The History of Ice Fishing in Minnesota

For the avid angler, ice fishing is a way to extend our favorite sport beyond the summer months. Minnesota lakes are frozen over, on average, 10 months out of the year, and if it weren't for ice fishing we'd have to go a long time without fishing. It's bad enough we have to go that long without golfing. Ice fishing in Minnesota is a sub-culture and there is a strong camaraderie among the anglers.

The importance of fishing in Minnesota goes back thousands of years: first as a means of critical subsistence and then, in the last 200 years, as a major economic influence.

Ice fishing from a shack was completely unheard of in Minnesota until the late 1800s. In 1888, Sven Stevenson built a cabin on a hill overlooking Lake Minnewaska. It was a very wet fall and the hill had suffered a few mud slides. The details are sketchy, but it appears after a heavy January snowfall, Sven's outhouse and a sizable chunk of frozen dirt slid down the hill and out onto Lake Minnewaska - all while Sven was inside doing his business. The friction from all that frozen dirt sliding across the ice created enough heat to open up a small hole in the ice. Amazingly, the outhouse ended up right over the top of it. Sven, of course, wasn't sure what was going on but when things settled down, he stood up, looked through the hole and saw fish swimming below the outhouse. Being a fanatic angler, Sven ran to the cabin, grabbed his fishing pole, ran back to the outhouse and lowered some bait into the hole. It wasn't long before a crowd gathered to see what Sven was up to.

A few days later, other area residents pushed outhouses onto the lake and a small community was born. In the 1800s, most anglers were men. The men found that they enjoyed being "out on the ice away from our nagging wives" as one man wrote in his journal.

In fact, many ice fishing pioneers built additions onto their outhouses and even put in wood stoves and a week's worth of food so they could enjoy extended periods away from home. This tradition is still practiced today.

Finally spring arrived and the community of outhouses was pulled away by horses (equipped with special ice-gripping horse shoes). Sven's outhouse was not removed in time and plunged through the thinning ice on April 12, 1889. The Minnesota Historical Society attempted to recover the structure in 1975 but, despite weeks of searching with a one-man submarine, failed.

Ice fishing is different than regular open-water fishing in several ways. The equipment used is probably the largest difference. Ice fishing poles are short so that an angler can (a) direct the line through a small hole in the ice, (b) fight a fish and look down the hole simultaneously, (c) fit within the confined spaces of the ice fishing house, shelter or outhouse.

The use of an ice fishing house or shelter is optional. Many anglers simply make a hole in the ice and sit on an overturned pickle bucket. I've tried this, but with the typical Minnesota wind it gets cold in a hurry. Incidentally, used five-gallon pickle buckets go for about $5 in Minnesota, the highest price in the nation. Most people notice that every restaurant in Minnesota uses a pickle to garnish your meal - sometimes two pickles. That makes sense since the restaurants derive a huge source of tax-free income selling the empty pickle buckets.

Ice fishing tournaments, and there are a lot of them, do not allow the use of ice fishing houses. The demand for pickle buckets in the towns that host those contests is so huge, local stores actually stock them. These are luxury pickle buckets though, with a cushioned seat and aerated live well for bait.

Anglers create a six to eight inch diameter hole in the ice with an ice auger (some are gas or electric powered). However, many people find that a small explosive detonation does the job quicker and for less money. Sometimes though, people get carried away and the next thing you know, half the lake ice is vaporized and all the windows on lake shore property are blown out. And of course, fish die needlessly by the thousands because of the shock effect.

This type of overkill is frowned upon, unless the demolition is part of the traditional Finnish celebration called "Festival of Destruction." During Festival of Destruction, just about anything goes.

Even aside from that, ice fishing is inherently dangerous but there are several things you can do to increase your odds of survival:

Dress warm. The wind always blows during the Minnesota winter and hypothermia is always a concern.
Carry a long nail or spike in your pocket. If you do fall through the ice, you can use the spike to dig in and pull yourself out.
Try to avoid driving your car on the ice. For most lakes, you can walk or snowmobile to your fishing spot. Also, make sure the ice is thick and clear. I never go on the ice until I see that many other people have gone out before me.
Never operate a heater that generates dangerous fumes inside of a fishing house. Always have adequate ventilation. Keep a fire extinguisher handy.

Things have come a long way since Sven's first Minnesota ice fishing house. Today, most have a heat source, television, satellite dish, reclining chairs, bunk beds, rustic dining table and chairs, carpet, paneling, and in a few rare cases, mortgage. The ice house must have the owner's name and phone number clearly displayed on the outside. There may be some other laws regarding ice houses and anglers should check out the latest regulations. I do know (now) that it is illegal to burn down an ice house just to avoid having to get it off the ice in the spring.

It's not too tough to find where the fish are. There are parts of a lake where fish tend to congregate and their human pursuers will congregate directly above them. You can see these little villages out on the ice as you drive past most Minnesota lakes. My advice is to look for these little villages and then go ahead and squeeze into their territory. You may get beer cans thrown at you, but Minnesotans are pretty forgiving over time - especially if you buy them more beer.

Related Items

Making History by Wendy Freshman and Kristin Jansson - Read the tale of Sven Stevenson and build a miniature ice shack.
A Look Back: The History of Ice Fishing - Hear the tale of Sven Stevenson as told on KSTP's Minnesota Live broadcast.

What is ice fishing?

Ice fishing is the act of cutting or drilling a hole through ice that covers a body of water, and lowering lines with hooks and bait, or lures, through that hole in an attempt to catch fish. Some anglers throw spears with an attached rope through the hole.