It’s early January in Upstate New York and the ice fishing season is expected to be a good one. Extended below-normal cold temperatures in the forecast will build thick ice on the lakes and bays. That’s what is expected — much anticipated — in the weeks ahead. We are overdue for a real winter in “The Real Upstate New York”.

It is going to feel almost nostalgic when, if, I find myself guiding and fishing in places and locations I have been absent the last several winters due to mild weather. And while hopes are high and extended forecast predictions look good…The weather around here stays true to a single consistence. Unpredictable.

If it happens, if safe and thick ice forms on the big lakes, the ice fishing is anticipated to be very good. The lack of safe ice for the last several winter seasons has kept the hordes of anglers from maurauding local hot spots. The fish under the ice in the basins and weedy shallow bays of the lakes and rivers have enjoyed a respite from the army of augers and often greedy anglers.

Ice fishing, for those who do not engage in this winter pastime, evokes images of Walter Matheau sitting inside an ice shanty wrapped in a thick scarf, sipping beer, smoking a cigar, and throwing insults at Jack Lemon. With some similarity perhaps for a few, ice fishing is an activity pursued by many with a high level of intensity.

Oneida Lake is a 55,000 acre shallow beast of a water body. It is the location of most of my ice fishing…Has been since growing up in the suburbs of East Syracuse. The evolution of ice fishing equipment and the popularity of the activity has grown massive over the decades since.

It was around 1980 when the first portable electronics made their debut. Transducers illuminated the world of schooling fish under the ice with one dimensiion analog display. It was as if someone opened a curtain on a giant stage. Sonars. Flashers. Graphs. Fish Finders. They were called different names by different people. But they all did the same thing — Identified fish, depth, and structure with precision.

Before portable ice fishing electronics were manufactured men began disassembling the small black box sonar units installed on their boats. And with resourceful ingenuity, often artistic flair, they began rigging the units for travel and deployment on the ice to make apparent just exactly what was going on under the ice.

I will admit the portable sonar is a piece of equipment I will not ice fish without. The technology has improved incredible. Three dimensional real-time images make deciphering a sonar screen akin to watching a television. The clarity, resolution, and mobility of todays ice fishing sonars is awesome! So is the price.

Lightweight portable shelters, portable heaters, four-stroke snowmobiles with heated hand warmers, pocket sized GPS units that can find a six inch hole in the ice on six square miles of frozen lake….All of it unimaginable when so many years ago we hiked around in the wind and cold on Oneida Lake’s frozen surface with sleds on a rope, five gallon buckets, and homemade rods and lures.

The two biggest game changers having affected ice fishing today however are the internet and the cell phone. Quite likely the two most important parts of the puzzle for todays ice angler. Ice fishing was always a communal activity. One that friends and families can enjoy together during the long winter months.

The internet and social media — and their cell phone inlet and outlet —  connect the world. And this has not been lost on ice anglers. Most ice anglers employ these fixtures of modern life to improve their odds at catching fish by sharing techniques and locations with each other. These new tools of intel, coupled with the ever-growing assortment of gadgets and gear that enhance our comfort and ability to find and catch fish, make ice fishing easier. More enjoyable perhaps.

As an ice fishing guide I introduce many people each winter to the activity. The list of equipment needed — hauled on and off the ice — is often extensive. Keeping people comfortable and safe is paramount. In general my guests are unaccustomed to the environment of a frozen lake’s surface. It takes plenty of gear to create an enjoyable experience and provide the best chances at good catches of fish.

The simplicity of ice fishing is not lost. Just a bit harder to find. When it comes to the art of this game; The finding of fish and the challenge of getting them to bite, it may be that todays ice anglers follow their gut and instinct less and their cell phones more.

Either way, the fish will never know how advanced we have become. They will just continue to bite or not bite. And the weather does not care if you are sitting on a five gallon bucket in the wind or hunkered down inside an expensive portable insulated shelter next to a Mr. Buddy heater staring at a state-of-the-art sonar screen.

The weather and the fish are benign as always. Raw beauty, solitude, challenge, and fortitude are important aspects of ice fishing for me. For my guests…A warm shelter, color LCD sonar, a few fish flopping on the ice, and hot venison sliders for lunch are important. All about your perspective.

Stay safe.

Peace.

Mike