Great update as always Cookie. I’m not coming up for a few weeks, but I’m just wondering roughly how many inches of ice you’re seeing now? As you mentioned, the warm up from last week and the upcoming one won’t help, but how much have you been seeing?
Thanks
Great update as always Cookie. I’m not coming up for a few weeks, but I’m just wondering roughly how many inches of ice you’re seeing now? As you mentioned, the warm up from last week and the upcoming one won’t help, but how much have you been seeing?
Thanks
I’ve had a different experience, but I also rent and don’t have control of where the house is placed in relation to other shacks. I can honestly say they’ve visited us 5 times in the last 10 years to check on licenses and fish. 2 years ago they came by twice in 4 days.
If urine is included in this statute they are going to have a field day on Red! The DNR seems to use that lake for a DNR training ground and with all the sleeper rentals that are out there they’ll be fining every house every week regardless of how well contained the trash is.
I tried the First Strike set up and I wasn’t that impressed. I ordered one and when it arrived the piece that locks it onto the rod was cracked and broke on the the first use. I reached out to the company and it took some time for them to respond, but the did send me a replacement part. I tried it again and set was finicky; the wind seemed to trip it easily. I ended up getting a finicky fooler with the hole cover and haven’t looked back.
I’m not a vex user, but have a marcum lx3 (not starting a marcum vs vex debate) and a helix 7. I love my helix for everything that was stated earlier, the only thing I really prefer my marcum for is for checking holes when hopping. The marcum gives pretty much instant results on what’s below the hole where the helix takes a few seconds to register. Not a big deal; it doesn’t deter me from using my helix over my marcum every time out.
Vado’s in Spring Lake Park sell frozen herring (VHSV), they’ll ship it to you too if you’re lazy like me and not want to make the drive there. 
I use both the Sienna 500s and Ceymar 10s, love them both. Also use Ceymar 500 with baitcaster which is awesome for deadstick. I recently picked up some scheels branded reels for the boys rods and have been impress with those too.
I got a lakewoods case and so far i like. It’s is big, like the Scheels case, but not as big. I got the medium sized bag and think I have 5 poles in there, longest being 40″. It also holds my finicky foolers and all my other gear. I just throw it onto my smitty so the bulk isn’t that big of a deal.
I don’t have any experience with the LX7, but if you’re going to invest that kind of money I would go with Helix 7. I got a Helix 7G4 last year and I love it. It’s newer tech vs the LX7 which has been out for a number of years. Just my 2 cents.
I ended up going with 32″ Medium JM Meatsticks. They are not like any other medium rod I’ve ever felt… the tip is pretty weak. There seems to be enough backbone to fight a bigger fish. I like the idea of the really oversized wire eyelets for this application. They shouldn’t freeze up.
We shall see…
Is the Meatstick the same as the Dead Meatstick? If so be careful with the tip on it; I’ve had 2 deadmeat sticks I used in my FF and both tips broke while bringing in pike.
Anyone use one of these on a Finicky Fooler?
Great stuff Rodwork!!
I’m seeing the thread tends to come in size A and D. I understand that A is thinner than D; as a beginner would you suggest D over A for ease of learning?
Not to steal the thread, but I just got an ice rod building kit from Mudhole over the weekend. It has everything needed to get started, but to the experienced builders where do you buy your wrapping thread?
Thanks
Mine’s not as sophisticated, but works great. I had most of the material lying around the house so I really just need to get a bathroom fan and make the caps.
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How was the quality? Why did you switch to the scheels case?
The longest rod I have is 40″ and I don’t have not invested in expensive custom rods at this point. I completely get that the hard cases will offer superior protection, but I don’t have a snowmobile or wheeler. I’m walking and pulling a smitty most of the time and controlling weight and space is important; so a bulky case is not ideal for my situation. Has anyone use a Lakewoods case? They are considerably smaller than a Scheels or Otter case and can fit up to a 41″ rod.
So, I guess it’s getting close enough to bring this topic back up. With longer rods (36″+) becoming more popular, what are people using for cases/bags. I’ve seen large Scheels case, but the cases seem bulky and cumbersome. I’ve considering getting one and making a mode on my smitty for it, but want to hear/see what alternatives others are using.
On another note, I know I can bring in either a case of beer or a bottle of booze. Anyone have an idea of roughly how much the duty hit is for bringing in and additional case or addition bottle of booze. Just trying to figure out if it’s cheaper to pay the duty or purchase booze in Fort Francis.
Thanks everyone!
I don’t see a “Jigging Mode” option in the menu.
I’m running the Norsk Lithium battery that came with the unit.
No I didn’t try my friends transducer. I may have to do that next time I’m on the ice with him.
<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>eyeguy507 wrote:</div>
Are you running a lead acid battery? May not be enough power? These units almost have to run lithiums.
Restore to default settings. May not work for you but I had all sorts of clutter and couldn’t see my jig at all. I tried every button up, down, inside, out and nothing worked. Came home and restored defaults figured why not at this point. Everything back to good now. Wish i had done it sooner.I’ve been running a lead acid battery on mine for two or three years and I’ve never had any issues.
Reed, did you ever try your buddies transducer last weekend to see how your unit worked then? If not, it’d be something to try because it’d eliminate or confirm a bad transducer. Even if it’s new doesn’t mean it’ll work right.
Yes, the gain was set low. I tried adjusting it and the chirp settings but all that did was add interference. I did get ahold of someone at Humminbird who told me how to turn on the noise filter to see if it helps next time I’m out. It would be awesome if they had support available over the weekend when most people maybe using the equipment to get help.
I reached out to Norsk as well and they said it would be fine. Humminbird is sending me the quick connect that connects to the provided charger. I’m not going to cut apart a charger while I have the correct part coming.
I’ve been using one of these for 5 or 6 years now and it’s worked great. I was just up on Red last weekend and it was the first time it’s frozen to the side of the hole and it held up just fine; no rips at all. Sure beats dealing with frozen fish.
I never used a cover for my old Lazer. I did pick up a 24v not long ago and to help keep the battery contacts clean I grabbed a sintch sack that my kids have to many of. it covers it pretty well and will help keep dust and dirt off of it. No padding or anything but it a cheap solution that helps a little at least.
I use the eskimo folding chair. its a tripod style so it has a small footprint and works well in tight space.
I think I’ve finally decided to pull the trigger on a strike master lithium this year. I was just wondering if anyone knew of any sales that were going on involving them. thanks all!
Don’t count on one. I was told that inventories of the 40v and 24v are already getting low. They have their new lithium pro lite 40V coming out sometime this year, but it was supposed to be released already so they are likely feeling the supply chain pain like everyone. If there is a deal from fleet farm that includes a gift card I would jump on it if your waiting on a deal.
Thanks Pat!!
I use the small glow sticks that come with the Northland Glow lures.
