Ice Fishing Group

[hrlyridr77]

OK, I realize that many members really don't have winter.... But many of us up North enjoy all 4 seasons. Ice fishing is my other passion,,,

How many folks out there ice fish? Have you ever brought the smoker out with you? It should be easy to hold a low / cold smoke temp outdoors in winter... Anyone ever caught them and smoked them as the day went on? 

I'm gonna be taking a crew of kids fishing a couple of times this winter, and wondered if it would be worth bringing the smoker with me for an all day fish and feed. I have a propane unit, that held steady temps Christmas....

Thoughts from some of my fellow ice fishermen??

Thanks

 

[garand555]

Well, I would need some very special equipment to load my smoker onto a truck or trailer, and same with unloading it. Something about the concrete pad it's mortared to. Other than that, I love ice fishing, though I haven't made it out for a couple of years. It was unseasonably warm here until about November, and for the past week or so, we've been in a nice little cold snap and the average temperature has been below freezing at my house. Since the lakes that I can go ice fishing on are up 2,500-4,500 feet higher than my house, it is quite possible that the ice is now thick enough.

There's one lake that I really want to hit, but it's tough to hit it when the ice is thick enough and the snow isn't so deep that I can't make the hike. I tried it once, and we were pushing snow with the bumper on the way to the parking area, and the snow was more than waist deep on the trail to the lake. I have no snow shoes, so, yeah, I turned around. 3/4 of a mile in snow over my waist? I think not. But the whole idea of ZERO fishing pressure on a lake that sits at 9,500 feet... Some people say that there are no holdover fish over the winter, but I have hooked onto fish too big to be stockers in that lake.

 

[bakedbean1970]

Planning to smoke some fresh trout and mackinaws here in colorado this winter. Ice is not good here till late winter. Last year had fish but no smoker.

 

[fire in the hole]

If you were to catch your fish and smoke them right away........I would be concered about flavor. I brine my fish for 10-12 hrs before putting them in my smoker. I guess what I'm saying it that you could have smoked fish....but that's all you would have is bland smoked fish. No flavor other than smoke. Unless there is a way to smoke just caught fish that I don't know about...........and get the flavors. 

 

[bakedbean1970]

I absolutely brine my fish. By right away i meant i would not freeze them to smoke later. Planning to try to steak the larger ones this year and brine them over night to clean them out.

 

[garand555]

If you were to catch your fish and smoke them right away........I would be concered about flavor. I brine my fish for 10-12 hrs before putting them in my smoker. I guess what I'm saying it that you could have smoked fish....but that's all you would have is bland smoked fish. No flavor other than smoke. Unless there is a way to smoke just caught fish that I don't know about...........and get the flavors. 

I have not tried this yet, but next time I get some fresh trout, I am going to try getting them into the smoker ASAP after catching them, but I'm going to run the smoker very hot (~350-375) and fundamentally bake them with smoke. It's an experiment simply because, while I won't turn down a previously frozen trout, I prefer it as fresh as possible. Out of the stream and into the frying pan is fine by me. I haven't decided what I'm going to season it with yet, but it'll be something that will go well with both baked fish and smoke, and not overpower the flavor of the fish. I normally just roll them in corn meal and fry'em up with some butter, and that turns out pretty good. IMO, unless it's a really mossy tasting trout, they don't need much seasoning to be very good.

 

[gmc2003]

Sounds like allot of work to me. Dragging a smoker, equipment and watching kids all at the same time. By they time your set up and settled half the day is gone. Personally I would just enjoy the day fishing and have the kids over the next day to eat the fruits of their labor.

Chris

 

[swechef]

It works just fine smoking fresh fish. A common way of preparing fresh fish around here is to smoke/grill it on sticks around an open fire. Typically, the fish is just gutted and then placed around the fire. The seasoning is done afterwards by dipping the still hot fish in brine. I had a neighbour who did the same procedure while smoking e.g. perch in an UDS. Works really nice.

Below a pic of the typical setup.

glodsik.jpg

• swechef
• Jan 2, 2013

Borrowed the pic from www.kukkolaforsen.se. Hope they don't mind.

Cheers /Wes
 

 

[biteme7951]

I used to ice fish until I realized I could stock the freezer in the summer. It is much easier to thaw out fillets than fingers!  

Barry.

 

[boykjo]

I love and miss ice fishing. With the warm winters in the northeast where my parents live there has been very litlle ice so I havent gone in over 10 yrs probably....... If you bring a smoker of some kind I would bring a wind breaker just in case it kicks up a litttle out on the lake.....