| Given the advances of the past couple decades, ice | | | | allows one to play the fish as they fight, these rods |
| fishing equipment has come a long way. Gone are | | | | are far superior than the rods of yesteryear. You |
| the days of freezing your tail off, hunched over a | | | | can even tailor the action of the rod to fit the fishing |
| hole with a rod cut from a summer pole attempting | | | | you are doing from ultra light for panfish to a heavy |
| to catch fish through a hole in the ice. Today’s | | | | duty ice rod for northern pike. |
| equipment allows for unprecedented mobility as well | | | | 4) Portable Propane Heater |
| as great comfort to allow for longer and more | | | | Nothing is worse than being cold while a hot bite is |
| successful trips to the ice. Below is a list of the top | | | | on. The beauty of today’s heaters is both their |
| 10 things that you can get to make your time on the | | | | portability as well as their heat output. Some |
| ice more productive and enjoyable. | | | | models are even safe indoors, and are great for |
| 10) Ice Fishing Plastics | | | | heating up your portable or permanent shelter. Mr. |
| Today’s plastics are revolutionary in that they at | | | | Heater and Coleman are the major brands in this |
| times catch more fish than live bait. This normally | | | | space and both produce excellent heaters to keep |
| comes from their scent and durability. Using one | | | | you on warm and content on the ice. |
| piece of Berkley Powerbait to catch a dozen fish is | | | | 3) Portable Ice Fishing Shelter |
| not uncommon. | | | | Lightweight and extremely portable, the tent-like ice |
| 9) Wheel House | | | | shelters you can purchase today allow for comfort, |
| Gone are the days of 3 hours to move your | | | | style and charm all while providing you opportunity to |
| permanent ice house. With a wheel house you can | | | | follow the hot bite. The shelters go up and come |
| jack it back up, hook it up to the truck and move on | | | | down quickly and really keep the elements at bay. |
| down to your next ice fishing destination. A great | | | | Clam, Eskimo and Eastman all produce a high quality |
| way to cover more ice and not dread moving from a | | | | portable ice shanty for your ice fishing needs. |
| hot spot that has gone south. | | | | 2) Gas Powered Ice Auger |
| 8) Glow Jigs | | | | Today’s ice angler is all about moving to keep on |
| Perfect for those low light times or when fishing | | | | the hot bite. Couple that mentality with an ultra |
| water that is murky, many of today’s jigs come | | | | sharp gas powered ice auger of today and you can |
| with glow paint on them that often increases catch | | | | make swiss cheese of any lake you are on. By |
| rates immensely. Popular models include the Lindy | | | | punching many holes before you start fishing you can |
| Frostee and the Genz Bug. Simply place the jig next | | | | move at will and not spook the fish if they have |
| to a light source, preferably an LED light source, and | | | | moved slightly in one direction. You will find high |
| your jig will illuminate very bright to draw in the fish. | | | | quality models from Strikemaster, Jiffy, and Eskimo |
| 7 Underwater Ice Fishing Camera | | | | to quench your thirst for catching more fish. |
| Nothing has increased people’s understanding of | | | | 1) Ice Fishing Flasher |
| the underwater world more than this piece of | | | | Perhaps no tool is more powerful than the ice |
| equipment. The underwater camera allows you to | | | | fishing flasher. Allowing the fisherman to see the |
| watch everything that is going on beneath the ice on | | | | entire water column as well as their bait leads to |
| a TV screen. It allows you to use minor | | | | more fish on the ice. Utilizing a flasher combined |
| adjustments to coax more fish into biting your bait. | | | | with the many holes you punched with your ice |
| 6) GPS with Lake Contour Software | | | | auger you can move quickly if no fish are below a |
| The advent of the GPS allowed for people to bring | | | | hole. With varying colors to mark how big an object |
| high technology with them wherever they went. | | | | below the flasher is, you can see when a fish rises to |
| Couple that with lake contour software, and we can | | | | take your bait. They are invaluable when fishing for |
| go directly to the structure we see on our GPS. | | | | suspended fish like crappies which would otherwise |
| This saves unknown time finding new spots as well | | | | be overlooked. |
| as pinpointing the exact spot that was successful in | | | | With all the technology and innovation afforded to ice |
| the past. Lakemaster makes excellent contour | | | | fishermen today there is no reason catching more |
| software for Garmin and Lowrance devices. | | | | fish needs to be a pipe dream. If you combine |
| 5) Modern Ice Fishing Rod | | | | even 3 of the items listed above you will greatly |
| Today’s ice fishing rods are built specifically for | | | | increase your chances are catching more and bigger |
| high performance ice fishing. With a spine that | | | | fish. |