What is your new gear of the year?

So I have been busy this year. I traded my ff6120 for the new outbreak 650xd so I could get the new full-length door. Bonus was how flipping big this thing is! It is going to be super-comfy early/late ice fishing in that thing. Feels super nice, and the new storm shield outer fabric makes me think it will hold up to sprinkles and stuff without getting too wet inside.

I also bought an ice castle this year, so I had to give up the eskimo mako for an electric auger. My mako had an 8″ blade, and fishing with my k-drill buddies made their 7.5″ hole feel more like a 6″ hole than an 8″. I wasnt sold. Well, here comes the new 8.5″ k-drill. Sold! The Milwaukee 1200in-lb hammer drill for $125, and I have a solid electric auger.

I got various ram balls and stuff to setup the electronics in the castle, but that doesnt matter to you guys.

I went to the Joe’s ice fishing show on saturday, and that was too much. I ended up with one of the new dead meat rods, which just feels rediculous for jumbos and a big crappie bite. Got the new clam mono 2lb metered line, some of their new silkie hook followers, a caviar tungsten jig, and drooled over a 50% off archangel rod.

I know that you guys are as charged as I am, so what have you spent all of your money on this off season waiting for the lakes to freeze? I think I have $5 or so left to spend, so I want to know what I still need to buy.

I haven’t bought anything yet. We’ll see if the St Paul ice show happens. Probably not. I might get the Otter Monster hub so the kids and I could camp on the ice. Otherwise I’m pretty much set. Although something always gets my attention.

Your $5 might get you a scoop of crappie minnows.

Fyi, St. Paul has been cancelled.

I bought a little hand warmer deal thingy from Target. Treva pocket hand warmer. Figure why not, tired of the bags of hot hands that I never open and then when I need them they’re sooo not warm at all.

So I charged it, powered it on and it feels warm to the touch. Good enough for now.

I like the hand warmer idea. Was thinking of getting those battery insoles for my boots… but maybe I just need new boots. I got the puzzle piece foam mats for the ice, and i think that will make a difference for our feet too. Problem is, when the ice gets thick enough for wheelhouses I am only going to need my slippers!

Ice Castle, Honda 2200 and Strikemaster 40V. My wallet and my wife say I’m done.

Fish house, going to get an auger and Honda 2200.

The handwarmer thing seems like a good idea I’ve seen the zippo ones advertised

Slipbob nick wrote:

Fish house, going to get an auger and Honda 2200.

Tell you what, the Milwaukee drill and new kdrill 8.5″ is pretty exciting. I also really liked the 8″ pistol bit by eskimo and the lite flight by strikemaster. You can always use a $125 hammer drill!

I have 2 of the champion 2k generators that I bought used for $500. They have been awesome generators. I had to replace 1 board on one for $180, but I think it is because there wasnt good instructions on paralleling them, so it was probably my fault. I would definitely buy them again. My buddies have 4 different champions that have held up just as well.

Loaded up on ice line to avoid bare shelves come Dec/Jan. Will be trying fluoro for the first time on ice this year…3 lb Sufix Invisiline. That is, if these old eyes can tie a knot with it, lol.

Purchased a Livescope setup this summer and can’t wait to try it out on the ice. Bought the Summit shuttle, bag, and tripod. We’ll see how long it runs on my 9ah Ridgid drill batteries.

The only thing I bought was some materials for finishing out the camper conversion to ice house on the camper I got for free. Already have everything else I need or want for ice fishing so I’ll probably just be buying line and beer from here on out.

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Rich Stuhr wrote:

Loaded up on ice line to avoid bare shelves come Dec/Jan. Will be trying fluoro for the first time on ice this year…3 lb Sufix Invisiline. That is, if these old eyes can tie a knot with it, lol.

I did similar such actions. Picked up some of that new clam mono 2lb, stuff feels pretty good in your hand so far. Also just got a spool of 6 lb fluoro for the walleye rod, havent gotten it yet but I am excited to try it. That fluoro is spec’d super thin. I think this 6 lb stuff is going to be thinner than the 3lb mono I had on last year. I hope I like it.

Brandon S wrote:

Purchased a Livescope setup this summer and can’t wait to try it out on the ice. Bought the Summit shuttle, bag, and tripod. We’ll see how long it runs on my 9ah Ridgid drill batteries.

A couple of buddies of mine have livescopes, but they are only running their flashers on drill batteries. I think they both bought 30ah lithiums for the scopes. Those things though… oof is that nice. Especially when you’re like me and like to pick a spot and sit for the day. Pop a couple of holes, see where the spot needs to be and set up when you’re on it. I havent decided if I liked having it on after we were set up. Sure you get to see the fish coming, but then you know how many fish that you’re really missing… and that gets frustrating.

I made the jump to regular Panoptix ice bundle for this season, I want to get a good feel for the tech before deciding if I make the $$ jump to the 3rd generation of the technology next year. I also plan on picking up a Marcum Pursuit camera, I love the form factor and they finally fixed all of the major issues the Recon models have… Still keeping my trusty Marcum LX-6s around as a quick hole hopping unit, just found a great deal on a Marcum Lithium battery pack that will go into it….

JoeMX1825 wrote:

I made the jump to regular Panoptix ice bundle for this season, I want to get a good feel for the tech before deciding if I make the $$ jump to the 3rd generation of the technology next year.

You know what I just read that I hadn’t thought about? If you do a higher-end livescope setup, they come with video out. If you planned it out right, you would be able to place a livescope ducer up to watch the whole water column for every hole in your house, so you dont need 3 sets of electronics running at once down each hole watching jigs. Put that up on the tv, and you’d be able to watch each jigger, each dead stick, maybe even well placed tip-ups! This is a game-changing discovery for me. I’ll have to pilot it with the buddy’s livescope and report back.

I’m looking at the 6-sided hub options to have more space than my Otter Lodge hub. Other than that, keeping the wallet pretty closed this year. I’m kind of over the continual buying new fishing stuff all the time, when what I have works and gets me out there.

But that’s why I come here to get excited about what other guys are getting.

queenswake wrote:

I’m looking at the 6-sided hub options to have more space than my Otter Lodge hub. Other than that, keeping the wallet pretty closed this year. I’m kind of over the continual buying new fishing stuff all the time, when what I have works and gets me out there.

But that’s why I come here to get excited about what other guys are getting.

Just sold my 6-sided. I have historically seen ones in like-new going for around $300 on craigslist and Facebook. These outbreaks are 5 sided, and I think that the 450xd is still a bit bigger than the standard cubes. The 650xd that I bought is a monster, bigger than my 6 sided by a noticeable amount.

I am mostly aligned with your mentality of trying to save your cash, which is why I started this thread. There is so much stuff out there to play with, and my bank only runs so deep. I wanted to hear about all of that stuff that i was forced to pass on.