Dec.08 ice fishing pics/video slideshow

[crappiekeith]

I'm glad you guys enjoyed the lil show.
I figured I'd give y'all a taste of living in the frozen tundra.

I know that most of you are fishing open water and when it gets tuff out there don't forget to get small.
I've been going to an 80th jig a lot these days.Even had to drop to 100th on a couple days to get those fish to bite.

[GRIZZ]

Good reminder about the size. Good to see ya Kieth. Nice show.

[catman]

great video.

[Darryl Morris]

Good video. I still stay if takes a very special kind of person to fish that hard water, brrrrrr. I saw crappie, bluegill, walleye and pike. What was that skin fish with the long fin?

[old fuzzy]

thanks nice show

[crappiekeith]

Good video. I still stay if takes a very special kind of person to fish that hard water, brrrrrr. I saw crappie, bluegill, walleye and pike. What was that skin fish with the long fin?

Burbot or some call them eelpout or just pout for short.Fillet out the tail and back and then broil.Have some drawn butter with garlic salt and pepper.They say it's poor man's lobster.

Having the correct gear keeps you warm and toasty on the ice.
I wear LaCross Extremes boots ,sweatpants and a tee with a fleece throwover with Artic Armor bibs and jacket.Add in a fleece beenie and Artic Armor gloves and I'm good to 30 below.

Once we bore holes and set up the Otter Lodge all that's left is to fire up the Mr.Heater and turn on the Marcum flasher.

Verticle jigging or (tight lining) is the ticket for working the whole water column.Lifting slabs to enduce a strike is the goal.

I also carry a H2Oc gps to mark waypoints of where the fish were and the map chip allows me to go to a new lake and know the structure.
In the summer time I'll use the H2Oc ability to trace weedlines so come ice I can go right to a weedline for bull gills.
I can also mark waypoints over the deep holes.

These new tools are awesome for dialing in quickly to the right areas of the lake.

[Fatman]

While it was thorouly enjoyable and fresh cold fillets are excellent, I still haven't thought twice about going out on the ice since I went through in High School.

Fatman

[TapOut64]

Nice job with the video and pic's. How thick is the ice? Having never iced fish I'm curious to know how deep the water was and how you decide where to fish.

[crappiekeith]

Our ice is around 16-18 inches.You need about 4" to walk on without it cracking.
When water gets to around 45 degrees the fish go deeper where it's warmer below the thermocline.
Crappies are generally found in the deeper basins of the lake.

I like to work near structure like off of a steep drop off.
It takes a bunch of holes some days to locate the nomadic slabs.

I use a Marcum flasher to read the water column in locating fish.
Besides my 40 years of ice fishing expierence,there are some other items like a H2Oc gps with a map chip that I'll use on new water to find the general area then it takes some time punching holes and reading them with my flasher to locate those crappies.

We will get up to 40 inches of ice, so a good gas auger with sharp blades is a key piece of gear when you consider I'll drill 50-100 holes some days.My choice is a StrikeMaster Lazer.

Then good clothing allows me to stay warm to stay out there in the cold.
Potable fish houses are also key. Staying mobile allows me to stay on top of fish as well.


In the old days we spudded out holes with a chisel and we hunkered down and waited for the bite.
Many a day we went home skunked...not hungry was the excuse.
Nowadays with the electronics we can see if there are even fish down there and then we can watch them to see how they react in real time as to what we offer them.
This allows us to change baits and sizes of baits until we get them to strike.

When the fish move out we move.It's called runnin & gunnin.
It's a blast putting everything together and making most outtings a day of catching.
Some days it doesn't matter what you show them they will not make a move.
Other days we can get 50 crappie in 60 minutes.
It all comes down to lifting a slab and getting it to seperate from the pack.
Work it to the ceiling of that day and let it catch up to your bait .Then hold on when it covers your bait and watch your spring bobber.
It's not that tuff out there.Dad used to make burger on the cook stove back then.Used to burn onion shells to get the other guys droolin....ya he had trickster streak going.
Now look...



I could go on but I'll stop here.

[GRIZZ]

Your crappies look like my sig.

You guys get more sun and more ice than we do. Being in a lake snow zone for 5 months out of the year for 40 plus years has cured me of winter. I do admire your enthusiasm and rig though. What would you say your total ice fishing rig set you back?