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Thanks for the advice, Guys. Here’s a little Thankyou: Four married guys go fishing. One of them was a Newfie. After an hour, the following conversation took place. First guy: " You have no idea what I had to do to be able to come out fishing this weekend. I had to promise my wife that I will paint every room in the house next weekend." Second guy: " that's nothing, I had to promise my wife that I will build her a new deck for the pool." Third guy: " Man, you both have it easy! I had to promise my wife that I will remodel the kitchen for her." They continue to fish when they realized that the Newfie has not said a word. So they asked him. "You haven't said anything about what you had to do to be able to come fishing this weekend. " What's the deal?" Newfie: " I just set my alarm for 5:30 am. When it went off, I shut off my alarm, gave the missus a nudge and said, " Fishing or Sex" and she said, " Wear a Sweater."

I would defiantly go out with an operator that rented day huts, the first few times. This will/should give you enough of a feeling as to whether you actually like Ice fishing? An outfitter will supply you with transportation, bait, and a heated shelter. They upon request (if not already there) will drill holes outside the hut. You'll have the choice of fishing inside the hut or outside; depending on your preference; definitely try both. At the end of the day, there are no worries the hut operator will come and collect you and take you to shore. Yeah, it's a few bucks to rent a day hut, but I feel that for an inexperienced ice fisher, it's money well spent. Dan.

Hopefully there's a couple folks that get a kick out of this. What's the difference between hunter's and fishermen and or women? Hunter's lie and wait, fishermen wait and lie.

See how easy we got it,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Yes a 6 inch hole is good for whitefish, I’ve yanked plenty through a 6 inch hole. Bring a gaff with you. An 8 inch is certainly nicer. But if your going to use a hand auger you don’t want an 8 inch or you’ll wear yourself out. If you have a good 18 volt drill then you can get plenty of mileage out of a 6 inch sub zero, or any simple auger. If not, and your plan is to hand bomb then buy a nils master hand auger. Best there is!

The big advantage with using an operator is safety. Simco can be dangerous, pressure cracks, whiteouts, unsafe ice...... a good operator has the equipment and knowledge to keep you safe.

I would take a couple trips with an operator. I’ve been heavily invested in ice fishing since I was a teenager, so I don’t mind maintaining all my own gear. If I was just getting into it, I’d take the operator route and see if it was for me. To be fair though, once you have a shelter, heater, auger and some gear you really don’t need to spend a whole lot more unless you want or need to buy an atv or snowmobile.

Easy enough and a few spots, including my point of land on the lake, that are close enough to the town launch that two trips wouldn't be a big deal. One site is even close enough you can slip over to the PPark and use the showers on the sly....