I remember fishing way back in the day with my dad.  We didn't catch much and we generally fished out of a permanent house that my uncle owned.  For many years I didn't ice fish even though I am an avid soft water fisherman.  Then 5 years ago a good buddy invited me to come along and ice fish.  It completely changed my outlookon ice fishing forever.

So, what changed?  Well, most people refer to it as "modern ice fishing".  Ice fishing has definitely gone through a revolution over the past decade.  My friend had a Clam portable ice house to fish out of that was comfortable and easily manuevable.  He had an Aqua Vu Quad 4x4 underwater camera which was like watching "fish tv".  Seeing how the fish bit that day it was paramount to our success that day as the fish were very tentative.  We literally would not have caught a thing without the camera that day.  Ice fishing was fun and exciting.  There seemed to be a rhyme and reason for why we were catching fish. 

I have since upgraded my arsenal to include a Marcum VX-1 flasher with my eye on a Marcum LX-5 flasher or Vexilar FL-20 flasher.  I "run and gun" looking for active fish.  It is not uncommon for me to punch 25-30 holes while fishing.  Sometimes it requires 40-50!  But I definitely put more fish on the ice, which is what it is all about.