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Old February 4th, 2011, 07:19 PM posted to rec.crafts.metalworking,rec.outdoors.fishing
Tom Gardner
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Default OT Ice fishing questions


"Ignoramus32184" wrote in message
...
I am in Northern Illinois. We have a small lake nearby.

I would estimate that, after extended cold weather, the ice is at
least 15 inches thick.

I have never done ice fishing and I have questions that are pretty
basic.

1) I assume that with a snow shovel and a 6 foot long straight steel
prybar, it should not be a problem to clear a foot of snow and to
break through that ice.

2) When I was a kid, I walked past a recently abandoned ice fishing
hole in Russia. I was shocked to see a giant quantity of fish crowding
the hole, as if they were starved of air and needed desperately to get
a fresh breath of air. Is that due to oxygen deprivation on an ice
covered lake, or was the hole chummed?

Is there some way to get the same effect? The lake was frozen at least
for 5-6 weeks, IIRC.

i


Western Lake Erie is the Walleye capital of the world. I've been ice
fishing there since I was a kid. We always had a collapsible canvas shack
built on a pallet-like platform and use an ice auger that drills a 8" hole.
I have dropped onion bags filled with dog food and rocks in the holes to
attract baitfish that attract Yellow Perch, Walleye and Sheepsheads. I
don't know it that actually works. I too have seen fish congregate at a
hole. I think they are curious. When diving, fish come up and bump my mask
all the time; it's like they are saying "Whatcha doin' in there? Got
something to eat?" and I would often hand feed them nightcrawlers. You
would think they would be skittish but they're not and Smallies are the most
curious.