What Do You Do For Exercise?

[ROUSTABOUT]

No, ice fishing is like solar farms. They just cut out big chunks of ice, break them up into little chunks with a pick and sell them at the local convenience stores.

Seriously, ice auger down to open water. Fishing lines go down the holes. Most have a shack over the holes and drink, play cards and/or swap stories until fish bite, or wives have gone to sleep.

I could get into that.

 

[toxicjeeper]

Usually get all the exercise I need cutting firewood..when I'm not doing that the military dictates my PT schedule..lol..I'm 43 and some of these 20 year old kids have a hard time keeping up!

 

[MossRoad]

I don't know what exercise means.

Run to the kitchen for cookies and milk!

 

[MossRoad]

Do y'all cut a hole in the ice and hook them in the ice hole ? I've never been ice fishing.

Pretty much exactly that.

Pick a spot.
Drill a hole through the ice.
Put some bait or lure on a line.
Drop it in the hole.
Drink beer and hope a fish doesn't interrupt you.

 

[masseyrider]

This typing is wearing me out.

 

[MossRoad]

I could get into that.

In all seriousness, on a nice sunny day with the temps in the 20's, some warm clothing and boots, I take a 5 gallon plastic bucket, a couple of small poles with spinning reels with 3 pound test, a couple of tip-ups, a dipper to dip ice chunks out of the hole, an ice auger, a little 4x6" box with some tiny lures, a box of wax worms or spikes, something to snack on, and a couple bottles of pop. I also take a fish finder.

I pick a spot, drill a hole, stick in the fish finder transducer, see how deep it is, look for any fish. If I see something, I'll bait a lure, drop in a line, and see what I get. I'll turn the bucket over and that's my seat. With my back to the wind, I can tolerate down to about -20F with good clothing.

If I catch a small fish, I'll use it for bait on a tip-up for pike or bass.

I also always take a set of icepicks that hang around my neck. There's a whistle on it, too. My jacket floats, so it'll keep me from sinking for about an hour. I also carry a 50' rope in a throw-bag in case someone else needs assistance.

I don't go out on the ice if it's less than 4" of hard ice. I take a heavy spud bar and slam the ice in front of me as I go if I'm not familiar with the ice conditions.

Overall, I enjoy it quit a bit.

 

[ROUSTABOUT]

Pretty much exactly that.

Pick a spot.
Drill a hole through the ice.
Put some bait or lure on a line.
Drop it in the hole.
Drink beer and hope a fish doesn't interrupt you.

Just like deer hunting. It's all fun until one of the kids kills one...

 

[ROUSTABOUT]

In all seriousness, on a nice sunny day with the temps in the 20's, some warm clothing and boots, I take a 5 gallon plastic bucket, a couple of small poles with spinning reels with 3 pound test, a couple of tip-ups, a dipper to dip ice chunks out of the hole, an ice auger, a little 4x6" box with some tiny lures, a box of wax worms or spikes, something to snack on, and a couple bottles of pop. I also take a fish finder.

I pick a spot, drill a hole, stick in the fish finder transducer, see how deep it is, look for any fish. If I see something, I'll bait a lure, drop in a line, and see what I get. I'll turn the bucket over and that's my seat. With my back to the wind, I can tolerate down to about -20F with good clothing.

If I catch a small fish, I'll use it for bait on a tip-up for pike or bass.

I also always take a set of icepicks that hang around my neck. There's a whistle on it, too. My jacket floats, so it'll keep me from sinking for about an hour. I also carry a 50' rope in a throw-bag in case someone else needs assistance.

I don't go out on the ice if it's less than 4" of hard ice. I take a heavy spud bar and slam the ice in front of me as I go if I'm not familiar with the ice conditions.

Overall, I enjoy it quit a bit.

Sounds good. It just don't get that cold down here. We do have northern Pike. People here call them jackfish. They have teeth and small bones in the meat. I've only had them fried, being cut into french fry size pieces before frying. I've caught them three feet long. Never caught a small one. Two feet is the average. Catch them best on a cane pole, two feet of line, and a deep diving mud bug bait. I use a white spinner bait with half a plastic worm on the hook. That way I can catch them strong small mouth creek bass. I was floating the buffalo river, camping a couple days along it. Was pan fishing. Noticed they were hitting my bobber. Taken one of my baits apart and snapped the treble hook right to my cork. That worked so good it should have been illegal. I mopped up. Cooked over an open fire that night on the white sandy river bank. Quiet, couldn't see any people, couldn't hear any civilization. Then two AF fighter jets came blasting between the cliffs and almost sucked my tent up.

 

[MossRoad]

I've had days when I got skunked. But I've had days like my 50th birthday when I caught 50 fish.

My best day ice fishing ever I caught no fish. It was 50 degrees, I was fishing with my wife and a good friend of ours. It was sunny, but a heavy fog was sitting over the ice about 3-4' thick. If you stood up and looked around, you'd see peoples' heads popping up and going back down, like whack-a-mole! There was a golden field of dead grass at the end of the lake. You could see the heat rising off of it. A flock of sandhill cranes came and kettled up the thermal, squawking all the time. Some deer ran out into that field, poked around for something to eat, then sauntered off into the woods.

The whole time we were out there, you could hear water trickling everywhere. Water would run into your hole in the ice and start swirling around, making a frothy mass like foam on a mug of root beer. We kept having to scrape it off of our lines.

When it was time to leave, we got back to shore, only to find a 3' gap in the ice at the shore. Fortunately, someone before us had moved a picnic table into the water over the gap, and we used that to get off the ice.

That friend passed away a few weeks ago. I'm gonna miss fishing with him.

 

[Hay Dude]

Work hard most every day. Take evening brisk walk for 3-4 miles.
Lift weights in basement.
Still sucks losing lean muscle mass each year. Used to rep out 315 on bench press, then it was 275, then 225.
Getting older sucks.