It's taken a while longer than normal, but we finally have sufficient ice on most local waters to fish them safely. I generally wait until there's a solid six inches of the frozen water before venturing out. This way I don't have to worry about hitting a thin spot created by underwater spring holes or inlet currents when nearer shore. With today's ice augers, it doesn't take long to bore a hole, even in ice twice that thick.
By and large, jigging has replaced tip-ups in popularity for most ice fishermen. I suspect it's because it keeps them occupied between bites or hits, and it also allows more mobility since jigging anglers can move from one bored holes to another until they find cooperative fish. But for larger predator fish such as pike, pickerel and walleye, tip-ups baited with an appropriate size live shiner is usually more effective in producing fish than jigging, which is geared toward smaller panfish such as perch, crappie and sunfish. With two local ice derbies (Whitney Point Lake and Chenango Lake) looming on the horizon (Feb.9 and 16), my money will be on the anglers that are fishing when dawn arrives to stand the best chances of reeling in prize winners. Why? First of all, derby or not, just about all fish are more active and feeding early and again late in the day. They tend to slow down during the hours in between. Second is evidence by the two derbies' history which pretty much bears this out with a majority of the prize winners being taken early in the day.
While some anglers opt to do their vertical fishing over the deeper waters, often the best fishing/catching in the earlier part of the day will be along or just above weed beds, since that's where the majority of prey for the various species is found. I've caught fish in water less than five feet deep but near a weed bed. Also weed beds in deeper waters can produce if the angler knows where they are or can locate them. Large fish such as pickerel and pike are especially drawn to the shallower weedy waters since it offers them cover from which to ambush smaller fish, and is also where the prey-size fish tend to inhabit.
The thing I've found interesting about ice fishing over the years is the change that occurs in most fishes' choice of prey during winter. With a few exceptions, such as some of the larger predator species, their preference is smaller prey than would be the case in warmer seasons. So most successful ice fishermen scale down the size of the offering, be it artificial or live bait. A perch or crappie that would gobble down a 3-inch minnow in summer often prefers one two inches long in winter. As such, anglers using jigs that size or even smaller often out-fish those using larger jigs. Since the discovery of the always fatal Viral Hemorrhagic Septicemia (VHS) infected fish in some New York waters, live shiner/minnow anglers need to be aware that any live shiner/minnow used as bait must either be native to the water or watershed where it's being used, or if purchased at a bait shop, must be state-inspected that it's VHS free. Anglers purchasing live bait fish should also have on their person the receipt containing the name of the selling vendor, date sold, species of fish sold, and quantity. This is less intimidating than its sounds, since most live minnow anglers get a receipt when they purchase their bait. They just should make sure they have it with them when they are fishing, in case a DEC official checks them.
Because they represent such a large flat surface area, lakes are prone to windy conditions, and when the temperatures are below freezing, wind chills can often be quite brutal. Increasingly more ice fishermen these days are using some kind of wind-breaking structure, ice tents or special ice fishing pop-up structures called "clams" to stay out of the wind. One of the neater homemade deals I've seen was one that was hinged and opened in a V shape, had a hinged drop-down seat, and doubled as a sled to carry equipment. The weight of the angler sitting on the seat kept it from blowing over.
Except for near-zero conditions, today's ice fishermen remain relatively comfortable, thanks to insulated one-piece suits, thermal underwear and socks, and insulated hats and boots, and chemical warmers. The biggest challenge is keeping hands warm that often get wet from handling bait and caught fish. Over the years, I've found few things that work better than wool fingerless gloves worn inside insulated mittens that have a chemical hand warmer pouch installed in them. Even when wet, the wool retains warmth.
When it comes to the actual gear for fishing, you're apt to see everything from special commercially made jigging rods and reels to homemade arrangements constructed from odds and ends, such as the tip section of a broken spinning rod inserted in a short piece of an old broom handle with a reel taped to it. Some don't even bother with a reel, but just wind the line around brackets attached to their homemade jigging rod. Tip-ups vary also, running from the basic spring-arm flag type to the more expensive circular models, some of which utilize any breeze to install a "jigging" action to the bait.
For those who never got into ice fishing, it probably seems rather strange that anyone would be willing to brave the winter elements in the hopes of catching a few fish, especially small ones like perch, sunfish and crappie ... normally species that are easily caught in abundance during the warmer open-water seasons. But to avid ice fishermen, it's an activity that provides enjoyment and often camaraderie, gets them outdoors for the day, yields some great eating, and doesn't require a boat to fish anywhere on a lake or pond. And there's something about the mystery surrounding bringing up an unseen fish through a hole in the ice that's hard to explain to non-ice fishermen.