spent on her. But after that ended i am back to diehard again. and I love it
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55 years, and I sure have seen a lot of changes in equipment, methods, and fish populations over all those years. I just keep changing with the times and never plan to quit.
I even gave away a house willed to me in Florida 'cause I don't want to leave New York or the NorthEast. There ain't no good ice in Florida. ;D
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Been on the ice for twelve years, used a hand auger all the way up to this year, finally bought a gaser.
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went every once and a while with my dad when i was 5 now that i am 16 i started alot more
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20 years for me but had a few off when i lived in Guam!
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life. ;D
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on and off since i was able to hold a rod! but the last four years as much as possible!
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Since
I was 4 yrs old n I am almost 30.
Many more to come
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13 years on the ice,18 years open water.
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25 yrs +. back when you pretty much had the entire lake to yourself
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Well, I am trying to remember the first time ice fishing...I started about 20 years ago more or less. I have been open water fishing since i was 10 years old down at the SK River Weir. Have had many of enjoyable trips with old freinds and made a lot of new ones. It is a great sport luv it.
Take Care
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about 10 yrs.
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about 1 month ;D
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45 for me, started at 5 carrying one trap and a milk jug with two minnows.
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15 yrs. 1st 5 on a bucket in the open. Last 10 in a 2 man fish trap,(best investment I've made) Got my son started last season at age 4.
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First time in 1977. still got the pictures of all those perch, My Dad, Tony Buffa, and a teenager named Poncho? Remember Tony? Been hooked ever since! Everything about the sport is better now including the fishing!
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8 years here
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With cable & satellite TV programs & promotions, Internet and technology development in gear; augers, flashers, portable shelters, GPS and so forth etc; just wondering how many of you if any are pre-era or have you always been user friendly. How far back do you go? Besides chopping a hole through the ice with an ax in my younger days and not having much luck, it has been fourteen years for me since I bought my auger and started regularly.
Second year on the ice for me. I think my friend thinks he has created a monster, but I cant get enough of it now. ;D
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i have been ice fishing for20 years now and i love it . its my most favorite thing to do.
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Roughly 35 on and off. Something about sitting on a lake and catching fish....lol YA gotta love it.....
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14 years ;D
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18 years
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16 yrs for me
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Started fishing 40 years
Icefishing.....37 :tipup:
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8 years here
25 years it like fine wine it only get better with age.
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Let's see, I'm 23 so....
Ice fishing for around 19 years or so, fishing in general for 20.
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50 years wow and skinny bob has been fishing with me for 35
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About 10 years but im only 15 im hoping the rest of my life
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I have been ice fishing for over 25 years. The most time on the ice for one weekend, was 28 hours.
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44 years.
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25 years and im 33
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30 years for me started when I was 12 ;)