One of the most popular recreational forms of fishing in Scandinavia, Russia and Germany is Ice Fishing, a sport also practiced in Canada and the United States, not only during winter, but also all year round in Alaska. However the most popular place to enjoy this activity is in the Great Lakes. Considered originally from Scandinavia, it was brought to America by Swedish, Norwegian and Finnish settlers arriving to Minnesota, a state where people from Nordic families is totally engaged in this sport. Ice fishing was exported to Canada from Minnesota and from here, it also arrived in Alaska.

From all the forms of fishing, ice fishing is perhaps the activity requiring less effort and skill, just patience, good luck and the inner conviction of enjoy doing nothing else that sitting on ice, if not physical, at least exposed to low temperatures. For some people, this condition may appear unappealing but in the northern states, ice fishing is considered a serious entertaining activity with competitions and contests offering good prizes to people with the largest fish catches within a limited period of time.