If I read your post right you mean around the hole (Not the hole itself). I always clean around my hole for the reason Bill Dance says....BIG FISH. And when your fighting fish (Especially lakers), you don't want your line hung up on ice chards that you have created. When you catch a big one you have to get your hand in the water (Never lift with line or bye bye fish) to get him out, so if ice/slush is cleared away you have more room to grab them and less distance to lift.
But if your talking my actual hole then thats a whole new ball game. I like em dirty for lakers then when you catch one you have lots of time (Well at least 5 minutes) to scoop your hole and lots of times getting a laker in is a 2 man job. As buddy has one on, I'm there cleaning his hole and holding his line out to middle of hole as the many runs of lakers tend to get the line cut into the ice edge near bottom of hole.
