The low-hanging clouds are pressing down on me as I watch snowflakes drift lazily down to the ground. It is a time of introspection into my favorite sport.

By its very nature, ice fishing is an inexpensive sport. But it is possible to get caried away in your purchases. With a little common sense, you can make your dollars go a long way.

Ice gear ranges from a bucket, pole, tackle, and bait, to the luxury, camper-style “shed” with electronics, beds, cooking equipment and even television. Most purchases are somewhere in-between, and many anglers rent by the day.

Getting started is inexpensive, and with gear additions each year, keeps expanding the experience.

Spend carefully in some areas, and you can splurge in others. For instance, if you save on expenses getting to your fishing spot, you might eventually be able to purchase a nice shelter. It beats sitting in the open on a bucket. But do not overlook those buckets!

Safety is the primary consideration for ice anglers. At minimum, wait for ice that is 4 inches or more in thickness, because anglers fall through on occasion. In spring, as pockets of thin ice begin to develop, take care to not walk over those thinner pockets. If in doubt, use a “spud”—a long, steel bar with a blade on one end. It checks thickness of ice without having to put pressure on it with your body weight.

Fishing rivers and creeks, you may find areas of thinner ice caused by current. There the spud is vital.

For those using a bucket to sit on, try taking the floor mats from your car along to stand on to help insulate your feet from the cold of the ice.

We begin our fall shopping with the sales on book bags after the rush is over from school kids. Retailers like big box stores do not want to store them until next fall and will take a slight loss in profits to avoid paying for storage. The leftover bags can be very effective in carrying plastic utility boxes and pencil boxes holding tackle.

Those wishing to cook out can buy a small charcoal grill. Do not cook with charcoal or wood in any kind of shelter or other enclosed space. The results could be fatal. Still, you can take hot dogs, hamburgers, etc. from home in a small cooler like those made by Yeti. Other sandwiches or high-energy and high-protein snacks come in handy.

Coolers are another product that often have reduced seasonal prices. They are handy in not only holding cold drinks and lunches, but smaller ones hold cameras so that lenses do not fog up. They are also cheaper to purchase at the end of the picnic season.

Refill plastic water or soda bottles from home and add them to coolers. Once frozen, they provide cooling temperatures for refrigerating items such as meats, etc., as well as drinking water as the ice melts. A thermos of hot chocolate or coffee provides a welcome drink. 

With the present cost of fuel, carpooling with other ice anglers is an excellent idea. If traveling with other anglers to an ice fishing location, it is not necessary to have more than one auger, and you need fewer skimmers for removing ice from holes. Large serving or slotted spoons from homework well as skimmers.

Maybe we need to be little frugal in parking costs. This is especially true early in the season; those inclined to drive out on the ice cannot do so when the ice is not firm enough. Early on, we may have to park away from the shore, in a resort parking lot or on the street a significant distance away.

Check with local landowners to find free access. State parks usually have free access to both the lake and to parking.

What does this mean for us? When it is time to do an “ice dance,” we either need to find fishing resorts with public lake access or pay a fee. The sport of ice fishing is, by its very nature, a social activity. Derbies often attract numbers of anglers and have several other anglers availing themselves of the resort’s amenities.

Later in the season, competition for parking and fishing space is usually less. Tackle shops often have great sales on lures, rods, and reels, etc. Outdoor shows, popular at this time of the year, have tackle sales, and you can buy a lot of jigs in very small sizes that double not only as lures for panfish but also ice fishing. Other ice fishing gear is available at websites such as Custom Jigs and Spins.

Children’s plastic toboggans, sold at a discount in late winter to avoid the cost of storing them, are handy to pull coolers, buckets, chairs, shelters and tackle out on the ice.

Frugal anglers can get by with fewer holes strategically placed on smaller bodies of water. It might include a location with allocated holes, started by folks who might not be able to fish every day. On days when they are not using the hole or ice shack, you may be able to use pre-drilled holes on a first-come, first-served basis. 

Frugal anglers can enjoy their sport with minimal out-of-pocket cost if they do a little research and can fish on weekdays in public areas. Check it out.