By Mike Frisch

Christmas is over and so is the heavy-duty shopping for another year, right? Wrong! Some who enjoy the outdoors received gifts of money over the holidays, while others received a gift card from a major outdoor retailer. Whether cash or a gift card, now is a great time for those who received such gifts to go shopping for items that can still make their ice fishing trips more successful yet this winter. Here is a look at some items to consider.

If an ice angler received a gift that allows for a major purchase, a new portable shelter or a sonar unit would be a good choice. In my opinion, the development of these two items has revolutionized ice fishing.

Portable shelters allow anglers to quickly and easily move from spot to spot in search of active fish. In the old days, anglers often set-up in a spot and waited for fish to appear or inactive fish to get hungry. Now, however, anglers are using portable shelters to stow and move their gear from spot to spot and then use those shelters to protect them from the elements once a spot is found.

In short, we now go to the fish instead of waiting for them to come to us. I have been using Frabill shelters for the past several years because they're light weight and easy to move, allow me to conveniently store my gear when moving, and have proven very durable as well.

Portable shelters allow us to find biting fish and so do sonar units. Sonar allows me to quickly determine if any fish are in the area. Also, water depth, the lake bottom, and my lure can also be seen using sonar. This is important because it allows me to precisely place my lure at the depth the fish are holding at and, I can also monitor how the fish respond to the various motions I impart to my fishing lure. My belief is that using a quality sonar unit often doubles my daily catch. Humminbird's new ICE 55 sonar unit is a 6-color display flasher that those in the market for a high quality ice fishing sonar will want to consider.

A new shelter or flasher is a good idea as a big purchase. Those who received smaller gifts, however, may want to consider some new ice fishing lures.

The Puppet Minnow is a new jigging lure that has quickly proven to be a real hit amongst walleye fishermen. This lure swims in a semi-circle and comes in several fish-catching color patterns that attract and trigger walleyes, perch, and big panfish as well.

If panfish are your main target, the new Bro's Bug Collection is one you will want to check out. This line of ant, bugs, worms and grubs was specifically designed to catch panfish through the ice and has quickly gained popularity in the ice fishing crowd.

Lures are good small items to spend your holiday cash or gift cards on. Ice anglers may also want to consider purchasing one of the lines designed specifically for this fishing. If you are a monofilament line fan, Trilene Micro Ice is specifically designed for jigging in clear water situations through the ice.

For those who prefer using superlines, FireLine Micro Ice is another line designed just for ice fishing.

Many new items have been designed specifically for ice fishing. Those who received some holiday cash or a gift card may want to consider one of the items just mentioned as they can help make your ice fishing more successful yet this winter!