No real story behind this image. Just a great moment this past spring on Mille Lacs.

Flats fishing report from 12/19.

Left from Hunter’s point in the wee hours of the morning and made the long trek to the flats with a snowmobile & a wheeler. The marked trail to the boot was easy for the wheeler to navigate, and off trail travel was fair. Even with a sled, you have to go slow with all the drifting unless you’re trying to tenderize your bait. Ice thickness was a consistent 15”+ everywhere we drilled.

Fishing was really good. We started fishing before sunrise and immediately started catching walleyes. Basic technique was various jigging spoons with crappie minnow heads. The bite at time appeared similar to last years where the fish would chase the bait, then turn around and go away. The difference was, you could aggressively jig and bring the fish back and get them to bite. It was like they wanted to inspect it the first time, and then come back to hit it. Generally, if you made them chase it up a few feet with a steady bounce to the jig, they would take it.

Did not see any perch or any other signs of life out there. Most of the catching was done in deeper water at the base of the flat, although some came at the top break. This pattern even held pre-dawn & post-dusk. Activity was okay during the mid-day sunny period, but the fish were more neutral about moving on the bait. Hooking naturally slowed, but mid-afternoon into evening was great. The cold temps and wind made hole hopping very difficult. If it was warmer, you could have stayed on the active fish, but we had to keep thawing out the gear.

It was surprising to see so many eater size walleyes. Typically, I like this time and location for the big girls, but this time it was the keeper size fish that wanted to play. It was nice to finally keep a fish for dinner.

Good luck

I have the Typhoon series and I use mine all winter long because it’s so good. You will not be disappointed in the Typhoon series. It’s kept me dry and warm in the boat and on the ice.

Thanks for the info guys. I was thinking LOW would be better since you could include a trip to Upper Red Lake.

I really want to bring the portables. Not knowing the lake, how far should I expect to travel? I have a couple of options for gear (FT Pro or Eskimo QFIII). If I have to travel out a long ways I want the extra room for supplies. I’m planning on using my snowmobile vs. driving out.

A guy I work with said he had a friend that works for a plastic supply place and could set me up. I don’t want to mention the name in case someone see this and causes a fuss. He was able to get me some drop from a job they were cutting.

Here is a photo of the runners I put on my PRO. 1/2″ UHMW x 2 1/2″ wide. I got some material cheap, cut it to size, and formed it to the shape of the sled. Then I drilled & countersunk some 1/4″ stainless flathead machine screws.

I just bought a PRO and made this tow bar bracket out of aluminum. I’m using my Eskimo tow bar to tow either fish house. I wanted to keep the bracket light for times when I pull by hand. I’ll post a review after a season of use. We’ll see if the aluminum will hold up after I make a few long distance runs.

Thanks for all the good information. I appreciate the offer on the 700, but I don’t want one that big.

I agree about deciding on how this machine is going to be used before picking a model. Since I spend all my time in the boat during the open water season, I am specifically looking for just a vehicle to pull the portable during poor snow conditions like we have now. I have a suburban home and no cabin so I don’t need a work ATV (I’ll just be asked to help others then). I just want a very dependable ATV to be mobile on the ice.

I take the “this vs. that” with a grain of salt because I see the same thing on the snowmobile trail. After 25 years of snowmobiling, I have seen everything broke down on the trail. I feel it mainly comes down to how you service and maintain your stuff.

Again, great info. Thank you.

My concern for the rack was which is better for attaching extra stuff, storage boxes, auger, etc. I think the plastic will be just as durable if not better than metal but some look hard to modify or attach tie-downs. When we talk about weight, is there a big difference (I’m considering a 500 class give or take a size)? I’m going shopping tomorrow to get educated on the subject, but I appreciate the advice.

Thanks for the info guys. I’ll post my decision and how it works. I’m thinking of having some stuff cut wider than 1″ to match the molded runners on the sled. This should also help the wear.

Tuck, I had the same experience last year after I bought my LX-5. My brother, who bought an LX-3tc, and I went to Mille Lacs for a day of fishing on the flats (Dec ’05). I really enjoyed having the super fine line and narrow beam features especially when we were fishing in the portable together. He had to constantly deal with my jigging on his screen and I could eliminate his with the narrow beam feature. If both of us were pausing to trigger a bite, he had to know which mark he was so he could tell when a fish was going after his lure versus mine. Since I couldn’t see him or his fish, I could really focus on getting the fish on my screen to strike.

I’m on my second season, and after just using it again this past weekend on Mille Lacs, I am very happy I upgraded to the LX-5.

Hi everyone. I’m new to this site and I look forward to joining in the discussions.

For outerwear, I use GameHide’s uninsulated StormHide like the banner ad to the left. This is probably the best outerwear I have ever owned. It doesn’t have the padding that some like, but after that rainy weekend we just had, I can say it is completely waterproof. For warmth, I just layer with some fleece and I’m good to go.

Good luck.