Thanks for the replies. I decided to go buy my bait tonight. I’ll launch in Hastings. The only remaining issue is trying to find some fish.

Anybody have the name, phone #, address or hours for this place, or the one in Prescott? I’m planning on fishing pool 3 tomorrow, which I haven’t done for years, and I’m trying to figure out where to get bait and launch the boat.

ttt

I had a Jiffy made in 1985 and it used 24:1.

PM sent.

I have an older Jiffy model 30 3hp with a 10″ auger that I’ll be selling now that I finally broke down and bought a new Jiffy. Does your co-worker have a strong back? This isn’t a lightweight.

Just a follow-up to let people know the end result in case anyone’s interested.

I spoke with Kevin, the tech support guy at Feldman Engineering today (nice guy, very helpful). He explained that on my model 30 Jiffy you have to take the motor and mounting plate off of the gearbox and tighten the bolts that hold the motor in place from underneath the mounting plate. It was pretty easy, even for me. Everything’s all tightened up and ready to run again. However, since I already bought a new auger, I’ll probably sell it.

Just in case any Strikemaster devotees are itching to do any Jiffy bashing because my motor loosened up, you should know that this one was built in 1985 and has given 21 years of dependable service so far, and still runs and cuts well.

p.s. Pierbridge, how did you know that I’ve had my eye on a Stealth STX? Do we know each other, or are you psychic?

Didn’t mean to start a Ford/Chevy thing here. Just looking for some advice from someone more knowledgeable than myself to tell me whether I could tighten up the powerhead myself and how to do it.

I did run out and buy myself a new Jiffy Stealth STX 2hp/8″, and I’m loving it so far. Much lighter than the beast of a 3hp/10″ I’ve been using for many years, and it cuts great.

I’d still like some info on the loose powerhead, though, so I can hopefully fix it before I sell it.

I have been using the yellow Elite since last fall for pitching, and have been very pleased with it. I got out in some real cold weather once last winter and it performed fine then, too.

Now that the word is out, I’ll have to stock up before the price goes up or it gets sold out everywhere.

I had a Happy Troller on my former boat (16′ with a 70 hp). It definitely slowed my down, but it also adversely affected boat control. I didn’t have a gps back then, so I can’t give exact numbers.

If you can’t get a kicker, I would stick with dragging a drift sock or two.

I just have a basic model – I think it’s called the Z-series. It has the infra-red lights, which come in handy on darker days or in darker/deeper water. I’ve had it for about 3 or 4 years. I don’t use it a great deal on open water, but it’s fun and informative to drop it down and take a look around from time to time and see what’s down there. It’s also pretty neat for ice-fishing, but I would definitely choose a Vexilar if I could only have one or the other.

I’ve used my Aqua View on Pool 4 a couple times in February when the water was at its clearest and was amazed at how well I could see and at how many fish I saw. I never kept it down there for very long, though. It’s hard to look at all those fish for very long without picking up a rod and trying to catch them. I’m coordinated enough to jig with two rods but I can’t handle the camera and fish at the same time.

Nice walleye, Jack. The new club prez and I were out on Saturday and also had a slow day. Not sure I can blame it on the front, though. Randy and I managed five point largemouth and three northerns between us (he did get a pretty nice northern, though-32″). I thought about trolling for walleyes in the evening but didn’t get around to it.

Duh – sorry to hear about the prop. Where did that happen? Was it aluminum or ss? I was very glad to have a gps with the Lakemaster chip with the buoys out.

Check out the Lakemaster Pro Map Series – they have the entire Whitefish chain

My partner and I had a generally slow day on Sunday. We couldn’t maintain anything like a consistent bite. Every time we thought we had something going, it would die out. We cast, verticle jigged and dragged. Tried superdoos, ringworms, K-tails, bucktails and minnows. We did get a variety of species, though, including walleye (biggest was a FAT 23″), sauger, northerns (up to 28″), largemouth, smallmouth, silver bass, drum, and one big carp.

Although we had a disappointing day for numbers of walleye and sauger, the weather was sure nice!

Thanks for the tip. I agree completely on releasing smallies, and largemouth for that matter.

Any particular colors or types of plastics working better than others lately?

Scott, any tips and where and how to catch (and, of course, release) those big smallies?

Water temp was 45. I was using 1/4 fireball jigs and Powerpro. We caught roughly equal numbers on gold and chartreuse, with a few on orange.

The fish all came from the same area, but they came in spurts. We would go an hour without a bite and be almost ready to leave when we would get several in quick succession, including several doubles. I’m not sure how to explain that.

Jack, I like the Power Pro for vertical jigging. Also for skipping Senkos and such under docks in the summer. Strong and sensitive. I only tie on a fluorocarbon leader (with a uni to uni knot) when fishing very clear water. As previously mentioned, though, the braided lines freeze up in colder weather.

Jack, congrats on a very good day. As you know, I fished Sat with three guys in the boat. We ended up with 10 walleyes over 20″, biggest was 26, with a handful of 19 and 17″ fish. Also got six bonus smallmouth, biggest was 18 3/4. All came pitching plastics to rip-rap. It cost us some jigs and plastics to hang-ups, but was worth it. Chartreuse was the hot color.

We did very little verticle jigging, and got just a few 15-17 sauger as a result.

Call me when you get a chance.

What kind of areas did you find the smallies and crappies in? What did you get them on?

Ditto.

The Frenzy shallow diver in white with a tan back was by far my most productive lure trolling Lake Traverse last spring. I’ve done well with Risto Raps fishing for smallies and pike, but I’ve never really tried them for walleye.

I have less than limited experience on Pool 5, having just been there once, so I’m in no position to offer advice. I will be heading down there Saturday myself, so if anyone has any suggestions, I’m listening. We’ll be fishing for pike, bass and crappie as well as walleye and sauger. I have a Warrior side console with black trim and a pair of Mercs if any FTR folks are in the neighborhood and would like to say hi.

They’re just referring to boat registration stickers.

Hi, Steve. You were on your way to the game before we got in, so I thought I’d post a report here. Looks like it was a great game, I’ll bet you enjoyed it.

We fished about 3 1/2 hours on Mon afternoon. Caught and released 20-25 sauger (mostly) and walleye in and around the deep hole by the vermillion. Did best with Dubuque rigs. Most fish came on a plain hook and fathead, but some also came on the jig/ringworm. Didn’t catch anything larger than 14″. Still, it was a nice day to be out on the river, especially since I hadn’t been out since early Dec.

I’ve got two. The first happened down at Lake Pepin a couple years ago. We pulled up to the launch to find a guy who had just launched his boat with the truck still parked on the ramp, motor running, and his only keys locked inside. He was calling the police on a cell phone to see if they would come unlock his truck for him. I would’ve volunteered to open it up for him with my tire iron, but we decided to just go launch elsewhere.

The second one happened about four or five years ago up at Split Hand Lake near Grand Rapids. This guy had just launched his boat and started to pull his trailer up the ramp when all of a sudden there was a clatter. I looked over to see him dragging his trailer up the ramp with no wheels under it! The entire wheel/axle assembly was still in the water! The two of us managed to get the wheels back under it, and then he figured out what happened. It was an older trailer and he had recently replaced the tires and wheels with slightly higher profile tires. He needed more clearance for the tires, so he unbolted the metal fenders and moved them up a bit. Unfortunately, he didn’t realize that the wheel/axle assembly was also attached to the trailer with the same bolts. The amazing thing is that he had towed his boat all the way up from the Twin Cities this way. Apparently the weight of the boat had kept everything in place until he launched the boat and started pulling up the ramp. The trailer started bouncing, and without the weight of the boat to keep it in place, the wheels fell off. I would hate to think what would have resulted if that had happened on the highway.