I’ve been wanting to try ice fishing for a while now. Last weekend I finally pulled the trigger and took my boys, Julian (9) and Emery (7), out on Buckeye Lake for all three of our first time ice fishing.

Spoiler: we didn’t catch a single fish. Not even close. Still one of the best days I’ve had with them in a long time.

Julian and Emery standing on frozen Buckeye Lake
The boys on Buckeye Lake. You can see other shanties set up in the background.

The Setup

We launched from the main boat ramp area at Buckeye Lake State Park, Fairfield Beach side. There were already a bunch of other ice fishermen out there when we showed up, which made me feel a lot better about the ice. It ended up being about a foot thick, plenty solid.

Here’s what I was working with:

  • Pop-up 2-man ice fishing shelter (black and red)
  • Garmin Striker fish finder
  • A couple Ugly Stik ice fishing rods
  • Two tip-ups
  • Crappie minnows for live bait (first time using live bait, and yeah, I felt a little bad about it)
  • Snacks and hot cocoa in a thermos

I pulled everything out on a sled. All of it. By myself. Roughly 100 lbs of gear across the ice because the boys decided they didn’t want to help carry anything. Dad’s sled pulling service, at your service. 🥸

On the Ice

Once I got the tent set up and the holes drilled, we got settled in. The Garmin was showing about 4.3 feet of depth. Pretty shallow, which is normal for Buckeye Lake. We set up the two tip-ups outside the tent and started jigging inside.

Joey with Julian and Emery inside the ice fishing shelter
All three of us crammed into the 2-man shelter. Cozy is one word for it.
Garmin Striker fish finder showing 4.3 feet of depth next to the ice hole
The Garmin Striker doing its thing. 4.3 feet of water. Not a lot of room down there.

Julian was pretty focused on the actual fishing. He’d watch the fish finder, jig his rod, and check the tip-ups. He also loved grabbing minnows out of the livewell and handing them to me. Kid was locked in.

Emery? Emery was more excited about being on the ice than anything involving a fishing rod. He kept escaping the tent to slide around out there. You could tell from his face he was absolutely freezing, but he just kept playing anyway. Seven-year-old energy is unreal.

Joey in DUX Waterfowl hat with Emery in the shelter
This kid was having the time of his life. Freezing, but having the time of his life.

The Waiting Game

We jigged. We waited. We checked tip-ups. We’d see fish pop up on the finder every now and then, which kept things exciting, but nobody wanted what we were offering. Not the jigs, not the tip-ups, nothing.

Jigging with a Shakespeare ice rod inside the shelter
Doing the work. The fur hat was a solid call.
Line down the ice hole with Garmin fish finder nearby
Line down, fish finder running, hope alive.

But you know what? It didn’t really matter. The boys were having a good time. Julian was learning how the fish finder works. Emery was ice skating without skates. We had hot cocoa and snacks. It was a good day.

Julian drinking hot cocoa from a tumbler in the ice fishing shelter
Hot cocoa hits different when you're sitting on a frozen lake.

Lessons Learned

First time doing anything, you’re gonna learn some stuff the hard way. Here’s what I’m taking into next time:

1. Bring a drill bit for tent stake pilot holes. Getting ice stakes into solid ice without a pilot hole is absolutely brutal. Learned pretty quick that hammering wasn’t the move. The trick was using all my weight with both hands while spinning the screw of the stakes down. It worked, but a quick pilot hole with a drill bit would make it way easier next time.

2. A 2-man tent with 1 adult and 2 kids is tight. It worked, but barely. We were elbow to elbow the whole time. If we stick with this (and we will), I’m upgrading to at least a 3-man shelter. More room for gear and more room for kids who can’t sit still.

3. Do NOT put the livewell in the sled when pulling it on ice. This was the big one. I had the minnow bucket in the sled while pulling everything out to our spot. Water sloshed out, froze into the sled, and basically turned it into a bathtub of ice. If I’d kept the sled dry, we could have stored extra gear on it (coats, bags, whatever) and had way more room inside the tent. Lesson learned.

Leave No Trace

One thing that genuinely pissed me off. There were cigarette butts frozen into the ice around where we set up. Seriously? You’re out on this beautiful frozen lake and you can’t be bothered to put your butts in your pocket? Disgusting. I’m out here trying to teach my kids to respect the outdoors and people are using the lake as an ashtray. Pack your stuff out. It’s not hard.

Cigarette butts frozen into the ice surface on Buckeye Lake
Come on, people. Pack it out.

We’ll Be Back

Zero fish. Frozen livewell. Cramped tent. A 7-year-old who couldn’t sit still for more than 30 seconds.

And I’d do it all again tomorrow.

The boys are already asking when we’re going back. That’s a win in my book. Next time we’ll have a bigger shelter, dry sled, pilot holes for the stakes, and maybe, just maybe, we’ll actually catch something.

But even if we don’t, that’s alright too.

Panoramic view of Buckeye Lake with anglers and shanties on the ice
Panorama from our first day out on the ice.