I have a GPS anchor on my trolling motor, plus we use digger anchors when we’re not using the trolling motor- I’ll motor up wind of a spot, deploy the anchor(s) and it’s usually pretty solid. I’m for sure going to put one Vexilar up front on the trolling motor, it does have a 19 degree cone, and the FL18 has bottom lock on it. Anytime you are fishing in a river, the fish finder is always skewed a bit no matter what unit you’re using. I might try a temporary mount on the transom and see how that works out, great idea!

I checked out Palo yesterday afternoon….I didn’t venture too far from shore and found 5″ of ice in the spot I was on. Nobody was fishing along the dam, and I noticed a couple people fishing the old roadbed (west of the beach), and further up in the back part of the lake (under the power lines). Haven’t heard anything about Lake Macbride, Kent Park, etc.

When I used to take trips down to Lake of the Ozarks, an 11 inch fish wouldn’t even be thrown in a bucket. Lots of 14-15+ inch fish.

My wife and I joke about this all the time- how is it that a cigarette butt constitutes as not being trash????

Here in Iowa, we are allowed only 2 lines. We can purchase a third, but I generally don’t get to do much tip-up fishing unless I am chasing pike or walleyes in far flung corners of the state. I could do the tip downs, I have done deadstick rods for crappie and walleye in the past on other lakes. I’ve fished the lake after dark-it’s kinda funny, the lake gets kind of spooky quiet, people usually don’t stick around after dark. The main spot that I fish is a shallower bay that has access to the main channel through the body of water, which is among the deepest spots in the lake. I may try moving out further to the “inside turn” there where it gets deeper. Most of the brush piles sit in 10-15 feet of water, but nearby it drops off rapidly from 20 feet to 40 feet.

It’s a perennial problem no matter where you go. Yesterday I picked up 3-4 bait containers, a beer can, and candy wrappers around a community hole I fished. The other stuff like pee stains, and people crapping out on the ice, and used feminine hygiene products even is just disgusting- especially on the lake I fish a lot that is less than a thousand acres in size and is ringed by a state park with ample facilities open year round. Like there’s literally a bathroom 100 yards away in most directions. It just comes down to people are lazy and there is no depth to the level of laziness they exhibit. Thankfully most people are pretty good about cleaning up after themselves, but the few that don’t end up making the biggest messes!

I have a Marcum LX-5, I can zoom anywhere in the water column. The thin line feature helps a little in sorting out larger and smaller targets….but unfortunately the little gills out speed the larger fish it seems, haha.

I considered that as well…..time to purchase a camera, haha.

That’s kinda what my other thought was, that they feed at dawn/dusk. I heard rumors of guys having success with minnows after dark. I’ve tried it in the past, staying until the park (where the lake is located) closes with no success. I also wonder too if they maybe do not wander out over deeper water nearby- a basin bite perhaps?

I have 3-4 panfish rods I carry with me. Only one of them has a Pfleuger Medalist fly reel on it that I bought off e-bay several years ago for a 3wt fly rod I had at the time. The inline rod is my St. Croix Legend series rod with a spring bobber on the end. I use it when the crappies at my local lake are biting so lightly that even with good electronics it’s difficult to detect, haha. I also use tiny tiny home made jigs that I’ve done with trout fly hooks…it’s a very specific presentation. The rest are just noodle rods with a spinning reel on them- I use Mitchell Avocet reels, cheap and reliable. To avoid line twist, I use 1-2lb line and set my drag lighter, and I am just really careful about how I strip line off. I think it was an episode of IDO that I first learned a few tips on avoiding line twist while ice fishing. I should also mention as well that if I am fishing spoons/jigging raps I ALWAYS use a swivel and a section of flouro line down to the lure- which seems to do the trick.

I left it plugged in overnight, it finally changed during that time. I’ll have to invest in a battery meter later on for it.

So it arrived today, I’ve had it on the charger since around 9 am this morning. It’s had a good 12 hours of charge and the green light hasn’t shown yet. How long does it take to charge the battery on this unit?

Marine General had a bunch of good deals going on- sale prices, free shipping, etc.

Clown Patter jigging raps are our bread and butter on our main walleye lake. We miss the old clown pattern that Rapala had in the 90’s along with the classic perch pattern that seems to be disappearing- it was also dynamite for me. Not to get off topic, but a larger jigging rap in Perch saved a week of fishing in the Boundary Waters for my dad and I 20+ years ago. I just happened to have it in my box, and we were drift fishing with it…. the walleyes and smallmouth LOVED it- if they only had the snap rap back then, haha!

Hope so too! Even if it means driving a couple hours to get to it at first, haha:-)

I pulled the trigger today on the LX-5. Marine General had a deal on them, I can’t wait for the UPS/Fed-Ex guy to drop it off (at work, at home it would get stolen off my door step, haha). You guys at IDO are a helluva group of salesmen for Marcum, now I gotta start saving my “allowance” for a new flip-over shack to replace my well used Clam 2000 I’ve used for 10 seasons:-)

I know this sounds like a dumb question, but I generally only carry a 6 inch hand auger everywhere- that should be okay for most “eater” sized pike, right? What’s your favorite bait to use?

Kinda like my old Showdown Ice Troller- it will be a good “buddy” unit to take along when I have a friend with me. It does fine when you are over a school of hungry bluegills/crappie…..which covers 95% of the times I take a friend with me, haha.

I’ve gotten to use an FL 18 over the years, it is fantastic in shallow water. However I don’t think any of the Vexilar units touch the features of the LX 5-9 series of fish finders. Can’t wait to get the LX-5 and see how the fine line works on those shallow walleyes.

I grew up in Quasky- can’t say I am too happy as to what they did with the damn. Yes it may help up and downstream- but the area that was between the dams was a really great place to catch crappies, walleyes, and northerns at different times of the year- especially if the water was up a little. I’ve caught some nice smallies out of that stretch over the years, and plenty of nice walleyes out there fishing late at night/early morning in the dark. I haven’t fished there in a couple years. Before the new water feature was added, I was up there about once a month on average almost year round. I now go to Troy Mills, Central City, etc.