Ice Fishing for Walleye ~ Portable Ice Fishing Shelter ~ Ice Fishing Videos

Ice Fishing for Walleye fish as well as many other kinds of fish enthralls many fishermen when the weather turns cooler and those lazy days of Summer slip into the cool and crisp days of Fall.

Soon they know that the rivers and lakes will be frosting up and ice will begin to build.

Thoughts of gathering together portable ice fishing shelters as well as other needed ice fishing supplies starts running through many a dedicated fisherman's mind.

Gathered together is a variety of ice fishing videos for readers of this hub who may wish to see how this sport is accomplished. And for people who take part in this sport and the ice is not yet thick enough to safely start one's ice fishing...watching these videos can make you dream of the day when you will be enjoying this type of activity first-hand.

Ice fishing precautions

Just like in any other type of sport, ice fishing requires some knowledge in order to fully enjoy it and be safe.

The very first and most important thing to do each year is to make sure that enough time has passed that the waterway one is on whether it be a creek, river or lake has had time enough to not only freeze but that the ice is thick enough to support the weight of things that one wishes to have upon the ice.

Every year there are accidents when not only people but equipment, snowmobiles and even cars are lost when the ice breaks and swallows what was once on top of the ice.

Sadly, some people and even pets are lost due to carelessness or ignorance.

Thus, if one is not experienced in such things, heed the local experts who know about such things and wait until that frozen water will afford the fun winter activities in which one wishes to participate.

4 inches of solid ice should make it safe for walking. Another couple of inches should be added before one drives such things as snowmobiles out onto the ice.

If one is going to drive one's lightweight car onto the ice, which many fishermen do to transport their supplies, be sure that the ice is 7 to 12 inches thick.

For full-sized trucks, the ice is recommended to be from 14 to 16 inches thick according to the Wikipedia link.

Where my Dad grew up as a child on Okauchee Lake in Wisconsin, it was common that every year a number of cars would be lost by breaking through the ice.

Snowmobiles did not yet exist.

Back in those days it was just considered to be bad luck and a shame. As long as the people did not lose their lives, people just shrugged it off and laughed about it. The bottom of the lake became littered with such things and since it was fairly deep, the cars, sleds or other things remained there.

Now because of environmental concerns, if a car is known to have fallen through the ice, every effort is made to recover it as soon as possible so that contaminants do not leech into the water.

It is no longer a laughing matter.

Ice fishing accessories

Just as in any other type of sport, the right type of clothing and accessories for ice fishing are required...or at the least , nice to have.

Obviously one needs an auger or some type of drill to make a hole through the ice in order to be able to catch swimming fish below the ice.

I suppose prior to augers, axes could have been used to chop a hole in the ice?

But certainly the use of augers such as they now utilize is much easier and creates an even nicely shaped hole through which one can drop a line and fish.

Also one would expend much less energy in making that fishing hole in the ice with the use of an auger.

One obviously needs to dress warmly and the new microfibers found in clothing helps that.

Ice fishing supplies includes such things as ice fishing tackle, ice fishing lures, ice fishing poles or rods and reels, ice fishing spears (for those who choose that method of fishing), and so forth among many other offerings.

There are ice fishing stores and for those who live in colder climates where ice fishing becomes an easy pass-time each year, one can probably find almost anything one might need in such a store.

One might still wish to check sites like Amazon as often these needed fishing supplies are discounted over what one might pay in an ice fishing store.

It pays to shop around!

Obviously one will have many of these ice fishing accessories for years once one makes a purchase. They also make great gifts!

Ice fishing tent

If one plans to do a lot of ice fishing, it might pay to invest in a portable ice fishing shelter or ice fishing tent.

Once the hole is drilled in the ice and one determines through the help of such accessories such as an ice fishing flasher that this spot should produce some good fishing prospects and if one wishes to stay a bit warmer , an ice fishing tent can provide extra shelter from the wind.

Heaters can be placed inside the tents to provide extra warmth and these shelters can provide extra storage space...even sleeping space depending upon the size and structure.

For some serious fisherman who live in northern climates, they actually haul more permanent ice fish houses onto the lake each year while the ice can bear that kind of weight.

While my husband and I lived in Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin many years ago for a space of 4 years, I was invited to join a quilting group and we ladies met during the Fall, Winter and Spring of the year in each other's homes once a week.

The hostess provided the drinks, typically tea and coffee as well as a dessert.

We would each bring our own sack lunches.

While there we would then work on handicrafts and visit. It was a fun way to pass some of the bitter cold winter days.

One of the ladies lived on a waterway. Looking out her back windows each winter there were always an assortment of ice fishing structures grouped not that far apart and not that far from the shoreline.

Apparently for ice fishermen, this type of gathering is as much for fun and conviviality (and probably some drinking as well...for those that imbibed in alcoholic spirits) as much as the ice fishing was intended to catch fish for supper.

Many of them when they would catch a walleye fish or some type of other fish would measure it and then release it back into the water as many of these embedded videos show.

Ice fishing was as much for bragging rights.....who caught the biggest fish?.....as much as it was to actually provide food for the dinner table.

Some of both undoubtedly occurs.

It was quite a sight to see all of those ice fish structures and men moving about on the ice so close to the houses when most of the year those same home owners had the wide expanse of the lapping waters of the lake as their view.

Hope that you enjoyed looking at these ice fishing videos and if you were not already familiar with ice fishing for walleye and other fish in the deep of wintertime you may have learned something about this sport and unique way of fishing. Be sure and check out the Amazon pricing on these portable ice fishing shelters and other accessories if you intend to do some ice fishing this winter. Hope you land the big one!