Nodak Outdoors» ice fishing gear

Fish Finders – An On-Ice Epiphany

admin — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 18:23:30 +0000

By Nick Simonson

I recall clearly many days where an “ah-ha!” moment changed the way I did things forever. One such moment happened on December 26, 2000, and it altered the way I fished through the ice permanently.
The converted trailer shack that my buddy Holmes, his cousin Adam and I were fishing out of on the day after Christmas had taken on a distinct chill, and I held my hand out over the flickering propane heater, which sputtered and spit the last fumes from the twenty-pound cylinder on the outside of the house. Being back from Florida for my final holiday break of undergrad, I still was not used to the North Dakota winters which I had fled from in 1997, and I nervously asked how we planned on keeping warm the rest of the day.

“We’ll have to go back into town and refill the tank,” said my buddy, obviously annoyed.
His cousin nodded, and agreed to drive. I volunteered to stay behind just in case a school of fish decided to cruise by our spot on the channel edge, though I was doubtful. I watched the duo pull away from the ice house in Adam’s Chevy, opened a set of handwarmers and clicked the bail on my borrowed ice rod. The Northland Buckshot Rattlespoon zipped down the hole off to one side and disappeared from view in the twenty feet of dingy water below me. I looked to my left at the whirring disk of green, red and yellow on the Vexilar FL-8 fish finder hanging in the next hole over while I jigged my lure about four feet off the bottom.
With each twitch of my rod, I saw a yellow flash on the monitor of the sonar device. I would rip the lure up and down and the color would change from yellow to red to green and back to yellow, or when I’d move it just slightly, it would flicker between a light green bar and a thicker yellow bar. It was like a video game of sorts, and as my brain made the connection, I smiled with the onset of that “ah-ha!” moment.
I would open the bail and the lure would drop into the solid red bottom and the line would go limp. I’d slowly pull the spoon up and it would creep up warily from the edge of the sonar’s viewing area.
“This is pretty neat,” I said aloud as I banged the spoon on the bottom, ripped it up and let it fall; and then reeled it up a few feet in the water column.
I glanced at my watch, looked out the window and sat down as I jiggled the fishing rod some more. I again turned my attention to the whir of the FL-8 fish finder and saw something that looked out of place. A large red blob had materialized on the circular screen, just below my offering. I jigged the rod to make sure that the object wasn’t my spoon, and as I did, the red bar rose up toward it and paused about a foot below the yellow mark on the screen. I then ripped the spoon upward and the red mark exploded after it and I felt the fish whollop my offering.

The drag on the reel began to scream, the ice rod was doubled over pointing straight down the hole and the fight was on. I went from watching the Vexilar, to looking down the hole, to loosening my drag. Occasionally, the red mark would zoom through the screen and then quickly disappear. Each time, the line was higher up on the sonar’s display.
Finally, I saw the fish – a large pike – swim under the hole. My adrenaline surged and I cranked on the reel, attempting to steer its head toward the surface. Finally, the gaping, tooth-filled maw angled just right and I put the last few turns on the reel. I reached down and grabbed the northern behind the head and hoisted it out of the water. It was a five-pound pike, my first ever through the ice.
My friends rumbled up in the pickup shortly thereafter with a tank full of propane. I stepped outside the metal shack and held the fish up for them to see.
“That Vexilar is really cool,” I said to Adam, as I explained how I saw, triggered and caught the fish with the help of his sonar unit.
The next year, graduated and relocated back to North Dakota, my parents bought me one for Christmas, and that old FL-8 still ranks as one of the best gifts anyone has ever given me. A few years ago, I upgraded to an FL-20 fish finder, and passed the old unit on to my brother who still uses it to this day.
I’ve often said that a sonar device is only slightly more important than an auger when ice fishing, and I wouldn’t leave home without one. Today, there are more brands, models and options to fit any angler’s needs and budget than just the FL-8 fish finder, which was the only unit available at the turn of the century. If you fish with any of them, you’ve probably had that “ah-ha!” moment on ice, seen what was once unviewable and learned how fish react to your presentations. As a result, you probably agree with me that your chosen sonar is the most important piece of ice fishing equipment. If you haven’t yet fished with one, it’s time to see what you’re missing and experience an epiphany of your own…in our outdoors.

Ice Fishing Shelters – Ice Anchors

admin — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 17:49:59 +0000

By Nick Simonson

The noise in the pines behind me grew until it sounded like a rushing spring waterfall on the North Shore. I had been on the ice just long enough to set up my hub-style ice fishing shelter, drop my Vexilar transducer and land my first fish of the new year when the fabric around me began to shake violently. Suddenly with a pop and a flash of white, I was rolling across my newly drilled holes as the heater, sonar and bucket chair toppled around me. I looked up and watched the alternating red-and-black-and-red-and-black of my shack rumble across the frozen lake, propelled by a wind gust of at least forty miles an hour which had sprung up from the only moderate breezes I had experienced to that point.
Bewildered, I got to my feet and my legs began churning in a chase after my shelter, which had collapsed into a heap resembling a broken kite. Despite being deflated, it still managed to hop up into the air two more times, extending my early-morning sprint across the snow-covered surface of the lake. Finally, I set my boot down on the side of the shelter, caught my breath, and did what everyone else would do. I looked around to see if anyone had witnessed the embarrassing event (not likely, considering it was 8:00 a.m. on New Year’s Day) and was relieved to see most of the houses around the lake were still dark and no one else was ambitious – or foolhardy – enough to be out on the ice.
Growing up on the plains of North Dakota, and ice fishing the lakes and sloughs of that region taught me how to cope with gusty winds. It’s a fact of life in the upper Midwest that winter brings not only cold and snowy conditions, but also with them some very powerful winds. One way for anglers to deal with it is with a large, comfortable permanent shack, but I’ve never been one to settle in one spot on the ice, and with my desire for mobility comes the sacrifice of stability. But there are a good number of things a person can do to secure a portable shelter in the wind and enjoy a fixed position on the ice when active fish are located.

Once I had recovered my shelter and folded it back up, I went back to my original position, righted my equipment and cleared the snow away from my fishing area. I then set about piling up the slush into one big mound at the side of my six-by-six-foot square and popped my shack back into shape. This time, I angled the shelter so that the wall did not face into the wind, but instead led with one of the corners, thus reducing the drag the shelter’s shape caused with each gust. Next, I took four ice anchors and their four-foot tethers and secured them firmly in the ice and tied them tightly to the house on the loops at each side to provide added security. Finally, I transported the slush from my large pile and packed it down on the fabric flaps at the base of the shack to add weight and form a heavy base to keep the shack in place. With my efforts to secure the house completed, I settled in and hoped for the best.

With the wind continuing to rise around my shelter and near whiteout conditions on the other side of the lake as a result, I was secure in my spot by taking these few extra steps to combat the changing conditions. While I would have preferred my usual flip-over sled-style shack, which is easier to secure with the same methods and has the added advantage of my body weight working to keep it stable, I was still able to enjoy a couple of hours of fishing for bluegills, crappies and a rogue largemouth bass that came up under the cover of my pop-up shelter while the winds whipped around me. By being prepared for whatever winter throws at us, we can still remain mobile, find fish and have a successful trip – with just a few extra steps – regardless of the gusts that challenge us…in our outdoors.

Trickle Down Techonomics

admin — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 16:19:38 +0000

Our Outdoors – By Nick Simonson

A post on the ice fishing forum of a website that I help moderate asked: “I paid $300 for an old sled shack and a Vexilar, did I get a good deal?”

Ice fishing sonar units and shelters have come a long way, but together they make ice fishing so much easier.

My response was as it usually is for these kinds of questions, “You’ll wonder how you ever fished without them.”
As new shacks and sonar technology make their way to the ice fishing market each winter, the previous generation of innovations makes its way into the hands of those who either were priced out of the initial release or saw no need for the bells, whistles and gadgets. But when they do take the plunge, even on used gear, most anglers wonder how they ever got along without it. And many of them make the transition from casual ice angler to die-hard winter sportsman as a result of the success that the items bring.

Shack Attack
I had the chance this weekend to pop open one of the newer hub-style shelters on the ice. After about ten seconds of set up and a few shovels full of snow to bank it in, we were on fish. I was stunned at how quick, roomy and, when folded down, compact the icehouse was. It became evident that this six-man pop-up model was a very viable option for any angler, as I was without my pickup for the holiday weekend and was still able to tote the shack and all of my gear in the trunk of my wife’s car.

The hub-style shack was light enough to be moved from spot to spot by picking it up and dragging it, but it could also be folded down in a matter of moments, with no poles, snaps or twisting, before being set into the sled and moved any distance. This style of shelter is becoming well established and is clearly a viable option for anglers on the go. And that aspect of the pop-up shack is the most beneficial as the growing science behind ice fishing requires anglers to stay on the move to find hungry fish. With a number of new portable shack models, and previous generations of shack technology available at a discount, anglers are finding that ice fishing isn’t just spending all day in the permanent house.

Which is another important lesson learned over the past decade. If the fish aren’t biting where you’ve set up, you have two options: wait it out or stay on the move. And with a another piece of second-hand technology, anglers can quickly check and decide if they should stay put or set up somewhere else.

Second Generation Sonar
Aside from the occasional outing as a kid on a long-ago Lake Ashtabula that was so full of perch, a guy could fill a five-gallon pail in about an hour; I didn’t ice fish much until 2001. But I knew right away, returning from my time at the University of Florida (where I was de-facto captain of the Ice Fishing Team), that to be truly successful, technology in the form of some sort of sonar was going to be key.

It was the Vexilar FL-8 that caught my fish for me that first year on the ice, and it has been one of the best Christmas presents I have ever received. Three years ago I handed down that same unit to my little brother, and it has meant the difference in his ice fishing as well.

Where once there was just the FL-8 on the market, multiple manufacturers have designed a number of units for ice fishing. Marcum, Humminbird and Lowrance are all chipping into the virtual monopoly that Vexilar once held on the ice. From low-end entry units, to high-end flashers with all the bells and whistles, these companies are helping anglers catch fish like never before. What’s more, as the cutting-edge anglers feel compelled to upgrade every-so-often, the older technologies, still very capable, get handed down through classified ads to casual anglers.

If you’re ice fishing without a sonar device (and not sight fishing a gin-clear lake), you’re fishing blind. Whether it’s a new entry unit like the Vexilar FL-12, the ShowDown or Marcum VX-1, or used technology like an older FL-8, sonar of any kind means success. The secondary market of used units is expanding nearly as fast as the retail market of new models, making this winter the perfect time for you to see what might normally be missed under the ice.

Ultimately, it’s about catching fish and having fun, and a portable shack and a sonar unit – regardless of whether it is new or used – will help do just that. If you’re just starting out, or have been thinking about trying this technology for a few seasons, pick up a newspaper, check online classifieds and find the options that are priced right for you. There’s no better time than now to get a good deal on these items and see ice fishing from a whole new angle…in our outdoors.

Hottest Ice Fishing Gear of 2010

admin — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 18:44:42 +0000

By Nick Simonson

The ice on most northern lakes is now thick enough for anglers to safely haul out their toys thanks to a cold stretch at the beginning of the month. Though nighttime temperatures have been below zero, new innovations and advancements in tackle, gear and shelters are helping anglers heat up the early-ice action. As is the standard, this review of The Hottest Stuff On Ice will help you find the newest tools to help blaze a trail onto your favorite lake or find a last-minute stocking stuffer to warm the heart of your favorite hard-water angler.

Some of the best ice fishing gear includes a huge line of new lures

Lured In

Just when you thought you had every sort of spoon in your tacklebox, Northland Tackle (www.northlandtackle.com) revamps and revolutionizes their line with the Macho Minnow model. With a beveled edge for crazy drops and a wicked wiggle coupled with a separate tail segment that flutters with a wild vibration, this lure in 1/12- to 3/4-ounce weights is perfect for crappies, walleyes or pike – particularly when fish have the feedbag on at early ice. In ten of Northland’s Baitfish-Image patterns, there’s a color for whatever the fish eat in your local waters.

Berkley (www.berkley-fishing.com) bulks up their successful Gulp! Alive line with the addition of a synthetic version of a classic ice fishing bait – the minnow head. Formed and pressed with great detail, including three hanging tentacles beneath the head, the bait bears a dead-on resemblance to the real thing. Packed in two-ounce jars, the bait never goes bad and always has the potency of the Berkley Gulp! solution to keep it fresh for fishing.

Lindy (www.lindyfishingtackle.com), the company that brought us the Genz worm and Fatboy jigs a decade ago, pushes lure innovation forward once again with a new type of jig designed to cover water, even when fished through an ice hole. The Slick Jig is a forward-weighted lure that pulls away from the standard up-and-down and gets baits out and about to trigger fish. In models for panfish and predators, the Slick Jig blows through presentation boundaries and gives anglers a new way to draw in their quarry.

To The House

Ice fishing shelters have come a long way like the new line from Clam

Clam Corporation (www.clamcorp.com) has done up its line of houses in order to make ice fishing more comfortable. Their pop-up shelters like the Summit FLR and Base Camp Thermal units are hardwater versions of popular deer blinds, while the Denali II and IV flip-over models offer even more room for two or four anglers, respectively. The biggest benefit of the line’s overhaul comes from the standardization of Clam’s Thermal X material in many models, which helps retain up to 25 degrees more heat than standard canvas covers.

Frabill (www.frabill.com) also capitalizes on the explosion of pop-up options available to outdoorsmen with its hub-style ice shacks designed for rapid setup and takedown. The Frabill Frontier is a two-man shack, the Outpost accommodates up to three anglers and the massive Headquarters houses up to six anglers and their gear. Never have more on-ice shelter options been available to ice anglers than this year.

Oh Holey Night

Popular portables aren’t the only items getting an upgrade this ice season. Jiffy (www.jiffyonice.com) ice augers have a new look and more power to help hole-hopping anglers get the job done faster. The newly designed medium- and large-duty augers with the new Jiffy 2500 and 3500 engines boast redesigned transmissions that trim down cutting time and effort. The biggest bonus in the new Jiffy STX Pro line is the quick-detach E-Z Connect Collar on the auger shaft for transportation or separate storage of the power head without the use of an allen wrench. Also available in the Pro Line models are optional handle configurations for better ergonomics when drilling

These and other advancements for the 2010 ice fishing season make outings more enjoyable, more comfortable and in many cases, more successful, in turn making it easier to take advantage of all the opportunities that surround us…in our outdoors.

Small Ice Fishing Jigs

admin — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 23:05:38 +0000

By Nick Simonson

It’s the evening of the first day when the temperature has stayed well below freezing and I’m sitting in the not-quite-bright-enough light of the living room, squinting as hard as I can in an effort to thread a wisp of one-pound test through the eye of a 1/64 ounce Genz worm in preparation for an activity I won’t do for two weeks. They say ‘never stop learning’ and last year, just when I thought I had ascended to the plateau of the ice fishing learning curve, I realized I still have a very long way to go.

Small ice jigs are great for panfish at all hours

Focusing the majority of my efforts on pike, perch and walleye in my formative years of ice fishing hooked me on the idea that any fish will hit a spoon or a jig on six-pound test. It didn’t seem to matter what these fish saw in the murky alkalinity of the flooded sloughs stocked by the Game and Fish Department in the late 1990s. The game was more about jiggling the biggest rattling spoon I could drop down there or making sure the biggest frozen herring was the one impaled on my treble hook attached to the tip-up. But like all schools of thought, there’s usually one eureka-type moment that blows the common conception out of the water and opens the door to areas of new exploration.

That moment came for me while I was hunkered in an ice shack with my buddy over 30 feet of water, just off the Lake Ashtabula shoreline north of my hometown of Valley City, N.D. An annoying red line would phase in and out on my trusty Vexilar FL-8, and no matter what I dropped down there, the line would reappear, swim up to my lure and then disappear with no reaction. I threw everything I had in my tacklebox at the blip with the same result, until I swore to my friend that this fish was mine. I clipped the line and was just able to squeeze it through the teeny eye of a size ten Lindy Fatboy jig. Baiting the hook with just a segment of a waxworm, I waited in impatient agony as the tiny jig slowly spiraled its way down the water column.

The red line reappeared and met my offering a few feet off the bottom. The monofilament bumped slightly in the last guide of the rod and I set the hook. With zeal, I cranked on the reel and rocketed the fish out of the water, nearly hitting myself in the head with my rod. For the rest of the outing my buddy and I hovered over that spot without another bite. But I was satisfied with my one fish, and I took the lesson of downsizing with me as we folded up shop and headed in.

Flash forward to last season, where panfish became my primary pursuit. I targeted crappies out over the depths, bluegills along the weedlines and a pod of perch packed into a tight inside bend. The lake in northeastern Minnesota was a far cry from the farmland perch and pike sloughs in Barnes County, N.D. and the fish in it had eyes that probably could pick out each individual angel on the proverbial pinhead. Small was the ticket, save for those three-day stretches when the crappies were bingeing under a full moon.
Jigging raps and rattle spoons were stashed away in favor of size ten, 12 and 14 jigs and ice flies, and my standard four-pound test was halved on a majority of my reels. Even then, in the gin-clear waters beneath my shack, I watched as the finicky bluegills turned up their noses at some of my smallest stuff on my thinnest lines and I vowed that next season, while the fish might get reeled up a bit slower, the connections would come more often and I’d push the limits of the infinitesimal.

So here I sit, practicing my clinch knot with one-pound test on my most sensitive spring bobber rod knowing that my tactics have evolved to deal with whatever water quality lays beneath the ice. Whether it’s perch, bluegill, walleye or crappies, I’ve learned that sometimes bigger isn’t better, and from the spring-fed reservoir to the gravel-bottomed natural lake, clear waters require special tactics to scale the slopes of their learning curves. Each season provides its ‘a-ha!’ moment, whether you’re pursuing a new species or fishing new waters. Learn from them, grow from them and expand your knowledge, even if it means getting smaller…in our outdoors.

Nick Simonson is an avid multi-spiecies angler and hunter and has been writing his columns since 2001 for a number of publications and websites across the upper Midwest. Find more stories on www.nicksimonson.com or become a fan on Facebook by searching “Our Outdoors.”

MarCum – More Power, More Performance

admin — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 01:30:50 +0000

Marcum sonar and Marcum cameras are taking ice fishing to the next level

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 has always been the most performance for the money, period. It would follow then, that every single feature on any of the MarCum flashers and cameras results from years of continuous innovation and study. There’s alot of terminology here, but in the end, it’s all about features that translate into fishing success. Ultimately, all the features in the world mean nothing unless they allow you to accurately gather more critical information about what’s below you. Here’s a quick rundown of the many reasons that a MarCum will put more fish on the ice for you this winter.

More Power – MarCum flashers transmit the highest power in the industry, which directly effects the unit’s ability to effectively detect its own return signal

Most efficient – MarCum manufactures its own transducers to ensure quality, balance, and efficiency when paired with the flasher’s other components.

Increased sensitivity – Better transducers, paired with more power and efficiency translates into the best target separation in the business. The gain sensitivity on a MarCum flasher is nearly surgical, with the lowest signal/noise ratio in the industry. This translates into finer detail with less distortion.

Better Resolution – TrueColor razor thin display (not blended like competitors). MarCum never distorts any of its display segments by widening the signal, ultimately resulting in the best resolution, most crisp display, and finest detail in the industry.

“Total system performance” is what MarCum calls it. All the features in the world can’t help you if they’re independent of one another, not working in concert. A unit with more power, better efficiency, increased sensitivity, and better resolution is the complete package. The net result for the angler is a better understanding of what’s going on below them; something that can’t help but put more fish on the ice this winter.

In addition to those standard performance traits, below are features exclusive ONLY to MarCum, and why they’re engineered to be the best:

Adjustable, Optical Zoom – While many folks know that MarCum has the only zoom feature that’s adjustable anywhere in the water column, few are aware that the zoom on a MarCum is a true, optical zoom. Unlike competitors, whose resolution never increases and whose display is merely “blown-up”, the MarCum optical zoom feature actually increases your ability to discern distance and size between targets. Rather than a larger display of the same data, you’re getting better information through a true optical zoom. This is the same principal that applies to digital photography.

Patented Interference Rejection (IR) Technology – Due to the very positive signal/noise ratio put out by the MarCum units, the IR in-turn performs better allowing the receiver to better separate noise and clutter from true signal.

Super Fine Line – This patented feature reduces the width of target display to increase the target separation and give you more information, especially in weeds/cover or amongst schooling fish.

True-Color – Marcum makes the only flasher that utilizes 3 separate, distinct colors; Red, Green, and Yellow. True color offers the most crisp, distinct display, giving the user the best accuracy in distinguishing targets. No more fuzzy blending.

Ice – arm – Rather than a float which moves about the hole and bobs with increased pressure on the ice or currents under it, the ice-arm allows the transducer to be placed anywhere in the hole. This includes up against the edge, hiding most of the transducer under the ice to the far edge of the hole. This results in fewer tangles, and less confusion from a changing bottom depth.

3 Stage Digital “Smart” Charging System – An accurate, digital battery life display, along with a single plug 3 stage charging system maintains the electrical performance of the units. The single plug prevents reversing the polarity and burning up your battery, and promotes reduced corrosion on the battery charging posts themselves. Even if you only have an hour to charge your MarCum, the initial charging stage loads heavily at first, and backs down to top the battery off. No other charging system can claim this!

Standard Soft Pack – Rather than an add-on feature, a padded soft pack anchors and protects your investment in electronics.

This year is not without surprises. NEW for 2008, all MarCum flashers will get a boost in power, as described below. Furthermore, Nature Vision has announced the inception of Auto-Tune Technology for their full line of 2008 Marcum flashers. Since all transducers have a frequency tolerance of plus or minus 4% (192-208kz) there exist a small mismatch between power head and transducer. This variance, depending on how extreme it is from ‘ducer to ‘ducer, creates increased noise and essentially decreases the sensitivity and performance of the sonar unit. Marcum engineers have developed Auto-Tune Technology to automatically adjust the frequency of the transmitter/receiver to the frequency of the transducer, thus eliminating additional noise and sensitivity concerns. As if MarCum’s technological feats weren’t impressive enough, this innovation is essentially a “sonar technician in a can” and available in every new 2008 Marcum flasher.

Power Boosts

Marcum LX-5 – 2000 watts peak-to-peak to 2500 watts peak-to-peak
Marcum LX-3 – 1500 watts peak-to-peak to 2000 watts peak-to-peak
Marcum VX-1 Pro – 600 watts peak-to-peak to 1000 watts peak-to-peak

That is why MarCum leads the industry in innovation and performance. It’s a fact that MarCum engineers can and are willing to test and prove. A full suite of mechanical and electrical sonar tests have been run on all flashers currently on the market, and MarCum’s technology exceeds the competition often by orders of magnitude.

Also, stay tuned for this winter’s MarCum On-Ice Challenges. MarCum openly invites all to come and take a look at their flashers, and compare the competition on the ice where it matters most. View for yourself the power, sensitivity, and display; along with the features exclusive only to MarCum, and compare them to the competition.

In the lab or on the ice – MarCum leads the way.

Ice Fishing with Plastics

admin — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 23:45:37 +0000

By the Ice Team

Dave Genz with a giant winter walleye

Many ice anglers of today understand that winter’s fish live in water at its clearest. In such conditions, fish tend to locate and choose prey based on visual evidence. That might sound like mumbo-jumbo, but it means that what your bait looks like is more important under the ice than at any other time of year.

It also helps explain why plastics are coming on so strong in ice fishing.

Dave Genz, as he always does, has spent countless hours looking at plastics on his kitchen table, fishing with them under a wide variety of conditions, and watching what other people are doing with them. Known forever as a live bait believer, and known to his fishing friends as both practical and creative, it has been interesting to ask Genz his opinion on plastics and watch it evolve over the years.

Even when Dave holds a strong opinion, he is ever the mad scientist, constantly challenging his current beliefs against what else there might be. That’s why he has experimented with plastics for years, doing his own tests to see how artificial teasers stack up against maggots and minnow heads, waxies and wigglers.

As we sit here right now, Dave Genz has decided where plastics fit in his personal fishing approach. These beliefs will be treated like everything else: as temporary findings until constant experimentation refines them. But, at least until it changes (and we’ll report changes as they come), Dave’s approach to plastics can help you, too.

Plastics in the Genz System

All other things being equal, Genz believes that plastics are at their best in clear, shallow water under daylight conditions. In other words, any time fish can see what they’re looking at easily, plastics can shine.

Even under ideal conditions, it’s extremely important to experiment with different styles of plastic, and colors– and most important of all is how you rig plastics and then present them.

“Just because we say that plastics work,” says Dave, “doesn’t mean they’re no brainers. You still have to put them on right, and make fish believe they’re real, and get fish to sample that bait by sucking it in.”

Plastics are very effective on panfish species

Plastics are becoming increasingly popular in ice fishing, for good reason. In this article, Dave Genz describes his personal take on where plastics fit in his fishing. Here we see a jumbo perch taken on a Genz Bug and plastic, one of Dave’s favorite combinations. The plastic is a Mini-Spade in the Munchies series by Lindy. When Genz wants a glowing plastic, he chooses one of the Techni-Glo tails.

Genz describes how much care he takes to slide plastic tails on straight when they are intended to trail off the end of an ice jig, for example. Crooked tails produce spinning baits, especially when you stop pounding or swimming a bait (to see whether that might trigger a fish that’s nosing up to it). “Spinning is not a good thing,” says Dave. “When you (stop or slow down the jigging motion), the bait should not spin around in circles.”

As mentioned, how you present plastics is often the difference, especially when fish are not aggressive. In most clear, shallow, daylight situations, most fish react best to ‘horizontal’ presentations. First step is choosing a jig style designed to be fished horizontally, such as the Genz Bug, Fat Boy, Genz Worm or Flyer. Assuming you have the plastic rigged properly, and your knot snugged so that it helps the bait maintain a horizontal attitude, you then experiment with different ‘speeds’ to see what the fish want.

“Sometimes, they want it vibrating rapidly,” says Genz, “and sometimes they want it swimming smoothly. You have to try different things and watch how fish react to them.”

In clear water under daylight conditions, Genz typically chooses non-glowing plastics, such as Munchies. “The Munchies are scented, too,” he says, “which seems to make a difference. For daytime fishing (where fish can see the bait well), I like the vibrant colors. They tend to be brighter than glowing colors. The reds and purples and whites seem to be the colors that I’ve had the most success with.”

In deeper water– and at any depth during low light conditions or after dark– live bait often outproduces plastics.

“When they can’t see as well,” says Genz, “I still believe that flavor is an important factor. Live bait is still the best, for me, in deep water. That’s also where a heavy pounding presentation is usually the best way to get fish to come in and inspect your bait. Then, the live bait seals the deal. But only if you keep fresh bait on there, so it has those juices coming out, enough scent to trigger the bite.”

This is the point where Dave goes into detail, for the millionth time, about how it’s not a contest to see how many fish you can catch “on the same worm,” and after your waxie or maggot becomes an empty skin it’s long past time to put a new one on.

Plastics have a place in deeper water, and under low light conditions. In those situations, Genz has proven to his satisfaction that glowing colors are a distinct advantage. This might seem obvious, but nothing in fishing is obvious until you prove it to yourself, which breeds confidence.

“In those situations,” says Genz, “the Techni-Glo colors are important. Even during the daytime, when you’re fishing in deeper water, you can have good success with glowing plastics, but you have to keep them charged up. If the sun is shining, hold the plastic up to the sun and it will charge the glow. But if it’s not sunny, use a Tazer (an inexpensive ‘flashlight’ made for the purpose).

Note: Dave Genz, known as Mr. Ice Fishing, was the primary driver of the modern ice fishing revolution. For more, including details on his new instructional DVD on bluegill fishing, go to www.davegenz.com.

Article provided by the Ice Team.

The Hottest Ice Fishing Supplies of 2006

admin — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 23:27:28 +0000

Our Outdoors
Nick Simonson

(Part -1 & 2)

Technology is changing ice fishing supplies in a hurry with new revolutionary products coming out every winter

Though the weather has been more like March, the holiday season is upon us. If you haven’t figured out what to buy your favorite ice angler for Christmas, it’s not too late. Each year brings more advancement in ice fishing gear and gadgets and there’s still plenty of time to pick out the hottest stuff on ice for your favorite fishermen.

10. Open up

Though temperatures of late haven’t threatened to close anyone’s ice fishing holes, the day comes for every angler when a tip-up hole or those in the ice under a portable shack will ice over or fill with wind-driven snow. Two recent solutions to this problem have been offered to anglers.

The Holee Molee (www.symtec-inc.com) is a pump-style hole opener which circulates water from under the ice into the hole, keeping it relatively free of blown-in ice and snow, and prevents refreezing. The unit runs on four “D” batteries.

A second style of hole opener, the Hot Ring, helps anglers heat the water in their holes to keep the ice from reforming. Made by Krog Inudstries, the unit runs off of the 12-volt battery which powers the underwater camera or sonar device most anglers have in their shack already.

9. Plastic Fantastic

Tournament anglers and ice experts agree that the hottest tactics on hardwater today involve soft plastics. Market giants Lindy Little Joe (www.lindylittlejoe.com), and Custom Jigs and Spins (www.customjigsandspins.com) are pushing plastics to the forefront of fishing. These one-to-two-inch slivers or formed bodies of soft plastic are replacing, or at least accompanying live bait in many competitive ice-fishing events and when the fish are finicky. A wide variety of bodies and tails are available to anglers in a multitude of colors from florescent glow to black to help match the hatch and trigger a bite.

8. Pak Attack

For the highly mobile angler, Nature Vision (www.naturevisioninc.com) offers the new Pak Shack at just a hair under $100. The portable flip-style shack is mounted on a comfortable armchair and provides enough room for one angler, a sonar unit and a small heater. Since it folds into a backpack and can be packed in the trunk of nearly any vehicle, the Pak Shack is the ultimate in mobile ice fishing.

7. Hot hands

A number of innovations are designed for hard-charging anglers who need a hand, or two and need to keep them both warm. The FirePod, by Optronics (www.optronicsinc.com) is a heating unit powered by four “AA” batteries that radiates heat without chemicals or odors for up to twelve hours. The unit retails for around $30.

Aqua Vu has entered the sonar market with many new models including the VPG

Another advancement on the ice comes in the form of the The Ray Mitt (www.handwarmers.com), a glove originally intended for those suffering from Raynaud’s Syndrome which is a circulation disorder that causes fingers to lose feeling in the cold due to constricted blood vessels. This glove helps deliver the heat of chemical handwarmers to the fingers to prevent numbness and discomfort A special Velcro pouch above the fingers will help keep hands warm, whether for medical purposes or on the ice.

6. VPG Whiz

The newest version of sonar on the ice comes at a great price. The VPG by Aqua Vu is a vertical pixel bar that displays bottom, fish and lures all on a six-by-one inch screen. The unit is light, compact and doesn’t lag in the coldest of weather. The unit retails for around $230, and changes the way most seasoned ice anglers view the water column. The bulk and circular interface of the flasher is replaced by an easy-to-read graph that operates in real time and runs off of a 12-volt battery.

5. Get in the game

Marcum's new line of sonar is affordable to most ice fishermen

It used to be that to become a better ice angler one required an expensive sonar unit to show the depths below. This year marks the release of low-priced sonar which will open a world of discovery to frugal fishermen.

Thanks to Marcum’s (www.marcumtech.com) VX-1 flasher, underwater vision will be available to anglers at nearly half the cost. The VX-1, available for under $200, combines affordability with some of the bells and whistles of more expensive units on the market. It boasts a three-color display, 600 watts of peak-to-peak power and a bottom zoom option, making it the first low-priced unit of its kind.

4. See the light

It’s not that glow lures are so incredibly new; it is just that nearly every model of every lure ever made sports some shade of luminescence this year. Whether it is a bright red Northland (www.northlandtackle.com) Buckshot Rattlespoon or a glowing green Lindy (www.lindylittlejoe.com) Genz Worm, every company is offering up glow baits for anglers. Some are old favorites, and some like the Glow Shad color of Salmo’s (www.salmofishing.com) Chubby Darter, put a bright profile on recently popularized lures.

3. Suit Up

Seizing on Clam Corporation’s Ice Armor outfit, many companies are offering a variety of choices in jackets, pants and overalls. Stikemaster (www.strikemaster.com) offers up a line of must-have winter clothing dubbed “Ice-Sentials.” The set of waterproof, self-sealing, multi-pocketed bib overalls and parka sells for around $210.

Heat Factory (www.heatfactory.com), maker of the orange-packaged chemical hand and body warmers, combines the warmth of the company’s primary products into a new line of outdoor clothing. With built-in pockets to hold the warming packets, each item – bibs, jackets, socks and more – distributes the heat via special air channels for maximum warmth in the coldest conditions.

2. Sexy Vexies

After last year’s expansion of on-ice sonar units, Vexilar (www.vexilar.com), the leader in flasher technology, has unveiled two new models, the FL-20 and the FL-12. Slimmed down and sporting flat-screen displays with increased clarity and speed, these two units build upon the bases of previous Vexilar units. The FL-20 has two zoom modes, showing the bottom six- and twelve-foot regions of the water column, respectively. Available pre-packaged in the company’s Pro- and Ultra-pack systems, these units are ready to roll right out of the box or can be ordered piece-by-piece to upgrade older Vexilar systems.

The new Clam Chair combines storage and comfort when ice fishing

1. Clam takes over the world

The Clam Corporation (www.clamcorp.com) slogan last season was “BLUE: the color of ice fishing.” If it wasn’t for Labatt’s Brewery already owning the rights to it, Clam’s new one would be, “Look up, see BLUE.”

Clam products are everywhere this year; in stores and on the water. Sleds, clothes, shacks, tackle boxes and more from the industry giant are in high demand. From the company’s waterproof, Thinsulate-filled mitts and gloves to the larger-sized Fish Trap X line of flipover shelters to a new set of Ice Armor eXtreme fishing clothes, Clam Corp has proliferated its positions in the various niches of ice fishing.

The Clam Chair is a development of special note. This rest (more akin to a Transformers toy than a fishing bench) changes from seat to backpack, to tackle box, to gear storage, to fish bucket in a moment’s notice. It’s the ultimate seat on the ice and is perhaps the most innovative item to be seen this year.

And what a year it will be. Whether it is the red-green glow of a flasher or the cool-blue color of some new winter threads, the ice is heating up with these innovations and more made specifically for the hardiest of anglers found…in our outdoors.

The Ice Fishing Sonar Revolution

admin — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 23:13:06 +0000

Our Outdoors
Nick Simonson

Once you start using sonar for ice fishing, you can't leave home without it

Is there anything as comforting on the ice as the whir and glow of a sonar unit? Inside the cover of a permanent shack, or jumping from hole to hole, flasher-style depth finders have been a boon to anglers for over 15 years. New developments in sonar technologies and recent offerings by a growing number of companies are continuing to aid ice anglers in their search for fish.

King of the Hill

With last year’s offerings of the LX-5 by MarCum Technologies (www.marcumtech.com) and the Lowrance (www.lowrance.com) X68c Ice Machine, the stranglehold that Vexilar (www.vexilar.com) had on the depth finder market was loosened significantly. The industry forefather has responded with two new models for 2007.

The Vexilar FL-12 and the FL-20 are the latest in revolutions on the ice. Though similar to the company’s FL-8 and the FL-18 models, the new units boast some minor tweaking that will benefit anglers.

The most noticeable change is the removal of the sunshield around the display of the units. The cone has been replaced with a flat screen which is magnified and helps increase the viewing angle so that the traditional red, orange and green blips can be seen from the side. The two units boast a new low-power setting for fishing in 20 feet of water or less. This setting reduces interference and allows for greater visualization of the water column, even in weedy areas.

The Vexilar FL-20 will add many improvements over their other popular models

The FL-20, akin to the FL-18, has a split screen zoom option which allows the user to display the bottom six or 12 feet on one side of the display, while viewing the whole column on the other. These new models will undoubtedly rush anglers to the forefront of ice fishing technology, if they’re willing to pay higher prices.

Discount Sonar

With the new models by the three major brands competing for top dollar, ice anglers are now given an option they never had before – lower priced flashers. As demand for recent models increases, demand for the old ones diminishes and opens a secondary market for low-priced electronics.

Seizing on this lesson in Ice-economics 101, several companies are offering new basic units that don’t cost an arm and a leg. Most notable is MarCum’s VX-1. This unit offers the standard flasher design without all the bells and whistles of the company’s LX series and without the financial sting associated with top of the line products. The VX-1 retails for up to forty percent less than most models of flashers. This makes it appealing to even the casual ice angler in an era where many fishermen won’t leave home without some sort of sonar device.

Nature Vision (www.naturevisioninc.com), maker of the industry-leading line of Aqua-Vu (www.aqua-vu.com) underwater cameras, issues its first sonar unit in a design that is both revolutionary and inexpensive.

The Vertical Pixel Graph (VPG) is encased in a display unit that is less than three inches wide, 8.5 inches tall and 3.5 inches deep. The unit displays the bottom and the water column in a one-by-six-inch vertical bar of liquid crystal pixels. This compact design and innovative presentation may revolutionize the flasher market; but perhaps the best part of the VPG is the price tag. At around $220, the device is affordable and easy to use by the most technologically challenged ice angler.

The advancements in sonar hitting the ice this year will help anglers catch more fish, and with prices dropping, affordable sonar is within every angler’s grasp. Similar to summer sonar units, ice anglers now also have many choices when figuring which units will light up their ice shacks. Just like six inches of fresh ice, the situation is very clear – the sonar revolution continues…in our outdoors.

Fishing with Spring Bobbers

admin — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 23:02:08 +0000

Our Outdoors
Nick Simonson

The author with a pair of 10 inch perch that were caught recently, thanks to the bite detecting abilities of a spring bobber.

I cannot recall how many times I have watched fish rise up on the Vexilar as I work my lure in the water column only to have the fish pause at my offering then head back to the bottom. Be it a small jig with a wax worm or a spoon with a minnow head, it is frustrating to have fish attracted to a lure, but not hit it.

A few weeks ago, while fishing near Park Rapids, Minn., I watched several crappies rise and disappear on my sonar readout. A few committed early in the evening, but most would turn their noses up at my offering, or so I thought. That’s when I decided to investigate how to better close the deal with fish that inspect my baits, but turn away.

What I learned was surprising. Many times, especially in the case of finicky panfish like perch and crappie, the fish will hit without even sending a vibration up the line. A quick inhale and exhale of the bait and the fish moves on, knowing something isn’t quite right with the glowing blue hook or the funny-acting minnow. This action doesn’t budge a bobber and rarely moves a rod, leaving anglers in the frustrating situation of asking themselves why the fish didn’t hit when in reality, it did.

Nothing new

St. Croix's new Legend series of spring bobber rods come with light (pictured), medium, and heavy spring bobbers for all types of fishing

Looking to cure my panfishing predicament, I investigated deeper into the growing realm of finesse ice fishing and read some more on a simple invention – the spring bobber. I never had the need for one before this time because I had never been overly-frustrated by uncatchable blips on the Vexilar. I figured I would give it a shot and acquired, through a well-placed Valentine’s Day hint to my girlfriend, a 24-inch light action St. Croix Legend spring-bobber rod.

Coming equipped with a three-inch spring bobber and a solid carbon blank and cork handle, I knew the name alone meant the rod would be high quality. Designed by renowned panfish angler Greg Wilczynski specifically for St. Croix, the rod looked to be the answer to that mysterious question as to why the fish weren’t hitting.

A new perspective

As we set up on the ice that weekend, I tied on the smallest thing I had in my tacklebox – a size 12 nymph I had crafted out of orange dubbing and peacock herl – and the tiniest split shot I had available. The fish rolled through and several passed on the traditional opening-hour offerings such as Genz worms and rattle spoons. As day broke over the frozen feeder creek, I prepared to try the spring bobber rod for the first time. I tipped the nymph with a wax worm and lowered my offering down the hole. Watching the fly and weight on the Vexilar, I held them a few inches off of the bottom. Tapping the spring bobber with my index finger, I saw a faint orange line rise from the creek bed. I held the rod steady. The spring bobber moved downward just slightly, less than an eight of an inch, once…then twice. I snapped a hookset and felt the resistance of what would turn out to be a fat 9-inch perch.

The day would be cool and unstable, and the fishing would be tough. With my tiny flies and jigs and the spring bobber rod, I could detect more hits than my fishing buddies. And by giving the fish a smaller snack, instead of a bigger meal, I would land about two dozen perch, with seven keepers.

A majority of the success that day – and in my perch fishing trips since – came from having the spring bobber to detect the tiniest of bites in a winter that has produced a less-than-aggressive angling environment.

Spring bobber options

In addition to the springs that come built in to St. Croix’s Legend series of rods, the company offers a variety of sizes and sensitivities that can be ordered from their website (www.stcroixrods.com) or purchased at many sporting goods stores. Other companies such as HT Tackle (www.htent.com) offer free-standing spring bobbers for sale that can be attached to the end of your favorite ice rod to help with hit detection. They also carry a smaller price tag than purchasing a new rod.

Whatever you choose to help with finicky panfish as winter wears on, a spring bobber is a simple and effective way to downsize your baits, take the questions out of angling, and help you ice more fish…in our outdoors.

Nodak Outdoors» ice fishing gear

Fish Finders – An On-Ice Epiphany

Related Articles

Ice Fishing Shelters – Ice Anchors

Related Articles

Trickle Down Techonomics

Related Articles

Hottest Ice Fishing Gear of 2010

Related Articles

Small Ice Fishing Jigs

Related Articles

MarCum – More Power, More Performance

Related Articles

Ice Fishing with Plastics

Related Articles

The Hottest Ice Fishing Supplies of 2006

Related Articles

The Ice Fishing Sonar Revolution

Related Articles

Fishing with Spring Bobbers

Related Articles