A MID-WINTER AFTERNOON ON THE ICE

By: Bob Jensen

Some friends invited me to spend an afternoon on the ice with them on a recent midJanuary day. The forecast was for temperatures in the 40’s with some weather coming in the next day. That is often the formula for good fishing. In truth though, that wasn’t the deciding factor for going fishing with my friends. It would be about a three hour drive to arrive at the fishing destination, but that wasn’t a factor either. The important thing was, and I checked my records on this, it had been 12 years and 2 weeks since we had gathered on the ice last. That’s way too long. I packed my stuff that evening and hit the road the next morning. A bunch of fish were caught, and we also compared notes about what we were doing differently from the last time we were together. 12 years and 2 weeks ago.

The plan was to fish a couple of ponds. There was a layer of ice about ten inches thick, and below the ice there were crappies, largemouth bass, bluegills, walleyes, and some northern pike. We caught all but the pike.

One of the first differences that I noticed was the noise, or lack of it. On our last fishing trip, gas augers were used to get through the ice. On this trip, electric augers were the only augers around. All commented that the lack of engine noise was nice, but also, the electric augers were a lot lighter in weight. Additionally, it is so much easier to charge a battery than to mix gas and oil, and there is no odor from an electric. The electric K-Drill put holes in the ice all afternoon and there was still plenty of battery left when the sun hit the treeline in the west.

We were using graphite rods and mostly 3 pound test line. 3 pound test wasn’t widely available on our previous trip. It was perfect for the ‘gills and crappies, and it handled the bass well also, although our biggest bass was only maybe 2 pounds.

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Tungsten jigs were on the end of our lines. Tungsten jigs weren’t popular 12 years and 2 weeks ago, but with the introduction of the Genz line-up of tungsten jigs, it’s now what most panfish anglers reach for. Tungsten enables us to fish tiny jigs efficiently because it’s denser than lead, which was mostly what ice jigs used to be made of. A tungsten jig that weighs the same as a lead jig is much smaller in physical size, and that’s important when panfish are the quarry. 12 years and 2 weeks ago, we all watched sonar units while we fished. We knew then and we still know that sonar will help us put fish on top of the ice. The difference today is the options for sonar. There is a sonar that will fit the needs of any ice angler. There’s a new one, just introduced in 2020, a FLX 30BB, that runs on a lithium battery. This battery will last longer, take more charges, and is significantly lighter in weight than traditional sonar batteries.

So, we caught a bunch of fish and compared the differences in equipment that we used 12 years and 2 weeks ago to the equipment that we used on this recent mid-January afternoon. So many differences, but one similarity: The camaraderie. We fished a little bit seriously, but we probably spent more time reminiscing about other fishing trips, friends that weren’t with us anymore, and a bunch of other things, some important, some not so important.

There’s more ice fishing to do, and open water isn’t so far away either. It’s fun to catch fish, that’s why we go fishing. But it’s also just as much fun and very important to appreciate and enjoy the people you’re fishing with. Keep that in mind every time you go fishing. And don’t let it be 12 years and 2 weeks in between trips with your fishing friends.

To see new and old episodes of Fishing the Midwest television, fishing articles and fishing videos, go to fishingthemidwest.com