Just got the Keeper Deluxe for Christmas. Always thought a bucket was fine but snapped a tip or two on my St Croix rods. Also bought the Clam Trapper and was not satisfied with the canvas folding chair provided (torn canvas after minimal use, Clam replaced, new one also tearing out). I know the KD won’t be for everyone but it fit my combined needs of a rod locker, chair w/ back support, lays flat in the sled. Just my cents. Epick4

X3 I was on the ice Saturday. A guy with his 2 kids were in a large area. I staked out an area adjacent to him and drilled several holes for a buddy and me. Couple hours pass and guy with the kids leaves, then 3 new people show up. No ice auger and no spud. They start in the other holes but next thing I know they are fishing in my holes. They also start complaining that there isn’t enough holes in the right places and maybe they can “rent an auger”.

Had they asked to fish my holes, I would have offered to drill with no charge. It just seemed annoying to me that they would show up with no way to open holes and just start hole hopping without offering simple courtesy.

Thanks for letting me vent.

Epick4

Like you, I got the itch to start trolling and have added as the years go by. Lot of ideas from some well experienced and insightful folks on this website. Started w/ 90hp 2stroke and buckets off the side cleats to slow ‘er down. Recently added a 7.5 hp kicker that is a gas saver. I still keep one small bucket over the front to calm the bow and reduce winddrift.
I like braided line on the cranks to go deeper and better read the crank action. 10# braid has been my choice. I have had success with the reasonably priced Frenzy crankbaits, but will try others as well. If grass is floating in the river system, do not be afraid to put a split shot sinker 2-3′ ahead of the crank to keep grass from fouling the crank action. Just a few things to consider. Tight lines, Epick4

Appreciate your sharing of the leeches/crawler results as well as the difficulties with the big one. It does happen. Thanks for the post.

Thanks for the tips and laughs.

Tom- I like the idea of a line counter for preloading with backing. How much of the spool do you fill w/ backing and what strength do you use compared to the baided?

Others, Red Green would have a full season of inventing at my place as I have “stuff” left from the family farm. I had to chuckle at the apple flinger. As a child, whenever we got in trouble with Mom during late summer or fall, we were sent to the apple trees in the yard to pick up “every last one of them apples” and wheel them over to the pigs.

The Clam Tube Light ordered from GM arrived on time and I was excited to open the box. Ever so carefully with an Exacto knife, slicing from inside out (like gutting a deer) I opened the heat sealed plastic package at the bottom so that if needbe I could put back in package and return. I pryed open the wide end of the package to remove its contents. Velcro straps, 110 charger, gator clip wires, and lighter adapter wire all came out fine. Now the main event, I pulled on the handle end of the tubelight. It was kind of snug. I pulled a little harder and it came out.

I held it up to look at it kinda like Ralphy looked at his first BB gun in the Christmas Story. There it was in all of its glory. Dangling from the end was the torch-light components like a clown that’s been sprung from a Jack in the Box.

Anyway, I replaced the torchlight contents and retrieved the lens/cover/hook end from deep inside the package. Then used a portable drill to pilot a hole and insert a small screw which holds it just fine. Actually glad it happened prior to use so I could modify at home.

Haven’t used it yet, but overall I like the tubelight setup for me. Minimal shack use, rechargeable, useful for shoplight, camping, bloodtrailing deer, etc. Tightlines, Epick4

Thanks for the input guys! Had a GM gift card and went with the one suggested by Steveskoal. It will be shipped to my house at no charge and I like the alligator clips. Everyone had a good perspective, I hope this one pans out. I figure it will be a worklight if nothing else.

Well we made the float. Nothing exciting to report from the catching standpoint, just a couple of smallies. None-the-less we had a good float and since we started late in the day, we had the river mostly to ourselves. Next time, I think that I would try going to down from the Osceola Landing.

Thanks for the tips, Mike! We will give ’em a try and see if we can get something to go. Tight lines!

Brad, after reading your post, my thought was that removing the split ring but using the snap would maintain range of motion for the lure while allowing me to quickly switch cranks or even go to three-ways and so on. My thought on removing the split ring was related more for casting. I am hoping that I can decrease line fouls (line wraps around treble hook, snap, split ring), increase energy transfer from crank through gear to hand (wondered if some vibration loss occurs at the split ring), and ease changing of cranks since my ten thumbs can’t seem to hook the flopping split ring easily as the smaller but steady eyelet. I really appreciate your consideration on the topic.

Thanks to everyone for the input! It was great to get all of the feedback. For now, I am going to try #2 Duoloc snaps and no swivel.

Thanks for the tip Chappy. We were going about 1 mph according to my cousin’s blackberry gps. I still have plenty to learn. Next time I will try to kick it up a notch.

Congrats dwwscran! Nice first outing.

Thanks for the advice Dean! I will take it into consideration as I plan future trips.

So, I am just updating the post as I have been to the head of Lake Pepin 3x including Memorial Day. I continue using 3 ways w/ crawler harnesses achieving success for my expectations(16 sgr/wl, 14 s/w, 6 sgr/2 cats). I troll upriver in 7-9 fow and find the bite slows as morning turns to noon. I have some questions if anyone would care to share their perspective:
– Do the fish work their way down the pool as the summer progresses?
– When is it better to use a floater on the spinner rig or go without?
– Does length of line from 3way to swivel-sinker make a difference? I usually run 12-18 inches.

Thanks for any advice.