I came up here to go to school in the mid 80’s and I am still here. Let me tell you it is hard to keep your mind on class when all these lakes are calling your name. There are lakes that will allow you to fish just about any fish you want. Some are large and some are very small.
Lake Bemidji itself is a fishery that has a ton of structure and can be very good to fish just about any time of the year. In the spring and fall you can fish it from shore with some very good results.
You can actually contact Ladredge Outdoors and order the weights from them as well. Not to badly priced at all.
We just had that problem this weekend as well. I picked up a couple of “New” 1 lb propane tanks that burned like crap and fumed really bad. Then I put in an old bottle that was buried in my truck and it worked great. So it will be hooked up on the hose before we use it again unless we can find some old takes on hand some place.
Strike Master is suggesting that you spray the rewinds down with WD-40 on all the new Solo engines before you use them. When they were assembled the grease that was put in them gets thick when it is real cold. By spraying them with WD-40 it will eat that grease away to give you a flawless working rewind. Use the straw that comes with the can to get down inside. There is no need to take the unit apart to do this.
If you have not used one of the new Strike Masters with the Solo engines you are missing out. What an ice cutting machine. They are very impressive units to say the least.
I got to try out that new light from LaDredge at the sport show. Very impressive.
Very nice boxes. Rose Creek boxes will keep your jigs secure. They fit great in your bib pockets.
I have been using the Vexilar Cold Snap gear and have been very happy with that. Lots of pockets to carry gear in and keeps you warm/dry too. You can buy either the set or just the bibs if you like.
Because the vent in the JB Lures Ventilator catches water different then most blades it does spin at a lower speed. This blade also creates more water turbulence then a normal Colorado blade.
They are tough to find up here but I will keep my ears open. I may be getting rid of some taps and maybe a pipe line stystem. Last count I think we had about 400 taps. Way to many!
That sounds about right.
Our cooker actually came with our house when we bought it. What I have learned is that you want a pan that has more surface exposure to allow it to release more steam. Shallow and wider can be better. We do use a stainless steel pan on our two burner fryer base to finish off. Anderson Syrup has a few cookers for sale most of the time. They can run anywhere from $1,000.00 – 6-7,000.00 depending on how much you want to spend on it.
This year has been a bumper crop for most. I personally did not tap this year as I have not had the time to do it. A couple years ago we ran right about 200 taps with a pipe line system. It’s a lot of fun but it sure is time consuming.
I wish I could give you an honest answer for that one but I really have never figured it out. It is a time consuming process I know that. It takes about 6 hours of cooking for us to get it down to where it is ready to be finished off.
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heat containment, use are concerned
Are you trying to figure out how to heat it? We have a stainless steel wood fired syrup cooker that holds 60 gallons of sap. We continue to add more sap as the moisture is cooked off of it. Once it reaches a color stage (starts to have color) we then transfer that to a propane burner to finish it off.
Use a good thermometer and a hydrometer to tell when your moisture/sugar ratio is correct. Be sure to use a syrup hydrometer and not a sap hydrometer. The hydrometer measures the sugar content of your finished produce. If the syrup is done the hydrometer should float so that the top Hot Test red line is even with the surface of the liquid.
Once the syrup is done you bottle it.
I have one coming in here to paint as well. First thing I will do on this one is to completely strip all the old paint off from it. I will use a very fine media and sand blast it. If the paint is not to bad on it you do not have to strip it all down. Just sand it good. Then I will use a metal etching that you can get from the automotive paint store. Then it needs to be primed, wet sanded, primed again and then you can paint it then clear coat it.
Yes you can use automotive paint. Painting a boat like that is always kind of a fun project. Takes more time then anything.
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All I get is when I turn my running lights/lights on the truck every light on the boat goes on. Brakes-blinkers-everything.
Possible you have them all tied into the running light wire? Some how it is getting power from that wire and not from the wire it needs to. Maybe undo your new plug and start over from there. Before doing that make sure you have power coming out of the truck where it is supposed to be as well.
Or just take it over the Kevin at Absolute Power.
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Anyone familiar with these rod holders?
I have Drift Master rod holders on my boat. Very well built rod holders and I am happy with them..
Strange you ask that today. Just today we poured 1,000 each 1/4, 1/8, and 3/8th oz gold long shank shiner jigs for one company and 3,000 red for another company. Monday we will be pouring red, blue and green hooks. So yes they are being used.
From what I can gather at one time it was a cost and availability issue. The gold were a lot more then the bronze so people got accustomed to using the standard bronze hooks. Bronze was also a lot more available so that is what was used. Now it is a personal choice. Each company has their own preference and reason of what hooks they use for each application. We mold hooks in bronze, silver, gold, green, blue AND then there Is the red too.
Does it make any difference of what color the hook is? I don’t know. Nobody can get inside of a fish’s brain and figure that one out. But if you use a jig that it is catching fish then keep using it!!!
Me? Paint a jig? Ok maybe I have painted a few in my life! 
Ok seriously now….the most important thing to making a quality paint job is the primer coat. That paint has to adhere to the product you are painting. Not all primers will do a good job adhering to lead. If you want your color to come out your primer needs to be white. Depending on what kind of paint you are using you may be able to start with a white powder paint. Not all paints are compatible so be sure to test their compatibilities prior to doing a large run.
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…what about just plain old spray paint?
I have recommended to a few people to use an epoxy based spray paint. It is available in many paint and box stores. It comes in several colors but be sure to give it a coat of white first. They also make a clear coat that can go over your finished jig to make it even harder. This paint even smells better then the vinyl paints too. Using an aerosol can you are going to have a fair amount of waste. Try to get your jigs tight together when you rack them but not so close that the paint will not get to all sides of your product.
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Spray painted jigs dont keep there finish well at all.
Sorry but I disagree. We spray thousands of jigs every year with very very little complaints of paint issues. If you use cheap paint and top coats you will have a poor quality product.
Powder paint is easy to use for many people who only want to do a few jigs and even some manufactures use it as well. It don’t take much to get set up for doing them and it can give you a fairly good end product. We have 3 powder paint fluid bed stations that get used about 2 times a year for projects that are marketed as a powder coated product. Other then that it is not something that we use.
Ok back out to painting…..jigs. 
Nice ride there James!! 
We got 12-14″ of fresh snow with some good winds that is stacking it up pretty good. Then this morning it was below zero.
Nice fish. Looks like the kids had a blast too.
NICE fish there Charlie!!!!
Chris enjoys fishing pretty much anything. His favorite is ice fishing.
Have you looked into the tank-less hot water heater systems that are not being used to heat water in the floors? I really don’t know much about them but I do know there is a few guys beginning to use them up in this area. From what I have heard they are pretty ok. Hopefully a contractor on here can give some insight.
Good deal!! Those jigs work good for holding shiners.
I believe those would be the Strobe Jigs by JB Lures.
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North of Pickle lake on a self guided trip the first week of June
Are you driving up to this one? I used to fish up there every year.
For me going to make another trip to Muskie Bay Resort on Crow sometime in March and will fish LOW for crappie at the same time. Then the English River Aug.
The trip to the English will be some where in 20th or better times up. I try to hit Crow at least onece or twice a winter.
Hey Matt! Welcome to IDO!! 
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I don’t like the vinyl paints as they will eat your plastics.
All depends on what brand and what they are clear-coated with. But not always the case.
