WHO DO YOU RESPECT ON THE ICE

[Aaron Wiebe]

it's alot like getting shot...if you dont know it's coming, it couldnt be more of a surprise!
but if someone tells you, 'you are about to take a bullet'...the adrenaline rush and buzzzz off the whole experience is out of control

[X-Rap]

This whole topic is about snobery and reverse snobery. If you have a power auger and can drill 3 doz. holes and try them all then move somewere else what is wrong with that? If you have a portable shanty and can carry extra gear that lets you stay on the ice longer whats wrong with that? If you use a sonar or sounding devise and it lets you focus on the fish and what it takes to get them to bite so what. I remember back in the 70s when air nailers started to become popular, the guys who didn't have them would makeup every BS story you could think of about how poor anything built with nail guns was and they wouldn't use them. Well today how many builders don't have guns. Same thing I've heard people say about 4wd vehicles, big motors on boats, scopes on rifles,and the list goes on. If you got good stuff and your an a$$ or you don't and your an a$$ you probably were that regardless of your gear.

[blackhawks]

I am new to Ice Shanty and this is my first post.  So why not post on the "point" / "counterpoint" topic?  A lot of great points from both sides of the fence on this topic.  I look at it this way...knowledge and approach are the keys to ice fishing.  That is, how much you have educated yourself on where fish are during early, mid and late ice.  Are the weeds dead or are they green and still standing?  What is the forage?  What is the water clarity?   Did you punch holes along a weed break?  What is the bottom composition (hard, sand, muck, etc.)? So on and so forth.  You don't need gadgets to figure that out.  If you read Dave Genz' books, he teaches you how to determine bottom composition with a lead depth finder.  However, gadgets accelerate the process.  Approach involves constantly moving until you get on the fish.  Move once you are not getting bites or catching fish.  A previous poster mentioned an old timer that would catch some fish, leave them on the ice and move to another hole.  Once again, success doesn't necessarily depend on the gadgets, etc.  That said, I still want my Vex so I immediately know if there are fish present in holes that I previously cut.  If not, I move on.    For the most part, I am a weekend warrior due to my work schedule.  I want equipment that keeps me comfortable and allows me to stay that way if I decide to spend an entire day on the hardwater even if it is below zero.  My last observation.....I consider Dave Genz one of the leading teachers of hardwater fishing.  He started ice fishing long before these gadgets came about and in fact, he is responsible for developing some of them.  When he hits the ice, he is dressed in ice Armor, pulling his Clam shanty, firing up his Strikemaster auger and then dropping his Vex ducer into the hole.  But, he could also go out there with a bucket, a spud bar and a lead depth finder and still catch fish.

[RLWagner]

Good post Blackhawks.
You are right to point out the difference between an "old timer" whom may be retired and have available the entire day or week to spend fishing and the current day "Modern Man" who is juggling a career, wife/girlfriend, school, honey to-do lists and the plethora of other responsibilities associated with raising kids etc.
It is very possible that when todays Modern Men become old timers, that they will shed the high-tech goods for a bucket of poles. With the knowledge gained from the electronics and the experience of time, we will be able to still have success while the greenies are busy probing water with gadgets.
I love my gadgets, and everytime I employ them I become a better angler. I may only use the Vex, underwater Camera and other goods once in awhile, but that usually allows me to hone a technique so that when I return I only need a bucket and a couple of rods. One day I lug the Clam, 5700, or the pop-up and all the implements, the next day might be a bucket day.
With the time limits imposed on me from time to time, I relish having high-tech goods available to speed up the process. Kudos to you, and good luck if we ever get ice.

[blackhawks]

RL, thank you.  I'm exactly in the position you described...father of two, working wife, demanding job, etc.etc.  Thinking about driving about 250 miles tomorrow to some safe ice.  That, or take the boat back out.  Man, this is depressing.  Thanks again, RL.

[2 dogs]

This debate of tech versus purist has gone on since Hector was a pup. It is all about boys and toys. Some like tonka trucks and some like game cubes buuuuuut   we all like our toys of some sort and agree that ice fishing is the best. I respect the old guys (at least older than me) whose idea of high tech is a gas auger and a tip up and a dear friend to spend the time on the ice with.

[littlesturgeonguy]

just goes to show you that if you didn't have the electronics you would have to try harder to find fish and learn the lake not just look at the electronics and run.

[hunters08]

I have a very good example to make my point.Last year on chautauqua lake in maple springs,i was fishing for walleye and the bite was really slow,landed a couple shorts.I looked out my shanty window there was an older gentleman walking out with a spud one rod and 2 buckets this was 9 am.I thought why would he be coming out here so late,he went right by and was heading towards the deeper water.I flipped the top and said loudly "man the bite is slow".He stopped and said" your fishing walleye arent you"?Yes and he said "thought so", and started walking towards the deep i said "what are you going to catch"?White perch he said so i asked if i could tag along he said that would be fine.He had no equipment with him we got out a ways he said i'll know if this is the spot in a second. he drilled a hole dropped his bait in and we waited. nothing we walked out another 20 feet he drilled another hole and said it only takes a minute and you'll know if they are there.He was getting his rod out and i said wait a sec.I pulled out the marcum flasher stuck it in and i said no fish there 35 feet deep.He said"Oh thats why 35 feet isnt deep enough we need 45-48 feet".Wow he says you just saved me probably 8 holes needless to say we went out farther and we got into the white perch really good and i also caught more walleye out there thean i did where i was.I also had great conversation and learned a few awsome tricks to catch those fish.

[BUSSWAH]

Nice post hunter! Wish I could be standing on 45-48 fow this weekend. When are we gonna get some ice?

[hunters08]

Nice post hunter! Wish I could be standing on 45-48 fow this weekend. When are we gonna get some ice?

Well im praying as much as you!!!!! Got to fish the canals yesterday and got a bunch of perch,No gills or calico cant believe it

[RLWagner]

just goes to show you that if you didn't have the electronics you would have to try harder to find fish and learn the lake not just look at the electronics and run.

The electronics make it possible to learn the Lake and it's characteristics as oppossed to just learning the depth. The Vex can help you figure out the bottom composition, hopefully sticky bottom. The Camera can identify weed types as well as fish species and what better way to get a handle on under water structure.
If you just look at your electronics and run, then your missing the BOAT. Interpret those electronics!
Your manual method requires you to drill, drill, drillllllllllllll instead of checking the depth right through the ice without a hole. The benefits go without saying.

[BojiHawk]

WOW....threadsville...

Anyhow, I think it goes without saying here but it needs to be inserted:

I think what my original post was getting at was a locality issue - IE: Locals.

No one is going to travel a state away with a bucket a 2 rods.   That being said, it seems in most instances that these travel-light fisherman are almost certainly local guys with knowledge.  I'm not going out my door without at least a handheld depthfinder.  The point of the post was that these guys that sneak around and try and avoid people...are typically your inside info guys.  But if you think I'm going to Pelican or Mille Lacs without the entire caravan of gear...forget it.

[Little Brown Dog]

One time on Champlain I brought out my dog with me, so I avoided the shanty town/crowd and picked a spot where we wouldn't bug anyone else (she used to beg for food).  People must have thought that I knew something that they didn't because pretty soon I was getting all kinds of company!