Free Sample
The Complete Guide to Ice Fishing
What it really costs, what gear you truly need, and how to decide if sitting over a hole in the ice is for you
by Alumigogo Books
Chapter 1: What Is Ice Fishing and Why People Love It
Let's start with a scene, because ice fishing is a hobby of scenes, not just activities. It's a Tuesday afternoon in mid-January. The air temperature is around 12 degrees Fahrenheit, which feels cold until you factor in the wind, which makes it feel like four. You are standing on a frozen lake that, in July, was full of jet skis. Now it's a flat, white expanse that creaks and pops every so often as the ice shifts. You've been out here for about an hour. Your feet are warm, because you bought the right boots, and that matters more than almost anything else. The hole in front of you is about eight inches in diameter, drilled straight through three feet of ice, and the water below it is black and completely still.
And then, without warning, the little orange flag on your tip-up snaps upright. A tip-up is a simple device—two sticks in a cross shape with a plastic spool of line and a spring-loaded flag. When a fish takes your bait and pulls line, the flag pops up. It's the ice fishing version of a doorbell. When that flag goes, your heart does a little thing. You walk over, carefully, because the ice is slick, and you pull the line hand over hand. There's resistance. Then the head shakes. You get your gloves off quick, grab the fish through the hole—a walleye, maybe 18 inches, silver and gold,