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Open Ice Tactics

Throughout the late 80’s and 90’s I was fortunate enough to grow up on a shore front property on Lake Scugog. Although my family did not ice fish, I was always big on heading out myself. I didn’t have all the fancy gear back then. As a matter of fact, I only had a piece of wood that I had carved myself to wrap old fishing line around and a couple jig heads with twister tail grubs. Those days, I really didn’t need much more to catch fish. 

To get through the ice, I used an old axe to hack my way through. Today there’s a ton of gear available to make ice fishing much more comfortable and believe me I have much of it myself. Although I own a portable hut, a great heater and several augers, there’s something to be said about getting back to the roots when you’re on the ice. The most important things to remember are not only safety, but preparing yourself according to the outing you’re going to have. I’m often on the ice for periods of eight to even sixteen hours sometimes.

 

Preparing For The Weather

These days, I tend to drag out my portable hut when I have others fishing with me. Although the hut is out there, I rarely use it. No matter how cold it is or how windy it is, I much prefer to be on the open ice. It takes me back to being a child. The fresh air, open scenery and cheers of people hooking up energize me beyond anything I could ever put into words. Fishing open ice definitely comes with its challenges and I thought I might share some tactics I have learnt over the years. Although some of them may be really basic, they all have their place in a successful and comfortable adventure.

 

Dressing For Ice Fishing

When dressing for an open ice adventure, you have to think of really two scenarios. The first scenario is the walking and cutting holes in the ice. You have to be able to walk distances in deep snow and wind as well as cut holes without sweating too much. This is important as when you stop, the sweat will freeze. I tend to wear a good tight fitting T-shirt, Long T-shirt then a sweater. Having a Bib snow suit is a great advantage, especially when it has vents that can be opened up on the sides and inseam. The second scenario to keep in mind is the long periods of sitting, kneeling and being stationary. Selecting a good snow suit is important. Not only does it have to be really warm, there are other features that need to be kept in mind. Large pockets and good knee pads are crucial. Again venting in the jacket is a great advantage to keep your body temperature regulated.

 

Setting Up Basecamp

Once you have arrived to your first location and you’re ready to fish, don’t toss your gear all over the place. Having a messy base camp will lead to lost and damaged gear. Make sure that any gear not being used stays in your sled and is secured well. I don’t know how many times I have had to make a dash trying to chase down a bucket, glove or something else that the wind has taken off with. Having to run on the ice will not only put you in danger of slipping and falling, but it may take you into an area that you have not yet determined safe and you could find yourself swimming due to thin ice.

 

Drilling Your Holes

When drilling your holes with an auger, you will create a volcano of snow around the hole. Do not kick this away from your hole. As the wind blows snow across the ice, this volcano will slow your hole from filling with slush and freezing over. If you do not have an auger and you’re using a chisel or axe to cut the hole, kick some snow in the hole after you’re through the ice. You can then pull the slush out of the hole using your scoop and use that slush to create a barrier wall around the hole. That barrier will help slow down slush buildup and your hole from freezing over.

 

Keeping Things Simple

Once you are ready to drop your line, position yourself with your back to the wind. On really windy days, I prefer to kneel as this will provide the most wind protection to my hole as well as my fishing line. If you are unable to Kneel, using a bucket will also protect your hole. Just keep in mind when it’s really windy, getting up from your bucket will allow the wind to take the bucket for a ride. Keep a couple heavy items in your bucket to anchor it. I often use a fold out chair as well. If you do this, you can clip on a towel to the back of the chair legs and this will act as a wind block. Again, this wind block becomes a sail and the wind will take it for a ride, so be careful it doesn’t blow away on you.

 

Ice Fishing Rod Setup

When selecting line for your rod setup, I try to stay away from braided lines. When fishing in a hut with warmth, braided lines are great; however they bring up a lot of water. When open ice fishing, the least water clinging to your line the better as you will have a lot of ice buildup. Another thing to keep in mind, the majority of fish species fight less during the winter so lighter line is better. Not only does lighter line have less ice buildup, it will allow you to present your lure better and feel subtle hits. You want to make sure that your lines are dropping straight with your selected lure and there is no curl to the line coming off the reel.

 

As far as rod selection goes. It’s important to balance your rod with the line you are using. Lighter rods will allow you to have more play on the fish. Myself, I tend to like really fast rods. A quick and responsive tip is important to me for hook setting. If you like to use tip ups, I’m a big fan of insulated circular tip ups. Any time you’re drilling a hole for your tip ups, you will want to kick the snow and slush away from the hole so that the tip up lies flat to the ice. This will keep your hole from freezing under the tip up. On really windy days, build a wind barrier with slush up wind from your tip up. This will reduce the amount of false flags rising from the wind setting off the tip up.

 

When selecting reels for the ice, you want to make sure that they are not going to freeze up on you. I find that plastic reels will freeze less, however they often have poor drag systems which is really important when using light line. I tend to enjoy reels with steel casings and keep them really well greased which assists in reducing the freeze up. When you want to put your rod down, try not to drop it in the snow as this will just make it that much easier for your reel to freeze up. A cheap reel holder does wonders for this.

 

Here are some of the setups that I use on the ice. I’m trying to keep away from brand acknowledgement with this as we all have our preferred brads and most brands have quality products that will meet your needs and desired feel.

 

Panfish (Perch, Crappie, Sunfish, Blue Gill) – 24” Ultra Light Rod (Extra Fast), Spinning Reel, 3lb Fluorocarbon line

 

Walleye – 28” Medium or Medium Light Rod (Extra Fast), Spinning Reel, 5lb Fluorocarbon line

 

Lake Trout – 36” Medium or Medium Heavy Rod (Extra Fast), Spinning Reel, 8-10lb Fluorocarbon line

 

Musky – 26” Medium Heavy Rod (Extra Fast), Spinning Reel, 15lb Braided line with a steel leader.

 

The next time you decide to hit the ice, consider packing light and making your trip an open ice adventure. The freedom of being able to pick up and move faster will not only keep your line in the water more, but it will get you into more fish. Enjoy this great winter we are having and stay safe on the ice.

 

Yours In Boating,

Mike Bowler

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