Anyone have any success last week casting cranks or jerk baits up onto shallow flats for walleyes? I’m thinking about giving trolling a break and giving this a try.

Trolled leadcore all morning on Saturday. Only got one small walleye by 94. Coming through the Hudson channel there was 20+ boats drift jigging and didn’t see anyone pull a fish in? Started up by Stillwater and was almost impossible to keep junk off the lures. Was a very rough opener this year. Super windy, water temps crashed over the week, Water levels rose 6ft, and tons of debris in the water.

Good luck everyone! I’ll be in the black Lund. Any tactics people are going to be trying out first? Jigging, 3-ways, leadcore, spinners, casting cranks?

Great seminar Turk and BK!!! I enjoyed it. Very interesting hearing other guys perspective on how to fish the big ole Croix.

The Honda 4-strokes can struggle through thick ice and the Lazer pro 3hp I had to use ear muffs to run it and engine can be easily burnt up if you use synthetic oil and too lean of a ratio. I owned both of these and this is the experiences I had. I now own the Lazer 2.5hp and am very satisfied with it. It is almost as fast as the lazer pro, but much more reliable in starting and not as loud.

I ran a Lowrance Elite 5 HDI all winter on my wheeler and never had an issue with the cold. I have it hooked up to a 12volt battery that sits perfectly in between the bars on my ATV rack. Having it connected to a separate battery gives me peace of mind, as I rely on my wheeler to start every time in tournaments.

I ran a Lowrance Elite 5 HDI all winter on my wheeler and never had an issue with the cold. I have it hooked up to a 12volt battery that sits perfectly in between the bar on my ATV rack. Having it connected to a separate battery gives me peace of mind, as I rely on my wheeler to start every time in tournaments.

Thanks John! All my rods i’ve bought from you have performed great! Keep up the good work. Stop by and say hi again at next years ice expo.

SEDONA 1000 = the perfect balance with the Commander. I put Powerpro braid on it for Lakers in Ely this past weekend and didn’t like it (too noisy and iced up easily). I’d recommend Suffix braid instead, my other setup performed much better because of it.

11″ from the east metro

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Trolled the whole lake once this summer for crappie and couldn’t find any quality. All small 8-10″.

I have an Ice Force lithium paired up with an Vex FLX28/Elite-4 HDI GPS Combo. I Have fished 3 days straight in brutal South Dakota windy temps without a charge.

I did the same thing you are talking about a couple years ago. I bought a used 8″ lazer bottom from Drock for under $100 and put it on my SM Chipper. Works just fine. It’s not a lot faster, but takes away having to press down on the auger to drill with chipper blades. It only made me thirsty for a faster auger so I sold it. Now I run a lazer 2.5hp and don’t worry about anything anymore.

I used a 1/8oz red/silver Slender spoon tipped with euros out on Grindstone and the smelt went nuts for it during the day.

Can you guys explain how you are connecting to the battery? I have an fl28

I switched back and forth between 1/16th and 1/8th oz spoons on this trip. The funny thing was on the particular lake we were fishing most my walleyes were caught on spikes and all the jumbos were caught on minnow heads… also having a deadstick nearby with nothing but a split shot, #12 treble, and crappie minnow was working well for jumbos too.

Caught my first laker through the ice last season out from Duluth which has given me the lake trout fever bad! Now its not looking good for ice on the big pond this year! Noooooooo!

The yellow and orange electric perch color is always my go to for Northland Buckshots and the New Buckshot Flutter spoon. Just got back from NE SD also with a nice mix of walleye and Jumbos. I catch alot of walleyes in the east metro on this same lure.

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Try these Northland Tackle Quick snaps

https://shop.northlandtackle.com/Category/Terminal_Tackle/Quick-Snap

They’re the best in my opinion. A little easier to connect and disconnect than the other designs, especially with cold fingers…

I use the solid black nylon coated. Make the switch over to that and I think you will be much happier. I’ve experimented with just about everything on the market and it’s one i’m finally satisfied with.

I use 20lb coated Suffix w/ 6lb flouro leaders for walleyes. Best tip up line i’ve used. Doesn’t freeze up and stick to itself and with the smaller diameter remains super pliable under any conditions.

Panfish Plastics Chigger Fry

http://www.panfishplastics.com/Best-Crappie-Bait-Chigger-Fry-p/ppcf.htm

This was a super hot seller at the St. Paul show this year! 40+ colors to choose from, hand poured plastics, anise scented, call direct and ask for custom colors.

I remove the split ring from all of my lipless cranks and either tie direct or quick snap straight to the lure.

See you all there! Stop by and visit with me at the Panfish Plastics booth. John save me a 32″ Power Precision!

Trust me you won’t be disappointed by the speed of the Clam drill plate. Super sharp blades and an aggressive cutting pitch on the 6″ that comes with the kit. I’ve had mine for two seasons now and punched thousands of holes with it. I may think of finally replacing the blades, but still not much difference from when they were new.

My SM 3hp Lazerpro has been sitting at Drock for 2 months… Initially had the fuel lines replaced right away after purchase. Ran it alot for guiding last season (fastest auger on the planet). Eventually it just quit on me and wouldn’t start anymore so I brought it into Drock again. The tech called me and said my engine burnt up and SM doesn’t carry the replacement parts to fix it. I used only SM oil 40:1 for the auger’s 1 year lifespan. Bought the auger brand new. Kind of have a sour taste in my mouth right now over the whole situation…

Clam makes a pretty nice soft plastics holder that separates everything out very nicely and neatly. Lots of room too!

http://stores.clamoutdoors.com/clam/accessories/soft-plastics-folder.html

Rose Creek custom jig boxes. I bought mine at Thorne Bros a few years ago. hasn’t failed me yet. Each individual jig has its own little rubber pinching slot to keep them well separated and secure even during the roughest trips. Nothing worse than opening your jig box and seeing little paint chips broken off of your expensive tungsten jigs!

Do you guys find better success with natural colors or bright florescent colors?

I read an article in this years in-fisherman ice mag that a top NAIFC tournament angler swore by his own hand tied hair to tungsten jig heads. One in particular that he tied specifically using “golden retriever puppy hair” and credited much of his success to that. I just thought that was clever and pretty funny.