whats the biggest item you've forgot to bring for an ice fishing

[aquarium234]

Lets have some fun, I know we all have some good stories, I"ll start, When I was first getting into ice fishing me and my buddy loaded up his truck, snowmobile, dogsled (barrowed), Tip ups, shanty, food, loaded everything drove an hour and a half to lake Champlain, unloaded loaded up the sled drove out on the ice, at this point I then ask my buddy, hey Where's the ice auger...........We had everything even the gas but no auger, we had taken it out to load the shack and left it leaning against his shack. Luckily for us the neiboring ice fishermen let us barrow their huskavana Ice auger to drill our holes. I did not realize at the time how expensive that auger was that they let us borrow. They saved are day and I'll always remember their generosity to save our trip. IF there reading this THANKS AGAIN :-)
Anyone else got a good oops.....

[candyok]

We all have our stores, mine is driving one hour to my fish house and leaving the keys at home. In this case the neighbors were no help. (hide a key  solved that)

[ActiveTrapChecker]

It occurred to me that i forgot my auger en route to the lake. Thankfully i noticed at a gas station 5 miles from home so retrieving it wasn't too bad. I called by fishing buddies to let them know I was being delayed (never told them why) via cell in the gas station parking lot. When I arrived with auger in hand, I realized I no longer had my cell phone. It fell out of my pocket as I got back in my car and was left behind at the gas station

All this and the bite was slow all day!

[jethro]

I forgot my traps once... kinda an important item.

[pyro261]

I didn't forget to bring it along, but I did forget stuff in the truck... Twice.

I took a 2.5 hour drive north to fish Grand Traverse Bay 2 years ago.  Was probably a good mile hike out to where we were fishing.  We get nearly there and I realized I forgot the minnow bucket.

I grab the minnow bucket and walk back out there.  Probably 3/4 of the way out there I realized I forgot my transducer for my flasher (I had taken it off for some reason I can't even remember why anymore).

I got about 6 miles worth of walking in that day

[Whytie]

Forgot my boots when it was minus -30C. I was 2 hours form home and didn't want to ruin the day by heading back. Normally I run and gun but this time I drilled a few holes besides the truck and didn't catch a thing. Went home with cold toes and a new checklist I go over every time I leave to go fishing.

Another time I forgot toilet paper. left to fish wearing a long sleeve shirt came back with a muscle shirt.

[filetandrelease]

I leave most everything in my shack , my lunch and thermos happens once in a while , I do sometimes leave stuff in my truck and I get a little extra exercise , and it seems to happen on the more unpleasant days and yes my buds do give me the old senile ribbing , I just tell them I did it on purpose to level up the playing field lol

[Beerslushy]

I seem to forget my sunglasses on the brightest days of the season and end up frying my eyeballs. I guess  I never learn.

[hardwater diehard]

Small items mostly ...bait pucks come to mind ...one time couldn't find it in the outer pocket (while on the ice)of my SI Climate parka..now everything has a home...in my parka or  packed away in square deli buckets and hard sided  pistol cases ...and every thing gets returned to those buckets and pockets and cases . I also use a small dollar store dry erase board as a check list ....at the tail end of the season I have forgotten to apply sunscreen ...once or twice .

[BigSling]

Worst thing (so far) has fortunately just been bait. Didn't realize it until I had pulled out the shack, drilled holes, and was ready to drop a line.

[Chris338378]

I've forgotten stuff in my truck a few times but not at home since my gear stays in my truck all season and the only things that come out are the stuff the needs to be thawed out or charged up.

[bldfrt]

I've forgot bait a few times which ended up alright in forcing me to learn a little bit about artificial. Worst for me though I forgot my bibs once on an overnight. Luckily a couple people with me had pants in there cars so I wore 3 pair of pants with long johns and tried to stay out of too much slop. That many pants wasn't real comfortable but better than freezing

[DR.SPECKLER]

i forgot the auger before but been lucky for open holes or borrowing a auger from somebody out on the ice.but when I forget my vexilar I pack up and go get it regardless how far I'm away from home.

[Evan Pheneger]

Ditto on forgetting the auger. This was early ice and we were planning on bringing the hand nils to cut through about 4" of ice. Luckily we did have the spud bar along and had a fun day catching crappies through jenky chiseled out ice holes 

[Joe Henry]

Lets see .... Forgot Auger once,  The Bait another time and the best one ... I forgot to pick up my fishing buddy! and this was long before cell phones too so I couldn't even call him to tell him that I was on my way back to get him (1 hour drive).

[1MOFISH]

i forgot my bibs well i took the wrong ones my wifes lol.it was bogger frezin out so i squeezed into them and fished but i was so uncomfortable it messed my whole day up.its a problem when your set in your ways i choke when i have to improvise,thats why i bring the DOMINATOR he dont know or dont care where we fish just get me a hole dad ill catch fish
GOD BLESS
mo

[pikeinator]

Forgot my sons boots.  Ran to a sears near the lake and got brand new ones.   

[UFCreel]

It was late February.  The shallow water crappie were on fire. We had rain the night before.  The roads were just a sheet of ice. I had been fishing with a buddy the day before. Put all my gear in the garage.  Loaded everything in the truck at 4am. Started the 45 minute drive.  Got about half way to our destination.  It then dawned on me I forgot my shotgun case that holds my long rods. I had been driving for an hour. Turned around retrieved my poles. Heading back. When I finally got to the lake. The crappie were still there and they were biting on almost every drop.Turned out to be a great day.

[luv2fish2]

got five miles out lake erie and realized i forgot my  case full of rods , my buddy lent me one of his luckily !

[uncleshorty]

Way back in the '60s my dad used to drive me, my brother and a buddy or two out to the lake early on a Sat.  He'd come back around dusk & pick us up.

We didn't have an auger, we used a piece of leaf spring welded to an iron pipe.  While my brother and I set up the shelter dad had built us, my buddy took the spud bar and began to bang out a hole.  Zip, slip, lo and behold, the spud bar was on the bottom.  And the hole wasn't big enough to fish.

The lake was 20 miles from home.  There was no telephone near by and it would have been "long distance" anyway.  So we spent the day sliding on the ice and tying pieces of smelt to a line, trying to catch seagulls.

The next spud bar dad brought home had a 16" tee welded to the top...

[800stealth]

Never forgot ice gear but a few summers ago I drove 5 hours to the lake with the boat fully loaded up with camping gear, food and everything else need to camp on the lake a few days... except for the keys to the boat.
I can tell you with hindsight that it is much cheaper to drive home and get the key to a Nitro/Optimax combo than to punch the ignition with a leatherman... There is now a spare key stashed in the boat and the truck...

[bart]

I forgot my coat one time, it was a chilly ride on the sled! Thank goodness for the Fish Trap and the Mr. Heater!

[tomertim]

Live bait a few times. 

Took my daughter backpacking when she was five.  Forgot the snacks, which she reminds me of every time were in the outdoors.

[river rat78]

Forgot my bag with my ice fishing poles in them. Left them on top of the atv in the garage.

[Gillgrabber]

My Wife.....no wait....that was on purpose.

[DaveSS1]

Never forgot ice gear but a few summers ago I drove 5 hours to the lake with the boat fully loaded up with camping gear, food and everything else need to camp on the lake a few days... except for the keys to the boat.
I can tell you with hindsight that it is much cheaper to drive home and get the key to a Nitro/Optimax combo than to punch the ignition with a leatherman... There is now a spare key stashed in the boat and the truck...

Yep, did that about 20 years ago.  My job was to get the keys off the hook in the pantry where the key was stored.  Pulled up to the launch and Dad said, you got the keys..... oh crap... well needless to say he launched the boat and decided to fish using the trolling motor with his buddy and handed me a quarter to find a pay phone and see if I can get hold of mom to meet me half way back...luckily we were only 1 hour away and luckily after about 20 rings mom answered the phone...  never again have I forgot the keys, but I do need to get a back-up to store in the boat! Maybe I will do that now!

[bowmandan]

Why take the key out?

[Peccavi18]

I forgot my jacket that had my sunglasses, lures, pliers, gloves, heat packs, and safety picks. I tried to make do but it was a brutally windy cold day before i had a tent and I eventually gave up.

[sandhillguy]

Have forgotten the auger once, pulled a steel t-post I temporarily robbed  from a nearby fenceline and pounded out a hole, auger wouldn't run once, had to do the same, have also forgot the flasher, that one really sucks, I hate fishing blind, also forgot the bait, luckily some nearby fellow fisherman had extra, they didn't catch much that day, I did, I gave my catch to them since they came from much farther away for the outing.

[Ice Scratcher]

Because I hardly ever buy minnows, I've left my intended bucket for the day behind a couple times now...

I've actually gotten to a point of where I really should have a check list before leaving...

Compass, GPS, second GPS spare batteries for the GPSs, auger, poles, bait, propane, bait, headlamp..etc

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