I'm amazed at the amount of fisherpeople on this site speaking of dumping anti-freeze in the hole, using wd-40 for scent , putting charcaol in the lake in cans to keep the ice off etc. Come on guys, get off your but for one minute and scoop out the hole, and stop putting chemicals into a great lake that was burning years ago. If you need scent that bad to catch fish, use powerbait or find an active school of fish and find a better more positive confidence booster. Do the math, 5,000 guys squirt wd-40 into the lake every day 50 times a year for 50 years, WHy catch and release, your already poisoning the water more than it already is. You wonder why PETA is in business. Sorry had to vent, but fisherman are supposed to know better.
Something is fishy around here.

fishguy,

I think the anitfreeze guy was trying to stir the pot a bit. I may be wrong, but I don't believe it works anyway.

Not sure about the WD-40 deal. My thoughts are it is petrolium based just like gas and oil. Do you advocate keeping all 2 stroke motors off the water? I have to believe the people who use WD-40 a like a drop in the Ocean as compared to boat motors.

I think the coffee can/charcoal idea is worth a try. How is that going to polute the water?

Just the suggestion or stirring the pot could give others a bad idea, 2 two strokes- maintained, good seals will be better than spraying anything directly into the water. Ice fisherman are clumsy, how many ice scoops go down the hole? It's only a matter of time before the charcoal is floating in the lake and not picked up. Just look around any ice house village, there's garbage and junk everywhere.
Something is fishy around here.

So, you advocate the banning of all activity on the ice for fear of polution?

Fishguy.
Similar to my answer about why people have to keep or kill everything they catch, no matter what their personal needs. I have to say in my own opinion, time and age seems to be the healer for guys who litter, pollute, destroy and create waste for no other reason than laziness and spite. That screw this attitude finally gets old as we do. And it seems to be replaced by a little responability for the things around you. I never thouoght I'd like the hassel of recycling bottles, cans, plastics and paper for the garbage. Heck, just having to take the garbage out once a week was a bummer. Dont seem as bad for some reason now.

I think you know he's trying to make the point that we all need to do our part to preserve the limited resources we all enjoy. If we all practiced leave-no-trace every time we ventured out of doors, imagine the difference it would make.

I'M AMAZED at the number of intelligent people that have swallowed the whole environmental movement "hook line and sinker". What I would like to ask these environmentalists is when did the human race and its actions cease to be a part of the environment. 25,000 years ago when humans took a dump and didn't have water treatment facilities was that pollution. Or when the indiginous people of Madagasgar killed off 95% of the lemurs in the world, when did it change from being subsistance hunting to destroying an ecosystem. Were led to believe that ecosystems are in some state of pristine BALANCE when in reality ecosystems are in a constantant state of change. Spraying some WD40 on a tube jig, please, the amount of petrochemicals that seep naturally into our oceans and lakes annually would dwarf the recent "eccological disaster" off the coast of Spain. And for my final thought why does the concept of "LEAVE NO TRACE" only apply to humans.

Wallrous.......How would you like it if i came over and took a dump in the middle of your living room, or for that matter sprayed a minute amount of WD40 in all your drinking glasses? Its not about can the ecosystem handle it....its about doing the right thing! I am working at a hazardous material site, been there over a year and still have a ways to go. excavting 30' in the ground and still finding contaminants. Think about the people in charge that made these decisions 80 years ago.....they knew right from wrong....we all know right from wrong.....they just didnt do the right thing! When we land in a remote Ontario lake and step out of that float plane........Now thats the right thing!!!

Umm..charcoal is wood...

Howdy Bigfish!

I thought the same thing, however I think processed charcoal has a few niceties mixed into it. But that still would compare much less to a healthy blast of WD40 or Antifreeze in the hole.

I also have to admit that there is an inordinate amount of litter strewn about any large shanti village on the ice.

Now here is the real question about shanti village garbage. How much of that would have been on the bottom of the lake in the open water season??? Or is it just more visible laying on the ice???

Just a thought or two to ponder............R

Unbelievable.

Years ago when I first started fishing the saginaw bay I fished with some locals, when these guys saw garbage laying on the ice they would stop and pick it up. This really impressed me so I do the same. My brother and I have been in near fights on the river yelling at people to pick up there garbage. We will never stop these idiots from littering so we who care should take a couple of minutes to do alittle clean up. My biggest complaint is empty propane bottles discarded after use. It isn't to smart to use those disposable propane cylinders anyway as they are expensive to use. I have a 11lb pig I take out fishing and on a good year when I get to fish alot it might cost me 30 bucks for the whole season for heat. If I used those disposable ones it could cost 9 dollars for one day.

Jim.
Pick up one of those re-fill Nozzels Franks Great Outdoors sells, $15.00. It re-fills all the little bottles from a main big bottle. It doesn't fill the little ones to exactly 1 pound, but darn near. You may loose 10 minutes of flo-time, but it's more convenient than lugging around 30 pounds.

Ice scooper's work well and smell far less in my experence.

Garbage...MAN...now that really sickens me.

Late ice last season I hit one lake that looked like a garbage truck fell from the sky and crashed on the lake, it was so sad. I spent most of the day picking up crap and not fishing. I could see lots of other garbage shoved into old holes and froze into the ice, who does that crap anyway?

I mean really, how dam hard is it to pack out what you drag in, huh?

MAN...don't get me rolling!

Uf-DA!

Ed "Backwater Eddy" Carlson...><sUMo>
Backwater Guiding

sunflower seeds will keep holes open too. well the salted ones anyways. just thought i'd throw that out, unless ofcourse the environmental crazies think seeds aren't safe either!

Those refill nozzles are great, but be careful not to overfill the bottles. If left in a trunk and the sun hits it, the gas can expand and leak.

Dan heard about those nozzles but I still prefer my little pig. I fill it up and I am good for a month also with my heater mounted on top it puts the heat right where I want it.

Just so you know, it is illegal to transport refilled disposable bottles, if one were to blow-up on you, you (not your insurance company) would be personally liable for any damages occuring as a result and could get a nice fine to boot.

I checked into that once. They told me it illegal to transport it over state lines.
That being said, you do have to use extra caution with them. I usually only refill them a few times. And I never store them in an enclosed area or in the house.

I always spray some liquid soap or armourall on the nipple after filling to be sure its not leaking. Any little bubble, she's garbage bound. And they fill better when the little ones are brought in from the cold and filled with the bigger one being in the warm. Nice/bad thing is, like Dreaming said, you can always pick up spares on the ice. So keeping a stock of fresh ones is no hassle.

I am in agreement here. If there is a residue or something unsightly left behind, no one should be using it. I don't nescessarily disagree with charcoal as long as the user doesn't dump the ashes on the ice.

But there is one chemical I have a weakness with. And the only way anyone will stop me is to ban coffee!