I’ve been ready to go ice fishing for two weeks; unfortunately, several of my favorite waterways aren’t ready for me, thanks to fickle Mother Nature. I checked one spot out last week and actually watched guys tending traps wearing hip waders. After the ice formed we got heavy snow and then two days of rain, so now there’s 6-12 inches of slush and water between the ice and snow cover on many lakes. Setting and tending traps is a battle, walking a challenge, and snowmobile use impossible. Ice fishing is challenging enough without jumping through those hoops, so I revamped plans for this weekend.

How about you, is everything ready for your first hard-water outing? Oh, I know you’re eager to start drilling ice holes, but is your equipment ready? Have you even checked it over since it was stowed away last spring? Let me tell you from cold, uncomfortable experience that checking over and fixing up ice fishing gear is far more comfortable in a warm basement or garage than on the ice. There are plenty of tools, lots of light, and fingers actually function and have feeling.

Starting in my teens I always gave my open-water rods, reels, and line lots of pre- and postseason attention but often overlooked my ice fishing rigging. That all changed about 20 years ago with one of those “learn the hard way” lessons. Within a week I lost two trophy fish from two different lakes during two outings due to faulty gear. After playing a salmon for more than 10 minutes and seeing it twice in the hole mouth, my line and leader separated at the knot, allowing a 5-pound-plus slab of silver to fin away. Later that week one of my reels malfunctioned and seized up during a battle with a hefty togue and the burly fish bent my hook and escaped. I never saw the lake trout and don’t want to know its size, but it was large. That was the last winter my ice gear wasn’t thoroughly checked out and refurbished before each January’s initial ice drilling foray.

First things first

It’s now 2006, so the first order of business is to purchase a new fishing license. In years past if a fishing buddy called on the spur of the moment to set up an evening smelting outing or a weekend trip to a remote salmon lake and you’d forgotten to buy a new license, you were out of luck. Now, whether it’s nights, weekends or a holiday, just 10 minutes online on the computer with a credit card in hand and your printer is spitting out any license combination you desire. A few minutes later you’re happily heading out the door with your fishing gear instead of sitting at home and stewing over your forgetfulness.

Another errand that needs to be accomplished a week or two before that premiere ice outing is a visit to the local sporting goods store. Suddenly realizing that you’re out of hooks or some other vital necessity late at night or during predawn preparations will be too late. And that leaves you begging and borrowing from fishing buddies, assuming they remembered to stock up. There’s no such thing as having too much basic gear, so carry extra hooks, sinkers, and lines.

Carry at least three sizes of hooks because one day the quarry may be small silver smelt and the next outing will be for mammoth muskie. I have always favored gold-colored hooks for jigging cut bait, their added flash seems to attract more strikes, especially while smelting.

Last winter I began experimenting with red hooks for fishing live bait on some of my tip-ups and got twice as many flags as on black or bronze hooks. All my traps will be sporting red hooks this winter, and I recommend others try them as well. Use nontoxic sinkers rather than lead, and carry two sizes, preferably in the round, easy-to-attach and remove split-shot style.

While restocking supplies it’s good to pick up a spool of monofilament for hand-lining smelts, making leaders, and filling reel spools on tip-ups used for trout and salmon. Traps rigged for larger fish such as lake trout and muskie will need a backup spool of Dacron ice fishing line or Micron backing material, which is what I use on heavy-duty outfits. Once you’re stocked up, hook, line, and sinker, it’s time to check over every trap and tip-up and to refit, repair, and refurbish any questionable rigging.

Tuning up tip-ups

Most ice fishing rigs are actually traps nowadays rather than the old-style tip-up models, but both names are often used interchangeably. Whatever style and combination of wood, plastic, and metal you’re using to hold line, signal strikes, and play fish, it needs to be checked over and tuned up a bit. Aging Dacron lines need to be replaced if they are 10 years old, and newer lines should be trimmed to remove the first 25 yards, which takes a lot of abuse each year.

Monofilament should be changed out after five years, as well as cut back each season, and it’s smart to check the first 20 yards at home every couple of outings. Nicks and weak points can occur from rubbing against ice edges while playing fish, but cold hands can miss such faults, so it’s smart to check when the line and fingers are flexible and warm.

Double-check all knots and replace leaders used on nylon and Dacron lines, especially if a sinker has been attached all year and may have crimped and weakened the tippet section. Given the choice, I prefer white or sand-colored lines to black, and I favor camo or red leader to translucent shades. Any hook that shows rust spots or has been bent by removal tools should be replaced, and those in adequate shape for a few more outings must be sharpened. If you gently drag a hook point along a fingernail and it doesn’t catch, it’s not sharp enough.

Drags on reels should be adjusted and the release mechanism sensitivity should be set to fly a flag at the lightest strike, yet not throw wind flags in a moderate breeze. Flag arms and trip levers take a lot of abuse banging around during transport, so some fine-tuning never hurts. If the flags are torn, loose, or in some other disrepair, replace them. I prefer plastic to cloth and orange or black material instead of red, and at least 3 inches by 3 inches in size so I won’t miss those long distance flags waving. Strikes are often scarce enough without overlooking any or arriving too late.

Newer models of tip-ups seem to have more moving parts, in the form of spinning foam flags or metal propellers that indicate line is being pulled from the reel. While these are great indicators that a fish is at hand and taking out line, they are one more mechanism that needs maintenance. A touch of oil or grease might work in some mid-freezing temperatures, however, they tend to congeal and cause problems below zero. Silicone and graphite are the best bets to keep traps operating in bitterly cold weather; or you could follow my lead, use the sense God gave a goose and stay home in favor of a warmer day. With age I have learned more and more that if I’m not having fun, perhaps I should be somewhere else.

Going over gear

The very first trick to checking over other extraneous pieces of ice fishing paraphernalia is locating where you discarded it last spring. Most veteran ice drillers have learned the best way to do this is to pack traps, tools, sinkers, lines, jigging rigs, minnow nets, ice scoops, and all the other regalia and accessories into one receptacle. Pack baskets, knapsacks, and plastic buckets are the most common containers used to keep ice fishing apparatus together and easy to transport on and off the ice.

Pack baskets are convenient because they hold a solid form that prevents the contents from being crushed, and they are carried on the sportsman’s back using a shoulder harness that leaves both hands free to carry items such as an auger, ice chisel, or bait bucket. Large plastic pails have the advantage of being used as a seat once the tip-ups are removed, and some models produced especially for ice anglers have padded covers.

Once all the gear is located, check each utensil carefully and replace any item that is questionable. Ice scoops that are bent badly or have loose handles must be fixed or replaced. Make sure a minnow net or plastic bait scoop is among the equipment. Dipping a bare hand into the bait bucket and then exposing it to freezing air while putting on several baits isn’t smart and isn’t necessary. A nail clipper for trimming lines and a set of forceps or needle-nose pliers for attaching sinkers, removing hooks, and adjusting reels and flag mechanisms are invaluable. A handyman tool will serve these purposes and several others.

Wooden kitchen matches, a can opener, and a few hand warmers are smart items to pack as well. Some folks have a sharp filet knife along and a small file or stone to sharpen blades or hooks. A tape measure, scale, and disposable camera are other extras that are found in many ice fishing packs.

Final adjustments

All augers, powered by muscle or gas, need to be sharp to save time, energy, and possibly injury. Wrestling a dull motorized auger through 3 feet of ice for a dozen holes is like dancing with a gorilla that wants to lead. Put an edge on the auger blades as well as the ice chisel before they leave the garage. Fresh gas and a new spark plug couldn’t hurt, either, and if the unit still runs rough, have a small-engine specialist check it over. If you can’t drill holes, you can’t fish, and repair shops and parts are in short supply on a remote pond 60 miles in the woods.

A lightweight shovel is a great asset for clearing snow and slush before and after drilling holes, and has several other uses that make packing one along worthwhile. My final piece of gear, and the real workhorse and energy saver, needs little attention, other than to make sure the tow bar or rope handle is secure. A 5- or 6-foot long, 3-foot wide, deep-sided plastic sled should be among every ice driller’s accessories. Load on two or three pack baskets, a couple of bait buckets, a shovel, auger, chisel and food, and two men can easily slide it behind while walking on ice or snowshoes. If a snowmobile is at hand the wonder sled will carry gear and extra fishermen quickly across the lake.

A full complement of ice fishing gear can be stockpiled, checked over, and spruced up within a couple of hours. Doing this chore in the warm, well-lighted comfort of home is far superior to making repairs and adjustments on the ice where conditions will be tougher, colder, and definitely more frustrating. The only thing more disheartening is losing a trophy fish due to faulty gear or spending time fixing equipment when you could be fishing. Hard-water fishing is at hand; it’s time to get prepared for that premiere outing now.

Outdoor feature writer Bill Graves can be reached via e-mail at bgravesoutdoors@ainop.com