Congrats, James! Being a small business owner myself with employees I can understand the magnitude of that opportunity…and decision. I’m happy for you and the IDMP team and wish ya all the best!

P.S. you forgot to leave the GPS coordinates on that screenshot.

Dang…looking forward to Sunday’s show!

Dan,
Thanks for the feedback. I’m kind of leaning that way.

I’ve had a similar experience on heavier rods. Tape either flexes a bit and you can feel the reel “wiggling” a bit. I’ve also had the silicone tape I typically use bust as well. That time it was likely my fault for being cheap and only using one wrap but it was likely all I had left when mounting the reel (knowing me).

For those that have one:

Reel seat or no? I’m waiting for some Xmas GC to come in and plan on ordering one. Usually this type of rod (Lakers, pike, heavy dead stick) where one runs a larger reel I would usually lean towards a reel seat.

Nice or just go with the 8” cork?
(Not a fan of the Eva on my BW).

2018 Kodiak. Fits fine. Like other said, just place it so you can pop the seat off.

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I have a bunch of Ceymar 10s but have lately been buying more of the Daiwa qz750 reels. Grabbed a couple last year and really liked them so that’s been my small “ice” reel of late.

I’ve been using the Yaktrax diamond grip ones the past few seasons and have been happy with them. Never slip like the cheaper “coil” style ones and also aren’t so aggressive that they tear up your ATV or truck if you need to hop in for a quick relocation. This being the main reason I haven’t tried something like the Microspikes yet.

Bearcat89 wrote:

I know I gave a guy a tip from ido and he did well on panfish, smaller lake same area. 3 inches he said. Clear black ice

Hoping the warm weather hasn’t ruined it.

Did watch a guy bust up a portion with a Wilcraft that ended up going through. Not sure what he was thinking but it seemed to work as advertised.

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Fingers crossed after today it freezes quick. I booked a day trip with Hawthorne for 12/17 a couple months back and I’m begin to think it may get canceled.

Metal Kolpins. Used them with my kdrill years ago no issues and still carrying my Strikemaster these days. Also nice for carrying lawn tools in the summer since I leave them on year around.

Love my lite flite. Guy on the lake the other day with a kdrill made a comment after he watched me zip through 3” of ice as about as fast as the drill spun up. Normally I dont care about all the auger wars, but I got a chuckle out of that.

For a concrete cutter like you I would had guessed you’d have power tools laying around. In less than 10-12” ice I use my Milwaukee. More than that it goes on my 40v power head.

I’m sure there may be cheaper options now but I’ve been using Noco for close to 10yrs and they never let me down. GB50 in truck, GB 40 in wife’s care and GB20 kept in the Otter box on my ATV.

Charging up a 30Ah battery for a Panoptix is going to be tough. Unless you go the deep cycle or generator route like Bearcat suggested.

Good luck, EPG! Hope you find them because I always like seeing those ridiculously large manhole cover crappies.

Grouse is right about the ‘yotes. Definitely, something to consider. On that note, I do hunt a fair amount over fields and take 75-250yrd shots fairly regularly.

I have the usual suspect calibers in the safe but am currently piecing together components for a 6 ARC build. Might want to look into that one before buying any parts…if you can find them. I’m an FFL with wholesale account access and it’s still nearly impossible to find anything good in stock right now.

Good luck and keep us updated on what you decide to go with!

Thanks for the report, Andy! Great news as the mild weather lately has had me wondering about my 12/17 guided trip up there. Fingers crossed the wind remains low and the snow stays away!

Good luck, Ron! Send us a report when you get back. If the ice holds over the weekend I’m going to try and get up there middle of next week.

Brandon,

I’ve been advised to set alarm at 10v by a guy I know and trust that’s been running LS on Milwaukee batteries a couple seasons now. I think I’m going to set mine at 11v to start just to give myself a margin of error. I’ll see how that goes and adjust as necessary.

Amped batteries says the FLX28 pulls about 0.25A. Let’s throw in a margin of error and call it 0.3A. That’s 16 hrs of run time on a 5Ah battery.

Assuming you’re referring to this one:
https://www.milwaukeetool.com/tools/cordless-tools/heated-gear/m18-power-source/49-24-2371#sp-specs

The OEM Milwaukee USB/12v adapter is limited to ~2A output on the barrel connector from what I’ve read. I’ve also read that it’s a pretty “dirty” electrical signal which could be an issue depending on what you plan to run off it.

Plus the USB out is a measly 500mA which will only really trickle charge current cell phones or tablets.

It will drop the 18-20v down to 12v. Most power boxes made for charging general things are 12v because most accessories are 12v or less (e.g. phones and lights as you mentioned). Not all equipment can handle a 18-20v input. That’s why I recommended the 12v step down converter.

I like this little sneak peek series! Was pumped when my YouTube alert went off this afternoon.

Lol you guys. I like my neighbors and their kids. Good drinking buddies (the adults). Funny thing though, they keep asking if I’ve seen their cat.

What cat, you had a cat?!?

That’s true. Maybe time for my dancing shoes and a sacrifice….

Easy peasy. Here’s what you need.

gimruis wrote:

Take this for what its worth. NOAA is forecasting a warm trend for most of December.

Of course 2020 would give us one more “F you” before the year is over. COVID already ruined my March 2020 Winnipeg trip and 2021 isn’t looking much better at this point. So it would only be par for the course it also screws with the local ice season.

Glad to hear you’re doing okay all things considered, Steve. Hang in there, the IDO circus is thinking about ya and Happy Birthday!

Retailers must hate people like me.

Originally ordered the DSG one for $699.
Returned that one and placed BF pre-order with Reeds for $599
Now placed order with Cabelas. Used active junky, in-store pickup discount, and Cabelas bucks to score this one for $514 now after all said and done.

We’ll see if my Cabelas one gets canceled or if they really let me pick it up tomorrow before cancelling the Reeds pre-order.

That’s awesome, James! Big congrats to you and the IDO crew!

Mike N wrote:

I’m curious on the long term durability of them. They don’t say what material they use, PLA / PLA+ is the most common.

They confirmed it’s now PLA+.