Kayak Ice Fishing Through Winter’s First Freeze (Video)

One angler just can’t wait for ice fishing season

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A thin skin of ice across your favorite fishing hole is an early sign of the approaching winter freeze-up. But that wasn’t enough to discourage David “Tiefsa” Tiefenthaler, host of the T Fish YouTube channel, on a recent chilly day. “I went ice fishing in my kayak,” the Wisconsin angler explained, “because, well, I’m a savage.” Watch along as he breaks the ice for bluegill, pumpkinseed and green sunfish.

Kayak Ice Fishing Through Winter’s First Freeze

Panning across the icy pond, Tiefsa laid out the situation: “This is what we have right now, people. We have ice…kinda. I can’t ice fish and I can’t really do anything else, so I’m in my kayak breaking ice.”

angler holds up panfish caught while kayak ice fishing
Tiefsa shows off another hybrid panfish to the camera. | Image: T Fish/YouTube

Tiefsa’s setup for the day was a Dave Genz ice fishing rod and reel, with 4-pound micro ice mono line and a tungsten jig. He baited the hook with nightcrawler chunks and jigged it about a foot off the bottom.

Within seconds, Tiefsa’s rod tip started to twitch and up came a hybrid panfish. The action continued unabated as he pulled up one bluegill, pumpkinseed or green sunfish after another. After two hours his count was up to fourteen, not bad for an icebreaker.

RUNCL JayClaw Gloves Come in Handy

Another motivation for Tiefsa to hit the pond was to test out his newly released ice fishing gloves. RUNCL’s JayClaw gloves are water-resistant and warm, changing from mittens to fingerless gloves with the help of magnetic fold-back flaps. Tiefsa was tickled pink with the dexterity and warmth they provided for cold-weather fishing.

So, should you try kayak ice fishing for yourself? Tiefsa says he’s not sure. “My wife thinks I’m crazy,” he admits. “She might be right.”

 

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