Western Montana is known for its diversity of outdoor pursuits, a hub of most any type of outdoor recreation. One wintertime recreational opportunity, one that doesn’t get as much press as, say, downhill skiing, or snowshoeing, is ice fishing. And, for those of you who haven’t tried it, ice fishing is an excellent way to spend some time out of doors in the wintertime. And for those of you that have, and know just how much fun ice fishing can be, the lakes of Western Montana are a great place to augur a hole and drop down a jig.
Western Montana is littered with lakes, each seemingly chock full of trout, some even with warm water species like bass or northern pike, and all of these species still feed, and feed well, even on the coldest of winter days down in the darkness beneath foot-thick ice. But how do you catch the fish you might ask? Well, with simple equipment you can augur a hole in the ice and drop down your lure, bait, etc.
Ice Augur
Augur’s come as simple as a hand-turned drill that operates under manual power. These types of augurs are both economical and effective. There are also gas-powered augurs, operated by an engine similar to a lawnmower. These augurs are considerably more expensive, although little effort is required to drill a hole with one. Both work equally well.
Example of a simple ice fishing setup
With your augur drill a hole in the ice. Where you drill the hole is dependent upon water depth, etc., but it’s often best to fish in areas where fish travel. Focus on the bays or arms of a lake, areas where the water is likely less than twenty feet deep. The fish will travel in similar patterns in the winter as in the warmer months.
Check your depth with a depth-gauge, a heavy device that clips to the end of monofilament line. Drop the depth-gauge into the hole until it touches bottom. Mark the bottom with a bobber and hand-line the fishing line back to the surface. Replace the depth-gauge with bait—maggots, worms, power bait, corn kernels, etc.—and drop the line back down the hole, positioning your bobber four to five feet higher on the line then the distance to the bottom. Keep the hole clear of new ice using a scoop, and wait for the bobber to go down.
