Rainydaze Tip Of The Week!!

So as a kid I loved reading “Taps Tips” out of Field and Stream magazine!! Can’t even begin to imagine all the cool things that I learned and was able to apply to my own outdoor experiences. I thought it would be fun to share some of the things we do on a day to day basis, and have learned through contact with so many anglers!! So this will be the start of the Rainydaze Tip of the week!! Hopefully some will be able to utilize some of this information to make there outdoor experiences more enjoyable!! Since I know we all have tricks we utilze while in the outdoors, and I might run out feel free to PM me your tip!! I will place your name in front of the TIP!!

TIP OF THE WEEK——–(From Rainydaze)

I guess a fitting tip due to our heavy snow cover this year will be how to deal with slush/water, since early in the year we’ve had some water pockets on the ice.

When setting your portable up in a situation where there is heavy snow weighting down the ice you often will notice that when drilling your holes you will have some water push up the hole and eventually flood the inside of your shack. To help with the extra water drill a series of holes 3/4 down outside your portable being careful not to go all the way through. Also drill a few holes 3/4 through in your house in “Dead Areas” now before shoveling yourself in scrape the water into these holes (small kids shovel works well). Set your shack over the holes you plan to fish, and if there is still some residual water coming up scrape that water in to the dead holes in the shack. This will ensure your flaps don’t freeze to the ice, and keep you from fishing in a swimming pool all day!! (Note the inside holes work great for livewells also!!)

Good Fishing!!

Good one

I have used a partial hole when I broke my minnow bucket.

Great tip. Since I only ice-fish once or twice a year and the fact that I’ll be on Leech next week T,W & T ice-fishing, I was worried about all the slush that I’ve heard about this year… not any more. Thanks!

I remember as a kid, we would make ice live wells all the time. Kept the little kids busy playing with fish. Great tips Chris!!

Daze:

That is a great tip, here is what we do over here regarding to slush… the night or two before we take our snowmobiles and run them through the area that we plan on fishing. By allowing the packed down area to freeze down before we fish it, we are able to park the sleds with otters sleds on the trail and keep the water/slush from freezing to the bottom of the sled and making travel all but impossible. When you get the trail to the area, kind of move the track to the side giving that area a little bit more width to work from.

Mark

Great Plan Mark!!

To add to your post. When Ice travel is tough and you don’t want everyone on the spot you’ve made a trail to. You can throw a curve ball to followers by popping holes in a few spots along the way. Kind of like throwing out dummy markers. I often times throw dummy markers out on humps during the summer months when the “Daze Casket” has a parade of followers. I know that I position myself 40-50yds off the marker in certain directions. Thus when curious george fisherman decide to Bogey in on the marker they are usually fishing in no mans land and can’t figure out why the marker is there, yet you still can pinpoint your location!! Plus it is great entertainment watching people work the marker scratching there heads like must be something here!! Hmnnnnn!

That is hilarious!!! Fortunately, I haven’t had too much issue with the followers as I am not advertising guide status.

I do know that I have had some interesting incidents happen on the ice that got me a little . During the holidays many years ago, I had friends and family fishing on a weed bed that had a hump offshore. Well after doing well the first day, they had moved onto our shack. We told them not to worry and I drill holes all around the inside turn of the weed line and then back out to the hump. Of course we catch fish, but they don’t. Never should have went to the hump as that night most everything happened out there. The next night we come back and they are set up on the hump!!! I never will fish that spot again especially during the holidays, the best part is they probably can’t find it without my help and they live on the shoreline right in front of it all.

It kind of interesting, ’cause we live here in resort paradise in the summer. Wealthy friends used a guide and of course on these small lakes over here clients live here and go back to spots the guides did well for them. Well these guys go back on the spot and the guide shows up and chews them a new one. I kind of shrug my shoulders on that one.

It is so hilarious fishing Mille Lacs or Rainy. They are so big that some of the humps on Mille and I bet Rainy too are bigger than our biggest lakes here in Minocqua (3500 lakes in a 60 mile radius). We may have a lot of water here, but the largest lake with the exception of the Turtle Flambeau Flowage (14K acres) or Chippewa Flowage (15K acres) is only 4000 acres.

Well I probably better get a little more work done. Oh by the way, great fishing with Holst. I think that might be one of the first times that I have ever seen him without a hat, just before you left the road on the sleds.

Mark