Cutting Ice Fishing Hole With Hand Chisel

Video Transcript

"Let's start by talking about one of the most basic and archaic ways to cut a hole in the ice, and that's using a hand chisel. Now, safety again is always the most important aspect. The blades are these chisels are typically pretty sharp. You always want to cover them when they're not in use. You always want to be conscious of where that blade is, in relation to where you are, where your kids, where your friends are when you're fishing. Now, these chisels are great to have. I always bring one with me, especially early and late season, when the ice is thin. It's a great way to chop a quick hole, probably only take you a minute or so. During mid-winter, when the ice is thick, say even thicker than six, seven inches, using a hand chisel can be quite a task. Taking maybe upwards of five, six minutes to cut a decent hole. But, they're great to have, especially for checking the ice, close to shore when you come out on a water body. There's really nothing much to it, other than simply taking a firm grasp on it, and just starting to cut into the ice. Chipping it out as you go, rotate the blade and just continue with it until you hit that water. One good tip is, and I don't have it here today, but is to always attach a rope with a tied loop to the top of this. You can put that around your wrist, put it around your shoulders, so just in case, when you finally go through, if you loose your grip on your chisel, you're not going to lose it, because your rope will help save it."