Glad to be aboard. Wisconsin here. I fish almost daily weather permitting. Northerns are my quest for the winter months. -15 degrees outside right now. Planning on going fishing may in a couple of days. Hate it when it is this cold. Rich

Hi Richard -- Welcome to the madhouse ..

How's the cheese ??

Hello Richard,
I am on the same quest and unhappy with similar temperatures here in Sweden. Glad to see I am not the only one ice-fishing here...
When its this cold I usually go for burbots instead.

You guys must be nuts.....I am off to the Beach in about 1 hour, it is forecast to get to - 2 tonight, which is as cold as I can stand before my ears freeze... how do you stand it? you must be well tough !
Oh by the way.... welcome to the site, there are a lot of "strange" characters on here, but everybody will welocme you.
Baz is"nt as grumpy as he sounds (at least I dont think so), Deanos is presently trying to break the world record Pie Munching championships, and as for the others, well,theres no harm there.

Got up this morning and the temps are -17 wind chill of-27. Toooo cold for fishing for me. It is 8:20am St Francis Time. Will play with my fishing gear some more. Ready to go now but can't wait to go. Last time out we caught 19 Northerns largest 35 inches. Great day to have been out cold but sunny. Rich

Good thing about this cold spell is that you know that noone else is out there catching. Had forgotten that you on that side of the puddle always describe your northerns in inches. Well heres a 46 inches we caught this weekend:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tRDhL3aRILA

What baits and tackle do you use over there?

I have been using frozen smelt on what we call a quick strike rig. I make my own, 12inch steel leader with two treble hooks. one loose on the leader and on on the end.With some red glass beads and some silver glass beads for atractors. Fished right below the ice. I use Beaver Dam tip-ups with 30lb braided line. And then I just wait em out usually catch 10-15 a day between 2-3 guys. Rich

Tip-ups is not considered sportfishing over here, at least here in Sweden you need to use a rod. I believe its a little different in America. Some people use tip-ups or similar things here in Sweden but that is commercial fishermen.
I am curious about the loose treble on the leader as I have seen such rigs many years ago here in Sweden also. Whats the purpose of having a loose treble? Just for attaching the bait i presume as it would surely just glide on the strike and not hold the pike.

The loose hooke will indeed hold the fish. I like it csuse the smelt are of various sizes and I like to fish them as level as I can. By, the way today we caught 7 fish 2 keepers both around 30 inches. Nice fish for the pan. We had six or seven drops can't figure why they drop em. When I first went out it was -5 and a wind of about 20mph. Sun came out and got to a high of +14. Had a fun day all in all.
Rich