One of my favorite activities to do in the winter is ice fishing. The first thing people tell me when I say that is, “Don’t you get cold?” or “How do you stay warm out there?” Well, it’s a pretty simple answer: I have a four person ice fishing hut and a small buddy heater that I take every time I go. The only problem I sometimes come across is the wind. The wind can make it very difficult to put up or take down the hut. It can also be so strong and break the poles that hold it up. But other than that, I stay pretty warm.
I ice fish for fun. I find fishing in general very relaxing, and I really enjoy the peace that it brings me. I usually have my brother or a friend with me so that I can fish for a longer time without getting bored. I catch and release when I go fishing. That means I dont keep the fish; when I catch them, I let them go.
I usually fish around Salida at lakes like Franz, O’haver, and sometimes I will travel all the way out to Blue Mesa or Ontario reservoir. I do quite a bit of ice fishing in the San Luis Valley at lakes like Dome lake, Mountain Home Reservoir, Smith Reservoir, the Holding Ponds, and Trujillo Meadows.
In my ice fishing sled, I keep a lot of different things. There are three things you pretty much have to have in order to ice fish. The first and most important tool is an ice auger. And the second is an ice fishing pole. These are way shorter than normal fishing poles. The last important piece of gear is all the jigs or hooks and baits.
In my sled, I keep eight ice poles and each one is rigged up with something different- baits or jigs. That way, if i’m using something that isn’t working, then I can just reel it up and switch poles. It makes it so much easier to switch so that I don’t have to keep cutting and re-tieing my line every time.
My ice hut fits up to about four people, and it is just like a camping tent except it is a pop up and doesn’t have a bottom. Small foldable chairs help keep my butt off the ice while fishing. I have a small propane buddy heater that I keep with me to keep it slightly warm in the hut.
A lot of people tell me that sitting in a tent on the ice for hours on end sounds very boring, and, well, it is. But that is why I don’t go by myself. When I do go by myself, I will go somewhere that I have service, so I can keep myself entertained on my phone when the fishing is slow.
Normally, I am with somebody or a couple people, and we just talk the entire time to pass the time, or we will just go mess around on the ice and stay where we can see the poles. Sometimes we will even bring a small propane grill and we grill burgers or even fish. Eventually, when the fish stop biting, and we have been out on the ice for hours we pack up and leave.
