By: Mark Strand
The dark blue four-wheel-drive van pulling the Bearcat snowmobile, with an auger rack across the front and Fish Trap nestled on the rear rack, knifes through Chicago traffic, headed east. Dave Genz is at the wheel, on his way for a three-week jaunt through many eastern states. All the way to Maine, as he has done every year for many years. "It still amazes me how summer fishermen will travel to fish," says Genz, glancing at the rear view mirror, "but winter fishermen don't do it as much. There's so much good fishing to be had, even in your local area, if you go find it." Maybe, Genz wonders, ice anglers just don't think of 'their' equipment as being as portable as a boat on a trailer. He glances back at the trailer holding the sled, rigged for ice fishing. "It can't be any more portable," he says. "I can be on and off the trailer just as fast as I am with my boat in the summertime. And I don't even have to have a ramp. I can unload on the side of the road, in a parking lot, even out on the ice." Literally, from the time fishable ice forms in northern Minnesota, until the last of it melts in April, Dave is on the ice someplace almost every day. Chances are, you don't have quite that much time to spend ice fishing, but you can rig up and find local, regional, and far-flung adventures, too.
Shelves in the Truck
Regardless whether you have a pickup, van, or other potential cargo hauler, you can build homemade shelves that will help you pack portable shelters, augers, depthfinders, and other ice fishing stuff. In his van, Genz uses a shelf system to stack rigs above and below a main shelf. "I can actually get four Fish Traps and all the gear back there," he says, tipping his head toward the rear of the van. " You won't find such shelf systems for sale at truck accessory shops, but with the spirit of ice fishing ingenuity, you can create sturdy shelves that are removable on non-fishing days. Or, if you fish normally by yourself or with one other person, you might not even need a shelf system.
Double-duty Trailer
Genz refers to his snowmobile as "the engine for my bass boat on ice," meaning it is used to haul additional gear and people. When he gets to the lake, the snowmobile backs off the trailer, the trailer is unhitched from the truck, then hitched to the back of the snowmobile. (Many people use ATVs as an engine for ice fishing, and they work really well until snow depth limits their effectiveness. Track systems are available for ATVs, which are expensive but turn an ATV essentially into a snowmobile.) Because typical snowmobile trailers feature a lot of aluminum construction, they're lightweight and easy to move into position by hand. A huge key is to place special skis under the trailer tires, so it will glide nicely across the ice and snow. Genz had his latest pair made, but you can find a few commercially produced with creative Googling. The auger rack is important, so that piece of gear is securely nestled while you're traveling across the ice. Dave had his custom made, but notes that Strikemaster sells a rack that bolts to either a snowmobile or ATV.
Mobile Fishing Unit
Once the trailer is hitched to the machine, you can load it up with additional Fish Traps, perhaps another auger, and people can pile on. "This should go without saying," mentions Dave, "but drive safely, so you don't lose your people off the trailer." Ice and snow, especially on cold days, can produce a relatively unforgiving ride. "When we get out on the ice," continues Genz, "we can do things you only wish you could do in the summertime. We spread out and go searching for the fish. We work in teams, drilling holes, checking them with a Vexilar flasher or underwater camera, dropping down and fishing as we go. Because our clothing (Ice Armor suits) have padded knees and lots of pockets, we can have everything we need to fish outside or in the fish house. "I have small jig boxes (which he helped design for Clam) in my pants and coat pockets, and we just kneel on the ice to fish from hole to hole." When they get over a good pod of biters, or just need to warm up for a while, the Fish Traps come out and heaters come on. The sled, or base, of the Trap holds more rods, heater, additional lures, a bucket for fish, and more. Just what you need, nothing more, to keep weight to a minimum and make mobility easy. From afar, Genz and his friends look like hunting dogs, driving hard at first, taking on vast sections of ice, then narrowing the search when positive signs are found, eventually huddling together right where the fish are. This process repeats itself every day, often on new bodies of water, often on waters they've never seen before. "When you're set up like this," says Genz, waving his right hand toward the back of the van, "you can go with four guys on a nice trip, and gas is back to a dollar a gallon. When you get good at packing up your stuff, you can hit more than one lake in a day, no problem. It's all a matter of getting rigged up for traveling."
Notes: To watch a video where Dave shows how his gear is set up for traveling, go to
www.davegenz.com. Dave Genz, known as Mr. Ice Fishing, was the primary driver of the modern ice fishing revolution. He has been enshrined in the National Fresh Water Fishing Hall of Fame and Minnesota Fishing Hall of Fame for his contributions to the sport.
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