Hardwater Pike

[Ian FG]

Two questions:

 

1. Are those things in the white box your minnows? If they are then you need bigger bait if you want to catch a serious fish.

 

2. Are those holes the holes that you pull your catch through? If you get bigger minnows then you are going to need bigger holes.

 

3. Do I know what I'm talking about? .....er, no.

[severus]

Jim, icefishing here lasts from about mid-December to early March, and the only open waters are rivers and creeks. Actually, winter is the best time to fish for pike. Most fishermen set out tip-ups on the ice and watch for the flags to pop up, then they run to their setup and handline the pike in. Some guys sit in their heated cars and watch. Sometimes they drive right out onto the lake, if the ice is thick enough. Not me. Vehicle insurance ends right at the shoreline.

 

Some guys spear pike. They cut a 2 x 2 ft. hole inside their darkened shanty, drop a large chub minnow down as a decoy, and they wait. All the ambient light comes from below, and you can see everything. Eventually a pike will slowly cruise in for a look and get speared instead. Sometimes they come in fast and steal the chub. I've never done it myself, but I've looked into spearing shanties before and it looks like fun.

 

Gobio - yes, you are bored.

[Dick Dastardly]

Newt was it you who posted the picture of an "Ice fishing Shanty town" once? If so the guys here might be interested in it.

[Newt]

I can look around some more but not sure I still have a copy of that one Budgie. Wish I did too - big collection of ice shacks.

 

A smaller collection - and from the spacing I'm guessing they are set over a river channel or similar feature

 

 

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And to give an idea of conditions in that part of the country - this is a report from a Canadian company that rents ice shantys. They drag them to good fishing locations when the ice gets thick enough, rent them by the hour/day/week during ice season, and hopefully drag them to shore before the ice thins too much.

 

 

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Even further north and you can see that winter can drive all the residents a little crazy after a while.

 

[Dick Dastardly]

Cheers Newt! for those of you who dont know these shantys have a hole in the middle of the floor with a hole drilled through the ice to fish in,a heater,a cooker,chairs,beds and even tv's! The ultimate "bivvy" set up! Some shanty towns (like in the picture Newt first showed me) are hude with shanty tackle shops,food shops etc etc!!!A whole winter fishing comunity

[Newt]

Port Henry thrives on the 4-5 ice shanty villages that set up near them every year.

 

No Port Henry pictures I could find but ...

 

[severus]

Good photos, Newt - especially the polar bear/penguins.