The Godfather Of Modern Ice Fishing

PHOTO: Many of the latest ice fishing products you see on the ice, regardless of manufacturer, were originally ideas of Dave Genz. “A Guide’s Life” columnist Tim Moore interviews the legend in the first of two parts.

By Tim Moore
Contributing Writer

The modern Ice Fishing revolution began back in the late 1980s. Since that time, several ice anglers have been credited with certain innovations that have taken ice fishing to new levels in terms of ease and angler success, but none have received as much credit for product innovations, and revolutionary ways of approaching ice fishing as National Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame and Minnesota Fishing Hall of Fame inductee, Dave Genz.
Dave is a friend of mine. I first met him on the ice back in 2012, right in our great little state of New Hampshire, when I was invited by Mark Beauchesne of the NH Fish and Game Department to spend a day on the ice with them. A couple of years ago I had the honor of chatting with Dave about modern ice fishing and his role in it. This first part of a two-part piece deals mostly with the history of modern ice fishing and how it differs from the more traditional approach. With temperatures falling and ice fishing season breathing down our necks, and this coming winter being the 40th Anniversary of the Dave Genz Fish Trap, I thought many of the Weirs Times readers would enjoy this.

Moore: You’re credited with being the father of the modern ice fishing revolution. Can you explain what modern ice fishing is and how it’s different from traditional ice fishing?
Genz: With modern ice fishing, we’ve taken ice fishing from the Stone Age to the Space Age, meaning we’re using the modern things that are available to us: the electronics and the Gortexes which makes us more efficient and more comfortable when we’re out there. The history of the sport is: you go out there, put your lines down, and wait for the sun to go down. Then the fish make a move, and you catch some fish. Whereas, with the modern ice fishing movement we fish more like it’s summer and we move to the fish.

Moore: How did it all begin?
Genz: The flip-over ice fishing shelter [known as the Fish Trap] was in my family since I was single digits in age. Fishing after work every day in my little portable fish house I decided I was going to use my old green box (my first depth finder) to see if there were any fish around. As time went on we upgraded the green box to the first FL-8. The first time I saw my hook slide down on the FL-8 I knew that was a major breakthrough in ice fishing. I could no longer say “the fish just aren’t biting,” or “they’ll start biting at about four o’clock,” it was “I gotta find them.” So, that’s how it all began.

Moore: Clam Outdoors carries a lot of your signature products. How did you become involved with them?
Genz: I started my company (Winter Fishing Systems) and I was interested in mobility. A man named Denny Clark started a company called Frontier Industries and he made a house called The Clam, which was a pop-up shelter with a floor. Several ice fishing shows started across the country. Denny and I were both at these shows and we got to know one another. He was after the more permanent fishermen and I was after the mobile fishermen, so we joined forces and traveled together. Eventually, I licensed a company called USL (who had already incorporated the Clam fish house) to manufacture and market my shelters. Then, the present owner purchased Clam and here we are making lots of fish houses and marketing them across the United States.

Moore: You talk a lot about mobility and efficiency. How does mobility relate to ice fishing and catching more fish?
Genz: If the fish aren’t there you have to move to the fish, so you have to be mobile. Think of it like it’s summer. We troll in the summer; we move around. We never go out, throw our anchor, and stay in the same place all day.

Moore: What are some ways that anglers can become more mobile and efficient?
Genz: Have a good auger. We don’t need a ten-inch auger (for panfish). Be lightweight so it’s easy to move around and drill a few holes, fish for only a few moments in those holes, and move on until you start catching fish. A good rod and reel is also important so you can drop down and pick up quickly. It needs to be easy to do things. If it’s easy, you’ll do it. If it’s not easy, you won’t.

Moore: I often hear you refer to “casting a lot.”
Genz: Correct, every hole is a cast. In the summertime it seems like the more casts you make, the more fish you catch. Sometimes you’ve got 20 holes in an area the size of your house and all of a sudden there are no fish in any of those holes. They didn’t swim across the lake, they’re just sitting in between your holes. You have to drill holes between all the other holes.

Dave often attributes much of his success to techniques that seemed to dawn on him as a young man, such as mobility and efficiency. His drive to make ice fishing easier and more productive, especially when it’s at its most difficult or slowest, has driven him to innovative products such as flashers designed for ice fishing and ice fishing rods designed to perform like their larger open-water counter part.
Stay tuned for more in part two coming in two weeks.