Evolution of Modern Ice Fishing

It’s common to pull into Dave Genz’s driveway in the middle of summer and find him sweating in his garage, cutting and bolting things together in various configurations, new ideas for ice fishing setups for the coming winter. Fish Traps strewn across the floor, pieces of gutter and angle iron and bags of hardware, and you get the idea that this part might be as much fun for him as the actual fishing.
Winter never goes away in Dave’s mind, and that’s why the sport has become what it is for everybody who fishes the modern way.
We all know about the Fish Trap, the blue shelter that sets up with a flip of the wrists and becomes a mobile sled with another flip of the wrists, helping you keep on the move until you catch fish. But to fully appreciate the impact Genz has had on ice fishing, a list of the revolutionary pieces of gear, adaptations of existing gear, and methods that he brought to the sport, or chiefly influenced, brings it into perspective.
Did you know that it was Dave Genz and his friends that…

• Adapted modern fishing sonar, the Vexilar flasher, for use in ice fishing? His first of what became known as the Genz Box was homemade from pieces of wood, and he used a leveling bubble glued to the transducer to get the signal going straight down. When he could see his “hook” on the display, and fish coming into the cone angle, it changed ice fishing forever.
• Came up with the original designs for ice jigs that were “small, but fished heavy” and showed up well on the Vexilar? After all, if you had this depthfinder that could help you see the fish’s reaction to your presentation, it was important to be able to see the jig on the display at all times. His designs are still being made today by Lindy.
• Brought us ‘pounding’ and many variations of it, for creating intense vibration and triggering appeal in our ice-fishing presentations?
• Taught us new ways of holding onto ice rods, besides the traditional? Many ice anglers now hold their rods like a pencil, for example, because it has advantages.
• Popularized multi-colored maggots for use in ice fishing? Dave and Rick Johnson met Englishman John Gilman in Vados Bait in Minnesota, saw the potential, and became the driving force behind ‘Eurolarvae’ as the critters were known in those days.
• Developed Dropper Rigs, where you tied a piece of line to the hook of your jig and attached a plain hook onto which you skewered a single maggot? Many variations of this rig are still being used today to coax bites from finicky fish.
• Worked closely with a core group of innovative rod builders to create the prototype graphite ice rods we know today, rods that fish like long rods in miniature?
• Tired of towing Fish Traps behind snowmobiles and ATVs and developed the racks for holding Fish Traps aloft while moving from spot to spot?
• Came up with the idea for using the same trailer that totes the snowmobile or ATV to the lake for hauling people and gear across the ice? They developed a system where you back the ATV or snowmobile off the trailer, hitch the trailer to a ball on the snowmobile or ATV, put skis under the tires of the trailer, load it up with stuff and off you go. “Now,” said Genz at the time, “you can actually take somebody ice fishing.”
• Took Aqua-Vu underwater camera technology and integrated it into high-speed mobile ice fishing? It was Genz who came up with the Down Viewing system, where you point the camera straight down, then lower it to just above your lure and “sight fish at any depth.”
• Developed the system for ‘ice trolling’ on featureless basins while searching for fish in lakes of this type? It was Genz who started the discussion of running parallel transects and thinking “football fields and tennis courts” while explaining the concept. First, drill a few holes in every area the size of a football field. Then, when you find fish, drill holes in every area the size of a tennis court, as you refine the search.
• Theorized that ice fishing is often productive around pressure ridges? By talking ice safety around these potentially dangerous formations, Genz also helped teach us how to avoid trouble while probing pressure ridges.
• Came up with the ‘cold-water’ theory that is helping many ice anglers narrow their search for fish? To this day, Genz urges ice anglers to think about how most or all of their best ice fishing spots are along the north and west sides of the lake.

There are more, too, many of them wrinkles and refinements of earlier breakthroughs. Modern ice fishing is in an age of refinement, but it’s interesting to look back at the rapid changes of the recent past. At first, it was primarily about equipment (Fish Traps, Genz Box for the Vexilar, graphite rods, imaginative ice jigs, etc.). Then, the emphasis shifted more to methods, because the overall goal has always been to make ice anglers as efficient as possible, as successful as possible.
Genz looks at it as his life’s work, but we see it as an ancient sport transformed.

Note: Dave Genz, known as Mr. Ice Fishing, was the primary driver of the modern ice fishing revolution.