WREX.com – Rockford’s News LeaderIce fishing is cool hobby

Ice fishing is cool hobby

By Bob Schaper

ROCKFORD (WREX) - The temperature hasn't been above freezing here since Jan. 4. But for some people that's a good thing.

Roger Alfors is a veteran ice fisherman. On Sunday he'd reeled in a dozen or so panfish on Pierce Lake in Rock Cut State Park.

What's his secret?

"I've got some lures that are made in Sweden," he says. "They're called fiskas."

Eric Hallin, a fishing expert at sporting goods store Gander Mountain, says you can get your start in ice fishing at a fairly low price.

"For just your basic rod-reel combo, a few jigs, it's about $50 to start out with, which is not really that expensive," he says.

Of course, for those who want to fill up their tackle boxes, there's plenty of gadgets out there to empty their wallets. You've got your spud bar, your ice spikes, your gas-powered ice auger, your camp chair with arm straps, your portable ice shack, your shack heaters, your rod and reel, your lures and, of course, your underwater fish camera.

But somedays, even all that's not enough.

"I was hoping we'd catch some fish for him for his first time being out, but there's a lot of days you don't catch nothing," says Jose Pina. "There's days that you will..."

If you've never ice fished before, there's still plenty of time on the calendar. Experts say  you can usually ice fish on Pierce Lake until the second or third week in March.