Home Forums Fishing Freshwater Ice fishing gizmos

I know something about the open water fish ,and depth machines.

Help me out on all the electronics available for ice fishing, and what they can do.

Most ice anglers use a flasher instead of a graph type machine used on boats. There are circular display and vertical display flashers. I have a Marcum Showdown Troller 2.0 flasher combo. Like THIS

Without a "gizmo" you have no idea how deep the water is or if there are fish present. With a flasher, you can know both things BEFORE YOU DRILL because the flasher can see through the ice. Once you are fishing, you can see fish right below your hole at any depth, and actually see them approach your bait before they bite. Or see them approach and NOT bite, which might be even more valuable info. It's a game changer.

I run a vexilar FL 28. Great machine. Like Rocky said, they are wonderful for telling you that fish are there and NOT biting - so make a change. Here in walleye country we don't often see fish before we try a hole - they seem to come in. What you see also depends on water depth.

You might want to consider getting a unit that you can also use on a boat. Humminbird makes iceducers for at least some of their units. I bought a plastic utility box like an army ammo box, and mounted a humminbird 797 on top, cut a groove to get the transduce out, and put a small 12 volt battery in it. It has a flasher display mode. I also like that it has a GPS and lake map built in. I sometimes run this unit in graph mode, which gives me a better indication of the size of a fish. .

My preference? If I didn't have the vexilar, I could get by with the Humminbird. .

I must be back in the Stone Age, as far as these things go.

I have been puttering with the ice holes since 1990, and from a boat since 1949.
Just curious about the newfangled tools.

Mostly, I go where fishing has been productive in the past, and move to another old haunt if that fails.

Years back, they used a spud bar before the augers.
I'm thinkin', you would not be rippin' all over the lake chopping holes.

Dont forget your cameras.. I use the aqua view micro.. Mostly just for structure, transition areas... There pretty small dont take up that much room...

I too have a vexilar would not step on the ice without it, or my gps..

Well you don't really need a depth finder but it helps a lot. With my cheap old Humminbird portable I seldom see fish, either they are too close to the bottom or outside the cone. (generally fishing around 15 feet or less) Now perch you can see coming to the lure but walleyes around here stay pretty tight. An advantage of the markum and vexilar is they're tuned to work with very little bottom separation.

But it's a lot more convenient when I can see my lure is just so far from the bottom without messing with bottom weights. Particularly when hole hopping, see below. My style is to drill lots of holes right off and shooting through the ice more accurately lets me bracket the structure I'm looking for. Then I can narrow in on the depth the fish are hanging and maybe drill more holes. Say you start catching at 14 feet, then you track along the point at 14 feet drilling more holes. (I like running the auger )

Saves a lot of time and guessing. Shooting through the ice gets iffy later in the season when the ice gets white and full of air though.

Never used a camera, there's just so much crap I'm willing to drag along and the depth finder is about the limit.

Electronics are really useful, not just for finding structure. Today, I had fish around the hole most of the 2 hrs I fished. I tried 7 different presentations with not a tap; they inhaled the bare minnow in the next hole. I switched and caught enough for 2 meals. Without the vexilar, I would have concluded that no one was home, and probably would have moved!

Now I have to put new baits on for tomorrow's session. . what DO they want?

Whatever gets them in the old frying pan.
Old time moxie, or newfangled gear.
A blend of both just might be in order?

You fellows are driving me nuts!
I'm going over my equipment, and waiting my chance.
Even trying out a tool box grill for a hot lunch on ice.

Does anyone use a bobber?

Wabigoon

I like to use slip bobbers, but am having a hard time getting some good bobber stops that don't slip. When the bobber stops fail, I lower the minnow to the bottom and then lift it up a foot or so, and put the rod in a holder or in an icerigger. That way I can watch the rod tip. Also, bails open on spinning reels and freespool on baitcasters. Pike have been know to help themselves to your tackle!

You mean those dreaded jacks!?

A bell on the rod tip sounds---, like a good idea, till the breeze picks up.

Just where in Minnesota do you hale from?
If you don't want to go public, drop me a private message.

I use a slip bobber on tip-ups but with the bobber sitting on top of the ice. It's mainly a flag to indicate something was toying with the minnow but not enough to trigger a strike. Otherwise too often they steal the minnow without triggering the tip-up and you're left fishing with a bare hook for who knows how long.

It's always at least breezy here so bells are always making like Santa's sleigh. More slip bobbering on open water. I tie them the usual way over a piece of plastic straw. Extra heavy duty sewing thread - button thread - drawn through a chunk of bee's wax works well for me. And a little seed bead from the craft store.

forpest, you've got WAY more patience than I do!

The answer to your tackle-stealing pike is a rod leash. Start with a ring and a zip tie on the rod...




Then add a coiled key leash to something too big to go through the hole. The rod holder here is on my kayak, but I attach it to my gear sled for ice fishing.

That looks slick, and speaking of slick, how about cleats for the sick ice?

What's best?

I bought a set of boot chains last year, and like them. They aren't quite as slip-proof as the ones with the hardened little "star" beads, but they don't tear up your boots like those stars do, either.

BTW, in the summer, those same boot chains work great when wading in slick-rock trout streams.

I didn't buy mine at REI, but this is the brand: LINK

I just crank hex head sheet metal screws into my boot sole . Carry a small bag and a socket with a welded t-handle to replace them when they pop out or wear down. I find they gather less ice than the chains

That works fine - until you walk across your hardwood floor with those boots on. Then, you might wish you'd gone the removable chains route.

Got more than one pair of boots.

Nighthawk

Good idea on the beeswax! I bought a hundred pack of bobber stops, and I am too cheap to dump them and start over. I will try to wax some and see how that works. One of the issues is that I forget to knock the ice out of the tip guide, and then the bobber stop gets relocated.

And it isn't that hard to just let things drop to the bottom and reel up. If the fish are really hungry they won't let it hit the bottom

I have three sets of ice grippers. One is HT brand, and I haven't tried them yet. Can't recall the other brand - it is a stretch rubber "frame" with studs set in blue circles. These work well, but on my heaviest boots the right boot doesn't keep them on. Haven't tried the heavier ones yet.

Hope we have/ are getting enuf snow that we won't need them any longer!