What the heck is this?



Big use for them was by the commercial fisherman that were netting under the ice. They could safely set nets and they had a way of transporting their catch.
 
Capt J. Stieben said:
Big use for them was by the commercial fisherman that were netting under the ice. They could safely set nets and they had a way of transporting their catch.
Click to expand...

That is interesting. What style of net is used? Do you know how it is deployed and retrieved from under the ice. Seems like it would be much more difficult than an open water environment.
 
Mark W said:
George Goodsell said:
Mark,
They're also referred to as "picker boats", I just noticed one sitting by one of the sports shops in La Crosse a couple days ago. Used to be a lot of em on the river but not so much any more. They don't handle the big presure ridges very well. Snowmobiles an 4 wheelers have taken over.

George
Click to expand...

Yeah but they don’t float should you go through. I saw a YouTube video of a guy who appears to have just take a Garden tiller, puts it in front of him and lets it pull him across the ice. Lots of ideas out there.

Mark
Click to expand...

Mark,

I think George was referring to an ice scratcher, so it would be on a boat. I'm guessing you were thinking of the snowdog, yes, that ones going to davy jones if it goes through. My thought with it for first ice is to substitute a small jonboat in lieu of the jetsled, then you stay afloat. But that's just me looking for another toy. So far the best compromise I've found is the Wilcraft.

Looked at the airboats, there are manufacturers that set them up for specifically for icefishing. Pretty neat as a crossover for duck hunting, biggest problem is noise, followed by price for one big enough to be useful for duck hunting. And the big fans are tough to hide. The arrowprops suggested by MikeB might be just the thing for icefishing if you mount the engine on an old jon, but they're small for a duck boat loaded down. Again, having seen them up close, if you want to piss off the neighbors at 0-dark thirty by all means get one.

One of my friends put snowsled picks on a garden tractor, geared it up and roars around the lake at 20+. That's a hoot.
 
Dave we used ours on the Mississippi for commercial fishing. We used Tremmel nets, cut a hole with chain saw, run a line X amount of feet, depending on net, cut another hole. Go down stream quite a ways. start punching holes with ice auger. Then guys would start taking plungers and plunge the water scaring the fish< Carp/Buffalo/Sheep's head into net. Lots of work, but big pay off if get into them, as prices are usually 2 to 3X's more in winter
 
Thanks for posting Lance. I have seen under ice gill netting for years here on the Rock River and never understood why go through the trouble. 2-3X more money is the obvious reason.

Dave, thanks to google here is your answer on how to set a net under the ice: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GplIRa0UPBg
 
Boy that looks labor intensive. Good thing they earn a premium. I figured the net would be a frozen mess as soon as it was pulled from the water but I see in one video, they were retrieving the net while inside a portable shelter.
 
Last edited:
Ya well we didn't get those kind of luxuries lol. We had to run a chain saw(VERY WET) all the way to the next hole we cut, and then pull, by hand, the net all the way threw. We then froze outside and pulled it back in, in the cold. I did see a guy that had a underwater board thing on remote. Worked great until you lost it. LOL
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top