| Ice fishing is one of the most popular outdoor winter | | | | most efficient and reliable power augers on the |
| activities in Canada and the northern part of the | | | | market. |
| United States. Instead of simply packing up their | | | | Another important part of any ice fisherman's arsenal |
| fishing gear and going inside during the winter | | | | is an ice shelter, also known as an ice fish shanty. |
| months, avid fishermen can wait until their favorite | | | | Shanties usually consist of waterproofed fabric |
| lake freezes over enough to support their car, drive | | | | stretched over a collapsible metal frame. They have |
| out to the middle of the ice, drill a hole, and continue | | | | an open bottom so people can drill holes and fish |
| catching fish all year 'round. But people can't just go | | | | through the ice without going outside. One of the |
| winter fishing with the same rod and reel they use | | | | most popular lines of ice fishing shelters of 2009 is |
| during the summer! There are a few more pieces of | | | | that of Otter Outdoors, which makes a variety of |
| specially designed ice fishing equipment that you will | | | | shelters of different shapes and sizes. Otter Ice |
| need before you begin your first ice fishing | | | | Houses feature either one or two built-in seats for |
| expedition. As with any group of products on the | | | | optimal ice fishing comfort, and they follow an |
| market, the ice fishing gear that is available for | | | | advanced design that allows for the most room inside |
| purchase increases in quality as time goes by. The | | | | the structure with the least possible weight of the |
| following are the best of the best ice fishing products | | | | frame. The fabric that makes up the walls of Otter |
| of 2009. | | | | ice shelters is both water resistant and fire retardant, |
| In order to go hard water fishing, you must make a | | | | and is of the highest quality in terms of durability, |
| hole in the ice, and the best way to make that ice | | | | flexibility, and strength. |
| hole is with an auger, or large drill. In the past, people | | | | There are special types of fishing rods designed |
| had to crank their ice augers by hand, but these | | | | specifically for winter fishing. They are different from |
| days it is much more common to use a power auger. | | | | soft water fishing rods in that they are usually much |
| Power augers are more expensive than hand augers, | | | | lighter and shorter (only about thirty inches long). As |
| but much less tiresome to use. One of the most | | | | with any product on the market, an increase in the |
| popular power augers available for purchase as of | | | | quality of an ice rod will elicit a corresponding increase |
| 2009 is the Nils Master Power Auger, which weighs | | | | in price, but it is worth investing in the best quality. |
| only 22 pounds and can drill through over forty inches | | | | One of the best ice rods of 2009 is the Wonder |
| of ice in slightly over twelve seconds. The Nils Master | | | | Strike Rod, which sells for about thirty dollars. |
| costs over five hundred dollars, but it is one of the | | | | |