Archive for the SiteNews Category

Sportsman’s Dollar Ice Show Dec17

This Saturday at the Sportsman’s Dollar Ice Show there will be two “FREE” ice fishing seminars. Join Chas Thompson and Steph Sissell from the Michigan Ice Guys to learn all about the latest equipment, gadgets and common-sense items to get you on and off the ice with a limit of fish. They will tie things together using science, creativity, common sense and the internet and how it can help you become a better ice angler. Chas & Steph will also demonstrate to new fisherman, as well as seasoned anglers their methods and tricks that they use to catch more fish.

Date – Saturday, December 17th
Seminar – 11:00 AM
Location53 E. Lake St, Sand Lake, MI 49343
Store Hours – 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM

New Colors from K & E


Well our friends at K & E have just sent us the collection of new colors for the Skandia Line of jigs.    These three Electric Chicken, Wonder Bright Chartruse, and Clown Glow are available in Moon, Pelkie & Diamnond Tip for this season. Make sure you get to your local shop to get the colors before they are out!

Check out their whole line on this handy chart of colors.

Get your DNR Digest

Download the PDF’s here    –  It is also handy to have them saved on your phone!

Knots: Horizontal Jig

Snelling a horizontal jig onto your line keeps the jig from swinging down into a vertical position.     Chad takes a couple minutes to give us a demonstration.

Knots: Michigan Rig

Chad takes time to show us a Michigan Rig. A drop fly above a jig on the same line.

Host a Lake

If you have been listening the last few episodes, you will have heard about our new program.    We want to come fishing with you.

We are always looking to explore new lakes and sometimes it is the little things that hold us back.

  • Where to park
  • Is the Ice thick enough to make the drive
  • An invite?

If you have a favorite lake and would like some help, advice or just someone to go fishing with, fill out the form at Ask an Ice Guy and let’s talk.

And if we can arrange to come fish with you we will bring it!

  • Our state of the art equipment to help find more fish
  • A team of Ice Pros to drill the hell out of your lake to find fish
  • Bait
  • A K&E Gift Pack (Jigs & stuff)
  • A Sissell original hand crafted rod
  • One of Jake’s Palm Rods
  • Possible be featured on an upcoming podcast

We want to fish!   So let us know who and where you are.   BTW – We can keep a secret of where the lake is if you want, but it is up to you!  We want to profile your adventure on the podcast.

Have you clicked the link yet?    Ask an Ice Guy!

Don’t be that guy

After hearing about many people falling through the ice, Steve Kelly from WOOD-FM reached out and asked me to do a reminder on safety.    Over the past weekend we read about the three guys in Allegan and the two guys in Fruitport going through.     For those of us that follow the chat boards and facebook groups, we have heard of many others.

So I felt it was time to just put out there a reminder to take and use your spud when walking out on the ice.   Our roller coaster weather in Michigan has given us a dangerous season.   Springs, creeks, and storm drains all can erode ice from below.  These can be difficult to see when you have snow covered ice.   Three hard whacks with a sharp spud can give you a lot of confidence walking out.  Don’t go alone!   Personally a floating ice suit is an additional comfort when venturing out.   Many of you have your ice picks, but where do you have them?  Zippered up in a hard to reach pocket?   Nicely wrapped up in your bucket?   I like to replace the string on them with some paracord and put them through the sleeves of my coat.   Yes, just like grandma did with my mittens.   I want them where they are useful if I go in or need to crawl out to rescue someone else.

When it comes time to talk rescue, one of the keys is to make sure your not going in as well.  25-30 feet of rope can really help keep you dry during a rescue.  Mine have clips on the ends so I can attach a PFD or even my sled to help get it out to the person in the water.   I just use paracord and some carabiners in a small stuff sack.  Amazon has one for under 20 bucks that you can take on the boat in the summer as well. I also am a fan of some real aggressive slip protection.   I wear Kahtoolas, but there are a lot of aggressive brands out there, just find some that meet your needs and give you the traction to pull on that rope or climb that hill back to the truck.

After you get them out of the ice, the next few minutes are critical.   Get them to the truck, or other shelter and get the wet clothes off the victim.    I have found that several of my friends have swimming pools and buy chemicals in buckets with screw top lids.   I repurposed one into my  dry bucket.   Sweatpants, hoodie and some slippers.    All easy to get on.   I tried the jeans over cold wet legs once, once.    If you have room in your dry kit an old towel is a smart addition.   After you have them dry get them to a warm place.  The day is over, you want to watch to make sure they don’t need medical attention.   Hypothermia is nothing to mess with.

In summary, be safe out there guys.

Hunting Time Expo 2020

It’s Show Time!

Come out this weekend January 24 – 26 to the largest hunting show in Michigan, the Hunting Time Expo in Grand Rapids.  This show will be jam packed with tons of stuff for the person who loves to fish or hunt.  Besides the great deals on hunting gear and guided hunts don’t forget the hot deals on fishing tackle and accessories.  A large selection of ice tackle along with summer fishing tackle and gear will be on hand.  Also, local pros and experts will be available answering your questions and holding informative seminars.

For more details on the seminars and times of the show go to HuntingShows.net and we’ll see you at the show!

Is it a great Idea?

Christmas before last, my youngest brother drew my name for our gift exchange.   As in many families, we draw at Thanksgiving and then only buy a gift for one other adult.   Many families do this for cost, but for us it is a matter of ambush.   All year long, my brothers and I think of something and we buy it.  We don’t put it on a list or drop hints for potential presents.   So as a result we are forced to become creative, speculating what might be useful or cool to our drawn target.   My sister-in-laws are not much better at dropping hints and may be worse at picking up on them.   Mom, she reads minds.

So when I opened my gift I had no idea what to expect; Kinda exciting eh?

There was a really nice stainless steel growler.   What . . .  as many of you know until last summer I worked at a brewery.   I have more shapes and sizes of growlers than you can shake a stick at; furthermore I hardly drink beer at home or anywhere but at the brewery.   So why did I need another growler?   I held a straight face, and said nothing and kept digging, but my brother was beaming.  He was proud of himself, so there had to be more to it.

Next in the box were big packages of instant soup mix.  Just add water.   At that point he couldn’t stand it any longer and had to explain, it was for ice fishing.   Pour the mix in the growler, fill it with boiling water, seal it up and take it fishing.

How many times have you gone out on the lake, sometimes a considerable walk out from the truck, and gotten a bit hungry.  I will admit my simple hookups are granola or protein bars. Chad, loves donuts.  Steph typically has some jerky and a gatorade.   But HOT SOUP!   Wow, this could be huge.

I spent a number of long days out scouting on various lakes over the winter and several times I took a growler of soup.  I have some stainless cups, cowboy cups if you will.   They worked perfect.   I got some hot lunch without having to leave the lake, pack all the gear, and find a restaurant or worse yet fast food.    I have had the sandwiches that you stash inside your coat that get smashed and soggy, or even frozen if you leave them in the sled – but this was HOT!

The problem came when I went to find the mixes again, the place he bought them did not carry them any more.   So I bought some instant soup mixes at the grocery, they were not as good.   So now I have started to experiment with making my own.

Pasta is easy, you might think.   I found that larger or thick pasta noodles would not cook completely with just boiling water.  Long noodles are hard to deal with from a cup.  Crushed instant noodles are the ticket.  Vegetables, I have been working with dried mixes I can get on Amazon.  If I had my own garden I would make use of my dehydrators.  Spices are probably the easiest since most of what you have in your collection are dried anyway.   The real issue I encountered protein.   Dried chicken or beef is quite costly.  But then it dawned on me.   I am preparing this at home, not to be thrown in my bomb shelter or backpack for a two week stint on Isle Royale.   So I went to grilling some extra chicken, pork or venison, when the opportunity came about, leave it a little extra rare dice it up and package up in small portions.   I have even froze some in the small zip top bags to use weeks later.

Add the protein (thawed), then the dried goods to the growler and fill with boiling water.   My preference is to let it steep in the jug for several hours.   If you have one of these awesome vacuum bottle growlers, you know they will keep it hot (or Cold) for over a day if you don’t open them.  Turns out 64 ounces of soup is enough for two guys lunch or more if your just having a chill buster.

 

Since I started doing this the lessons I have learned may lead me to publishing some of my recipes here on MiIceGuys.com.   I am working on one using fish I caught, vegetables I dried and spices that I have blended.  In the meanwhile I have discovered there are many websites that boast recipes that others have constructed for camping, backpacking and even apocalyptic disaster bunker preparations.   Feel free to check some out I have listed below, or do like my brother and get a really cool package for one of your fishing buddies.    Christmas is coming and some of us are a bit tough to shop for . . .

A little reading on Ice

So I was bouncing around the internet last night and found some resources some of you might enjoy reading.

So when your young apprentice ice angler starts asking a bunch of questions, you can have that Ice Talk . . .