Ice fishing - where to start?

[donnie d]

hey fellas,

Never been ice fishing before and would love to take my 4 year old. He loves to fish and thought this would be another great activity for him in the winter other than the ski hill activities we normally do. I missed the Beaver Lake Fish BC event which is too bad but it led me to wonder if there’s another place or mountain lake resort where it’s all set up for you? I’d prefer to try out first before going whole hog into it. Perhaps a guide? Any ideas or advice would be appreciated!

We are located in Vernon.

 

[tubber]

https://classifieds.castanet.net/details/ice_drill_6/3734809/

 

[BCROB]

Swan in Vernon is somewhat frozen and as close as your gonna get , park at the rowing club , wander out and talk to locals , I’m sure they’ll be happy to let you watch or ask some questions , then Surplus Herbys in Vernon , $39 ugly sticks and a few jigs , some meal worms or shrimp , an auger off castanet and your set , good luck

 

[FishDoc]

hey fellas,

Never been ice fishing before and would love to take my 4 year old. He loves to fish and thought this would be another great activity for him in the winter other than the ski hill activities we normally do. I missed the Beaver Lake Fish BC event which is too bad but it led me to wonder if there’s another place or mountain lake resort where it’s all set up for you? I’d prefer to try out first before going whole hog into it. Perhaps a guide? Any ideas or advice would be appreciated!

We are located in Vernon.

Ice fishing is about the cheapest kind of fishing you can get into. You can get a brand new hand auger on sale for 30 bucks, don't buy used hand augers the new blades will cost as much as a new auger. For 60 bucks should be able to get an auger this time of year. All you need is some line on some sticks and a few small green jigs, night crawlers or shrimp for bait and you are set to catch fish for under a hundred bucks. If you want to get fancy the ice fishing rod and reel combos are super reasonable prices. An ice scoop helps but all sorts of things work to clear the ice from holes.

Great fun out there.

 

[donnie d]

Thanks for the response fellas! We’ll see if I can give it a shot one of these days. Frankly just itching to get the boat going this spring after ski season ends.

 

[Normfish]

Donnie, if you want to give it a try , go up to Tunkwa Lake Resort. They will rent you the rods and auger and point you in the right direction. This way you can try before you buy.
A day trip would be possible, but would be 3 plus hours each way from the lower mainland. They do have cabins for rent as well, and an ice skating hockey area.

 

[donnie d]

Thanks NormFish! I’ll check that out, sounds like exactly what I’m looking for.

Donnie, if you want to give it a try , go up to Tunkwa Lake Resort. They will rent you the rods and auger and point you in the right direction. This way you can try before you buy.
A day trip would be possible, but would be 3 plus hours each way from the lower mainland. They do have cabins for rent as well, and an ice skating hockey area.

 

[Ben Fougere]

hey fellas,

Never been ice fishing before and would love to take my 4 year old. He loves to fish and thought this would be another great activity for him in the winter other than the ski hill activities we normally do. I missed the Beaver Lake Fish BC event which is too bad but it led me to wonder if there’s another place or mountain lake resort where it’s all set up for you? I’d prefer to try out first before going whole hog into it. Perhaps a guide? Any ideas or advice would be appreciated!

We are located in Vernon.

How about Monte Lake? There are always lots of people out there that will be willing to help you learn how to kokanee fish. Most kokanee fishing is done in groups. Find where everyone is fishing and walk out and say hello. The more people in an area, the more chances you have of keeping the fish close by. A fish finder helps when kokanee fishing, but is not necessary when in big groups of people. Most people will shout out the depths kokanee are at and most people will more than likely help you out on the ice, especially if you made the effort to go fishing.

Like Brandon said, you can get into ice fishing fairly cheap. A rod/reel with some line on it, a dodger and a jig is all you need for kokanee fishing. Here's a video I made last year. I had no fish finder, only a seat and a rod. And your 4 year old will love eating kokanee too. If that all works and you dive into ice fishing, kokanee fishing can be some of the most exciting visual fishing I've done. Kokanee fishing with an ice tent can be super exciting as most times you can watch schools of kokanee come up to your gear right under the ice.

 

[Ben Fougere]

hey fellas,

Never been ice fishing before and would love to take my 4 year old. He loves to fish and thought this would be another great activity for him in the winter other than the ski hill activities we normally do. I missed the Beaver Lake Fish BC event which is too bad but it led me to wonder if there’s another place or mountain lake resort where it’s all set up for you? I’d prefer to try out first before going whole hog into it. Perhaps a guide? Any ideas or advice would be appreciated!

We are located in Vernon.

Donnie, here's a second video showing how excited my wife and kids got watching the kokanee chase our gear below the ice.

 

[Lynne Van”]

hey fellas,

Never been ice fishing before and would love to take my 4 year old. He loves to fish and thought this would be another great activity for him in the winter other than the ski hill activities we normally do. I missed the Beaver Lake Fish BC event which is too bad but it led me to wonder if there’s another place or mountain lake resort where it’s all set up for you? I’d prefer to try out first before going whole hog into it. Perhaps a guide? Any ideas or advice would be appreciated!

We are located in Vernon.

Ice fishing is about the cheapest kind of fishing you can get into. You can get a brand new hand auger on sale for 30 bucks, don't buy used hand augers the new blades will cost as much as a new auger. For 60 bucks should be able to get an auger this time of year. All you need is some line on some sticks and a few small green jigs, night crawlers or shrimp for bait and you are set to catch fish for under a hundred bucks. If you want to get fancy the ice fishing rod and reel combos are super reasonable prices. An ice scoop helps but all sorts of things work to clear the ice from holes.

Great fun out there.

Hi Donnie.
We have a private house on Hathaway Lake just off Hwy 24 that we rent for vacations and fishing/hunting. The ice fishing is excellent this year. Lots of Kokanee being caught . Check it out on VRBO listing number 1211897.