The WI DNR says it’s OK to fish but they want everyone to stay on local waters close to home. They don’t want people traveling long distance let alone just to fish. Considering the virus needs people to spread itself I don’t think the DNR wanting us to fish local is unreasonable at all. I had a trophy walleye trip planned to the GB area in a couple weeks. I put that trip on hold until next spring. I am disappointed for sure but it is absolutely the right call to stay local until this virus crap blows over.

I started out with a Coleman focus 5 years ago. I have tried the Buddy heaters but much prefer the Focus 5 and still use it. IMO it’s the best one or two man portable heater I ever used. I picked another one up at a flea market for 12 bucks a few years back and I would have gladly paid twice that.

I’m not sure why Coleman stopped making those heaters. Probably because too many dopes couldn’t be bothered to use them the way they were intended to be used = too close to combustibles, not enough ventilation and what not.

I’m not sure if it was a Coleman product or not but there was a similar but smaller Focus 3 ? heater that sat on top of a 1 pound propane bottle that you could get in Canada a few years after the Focus 5 went away. That too was a good little heater. Dunno if those are still available or not.

Thanks for all the input on the Eskimo suits. I am in the market for a some sort of float suit and I’ll be checking the Eskimos out.

On a side note
I did pick up a pair of the Eskimo Flag chaser pants last fall. I wanted something windproof waterproof and some insulation for cold weather boat fishing. I like the pants and wore them boat and all ice season so far. The one dislike about them is the suspenders which attach to the waist via velcro loops. One of the three loops loops popped open every time I wore those pants. The pants do come with belt loops so I just ditched the suspenders that came with the suit and used a belt and regular suspenders instead. No issues after I did that.
In summary, The pants are comfortable, warm and waterproof but plan on upgrading the suspenders if you go with a pair of these.

With the uncertainty of the future of SS I never figured SS into my retirement plans and will consider anything I may get from it as a bonus.

Although I was a little late to the investment game I started a Roth about 18 years ago. I funded it the best I could and now have a modest sum waiting in the wings. I wish I had started investing in myself sooner but better late then never.

So take advantage of the retirement investment options out there. Be it a Roth , your companies 401K or whatever. Get started investing in yourself. You won’t miss the money now and you’ll have the potential to build yourself a nice little nest egg once your working days are done.

There’s nothing wrong with working past your “normal” retirement age. Some people are happy going the route. My one grandmother worked into her mid 80s. More power to them I say.

Re: Slowing down. I can’t do the things I used to do as well as I used to and I’m only 59. It’s not an excuse just years and years of wear and tear catching up to me. I still do most of the same things I used to. I just do them a little slower and with a little more forethought. LOL

Through circumstances beyond my control I chose to become work optional the day after I turned 58 -Jan 1st 2019.

Some advice I got from an older retired guy that really hit home with me while I was trying to decide to retire or not. I mentioned that I was thinking about retiring and all he said was “You can work your life away chasing money but you can’t buy a nickles worth of time”. I knew right then that retirement was the way I was going to go. No regrets indeed !

McCrappie. I was pretty much in the same boat as you when I was 32. The factory job I had was being eliminated and with only a high school education I didn’t know what my next step was going to be. It was a bit disconcerting to say the least so I understand where you are coming from.

I ended up going with a non union asphalt company. I did that for about 4 years then hooked up with a union outfit and started in the laborers union when I was 36. A year after that I was in the Operators union running asphalt paving equipment.I retired last January at 58. Great pay,great benefits, a very good pension plus I got to work outside.
The downside is I missed a LOT of family stuff all those years. Kids ball games/school events etc. No summer vacations at all and I didn’t get to fish near as much as I wanted to. lol But my goal going in was to be work optional by the time I was 60. Mission accomplished. In the event that things don’t work out for me and I need to go back to work I could easily find another job doing the same thing if I wanted to.

ANYHOW, I too would suggest looking into the Laborers Union. With the current labor shortage (around here anyways) you may be surprised by the job options that may be available to you.

Best of luck in whatever choice you make.

I was in the market for an X Over Cottage too and like Aaron said Fleet Farm had the best price ( That I could find ) at $599. I ended up buying one at Bass Pro because they price match and I had a bunch of cabelas gift cards to use up. I don’t think BP was too happy about it as their price was $679. lol

I used a 2 X 6 to make the risers ? that mount to the top of the skis. I’ve only used my sled one winter so far but had zero issues clearance wise with drifts from 12 to 20″.

I built a smitty sled using waxless cross country skis last winter. I am guessing I am hauling around 125 pounds of gear with it. Pulling a smitty sled is hands down easier then hauling a portable without one. Like Tinker said, I barely notice the sled at all on glare ice or hard packed snow. I did run into a week or so of 12-20″ drifts last winter. It sucked walking through it but the sled rode right over those drifts no problem. I might have 10 bucks tied up in my sled and that includes the skis which I got from one of the thrift stores for like 5 bucks. I just bought a new Otter Cottage for this winter. I highly doubt I will even notice the extra 30-40 pounds I’ll be dragging around this winter.

Congrats EPG. My little man has called me Boo ever since he started talking. LOL Totally his call and I couldn’t care less what HE decides to call me. He has been a lesson in love the whole 5 years he has been alive. I am truly blessed !

I will second whoever said you need to watch what you say around your grandkids. I’d almost swear that kid remembers stuff I said when he was still in his mother womb sometimes. Hahahaha

I smoked for 26 years. It took me a half dozen attempts to quit but I finally did about 15 ? years ago. The main thing is you have to really WANT to quit. That really is the long and the short of it. I was a 2-3 pack a day smoker until I finally decided to get serious about quitting. Once I REALLY decided to quit I was shocked at how easy it was for me to kick the habit. Best of luck with helping your dad quit.

I have owned and fished out of 12 a 14 and 16 foot Jon. The 12 was good for smaller waters ( smaller rivers/short distances) and was very portable but I never felt as comfortable or safe in it ( solo or with another person ) as I did with the 14 and 16 foot boat.
I caught a pile of fish and shot a fair amount of ducks out of my 14 footer. It was a nice river boat though I took it out on a few lakes when the weather was right. It was a great boat but with bench seating I always wished I had a little more room.
After 15+ years I finally sold the 14 and went with a 16 foot War Eagle with an open floor plan and have zero regrets.
I am a river guy ( medium sized river ) for the most part and the 16 footer rides better and tracks better than the 14 in waves/windy conditions. I have run the 16 in the same shallow stretches of river as I did the 14 with zero issues too.
I vertical jig, anchor and cast and troll with my 16 footer and wouldn’t think twice about duck hunting or using it to get me to some hard to get to ( by land ) deer hunting spots if I wanted. My vote is that you look into a 16 footer.

Thanks for taking the time to post your thoughts on the Otter. This is exactly the kind of info I was looking for.

Last summer I was looking for a small relatively inexpensive and portable unit for the 12 foot boat that I use on some local no motor lakes. I ended up buying this exact unit. Long story short, I wasn’t expecting much from this unit going in but I am happy to say that it has exceeded my expectations.If you have any specific questions I’ll try to answer them the best I can but I would buy another one if anything ever went wrong with the one I have.

Farm and Fleet used to sell sunflower seed in 6 or 7 gallon buckets. I don’t know if they still do but if you’re into feeding the birds it might be a worth checking out.

I make my own and have had pretty good luck with this one so far this winter

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Randy Wieland wrote:

Ok, this is proof I’m getting old. 30 year old tactics being discussed as something new. Love it.
What I have left from my “ice fishing” rattle traps. These were dead stick walleye slayers on the Winnebago system

LOL Those Rattle Traps worked great on Walleyes and big Perch on Petenwell too.

That’s great saddle. I hope to be work optional a year from now.

Heard there was a bad accident up your way last night but didn’t know anything more about it until I read your post. Terrible news. Thoughts and prayers.

Another vote for the Modine Hot Dawg. My garage is roughly the same size as your rabbit but is not connected to the house. After years of running a torpedo type heater every time I wanted to work in the garage I had Hot Dawg installed in the fall of 2016. Mine runs on propane but I am thinking of switching it to natural gas if running a supply line to the garage isn’t too costly. As is, I have zero regrets.

We were actually talking about this this weekend. My FIL was originally taught ITA(Initial Teaching Alphabet) in school. He still blames it for not being able to spell properly. Reading a sentence written in ITA is a brain bender when you’re used to plain English.

Ha, I remember being taught ITA in first or second grade. ITA All The Way was the mantra of the day when it first came out. The idea was to make it easier to understand how to spell words with sh ch or how different letters could sound/be pronounced by creating a new letter/combination of letters. In essence it was more or less a training alphabet. It wasn’t that difficult to learn but it was out of use by the time I reached the next grade grade.

Though I rarely use it these days I can still write and read long hand writing.

Done.

Hang tough Frankie. We’re all pulling for you.

I have Folbe rod holders mounted on the Phischon TrackStar brackets on my War Eagle Jon. I do a lot of trolling and am very happy with the brackets. I did have to drill an access hole in the track on my boat for the carriage bolt heads but it wasn’t a big deal.

“Second most important piece on my boat besides graphs.” X2

I fish solo ( trolling ) a lot of the time and the Terrova has been a God send. I troll using my main motor, when I get fish on I put the Terrova in autopilot using the remote. It’s so nice not having to worry about controlling the boat when you’re fighting a fish, changing baits or even when nature calls LOL. If for whatever reason my Terrova went down for the count today, I would pick up and head for the launch immediately to go get a new one ASAP !
They are a little spendy for sure but they are worth every penny IMO.

For sure big. My point was more food for thought than anything. I think some guys get sucked in by the one foot contours THINKING the depths will be exact. But as you said, due to fluctuating water levels it’s impossible to give precise numbers. That being said, I know the water level on this lake doesn’t fluctuate all that much and if anything is a little low. But that’s splitting hairs really. It’s really not a big deal to me if the depths are off by a foot or two. I only want my GPS/lake chip to mark/get me close to spots and get me on and off any given lake when the weather sets in etc. I think this set up will do that for me just fine.

Agree with the RAM GPS mount. I had one on my ATV for my last unit and ordered a new cradle that will fit the 64s. Having a GPS mounted on my ATV is a no brainer especially since I can be 3-4 or miles from the launch at times.

On a side note, a friend of mine bought a 64 the day after I bought my 64s. There didn’t seem to be a big difference between his 64 and my 64s unit save the compass on the 64s and 64st is MUCH better. The compass on the 64s and 64st was gave readings nearly as fast as a real compass while the 64 took forever to acquire an updated reading. Even slowly walking a 15-20 feet square the 64 compass would lag WAY behind the 64s and 64st compass.
My buddy ended up taking the 64 back and getting a 64st instead. I guess they were out of the 64s units ??? Dunno but from what I saw, unless you are into hiking I don’t think the 64st justifies the higher price tag if you want a unit just for fishing applications. Basically your paying extra for an upgraded base map with the 64st

After messing around with the 64s a little I think it’s going to work just fine for what I want a hand held to do for me. I was never a wiz at using a GPS to begin with even on my boat but I’ve found the 64s to be relatively easy to set up and use … so far. LOL

I ordered the US LAKEVu HD chip for the 64s. It was easy to install and I was surprised at some of the smaller bodies of water that were included on that chip. The chip even included a few sections of a local river. Though not totally accurate on the river depths it’s close enough and would get someone not familiar with the river in the right neighborhood.
Yesterday was the first time I had the unit out with the map chip installed. I went to a local lake gill fishing and was curious to see how accurate the chip was depth wise. For a chip that claims to be accurate to one foot contours I was a little disappointment to find that my chip was off by about a foot and a half compared to the actual depth. That being said, it’s not a total deal breaker for me as the chip got me into the area I wanted to be.And I’m OK with popping holes to find the spot on the spot so to speak.

Is the map chip worth the investment ? I guess it depends on what your accuracy requirements are. The base map that comes preinstalled with the 64s is marginal at best. It shows main roads and what not but it leaves a LOT to be desired as far as showing true lake shorelines. In other words, even if you are familiar with any given lake the basemap will be of very little help even helping you figure out where on the lake you are. Before I installed the lake map chip I headed out about 150 yards onto the lake I was fishing but according to the track that was recorded on my GPS I was still on land the whole distance.

Keep in mind that I’m a novice at the hand held GPS stuff so maybe there are features that I am missing that a guy could tweak to get more out of the basemap ? I don’t THINK so but there are a lot smarter folks out there then me with these things so who knows.

If I had it to do over again, I would still get the map chip. I like being able to see where I am on any given body of water even if the depths are not totally accurate. The suggested retail price is $149, the big box stores seem to run $129 to 139 from what I saw. I found one on Amazon for just under a hundred bucks and a used/like new chip for $50 so it definitely pays to shop around OR see if one of the big box stores will do a price match for you.

I hope this post has helped answer a few questions for those looking for a new unit.

ejd wrote:

GEEMAN, have you tried out your 64s yet and if you have what are your thoughts on it.
Thanks,

I tried it once to mark a spot on a local lake I was fishing. I found the spot, marked and named it shut the unit off and went on my way. Once I got back to my truck I checked to make sure that waypoint was listed and it wasn’t. My guess is I forgot to save it. DOH LOL I’ll get the hang of it in time. I just need to put the ice rods down and make a serious effort to log some time learning this unit.
I ordered a map chip for it too but it has not shown up yet.

I bought my Tin from Rotometals. I got the cut wire chunks VS bar. It’s very easy to work with in small bits like that. It’s different than working with lead as far as cutting the sprues off the freshly poured jigs etc but it’s not a big deal.

Good to know that you have not had any separation or cracking issues using Bismuth. I had read somewhere along the lines that cracking could be an issue if you fish Bismuth jigs or weights on rocky bottom.

I hope you find an answer to your question. I would be interested to see what you come up with. Maybe somebody on TU would know ???