Days fished: 7
Fish caught: 8 (1 perch, 7 crappie)

Dec 19:
First ice fishing outing
Ice 6″ thick
First ice fish (perch)

Jan 24:
First time driving on ice
Ice 20″ thick
Four of us landed 38 Crappie

So other than the day Crappie were nearly jumping out of the holes, it was a pretty uneventful season. But it was fun.

My ice fishing equipment is now packed away in my basement waiting for old man winter to return. Until then, I’ll be hitting the open water going after warm weather lunkers. Let’s hope the warm weather season will be more productive.

Related posts:

1. Another Good Morning of Ice Fishing
2. Walking on Water
3. First Ice Fish

But what made the Waseca County News article interesting is their warning about driving on ice. They said the following:

The DNR recommends vehicles stay off the ice for 24 hours after a cold snap, as a rapid drop in temperature makes ice brittle. And when you are out on the ice in a vehicle, drive less than 15 miles per hour.

The reason behind this is because a car or truck moving on ice creates waves, just like a boat in the summer. According to the DNR, if the waves speed is the same as the vehicle speed a critical velocity is reached that can lead to ice failure.

Ice failure? That doesn’t sound pleasant.

A few weeks ago, I wrote about my first experience driving on ice. If I had this information, I would have been a lot less cavalier about going out there. I’ve been a driver on the ice a few times since my post. I can’t say if I drove over 15 miles per hour, but I certainly had a false sense of security believing I was completely safe on 2 ft of ice. I’ll be a lot more cautious about where and when I drive from now on.

Related posts:

1. Ice Driving
2. Extreme Ice Fishing

Hunt.Fish.Feed.^SM is a program to encourage sportsmen to donate their extra meat from hunting and fishing harvests to their local hunger relief organizations. They are in their second year and this year they started in Las Vegas. Their visit to the Twin Cities was their second stop in the 2010 national tour and they will visit eight more cities before the year is out.

Here in the Twin Cities, Hunt.Fish.Feed.^SM actually started on Saturday by partnering with the ever popular FISHAPALOOZA on Forest Lake. They attended the annual fishing tournament and encouraged participants to donate their catches to feed the homeless the next day. Participants must have done very well because we had 35 lbs of fresh fish to work with on Sunday.

When I got to the Catholic Charities Dorothy Day Center, a homeless shelter in St. Paul, on Sunday morning, I was surprised to find about 40 volunteers ready to prepare meals. There were so many of us, the organizers couldn’t find jobs for all of us to do. But after a while, each volunteer found a place to contribute.

I saw volunteers making huge batches of Nilgai (I had no idea what it was either–thank you, Wikipedia) chili, frying fish, opening huge cans of green beans, and doing something with industrial sized cans of tomato sauce. It was a bit chaotic at first, but it didn’t take long for everyone to get into the groove.

I worked at (of course) the fish station. They had boxes and boxes of frozen pollack fillets in addition to the FISHAPALOOZA fish. I partnered up with Todd, a professional fireman and scuba store owner from Fairbault, Minnesota. We unpacked about 5 or 6 boxes of the frozen pollack, spread the fish out on giNORmous cookie sheets, slathered them with butter, and sprinkled paprika and oregano on them. All told, we probably filled 10 cookie sheets with fillets. They were later baked in one of two industrial ovens, or fried on a skillet. When we were done, we helped another pair of guys prepare the fillets from FISHAPALOOZA. We dipped them in butter, coated them with cornmeal, and sprinkled paprika and oregano on them as well. These fillets were deep fried at another station.

Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to stay for the serving to see the smiles of the approximately 200 people benefiting from all the hard work the few hours before. But I’m sure the “residents” of the shelter were happy to get such a great meal.

I was pleased to be able to help out and meet some cool people like my fellow fish chef, Todd, and fellow Twin Cities bloggers Ben G. of Ben G. Outdoors and Jim Braaten of the Sportsman’s Blog.

I think the Hunt.Fish.Feed. organizers were even surprised at how many people showed up to help out in the Twin Cities. As they get publicity and traction, the number of volunteers is sure to increase in the coming years. They may have to start pre-registration of volunteers and split them between multiple shelters, or divide them up in multiple days. That would give them a chance to look at what needs to be done at each event and be able to direct volunteer resources to the jobs available.

Having never been to a homeless shelter before I wasn’t sure what to expect. I thought people would be out and about in the city and start to gather and line up around 11:00 when they knew a hot meal would be served. I was surprised to see 50-60 people already hanging out in the shelter at 9:30am when I got there. By the time I left at 11:30am, the number of people in and out of the shelter easily numbered more than a hundred. I found out later that they served about 200 meals. It’s unfortunate to see so many needing help, but it’s nice to see shelters like these in the city able to get them a hot meal.

The Hunt.Fish.Feed. concept is a great idea. I’m always hearing of sportsmen with too much venison, geese, or pheasant. May already donate their extra game meat to food shelves, but many don’t even think about it. Encouraging fellow sportsmen to donate these surpluses to hunger relief efforts keeps extras from going to waste and helps those that are temporarily down and out. It’s a win-win for everybody.

[Author's note: A big thanks to Jim Braaten of the Sportsman's Blog and Michelle Scheuermann of the Sportsman Channel for providing pictures for this post. My hands were a bit too goobered to pull out a camera.]

Related posts:

1. Hunt.Fish.Feed.^SM

I was looking for new people to follow on Twitter today when I found @ladysportsman. She works for the communications department of the Sportsman Channel. After following her, I got a message that she was coming into town this weekend for the Sportsman Channel’s Hunt.Fish.Feed. event.

Hunt.Fish.Feed.^SM is a really cool initiative to encourage sportsmen to donate their extra game meat and fish to hunger relief organizations to help fight hunger. They started in Las Vegas earlier this year and will be traveling to nine more cities this year, including the Twin Cities this weekend.

Here in the Twin Cities, the Sportsman Channel partnered with Comcast, Safari Club International Foundation, and the annual FISHAPALOOZA ice fishing tournament to ask participants to donate the fish they catch to the Hunt.Fish.Feed event on Sunday. FISHAPALOOZA will take place Saturday, February 27 at 12pm-3pm on Forest Lake.

On Sunday, volunteers will be preparing meals for Hunt.Fish.Feed. from 9:30-11:30am and serving them from 11:30am-1:00pm at the Catholic Charities Dorothy Day Center in St. Paul. I’ll be volunteering there with Star Tribune contributor Jim Braaten. Jim’s article about the event also has a video of the event held in Las Vegas.

If you have extra game meat from your hunts, please consider donating to your local hunger relief organization. Safari Club International’s Sportsmen Against Hunger (SAH) program has a list of hunger relief organizations and meat processors across the country that will accept game meat donations.

Related posts:

1. Hunt.Fish.Feed.^SM Twin Cities

Richard Levesque scored a new Vermont state record walleye when he caught a 14 ½ lb walleye through ice! He landed it on February 10th on Lake Champlain using a tip-up and golden shiner. Can you imagine pulling out that monster out of a 6″ diameter hole?

The picture above doesn’t look much like there would be ice on the lakes in Vermont. Levesque is in a light jacket, he has no gloves, and there’s no snow in sight. The picture would be very different if taken in Minnesota.

What I find amazing is that my friend and colleague caught a walleye in Northern Minnesota that was 1 ½ inches short of Levesque’s fish of 32 ½ inches. Minnesota’s state record is over 35″. I guess I’ll have to wait another few years before going after my friend’s walleye in order for it to be in contention for Minnesota’s state record.

Read the full story: New (Vermont) State Record Walleye Caught in Lake Champlain

Photo provided by Vermont Fish & Wildlife

Related posts:

1. New Michigan State Muskie Record
2. Record Minnesota Muskie
3. World Record Largemouth Bass

A few days ago, I read an article titled “Extreme Ice Fishing” posted at the Minnesota Bound Outdoor Journal blog.

Travis, one of the Minnesota Bound editors, recounted a story of ice fishing on Lake Superior where ice 6 inches thick was rising and falling like waves. I wouldn’t have been able to handle ice moving a few centimeters, let alone a foot or two as Travis described.

The good part of the story is that he and his party walked away with some nice Lake Trout. But I don’t think I would go out in conditions like that even if I knew I would land a world record muskie.

Travis, man, you’re crazy.

Related posts:

1. Winter Open Water Fishing II
2. Ice Driving Dangers
3. Why It’s Safe to Use a Heater When Ice Fishing

Below is a list of necessities and some nice to haves that I’ve learned about in my first few outings. As I pick up more tips, I’ll update this post.

First the basics:

Fishing License

The license you bought for open water fishing in the summer carries you into the winter months. Don’t forget it. If the DNR catches you without a license, they will fine you and confiscate all your gear. And then they’ll confiscate all the gear of everyone you’re fishing with. It’s one thing if you’re going to be stupid on your own, but don’t drag your friends down with you.

Ice Auger

It’s kind of hard to go ice fishing if there isn’t a hole in the ice. There are two types of augers: hand crank and gas-powered. Hand crank (manual) auger prices start at about $40. You’ll get a work out with the manual augers, but they work great on a budget. Gas-powered augers range from $250-500. They obviously drill a hole faster than the manuals. They also create a little bigger hole for that big lunker you’re going to catch. A little known third option is to buy a power drill attachment for the manual auger. They run less than $50, but I don’t know how well they work.

Ice Dipper

A dipper is like a ladle with holes in it. Once you drill your hole, you’re guaranteed to get snow into it. So you’ll need a dipper to scoop out the snow. Not to mention that the hole will start to refreeze if you’re out there long enough. The dipper helps to break the new ice and keep the hole open. Some dippers have a ruler on them so you can measure the thickness of the ice. Dippers only run $6-15. An inexpensive one will be just as good as “high end” one.

Ice fishing pole

You can’t fish without a fishing pole. There are almost as many choices in ice fishing poles as there are in warm weather poles. They can range from $6 up to $50. Plan to spend at least $20. The combos that are less than $10 seem like a deal, but you get what you pay for. They are good for kids, but if you’re going out regularly, it won’t hold up. I almost bought a $13 combo, but a friend of mine pointed out that the pole is not as sensitive as the one I settled on. Mine is a Berkeley combo that cost $20. Don’t forget the hooks and a couple of split shots.

Tip-up

Unless you’ve ice fished before, you won’t be familiar with a tip-up. It’s basically a hands-free fishing pole. It’s a board that goes across the hole with a metal rod vertically attached in the center. The fishing line goes on a spool at the bottom of the rod in the water. A flag on a bendable pole is set such that it “tips-up” when a fish is on the line. There’s also a circular version that has styrofoam on the underside. The theory is that the styrofoam acts as insulation and prevents the hole from refreezing. Many an angler have found these frozen to the ice, though. In Minnesota, you are allowed two lines in the water per person, so having a pole and a tip-up is nice to cover more area at once.

A tip-up isn’t absolutely necessary, but you’ll need either a pole or a tip-up. it would be kind of hard to catch a fish without one or the other. Tip-ups usually run about $20.

Bait

Lots of ice anglers just use ice fishing jigs, but when the water is cold, the fish are sluggish, so live bait helps give them encouragement to bite. Get some minnows from your local bait store, or buy some wax worms. Add them to panfish jigs and you’ll increase your chances even more.

5 gallon bucket

You’ll need something to sit on while you’re waiting for that big one to bite. Many ice fishing buckets come with a styrofoam cooler that sit nicely inside. You can use the cooler for bait, fish, or both.

Ice picks

These aren’t the picks that you use to chip away at an ice block. These are smaller, fit in your hands, and have a rope between them that go around your neck. They are akin to your life jacket on the open water. They could save your life. If you happen to fall through the ice, the water will keep you from getting a grip on the ice to pull yourself out. Ice picks act like a grappling hook so you can pull yourself out. They expensive ones which have retractable picks are less than $10. I got mine for $3. Get a pair. Saving a few dollars isn’t worth your life.

Drinking Water

When you are out in the cold air for a few hours, you can get thirsty. I usually bring a bottle of water with me. My neighbors bring coffee. Either way, it is good to keep yourself hydrated. A lot of anglers bring alcohol on the ice as well, but that doesn’t keep you as hydrated as some ice cold water.

Energy Bar

Something to snack on is never a bad thing. If you’re out early in the morning, or in the middle of the afternoon, an energy bar will give you a burst of energy that could help you land that big one. If nothing else, it will stave off any hunger pangs until you get off the ice.

Camera

To document the lunker you’ll catch. If you decide to let it go, you’ll want to have proof that it wasn’t just a fish story.

Now on to clothing. We’ll start at the top and work our way down:

Knit Hat

It’s a well known fact that a lot of body heat escapes from the head. Even more so when you’re like me and prefer a short haircut. A well fitting knit hat will prevent a lot of this body heat loss. It should cover your ears as your ears are extremely vulnerable to cold. They are one of the first parts of your body to get frostbite if you don’t protect them.

Hood

A hat will prevent body heat loss, but then your neck is exposed. Wind is a lot like water in that it can get in every nook and cranny it has available to it. A few hours out in the cold and an exposed neck will contribute heavily to the rest of you getting chilled. I have found that a jacket with a hood helps to keep your neck warmer, and therefore, keeps you warmer.

Base Layer

When you were a kid, your mom should have told you to dress in layers. Many survivalists advocate the 3 layer system. The first layer, that goes against your skin, is just as important as any other layer. It should be form fitting, but not tight, to act as a second skin. Cotton is the most abundant material available for this layer, but new technology has improved this layer immeasurably. Moisture wicking materials pull moisture away from your body to keep you warmer. You lose heat 23 times faster if your wet, so a layer to keep this moisture away from your body is extremely important. Under Armour is probably the most famous of the companies that make these types of shirts, but I know there are a lot more inexpensive options. They will be more expensive than cotton, but well worth it. And you’ll be able to use them in other situations than just out on the ice.

Insulation Layer

The base layer isn’t designed to keep you warm, just dry. So your next layer is going to be a heat retention layer. Unlike the base layer, it should be somewhat loose to trap air for extra insulation. This layer can be wool, fleece, or down and consist of multiple layers.

Windbreaker

If you’re out in the winter air long enough, the wind, no matter how light, will eventually penetrate all of your layers. Unless one of those layers is a windbreaker. The windbreaker will keep the wind out and keep you warmer longer. It will also keep water from dampening your clothes. Most people have an outer shell that has windbreaking capability. I have an old down jacket I use for ice fishing so I don’t have to worry about keeping it clean. But it doesn’t do much against the wind. So I wear a windbreaker over my insulating layer and my down jacket over the windbreaker.

Gloves

Do I need to explain this one?

Hand Warmers

Your extremities are the first parts of your body that will get cold. I was never one to think I needed hand warmers, but I got some for Christmas and used them in an outing after Christmas. Now I’ll never go back. It’s really hard to not eventually take off your gloves to do something while you’re out on the ice whether it be rebaiting your hook, adjusting a tip-up, or (hopefully) taking a fish off a line. Your gloves will warm your fingers up again, but not as quickly if you have hand warmers. They cost less than $1 and last 10 hours after you expose them to air. I’ve used them to warm up my lower back even after I’ve come in from the cold.

Snow pants

Inevitably, you’ll kneel on the ice to check your line, make adjustments to your tip-up, or some other necessary reason. When you do, you won’t want to do it in jeans. Snow on jeans means water on jeans, which means cold knees, cold legs, and cold feet. A good pair of snow pants will protect you from the snow and also keep your legs warm. If you don’t have snow pants, at least wear a pair of athletic pants to protect you from the snow. My brother was generous enough to give me a pair of his. He said I was guaranteed to catch at least one fish each time I was out with those snow pants. So far, I haven’t had a need to return them.

Wool Socks

Wool is generally warmer than cotton, but it has another advantage: it retains its insulating properties even if it gets wet. You never intend on getting your feet wet, but things happen out on the ice. It’s best to be prepared to make sure your feet stay warm just in case.

Toe Warmers

As with hand warmers, I was not a believer until after this Christmas. The cool thing about the toe warmers is that they have some adhesive on the tops of them so that they stick to your socks and won’t shift around in your boots when you’re walking. Put your toes on them before you put on your boots and you’ll be toasty warm for up to 6 hours.

Boots

Some lakes are popular enough that they plow roads and even name them. But most lakes don’t have enough fishermen on them to make that necessary. That means you’ll basically be walking through a large, flat, snow bank. You wouldn’t go into a snow bank without boots, so don’t go on a lake without them either.

Nice to haves:

Depth Finding Weight

When figuring out where to set your bobber on your fishing pole, or when you’re setting up your tip-up, it’s critical to set the depth of the line correctly. When you’re after walleye, you want your minnow swimming a foot or two above the bottom. The best way to find the bottom is by using a depth finding weight. You could just as well use a couple of split shots, but at $2.50 for 2, they are a small expense for convenience.

Shelter

When you’re out in the cold, even if there’s only a slight breeze, it will eventually penetrate your clothes and chill you to the core. Shelters protect you from that wind. They come in all shapes and sizes from a one man nylon temporary shelter, to two story permanent shelters that stay out on the lake all winter. Shelters aren’t required, of course, but you’ll be able to stay out longer and have a more enjoyable ice fishing experience if you do.

Heater

If you have a shelter, you should have a heater. You’re in an enclosed space, so a propane heater can heat the air effectively. You’re brain will tell you it’s crazy to bring a heater on the ice since it tells you ice + heat = water, but it’s actually quite safe. I wrote a post early this winter about why. It’s nice when the outside air temp is in the single digits and you actually feel warm in your shelter.

Extra Propane Cylinders

For your heater. You wouldn’t want to run out of fuel. A heater does no good if it’s not on.

Depth/Fish Finder

When you’re not readily able to roam, it is important to know how deep the water is before you drill a hole. It appears that most ice fishermen that have depth finders use what are called, “flashers.” The cool thing is that they work on the surface of the ice without drilling a hole. Just clear a spot, pour some water on it, and place the transducer right on the ice. If you don’t like the depth, find a new spot and repeat the process.

Flashers also double as fish finders. They are not like open water fish finders, but rather flash lines when they sense something other than water. They can be tricky to read, but aren’t too bad once you get used to them. If you don’t have one, go out with a buddy that does. They aren’t completely necessary, but you’ll drastically improve your odds if you have one.

Underwater Camera

Using an underwater camera could be considered “cheating.” I leave the reader to form their own opinion. But the fact is, many ice fisherman use them. It can be really frustrating, however, because you can see the fish look at your bait, then swim away.

I’ll be using this list as a reference next year because my memory is barely good for 10 days let alone 10 months. I hope you find it useful, too. If I forgot anything, please leave a comment and let me know.

Related posts:

1. Why It’s Safe to Use a Heater When Ice Fishing
2. Amazing Ice Tale
3. First Ice Skunk

I had scheduled a blog post for tomorrow to talk about things I’ve learned about ice fishing equipment, but then I noticed that my next post (now this one) would be my 100th. I couldn’t let a milestone like that pass without at least acknowledging it.

It’s hard to believe that I’ve found 100 topics to write about over the last 8 months. It’s even harder to believe that I have had over 4700 hits during that time.

I’ve really enjoyed documenting my adventures, sharing my pictures, and seeing what people in the world are interested in. For my next hundred, I hope to share more tips, do more reviews, and post a lot more pictures of big fish. I’m planning to do a lot more fishing this Spring and Summer with new baits and new techniques to try to catch more and bigger fish. I hope my experience will help you become a better angler as well.

Thank you for visiting my blog, whether you’re a first time visitor, or regular reader. Please take a moment to write, either via my contact page, or by commenting. I’d love to hear from you.

And if you like what you see, please subscribe to updates via email (“Subscribe to Posts” in the upper right) so you’ll be notified when I post a new article.

Stay tuned for ice fishing equipment tomorrow…

No related posts.

The fish didn’t like the weather either. We were out from about 2:30 to 5:30 with 9 holes in 3 different shelters and and we only caught two Crappie. One was about 6″ and reeled in by Steve’s 5 year-old daughter, so it was very exciting for her to catch her very first fish. Steve reeled in the other at about 7″ from the same hole about an hour later. Those were the only actual bites all day.

The rest of the day, the fish were playing with us. Every 10-15 minutes, one of the bobbers would bob up and down for a few seconds, but the bobber would never go under. This went on the whole time we were out there. The only two times any bobber went under were Steve and his daughter’s fish.

A few weeks ago, my brother sent me a pair of his old snowpants for me to go ice fishing with. He said it came with a guarantee of catching at least one fish with each outing I wore them. Until today, his guarantee was working. Technically, it still worked today. My mistake was not checking to make sure it was me that would catch the fish.

Mark and Steve were out yesterday morning on one of our other favorite lakes and experienced the same thing as today. They only pulled in 4 Crappie in about 3 hours. They were seeing bobbers go all the way under, but they couldn’t hook any of them. I’m not sure which is worse: seeing the bobber just bounce like today, or seeing the bobber actually go under, but not landing any of them.

Hopefully, this is not an omen for the Year of the Tiger. Maybe the fish were waiting til it got dark to celebrate the New Year with a feast.

Related posts:

1. Another Good Morning of Ice Fishing
2. Fishing 2010: Day 1
3. First Ice Fish

From my family to yours, I would like to wish you a prosperous and bountiful (fish or otherwise) Year of the Tiger.

Related posts:

1. Year of the Tiger Fishing: Day 1
2. Happy Holidays