Why does everyone assume Joe caught the big one? LOL

I’ve caught 5 at 30″ or better over the years on P2. This one is #6 and the longest I’ve caught in a while for sure. 30’s have never been common on P2 but they have been even more rare (for me, at least) in the last several years than they used to be. I’ve never measured one at 31″ so I’m calling the 30 3/4 a tie for my longest P2 walleye. Fun to have it happen during the hog haul!

Also, thanks again to Jon Jordan for doing the work of putting this together!

I recently sold a boat with a 2014 135HO on the back. It was an awesome motor that never had any issues. I fully expect it to go another 10 years for the guy who bought it so long as he runs it WOT regularly and keeps up with maintenance.

Of course, any motor can have issues or even blow up. If you get a good deal on an etec, feel great about it. And as pointed out, you can invest the money you saved for the possibility an eventual replacement just in case. That’s not a bad idea for any out of warranty motor, frankly.

Looking forward to fishing this with Joe. Thanks, Jon and Mike!

I’ve been on several fly-ins ranging from tent camping to as nice as they get. There are a lot of great options.

This year I went with my dad (73), my brother, and three ten-year-old boys. We chose Rusty Myers because it was relatively easy given the group – drive to Fort Francis (we stayed in I-Falls the night before), fly to the lake, and they provide the groceries. Had hot water, solar lights, and the cabin was in excellent shape. The groceries they gave us were actually great, and more than enough. All we brought was some favorite fish batter, some seasonings like hot sauce, and snacks.

You’ll want to bring your own fishing equipment on any trip. Some people think one piece rods are a mistake, but I’ve never had an issue. I use a Plano telescoping rod tube, which is a must (the jumbo one, but their “airliner” is just as good only smaller). You’ll also want to bring a portable locator with GPS and enough batteries to get you through (lithium helps). FWIW, this is the best portable open water transducer bracket I’ve ever used: https://a.co/d/3MNsrUw

The outfitter will tell you your weight limit. I bring a lot of stuff and have never run into an issue, partially because in my experience they combine the weight limit for your group.

One thing we brought this year for the first time was a gravity fed (bag) water purifier. Super handy! Not expensive on Amazon.

Every kid is different, but I do think four is too young for a fly-in. Too many things could go wrong. Seven might too young but again, every kid is different. I have an eight year old daughter who could totally handle it. My son at 7-8 probably couldn’t have. You’ll know best.

For whatever reason I never thought much of Rusty Myers before we took this trip. That turned out to be totally unfair on my part. They have lots of lakes to choose from and the their operation was super well organized. Price was fair and I was very impressed with everything. We’re doing the same exact trip in 2025.

There a place on West 7th in St. Paul called Keenan’s Bar. A couple of blocks south of Mancini’s on the east side of the road. Very low key dive bar, but worth a visit for the burger.

On the (far) other end of the spectrum, there’s P.S. Steak near Loring Park in Minneapolis. Killer burger.

I’d also be curious to know what you think about Culver’s, honestly.

I’ve done both. If you’re interested in a deal on last year’s model, buy off the lot. If you want the current year, I’d encourage you to order unless you have a trade you want to negotiate on. Just my $0.02.

I’ve had three litime batteries since last fall. No issues with winter fishing. Love them.

buckybadger wrote:

As a group of IDO sleuths with sepecific areas of expertise, we need the driver to answer a few more direct questions to get to the bottom of what really happened:

-Was he vaccinated at all before driving that day or at any point since 2020?

-Does he agree with Mille Lacs’ current management system?

-Was he using FFS within 30 minutes prior to the crash?

-Is he at all related to the Pohlads?

Hilarious!

I want to remind you all to wash your hands (and maybe your phone) when you are done reading IDO today!

Matt Moen wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>tswoboda wrote:</div>
^^100% with dirtywater post

I don’t understand how some have such strong opinions on this with such little information. I mean I spent 5 minutes watching a couple videos while taking a dump and already notice misinformation in these strong opinions… like the boat he was driving and that he was prefishing (he was in a tourney day, and came back to finish the day).

I’d imagine insurance will inspect the boat and watch the video and interview anyone involved if necessary to make a lot more informed opinion than watching a 20 second youtube clip.

Is there a world where maybe the submerged dock section or whatever didn’t rip the motor off but maybe it hits enough of the hull that combined with the speed and conditions it throws him into the 180 and that rips the motor off? I feel like there’s a 100 different ways it could have happened but so many are convinced they know exactly what did or did not happen based on a 20 second youtube clip.

This is the post of the year. It’s so true. I would say most of my time reading IDO is also in the can. We need an IDO slogan contest:

“IDO: perfect for when you’re taking a dump.”

X1000!

This guy fishes bass professionally and has real experience driving his boat, presumably lots of it. Meanwhile, the IDO Internet Warriors who have never driven a bass boat (sorry, that one time driving your brother-in-law’s boat doesn’t count) know exactly what he did wrong. LOL, and don’t forget to wipe.

Livescope excels in certain situations. Practically worthless in others. I can say that I’ve struggled to make good use of it on the river. It’s definitely not a golden ticket. Just a tool – a really good one in certain situations – but just a tool.

Marine ply will work fine. I’d recommend going the extra mile, though, by encasing it in fiberglass cloth and epoxy resin for extra strength and to waterproof it. I used west system epoxy and a woven fiberglass cloth for a similar deck extension project and it’s as good as new more than 10 years later. I saturated the wood with the epoxy using those cheap chip brushes, laid down the cloth (buy a specialty fiberglass resin roller to get all the bubbles out and you’ll be glad you did), and then saturated it again. You basically can’t see the cloth once it’s done, but holy cow does it make the deck stronger. And as I mentioned, fully waterproof.

Two other thoughts:

In my experience with similar projects (I’ve done a few over the years), the plastic board is a bad idea – it’s not strong enough. Guys use something called Coosa Board to avoid wood, but it’s really expensive and would only offer a weight advantage (much lighter) in this situation. 100% not worth it.

Lastly, poly resin is cheaper and might work in this situation, but I don’t know for sure. West is guaranteed to work well in my experience. I’d highly recommend it along with the woven cloth for strength.

Not sure if it’s out yet, but my vote is the Leisen Family Farm stand just south of 94 on the Highway 12 exit in Hudson.

Bigcrappie has it right. There is zero issue with the capacity of your current wiring setup. All the voltage drop stuff you read about is 99% BS, and only arguably has to do with signal strength/clarity and not actually powering on the units. You have something else going wrong. Definitely put a voltmeter on each connection and make sure everything is clean and tight. Don’t overlook the possibility that you have a loose Humminbird connection somewhere in the network or power cables, even where they attach to the back of the units. Since you have more than one losing power at the same time it’s a weird issue for sure, but has nothing to do with your wire size. More likely a humminbird crash issue in my mind. Get a voltmeter on the fuse block when the units are running and see what happens to that number right before they shut down. Could be battery but at two years old that would surprise me.

No joke, I got 8 years out of an optima blue top group 31 used as a starting battery and to power everything on the boat, including three helix displays (2 12” and a 9”). I now have an ionic lithium 125 which is even better, but might not be worth the cost if you don’t need it.

I believe the ulterra is the only quest that comes with the advanced remote. I sort of like the mini because it’s super light and does most of what I need. The iPhone app does the rest, as do the networked locators.

I have the MSI transducers and don’t use them much. But I also have a 360, which can act as SI when needed. The problem I’ve had with the built in SI is that the motor is turning a lot so the images aren’t steady.

BigWerm wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>gimruis wrote:</div>
With the advent of CPR in most events now, slot restrictions are a thing of the past. You simply target the biggest fish you can find.

Looking forward to this being the case in every tourney.

100% agree

I went to an Ultrex this year, Mike, but it’s a quest model. The quest is a pretty incredible upgrade in terms of quiet, power, and overall build quality. Yes, they are heavier. I run mine on LiTime TM lithiums (which cost about as much as an high quality AGM) and I swear it could go for days.

I’ve done it for years and it works great. The remote does not need to stay in contact with the motor once you spotlock it. Just drive it away from the dock (not too far) and spotlock it in a safe spot. Go get your truck, back the trailer in, then bring the boat back to the dock with the remote. I’m somewhat hesitant about it when there are lots of boats around or in very fast current, but I do it on the river regularly — current actually helps hold the position because the boat doesn’t swing around at all.

For what it’s worth, I had an ulterra that is probably 5 years old (?) and just got an Ultrex. Both work perfectly so long as you don’t accidentally stop the the spotlock (be careful not to press a button on the remote after you spotlock).

Very cool, Jon. And I’ve always thought it would be cool to have a shack somewhere down there. Makes sense that the forest service chased people off the islands. Thanks!

Cool stuff! The haunted house (a.k.a. The White House, the axe murderer house) is gone, the mannequin is gone, the piano is almost gone, and I think the kiln and Indian are gone? There are some cool building foundations across from the Baldwin lake cut on the east side of the river. One is basically just a chimney. The other is more of an industrial foundation of some kind. Gotta get out of the boat to see either one. I also remember the cabin that was on the north-south cut at the first turn above spring lake. That was torn down 5+ years ago.

I love all the weird, old stuff down there. It seems like there were a lot of people who thought it was a good idea to build something next to the river, but eventually the river corrected every one of them on that idea!

I was just introduced to Sunline Xplasma Asegai. It has a lot of the same qualities that nanofil had. Seems like it will be a winner. https://sunlineamerica.com/collections/pe-braided/products/xplasma-asegai-braided-line

Flambeau bag works great for me https://a.co/d/6DFBGaf

The max discharge current on the LiTime TM battery is different from their heated battery. They call that out specifically in the TM description but I can’t say I know how important it is.

There was a question about charging during storage. You’re not supposed to. They don’t discharge nearly as quickly as lead acid batteries, and the recommendations I’ve read say to just store them at 50-75% and forget about them until spring. Not sure about storing in sub-freezing temps.

You can add Bluetooth monitoring to any battery for $40, which I have enjoyed having. Link to Amazon: https://a.co/d/43uYpDh

The battery heaters are just small 12v silicone heating mats. Search them on Amazon. You can install them on a switch with or without a thermostat. I convinced myself this would be the solution if I needed it, but I haven’t needed it. I’m also pretty sure I could run my batteries for 2-3 full days before they’d go dead (36v system). They have sooo much more juice than my old Optima Blue Tops.

You don’t need a heated battery to use it in sub-freezing temps, only to charge it in sub-freezing temps. If you charge your batteries in a garage you’re probably good most of the time, and if you’re not you just need to warm the battery up. Just get one with low temp cut off so it won’t accept a charge when too cold. I have the LiTime TM model batteries (12v, 100ah) and they’ve been great so far. Not sure about the 24v models but can’t see why they wouldn’t also be good. Also, the batteries you get for your boat are not the same type of batteries that started fires in cell phones. The risk of fire is a non-issue.

I have the ultrex quest. Not a lot of time with it yet, but literally every feature is improved so far as I can tell. Better build, quieter, faster turning, more powerful, less battery drain, better ipilot. All of that has been true for me. Put lithium batteries on it (I went with LiTime 100ah TM batteries because of the price point) and you will be a very happy camper.

Bearcat89 wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Ripjiggen wrote:</div>
Pretty sure you are keeping up just fine from the post I have seen BC.
Different strokes for different folks.

Yeah I do OK, I’m glad I don’t feel the need for a boat of that spectrum otherwise I’d have one. I prefer my boat to be ugly and under the radar. As long as it floats and moves, I’ll be happy. My money is invested elsewhere. One day I want to buy a newer boat. But everything I ask my self why I need a newer boat, I can’t come up with a reasonable explanation. I also hate loans, and prefer to own out right. I couldn’t write that check. When I wrote the check for my house, it hurt.

Bearcat, unless I’m mistaken you have one hell of a pension via the laborers union. That’s not generational wealth, but it means you will be able to retire and do well possibly before you are 60 years old. Not too shabby!

I hate to say it, because the bombas merino socks are my most comfortable daily merinos, but they don’t last. The heel will be bear within a year or so, and the forefoot won’t be far behind. I have bought replacements because they are seriously the most comfortable socks I have to wear with regular shoes (not boots).

The sturgeon issue is at the federal level. There’s nothing the state can do about it, and MN Fish only lobbies at the state level.

The Wisconsin article is about a member of Congress introducing a bill at the federal level.

The 2024 deadline on the sturgeon issue is for the USFWS to issue their determination. I don’t know anything about that process, but it’s clear that the matter is currently in the USFWS’s hands. Here’s the relevant court decision from 2021 (which relates to the advocacy group’s 2018 filing) that sets the 6/30/24 deadline: https://www.courthousenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/lake-sturgeon.pdf

It would be terrible if sturgeon were listed as an endangered species in MN or WI at least. I 100% oppose it. If there’s an organized effort to oppose it out there, I’d donate to it. MN Fish ain’t it probably for a lot of reasons.

The ongoing issues with using this site seem to be limited to a select group. I’m wondering where I can put in a request to add certain people to that list? I’d definitely pay for that opportunity.

Many of you use this site just like a facebook group. This is your social media. Facebook is a viable alternative for those of you who want that.

Also, I can’t stop laughing when I see people threaten to leave this free-to-them website for not getting better service. LOL