Even in my hay day I was never a first icer. Pretty much have followed Captain Musky’s rule of thumb over the years as well…never the first one on or last one off!

For those of you starting with full minnows on a treble hooked spoon, how are you hooking it? To stay alive I presume? I always use just the head or tail with mine but will try some smaller full fatheads next trip out.

Check out the ice houses at Blackhole Outdoors up in Wadena, very nice and affordable shacks that are well built and portable as well. Don’t own one yet but have seen them in person and visited with the owner a couple of times over the phone…the Sasquatch is on my wish list!

Reading about this incident finally got me to purchase an inflatable today at Scheels. Been boating for 40 years and seldom wore a life jacket but now that I’m in my 60’s I figured it would be a wise move to start doing so. Condolences to the fisherman’s family, and sorry it took a life to wake people like me up.

Buying online (even with shipping costs) is usually the cheapest route. I use Ammoseek.com for the hard to find stuff but generally go through my area stores to support local business. Ammoseek isn’t an actual outlet, just a search engine for ammo suppliers.

Also use Gulp Killer Crawlers with super slow death hooks and usually have very good results. Just got back from a trip to SD and caught walleye, northern, smallmouth, and crappie on this rig…since they’re hollow it makes them easy to thread on, but because they’re hollow they also tear more easily and the rig loses its spin once the collar splits down too far…great action though when rigged properly, and keeps the boat cleaner too!

Umy, thank you sir! I took your suggestion and ordered a new battery pack from Northland Marine and it arrived in the mail today. Swapped out the old one and that did the trick, my remote is alive again. Will order a backup next for a spare. Thanks again!

Condolences on your dog’s passing, just put my 13 yo GWP down on April 1. Dogs can and will eat anything and everything if given the chance. I always figured that would be my dog’s demise someday but other than an upset stomach once in awhile she was fine. Over the years she consumed lead loaded shot gun shells, 2 or 3 dog mats, many decomposed critters she found (after rolling on them first), and hundreds of baby birds and rabbits. The best one was an antique handmade doily that my wife inherited from her Grandma…the pooch ate that down as a snack one day too and we were both in the doghouse. Luckily, I happened to be outside with the dog the next day when she passed it so I picked it up with a stick to proudly show my wife our good fortune…back to doghouse I went!

The battery is a rechargeable pak, not AAA. I did find a couple of remotes for that model # online for $300-400, yikes! We get spoiled easily but at that price I’ll live without a remote if I can’t get it going…thought I was king of the hill when I bought my first auto-pilot back in the 90’s anyway! Thanks to all for the input.

Thanks for the input! The Precision Trolling app is pretty cool regarding boat speed for the 50+2 method and has different curves in .25 mph increments from 1.25 mph up to 3.0 mph.

Can someone please explain the logic of having your daily and possession limit the same. I think 6 is generous but never have understood that one and even lived in MN for 12 years.

Maybe I’m just lucky but I have had pretty good customer service from Marcum. They just replaced an 11+ month old wireless camera panner for me with a new one two weeks ago and I didn’t even have to show a receipt. I think the ticket was having my product registered, which I have done with all of my electronics and gear whether they are Marcum or not.

My hole hopping tactics this year will be based on using #3 UL Rippin’ Raps and Acme Rattlin’ Google Eye jigs.

Great deer, congrats! Nice shot too, slugs?

If there is no snow on the ice you can pull a heavily loaded sled with one finger…if (when) you get snow that’s when the grunting begins. I am a year older than you, average in health, and of similar size and pull an Otter XT Pro Cottage with all my gear and auger in the sled…estimated total weight is somewhere around 135 lbs. Even at that weight it can be a chore at times pulling it alone on snow covered ice if I have to go any distance.

I run the Marcum Recon 5 (not +) and paired it with their wireless panner…works pretty slick and didn’t break the bank. Whatever system you choose, either make or buy a panner for it.

Going through the archives I see that removing the split ring and tying directly to the lure might get better results…guess I’ll experiment and find out this winter!

Loaded up on ice line to avoid bare shelves come Dec/Jan. Will be trying fluoro for the first time on ice this year…3 lb Sufix Invisiline. That is, if these old eyes can tie a knot with it, lol.

Thanks for all of the advice. I’ll be putting my new registration decals right where the old ones were so they should cover up the brighter finish again.

I placed a big order back in early May and still haven’t received several items…what has shipped from that order came in multiple deliveries. I was at Scheels last week and got what I needed so when the rest comes I’ll return at Bass Pro for a refund, only 25 miles away…it was low on fishing gear too the last time I went in there 3 weeks ago.

Great info! I am getting back into catfishing after a 35 year hiatus and always looking for new ideas on quality gear. I recently bought a 7′, two piece, medium action, Ugly Stik GX2 for my “crawler rod” and even though it is on the light end for my comfort level, has produced decent results so far…are you familiar enough with it to make a comparison between the two? I guess I am just having a hard time embracing circle hooks and think the rod action will make a big difference as far as loading up properly for using them…running J hooks only on my medium-heavy rods as a result.

Ice fishing was with a spud bar, 5 gallon bucket, and no flasher

$40 coon (carcass) were the average

100 bushel/acre corn was a benchmark

SNL with Belushi, Akroyd, and Gang was must see TV

River walleye from Iowa on jig/plastics, 3/7/20.

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