Northwest Fishing Reports

Yes I know its still summer. Since I have ID license this year I plan to hit lots of ID lakes this winter for ice fishing.

I have heard about the floating ice fishing suits, do anyone have any experience with them? What are you personal preferences for staying warm in the winter on ice?

Well summed up the suit; Armor Arctic, its warm and its buoyant so there is that extra safety feature of it.

Some reviews here Link.

Now for the boots...

If you can convince yourself to go with the Packer's commemorative suit (unflattering green & yellow), you can save a little bit of cash on the suit from idigear (manufacturer's) website - $269.99 They're advertising it now as a spring clearance (over the holidays last year it was a X-mas special); They can't get rid of 'em.

Kfedka,
I have never used the suit your talking about but i use the Artic Armor blue suit and could not be happier it keeps me warm in the coldest days high up in the mountains as i ride my snow machine to the lakes then after i set up the shantie i have to take it off because of the temps. the safety factor is a great idea and from everything i have seen on them it seems like they work but i allready bought the blue suit before they came out with that one. if you buy please tell use how it is and if you have tested it yet.

A bottle of Baileys does it fine for under $12.00.I wear long underwear and my artic boots .On top is a Carhart Overhauls. It dosent get cold here like in Minnesota.

racfish wrote:A bottle of Baileys does it fine for under $12.00.

Baileys makes you bouyant? I never knew...

Why would you need a bouyant suit for ice fishing? When I ice fish the ice is usually 20 plus inches thick. If its less then 10" thick I wouldnt go on it. Even if it dosent make you bouyant it sure kills any pain that might happen.

racfish wrote:Why would you need a bouyant suit for ice fishing? When I ice fish the ice is usually 20 plus inches thick. If its less then 10" thick I wouldnt go on it. Even if it dosent make you bouyant it sure kills any pain that might happen.

the bouyant suit is a great idea if you think you are going for a swim!!!!!!!!!!! but at 20 inches of ice you have allready missed several really good weeks of fishing i hit the ice anything after 4 inches and have done really good because of the fish hunger and early ice.

racfish wrote:Why would you need a bouyant suit for ice fishing? When I ice fish the ice is usually 20 plus inches thick. If its less then 10" thick I wouldnt go on it. Even if it dosent make you bouyant it sure kills any pain that might happen.

I've never fished in 20 inches of ice,ax was probably 14 inches. The thinnest ice I've fished on was 3 inches, it was cracking everywhere we stepped(had a 2hr drive there, so we risked it, kinda stupid what we did though).

Can I get some links for boots.

I bought my Artic Boots through Cabelas bargain basement ads. They were 300.00 boots with liners but being there were no laces they were maked down to $50.00. Them is some toasty warm boots. At my weight I worry about the thin ice. I've been to a lake that cracked while you walked on it and it was scarey.I'll accept the lil bit poorer fishing over fishing on thin ice. Good name for a song!!

Kfedka wrote:

racfish wrote:Why would you need a bouyant suit for ice fishing? When I ice fish the ice is usually 20 plus inches thick. If its less then 10" thick I wouldnt go on it. Even if it dosent make you bouyant it sure kills any pain that might happen.

I've never fished in 20 inches of ice,ax was probably 14 inches. The thinnest ice I've fished on was 3 inches, it was cracking everywhere we stepped(had a 2hr drive there, so we risked it, kinda stupid what we did though).

Can I get some links for boots.

If you've never fished on ice more than 14 inches, then it probably doesn't get that cold. The suit sounds like a cool idea, if you got the cash and love ice fishing, go for it, probably not needed. I use to fish similar conditions, I'd have my carhartt and I was fine, . Not sure about fishing on 3 inches of ice, that's a little too thin, I've walked across it, but never stood still over a hole.

3" of new or forming ice is safe, (booming) or (Cracking) from freezing. NOT safe if it's rotting ice or absence of booming or cracking. Lots of ice experience from Northern Minnesota. PS: you should always have a set of ice spikes around your shoulders regardless of the ice thickness...

If I were to take up ice fishing, this is the way I would go

http://www.totaloutdoornetwork.com/annu ... ity_sports

Marc Martyn wrote:If I were to take up ice fishing, this is the way I would go

http://www.totaloutdoornetwork.com/annu ... ity_sports

Ummmm ya me too! Those are sweet!

that's my kinda ice fishing!

Back in the mid west, they are very serious about their ice fishing. The lakes get frozen so thick and for so long, guys actually stake out an area of the lake. The weather can turn extremely bad very quick. If you don't have shelter, your chances of survival are very slim.

Ice fishing is intertwined with several other winter "festivals". The winters are so long and harsh, they do make the best of it.

In the day, and that means a 100 pounds lighter and 25 years younger, I would fish ice that was 2" thick, if it was clear. The "booming" or "cracking" ice is an interesting way of explaining it, but we just brushed the snow back and examined the ice - clear, free of bubbles, safe 2" or more, full of bubbles, need more ice.

I once fished 1/2" thick ice, when I was about 150#, with a large pair of snow shoes. It worked great, the fishing was wonderful, I must have been stupid.

6" of clear (booming) ice will hold a snow machine or ATV - 10" will hold a pick-up truck.

As for clothes, I was always too poor to spend the kind of money it takes for an Arctic survival suit. I used insulated coveralls and Army surplus Micky Mouse boots.

I've used clothing and shelters from Clam Corp for years. I used to use snowmobile suits but the Clam gear is better. My family's from Michigan and the winters can be long, and cold. If you wanted to be outdoors it was either ice fishing, snowmobiling, or skiing. All 3 meant warm & dry. When the ice was bad we used to slide long boards out to walk on.

I think he meant Ice Armor, vexilar has a great suit as does strikemaster. I like strikemasters bibs the best!