Maine Ice Fishing
Ice fishing in Maine is a traditional sport. When it is winter and the ice is frozen, you will see people in and around their huts out on the lake ice fishing.
Maybe you’ve never been ice fishing before and wondering how it defers from regular fishing. Well if that’s you or if you just enjoy ice fishing, this post is for you.
For starters we need some holes in the ice to set traps and so we have an auger to drill the holes.
To get the hole clean and ready, we have a scoop to collect the floating ice chunks. This is a family friendly activity and the younger kids enjoy this part.
We use live shiners for bait. Hook them and slide them into the water a few feet deep and set the trap.
We set a lot of traps. In Maine, on most lakes you are allowed to have 5 traps per licensed fisherman. Our kids got their lifetime Maine fishing licenses thanks to Pepere Larry and Nana. (Kids can fish for free)
We space out our traps and tend to line them up so that it is easier to spot a flag.
If a fish grabs the bait and pulls on the line, then the flag shoots up and alerts the fisherman to a catch; a possible catch. It is still up to the fishermen to hook the fish when they run to the trap.
There is a lot of waiting in ice fishing and it takes patience. You also have to be paying attention and notice when the flag goes flying so that you will have a better chance of hooking that fish.
A pickerel.
While you’re waiting you can enjoy the big Maine sky and quiet natural surroundings. I like searching for the bald eagles that are prone to be hanging around these big spaces. Be careful; they might try to steal your catch.
Here is one in the tree; he wouldn’t let me get close for a photo. This was the closest I could get and I tried for a while skiing across the lake after him a few times.
Back to watching the traps for flags.
Be the first to a flying flag and you might be the one to pull up a keeper! The kids take turns checking traps and pulling up the line. Most times it is a miss or a false alarm, but the excitement of a catch is priceless.
This particular February vacation fishing day was a very busy day of many flags and many fish. Here is a yellow perch and bass. Watch the excitement of a couple line pulls: Click the link for the video below.
The big catch and this is after we threw some back: two bass, a pike, and a yellow perch.
Resetting the trap.
Teamwork on the ice. It’s great to get outside and breathe in some fresh air in the winter and this is one activity the whole family can enjoy. Thank you for visiting my blog and this post today. Share in the comments below: What’s your favorite fishing story? (It doesn’t have to be ice fishing.)
