Ice Fishing Discussion

[StackedLumber]

For those of you that use your chainsaw's for ice fishing/spearing-do you replace your bar oil with a substitute for use on a lake? I'm completely new to the whole ice fishing/spearing thing. But I was quite suprised when the guys I was with cleared out their bar oilers and replaced it with vegetable oil for use on the lake. They said they were concerned about putting oil in the water. I wondered if this would be bad for the saw, and is it really that big of a deal.

 

[smokinj]

no big deal on the veg. oil

 

[billb3]

I have some treehugger bar oil at home I tried.
Vegetable base of some sort.



I had chain troubles at the same time I tried it and although most probably coincidental, I haven't tried it again.

 

[kenskip1]

Ice Fishing, Yes I had the golden opportunity to go ice fishing when I lived in Oneida county in NY. I got cold and tired but still had a great time.I caught 35 pounds of fresh ice, but had a heck of a time filleting it Ken

 

[bogydave]

Use an old chain & file the rakers way down.
Square holes have been proven to catch more fish.

Check out the last post on the page,
http://www.iceshanty.com/ice_fishing/index.php?topic=104744.msg1024458

PS: Cut a big enough hole, it's a real pain when you bring up a fish & can just see its lips :bug:

 

[firefighterjake]

Huh . . . learn something new every day. First, while ice fishing is real popular here I can't say as I have ever heard of anyone using their chainsaw to cut a hole in the ice . . . usually folks just use ice augers. Second . . . I learned about ice spearing . . . around here they use ice fishing jigs . . . you set the line and then wait until the flag pops up indicating that a fish may be on the line.

 

[zzr7ky]

Hi -

We use'em for cutting holes to scuba dive though. We cut triangular holes so they are easier to get out of. I did not use my saw ; ) However I do not recall seeing any oil on the water so I'm guessing the oil was skipped for this adventure. I'm also guessing the bar and chain were removed when the saw got home.

ATB,
Mike

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Vegetable oil is fine. When done, just drain and refill with regular bar oil.

If you have ever seen the people who do ice carving, they use no oil whatsoever. Afraid it will stain the ice. I wonder how long the chains last.

 

[StackedLumber]

I had to wonder how long the chain would/will last-and the bar for that matter too. We don't own ice augers and had been using an ice spud to chisel out a hole. But now the ice is 16-18" thick and we ain't usin the spud for that. I supposed for only cuttin 4-6 holes in the ice, it wouldn't burn up a bar. But I just didn't know if it was an "acceptable" thing to do or if it could do damage to the oiler or bar/chain.

Square holes catch more fish?? Like to hear the reasoning on that one.

thx