Posts Tagged ‘Ice Fishing’

As we begin to enter the months of January and February; the Walleye bite tends to become a bit spotty at best. The initial willful abandon that the fish show at first ice is long gone. This is due to the fact that they are no longer on a feeding binge, in preparation for the long winter.

If you haven’t kept up with the latest innovations, I think you’ll be truly amazed at just how comfortable and enjoyable this sport can be. The days of being hunched over a five gallon pail, hoping to catch a fish, before frost bite sets in are long gone.

It’s now time to drag out all of our ice fishing gear and put some serious thought into what goodies you need to add to your arsenal. Be sure to jot down a list of what you just can’t do without; and conspicuously leave it lying around the house as a not so subtle Christmas wish list. With that in mind, I’ll list some of the most notable new equipment for this year.

Now, as the days are growing shorter and the temps begin to drop, many of us are anticipating the hard water season. As I dust off the equipment, I can’t help but to reflect on how far we have progressed in the sport of Ice Fishing.

Here in the Dakota’s, most of us are fortunate enough to enjoy the Outdoors in one form or another. It is this Rural Tradition that keeps many of us here permanently, despite some Economic and Meteorological conditions that people in other parts of the Country might find less than appealing.

With the recent-and quite welcome-influx of unseasonably warm weather, most folk’s thoughts are on anything but Ice Fishing. Many of you are probably out happily pounding away on Pheasants and gearing up for Deer Season. But…you should be putting some thought into what is inevitably going to come, and quite frankly will be the best release for our outdoor energies once the hunting seasons draw down.

Last month I began a discussion on developing a wish list for some great new products to put to use this Ice Fishing season. Christmas is coming and I will expand upon this and give you enough time to drop some not so subtle hints and make yourself “not that hard to shop for.”

The subject matter I write about has always had a strong focus on education, whether it be about fish location and behavior or in presentations and the associated lures used to elicit a positive response. I would like to continue on with that theme and implore some of you (probably the majority of you) to self-educate yourselves.

If you are like most anglers, you have not given much consideration to incorporating artificial bait alternatives in lieu of live bait. Berkley’s numerous offerings in their PowerBait and Gulp! lines being the most accepted. This reluctance is nearly universal when it comes to ice fisherman. A few of you may have used some for a very brief time, lost confidence in it and reverted to your old standby’s of live bait. Too bad, because you’re limiting yourself and ultimately your rate of success by doing so.