Ice fishing show…

I went to the St. Paul Ice Fishing Show today with my friend, Richard Smith. Of all the things I saw there, I was most impressed by the Salmo Chubby Darter. I bought two of the 6’s (guess that is a 6 cm/15g). I got to see them in the tank at the Jig-A-Whopper booth. I think that the action of the Chubby Darter is just great! Much better than anything I have ever seen in a sports show tank, verticle jigged. I have big plans for these little guys this winter!

I wanted a new fl18 Vexilar…. What a unit…. I think many of us may be “missing the boat” by not haveing these on the bow trolling motor in open water. I was impressed with this new Vexilar unit.

Guess I’ll have to listen for a street vendor to come by yelling “old vexes for new….” When he comes, I am going to trade up! Hawger

I agree, the FL-18’s are sweet.

A friend of mine and myself talked to the Vexilar guys. (One of the Techs at the Vexilar booth) He said the FL-8 SLT were 30 % brighter than the FL-8, and the FL-18 is 30% brighter than the SLT !! I’d have to agree. The FL-18 is brighter and sharper.

Definetly will be upgrading.

J.

I think the fl 18 will make all the fl 8s worthless so if anyone wants to get rid of theirs I could take them off your hands! I am so happy with my Fl 8 that I am not in a hurry to get an 18 but by spring I imagine I will have one.

Fish and hunt Devils lake, lodging, guides, complete vacation packages. 888 438 6760

Hey Guys!!

Did you see the buy the had on aqua views down there?? I heard on the radio, as I was sitting on the river, they were selling for 179.99. Regularly priced at 299.00 I bet they didn’t have many left at that price??

Anyway, I’ve heard/read very good things about the chubby darter also. I would like to get one to try down at Red Wind right now. I think an ultra light rod with one of these little devils would be a blast on the saugers….

About those darters…

Guys have already taken them to Red Wing on the Mississippi River and, as some of you already supposed, the walleye and sauger love ’em! I talked to a neighboring boat yesterday that took some of their nicer fish on that lure.

Might definitely be worth adding to your tackle boxes for more than just ice fishing!

James Holst

Moving Waters Guide Service

http://www.movingwaters.net

Be careful with the Aqua View Jr. I have had 3 of them that all went bad due to bad cables. 2 of the units were bad when I took them out of the box. Nature Vision was good about replacing them as they new there was a problem. I was allowed to upgrade to a Z-60 which went bad due to an improperly sealed monitor. They have since upgraded me to an old larger unit that is holding up well.

Thanks for your frank info… nice to hear that the company is working with you though! So… has the view changed your fishing? Hawger

Went to the show on Sunday, had to wait 40 minuetes to get tickets because they wer not selling them yet. it was really a mess some guys were really pissed. i hadn’t been to the show in over 5 years. was dissapointed in the number of booths selling tackle, and the lack of really good deals. seems there were more in the past. i guess they don’t make money that way. but had a good time and did get some good deals. I’ll wait on the darter till it is realy field tested this winter and then i’ll know for sure and the price will drop.

I use to sell the vista cam unit. I have sat next to a aqua cam up on the big pond. and I have to say that I will stick with the vista. Bigger screen am/fm radio and tv with antenna when ice fishing and the big game is on. As far as differances there isn’t. The parts for all cams come from the same company. But the vista is a nice unit for the $$$.

Jigger2001

Dave,

I used a vista cam everytime I went up to Mille Lacs last year. My personal opinion, the cameras are nice toys. I don’t own one because I can “borrow” one from the store whenever I want. They are nice for finding the spot on the spot when structure fishing. They also tell you what’s down there vs. the vex. If I had $300 to spend though, the vex is still the my first choice. Like I said, the camera is a nice toy!!! I think they can improve your fishing, but not like a vexilar will. What a rush to see a 40+ inch muskie on the screen though. I thought I was gonna lose my camera that day.

Yes. The first thing it did was show just how many walleyes there are in Lake Minnetonka. I was amazed to see the numbers of walleyes. panfish and bass on the outside weed edges, especially where rock mixes with the weed edge. Even though I live close to the lake I hadn’t fished it much since milfoil had taken over the shallows.

I have found boat contol difficult when looking at the screen and trying to stay on the weed edge that goes from 18′ to 7′ in a matter of a few feet. I use the camera as more of a scouting tool when on open water. If using it while fishing I prefer to have someone else in the boat use the camera while I drive and watch the Lowrance or Zercom.

It helped on the Canadian side of Lake of the Woods in finding the right types of reefs in the summer. We fish tiny reefs north of the Angle and were astonished to see how different the bottom is on these reefs. Some reefs are filled with small boulders while some are one huge sheet of rock.

It is also fun to use while ice fishing during the day. Once twilight hits, the camera becomes ineffective even with IR or multicolored lights.