# 40 years of Icefishing.



## WillyG (Mar 26, 2009)

I have to laugh everytime the wife starts ranting about my Icefishing addiction, and I started thinking about all the gear I have had over the years. I started out with a bucket, spud and a couple of old rods with 2 pegs to wrap line around. I really thought I was something when I got my first Coleman lantern for Christmas as a youngster. Then the Mora 6" hand auger and rods with Schooley reels, I figured I was at the pinnicle of the Icefishing world. Then my first power auger and shanty, the old dependable Jiffy and Shappel cabin, soon was the life changing Vex FL-8. Those were the Evolution days when Ice gear really started to change. Since then I have been through another auger, a Lasermag express and now running a Strikelite. The ice rods are now top notch with precision micro spinning reels. Since my first Shappel shanty I have had A Fish Trap Pro, Fish Trap Guide, Frabill Recon, Evoultion Sabre, Frabill Outpost Hub, Frabill Commando and now will be fishing out of my new Otter Cabin. Thinking back on all the gear I have had and all the good times on Ice makes thankfull for it all. I hope I get at least another 20 years of ice fishing before Im done. The wife says I have wasted alot of money on Icefishing, well I hate to tell her but in this case, money can buy happiness.


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## northlyon (Dec 27, 2009)

That's awesome! What do you think has improved the most? Auger, shanty, rods...etc.

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## aslongasitpullsback (Dec 30, 2005)

northlyon said:


> That's awesome! What do you think has improved the most? Auger, shanty, rods...etc.
> 
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Rods and Shanty's.....


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## WillyG (Mar 26, 2009)

I would say definately shantys, back when I was a kid icefishing was either bucket hopping or stuck in one spot in a perm shanty. Hell Icefishing today is nothing like it was 40 years ago. All the gear today makes it more comfortable and easier to find fish. I would like to see what the young guys will be fishing with 40 years from now. Its like a story my Granpa told me when he and his brother were looking at a brand new Model T ford Pickup, they looked at it and said "It cant get much better than that" funny but thats what I think about todays Icefishing gear.


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## northlyon (Dec 27, 2009)

Yeah, portable shanties are nice! I cant begin to imagine what my kids will be using!!

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## Crappie 1 (Mar 15, 2011)

Well, I gotta tell you this. I started 55+years ago. My first shanty was made out of metal Coca Cola signs. It had a metal 5 Gal. bucket for a stove. The lid was split in half and then screwed back on so you could put wood in it. It also had a metal downspout for a chimney. Sometimes I put too much kerosene in the stove and fire would be coming about a foot out of the top. More than once I had another fisherman knock on the door to see if it was on fire..The Good Ole Days


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## wally-eye (Oct 27, 2004)

Started back in the 50s......spud noise spud noise spud noise...:lol:

In the late 50s I somehow managed to ummm come upon a wooden soda crate...... Took out the dividers and reinstalled some new ones, filled in the open end with wood and then cut a hole big enough for poles and stuff and a hole on the side to slide in the fish........got a big ol leather strap and tacked it on and bingo a neat seat and carry all........throw that baby over my shoulder, grab the spud and off I'd go......walk a mile no sweat......back then anyways.........but I thought I died and went to heaven when I finally got an auger.....the old spoon type but man it sure beat spudding.

Now I have a X67, quad with racks, flip over frabill, propane lanterns, buddy heater etc etc etc.....:lol:


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## lovetofsh (Jan 24, 2006)

It is truly an addiction...... those who don't do it will never understand it. I don't even want to guess how much dough I've spent. Especially this year it has been over the top.


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## HuntingTimeYet (Jul 19, 2007)

Great thread, I recall using one of those spoon augers when i was a kid. My brother and i would take turns since it was a tad dull. but that was only 25-30 years ago. I would say the best upgrade for me was my first good pair of boots. I remember how bad my feet would hurt when they start warming back up after using rubber poorly insulated boots. My grandfather use to have a shanty that had a homemaid reel made from pie tins with a small handle to reel up fish quickly.


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## Crappie 1 (Mar 15, 2011)

No augers when I started. I had a home made spud out of an axle of some kind that my Dad made. The thing was sharp and cut like crazy--or was I just younger? Anyway, you could cut holes with it..


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## Outdoor2daCore (Nov 8, 2010)

This is a great thread, I only got into ice fishing a few years ago and I'm only 26 but I can only imagine. It's awesome to hear stuff like that back in the day. Such ingenuity!!!


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## swaprat (Oct 1, 2011)

HuntingTimeYet said:


> Great thread, I recall using one of those spoon augers when i was a kid. My brother and i would take turns since it was a tad dull. .


 

we still got a good old dull one sitting in the grage from my dad and uncle lol's if you need a pic for memories tell me.


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## trout8200 (Feb 26, 2007)

It's funny when you look back at how you started to where your at now. I didn't get my first auger until I was in my 20's, got my first shanty around the same time. Didn't get a vex until my 30's now I won't go without it. And finally got my first gas auger. How on earth did I ever catch fish before that.


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## Scout 2 (Dec 31, 2004)

I started ice fishing in the 50's. When we went back then I would have 2 or 3 pairs on pants on plus long underwear. We used a spud that my dad made and he keep it razor sharp, I still use it today. At that time I don't remember anyone using ice poles everyone had homemade poles. My pole was made out of a steel casting rod with 2 wooden pegs to wrap the line on and a small bobber on the line. When you went the only shanties you seen were permant ones. We had a box to sit on and did not use a latern. I hae my grandpa ice box which was made out of a Winchester shipping crate that shotgun shells had been shipped in.
My first auger was a spoon type and I still use it today until the ice gets thicker. I probably have more ice lures in my tackle now than most bait shops had in there stock back in the 50's. My son asked me a few years ago how me and my dad ever caught any fish back then with out a Vex. I would say that one of best improvements was the suits we have now and the augers that are now made . When I started ice fishing everything was carried in you pockets except you pole and spud but now I needed a sled to haul everthing out judt to fish.


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## Ginweed (Jan 13, 2005)

This thread kind of reminds me of the saying, "when I die I hope my wife doesn't sell my fishing stuff for what I said I paid for it".

This year it's a power auger for me!


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## WillyG (Mar 26, 2009)

Well when I started this thread my goal was to get a thread going where there was nothing to argue about or bash each other, just to bring up good memories of our Icefishing days. Its great to hear the old stories, memories to be past on for sure.


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## DaveW731 (Jan 12, 2001)

This years is my Golden Anniversary: I started ice fishing 50 years ago, catching perch on the Saginaw Bay. My dad made a portable shanty out of plywood, 2"diameter poles and a green canvas cover he had custom made for him. The whole contraption weighed 50 pounds, but it could be pulled once it was set up. We fished with the basic two-peg poles and used a spud. I always had warm clothes and my dad wore his old red and black plaid deer hunting coat and pants. I virtually never remember getting cold. I think dad (who is 91) still has the original spud we used in his garage. I remember chopping spearing holes through 1'+ of ice, till he got his first spoon-type auger when I was about 10.
Of course, electronics are the major game-changer since those days, but I think the greatest improvments (vs. Inventions) since 1961 have been in ice augers and shelters. You can fish with ancient poles (in fact, I use my _Grandfather's_1930 bamboo pole on occasion just for fun) and you can stay warm with old-fashioned woolies, silk longjohns and feltpac boots with wool socks. You can't spud 30 holes per day through a foot of ice and drag 50 pounds of shelter around with you.


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## Frozenfish (Dec 20, 2004)

Nice thread. I'd be interested in seeing any old pics they may have.


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## Crappie 1 (Mar 15, 2011)

One Christmas before I had a Shanty, I got an Ice Pal. It was red with silver runners. It had a place for a lantern and a little round door to stick the fish in. I had a kerosene lantern that was my Grand Dad's. When I got that I thought I had it all. No electronics, fish finders, Vex etc. You went out on the lake and started spudding holes till you found some fish. You might spud 30-40 holes in a days fishing. Now if I cut 10 with my gas auger I'm pooped...


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## trout8200 (Feb 26, 2007)

Who remembers putting bread bags in their boots. I also remember when I bought my first Demon Glow tear drops thought I was hot stuff. Also what about tripping the flag on your buddy's tip up. 
Don't forget to help pass these memories on by taking your kids with you.


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