Ice Fishing

Ice fishing is angling performed on frozen water. The fishermen may use either fishing lines or spears and they have to make a hole in the body of ice in order to gain access to the unfrozen water underneath the ice. The sitting position is preferred for ice fishing too, as the fishermen can stay either on special stools or directly on the ice. For some, ice fishing is all the more enjoyable as they have built real sheds or cabins around the ice openings, bringing the comfort of a bunk bed with them.

Ice fishing is very popular especially in the cold areas on our globe. Latvia, Norway, Finland, Germany, Russia, Estonia and other Northern countries have given ice fishing the rank of favorite pastime as it has long ceased to earn one’s living now. The Great popularity levels are reputed by ice fishing in the North of the United States, as well as in Canada and Alaska.

Getting into more details about the fishing equipment used, we may realize that it is pretty different from other types of fishing in that it has become rather specialized. A fishing line or a spear could turn out worthless for this type of activity if you do not have an ice saw or a chisel at hand to begin with. Keep in mind that an opening in the ice is required first and foremost. But water will keep freezing even after you have made the hole, therefore most fishermen also carry a skimmer to remove that newly formed layer of ice. Most people also bring heaters along, not just to prevent ice formation but also to preserve a level of personal comfort too. That is why wooden huts or cabins which retain the heat indoors are widely preferred by ice fishing fans.

Ice fishing is based on three different methods, each with its specifically designed tools. First, you can use small-sized rods with colorful little lures or baits. Secondly, you can tip-ups that are a great means of catching fish in large quantities within a certain period of time. And last, there’s spear ice fishing for which you need a larger hole and fish decoys.

No matter for which of the three you go, we can compare nowadays success of these fishermen’s activity with that of long ago ice fishing. It seems that today, sonars make fish detection piece of cake. Then, with the help of commercial fishing devices fishermen will drill about 100 holes per day if they wished to catch large amounts of fish, very much unlike our ancestors who had to wait by the hole for the fish to come to them.

Fishing Equipment

Fishing equipment is called fishing tackle by specialists and hobbyists, and it generally refers to rods, lines, hooks, sinkers, spears, lures, baits, reels, nets, and so on. Some of these items belong to the fishing gear known as terminal tackle which usually covers snaps, sinkers, swivels and hooks.

Etymologically speaking, the ‘tackle’ as fishing equipment originates from ‘takel’ which initially meant the rigging of a ship, or to put it otherwise, the rope supports necessary for a ship’s masts and sails. Later the same word was recorded to have a different meaning, that of apparatus for fishing and that meaning has been preserved ever since.

The standard fishing equipment consists of a rod with a line and a hook, a lure and a bait attached to the hook and a sinker. The line consists of a basic cord especially made for fishing that is both long and thin so that fish do not notice it. When a fisherman buys fishing line he has to be sure that the stretch, the resistances and the strength of the product is suitable for the kind of fishing he has in mind. The line will be selected based on what kind of fish he/she intends to catch.

The sinker, also called a plummet, is made form a weight that helps in casting the hook and the bait as far as possible from the shoreline or from the boat that the fisherman uses. They are usually made of lead as their purpose is to get underwater quickly attracting the attention of fish to the bait. In some parts of the world, lead can no longer be included in the fishing equipment because of its high toxicity level. If ingested by bird species or other fish, the sinker causes the death of the animal.

Another basic item of fishing equipment is the hook. The hook serves as a support for the bait and it gets stuck in the mouth of the fish. These sharp ‘claws’ get attached to the line; and the angler can take the pick from a large array of hook sizes, materials and shapes.

Last but not least, the fishing equipment relies on baits and lures for efficiency. The lure is a piece at the end of the line that looks and moves like something resembling the prey of the fish you are after. The color, motion and vibration of the lure become focal points for the fish that afterwards goes for the bait. When the fish goes for the lure, it gets hooked. Bait, on the other hand, is the actual item attached to the hook and intended to be attacked and eaten by the fish. The bait can be either natural consisting in smaller fish, insects or crawlers or artificial, made of plastic or other material to lure the fish|Bait can be natural including insects, little fish or worms, or artificial made of fabric or plastic materials.