Ice-Fishing shouldn’t be done alone. WHY- Safety and companionship. Trouble comes your way you have help, catching fish you have someone to share the experience. Ice is beauty and violence. Lives are lost each year for not knowing the thickness of the ice. Check the thickness of the ice often. One inch- not safe, two inches- like playing Russian Roulette, three inches- okay maybe near shore, four inches- okay; no vehicles and six inches or more- vehicles okay.
A sled, an auger with a screw type head or motorized, food strainer and a plastic pail for bait and sitting. Also a portable depth finder, tip- ups and jigging poles with 4 pound test line. Choose you place to fish the same as in summer: docks, weedline and drop offs. Use your summer time map and core your hole; one by the weedline, inside the weed edge and one farther out.
LURES A tiny tear drop spoon tipped with a wax worm or minnow. A white or yellow jig tipped with a wax worm or minnow will put fish in the bucket. Jig either lure every minute or two. Keep your bait moving.
TIP Use Four to six pound test line with a small slip sinker and steel leader when fishing for pike or pickerel. Large minnows are the bait of choice. By now you are set for visiting until someone hollers, “Flag Up.”
TIP OF THE WEEK When ice fishing deep lakes the warmest water is at the bottom – good for trout.
