Most Michigan ice fishermen were probably not very happy the last two winters. Ice conditions were poor to nonexistent in much of the state. I had to cancel my Ice Fishing/Vacation Schools last winter, and it was the second year in a row that we couldn’t fish Saginaw Bay—one of my favorite destinations for hard-water angling—because of unsafe ice.
What we’ll get this year is anyone’s guess, and winter is still a ways off, but I’m optimistic that we’ll have a normal winter, so I’m already beginning to get my act together in anticipation of some good fishing adventures on the ice this winter. And now is the time to get started, so when good ice arrives you’re ready to go and not scrambling around to find what you need to be successful.
Start by gathering all of your gear and taking inventory of what you should add or what you need to replace in your angling arsenal.
Assuming you have all the rods and reels you need, change your line. Monofilament exposed to heat or ultraviolet light breaks down, so put fresh line on your reels and make sure they’re working properly and lubricated.
Next, check your tip-ups. The main braided Dacron on the reel spools should be fine—it’s strong and durable—but any leader material should be replaced.
Personally, I use six-pound fluorocarbon for leaders on my tip-ups. It’s invisible to the fish and if you’re fishing for toothy species (i.e., pike or muskie), it has a small enough diameter that it will fit between the teeth of the fish, so you don’t have to worry about it being cut off. Bigger diameter leaders are more likely to be cut by fish teeth and more likely to be seen by the fish. Don’t use a steel leader; you don’t need it.
I also recommend using a small treble hook, size 14. As long as it’s sharp, it will hook up the biggest of fish and once the hook is set, it’ll stick like Velcro. When fishing with light gear and small hooks, don’t jerk it violently to set the hook—you might break the leader—just give it a short tug and hold on. And don’t try to set any speed records trying to get the fish in. If it starts running, let it go. Be persistent but patient. Take your time. We’ve caught plenty of 20-pound pike on six-pound leader, and I’ll guarantee you, you’ll get many more bites with the light gear than with steel leader and giant treble hooks.
Find your spud—you should always carry a spud to check the ice as you’re walking on the lake. It will keep you from breaking through. And if your foot goes through, you can use it as a lever to help you get out.
Check your blades on your auger. If you know how to sharpen them—which most people don’t, including me—then sharpen them, but if mine are dull, I don’t even attempt it. I just change the blades. New blades should get you through the whole season, but if you use your auger a lot, keep an eye on the blades, especially if you fish waters with sandy shorelines. Sand gets blown out on the ice and if you have snow, you‘ll not even see it, but when you go out there and start drilling holes, it’ll tear the blades up.
Get your lures together. Sharpen your hooks on your spoons, jigs and jigging Rapalas. I recommend bait boxes with foam inserts so you stick your baits in the Styrofoam so they don’t get beat up and get the hooks all tangled together.
And make sure the hooks on your spoons are properly attached. A treble hook hanging off a spoon should have two points toward the front of the spoon and one pointing away from the concave side of the spoon. That’s the hook you hang your minnows on. That way the spoon flutters down properly and doesn’t tumble.
Check your shanties or tents. Open them up before you go, set them up and check that the zippers are working and there aren’t any holes in the fabric. If your shanty has been in the garage or pole barn since last winter, odds are pretty high that mice have found them. If so, patch the holes. I see it all the time at my schools – sometimes guys will have holes the size of baseballs in their tents and sometimes there are enough little holes in the fabric that it looks like it’s been shot with a shotgun. You won’t be comfortable if you have icy wind blowing into your shack.
Make sure your heaters are working. Make sure your propane tanks are full. I use one-pound tanks that I refill from a 20-pound tank with a fixture that saves me a lot of money throughout the winter. Keep the 20-pound tank indoors, keep your one-pound tanks in the freezer. Keeping the one-pound tanks in the freezer, you’ll get more propane in them than if they’re at room temperature when you fill them. We sometimes get the guys together and have tank-filling parties, so we’re all ready to go when fishing time arrives.
Check your transportation devices. If you use a quad – and you used it during deer season, you know that it’s working. But your snowmobile has been sitting for months. Check the belts. Start it up. Make sure it’s running right.
Make sure you check out your Ice Armor or snowmobile suit. If you kept them in storage in the garage or pole barn, the mice can get into them, too.
Organize all your accessories. Make sure you have adequate batteries for your depth finder and/or electric auger. I keep my batteries on a trickle charge to keep them good to go. And stock up on comfort items—like chemical hand warmers—that you’ll need over winter.
Try to make sure you have all the little things like headlamps, lighters, forceps—everything you need when you go fishing—ready to go. Little things add up to make yourself successful. After all these years, I have learned how to be prepared.
