ice fishing Valens Lake in Flamborough

[tweedwolfscream]

To fish through the ice, you gotta make holes. Whether by auger, chainsaw or chisel. Most people use augers, either hand or power. The only exception to the "gotta make holes" rule is that sometimes if you go to a popular spot on a weekend afternoon when temperatures are right around or above 0, you can use holes left by other people (mild temperatures required so they aren't frozen over), but I'm not sure I'd want to count on that.

I don't know where you're based, but would Orangeville be within driving range for you? Because at Island Lake Conservation Area over there they'll drill holes for you for a small fee, might be one way to try out ice fishing without getting an auger. I've actually been there a few times this season, was thinking I'd write a report, but don't wait for that to happen.

How to find fish under the ice is a very big question, which most of the talk on ice fishing forums and publications is largely based around. It involves knowing the geography (and ideally the bathymetry) of the lake, and how your target species interacts with that. Or looking at where people are catching fish. When it comes to panfish like perch and sunfish, you can usually feel them nibbling within a minute or so if you find the right spot, but for larger game fish you need to hunker down and wait a bit so it takes some trial and error.