Next year...ICE FISHING!

[fishwood75]

Larry, I'm a hunter and a fisherman and we are sort of inbetween huntin' and fishin' season here in Pennsylvania and I'm so pent up I can harldly stand it. Next year I'm gonna take up ice fishin' so I can keep my addiction fed. Normally I fly fish alot during the winter but this year I didn't get out as much. We've had a hard winter...good for ice fishing...but not good for trout. A little too cold. Catching in this cold weather is not good for the fish. I wonder if you've done any ice fishing and what you think about it. Once the weather warms a little bit here in Pennsylvania you probably won't hear much from me for awhile. I'll be out doing instead of asking!

Fishwood Patrick from Altoona

PS. I moved to Pennsylvania just for the hunting and fishing! My first wife said the only thing I ever cared about was hunting and fishin', maybe that's why she's my ex...LOL

Patrick

[dahlberg]

HI FW
You sound like my kind of guy!
Good question. My very first fish, at age 4, was caught thru the ice. I remember it like it was yesterday! The smell of the wood stove, hissing of the coleman lantern. Homemade orange painted balsa "tuned" bobber going down, windmilling hand over hand the mono onto the woodstove and screwing up everything...glad my dad was patient.
The second project I did in video when I started at Infish was Ice Fishing Secrets where we introduced electronics to ice fishing.
I remember the first winter, back in the mid-sixtie, when I took my first depthfinder on the ice. I drew the entire topography of the lake on the surface of the lake.
Honestly, for me ice fishing is tough. I'm not happy unless I have a hundred holes. But, when I hunted a great deal I hated sitting in a tree and waiting and would always rather jump shoot ducks as opposed to pass shooting.
Gotta say though, staring down the ice hole in a dark house and watching how fish react to different things is mesmerizing.
At this point in my life I think winter fishing is best done near the equator, but getting out on the ice sure beats watching the TV.
I think you'll enjoy it, and the fresh dinner of cold water fillets is unbeatable.
best,
L

ingand hitng in aworking as a huntern