Ice fishing is carried out on a frozen body of water. The fishermen may use either fishing lines or spears and they have to make a hole in the body of ice in order to gain access to the unfrozen water underneath the ice. They may sit on a stool in the open air on the ice near the opening through which they get their fish; some fishermen have made this activity even more pleasurable as they have built cabins of wood around the opening which are heated and equipped with bunk beds so that they could also take a bit of rest.
Posted by under Bass FishingIce fishing is very popular especially in the cold areas on our globe. Some countries where it has become a hobby during free time are the European Northern ones like Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Norway, Russia and even Germany. The Northern states and regions of the American continent where ice fishing still flourishes are Canada, Alaska, Colorado, Michigan and so on.
Getting into more details about the fishing equipment used, we may realize that it is pretty different from other types of fishing in that it has become rather specialized. A fishing line or a spear could turn out worthless in this type of activity if you do not have an ice saw or a chisel at hand to begin with. Remember that an opening in the ice is required first and foremost. But water will keep freezing even after you have made the hole, so most fishermen also carry a skimmer to remove that newly formed layer of ice. Most people also rely on a heater not only for their sakes but also for keeping the area around the hole warm enough to avoid letting more ice be formed. That is why wooden huts or cabins which retain the heat indoors are widely preferred by those performing this activity.
Ice fishing is based on three different methods, each with its specifically designed tools. The first one relies on the use of small fishing rods that are not heavy but have lures or baits that are small again and very colorful. The second makes use of tip-ups and they are very useful when you are not interested in catching a lot of fish over a longer period of time. And last, there’s spear ice fishing for which you need a larger hole and fish decoys.
Whichever the choice from the three methods, we can compare nowadays success of these fishermen’s activity with that of long ago ice fishing. It seems that today, with the help of sonars, ice fishing lovers can identify the areas where fish are located in the large body of water under the ice. They will drill about 100 holes per day if they want a lot of game and have so much better results than their predecessors did who relied on only one hole and waited for the fish to come by.
