Ice fishing

Nearly all waters have areas where the ice is thinner than out on the open expanses. The thickness in one place tells you nothing about the thickness twenty metres away.

• Inlets and outlets. Moving water eats the ice from below, and the ice there can be open or paper-thin while the rest of the lake carries well.
• Narrow sounds. Water moves faster through a constriction, and the ice forms later and thinner.
• Under snow. Snow insulates and slows ice growth, while hiding both thin patches and open holes. Deep snow can also press the ice down and create slush.
• Regulated lakes. The water level changes through winter, and the ice can be left hanging as an empty shell over air, or break up along the shore.
• Around islets, points and reeds. Shallow water, vegetation and current make the ice uneven exactly where it is tempting to walk.

• Ice picks around your neck, not in your pack. They are useless anywhere they are not on you.
• A throw rope, at least 15-20 metres. That is what saves the other person.
• A change of clothes in a waterproof bag. Once you are wet, dry clothes are the difference between a story and hypothermia.
• An auger or a spike to test as you go. Drill your way out, do not walk on assumptions.
• Never alone, and keep two metres between you as you walk.
• Tell someone where you are going and when you will be back.

Ice auger

150 mm is enough for everything but big pike, and far easier to carry than 200 mm. Sharp blades matter more than diameter.

Ice rod

A short rod with a sensitive tip. One for perch and char with a light jig, one heavier for pike and big trout if you fish both.

Jigs and mormyshka

Jigs of 5-15 g cover most mountain lakes. A mormyshka with maggot or a piece of worm is what saves the day when the fish are slow.

Sounder or tip-up

A sounder saves you hours of drilling over empty water. Tip-ups let you cover several holes at once where they are allowed.

Something to sit on, and a thermos

Ice fishing is sitting still in the cold. What decides whether the trip lasts long enough to produce fish is usually whether you get cold.

• Ice fishing needs a fishing card just as summer fishing does, wherever the rights holder sells one. Many places sell a separate winter card.
• Children under 16 fish free from 1 January to 20 August, as in the rest of the year. Most of the ice season falls inside that.
• The number of rods or tip-ups per angler is often limited locally. Check the card before you set out ten tip-ups.
• Closed seasons apply under the ice too. Char and trout are protected during spawning in many waters, and the char spawning season falls in autumn, just before the ice forms.

How thick must the ice be before you walk on it?

NVE recommends at least 10 centimetres of core ice, the dark, clear ice that freezes without snow in it. Core ice can carry a person down to 5 centimetres and carries well at 7, but the margin is gone as soon as the thickness varies at all. Slush ice carries less: one centimetre of hard slush ice counts as half a centimetre of core ice. In a group the ice must be thicker.

Where is the ice most dangerous?

At inlets and outlets, in narrow sounds, under snow, in regulated lakes and around islets, points and reeds. Moving water eats the ice from below, snow hides both thin patches and open holes, and in regulated lakes the ice can be left hanging as an empty shell over air. Nearly all waters have areas where the ice is thinner than out on the open expanses.

Do I need a fishing card for ice fishing?

Yes, just as for summer fishing wherever the rights holder sells a card, and many places sell a separate winter card. Children under 16 fish free from 1 January to 20 August, and most of the ice season falls inside that. The number of rods or tip-ups per angler is often limited locally, and closed seasons apply under the ice too.