Does Anybody Fish The Old Fashioned Way? W Out Gadgets/Electronics

[hnd]

if you are going to admire the scenery, then you get your best opportunity doing that without a flasher.  i spent years spending most of my time staring at scenery before buying a flasher.   Getting a flasher quintupled my fishing catch rate. 

I get old guys who tell me they'll outfish me without all that fancy stuff and i say you are on and its generally not even close. 

i admire doing it the old way.  for my grandfather before he passed, it took him back to a time when thats all he had.  so i enjoyed tip up fishing with him.  we didn't catch much but he told stories and we enjoyed it.  We didn't ever catch much fish.  I can tell you the first time he set his hands on electronics (fish lokator) though it changed everything for him.    when he first saw gps mapping on a unit he just sat back in his fishing chair and laughed for a good 15 minutes.   just amazed. 

[2MuchStuff]

I have taught a few well more than a few kids to ice fish.
It gets them outside in the winter and away from tv's
There is a back bay where it is about 8 feet deep.
Its where they build a hockey rink every year
I start them all out with a jigging stick no schooley reel just the posts
I tie on a long shanked gold Aberdeen #6 with a split shot and a pin on bobber.
we fish minnows, and almost allows catch em.
Most of them have grown up to be either fisherman or hockey players.

[Dirty P]

Each to there own. I've been ice fishing my whole life and only the last 5 have I had any of the new school items. This includes my own hut and sonar. My dad had a hut when I was a little kid but that was many moons ago. There were so many days and nights on a cold and windy frozen lake without tip ups just jigging rods and a hand auger drilling through 18"+ of ice.when I graduated from college my mom asked if I wanted any graduation present and I said I wanted a gas auger. Since then it's been what will make ice fishing easier, warmer, and safer. By doing this it has allowed me to have more fun, not that I didn't enjoy ice fishing before but now I can take my family with me and take new people who have never ice fished before. I have taking people in years past, but it was so dang cold and windy I didn't have the gear to keep them warm or to find fish. Now they are hard pressed on going again. Now there's no comparison ice fishing has gone from being something I did alone to something anyone I take will enjoy it as much as I have my whole life. By the way the first time I saw a fish finder used for ice fishing was in the 80's, early 90's. So is the "new school" really that new or is it "old school" with new tech. But as I said before each to there own.

[GCD]

mono mono, I see that you're at least computer savvy. Do you carry a cell phone, is it a smart phone or a flip phone?

Do you not use sonar and gps because of the great expense? If so, there are cheaper options out there that will get you in the techno game and help you have more fun while catching more fish.

[Light liner]

I have limited time to fish, I'm not going to bounce bottom somewhere where's there's no fish.
I fish to catch fish.

[tomertim]

I used to go out with the family with just a the hand auger and tent.  We would catch a fish here and there but for the most part, it was pretty slow.

Now we added a flasher to the mix about five years ago and things started getting really fun.  My wife went with me two weeks ago and raved about how much fun it was to see it come on the screen and then be able to get her bait to the right depth.  Our catch rate has went through the roof in comparison.

Now the screen issue is another thing.  Seems like we spend our whole lives in front of computer screens, phones, ipads, televisions, and now unfortunately, an electronic screen for fishing.  But still, I find it's well worth it given how many more fish we catch.

[fishermantim]

It really just boils down to two things:

Are you fishing to catch food for your family or are you fishing to have fun?

[kfitz52981]

For 34 years I fished old school.  I fished the same few spots on the same few lakes all the time.  Over the years I found myself fishing the shallower spots on the clearer lakes.  I got a lot of sore backs "sight" fishing these same holes but I also caught a lot of fish.  There is a knowledge learned fishing this way that you can't reproduce fishing with electronics.  However I did this for financial not moral reasons.  In my 35th year I moved to a new state.  I started fishing new waters and eventually bought a flasher.  I have been more successful which has led me to fish a lot more water than I ever did before.  Did I have fun fishing old school, you bet, but I am a lot happier now than I was then.  I am a carpenter and I won't give you my nail gun or corded saw if you told me you used to build houses old school.

[Crappyfishrman]

I see deer hunting being compared to ice fishing. I would say using a trail camera would be the same as sonar. You are trying to see if a spot has deer and if so, how big the deer are. I like to know how big and if a spot has deer so I use trail cameras.

It's funny with the old schooler's. About everytime I'm out and I'm fishing near a group or a guy with just a pole and auger walk by and they see me fishing with a sonar, they ask a ton of questions. Like, are the fish suspended, big schools, or plain are there fish down there haha. I went fishing for the first time with a guy who fishes old school and has no plans to buy a sonar. But everytime I went out to check a tipup a or talk to another buddy in his shack, when I got back he would have my sonar in his hole. I love my flasher. Period

[Scottm]

We do

[burck17]

This is my first year with electronics and I just use a regular boat sonar and hand GPS with no maps loaded so I'm still way behind, but I have had my catch rate rocket since starting that

[yoopermjm]

Like many here, I've done both. I did well at old school fishing for a long time, but then the fish population seemed to drop in so many places. My son went with me and had a blast when it was good, but when it dropped off and we got skunked a few too many times, he lost interest. I was beginning to lose interest too, and while I love just being out there, it's not quite enough for me, because I was going less and less. Then I bought a flasher a few years ago and everything changed. I still get to be out there and I like to think that's still the most important thing for me, but now that I'm catching fish, I have a greater desire to be out there much more often. This year, after 7 trips to the ice, I have yet to be skunked one time. Mind you, I'm no great fisherman, I just love going out and the flasher makes it so much more rewarding. We've also enjoyed had many fish dinners already.

I have no problem with old school fishing, I enjoy it. But it's much more fun catching fish, or even knowing that you should be and so trying new techniques to change your presentation.

[Gills-only]

I do!!               No flasher here!

[10point]

I have no electronics for ice fishing and as long as I get like 1 day to ice fish like it appears it's going to be this year I probably will not get any. I've thought about converting my boat humminbird to ice but can't justify it only fishing a few days a year. Lots of other fishing/hunting items I could spend my money on.

[Colorado Coldfoot]

I was a traditionalist for my first two decades because I was poor! Then my wife gave birth to our four kids in my third decade and it was at this time that I realized if I was going to continue ice fishing I needed a power auger!! Five holes through twenty inches of ice got real old real fast!!
Then two Shappell 3000 huts to keep the young'ens warm, and from there it has just been a plethora of cool equipment, graphs, cameras, hub shelters etc., etc., and Now that I am in my fifth decade, I can honestly say I haven't missed sitting on a bucket freezing my butt off, jigging over an empty hole.
There is nothing better than stalking fish across a frozen lake with electronics!

[PondIce82]

No camera or flasher here, but don't mean I don't want one!
My buddies and I usually just hit the local farm ponds that we know from summer and previous seasons and don't do to bad, but not going to say that we couldn't do better if we had a flasher.

[Dean Nelson]

For 34 years I fished old school.  I fished the same few spots on the same few lakes all the time.  Over the years I found myself fishing the shallower spots on the clearer lakes.  I got a lot of sore backs "sight" fishing these same holes but I also caught a lot of fish.  There is a knowledge learned fishing this way that you can't reproduce fishing with electronics.  However I did this for financial not moral reasons.  In my 35th year I moved to a new state.  I started fishing new waters and eventually bought a flasher.  I have been more successful which has led me to fish a lot more water than I ever did before.  Did I have fun fishing old school, you bet, but I am a lot happier now than I was then.  I am a carpenter and I won't give you my nail gun or corded saw if you told me you used to build houses old school.

And therein lies the new reality.....my first question to my buddy's after they have been fishing is not what did you catch but how many did you mark. The world we live in now the guy with the vex has a huge advantage over the one who doesn't and if conditions allow the one with a camera has a huge advantage over the guy who only has a flasher. For those of us who are old enough or poor enough that we fished the old way there was normally the same question going through our heads that still goes through our heads to this day on open water....simply put the question is are they not there or are they not biting? A guy with a vex knows the answer to the question vary quickly so he can make an educated decision on what to do next. If they are not there move on and if they are there change up what you are doing or using. The guy with the camera can laugh when he sees a flustered guy with a vex because he knows the marks are nothing but carp or some other non-target fish like 4 inch perch.

[justin1234]

i came across some guys fishing a little lake in iowa that just schooled me using slip bobbers, hand linining and no sonar recently.   i got a maybe 12 fish in the time it took the other guy to get 20.   its not all gear!    he was in a really hot hole too though!

[corny13]

Nope.....at least not for about 30 years...

[MrE1979]

Mono, I am 37 and I fish.  By fish I mean going out with my auger and tilts no fancy electronics to mess with.  I will say I do use florocarbon leaders tho and have noticed a difference in my catch amount.  I am not out catching fish to eat so if I catch 1 or 100 I could care less.  I enjoy being outside.  I think it takes more skill to learn a pond by sounding your holes than to stick a flasher in a hole to tell you how deep it is.   All these new electronics take the skill out of fishing.   Might as well just call it catching.  How hard is it to watch a screen and see the fish come to your lure?  Not very.   So in response to your post.  Yes there are still some people who fish the "Old Fashioned" way and I am proud to be one of them.

[wyogator]

A couple of weeks ago, I was headed to the lake and realized about half way there that I forgot my fishfinder.  I turned around, went home and got it.  This weekend, I remembered my fish finder and GPS.  However, when I got to the lake, I went into my waypoints and found all of my honey holes were missing.  I have no idea how this happened.  My hunting spots were still there. But, the fishing spots were dumped.  I still had my fishfinder though.  So, I went out to the general area and fished.  I got skunked, but at least I could see the fish refusing my presentation. Years ago, I fished with a 5 gallon bucket, one jigging rod a couple of tipups and a Coleman heater (no shelter, not even a windbreak) to keep my hands warm. I had a cheap plastic kids sled to put everything in. The little amount of stuff I had barely fit, but I could pull it through a foot of snow with one finger. Then I got a cheap Eagle fishfinder.  It had a boat transducer that I had to rig with a 2x4, but hey, it worked. The next year, I finally got a 2 man flip-over.  Now, two fishfinders later and a buddy heater, all I need is an ATV to pull everything in my Otter Magnum sled.  I have really good memories of those early days. But, I don't think I could do it over again unless I had to. It would be like giving up my computer, cell phone, TV and microwave. Actually, I could probably do without the TV.

[justin1234]

eletronics dont catch fish, people do!    having a flasher is pretty fun though!

[Dean Nelson]

Mono, I am 37 and I fish.  By fish I mean going out with my auger and tilts no fancy electronics to mess with.  I will say I do use florocarbon leaders tho and have noticed a difference in my catch amount.  I am not out catching fish to eat so if I catch 1 or 100 I could care less.  I enjoy being outside.  I think it takes more skill to learn a pond by sounding your holes than to stick a flasher in a hole to tell you how deep it is.   All these new electronics take the skill out of fishing.   Might as well just call it catching.  How hard is it to watch a screen and see the fish come to your lure?  Not very.   So in response to your post.  Yes there are still some people who fish the "Old Fashioned" way and I am proud to be one of them.

Well that is some insanely flawed logic! So you're telling me a fly fisherman standing in a mountain stream sight fishing cutthroats isn't fishing he just catching? I'm also sure you care vary much if you catch 1 or 100! The fact is you're setting an arbitrary line in the sand on what technology you're willing to use and that's fine. But in the end your OK with a power auger and probably new rods and tackle and cloths that will keep you warm and toasty but not sonars and cameras. Every person on here knows one inalienable truth and that is it doesn't matter if you know where they are if you can't make them bite!!! The new gear is very good at telling you if they are there and what catches their eye but it doesn't change the fact you still need to find them in the first place.

[Adkrs]

No electronics for me this year, but I will next year. Miss having a flasher

[MrE1979]

Well that is some insanely flawed logic! So you're telling me a fly fisherman standing in a mountain stream sight fishing cutthroats isn't fishing he just catching? I'm also sure you care vary much if you catch 1 or 100! The fact is you're setting an arbitrary line in the sand on what technology you're willing to use and that's fine. But in the end your OK with a power auger and probably new rods and tackle and cloths that will keep you warm and toasty but not sonars and cameras. Every person on here knows one inalienable truth and that is it doesn't matter if you know where they are if you can't make them bite!!! The new gear is very good at telling you if they are there and what catches their eye but it doesn't change the fact you still need to find them in the first place.

Here I'll color code this so you can figure out what I am saying.

No he is using a skill that I am sure he has acquired over a period of time.  He first had to learn how to fly fish.  He then had to learn how to work the fly in order to make the fish bite.

Nope like I stated in my original post I enjoy being outdoors.  Fishing is calming I don't wanna be running around with my flasher seeing if the fish are under the ice.  I like relaxing on the ice.

Yup I am.  I do have a chisel that I use when the ice isn't stupid thick.  But a power auger makes opening a hole in 6"+ of ice easier.  It's not finding the fish for me.  If it was I wouldn't use it.

Nope I fish with tip ups

Yup no one wants to freeze there arse off. Again they are not showing me where the fish are. If they were I wouldn't use them.

Nope I think they are a waste of money and could care less about them.  I have a fish finder for my fresh water boat that I don't use, and I still catch fish.

Now if you wanna talk about Ocean fishing then YES I do use electronics because the ocean is HUGE and I can't learn it as easy as I can learn local ponds. 

[MattR]

So we all started out ice fishing with ALL the best gear, ALL the most expensive gadgets, and ALL the knowledge to catch the most fish, right?

Be serious, We only bought the gadgets because we wanted it to be easier to catch fish...PERIOD!

I have 3 augers, one which is a power auger, and it hasn't been used in a couple of years. (by choice)
Sure I have a Showdown, but if I go fishing with kids I will let them use it so that they can "see" the fish before they strike, further instilling the fun of fishing in them.

I did just that this weekend, and resorted to the "old school" method of how I learned to jig.

I out fished the kids by a lot just by fishing by "feel".

Keep in mind that there WILL BE a day when the gadgets will fail, and you will either have to go home or go old school, and if you don't know how to do the latter, you WILL do the former!

The sad thing is some will NEVER understand that.

[slipperybob]

Just the other day, I was figuring my location by using landmarks and the judgment of angles in relation to other landmarks.  Then I plop myself down and say, this is a good spot.  No more than and hour later, watched these folks walking and staring at a device in there hand.  They looked like they were walking towards me but just slightly offset by about 20 feet.  They walked past without so much a glanced my way. They just kept staring at this device in their hand.  Smartphone? GPS?  Camera?  Then they just halted and drilled exactly on the spot like a precise sixth sense. 

[mono_mono]

Thanks guys! I have enjoyed reading each and every one of your replies. For starters, I sure do have a smart phone, a TomTom and obviously a computer!! lol - I spend 40 hours a week on one at work.

One guy mentioned that our whole lives are spent with our faces stuck to an electronic screen......Now, even while ice fishing!

Life would be tough without todays devices, and I like most of us depend on them. Should ice fishing be tough without them, and become dependent on them? I guess based on some of the replies here, YES. In fact we could probably start a whole new thread that would read something like this "Would You Ice Fish Without Anything That Requires A Battery" Something tells me about 30% would never do it again! which is fine! Life is about choices anyways, right? And in 2016 we have LOTS of ways to do the same one thing.

Now......Somebody PLEASE explain to me what a flasher is before I Google it!

Thanks!

[Gills-only]

Mono, I am 37 and I fish.  By fish I mean going out with my auger and tilts no fancy electronics to mess with.  I will say I do use florocarbon leaders tho and have noticed a difference in my catch amount.  I am not out catching fish to eat so if I catch 1 or 100 I could care less.  I enjoy being outside.  I think it takes more skill to learn a pond by sounding your holes than to stick a flasher in a hole to tell you how deep it is.   All these new electronics take the skill out of fishing.   Might as well just call it catching.  How hard is it to watch a screen and see the fish come to your lure?  Not very.   So in response to your post.  Yes there are still some people who fish the "Old Fashioned" way and I am proud to be one of them.

                        My thoughts exactly!!

[MrE1979]

                        My thoughts exactly!!

Thanks Gills.  Some people on here think I have some "insane logic".  Glad to see I am not the only "insane" person on here. Lol