A Beginners Guide To Buying Ice Fishing Supplies
Ice fishing is Winter activity that can be enjoyed by everyone in the family. The cost is minimal to get fixed up and with tips from experienced ice fishermen, a Newbie can be expected to have success their first trip onto the ice.
But what’s required to begin ice fishing? One has a variety of choices in fishing supplies in the stores, a Beginner can easily lay out hundreds of dollars on ice fishing tackle and not have the basic gear to get out on the ice.
So I’ve put together this list of the basic ice fishing supplies that a Newbie will need to get started. What’s even better is that for less money than it cost for a trip to the grocery store, you could buy all the fishing supplies that you will need to begin fishing.
Before anything else, you will want to get an auger meant for ice fishing to bore holes in the ice and snow. I recommend a five or six inch auger meant for ice fishing for panfish like Perch, Bluegill and Crappie. If you want to go after bigger fish like Bass, Pike and Walleye, then If it was me, I’d get a 8 or 10 inch auger meant for ice fishing. You have two choices, power augers or the manual augers. It’s no secret that the manual augers are not as expensive as the power augers but need more work to drill a hole. You’ll also need a scoop to get the ice chips out of the ice hole.
You’ll want to buy quality tip ups or ice rods. A lot of ice fishermen drill a bunch of holes over weed beds and other structure and use tip ups to increase their chances of catching fish. Not surprsingly a lot of fishermen prefer to ice fish with an ice fishing rod. If it was me,I’d get a few tip ups along with a good rod so you can see which technique you prefer.
The line you use for fishing should be designed for ice fishing. The near freezing water can make the line break easily. Due to this, you will want to make sure and get line specifically designed for fishing through the ice. Cortland makes a product called Ice Line that is great. The line is the most important part of your ice fishing equipment.
You’ll also want to get some jigs and lures to go along with your bait. Miniture jigs are excellent for panfish. Also tear drop jigs and tiny spoons will come in handy when the panfish get finicky. As for bait, panfish love mealworms and spikes while larger fish such as Walleye prefer Worms or baitfish like smelt. Be sure to talk to local fishermen to see what’s they recommend a Beginner use their first time out on the ice.
It would be wise to bring something to sit on. A majority of seasoned ice fishermen use an ordinary 5 gallon bucket. A select few will even bring lawn chairs out on the ice, but a 5 gallon bucket will also help you haul your gear to and from the lake.
And this is all you need to start ice fishing. Also you’ll need a fishing license and read up on the regulations for the body of water you plan on going fishing at. Being fined for breaking a law can ruin your fishing trip. Now go out and have some fun. Never forget the first rule of ice fishing, be safe and follow all the safety rules for being out on the ice during Winter.
Tags: bass, crappie, Fishing, fishing gear, ice fishing, lake fishing, musky, panfish, pike, river fishing, walleye, winter fishing