When Ice Fishing was a $4 dollar jigging rod from K-Mart and a pickle bucket

[TACP]

I started ice fishing in 1985 at the age of 10. I was hooked immediately!  My journey as an avid ice fisherman has brought me back full circle, and for the better I must say. Lately, I am just fed up with $169 jigging rod reel combos and $49 dollar tip ups! Easily an ice angler can rack up $1500 on sonar, shelter, heater, auger and tackle!  We are long removed from the days when an empty Sucrets tin filled with various Swedish pimples and a burlap sack to keep our perch in were some of the tools of the trade.  I like technology and apps to put me on the right water contours coupled with sonar to pinpoint the structure to fish on, these advances really up the odds of catching fish, unlike the old days of trial and error. Getting back to my original gripe I've decided to build my on fiberglass (yes fiberglass not graphite) jigging rods with the plastic Dema Schooley reels. Building my own tip ups and tip downs and tying my own ice flies. I'm more satisfied with my angling experiences and I'm catching more fish than ever since I decided to ditch some of the ridiculous, outrageously priced gear that appears to be more suited to catching fisherman than fish! Ice fishing to me when I was a husky kid hustling for a dozen or so perch was a full days work. Lugging around a 35 LB. spud bar that was my Grandfathers he kept from the ice box days.  A red sled with a $4 K-Mart jigging rod equipped with Shakespeare monofilament line and Russian hook, a ladle and small tin with assorted Swedish pimples, all of witch resided in a pickle bucket that tipped over every 10 or so feet dragging my sled! What a blast working for a perch dinner was as a kid. By reconnecting in some ways with my ice fishing past I have envigored a spirit of boundless excitement and optimism that until recently lay dormant within my memories. The feel of working the old plastic reels using my thumb as drag and the heavy, varnished hickory wood handles of my jigging rods has put some of the sport and hunger back in the game.  I will never forget those lessons learned when the circle was started all those years ago when enthusiasm and optimism were my best lures in my tin.

[Agronomist_at_IA]

I totally agree with you on how very idiotic prices have become on things.......$150 rods seem more common at stores then not.

People can still get into ice fishing pretty reasonable.

$8 ice blues. Paired with a $5 Shakespeare reel from the outlit store with line. $1.50 plastic and jig. Under $15 you can pile up the panfish and never need to buy bait, and not have to spend big money.

[slipperybob]

I don't remember where that pegged fishing dowel rod disappeared to.  I still remember them cool dark blue Trilene XL fishing line.  Heck I was comfortable with fishing 20# nylon lines.  Still caught fish.  Best was the can and line method.  Well at some point I changed over to the plastic water bottle.  Way better than a cold steel can on the fingers.  And if the plastic water bottle goes for a swim...LOL at least it floated so it can be saved.  Good times.  Even brought out the full open water fishing pole.

The whole point for me was changing line poundage.  I admit that with the spinning reel, I was using 14# test fishing line as opposed to the 20# test fishing line.  At some point I started to purchase better reels and was dropping my fishing line test and was catching more fish.  Still being somewhat a young adult, I only saw that a reel was a reel and if someone was using a $100 or more equipment, they were nuts.  I still like my Ugly Sticks.  Then again I did move away from them Ugly Sticks.  Blame it on St. Croix Rods and Shimano Reels. 

Who stolen my pickle bucket!?  I miss that pickle bucket.

[Iceassin]

I still think about the good old days quite often. That being the 60's for me. Plain and simple ice fishing. One thing I've noticed about the "advancement of technology" in ice fishing...the more "stuff" people seem to have in putting fish on the ice...the angrier they can become. I'll just leave it at that. 

[zcm_82]

It does blow my mind just how complicated and expensive people have made fishing, both open water, and through the ice. I keep things pretty simple, myself.This is my entire rig... no electronics, no fancy doodads, just my DX3000, a small flat box of tackle, a hand auger and skimmer, alcohol burner for heat, and the buckets double as seats. I mean it is certainly more expensive than the stuff I used as a kid, but nowhere near the level of complexity I see some guys hauling out on the ice these days.

I'm just out for fun, and I catch enough fish to keep me happy, so I see no need to get my rig any more expensive or complicated than I have it now. Everyone has their own tastes, and mine is simple and cheap 😁

[lefty2053]

I am still using Ugly Stick rods and have the simplest Electronics in the Marcum Troller 2.0.. I have a bucket and a sled this year. Last year I sold the Popup tent, Heater and gas auger. I now have just the Russian Nero hand augers and a Drill. I made the Sled a Wind Break. I have several Different Jigs and Lures and wont be buying anything else.

[stuckinohio]

Its the same with most everything.
My big thing is Bowhunting and I see there what you see here (Ice fishing) as to pricing.
The labor and material costs have not changed too much from 20 years ago and yet, the price is 500% higher.

The reason (why) is due to the customer base. No manufacturer is going to keep pricing at $1. when people are wanting/willing to pay $5.
If $5. jigs didnt sell, those same jigs would come down to $4. If they didnt sell at $4 then they would come down to $3 and so on.

Companies existed forever on 100% mark up against costs. Today they dont have too, as the saying of fools and their money are soon parted, today finds the fools are standing in lines miles deep

[krispcritter]

Have to agree with all. I still have and use my $5 schoolie rod from Kmart that I got when I was around 12 years old. It's a bit shorter now as the tip has been broken off at least twice. But as I sit in my hut jigging with it and looking at all the other stuff I have I often ponder why do I have all this stuff. Used to be the rod, a wrenching bar to punch a hole and a shoestring to put fish on.

[stuckinohio]

As one of the fools (I spoke of) I will say that my memory of the good 'ol days also involved a tough young man who seemingly never tired and had endless amounts of strength/energy.
Much of my stuff today was purchased and is used in compensation for the fact that those young man qualities are also memories today.

That tent & Heater are pretty sweet when compared to sitting on a bait bucket. At least that what my feet and hands claim.
That electric auger is pretty sweet when compared to the old ice chisel. At least thats what my shoulders claim.
That equipment sled is pretty sweet when compared to the back pack. At least thats what my lower back claims.

[zcm_82]

As one of the fools (I spoke of) I will say that my memory of the good 'ol days also involved a tough young man who seemingly never tired and had endless amounts of strength/energy.
Much of my stuff today was purchased and is used in compensation for the fact that those young man qualities are also memories today.

That tent & Heater are pretty sweet when compared to sitting on a bait bucket. At least that what my feet and hands claim.
That electric auger is pretty sweet when compared to the old ice chisel. At least thats what my shoulders claim.
That equipment sled is pretty sweet when compared to the back pack. At least thats what my lower back claims.

I never was one to just sit open ice, even as a young man full of energy 🤣 I sure don't miss my first "portable" fish house, though. It was plywood, 2x2, and conduit deal built as a sort of primitive Bay Runner type thing. Even when I was like 18-20 it was about all I could do to get it in and out of the back of my Bronco without killing myself. I never weighed it, but it had to be pushing 150 pounds. 🤪 I didn't keep that one very long.

I do still wish I had the old spoon auger my Dad used when I was a kid, though, just for nostalgia. He got rid of it when he upgraded to a Mora.

[Sylvanboat]

I am a cyclist in addition to a fisherman. I just spent $3200 on a carbon bike frame and that did not include all the components.  Where does it end?  I don’t know.

[river_scum]

very low budget here so old is in. lol  I probably spent the most money on fishing stuff in the 80s early 90s.  but that was nothing compared to top spenders.  a lot of my rods came from garage sales. 200$ combos for 20$s hardly used because they couldn't cast it rite.lol  I have and still use my grandpas abu reels for heavy work. never made loads of money so im "cheap". on the plus side, its really exhilarating to battle big fish on something that feels like its gona break. lmao

couple years back I stuck this 9#er (bass)on just such a rod n reel. 2# leader on a schoolie with modified drag, ice blue rod, on late ice. i had the fish on once and the #14 hook popped loose.(was deep jigging gills)  luckily she hit again a short time later. then all hell broke loose.  the video is on here somewhere, its a riot.  I was brutally owned by the hog, that I figured was a cat and would never get to see. she tangled in 2 lines almost drug one down the hole in a 5-10min. battle.  hook just barely in the lip skin when it came up. that fight would have been a bit easier with a modern reel but not as much fun.   many of such battles clutter my memories over the years.

let the old times live on!

[Gunflint]

A cheap jigging rod from K-Mart and a pickle bucket still works.

BUT...

It never worked very well for Lake Trout, at least for me.

Because it didn't work so well, it wasn't nearly as much fun. Caught far fewer fish. Got less exercise than I do now hauling 100 pounds of expensive gear.

[taxi1]

I remember my first ice fishing trip. My dad made tip ups out of a piece of a broom stick, the ends with a section of coat hanger and a loop on the end for the line to go through, another piece of wire into the other end with flag on it, and the legs out of a coat hanger. When a fish (catfish) grabbed the bait the tip up got pulled into the hole but the legs keep it from going down. The flag on the end stuck straight up. The line was wrapped on the broomstick piece with two nails.

[DowneastPescador]

There is a specialized tool for every situation. In fly fishing, spin fishing, ice fishing, ocean fishing, etc. if you pursue fish in all or many of these situations you want the right tools for the job. Hence I spend a lot of money to have a kit for every situation. 7wt fly rod for bass, pop up tent and ice saw for sight fishing through the ice. Garmin fish finder to set my baits just where I want them and have confidence in my set. Every year I buy something new or replace something. It will never end as long as I pursue new horizons in fishing.

[Redneck Fishfinder]

K-Mart used to have an amazing fishing section in general. That has changed dramatically. Now everything is made so cheap but priced so expensive, and if you want a rod/reel combo that's half decent you have to spend $150 at Bass Pro instead of the $35 at K-Mart/Walmart it cost 20 years ago. Where is all of this money coming from? People who make 35k a year are driving pickup trucks that cost 50k and have a thousand dollars worth of equipment on the ice.

[Bucket Rump]

I cut my teeth hardwater fishing with my Dad over 50 years ago using those K-mart rods and a bucket to sit on watching for the slightest movement of that fancy styrofoam bobber pegged on my line with half a toothpick - was too little to master the "hand and rod tip" method of pulling up fish so would simply take off running and hopefully pop 'em out topside.  Majority of our rods didn't even have reels, but they still produced a pretty good mess of bluegill.  I often wonder what my Dad would think of all the gadgetry I use now let alone the top end stuff available that even I shake my head at.  I have the good fortune of having great memories of those $4 rods and pickle bucket days because I was fishing with my Dad - the equipment had nothing to do with it.

[JPascavage52]

So true. Heck, when my father and I ice fished as a kid, he would take it a step further, and tape a spinning reel to the top section of any broken open water rods we had.

I also fly fish and fish a lot of bass tournaments, and made it to the FLW TBF National Semifinal this year. I fish out of a 2009 bass tracker, 50 hp mercury, that is often the smallest boat in tournaments I fish. I remember showing up to a tournament on Raystown last year and having someone loudly ask the tournament director "what's the minimum horsepower," with me in earshot, ended up catching the lunker of that tournament.

While certain modern technologies and more expensive equipment can help, most of one's success will be knowledge and technique. Simply put, the guy with only Ugly Sticks and cheap equipment who can pattern and find fish, and work his baits flawlessly, will outfish the guy with expensive, top of the line stuff who isn't as technically sound.

[PaCarpboy]

When I started going with my dad, probably around 1965-66, we had a spud bar and Fishcrafter tip-ups.  We only fished tip-ups.  I still have and use everyone of those tip-ups.  Some still have a metal plate with my dad's name and address on them.  There may have been a homemade jigging stick, but it never got used.  Our primary quarry.....PICKEREL!   I can still picture my dad chopping the holes.  Took a while to get through a foot of ice.   Often, we would build a fire on the ice for warmth.  No such thing as an ice shelter.  The other memorable experience was stopping for live bait.  There was a farmer that had his own ponds and trapped the biggest shiners I ever saw.   He had a small cinderblock outbuilding next to his barn where he had a concrete tank and constant flowing spring water from a pipe running into it.  He and my dad were good friends.   Early in the morning we would stop there and it would always end with my dad and him doing a shot of whiskey.  My dad told me one time (before I was old enough to go), he stopped there and never ended up going fishing.  Things were so much simpler back then but I remember them like they were yesterday, not 50+ years ago.  I'm blessed that I got to experience those time with him and am glad I am still ice fishing and have found a few good friends to share the hardwater times with.  Stay safe and enjoy the holidays everyone.

[Crappie 1]

I really like all the memories. I started ice fishing back in the late 50's early 60's. Pickle bucket, red handled pole with the little fold down arms to stand it up on the ice. Had a real heavy spud that my Dad made at work. I eventually got an IcePal sled for Christmas, and a couple new poles. few years later my Dad bought me a fish shanty from an old guy. It was made from Coca Cola metal signs. Had a 5 gallon pail for a stove with a piece of down spout for a chimney. I used my Grandads ol kerosene lantern for light. I spent many hours in that shack catching Crappie at night. Boys I was in "Hog Heaven" My age won't hardly let me comprehend how all the stuff out now even works. I have a old Vex FL8, last year bought a Ridgid drill and auger to attach to it. This year I got a used 5x7 permanent shack and I can't wait to try it out. I'm almost back where I started.

[rivereddy]

I still have my first ice fishing rig  It was a fiberglass rod that was set in a drilled out 5/8 inch dowel rod.  The reel, of course, was a red schooleyspooled with 6# test line I bought the works at Woolco for around $3. I think my spud bar cost somewhere around 7 bucks. The best part of the rig was the "bobber" Someone laminated a foam sandwich" made out of 3/4 inch black foam between two 1/16 sheets of tan foam the top was painted red.  Ingenious really - when ice built up on the float, all one had to do was squeeze the foam and one was back in business.  I can still remember the first time it wobbled, then sank as a bleugll took off with the mealworm.  I try to use that rig at least once or twice  year.  Trouble is down here, the last two years have yielded 36 hours of fishable ice.

And yes, I still belong to the "DBF" club -  Dreaded Bucket Fisherman.

fish on,

rivereddy

[Redneck Fishfinder]

I suppose the equipment has gotten much better in the last 20 years. Propane and electric augers, inline reels, jawjackers, good insulated shelters, good rods, It is a good time to be an ice fisherman.

[sploke]

The labor and material costs have not changed too much from 20 years ago and yet, the price is 500% higher.

wat?


This is demonstrably false.  You're nuts if you think material costs and labor costs have experienced 0% inflation in two decades.

[JOBBER]

I'm just an ice fishing newbie - [6] decades.
Ancient history, at the end of season i picked up these high tech poles for $1.99 each.

[Gunflint]

great deal!

They look wonderful.

I would probably use them as vintage decorations based upon how and what I fish for.

[zcm_82]

K-Mart used to have an amazing fishing section in general. That has changed dramatically. Now everything is made so cheap but priced so expensive, and if you want a rod/reel combo that's half decent you have to spend $150 at Bass Pro instead of the $35 at K-Mart/Walmart it cost 20 years ago. Where is all of this money coming from? People who make 35k a year are driving pickup trucks that cost 50k and have a thousand dollars worth of equipment on the ice.

Debt... absolutely crippling debt. Some of the guys I work with have new trucks, campers, boats, etc. There is no way I can afford that without taking on a massive debt load, and we are all making roughly the same salary.

[PaCarpboy]

That was a great way to start Crappie 1.   Jobber, those Swedish Pimple Poles are priceless.  Wonder what ever became of the Bay De Noc Lure Co?. 

[eriksat1]

I catch plenty of fish and never spent more than $30 on a ice rod / reel combo. I will say I remember many cold fish-less days back in the day. A flasher, a popup and a buddy heater are well worth the money.

[TACP]

That was a great way to start Crappie 1.   Jobber, those Swedish Pimple Poles are priceless.  Wonder what ever became of the Bay De Noc Lure Co?.

 They still are in business, I just bought a DO jigger a good walleye spoon  you can get them at Walmart or Bass Pro, they are easily  my most used jigging spoon. I still catch walleye, crappie, perch and pickerel on them all day!

[WALL E GATOR]

The advancements in gear make me wonder what will be the latest cool fishing gadget in 30 years. Will I be waxing all nostalgic in 30years  on the good ol days when all we had was a Panoptix, Electric Auger.... ( you know these new Photon Laser Augers burn a hole in 2 nano seconds) Hell I remember my Milwaukee taking 10-15 seconds to drill a hole. and now that quantum flux finder shows every living thing in the lake, when my panoptix only showed a small portion of what was under my feet. and these new nuclear powered reels that auto reel for you .... hell we used to have to crank the reel to get it to work.....