Long time poster, first time ice fishing... Okay, I did it once a long time ago with a friend, but total newb to ice fishing. What gear is recommended? Auger ( doh ) but, what kind and what size? regular pole or one of those shorties/untralight?
Thanks for all input, I am interested, but know nothing about this type of fishing.
Thanks.
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To start you can get away with a spud bar to break out old holes and your regular long poles.
Just like anything else the more specialized you get the easier it is to fish for specific kinds of fish in specific situations. For hand augers I would spend the money on a strikemaster lazer or a nils. Anything else will make you hate drilling holes.
For poles I would find a good quality rod that meets your needs. If you are in an icehouse you need a little shorter pole out side a 28-30" pole will be fine. I stay away from the prebuilt combos for a couple of reasons. 1st of all the reels are often really cheap and break apart or quit after being frozen a few times. They also come with line that is way to stiff for ice fishing it has way too much memory and you can't see the bites.
It is much better to find a decent reel on sale. Sportmans often has the cheaper okumas or shimanos on sale for 10-15 dollars. Even these cheap reels are much better than what comes on most of those combos.
Remember that some type of spring bobber is very important. Ice fishing bites are very light and you will miss many bites without spring bobbers or maybe jigger totters.
In most cases I use 4lb test 6-8lb at Henrys. There just aren't very many fish that you can't get in with this size line if your drag is set correctly. I feel that the smaller line gets me more action even if I do break off a fish now and then.
Windriver
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