Any ice fishing folks here?

I didn't get out fishing at all in 2014 due to moving, and now I've free time and an empty freezer (didn't get a deer either) but I've never been ice fishing. What do I need to know?

I've been fishing most my life but I'm not so great. My wife brings home all the fish usually.

It is really fun...

Head to any half way descent tackle shop and they will get you set up fast. Just a jig and hand line works well...or you can go with live bait and a 'tip flag' system...

Good luck!

j

we have a lot of ice fishing opportunity's up here for a much longer time frame than most
other than fly fishing its my favorite winter sport
we have spake,lake trout,white fish,perch,smelt,walleye,northern pike and pan fish
if you can try to tag a long with some one and learn the way's of the ice

Mike

hey will. you ever get up to northern maine give me a yell! i icefish a lot and we usually have safe ice from the beginning of december to mid april up here. we have a ton of yellow perch up here. they are invasive and are outcompeting the native fishes. people around here hate them and throw them on the ice to rot! i keep the bigger ones and they are delicious! i keep inviting people from s. new england to come up to stock their freezers! you can fill a truck bed on a good day! from a premie standpoint this is like a untapped resource. we have a fishing derby up here and one of the prizes is for the most perch. this year it was 506! that was in 2 days! my brother lives in bristol, ct. i was born in new britian general.

steve bossie wrote:hey will. you ever get up to northern maine give me a yell! i icefish a lot and we usually have safe ice from the beginning of december to mid april up here. we have a ton of yellow perch up here. they are invasive and are outcompeting the native fishes. people around here hate them and throw them on the ice to rot! i keep the bigger ones and they are delicious! i keep inviting people from s. new england to come up to stock their freezers! you can fill a truck bed on a good day! from a premie standpoint this is like a untapped resource. we have a fishing derby up here and one of the prizes is for the most perch. this year it was 506! that was in 2 days! my brother lives in bristol, ct. i was born in new britian general.

wowwie! I'd love to take you up on that offer sometime, and I really like Maine (from what little I've been to). It looks like non-resident fishing licenses are pretty reasonably priced too.

yep. my brother usually comes up in February to ride snowmobile. when it comes around next year give me a yell. I'm sure you could jump in with him. ill talk to my fiance. I'm sure you could stay in our spare room. i have all the gear, snowmobile and a permanent ice shack i put on a lake nearby. can fish out of that and catch perch till' your arms fall off or go for trout and salmon also. i have a electric fillet knife and a vaccum sealer. you would be all set with fish for a long time!

orr.. you could come up this summer and camp out. our summers are relatively cool compared to ct. we rarely hit 80 in a normal summer. i have 2 boats so i can fish ponds , rivers or big lakes. i fish southern aroostook sometimes. if you don't want to come all the way up here (8hours drive) i could meet you down there (5hours). i fish for white perch, smallmouth bass and largemouth bass there. you could rent a camp, campsite of get a hotel. pretty cheap in my county.

I have ALWAYS wanted to go ice fishing!

I haven't done it yet, however it's definitely on my to-do list.

it's pretty simple. Go to any sporting goods store and find an ice fishing pole (you don't want to us a regular fishing pole because you'll be too far away from the hole). You can generally find a cheap pack of jigs and just grab a can of mealworms or magots. You'll also want to get an ice auger because without that you won't have much luck getting through the ice. Only other thing you'll need is patience and make sure the ice is thick enough when you go out.

It has been a long time since I lived in MN.  In a broad sense, I always looked for boots with removable liners.

I wear the old “bunny boots” there military surplus stuff rated for -65f and are great for ice fishing or deer hunting if you aren’t walking around. The downside there very heavy. There also water proof unless submerged at lace height so ice auger splash isn’t a big deal.
Just google bunny boots and they’ll pop up. Had to do some searching but they can be had for not to bad of a price.