Which reminds me, I have to go put my bait trap down in the river.
My son really wants to go. I’ve ice fished all my life. But what I really remember when I was ice fishing as a kid was the frozen toes, and catching fish.
When we go, we’ll be Upta Camp, so we can go back to the camp (prob about 1/4 mile hike) to warm up. But that means we have to take the traps out to do so as you can’t leave them unattended.
Anyone else dealt with taking kids out ice fishing and dealing with frozen toezies? Any suggestions? I want him to have fun, not be brought to tears because of cold toes like I was as a child.
In a pinch you can fill a sock with a small amount of beans(if you don’t have any uncooked beans then rice or pebbles) and throw them over a fire for a bit. Wrap it up and stick it at the very front of your shoe. Planning ahead, you can buy a few Warm Packs/Pocket Warmers and that should last you a weekend or so. No advice for ice fishing with kids though.
Locators or underwater cameras are really cool, but it sounds like you aren’t that serious, not worth the expense. See if you can borrow one.
I’m not sure if you want to share the quiet glorious winter beauty or if you want him to have fun on the ice. Two completely different experiences, and I would give two completely different responses.
We always, ALWAYS have a fire right on the ice. I’ve kept a fire going on the ice for 5,6,7 hours at a time. With 6 inch thick ice the fire barely melts down 3 inches if that. I do it all the time.
Basically, I bring a bucket or paper bag full of ash, spread it over a 3x3 foot square area out maybe 30 or 40 feet from where out tip-ups are…and then pile on the kindling, and logs and go from there and light-er-up. We keep it burning most of the day…I’ve never seen it melt more than an inch or two as all the heat transfers up and out…
There is a guy on the lake we usually go to who set’s up a brick layout 3x3 right infront of his camp, he set’s it up when he knows the ice is good for a few weeks, and has a fire on it every time he fishes which is most days. His name is Tim and we always go to Tim’s fire to warm up or just chat about what’s biting. It’s cool because the bricks embed themselves in the ice about an inch and are basically frozen in place after the first fire…
I have lots of those warmers but they recommend not putting them in shoes as they can get too hot… Anyone have experience with these? I use Mickey Mouse boots so my feet stay plenty warm. I can’t get them for my son though, his feet are too small.
It’s not legal for us to light a fire directly on the ice, but we used to use a 5 gal metal bucket with holes poked in it when I went with my dad. Still had cold toes though But you’re right, it barely melted into the ice.
As to using a jig, half the fun when I was a kid was having our 10 traps spred out and running from trap to trap (or skating) to keep up with all the flags on an active day. I guess we could just limit the time we were out, but half the fun was being out there for a while. I could bring a shelter, heater, etc, but the whole point was just trying to pack as little as possible to get out there and go fishing. Kind of like camping – bringing the least amount as possible and still have a good time, while not having to bring all the extras.
Oh I love bumbling from trap to trap trying to set a hook on a HUGE walleye only to miss it by seconds…or setting a hook on a monster brown trout only to have the hole too small to get the damn thing through it. Good Times!! Oh and always bring a hatchet or axe…and never buy a 4" auger bit, always go with the larger ones.
Fires are illegal on the ice huh? What state are you in? Or, I wonder if we just have a lenient warden…I remember him warming up next to our fire a time or two…
Oops missed the edit window, I see you are in Maine, wow it’s illegal up-they-ah? I’m in CT, but we had a camp waaaay up in Millinocket when I was little…great salmon and large mouths up there.
An actual fire on top of the ice sans metal bucket is illegal here in Maine. It must be held in a container.
We use an 8" auger here. My favorite memory as a kid (abut 10 years old) was catching a huge bass that I tried to pull up through said hole. I yanked and the leader broke. The bass was starting to slide back down through the hole in the wave of water. I reached down with my gloved hand and grabbed his open mouth and basically ripped him up through the hole. The ice was 16" thick at the time. That was one big bass. It was a tasty lunch
Yup, in Maine. We often do have fires on shore (at my grandfather’s camp and at my wife’s grandfather’s camp) but our own camp is on an inlet into a lake. You cannot ice fish on the river, only on the lake, so we have to walk up the 1/4 mile (on the river ice which is safe,it’s a very slow moving river) to a point where we can fish. We mainly catch bass on our lake, but there are togue and yellow perch too.
Dang, I have to go down and put in the bait trap before I forget. Time to get dressed up and head down to the river. It’s 18 degrees with 15 mile an hour wind here today. I expect it’s much worse at camp. Hopefully it will be calmer tomorrow when we head up to camp for the day.
Beautiful scenery. Few humans. Finding joy in something that is uncomfortable or challenging. If done in a group it can be a bonding experience. Hours and hours alone encourages introspection.
Is skiing fun? Are snowball fights fun? It all depends on one’s perception.
I mean, it’s frickin cold up here. You either have to put up or shut up. I’m not going to be stuck inside for 6 months of the year just because it’s cold out. You just have to prepare for the conditions, and then it’s fun.
I mean, I went down to the river and put the bait trap in yesterday afternoon. While selecting a god spot to drop it (by walking along the shore) I dipped a toe in to see if it was cold. Well, actually my foot broke through the ice at shore and filled up with water.
Me, I laughed as I always end up doing things like this. thanks to my socks, my fot was fine, I put the trap in, and walked back home. When I got home, I told my wife my foot went through the ice and to pick which one it was That shoe looked like I had tried to thaw a caveman and gave up. The outside was completely crusted in ice as was the pant leg. When I pried the shoe off, the sock inside was barely wet.
Just gotta make do with what the seasons give you. In the summer I fish, go out on the boat, on the jet ski, swim in the pool, hike. I certainly wouldn’t skip doing these things if it was hot outside. Just have to prepare for it, same as the wintertime.
Remember, you can always put more clothes on if you’re cold, but you can only take so much off before you get arrested.
Egads, they look good, but they’re $200. My luck, I’d misplace them
Plus, I was looking for something to use this week for ice fishing, as I have the week off, and I don’t think I would get those in time. I guess i’ll try using the heat packs and see how they do.
I hope it warms up a little. Right now it’s -5F outside. At least there’s no wind. Temps predicted to stay stable for the next 12 hours or so.
I tell ya, I love having a Davis Vantage Pro2 Plus: Compuplus.com
It’s nice to have accurate weather predictions and monitoring.
But you’re right, it barely melted into the ice.