I have been ice fishing for +40 years. I started fishing on Nebraska lakes when I was in college and continued when establishing residence in Idaho in 1982. It is a great way to get out of the house during the winter.

These are my thought and reflections as my gear evolved.

Augers

Ice augers are a necessary part of ice fishing to get to the fish. I have seen lots of ice fishermen try to avoid the purchase with pick axes, steel rods, shovels and borrow the neighbors but it boils down to ice and a hole. When in Nebraska I owned a spoon auger. It was a 5 inch auger. Spoon augers work until the become dull then sharpening become a problem. The move to Idaho consolidated my stuff to a pickup truck and the spoon auger did not make the cut.

In Idaho, I bought a two piece 8 inch with two blades. The handle pinned to the auger shaft. Day one hole went into 18 inches ice fast. Sadly, the pin came out of handle and I watched the new auger go bubbling down the hole into 15 feet water.

The second auger was a Mora Strikemaster 8 inch with screw in handle and I have owned it for +35 years. I have purchased 3 sets of blades over the 35 years use. Works great when ice is less than 18 inches thick. As I have grown old, I wimp out when ice is over 24 inches. Does not mean I stop fishing just means I drill fewer holes.

In the spring of 2019, I purchased a Mora Strikemaster 5 inch auger. If my math is correct, if it took 32 lbs to turn the old 8 inch auger in 24 inches ice and the new 5 inch auger should take 20 lbs to turn the auger. In a 2020 test, I found the math was correct. The 5 inch auger was used to drill 5 holes threw 12 inches ice and I could have drilled more. It was easy enough that my wife was able to drill a hole.

New Mora augers come with a bolt holding the handle to auger shaft and I have visions of one I lost at first use. I drilled a small hole through the wing of the bolt and zip tied it to the shaft to prevent loosening. I also super glued the bolt in place.

Thought and Hacks

1. Ice augers are not walking sticks. The fastest way to dull the blade is to use it as a walking stick.

2. Blades are sharp so used with care.

3. Use the blade guard when not drilling holes.

Spoon Skimmer

The spoon skimmer is used to remove ice from the hole. I purchased a 6 inch skimmer for the 8 inch auger and it works well. The new 5 inch auger required a 4 inch spoon. I purchased a 4 inch mini skimmer with a 12 inch handle from Amazon. Handle is spot welded to the spoon.

Thoughts and hacks

1. Match skimmer spoon to hole size.

2. An economical spoon can be made from a cheap ladle holes added to drain the water.

Poles

My poles are basic because I spent my money on the auger. Lets face it you standing next to a hole in the ice and you are going to grab the line rather than reel in a fish. Currently I use a simple 21.5 inch pole out of 1 by 2" pine strips. The box length of my sled is 22 inches so the pole will fit in my sled. The tip of pole is cut at a taper and planed to sharpen to a point. A 1/4 inch hole drilled near the tip to act as the eye to feed the line and 2 additional holes added to the edge to attach golf tees for holding the line. A clothes pin was hot glued to the middle of the fishing pole to clip the hook. So far I have never lost a pole through the hole (knock on ice). It has come close but the pole has always been caught by the ice.

Thought and Hacks

1. A hook snap at the end of the line helps prevent the need to tie on a hook in the cold.

2. The addition of a small lead weight to line aids in getting bait down the hole.

3. My fishing line is a Goture 15 lb Superpower Braided Fishing Line–Zero Stretch and High Tension Advanced Multifilamentline for Saltwater and Freshwater. It is a grey/green color.

4. Each pole has 25 feet line. More line may be necessary if you are fishing in deep lakes.

5. Hooks are pre-tied to a 6 inch monofilament leader. The monofilament line test strength is 2 lb.

6. Hooks are Number 10 Mustad Signature Fly Round Bend Dry Fly Hook purchased from Amazon.

Strike indicators.

For the 8 inch auger, I used a non-weighted foam cigar float bobber for a strike indicator. The long ends stick extends far enough out of the ice hole to view when setting on the fishing box. Reducing the auger to 5 inches required the bobber to be shorter so it would not wedge in the hole.

Thought and hacks

1. Add weights to line so bobber stick is upright and bait falls through hole.

2. Store in ice fishing box using a clothes pin. Attach pin using hot glue gun.

3. Comal Cigar Spring Stick Floats # 937872 for the 8 inch hole are affordable.

4. Comal Cigar Peg Float # 937897 will work for both 5 or 8 inch holes. Rig the line so it attaches to both the bottom and top of bobber. Season 2 of the cigar floats found too difficult to attach to line and abandoned for 1.5" Plastilite Pear Shape Ice Fishing Bobbers.

Fishing Sled / Box

Over the years I have switch between wood sleds and plastic boxes. It is nice to have something to contain your stuff and sit on when fishing. The current sled is made from a 17 gallon tote with folding lid. The tote was purchased at Home Depot for $12. There are larger and smaller totes with folding lids but this tote was selected for medium size and price. Smaller totes would not hold the poles and larger totes were too big for easy storage.

Test run observation.

Fishing sled/box was easy to pickup and move to the ice. I end up just carried it out on the ice to the the fishing spot. Poles and tools were easy to access by opening half the lid. I pulled it off the ice using the rope tow line and found it followed easy and straight. A good investment.

Thoughts and hacks

1. Two wood sled runners were added for pulling through snow and ice. Runners made with 2x4 redwood were screwed to tote with 1.5 inch screws used to hold down metal roofing. The bottom of the runners were sealed with multiple coatings of polyurethane.

2. A divider made from a 1x4 inch pine was added to contain the poles to one side of box. The divider was screwed to the bottom and side of tote using deck screws.

3. A seat made from 1x6 pine was attached to one side of the lid. Make sure seat does not interfere with fully opening the tote.

4. Fish count holes were added to rim of tote. Golf tees are used to check off the number of fish.

5. A 5 quart bucket was added to hold the fish. Put the fish in a plastic bag and the bag goes in the bucket.

6. A spare hook keeper was attached to one side of tote with screws.

7. Clothes pins hot glued to the inside of tote. They are used to hold bobbers and other items.

8. Wheels were added to back of runners to help roll the tote in and out of storage.

Basics of Ice Fishing

Have fun.

Thoughts and Hacks

1. Drill hole. I like to drill 5 holes in an pentagon grid pattern about 6 feet apart.

2. Bait hook with meal worm, corn, or power bait.

3. Lower down hole unto line is slack. Lift hook off bottom about 2 to 4 feet add bobber.

4. Wait. If you are not catching fish after 30 minutes raise bait to 4 feet from surface or try multiple depths.

5. Bobber goes down, set hook and pull out fish. Careful when fish gets to bottom edge of ice.

6. Unhook fish. A plastic fishing hook disgorgers, also called a detacher dehooker hook removal tool will make quick work of it. Clamp forceps also work for removing hook but not as good as disgorger. A package of 10 disgorgers is available from Amazon for $8.

7. Put fish in plastic bag and bag into bucket.

Bait

I have used a variety of baits for ice fishing. Wax and Meal worms are available at pet stores. I found it simple to start my own meal worm farm and it has been going for +34 years. The initial 200 worm culture came from Carolina Biological because I could not find another source. Many pet store worms have been treated with BT biocontrol agents to grow large and will no complete their life cycle. I use a plastic bucket for the farm. The food source is old fashion oatmeal. A few apple or carrot slices are added every few months for moisture. A friend waters his with lettuce leaves. A well managed farm will have beetles, and several worm sizes.

I also use Power Bait and frozen corn as bait.

Thoughts and hacks

1. BT biocontrol agents (used to protect potatoes and corn) and genetically modified crops that prevent worm development (GMO corn) should not be used as a food source for your worm farm.