Published on April 2nd, 2020 | by The Iceman

Things you might forget to bring ice fishing

Today I am going to discuss something you don’t hear much about: things you might forget to bring when you go ice fishing. It happens to the best of us. You get way out on the ice, start drilling holes, then realize you left the bait in the car. Or at home. Or worse, maybe you forgot the hooks!

I have already written about the must have ice fishing accessories. Everything listed there and in my post on staying warm while ice fishing will pretty much have you covered. But even if you know and have these things, that doesn’t mean you won’t forget to bring important things when you go ice fishing.

Things you might not remember

Food and drink are things that people often forget or don’t prepare enough of when ice fishing. When it’s cold and windy the last thing on your mind might be drinking water. But you still do need to stay hydrated. You can even sweat depending on what you’re wearing and doing. Hot tea is a good thing to bring in a thermos. Coffee is another one. But don’t forget to bring some regular water with you too. Otherwise you might end up so thirsty that you’re looking for a clean piece of ice to suck on. Just remember one thing: don’t you eat that yellow snow!

Also, don’t forget your boots! Does that sound stupid? Well then you’ll know how I felt the time I drove three hours to a lake in bad weather only to realize I forgot my boots when I arrived. How did it happen? Well I use Kamik pack boots when I am ice fishing. They are great comfortable, warm and dry boots. But they’re too bulky for driving. So I wear regular shoes then change when I get to the lake. Only this time I forgot to put the boots in the truck. So I had to go over to a local Wal Mart that was another forty minutes each way. The best boots they had were uninitiated suede work boots. It was not good.

A dry change of clothes is another thing you might not think about bringing when you go ice fishing. But you should. It can be essential and potentially even a life saver. In my area we don’t use vehicles do get out onto the ice. But we can still walk quite a while. It’s never so far that you would freeze to death though, even if you were soaking wet. So I just keep a dry set of clothes, underwear and socks in my vehicle. If I was going to venture out far on a snowmobile, I’d pack some dry clothes with me.

Finally, don’t forget to bring some food. Whether you pack a full soap and sandwich buffet like my main fishing partner, or just a few snacks, you do want to have some food on the ice. What if you get snowed in or stuck somewhere? Even on a regular day you need to stay fueled up. So bring some grub whenever you go ice fishing. You might want to stow some emergency stuff too. In my case, that means putting about a half pound of jerky in the pocket inside my ice fishing shelter. Even when I fold it down it stays there. That way I always know I have some food around just in case. I used to put Cliff Bars there, but on some really cold days they got hard enough to bust your teeth. No matter how cold it gets, jerky is always about the same consistency. It lasts for a long time too. So it’s a good choice.

The best way to mitigate forgetfulness is just to keep your things organized and in the same place. I keep all my ice fishing stuff in the sled. Then it is just a matter of lifting it into the back of the truck when it’s time to go. I do a quick check that everything is there before I pull off. Then I do another check before I go home, just to make sure I didn’t leave anything out on the ice. I once dropped a bucket out of the back when pulling my sled up a hill. If I hadn’t checked, I would have left hundreds of dollars in jigs and spoons in three small boxes out in the snow!