How to Prospect on the Ice Using Topography

Video: How to Prospect on the Ice Using Topography

The Fur Hat Ice Tour How-To Series is brought to you by ESKIMO. I grew up going out ice fishing with old guys who probably hadn’t even heard of depth sounders or GPS. But they knew where the good spots were and could return to them every time by triangulating off stuff like a dock, a fence line, and a port-o-potty. Besides the fact that you don’t need fancy electronics to have an enjoyable and successful time ice fishing, this education taught me...

How to Safely Ice Fish on Rivers

It wasn’t like in the movies with a spiderweb of cracks slowly forming beneath my feet, but rather a sharp loud “CRACK!” like a pistol shot. I knew I was in trouble right away. I was 17 years old, playing hooky from school to go ice fishing on the Connecticut River, which flowed near my small Vermont hometown. The pictures of the absolute hog walleyes my buddies had pulled through the ice a couple days before had inspired me, but I had only just...

How to Make Shore Lunch Fried Fish on the Ice

Lake ice is mystifying and alive. Ever-changing, it speaks in groans, cracks, and thunderclaps, expanding and contracting through harsh winter months. Besides the ice, the only sound you hear is the crunch of the fresh snow beneath your boots. Those footprints will soon be filled in as the wind works to cover any trace of your passing. Some of the best meals I’ve ever eaten were next to a roaring fire surrounded by the eerie yet somehow...