Who's old enough to remember when we only had spuds and chisels?

[taxi1]

I can remember using a spud through up to 18 inches of ice. I think I'd have a heart attack if I tried that today at 64.

Then came the spoon type augers, followed by blades, started seeing gas powered augers and now folks are using electric.


Hell I can remember when the first fish finders came out as in the Lowrance Green box!

We've come a long way baby!

Shucks now I just reminded myself how old I am! 

[kpd145]

Spoon augers were a thing when I started.

My first spud was just a big piece of metal stock I ground down and drilled a hole for rope.

[Raquettedacker]

I can remember when I was really young and that’s all I could afford..

[DR.SPECKLER]

Still have my original spud i started with and  lowrance green box.

[snelly]

we made spud bars out of a piece of leave springs from a car welded on a metal bar cut two feet of ice sometimes and went every weekend. It was in the early 70's I was 16. good old days and we caught fish. no electronics either

[taxi1]

I can remember when I was really young and that’s all I could afford..

Likewise. Initially we built our own tip ups out of pieces of broomstick handle, coat hangers and nails. When a fish got hooked on a tight light the tip up tipped into the hole nose down with the coat hanger and red cloth at the end -- that came out of the rear of the broomstick handle -- sticking up in the air. A thing my dad came up. The top side of the broomstick had two nails spaced apart to hold the line.

We caught lots of bullheads and bluegills with that. The bullheads as they always do just swallowed the bait, and the bluegills in Mass were considered trash fish so they weren't pressured or sophisticated. We had them attack large bass baits in open water, something that doesn't happen where I am now.

[river_scum]

i had to stand on a bucket to run grampa's spoon. 

[taxi1]

Still have my original spud i started with and  lowrance green box.

Are you still using the green box?

[iceman260]

Back in the seventies I lost many spud bars to the deep, couldn't afford a jiffy auger. I believe it was the reason for my bad back.

[muskyon46]

Hand augers were out when I started ice fishing (late 80's) but were way out of my price range for a kid in high school. We did lose a lot of axes cutting open old holes. Pretty sure we lost a handful of them from all my buddies parents including mine. Of course by the time camp season came around we had forgot and had no clue where all the axes went 

[Rebelss]

Arm wearing-out spoon auger, bucket to sit on, home-made spud from rod stock, and my $ 1.99 wood-handled Schooley with the orange and white foam bobber from Holiday Station store...and my fishing float depth finder. 

[zcm_82]

We were dirt poor when I was real young so Dad just had a chisel. He used a chainsaw with about a 4' bar on it when it got real thick. I remember he traded into a spoon, and then eventually got a Mora shortly after. We never did use electronics. I still don't; never really needed them, and I try to drag as little crap as possible.

I chiseled a couple holes just for giggles last year, and that was enough to remind me it sucks 

[taxi1]

i had to stand on a bucket to run grampa's spoon.

You still do don't you? 

[Bucket Rump]

Yep - definitely remember those days!  Been at this ice fishing thing since the 1960's...

[zcm_82]

Arm wearing-out spoon auger, bucket to sit on, home-made spud from rod stock, and my $ 1.99 wood-handled Schooley with the orange and white foam bobber from Holiday Station store...and my fishing float depth finder. 

I just bought a Schooley for nostalgia's sake last month. They're all plastic now, though. The boy saw it and wanted one, so I got him one, too 😁 If I get out tomorrow, I'll be using it.

[taxi1]

Back in the seventies I lost many spud bars to the deep, couldn't afford a jiffy auger. I believe it was the reason for my bad back.

Can you imagine how many spuds, anchors, and cell phones are on the bottom of our lakes?  Years from now scientists can pinpoint corresponding layers of soil from extinct lakes to the years by what was in those layers! 

[jlkachina]

76 years young and still have them somewhere

[Iceassin]

Yup. I no longer "fish" that way but I still find lakes the old fashioned way...dialing a phone and knocking on doors. Still fish 3 of them from 40+ years ago. No crowds or internet reports. Just me, a couple of pals and piles of fish.  Sorry...bit off topic.

[uncleshorty]

Pick me!  Pick me!!

I remember when ice fishermen didn't need a convoy of duce and a halfs to get all their "Can't fish without it." junk onto the ice.

Suppose someone who didn't know anything about ice fishing stumbled on this site.  From reading the posts here who could blame them if they thought ice fishing is about spending money to buy stuff so you can buy more stuff to haul on the machine you buy to haul those tons of unneeded equipment.

Ice fishing isn't a sport anymore.  It's run-away consumerism...

[SKIFFLAKEJIMMY]

Back in the seventies I lost many spud bars to the deep, couldn't afford a jiffy auger. I believe it was the reason for my bad back.

I have a couple of spuds in the bottom of Lake Erie.

[maddogg]

I remember chiseling through ice where I had to kneel down with a 5 foot spud to get through the ice. I bought a jiffy auger as soon as I got a job. I still have it after 55 years. Now it sits in the shed as a backup.

[IFF]

I remember things from 75 years ago, like it was ......Yesterday ?  Wait a minute I don't remember yesterday. 
oh yeah and first time on Lake Geneva spudding through 4 feet of ice.  No hole hopping back then   

[Rebelss]

Pick me!  Pick me!!

I remember when ice fishermen didn't need a convoy of duce and a halfs to get all their "Can't fish without it." junk onto the ice.

Suppose someone who didn't know anything about ice fishing stumbled on this site.  From reading the posts here who could blame them if they thought ice fishing is about spending money to buy stuff so you can buy more stuff to haul on the machine you buy to haul those tons of unneeded equipment.

Ice fishing isn't a sport anymore.  It's run-away consumerism...

Exactly. The me-me-me gotta have disposable generation. Who still uses gear that's 30 years old or older, and works just fine?

[Hatandboots]

I'm new to this sport still, but have tried it the old fashioned way a few times. I have to say I sure do enjoy the conveniences of the electric auger, as does my back. Even the electronics just make a world of difference for enjoyment for me. I would not have caught many of the fish I have I'm sure without the flasher / camera setup.

How do you seasoned fisherfolk compare the two? The bare-bones old fashioned way vs the modern way.

[IFF]

Hatandboots:  Good Question

[Rebelss]

But that wasn't the question the OP asked.....that comparisons' on another thread.

[mcully]

I remember the pond near us had so many holes on a weekend you didn't need a spud just hopped hole to hole.

[dubob]

Who's old enough to remember when we only had spuds and chisels?

  I am.  That was back in the early 1950s.  And we only fished with hand lines.

[NOT ME]

I started ice fishing in 1973 with a spoon.

[Roccus]

I can remember using a spud through up to 18 inches of ice. I think I'd have a heart attack if I tried that today at 64.

Then came the spoon type augers, followed by blades, started seeing gas powered augers and now folks are using electric.


Hell I can remember when the first fish finders came out as in the Lowrance Green box!

We've come a long way baby!

Shucks now I just reminded myself how old I am! 

Home made "spud" fashioned from a tire iron pounded flat on an anvil, and secured with hose clamps to an old rake handle.. tarred cod line tied to a willow branch baited with manure worms
. News paper stuffed in my snow packs and jacket..weve come a long way in the last 60 odd years.