iFish Pro

Good info James! You are doing to good of a job selling these, I had them on my Christmas list but they were sold out everywhere and I wound up with a bottle of whiskey instead. I know poor me!

Awesome!! I had the whole trigger under the trigger post, does it matter which way you have the line stop curved?

Thanks again for the help!!

Aaron Kalberer wrote:

Awesome!! I had the whole trigger under the trigger post, does it matter which way you have the line stop curved?

Thanks again for the help!!

I like having the trigger curved as you see in the photos. I think it is a little bit easier to set up this way and sits more naturally down towards the hole then if you have it curved the other way. However, I don’t think which way you have it curved effects anything regarding release pressure etc

I’m always happy to help. I have really come to enjoy fishing with the iFishpros and feel I have developed a pretty solid system with regards to rigging, rods, reels that can really shorten the learning curve for anyone that wants to add one of these units to their arsenal.

RJEC 33 wrote:

Hey James, would you say this presentation universal in most lakes? I’ve seen in the past you’ve posted a video that illustrated something along these lines of a Sure Set Treble tied onto a leader and about 6″ of a tag end and putting the split shot about 6″ underneath the hook. Is there a reason for this different presentation? My thought was maybe this could be used to pin the minnow down closer to bottom based on the forage in a specific body of water (ie goby) but wasn’t sure. Thanks again

Sorry I missed this question. The only time I would recommend pinning a minnow within inches of bottom is if you are fishing a body of water where gobies have become a primary forage species.

In natural lakes I like to have my baits a minimum of a foot-and-a-half off the bottom. On those lakes with goby, namely Green Bay, the fish get so tuned in to feeding on Gobi tight to the bottom anytime you raise a bait above their heads they swim off almost immediately.

This is not the case in natural lakes we’re perch, shiners, ciscos, or shad are often the primary forage species.

Thanks again, I am looking forward to using mine, going out before the storm hits tonight to see what is willing to bite!!

RJEC 33 I I think this is the episode from Green Bay that you were referencing in your original question. In this episode this was the first time we had ever tried drop-shotting sucker minnows tight to the bottom under an I fish Pro. It won’t be our last though as we took our biggest fish of the day using this non-traditional approach.

Aaron Kalberer wrote:

Thanks again, I am looking forward to using mine, going out before the storm hits tonight to see what is willing to bite!!

Sounds like a good plan to me. I’ve been chatting with friends from the Sandhills in Nebraska all the way up through Webster South Dakota and those boys are about to get slammed with some significant amounts of snow.

BigWerm wrote:

Good info James! You are doing to good of a job selling these, I had them on my Christmas list but they were sold out everywhere and I wound up with a bottle of whiskey instead. I know poor me!

My wife said she searched for mine for 2 weeks and had to pre pay at fleet farm to get it.

phishingruven01 wrote:

what kind of/brand bobber stop should be used?

Bobber stops are all so same or similar any brand will work just fine. I’ve included a photo of a popular brand.

Photo credit Thill.

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phishingruven01 wrote:

ahhh yes. after looking at the pics on page 1, it makes a lot more sense now.
Thank you

Happy to help.

Lots of good info in this thread. I just picked up a couple for the little guys. I feel the same way about the trigger being a bit stiff if behind any of the notches. I set as pictured but found that it false tripped on me. My guess is the imprecision of the plastic. My initial thought was to alter or remove the small notch. If I mess this up, I potentially end up with junk so I’m kind of thinking I may try to remove a bunch from teh back side of a trigger as they are easily replaced.

The other thing I wonder is if anybody has ever come up with an easily removed slip stop that did not require threading the line through. Easier said than done I know, but should be doable.

Tie your own slip knot on the line and carefully trim to remove.

Great stuff, thanks James. Insight is always appreciated

Hey guys, I have another question. I know that this was covered in another topic but a problem that seems to be occurring is on a frigid cold day, you cant seem to keep your hole cleared from icing over. I know with other applications there are ways to solve this problem but does anyone have any tips/tricks that apply to an iFish pro that won’t affect it’s performance? TIA

Dusty Gesinger wrote:

Tie your own slip knot on the line and carefully trim to remove.

I had a nice conversation with Levi at Ifish.

I’m going to make my own slip stop using the end from a foam bobber and a zip tie for the loop. The foam bobbers easily snap on and off the line yet hang on without falling off. With my present setup the captured slip stop and leader length conflict when storing. With the slip stop removed I can reel the swivel through the tip eyelet no problem.

I also plan to file one of the triggers flat on top to hold the housing a little better while still maintaining light sensitivity.

My version of an easy on/off slip stop. It floats in room temp water, but not sure what it will do in cold water. I can always add a small dab of the foam from the bobber. If memory serves the Ifish stop wanted to sink and slide down the line.

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Great idea!

RJEC 33 wrote:

Hey guys, I have another question. I know that this was covered in another topic but a problem that seems to be occurring is on a frigid cold day, you cant seem to keep your hole cleared from icing over. I know with other applications there are ways to solve this problem but does anyone have any tips/tricks that apply to an iFish pro that won’t affect it’s performance? TIA

I was giving this some thought as well and decided to fill the bottom side with expanding foam – hoping this insulates the hole well enough to keep it from icing over. I can let you know how it goes once I test it out.

Nate Basinger wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>RJEC 33 wrote:</div>
Hey guys, I have another question. I know that this was covered in another topic but a problem that seems to be occurring is on a frigid cold day, you cant seem to keep your hole cleared from icing over. I know with other applications there are ways to solve this problem but does anyone have any tips/tricks that apply to an iFish pro that won’t affect it’s performance? TIA

I was giving this some thought as well and decided to fill the bottom side with expanding foam – hoping this insulates the hole well enough to keep it from icing over. I can let you know how it goes once I test it out.

That’s actually a great idea – I have a trip in the coming weeks and it’s projected to be about 12 degrees so hoping that it does work. The trouble is the gap where your line sits in the water is sizeable and I’d be afraid to close it in too much for fear that it would run and get caught but the best thing is if it didnt work you could carve it out

I added foam from an old throw cushion and cut to fit the underside of the I-fish pro, then used spray adhesive to attach. Works great!!

James Holst wrote:

…drop-shotting sucker minnows tight to the bottom under an I fish Pro.

What a slick idea. I’m going to try this, just with 12-24″ leader. I’ll compare side-by side with a free-hanging sucker. I’ve noticed it certainly gets more bites to keep that minnow pinned close to the bottom so it can’t swim away from a lazy walleye.

RJEC 33 wrote:

That’s actually a great idea – I have a trip in the coming weeks and it’s projected to be about 12 degrees so hoping that it does work. The trouble is the gap where your line sits in the water is sizeable and I’d be afraid to close it in too much for fear that it would run and get caught but the best thing is if it didnt work you could carve it out

I put masking tape over the slot and any small holes to keep the foam from getting through.

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anybody other than James and the crew catching any fish with these?

phishingruven01 wrote:

anybody other than James and the crew catching any fish with these?

I have been running mine every weekend instead of a tip up and caught quite a few fish on it so far

I have used these since they 1st came out, needless to say I’m all done with tip ups

phishingruven01 wrote:

anybody other than James and the crew catching any fish with these?

Used mine for the first time today and put 2 saugers on the ice. Meanwhile I jigged and moved all over with all sizes and colors or different offerings with nothing.

I thought I’d be nostalgic about no longer handlining fish in with a standard tip up but after using the iFish Pro I’m over it.

John Kennedy wrote:

My version of an easy on/off slip stop. It floats in room temp water, but not sure what it will do in cold water. I can always add a small dab of the foam from the bobber. If memory serves the Ifish stop wanted to sink and slide down the line.

I saw this earlier before using mine and thinking I was all ready to go when I realized I had to thread this damn thing on. I wondered why they couldn’t have made s clip on. Then i cut the line, threaded it on Tied up and got ready to set it. Cussed it out when the stop slid down the line and sank. Kind of a PIA to feed all the line by hand. I want to use my rod like I normally do with all aspects, not just reeling. Coincidently I just bought 2 of these foam bobbers this morning without realizing they were the same thing you used here. I think I’ll make up a couple of these and leave a little foam attached so it floats.

I’ve been using the Finicky Fooler tip-up and hole cover. IMO it is a much simpler system without many of the issues mentioned on this thread. There is no hardware to attach to the line and the tension can be adjusted from ultra light to enough to hold a 6″ sucker. The hole covers have been keeping my holes ice free.

skfishing16 wrote:

I’ve been using the Finicky Fooler tip-up and hole cover. IMO it is a much simpler system without many of the issues mentioned on this thread. There is no hardware to attach to the line and the tension can be adjusted from ultra light to enough to hold a 6″ sucker. The hole covers have been keeping my holes ice free.

Same here, love my foolers. I am going to try the rigging that James posted though, seems slick!

I have a finicky fooler also, I find it works ok but it’s not what I’d use first, but it is more compact making it something I can always use

Well sh!t, why have I never seen these before? Looks like I’m gonna drop another $30. Maybe I’ll see them at the St Paul Sports Show.