100% accurate! Unless you’re going to spend a lot stay away from shimano. I used to buy the $100 shimanos and they used to be great, not anymore. Not in the slightest. I’ll go as far as saying junk. On the other hand 100% of the Diawa’s I’ve purchased have been phenomenal.

Bass Thumb wrote:

I’ve used to be all about the Shimano Stradics. They’re great reels, don’t get me wrong, but they’re not cheap! I still prefer Shimano for my baitcasters; Curado for bass and Tranx for musky.

I’ve been incorporating more Daiwa spinning reels into my arsenal. Honestly, I’m very impressed by their value. They feel like a much more expensive reel, their weight is comparable, and they appear to be just as durable.

I’d recommend a Legalis LT or a Fuego. You could probably get 2 Legalis for $100 if you play your cards right.

Take this for what it’s worth. I used to be a die-hard Fenwick fan. In fact I still have some of the original Fenwick rods. But in the last 10 years I’ve purchased six different Fenwick rods. They all were brittle and snapped within the first year for sure or less. I have numerous St Croix and G Loomis rods. They seem to be flexible and I have yet to break one even with the abuse my clients put them through at times. I’m not sure what changed with Fenwick but they are not what they used to be. I personally will not waste another dollar on a Fenwick rod.

I don’t have any experience with Anderson but I’ve heard good things.

I just had two big picture windows replaced at my house facing the lake. Not cheap… I went with Marvin windows. Worst decision ever. My last Marvin Windows were trash and I got talked into doing them again. The screens don’t fit and the windows don’t even close right. Brand new and I can feel the air blowing in when they’re closed. Anything but a marvin. Contacted the rep and customer service multiple times. No response. Nonexistent customer service.

Sorry dutchie I completely disagree with this. I’ve fished out of all three of these. They are very different and have a lot of pros and cons.

Ranger has a nice layout in my opinion and yields to easy fishing of a lot of species. There’s a lot of nice dry storage and the boat tracks in the water really nice. But they are hard to find and relatively expensive.

The Skeeters are also nice but in my opinion and many others they are a lot more tippy. When you get a side wave they pitch and roll a lot more than a ranger does. I know a very reputable Muskie guide that had a skeeter and said he’d never fish out of one again. He went back to a ranger.

Warriors are also not cheap but they’re awesome boats. But they do not have the flat storage all the way around the outside like the Ranger does. (Nice for walking or sitting on) This is not bad it’s just different. The storage is different and how you will be able to use the boat is different. I recommend either a warrior or Ranger and I would fish out of both of them before you decide. They are both nice but depending on your needs one might be a strong frontrunner. Hope this helps.

I’ve had them follow me while fishing. They were very close. I almost got one of them with a rapala. Missed it by a couple inches. Then it stayed out of casting distance but was there quite awhile. I’d have zero problem shooting a drone harrasing me while fishing.

Spoon Minnow wrote:

It will always come down to numbers and quality caught. I got both and the logs to prove it.

Sounds like you got it all figured out. Have fun, thats all that matters.

By the way how many walleye have you caught in clear water during the day on your wire leader?

I actually have the luxury of owning and using all the major brands. I can tell you from experience they all have their strong points. Saying anything otherwise is simply uneducated.

I really didn’t need to come across this thread at 7:30 in the morning. I had plans to start tiling the basement bathroom right away this morning.. Thanks a lot guys. Now I have to cook homemade hash browns.

Congrats James!

This is very exciting news. I want to thank you for always being a true professional!

From the first time I met you on the ice to the first time we filmed together. You taught me a lot. In fact being around you it seemed your goal was always to help everyone you came in contact with. I will forever be thankful. I couldn’t be happier for you!

Well I feel really irresponsible now. I have a Honda 2000 and and a predator 3500. I change them about every 500 hours.

Honestly I go till the low oil light comes on and then I change it. I have no idea how old my generators are but they’ve been around quite a while. No issues. I do run them a lot though. Anywhere from 50 to 100 hours a week all winter.

I run the Kats block heater shown and it Works perfect. Barely gets the tank warm but enough to run the tank empty in -30deg.

Mark J. wrote:

RANT for ALL Companies – PLEASE ADD HYFAX to your sleds, so I DON’T HAVE TO!!!!! I’ll PAY MORE!

Mark

The reason the companies don’t put them on is because they’re really not needed. I’ve never had hyfax on one of my sleds. Nor have they ever shown any wear. I pull them down gravel roads, across fields and I’ve had the same sled for over 10 years. Probably quite a bit longer than that. IMO, Save yourself some hassle and don’t put them on.

John Ingalls wrote:

I have a Garmin LVS32 for sale, $200. Purchased April of 2021 and very little use. Part of a Garmin ice fishing bundle.

Can I ask how it got so scratched and beat up if you rarely used it? Use it as a wheel chock?

JoeMX1825 wrote:

You likely spent close to $3,000 on your Livescope system, why go cheap on the pole? The Summit pole is about $120

I think the summit pole looks like junk. Just my opinion. If I’m going to use junk it better be cheap so for that reason I made my own for cheap and I feel it works much better than the summit set up.

I was just up in Virginia yesterday. Like Grouse said lots of broken off trees next to the road. On the bright side it was one of the most beautiful drives I’ve taken in a long time.

Attachments:

1. 

   20221220_112028-scaled.jpg
   

2. 

   20221220_120505-scaled.jpg
   

fishthumper wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>brandmoney wrote:</div>
x2 on the Milwaukee 2804

X3 on Milwaukee 2804. There is a reason you see more of these on ice drill setups than on all other brands combined.

No offense to the red guys but I have used Milwaukee drills for work over the past 5 yrs and curse at them everyday. They are beyond garbage compared to a Dewalt 996 or 999. I’ve seen numerous Millwaukees in pieces being used with an auger. I haven’t seen one issue with a Dewalt and we reopen holes with them and beat on them.

There’s a reason Milwaukee will no longer warranty a drill used on an auger. They simply can’t handle it. This is just facts from first-hand experience, guiding and fishing with 100’s of clients. Not really an opinion whatsoever.

It blows me away when I see someone recommend milwaukee. Makes me think they haven’t used one or really don’t fish much.

I’m very picky about how food is taken care of, cleaned and cared for. IMO 12hrs at that temp is nothing. Cook it all up and eat it. 100% no worries.

I’d rather eat that than a commercially processed animal any day.

I just burn coal to charge my electric car.

I bought the cheapest vest on Amazon… around $25 and I hooked up a Dewalt battery in the pocket an it’s worked great for years! Has multiple heat sections and settings.

Specially designed batteries will be smaller and more convenient. If you’re trying to do it on a budget use the battery you have and a cheap vest and it’ll do the same thing. If money is no object by an expensive one with special batteries and you’ll be happy too.

Bearcat89 wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Ripjiggen wrote:</div>
Can’t believe the destruction to ft Myers beach. It is basically gone. Going to take years to rebuild.

Just for it to happen again one day.

And again and again and again. Then we can all act surprised it happened.

Tillers work great for tubing and skiing. If all I did was recreation I would get a council about. But I fish way more than I ski or tube so I got a tiller boat. In my opinion get a boat that matches whatever you do most of the time.

Coletrain27 wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>3rdtryguy wrote:</div>
Be careful if it’s a hand auger that you can turn it in the corners of your house if it’s a hard sided permanent house.

thats a good point. and not sure if a hand auger will even be long enough. do they even make extensions for hand augers?

Yup, I do but the extension goes right into your cordless drill😁 adjustable extension built in👍

Drill/Auger Combination

Do you have a link to the event you’re talking about?

Homer was a blast and so was Seward. We played pool at the Salty dog in Homer and pool at Tony’s in Seward. We also climbed to the top of Marathon mountain which was a great hike.

We love fishing but there’s so much fun to be had up there.

Attachments:

1. 

   20220728_182735-scaled.jpg
   

2. 

   20220727_235758-scaled.jpg
   

3. 

   20220802_131450-scaled.jpg
   

4. 

   20220802_194229-scaled.jpg
   

5. 

   20220803_075718-scaled.jpg
   

Lou W wrote:

Rain gear…..bring rain gear

Just got back from a 14 day trip. To my surprise we only had a bit of rain 2 days. 10 days of sunshine. The entire trip was the best I’ve had. Record numbers of fish and great weather. We brought home 540 pounds of salmon. 100% self guided. We just hiked and fished from shore. It’s more work but we’re not reeling in any 4lb weights and we are on our schedule. Guides up there have you wake up at 3:00-4:00 am. Heck that’s about when we go to bed😁

Attachments:

1. 

   19858.jpeg
   

2. 

   19763-1.jpeg
   

3. 

   19761-1.jpeg
   

4. 

   20220729_143548-scaled.jpg
   

5. 

   20220724_1528582-scaled.jpg
   

Just sold the boat. Can’t believe it took that long. It’s a good boat going to a good home. Thanks IDO👍🏻

tim hurley wrote:

Minnows have their place, would not use them now though.

Agree, Minnows in the Spring and fall. This time of year… 100% pointless. Good advice.

Looks like I paid more than a lot of you at 2.00, jealous of those near me paying 1.50 what the heck… oh well.

gimruis wrote:

You definitely have an advantage being a fishing guide though.

Thanks

Everyone says this but in my opinion. The average angler gets to look for crappie way more than I do. I fish walleye 80-90% of the time. The average angler is a lot more flexible. It should be much easier for you to find crappie than for me.

Picture this scenario. I’m out looking for walleye with clients… I’m searching a weed line on the outside edge, that’s all I get to do. If I was by myself I’d check the top weededge for crappie on the next pass, but I can’t. That’d waste time from the walleye trip.

Just get out there and search the top of the outside weededge and you’ll find your crappie.

I grew up being taught to hate RockBass. I was told “they are wormy” so we threw em back.

Then one day I had a group from Iowa… in typical Iowian fassion (please don’t take offense) they wanted to keep as many fish as possible. So we kept every rock bass.

But thanks to them I kept some rockbass and fried them for shore lunch. They were not only clean looking, with no worms, they tasted incredible. Fully as good as any other freshwater fish and I’m very picky.

So since then I keep and eat em on a regular basis. They are terrific and I feel I’m helping out the lake. I will bet anyone they can not tell the difference between a cooked rock bass and a sunfish or walleye in a blind taste test. I mean that I’ve done this many times and I’ve never lost.

So the next time you are out on the lake getting into rock bass make sure you keep some and give them a try. Remember people used to hate perch and eelpout too.