Ice fishing season is upon us and though there are days when fishing outside on the frozen surface of any of our Midwestern lakes maybe comfortable there are the days when it's nice to be content in a portable ice shelter that does these things.

As a guide, Charter Captain and "teacher" of fishing it's my job to get my clients on fish fast and enjoy their day. Frabill's, does just that making the trip always a great one and hears why?

Fishing on ice is much like open water fishing where mobility is key to catching fish. When time means the difference in catching fish coming upon a new spot within minutes we can be set up and be fishing! This product mention tells the ice-angler of the features that make the Frabill's Ice Shelters a winner this year.

Ease in transporting and setting up are two of the best features of all Frabill's units. The flat polyethylene base is great for ease of pulling and the floor design allows walking in and out without tripping. Once getting to the spot it's a matter of set-up. The Speed Shak's and Hideout units are designed with a series of segmented steps, by lifting the metal bars it opens up the unit in seconds. The black, pliable canvas top is always attached, never gets cold throughout all weather conditions and gives us that solar passive heat factor, so many of those days when sunny days prevail it's toasty warm. By-directional zippers and the extra large doors and openings create comfort and ease

"Fishing on ice is much like open water fishing where mobility is key to catching fish..."

always. If your the fisherman who fishes a lot by himself the Ice Ranger takes mobility, comfort and fishing to the extremes. Again storage space is plentiful and with it's comfortable seat what more could the fisherman ask for. Windy or bad weather pull the top up and your completely enclosed in fishing comfort! A favorite unit of mine is the Ranger XL Twin, the ultimate ice unit. Wanting lots of room for two anglers and all their gear plus the comfort of all day fishing and protected from whatever Mother Nature dishes out each day on the water (ice) and the Ranger Tri-Plex is the unit for the serious ice angler.

There's no question these products are user friendly and made for everyone to use. Now let's look at a method to catching fish in this fast, mobile method of fishing.

Fish fast, fish Comfortable then Fish Frabill!

Running and gunning for "ICING-WALLEYE'S!" Once on any body of water location is key, key in map locations and head out. Points, edges and deep-water are three key places to locate and catch fish pretty consistently. Fishing points; drill a series of holes is made quick with StrikeMaster's Lazer Mag with a 8-inch hole, most any 9 pound walleye will fit through!!!! A jigging method using leadhead jigs; FireBall, BuckShot Rattle's in 1/8 through 1/2 ounce weights, jigging Fire-Eye minnow spoons. Fast, mobile fishing like this allows you to cover water depths quickly looking for fast biting fish as well. Tipping jigs with minnows and Power Baits attracts and gets aggressive fish biting fast as well.

Edges would include weedbeds; cabbage and coontail weedbeds in many waters stay green and healthy for much of the winter season holding good baitfish and walleye too! Sitting up with a few Frabill's Pro-Thermal Tip-ups and you'll have the water covered. Location factors and using sonar units will keep you on these edges remembering fast approach to finding active fish. Quick flasher units to using are ones like Zercom's ClearWater Classics, again user friendly makes it part of the ice angler's package.

Deeper water fishing areas are holding areas for fish throughout the day many times. These places are where many times fish rest or stay until prime feeding times occur. It's our job to finding these deep water fish and again mobility will get this done. Drilling many holes answers this question and watching what your electronics tells you allows you to fishing in productive areas and fast!

Use these three techniques and having the comfort of Frabill's Ice Shelters allows you to have the most time on the ice and fun too!

Don't forget the little things like: Frabill's minnow bucket's: The Sit-N-Fish is a minnow bucket and seat as well. Check out the Frabill's Aqua-Life Bait Station what an incredible bucket, fresh minnows from the baitshop to the lake and days after. Terminal tackles like: XL line, FireLine, a towel for wet hands, several ice skimmers and don't forget the "LUNCH!" Ice fishing makes a guy hungry!!!!

We'll see you on the "hard-water!"

Editors Note: Check out Frabill's full line of ice shelters at www.lake-link.com/frabill/.