For me, its just a matter of being able to stand away from the hole more so you are not crouched over it with a kink in your neck. It does have a lot of fighting advantages as well.
Even inside i use 35 plus inch rods. An added bonus is it is just more fun to fight a fish on a 36 inch rod as well!
Yes from the pictures everything appears to be attached correctly. I don’t have screws on mine and they rarely come off so i wouldn’t be concerned about yours, especially with screws in them.
I assume you have tried sliding the fabric connectors around on the sled to best position it to eliminate the gaps?
I use 8 pound 832 ice braid most of the time and seem to like it a lot with the heavier lures. Especially when fishing outside its nice to have a heavier line because you can be a little more rough with it when removing ice etc.
Hello,
Sorry for the delay as i just got back from soaking up some sun in Florida.
PM me and i can send you my contact info.
I would be glad to take them out and show them around.
Hey bud, It may have seemed worthless but im guessing if this same weather came back next week you would do something different 
Every time i head out it is my goal to learn something new no matter how the fish bite. You are always able to take something away from an experience on the ice or water.
Keep after em! Warmer weather is bound to come…..at least i hope lol
I was out last night when the winds first started. Needless to say, the fish did not like it haha. Lethargic was the name of the game as the fish seemed more concerned about being caught up in the turbulent current than eating.
Not what so ever.
The highest mine has ever been would be 5.
Were you fishing an area with current by chance?
Shimano sedona 1000’s for this guy!
Try taking your blades off and then put them on again. Im guessing one is out of line as i have had this happen to me before.
Yeah it was a very good show for most of the larger retailers, and smaller ones alike.
I can remember busier days in the past but lots of people buying this year which is great to see.
Number 5 at a minimum. I dont own one blade smaller than that. Bigger = better in my mind.
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From what you describe the quick tip sounds a lot like my precision. What is the difference between the precision and the quick tip. I was planning on ordering another precision this weekend but I want to know more about the quick tip. Thanks in advance.
The Quicktip in my mind allows you to work a bait with more “precision”. I was trying to think of a different word to avoid confusion but that noun describes its strong suit perfectly. When i jig, I want the tip to flex, this gives you control. If you have a stick that doesn’t bend and has a very slow action you have zero control over that lure and how it moves. Another advantage is tons of backbone to handle whatever may hit your lure.
The Quicktip should no longer be seen as a pan-fish or perch rod due to its customization abilities. Heck i fished the 36 inch regular quicktip and it handled 14 to 18 inch walleyes perfectly. Feel you catch bigger fish? Take an inch off the end, its really that simple.
I go down there every year at least once.
There are a lot of guides out of Sarasota. I’m an offshore guy, so may not be much help for you. The LT’s and kingfish are plentiful that time of year and are a riot. Off of Cortez Road just before the bride heading west there is a guide business on the left. Forget the name but they fish the flats a lot.
Ive gone inshore for reds etc but didn’t enjoy it very much.
Yeah lakes such as island, boulder and fish will be a mess to say the least. Once everyone digs out from under the snow, there will be some interesting ice reports that’s for sure!
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glad the day worked out for you guys! it’s awesome that you made it out before the snowfall hit us and made it a little tougher to get out there. Keep the posts coming!!
Thank you! Yeah i feel our timing was perfect. The ice was solid and we were easily able to drive a wheeler and trailer out on the ice. From what i understand now, that is not the case lol. At least we know there is a solid 10 inches at least under all of that snow that northern MN is getting.
Furthermore, for some reason using a whole minnow on this spoon yielded greater results. Im not one to use a while minnow that often but i did this past weekend. Not sure why they liked this better at the moment but just though i’d throw that out there.
I am in love with the new UV colors that VMC came out with on the rattle spoon. They worked wonders up on Red Lake this past weekend. I think these will excel on lakes such as mille lacs on sunny days. It wont be long and I will know for-sure!
And yeah, we were averaging 40 plus fish a day up north more. If i went 20 minutes without having a fish hit, something was drastically wrong.
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Grant so was the fishing much better out of westwind than rogers resort?? We went out of Rogers and only caught 11 eyes all day saturday and sunday…Pretty much every fish we saw hit, but we weren’t seeing much fish.. Lots of dink perch…We were at Rogers when you and your buddies were saturday night when the drunk guy was telling his story for 100th time lol…
Was that you on the wall with Tuned up sweatshirt on? haha.
HAHA that kid was a wreck. Made for some funny stories the next day tho!! lol
I got nothin Will LOL. Maybe Santa will bring me some rogaine for my non existent beard
I just got back and fishing was excellent.
For us, come 6pm it slowed wayyy down. Maybe it was just the area we were fishing but there was basically no bite after 6. You maybe could have scrapped out one every hour, but it wasnt worth it for us to stay when we were hooking 6-10 fish per hour at times during the day.
When we left last night, there were people pulling big houses out onto the lake with wheelers. Not sure what this storm will do to the ice tho.
Ill have a report up later tonight with some pics. If you are not going to the ice show this weekend, I’d say get up there!!
Its hard to say without knowing the patterns of the fish right now because i haven’t fished it yet but on average yes this is a very good area. I like to be in the 12-13 foot depth up around boyscout.
Usually once all the yahoos start fishing the harbor, I will migrate up here where there is way less fishing pressure and noise. Lots of pout in that area if you like them as well.
Hello Tim,
Ice conditions around Duluth are coming along nicely. The St Louis does not have ice yet on the main channels but I know people have been out on rice lake (be careful around the access to as usual) island lake and fish lake.
I do not know if people are going out to the islands yet on fish but a call to Tim at High Banks Resort can verify that. Out there can be a good first ice location for walleyes.
Island lake is where I would go if i were you. Only thing is i have not been out there and don’t have first hand ice info for you. I have buddies who have fished it, but it is a large reservoir with moving water so i would be hesitant to cross a main section of the lake. There are lots of areas and back bays that are deeper and have walleyes in them. If you are not familiar with this lake PM me and i can fill you in on more specifics.
Thinking outside the box, allouez bay on the SLR may be worth checking out 
It depends on your type and style of fishing. I am a braid guy so those of you who fish braid can relate.
Here is the line i use. I order it both in bright green and white. In certain situations one is better over the other. I am not concerned about visibility because i use a 3 foot fluorocarbon leader that acts as a shock absorber.
A lot of times it helps to see your line visibly when a fish hits to quicken your reaction time, especially when fishing outside. And i have complete confidence that my presentation is as stealth as possible below the ice due to the fluoro leader.
That’s why were here! 
There are a lot of hard core fishermen on this site who rigorously put equipment to the test day in and day out. The results speak for themselves. Welcome to Team Marcum!
To me, early season and shallow water go hand in hand. From 3-6 feet in rivers, to 5 to 12 feet in lakes, first ice proves over and over again that walleyes are shallow.
Shallow also means aggressive. Vibrant baits such as jigging raps, rippin raps and aggressive spoons are a staple in my arsenal.
Spider webs when drilling holes, gotta love early ice!!
Just wait till you can power through 2 feet of that stuff with the honda come February! pretty amazing auger if you ask me
Lets be optimistic on this Monday morning, its only up from there buddy!
It seems like that is a common theme for us all, no matter how prepared you think you are. There is a lot of rust to shake off after 7 months in the off season LOL
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I was unprepared hitting the ice the past two days. I should went through my gear.
Lake Superior forecast.
REST OF TODAY…NORTHWEST STORM FORCE WINDS TO 55 KNOTS DECREASING
TO GALES TO 40 KNOTS IN THE AFTERNOON. SNOW SHOWERS BECOMING
SCATTERED IN THE AFTERNOON. WAVES 20 TO 25 FEET SUBSIDING TO 15 TO
20 FEET.
