Just how far beyond the bare necessities an angler goes will dictate his last piece of gear-a device to carry all the other equipment. Some anglers take just a small pocket tacklebox holding a few extra hooks and weights, a small container of bait, a handful of jig-poles and a spud or auger.

Others use a five-gallon bucket to lug everything onto the ice. The bucket then serves as a seat and, at day's end, as a container for fish. Others, with food, coffee jugs, lanterns, minnow buckets and other equipment, use a sled.

The ice fishing sled can be nothing more than a child's sled with a box on it, or it can be specially built for the job. Some have a seat, perhaps protected by a folding windbreak and warmed by an under-the-seat heating chamber containing a gas lantern. Many have compartments for tip-ups, poles, minnow buckets and lunch, and special brackets to hold a lantern aloft for night fishing among other features.

One last piece of gear that many anglers improvise or purchase contributes to both enjoyment and safety. Boot cleats greatly improve footing on a frozen lake, and it's obvious that a vertical angler is more effective, more comfortable and safer than one who is horizontal much of the time.

Aside from minimizing the bruises and sprains likely from falls, cleats also reduce the likelihood of more serious injuries from spills near razor-sharp augers, ice spuds and gaffs, and lighted heaters and lanterns. Such injuries also can be prevented by keeping the area tidy, putting protective covers on sharp edges or laying augers with the sharp blade against the ice.

Commercial "3-stick tip-up"

Homemade low profile tip-up