This guy is in a canvas sided dark shack staring through a 3’x4’ hole cut in 3’ of ice waiting to spear pike. Windchill is -45. He does have a buddy heater. I think he turned 70 last year.
Lots of Minnesotans have fish houses that are basically really nice campers that you can icefish out of. Wall mounted L.P. furnaces, satellite tv, cooktops, toilets, etc. That is far from roughing it.
Just last winter,I lived in the middle of the cold so many are describing. This is my first winter away and already my brain has blocked how nasty and horrible it was.
I don’t like it when we dip down to 15°F for 10-15 minutes for the coldest part of night. Daytimes that don’t hit at least the 50s are now considered cold.
I’m going to have to learn to grow things here differently than I did up north.
One day, this winter, we didn’t hit 40…39 was the high. We had 3 more days that didn’t get out of the 40s and 10 more that didn’t get out of the 50s.
I worked out in the hills Southern Utah for several years. I remember getting so excited every spring, the first time we’d break 50° . It was like a sign that spring was really coming. We’ve only had 14 days this winter that didn’t break 60. I think I’m addicted to warmer winters, especially with our not too sweltering summers here.
I had -13F in the car. Spot in North Dakota showed -42F.
Temp seems stuck at 3F. The sunshine feels nice. Next week i bet we jump back to 50F or better. These extremes usually try to balance themselves out.
Good on you if you hit 50 in February. I think 40 may be doable at home if the snow melts.
ive seen some high end ones here complete with a lazy boy. icefished for 4 days out of a $20,000 one a buddy of mine made in AK. almost the size of a house trailer on skids. he pulled it out on lake Louise and the whole family would stay weeks out there. slept 8. he has 3 kids. would pull it out there with his tracked argo. them ol’ timers weren’t stopped by anything. they icefished in -30 with half the gear we use nowadays. my grandfather was like that. we went to a remote lake back in the mid 80’s for 3 days and slept on hay with our sleeping bags in the back cab of his truck. was -25 the 2 nights we were there. dang near froze to death. he snored right through it.
Its almost embarrassing to say how much some of the units sold here go for. $20k is about the starting price new. When you see a new 1 ton pickup pulling a 30’+ Ice Castle or Yeti fishhouse, you can assume you just saw $165k on up going down the road. Throw another $8k+ if the pickup has a 9’ v-plow.
I can buy a lot of filets for that kind of money
If you watch Mav or one of his buddies on Youtube (Mav is from Duluth) …he fishes in those fancy fish houses quite often. They’ve made fishing like a video game.
mines a homemade from scraps 5 x 8’ heated with a 1 burner propane stove and lighted with a 45 yr. old coleman lantern. i bet i still out fish them. 
its not about fishing when you throw that much money into the sport. just showing off and getting drunk. usually, its one of those guys that goes thru the ice because he thinks 3in. will hold his $75000 3500 dually chevy.
You got all the latest electronics? Its pretty crazy seeing how these guys fish. They see the fish hitting their lures in real time. Wide screen tvs showing every fish under them and to the sides. Its nothing like I was used to years ago.
Utah summers aren’t much cooler than SE AZ or west Texas. Summers are mostly about elevation. Phoenix is brutal in summer, Flagstaff, what a 100 miles north, is nice. But winters down south are so much better. Read a little here and you quickly realize that most of the diehard northerners don’t like their winters either.
A bit warmer but still raining! Waiting for a warm, dry day to lop and spray.
It is going to be a brutal cold night at -17F for Omaha.
Tony
-3F this morning in the car…10F warmer than yesterday. 50F by Monday.
Rapid City, SD was -26F this morning…they’ll be 60F by Sunday. That area around the Black Hills has a crazy climate.
yeah, they have those livescopes. $3000 a pop. many fisheries biologists want them banned. it really is a unfair advantage that the average joe can’t afford. same tech. used by commercial fishermen. but you ban that then what else gets banned? i like the chase and just being out there. its not all about the catch. its time with friends and family. when they dont bite, we make fires on the ice. roast dogs and marshmallows etc… kids build forts in the snowdrifts.
i got a mid tier marcum flasher just to show where the baitfish are hanging. mostly use it to find/ catch smelts i use for bait on the tip ups.
Fishing (fly fishing) has been one of my primary passions through life. I avoided ice fishing for years. It didn’t look appealing at all. Then, I went out with my cousin. We loaded up his kids and mine and headed for the frozen wasteland.
It was a blast!
To me, ice fishing isn’t really"fishing" but it is a wonderful time. To me it is more like a tailgate party. We generally catch a fair few fish, but we are barbequing and playing around the whole time. It definitely builds memories and helps grow kids
have you ever fished the Gila river? excellent flyfishing water. if i remember correctly, most of it is flyfishing only . used to camp on and fish it for 3-4 days. lots of memories there. beautiful country. I’ve been tying flies for 45 years now. nothing like catching a nice fish on something you made.
No, not yet. From the Colorado River to Montana I’ve drowned many flies.
We moved south October 7th and have been just prepping to build houses etc since.
Plan on tromping the upper gila and the salt this year and figuring out this part of the state. I’d be a derelict dad if I didn’t get the kids out.
First sunny day in weeks and I’m stuck inside because the eye Dr. dilated my eyes. Seems like they should have anti-dilation to counter that stuff. I wanna go out and play… 
