I have spent lots of time in as spring and summer fisherman but I have only ice fished a few times with a guy I know. I just wanted some advice as I would like to get into doing some ice fishing this year and was wondering what advice anyone can give about tactics, equipment needed or suggested. I will be fishing for pan fish mostly crappie and bluegill. I wouldn't mind finding some places to fish for walleye or larger type game fish.

Well where are ya from??? I spend a lot of time fishing specks through the ice. I look for brushpiles or humps in 8 - 25 feet of water and use a minnow on a size 8 tru-turn or size 12 treble under a slip bobber. I usually start fishing about 45 min before dark and fish till they stop biting, sometimes i might have to move 20 - 30 feet to find them. Specks usually bite best for me 2 - 5 feet off of bottom, but i have caught them 5 feet down in 20 foot of water. Ask some locals, and do some scouting around from car, look for groups of people or lanterns at night. Good luck.

The mistake well maybe not mistake but i see alot of anglers getting out on the lake drilling there 2 or 3 holes and sitting there all day. Ice fishing is no different than open water, would you fish the same spot all day out of a boat if it was slow? I think not. Make sure you have lots of fuel for the auger and get out there and cut some ice. I like to drill in a zig zag pattern from shallow to deep and the laterally. Cover some ground and move to the fish. Once you get on the fish follow them as they move into the shallows in the evening by bouncing holes inward toward the shore as the sun drops. Ice fishing can be just as verastile but ya need a good auger. Good luck

Thanks for the advice. I live in Iowa and would ice fishing in my home area and maybe making some trips to the Minnesota area.

I only got to do it one long weekend and had a blast in Wi. Dress warm and forget the beer coolies. They aren't needed.

Good luck.

drill, drill, drill until you find-then fish until they quit and move on

If you have already gone ice fishing a few times, then you have a general idea of ice fishing. You need something to cut a hole, depending on ice thickness, a spud or a cheap hand auger, 6 or 8 in, your choice. A variety of hooks, different sizes. light line. For starting out a cheap ice rod + reel. 5 gal pail to haul your tackle in. When you get to your fishing spot, you can always sit on the pail. Also an ice scoop comes in handy.

If your going to fish at night, buy some glow in the dark light sticks. Tape these to your tip ups so you can see when the fish is on. It beats shinning the spot light around the lake. My surf fishing friend started this trend over 20 years ago because nothing seemed to work at night to indicate when a strike occurs. Now I see this every where except when I was ice fishing.

Good luck, I wish I was going.

How thick does/or should theice be before venturing out onto? never tried it before. heard too many bad things so its kinda discouraging to try, but with a pond right across the road from me its very tempting. thnks

I know what you mean about thichness. I was told only 3" but you won't catch me on it I don't think. I did get out on some thin ice walking on the lake and you of course spread out but I was on much thinner then the others. Upon returning someone else walked across the spot did and commented on how thin it was.

The best advice I was given was if you fall through. It helps to have two square or round blocks of wood like the bottom of banisters with a nail spiking out of the end, tied to your wrist. To get back up on the ice, whether or not you have the spikes, you want to back stroke up. Don't going forward. If you go forward, your putting too much weight on the ledge and will continue to break it. Back stroke distributes your weight better.

Just wait until a truck rolls buy. That's a lot of fun. For some reason my friends won't let me take my rent a car aka "all terrain vehicle" out on the ice.