Ice fishing is a wonderful and popular sport. There are a few steps you should follow when ice fishing. Location is very important. To choose your ice fishing location, you want to find a body of water that has at least a 3ft layer of ice before you hit water.
Unless it is a body of water that you have gone ice fishing on before and know is safe, you should not go alone.
Now that you have found a location, it is time to gather your ice fishing gear. Another important thing you need to remember when learning how to go ice fishing is that it is indeed extremely cold. It will be best to dress in layers. Start out with thermal underwear.
Then just pile on your warm winter clothing, winter hat, and gloves. On your feet you will want 2 pairs of socks. This means one regular boot sock and one thick boot length sock. Which of course means you will be wearing your big boots. It is also a good idea to keep yourself equipped with hand and feet warming packs.
You should invest in a good shelter. The company Shappell makes all sorts of ice fishing shelters from basic to deluxe. You want a sledded bottom, and an enclosed covering. Most shelters come with a plank seat of some sort.
The shelters are usually big enough for you and your gear. I suggest bringing along a mini-heater for those really cold days. If you plan on keeping your fish, bring a bucket to put them in. How do you get to the fish? Well you will need a hand drill. This means a long twisted screw-like pole with a handle up top for winding it through the ice. Once you have hit unfrozen waters you may need an ice ladle to scoop out any large chunks of ice that may get in the way of your fishing.
The poles you will use are much shorter that a normal fishing pole. Ice fishing poles are shorter, because you don't cast them as you would in a warmer setting. You drop down your line and wait. There are other ways of doing this if you don't want to sit there holding your fishing pole. You can get "flags". The flags pop up when you have a fish on your line. A lot of ice fishermen use these so they can set up more than one fishing area at a time.
Remember to be cautious and safe, and to follow all ice fishing laws that may be enforced where you fish. Most local bait shops will have knowledge of these laws, as well as where you purchase your fishing license.
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