This is why I say the #1 must have is a way to organize and store the rods out of the way.
This was my first thought. A locking rod locker for at least 8 rigs. Who has eve bought a boat and thought “Man I wish I had Less storage space”.
sun decks in a pontoon attract bikinis
Why else get a pontoon?
These are all great guys, it is much appreciated. Rod lockers, electric anchors, cooler, and a DD are all needed.
How is Angelo’s on White Bear and Larpenter not on this list so far. If you are ever over on that side of town, the house special is well worth the price tag.
Sounds like I need to try this Old Worlds and Pig Ate my Pizza, and Savoys is always puts out a great pie.
By placing your hands on the bottom of the steering wheel, the trailer will go the way you want it to. In moments he was doing an awesome job of backing.
This is the way that I was taught as well, unfortunately if was after having some issues with backing a trailer. Another excellent piece of advice for a noob, is “take your time”. If you take your time and get it in the water the correctly the first back-in, that’s a heck of a lot better and quicker than having to re-try 4-5 times. I see it so many times where they get a little out of alignment, then turn the wheel and hit the gas. Now they are really sideways, and have to start over.
If you are new to launching/loading a boat, please take the time to brush up on launch etiquette. I am sure there are a number of threads on this site with all the rules. If you are doing all that right, and are still kind of slow, that’s OK, you will learn and get better each time.
I have had really good luck with Beetle-spins. I have run them with a 2.5 mister twister, with or without a minnow. I have never trolled them this early in the year, but in the summer, it seems to be a great way to fish them when they are suspending.
My parents have one at their house, and my Dad really likes it. I am not sure about the lbs/hour or any of the specifics really, but he mentions almost everytime that I am up there how happy he is that he bought it. It fits easily on the countertop and it seems to keep up with the demand for ice that we throw at it.
However, we are not using it to fill coolers. Just for keeping our drinks cold in the house/porch.
As always Mitch, you are out there making it look easy. That looks like it was a blast. Great Vid!
That is a pretty impressive piece of electronics. I don’t think that I could drop $7500 on it though.
That is a really awesome mapping tool. I think that with the vegetation view and bottom composition, it makes it by far the most useful and productive mapping tool on the market. The only feature that I could not find that would make it even better, was the 3D mapping. It might be available for the premier members, but I am not sure. There was a post a while back that featured a 3D lake map tool, and it was really fun to play around with, but I do not rememeber the name of it.
Katmanpoacher
LOL 
yep yep, I done that. Will have to repair a few more tears in the Ice Cube fish house sometime this summer
I hate when my Ice Cube shack gets tears in it.
IceCubeshack.png
Suffix 832 20-30#. I tried it because they advertised it on this site, and I do not think that I will ever use another line. It is strong, durable, long lasting, very sensitive, and versitile. I fish it with and without a flouro leader; depending on the lake, conditions, and if I am too lazy re-tie the leader.
I was wondering about this myself. If you were to use the electrical tape method, would you start the spool with an Arbor knot with braid?
It looks like I was mistaken a bit as well. The Avid ice (glass) is only in the light applications, but the Avid Jigging has a carbon blank and handle. The biggest that gets is a 30″ M action.
So back to the main point, would the St Croix 30″ M carbon rod work well for northern in the 20-35″ range?
We have been doing really well hole hoping outside schools of panfish and jiggins shiners, so that is my plan. Last time out we caught two 32 inchers and a bunch in the 20s. I think this body of water has the possibility for some monsters.
What would be your first choice for 20-35 inch northern?
Look at the belly on that Northern on the right! That must of been a fun fish to catch. Looks like you had a pretty decent night of fishing.
Navionics is a pretty good tool.
A friend showed me FishBrain, and I cannot decide if I like it or not. It is basically a FaceBook for fishing. People post reports and pictures. I have not really dug into it, but if people are posting catch pics, that might help show how strong a bite is on a lake.
It seems like there can be a ton of information logged, but you might have to upgrade to premium.
It looks like a pretty friendly and open community as well.
Check the “Fishing in the Nieghborhoods” (FIN) program on the MN DNR website. They offer a lot of decent spots to try around the metro, many that I would have never considered.
This is like most things, there are a few items you need, but trust your gut over anything else. If the deal seems to good to be true, it most likely is. If the guy seems shady, say “awe the wife would kill me if I brought this home” and leave.
As far as the paper work, Huntindave hit it spot on. If that is not an option, have him write you a bill of sale, sign the title over, also get any registration paperwork that he has. Once you have this, just bring the paperwork to the DMV and tell them you want to transfer ownership.
That is all that went into it when I bought mine, if anyone knows any other important steps, please feel free to add.
Another note, OHV (off highway vehicles) do not need to be titled in MN, but they do need to be registered.
http://www.dmv.org/mn-minnesota/other-types-of-vehicles.php
http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/licenses/ohv/index.html
Those look pretty awesome, but I would need to see them in action with my own eyes to want to drop $650 on them. It is a great idea tho, just like FishBlood said, Poor Man’s tracks.
I keep hearing that this lake had a really bad winterkill last year. It is right by my house, so it would be nice to have those rumors either confirmed or debunked.
My parents live just off of Pokegama and I fish it all the time in the summer. We usaully do pretty good for crappies. I haven’t had a chance to get up there yet this winter, so I would call the bait shops for the ice report.
I had my seems blow out after about 3 uses last year. It was a PITA to get a new one because I ordered through Amazon. I ended up getting it this fall, which was fine because it happened late in the year last season.
From what I have read, the stitching is really hit or miss on these. I love the suit when it is in one piece, I just hope it lasts this time.
It would be cool if this kind of posting had their own sub-forum. I am just getting back into fishing and learning how to read lake maps, but it would be cool to hear what some of the pro’s have to say about certain lakes and structures.
Thanks for the replies guys, I will post pictures when I get home tonight.
This is not an issue with it hanging up, the winch is fully down, to the point of there being slack in the line.
We caught these 5 lbs piggys back to back in the slackwater atop a beaver damn. They smoked spinners as soon as they hit the water. It was a great end to a slow night.
HAHA, your BUMP didn’t work 
I’ll see ya in the morning so we can get up there and catch some fish.
I am somewhat surprised you haven’t hooked into one by accident yet!
Nothern are ambush preditors, so you will want to throw toward any weedlines you can reach and any holes that they might be sitting and waiting. If you can fish the edge of a weedline (following the weeds about 1 foot out, not pulling through then), like from a fishing pier, that would be the way to go. Also anywhere on the corners of two waters coming together. Check out the FIN (fishing in the neighborhood) website and it has a ton of fishing docks and shorefishing spots in the Twin Cities.
Your gear should be OK if its Bass gear, but I would suggest using a steel leader at least 6 inches. I prefer spoons and spinners. Any Rapala should work, I just have not fished them enough to be really confident with them (that my goal this year). If the water stays cold, I would try for a reaction strike with any of those baits, make your retrieve over-exaggerated and flashy, yet slow.
You also want to make sure you have a good long pliers , forcepts, or hook-remover.
Good Luck and have fun, and remember to hold on. When you hook into even a smaller northern, they fight like heck. They do not just tug on your line, they will run 10-30 feet at times. Let them run and when they stop, then play them back in.
I hope this helps, and now I really cannot wait to hook into a big gator saturday morning.
