Ice Fishing Tip Ups

By Nick Simonson I often think back fondly to my times while ice fishing tip ups growing up in North Dakota.  For those anglers who love to chase a waiving flag across the ice, there’s no better place than the Peace Garden State, where on hardwater, fishermen are allotted four lines with no restrictions as to [...]

Ice Fishing – Abundant Opportunities in ND

by Doug Leier The older I get the faster time seems to pass. My neighbor and friend Mick explained a few years ago it’s a function of the percentage of life. Case in point is remembering the vivid details of my first trip to the old outdoor movie theatre in Valley City more than three [...]

Ice Fishing Essentials for Crappies

By Paul A. Nelson The best time to search for winter crappie spots is in the fall, when anglers can capitalize on the mobility of a boat and onboard sonar to cruise around marking spots mentally, preferably with GPS, too. Once the lakes freeze, though, assuming you didn’t conduct autumn reconnaissance, your tools are a [...]

Ice Fishing Tactics for First Ice

By Jason Mitchell We do much of our filming on late ice. We take a lot of our photos at late ice as well. The reason is simple, long relatively nice days on the ice where you can expect sweatshirt weather. When the sun begins to rot the ice, you can expect to get some [...]

Pierre Ice Fishing

PIERRE, South Dakota – Recreational variety and creative planning are shaping a unique event to be held next February in central South Dakota. The first-ever Winter Fishing Weekend (WFW) is scheduled for the weekend of February 4-5, 2011, presented by the Sports Committee of the Pierre Area Chamber of Commerce The main event of WFW [...]

Keep the Ice Clean

By Doug Leier One of my biggest outdoors pet peeves is trash. Empty cans along the river bank or discarded chip bags floating near the dock, even if it’s just one, seem to steal away the peaceful serenity that draws most of us outdoors. Maybe to a fault, I carry extra trash bags along to make [...]

Looking Ahead to Ice Fishing Season

As I put together the powerhead and the shaft of my auger, I took note of the extension that was still securely bolted into place from the previous season. And by “securely bolted” I mean rusted solid. I figured it was best to just leave the set-up as is, considering last year’s 40 inches of [...]

MarCum – More Power, More Performance

Through years of studying, fishing, and testing by engineers rooted in the heart of the ice-belt, a new leader emerges on the forefront of the ice fishing electronics market.  The result is the MarCum line of high-power sonar flashers that were designed from the ground-up, relying on modern principles of sonar and science. MarCum’s approach [...]

Scud: An Ugly Word for Freshwater Shrimp

By Brian Brosdahl       A system is only as good as the weakest link. That’s a profound statement and applies to everything from a football team to stereo systems. Think about it. Well, in fishing, it also pertains to the freshwater shrimp – or scud as they’re referred to on the ice. They’ll [...]

Keeping Ice Fishing Simple

By Doug Leier The “Dog Days” of summer reference the hot, backside, waiting-for-autumn kind feeling we slip into about the middle of August. Doesn’t seem so bad right about now, does it? I associate August attitudes with under-appreciating the beauty of living in the Midwest. We have about three months of every season, providing a [...]

It’s Wrong to Think About Ice Fishing Right Now

Our Outdoors Nick Simonson   It’s wrong to think about ice fishing right now. Especially since I reeled in two healthy, hard-fighting, late summer smallies from under one of my favorite bridges during lunch today. More so because I spent last night attempting to trace the flight patterns of mourning doves over a cattle pond. [...]

An Every Day Ice Fishing Adventure

Our Outdoors Nick Simonson   My brother and I set off a couple weeks ago to fish a local lake for perch. I had forgone a trip to Minneapolis due to the impending bad weather and figured we could kill some time before it arrived with some pre-frontal fishing, often recognized to be the best. [...]

25 Ice Fishing Tips for the Upper Midwest

By Bill Mitzel   We started out with some strong, quick ice in late November, with several days of below zero weather. Then, just when it looked like we might enjoy a “normal” winter in the Dakotas, the mild weather returned and ice thickness stabilized over most of the region from 9 to 14 inches. [...]

Ice Fishing Tournament Madness

Our Outdoors Nick Simonson   “I must be crazy,” I thought, huddled over the rapidly shrinking hole in the ice. The wind howled around me as I confirmed it, “yup, certifiable.” In all directions, 1,500 anglers did the same, burning heaters under their chairs at full blast, scooping their pre-punched holes and doing what they [...]

Ice Fishing The Old Fashioned Way

By Doug Leier I’ve always preferred the simpler means of enjoying fishing. At times you’d think I’m the only one without some kind of electronic depth finder, underwater camera or GPS to mark my hot spots. I know better than that. There are other low-impact anglers. During summer we call them hook-and-bobber types, which is [...]

Ice Spearing

By Doug Leier It’s December, and if there’s a transition time for outdoor activities, this is it. Deer gun season has closed, and while muzzleloader deer and many upland game seasons are winding down, another season has opened. The fishing community in 2001 marked the opening of managed ice spearing in 30 North Dakota waters. [...]

Ice Fishing Stationary Mobility

By Ice Team Power Stick Dennis Foster This statement just doesn’t make sense, on the surface; particularly coming from a guy who is deeply committed to aggressive tactics while on the ice.  I’m an Ice Team “Powerstick” and will tout the virtues of Dave Genz’s proven philosophy of mobility on hardwater as long as anyone [...]

Ice Fishing Safety

Our Outdoors Nick Simonson     I  experienced a first last year, four times over. With the unstable cold-and-warm trend through late fall and winter, I managed to break through the ice four times; twice while upland hunting and twice while ice fishing. Early in the season, I was too close to shoreline vegetation, but [...]

Ice Fishing – Fish it Through

By Noel Vick with Brian “Bro” Brosdahl Believe it or not, mobility on the ice has its pitfalls. For more than a decade you’ve heard and read about the criticalness of mobility. To competently and effectively catch fish on the hardwater, an angler must be mercurial as a gypsy and stealthy as a fox. These [...]

Ice Fishing at Night

By Mark Strand During ice fishing season, the sun often sets before you can wrap up the workday. Because of this, an awful lot of people don’t even think about going fishing except during daylight hours on the weekends. If you can miss the boat when lakes are frozen over, you are missing the boat [...]

Fishing on Thin Ice

By PJ Maguire When I was young my cousin Mark Hirschey used to joke that; “having to pay capital gains tax is the second worst thing that can happen when investing.” Over the years I have changed his saying a little to match my ice fishing adventures; “not catching any fish is the second worst [...]

Sight Fishing – Ice Fishing With an Edge

By The Ice Team   Sight fishing is a subset of ice fishing gaining in popularity every winter, because it’s exciting and fun. To see the fish come in the hole, and study their reaction to different presentations, can teach you a lot of valuable lessons you can use even when you’re not sight fishing. [...]

Ice Safety Tips

By ND Game & Fish Anglers and trappers are urged to be aware of ice conditions before venturing out on frozen waters, cautions Nancy Boldt, boat and water safety coordinator for the North Dakota Game and Fish Department. “Before going out onto a frozen lake, pond or river, it’s important to take safety precautions to [...]

‘Twas the Night Before First Ice

By Nick Simonson Twas the night before first ice, and all through the lake, Not a fish had been stirring, not even a splake. The buckets were filled with my rods and my tackle, In hopes that the perch would like jigs trimmed with hackle. The tip-ups were strung with nylon and leaders, To deal [...]

Our Outdoors: The hottest stuff on ice

By Nick Simonson “It’s that time of year again. Even though there is no snow on the ground, and just barely a glazing of ice on the Sheyenne River, it won’t belong until white is everywhere underfoot, and outdoorsmen make like holy men and walk on water in search of hot fishing action. In order [...]

Where Were Ya Fishing?

By Chris Hustad For as long as I can remember, a man’s fishing spot was something to be respected. I have memories as clear as yesterday of our neighbor down the way, Bob. He was always the first one out in the morning, and the last one to come home in the afternoon, and I [...]

Gearing Up for Ice Fishing

Chris Hustad It’s that time of year, ice fishing season is upon us. Cold weather has started the freezing process a little bit earlier this year. Consistent cold temperatures and no snow are the ingredients for some thick, sturdy ice; just when we need it. It’s going to be a good ice fishing season this [...]

Getting Kids Hooked on Ice Fishing

By Doug Leier Much has been written on the means and methods to get kids hooked on fishing, and I’ve tested and tried the best of them. Honestly, it’s not that high of a mountain to climb to generate some lasting interest during warm summer days. On the other hand, convincing a youngster like my [...]

Spouse Ice Fishing Trip Tips

Our Outdoors Nick Simonson Fishing is a social sport; ice fishing even more so. I can’t recall a morning after a hot (or not-so-hot) dawn bite that I haven’t stepped out of my shack to see who else was punching holes in the dark, ask how the fish were biting fifty yards away and shoot [...]

Prepping for an Ice Season

By the Ice Team Here’s a toast to your best ice season ever. To help you get off to a good start, here are a few key things you can do. They’re all important, but in no particular order. Keep Your Line Prime One of the most important– and universally overlooked– things you can do: [...]

An Every Day Ice Fishing Adventure

Our Outdoors Nick Simonson   My brother and I set off a couple weeks ago to fish a local lake for perch. I had forgone a trip to Minneapolis due to the impending bad weather and figured we could kill some time before it arrived with some pre-frontal fishing, often recognized to be the best. [...]

First Ice

By Chris Hustad     No matter how many times you ice fish, no matter how “tough” you think you are, you’d have to be a liar to say you’re not somewhat afraid the first time you step onto the ice each year. The same was true for me this year, when I ventured onto [...]