Tips to improve your success.

[Nathan Krusko]

Time Management and Ice Fishing?
By NathanKrusko “Fishman”
Team Panfish Persuaders

How does this make any sense? Good Question. If you properly manage your gear, you will have more time with your line in the water.
I will give a few good tips to help keep your lines wet in a more
productive manner. A dry line catches no fish!
Tip 1: Auger
This is the quintessential beginning to your fishing trips. If you are
trying to drill your holes with a dull auger you will be struggling the
whole day. This struggle will sadly bring on fatigue which I assure you
keeps you from being focused on your presentation and most definitely
will lead to missed strikes. Along with this fatigue you will be less
inclined to drill more holes. One element to success with ice fishing
is fishing many holes. Consider each hole that you drill a cast, you
probably do not go open water fishing and only make tens casts. The
more holes that you drill then the higher your chances for success.
Tip 2: Fishing Line
This is the first line of your attack. When fishing with old weak line
you will be spending more time with break offs with each break off you
end up spending too much time re-tying new jigs. It is recommended that
you replace your line at the start of every season with a quality line.
Quality line is essential. As with all your gear, always go for quality
products and this holds more value with your line than anything
considering this is your connection to the fish. If you are fishing
with a lesser quality line you are increasing your risk for failure.
Periodically through your season it is recommended that you remove the
end few feet of line. Why remove this line at the end? This practice
removes the damaged section which if left unchecked would increase your
chance of line failure. What to look for is more of what to feel for.
To inspect your line, run it between your fingers feeling for any kinks
or abrasions. A good time for this inspection is the evening before
your next outing when you are tying on your jigs. This preparation will
pay off during your outing with less failure and having rods ready to
go. A little preparation goes a long way.
Tip 3: Good Traction
How can this save you time and help you catch more fish? Walking on ice
that is free of snow is quite slippery and very treacherous. Wearing
proper apparel on your feet such as Yaktrax http://www.yaktrax.com/ or MICROspikes http://www.kahtoola.com/microspikes.php will keep you mobile and more agile, safely taking you from hole to
hole. It is very basic. Poor traction while on the ice, takes you more
time to safely navigate your way across the ice. Saving this time keep
you sitting at a hole catching fish. Now, it gets deeper than this if
you do not have adequate traction then you increase you chances for
injury. If you are hurt, then your not fishing. You may be down for the
day or for the whole season and this is something that we do not want.
This tip may save you time, but it may also save you from unnecessary
injury and prevent you from missing an already short season.
Tip 4: Shelters or Buckets
Do you fish from a shelter or from a bucket? With the revolutionary design of the sonic ice hopper,
the bucket is no longer just a bucket. A bucket is now a highly mobile
organized means of fishing. You have everything that you need
organized, all in one spot that can be carried from hole to hole. These
rigs hold your sonar, have rod holders, can hold organizers to keep you
tackle available and you can even place you catch in the bucket. This
will keep you mobile, spending less time picking up your gear and more
time fishing. Now the larger option is the sled style shelter or the
chair style shelter. The sled style comes from any manufacturers. The
use of a shelter adds additional levels of control to your fishing
success. By using a shelter with proper storage techniques all of you
equipment is properly stored and readily available at all times. Most
anglers are quite creative designing rod holders that can be attached
to your seat or making trays that can hold things below your seat.
Whatever the design or manufacturer having a sled keeps all of your
gear safely in one place. Take the steps necessary to organize it all.
Recarldess of your choice of a bucket, sled or chair, if all of your
gear is in one place and properly organized you will be saving time.
This saved time will increase the time you have to catch fish.
Tip 5: Rod Storage
Good rod storage is essential. If stored properly your rods will be
less prone to breakage and tangles. Rod storage can come in many
different ways. One is a rod bag. A rod bag under most circumstances
regardless of manufacturers usually has a large compartment in the
center to place your rods and multiple compartments on the sides to
organize and store your tackle. There are also rod bags that are
similar to those used for open water rods that have a rigid tube and an
opening at the reel end that you can slide the rod in and zip the end
closed. These are most commonly used for single rods and occasionally
for multiples. Though it is recommended to get a rod bag or suitable
match you can make your own rod holders out of pvc pipe and attach them
to your shelter, bucket & even four wheeler. Regardless of choice,
the end result is the goal of protecting your rods from breakage and
keeping them from getting tangled together.
Tip 6 Multiple Rods
Multiple rods? You may wonder how multiple rods can be a part of time
management and catching more fish. Remember the more often you keep a
line in the water the higher a chance you have a catching fish. By
having multiple rods, you can have many jigging presentations rigged
and readily available. You will want rods rigged for a vertical jigging
spoon, for a jigging minnow presentation, a horizontal jig and lastly a
rod for dead sticking. By having multiple rods rigged it saves you time
tying on a new jig just to try a new presentation style. Depending on
your style and budget this can be quite expansive. As a tournament
angler I find I can save time with multiple rods rigged with different
horizontal jigs as well as some rigged with jigging spoons or jigging
minnows. Regardless of your stile or budget it is best to have multiple
rods rigged and ready to go. It takes seconds to change rods but with
cold fingers and small diameter line it may take minutes to change jigs.
Tip 7: Sonar
The use of sonar saves a large amount of time. You will have the
ability to quickly move from hole to hole checking for the presence of
fish. Sonar gives you an immediate display of the presence of fish with
out the use of a camera, which takes a significant amount of time to
move from hole to hole. If your sonar does not have an immediate
display of fish it is ok to stop and fish these holes. To do this,
choose one of your pre-rigged rods and fish each hole for a minute or
two. If there is no immediate reaction from a fish then move on to
another hole repeating this until you find the fish displaying on your
sonar. As you get better with the use of sonar you will spend far more
time catching fish and less time wondering if they are even present. If
you are fishing in a spot that has no fish then you are wasting time
that you could be using towards catching fish in a different location.
Good Luck And Tight Lines
Nathan Krusko
http://northeasticefishing.com/