BOOTED from FM

Thanks Brian…

Peope are right.. there isnt much reports in some areas of the state on this site.. same with other sites though.

The only way to get some traffic in your area is by putting up some reports yourself, or fish for some information. If you give people some reason to make discussing your area more interesting.. eventually more people are going to chime in from the area.

This open water season I am going to make a valued effort to get some good info up on the metro waters.. I hope others do too. It needs traffic.

A perfect example is when Larry Flatcaster became active on the site here.. the Minnesota river forum went from completey dead, to quite active in a couple weeks. I dont expect that forum to be quiet anymore during the open water season… when there is activity, word spreads fast.

As far as I know (and I don’t know everybody) there is only one Pro Staffer who is/was a full time guide and that is James. The others are butchers, construction workers, engineers, plumbers, etc. They have IMO just put in the time and money to raise their game to a higher level. Kudos to them! And to be honest I would suspect that James spends way more time on running the website and now IDO then he does fishing. He must have figured out how to do the 36 hour day!

And I’m still a member of FM and have met some real great guys there; management excluded.

dd

FM….. I have been on there a few times, not enough time kicking the tires over there to even give an opinion. Where do you guys find the time to search multiple sites???

Between work, IDA, Actually Hutning & fishing, and my personal/Family life. I have all I can handle.

As far as IDA goes. I think the Management, Staff and Members are all Outstanding. I have never met some people from here or perhaps just a few times. Yet I chat, email and PM with some everyday. Obtaining friends with never even meeting them. I can say that most of those people would give me the shirt off their back and vice versa. Not many sites where that all can be said. Class people here @ IDA all sharing a common goal of enjoying every minute they/we have in the great outdoors…… and that is what it is all about.

I enjoy both websites and they both offer very good information. Remember, all of these websites, along with their “Pro’s” are advertiser supported, and of course, need to be to exist. Therefore, you’re going to get skewed information on both websites. Don’t kind yourself.

That being said, both offer good information and are fun to be a part of. They are a great benefit to anglers – and advertisers.

Quote:

---

I was going to fish a lake I had never ice fished before and after posting a few questions I was told I was asking to many questions and to do some research on the lake.

---

How much help can you expect when you admit you’re a Broncos fan? J/K!

Mark

Good points!

And what Fisher Dave said is soooo true with Larry and the MN river.
Another area that is going or should I say is starting to take off is Clearwater Lake .

Glenn has been fishing and talking in that relativly “dead” forum and the interest there..well, I think surprise even Glenn!

I’ve been urging a transplanted IDA member to start yaking about the Hutchinson area. Lots of lakes and I know there are fishermen out there that have computers! If he would get rolling…I’m going to be looking for a new forum!

I agree with Dave and you Brian. We need people from outstate to chime in more on the fishing in their areas. I happen to mostly fish the Mississippi and Mille Lacs so I love the way IDA covers these areas. But I tend to draw a blank when I “fish” for info in other areas.

dd

Also look at what the Nebraska guys have been doing. I am reading more and more about Nebraska lakes, and seeing more and more guys there.

That could not have been said last year. If you build it, they will come

Quote:

---

I enjoy both websites and they both offer very good information. Remember, all of these websites, along with their “Pro’s” are advertiser supported, and of course, need to be to exist. Therefore, you’re going to get skewed information on both websites. Don’t kind yourself.

---

Sorry to hear you feel this way but please dont lump us in with what some of these other sites may be doing. There are many of us staff on this site that have no ties to any companies other than there enjoyment of the sport. I for one pride myself on being able to give unbiased posts on what I am doing and whos products may have helped me catch fish that day. If you think that what I am reporting is skewed or not true please feel to ask me about it in either a reply to my post or a pm. I sure most other staff on this site feel the same also.

Quote:

---

Remember, all of these websites, along with their “Pro’s” are advertiser supported, and of course, need to be to exist. Therefore, you’re going to get skewed information on both websites.

---

Take the time to get to know the guys on this site and others. You’ll QUICKLY weed out the product “pushers” from the guys that only promote products they consider to be the very best products available.

Quote:

---

Sorry to hear you feel this way but please dont lump us in with what some of these other sites may be doing. There are many of us staff on this site that have no ties to any companies other than there enjoyment of the sport. I for one pride myself on being able to give unbiased posts on what I am doing and whos products may have helped me catch fish that day. If you think that what I am reporting is skewed or not true please feel to ask me about it in either a reply to my post or a pm. I sure most other staff on this site feel the same also.

---

Very Good Point Mike. IDA staff is just bunch of regular people for the most part. Who work Full time regualr jobs and then some. We do not get paid by this site or anyone else affiliated with it for the majority of us. We are just fisherman like everyone else here that has a passion for the outdoors and willing to share it with anyone and everyone that will listen. IDA is no duobt a entertainment source (with all the clowns we have here ), but fore most it is a teaching and sharing tool.

Quote:

---

I just hope I can find my fit in here also.

---

Looks like you already did
Ron

OK. I need some advice then James…..I tried weeding out BrianK at Mille Lacs GTG and could not happen, got lucky he had a prior engagement that had him leave early . Stinks to miss you there, hopefully will get to meet you sometime .

Broncs

Quote:

---

Stinks to miss you there, hopefully will get to meet you sometime .
Broncs

---

It was a MAJOR bummer to have to miss the event but I was flat OUT of time to film the next IDO episode. And thankfully we nailed the shoot so in the end it should be worth it.

I’ll look for you at the next GTG or maybe at the Northwest Sports Show in March?

that is great to hear about the shoots. and maybe the next GTG is a possibility.

Come on Lip, we all know it’s a capitalist society we live in. We are marketed to every minute we are awake, all day long.

Here is an example….You guys all push Game Hide…I for one can see through the marketing blitz put on here and purchased the best product out there Cabelas Guide Ware.

It doesn’t mean I don’t respect your opinion.

OK now I’ll run….

Bobberal, I am a fan of Guidewear also, but I wear my Gamehide a lot. It is a nice fit between Insulated Guidewear and Uninsulated. About 90% of the time I am on the ice now I wear the Gamehide. In addition, I wear it during the summer. Both are great products and have there place

I should clarify…I have the insulated Guide Ware from Cabelas…The Game Hide looks ok, but not worth replacing my summer and early fall 100 mph suit from Bass Pro.

Game Hide is similar to the Bass Pro 100 mph Suit but is less money.

Ok Bobber Al, I will bite and no need to run.

You say “we all push Gamehide”. There are some, not all of us here that are fortunate enough to be able to wear the Typhoon Gamehide product. A few of us have and do comment on Gamehide.. Was this gear given to IDA staff????? No, it was not. This product was purchased by staffers as away of saying thanks to a company that sponsors this site and keeps the lights on for all of us to enjoy. It is our job as Staffers to help, inform and educate the public on various things, fishing, techniques, equipment, etc. on things that work or do not work for us. I wore Cabela’s Un-insulated Guidewear religiously for 6 years. Great stuff, and it did what it said it would do. Keep you dry in nastiest stuff. Along comes Gamehide, with a similar product. I wore the stuff and not only did it do everything that my Guidewear did, it did it in a way that made me more comfortable with a bunch of little extra advatnges over the Guidewear suit. I would like to poll the # of people that actually wear the coat on the Guidewear as much as they do the Bibs. If it is like almost everyone I fished with, including myself. I barely wore the jacket and it would have to really start to rain before I put it on. Why is that???? It was uncomfortable and binding to wear. Now take the Gamehide Typhoon wear. I wear that stuff( bibs and jacket) all the time. Very comfortable and easy to move in. Way less stiff, rigid and bulky then the Guidewear and the Typhoon wear does what it should. Typhoon wear keeps you warm and bone dry in the nastiest stuff just like Guidewear, plus it keeps you comfortable with innovations like Freedom Sleeve, their air flow venting system, etc. So with all that in consideration I then look at the price tag of the two and find Gamehide approximately $50 less for the suit. Well……….. to me Bobber AL that is a no brainer, along with that they back their products 100%, just like Guidewear.

So yes BobberAl, we(IDA Staff) informed you and the rest of IDA what we have found out on a “new quality product” that hit the market. Is that not what you and the rest of us are here for??? To gather and share information on fishing equipment, techniques and gear??? Next time, I can do a product review on a “$4.99 Poncho” if you need me to. You wear it and 20 minutes later you are soaked. I suggest not wearing one if you want to stay dry (toungue in cheek).

I have one question for you Bobber Al……… Have you tried the Typhoon wear????? Don’t you think it is hard to make a educated decision unless you have tired them both out?? Well, I have tried both of them. Both of them are great products.

In reference my last post stating that most of us do not get paid to do this. If I’m on Gamehide’s payroll, please tell me the check is in the mail, because I have not received one yet.

PS: That James Holst guy pushes that DVD of Trophy Walleye fishing. That is the biggest joke, we ALL know you can’t catch big eyes in the fall on Mille Lacs.

Quote:

---

However, once in a while we need help so this is what I suggest if you want details… Try PM’ing a certain individual if you have specific questions about a fishery or technique. You’d be suprized what you can get from PM’s.

---

PM’s are great…a feature that is locked out on FM.

Seems kind of goofy to me?

By locking out PMs more conversations get pushed into the forumns and not on the side. Which in turn is more numbers on the pages and then in turn a better selling point to sponsors. Hey look at all of our posts here.

What I have heard the reasoning behind it is to much for the space on the server and it will make there site go slow.

Easy guys easy no need to start the *&^% match here like other sites bobber you got an issue like stated PM someone just cause you ASSUME something you believe it foesnt always mean that it is true now does it

I thought I would give the perspective of a very amateur fisherman. I basically fell out of fishing during college and several years ago I started to get back into it by going to Canada for a week with my family. That grew into me going pan fishing with my father (that is his favorite type of fishing) a couple times a month and doing some additional walleye fishing back in WI. I finally bought an old Lund and starting fishing some small lakes around the twin cities. Then BZZSAW turned me on to IDA. Since then, I have upgraded my boat and started fishing the St. Croix a bit and made my first trips to Mille Lacs this last summer. Why? From the information I got from IDA. I didn’t get anybody’s honey hole but instead I got information on trolling techniques and what baits to use. That was very helpful and got me excited to go to these places and give it a try. I’m working up the courage to try pool 4 this spring and plan on going to Mille Lacs several times this summer.

As for FM, I was thinking of going to URL last fall and I couldn’t find much information on IDA so I searched the web and ended up on FM. Well one guy wrote that they were very disappointed in the action they had. Well some pro staff that owns a bait shop (or works there) up there started ripping him saying “You spent time looking for rockpiles and cribs. Maybe should have spent time looking for fish?” and several other jumped in on him too without even knowing how he fished the lake. I’m pretty sure those guys wouldn’t lip off like that if I was standing in front of them but it is pretty easy to be an arse on the computer. Why would you ever put yourself out there like that just to get ripped on? I haven’t been back to the site since then.

erick, What

Sorry, I have no idea what you are trying to say?

I really like the guide wear from Mills Fleet! That orange and black really looks sharp on the ice or in the boat. Oh, and it’s pretty easy to spot also!
Oh, and Erick, what were you trying to say in all that mis-spelled mumbo jumbo Spellcheck my man!

wow ignore that last one guys wow lol no was just trying to say we do not need argument over anything dumb we all just finished saying we love this site cause everyone gets treated the same pro staff or just a member. Figured we all just not argue about who got what or anything just cause there title and if we do have a concern or problem just use the FM to not start un wanted srama here thats all…thanks…..and sorry for not proof reading guys too

Quote:

---

Also look at what the Nebraska guys have been doing. I am reading more and more about Nebraska lakes, and seeing more and more guys there.

That could not have been said last year. If you build it, they will come

---

Major kudos to our new Nebraska staff and members!

I met Todd NE for the first time this last weekend and Ben Garver was up to the ML G2G also…

I’m just hoping I get to meet some of the real fisherman from that way…the cat guys!

Those Nebraska posts actually got me wanting to go down there and fish!

dd