Dusty Gesinger wrote:

I have one of my grandpa’s back in a chicken coup that is very similar, also a couple more modern model 30s, I will try to look at it and let you know. Other wise, get it running good and sharpen the blades and be careful until you know what it’s like to use.

Ok sounds good, im looking for a manual because when i fire it up it then spins as if im holding the throttle even though im not. Im not sure how to get it to idle without spinning the bit. I know the carb most likely needs cleaning, but i have no clue what to do. Youtube is gonna be my friend. Im also like i mentioned looking for a 2 hand handle that i could make attach to this so i dont have to worry about the single handle that could harm me in some way. I plan to be careful while using it but might as well get it ready for winter.

maddogg wrote:

Looks like a old model 30.

Thats what i thought too, however when i go to jiffy’s website and click on the model 30, the picture of the motor itself doesn’t match this one. Unless they made several different types of the model 30 but just didnt picture all of them?

Jeff Telander wrote:

Sounds like you’re in the market for a locator!

Yeah, im looking for a basic finder something that wont break the bank, because i will probably only use it for ice fishing.

MNBOWHUNTIN wrote:

If you fish it during the summer you should know about where to start.
If it gets fished in the winter too, you should be able to see old holes where people have fished. Or if there are people out there, maybe swing over and chat them up a bit, hopefully they are nice and will point you in the right direction.

Your current situation, you are looking at drilling a ton of holes and using the old depth bomb to figure depths. Another thing to do is, if the water is clear, drill holes and then just look down them for weeds or anything you can see. Drill your holes far apart right away until you key in on a spot. Hopefully you are OK with walking a lot or have a ride, I’ve had to search water before and have walked 100’s of yards at a time drilling holes along the way.

One thing you said is the surrounding topography. Sometimes the water topography is similar to the shoreline topography. Ex- might be steeper drop off shore by the high banks. Ex- might be shallower weedy flats off of the side that is flat. Ex- if there is a deep hole in the lake, might be a good chance that it is closer to the high banks side than the flat side.
Hope something in there helps.

Actually that helps a lot. Im not really sure about opening old holes as their was about a foot and a half of snow dumped on the lake over the last 2 days, but looking on google earth it kinda looks like either its a shallower spot that spans out or a weed line. Either way i think im gonna try it out and see if it works. I dont mind walking around a lot if theirs fish. Just a matter of finding them. Ive been here before and been let down several times by not catching during the winter. Thanks for the help

Matt Moen wrote:

What are you fishing for?

If you know there are rock and submerged trees start near those spots and work out. If it’s a really clear lake I would assume fish would be deeper.

Go old school and get the little weighted bottom finder so you at least know the depths. Doesn’t look like a huge lake so just prepare to be mobile and move around. I’d use a dead stick rod and jigging rod so you have a couple of presentations.

Or, bite the bullet a buy an inexpensive flasher.

I mainly will be going for bluegill, their are bass and rock bass in here but ive never seen anyone catch them on this lake. As for the depthfinder, i usually use one to figure out where im at in depth. Another thing with the trees, should i sit right next to them or farther off in deeper water? some of them arent very long trees. As for rocks, i only know about 10 feet out based on summer time, id assume its the same all over but im not sure. I think next year im going to bite the bullet and get a Garmin striker 4. I should also see about getting a drill adapter for my hand auger.

B-man wrote:

Have you looked at Google Earth or Google Maps with satellite on?

Depending on water clarity at the time of the picture, you may be able to see shallower structure like reefs and points.

Yep, ive looked at google earth many times, a majority of the bottom near the shore is rock and sand from what i can tell. Not much weeds. However the lake is crystal clear in the summer unless a lot of rain comes and washes mud into the lake. usually you can see very deep in the lake, but cant see the bottom when in a kayak so im not sure how deep it even is.

tangler wrote:

shot in the dark but have you tried the Navionics online chart viewer? If it gets that much pressure maybe someone has live-mapped it and shared via SonarChart. In the lower left of the chart viewer you can toggle between Navionics official charts and user-mapped sonarcharts.

also if you share the lake name, maybe somebody here has fished it and can give you advice?

I have tried it but their isnt anything that shows up on the lake, as for a name, it doesnt exactly have a name. Its more of a private lake but lots of people use it.

wormdunker wrote:

If you are near the St Paul Minneapolis area I would cut you a deal on a ICE 45, used little as I have 4 of them. I bought flashers for my boys and one is not the biggest fan of ice fishing so it sits around collecting dust.

You will appreciate the digital depth and other features the 45 offers. I also added 2 rod holders to the side of the case.

Id love to take you up on that offer, however, I live near central wisconsin,and dont make it that way more than once a year. I appreciate the offer though. Tight lines

Bearcat89 wrote:

Run to the lake and just try them out. If they are dull then sharpen them. If not your good to go. You can sharpen them on your own. But if your not set up or skilled then some bait shops will do it for 15 or 20 bucks. Or buy new blades. It’s not all that often that you need to do it. So if you have to buy new blades they will be good for a few years. Mine have been drilling for 4 years. So far. I bet 4 to 5 thousand holes

Really? I bought a new pair for a hand auger last year and after a few holes they were tore up with a bunch of burs on the end. They were made by Eskimo.

phishingruven01 wrote:

what bad things have you heard? I haven’t had a single issue.

Mainly just that the blades break and they arent really reliable from season to season. Few of my buddies who do fish use them and have had to completely replace the auger bit because a large chunk of it came off.

Trevor Hebel wrote:

IMO I would look at a hub fish house very reasonably priced and you can lug it around in a car/van/SUV and lightweight. Buy a used hand auger, new blades are cheap for them and you can pay a guy that knows how to sharpen them if your not comfortable doing it yourself. Then you’ll always have a sharp spare when your other set gets dull. And like you said you could buy a drill later on and there’s your battery powered auger. You don’t need a flasher but they are more enjoyable to watch then staring at a hole for hours just dreaming whats down there haha. Also, I would suggest like others have, just pay the 10 bucks for the navionics map for your phone and that will help save time on drilling and more time fishing.

Ive thought about doing the navionics app but have no clue what to look for or fish. I understand the contour lines mean depth, but no clue what to fish for certian areas. Expecially with me not knowing a whole lot about fishing to start with.

phishingruven01 wrote:

get a cheap sled.
get the nils 4.5″ auger($150). attach it to a cordless drill
buy a used flasher $150 $200 ish
get a swivel top seat for a bucket.
cheap schooley rod.
buy the poster aboves eskimo pop up.

Im not sure about the nils auger, ive heard bad things about it. I was thinking of a HT auger from walmart thats on sale for 39.99 (in my area at least) and just getting a drill adapter. As for fish finder id probably get the garmin striker 4 on sale because thats 100, more i can put into the auger or a shelter.

riverruns wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>riverruns wrote:</div>
riverrunsParticipant
Fountain City WI.Posts: 1,654

December 3, 2018 at 8:47 pm
#1814833

where are you located?

I asked this question first.

Im around the central wisconsin area but i mostly fish north of wausau.

Jeff Telander wrote:

Where in Wisconsin are you? Feel free to Send me a PM

Just sent a pm

philtickelson wrote:

A flasher will by far get you into <strong class=”ido-tag-strong”>ice fishing faster than any other piece of equipment. Depending on your physique, I’d put a power auger of some type next on the list.

Ultimate comfort is a nice insulated house and heater, but you can do a lot of damage with warm clothes, a flasher and an auger. Pick your days so you aren’t out at -20 below, or fish some smaller bays that are protected from the wind.

I love ice fishing, spending time on the ice by myself or with friends. But there is just no way around it, catching fish is more fun than not catching fish. A flasher and 6 hand drilled holes will almost always catch more fish than no flasher and 100 holes.

If just using a hand auger, do your research before hitting a lake, spend $10 on the navionics app for your phone to make a game plan before starting to drill. A 6″ hole represents a miniscule volume of water on any lake, so make sure you are targeting ‘fishy’ locations. You won’t always strike gold, but you’ll be much more successful.

Heck, if you are fishing heavily targeted lakes, just open up other people’s holes with a hand auger/chisel and you’ll save a ton of physical effort.

The only situation I’d suggest not going for a flasher right away is if you are only focusing on pike fishing / tip-up fishing. A flasher is still really helpful to find weedlines and stuff, but you can do quite well with a good map and a bunch of holes. On clearer lakes you can just stick your head down the hole to look for weeds.

I really want to get out and do more fishing, i love doing it in the summer(even though im terrible at it and cant catch on artificial) and i really want to get into it for the winter months too, as i dont need to worry as much about a boat and the other gear.

Jeff Telander wrote:

Seriously giving an auger away that needs minor work. Why is everyone trying to sell this guy on buying fancy $hit when he Is clearly trying to get into this on a budget. $500 here, $400 there. How about free?

It would be awesome to get some used gear that works for relitivly cheap or free, but that isnt how it usually works. I am on a fairly tight budget, gotta save for a car. Probably 450 would be my max to spend.

Jeff Telander wrote:

I said I’d GIVE you an auger! Hardfishing, where are you?

Im so sorry, i didnt click email notifications for the thread so i had no clue anyone commented.

Dan wrote:

Mr. Telander makes a good point about Craigslist. I wish I would’ve looked more at that site when I first got into it; you can usually find things on there.

I was in your shoes about 5 years ago and I worked my way up, building my arsenal with about one big purchase a year. The first thing I got was an auger. There are a lot of things you’ll want over the years but as far as I can tell being able to get into the water through a hole in the ice is pretty paramount.

If you want to save some money to use toward other gadgets I would consider getting a hand auger. I did that when I got into it and I’m just now thinking I’ll get a power auger. You can get a 6-inch hand auger for $40 or less new, or even cheaper on Craigslist. Yeah, you get a little limited with a hand auger, but until the ice gets extremely thick it’s not too bad. If I’m with people we just trade off hand drilling holes, and sometimes it’s not a bad activity just to keep warm. When I watch shows and hear the guy say “the first thing I’m gonna do on this water is drill a bunch of holes to find fish” I know I can’t do that but you can still get the job done. I live in southeast MN so by the end of the season I may run into some 18-24 inch ice but most of the year I can do it. You may hear various opinions but I know a lot of people, myself included, will tell you that there’s not many fish you won’t be able to pull through a 6-inch hole.

The next year I bought a flasher. Between the classified ads on this site as well as CL people are always selling them. I had saved some money and used some rewards points to buy a new Humminbird Ice-55 and that’s the only experience I know, but from what I’ve heard you can get previous models (in Humminbird’s case, Ice-45 or Ice-35) and it’ll still get the job done for you. I know some people might look down at me saying this but having a flasher is huge, sometimes I wonder what the hell I was ever doing without one.

One of the following years I bought a flipover shack. For me, I wanted to get out more often and not be limited to the warmer days, so I needed a shack. I kept my eye on prices and got an Eskimo Quick-Flip-1 at Fleet Farm last year for right around $200, and I actually just saw that FF has them on sale this week for that price. Otherwise I know for a fact that CL and the classified ads here have them a lot.

That’s the order and methodology I used, I’m sure it’s different for each person but I’m happy with the way I did things. I think this year I’m finally going to get an electric auger, but like I said a hand auger has been alright for me for the last 5 years.

Good luck and enjoy. I’m a pretty frugal guy so I’d say doing some research, comparing prices, and listening to guys on here will help you with the best plan.

Sorry for the long wordy response, I just have a soft spot for people in your shoes because that was me not long ago. It’s daunting with all the stuff out there and trying to figure out what you need, what you don’t need, and what you can wait on.

Actually that was very helpful. I guess the reason i havent gotten a hand auger is im from wiconsin, so usually i go north when i fish, and if the ice by the time i get out isnt close to a foot thick you can tell it was a bad winter. Maybe if i get a hand auger, then next year get a 20 volt drill to use with it(i can double duty it and use it for summer projects too) that way i can get a power auger. One issue ive had with owning augers too is i cant ever seem to get the blades sharp enough. Ive tried sharpening them, but never did the job. Thats why i kinda gave up on ice fishing when it would take an hour to drill one hole. As for a fish finder, ive been looking at the garmin striker 4. Fleet farm usually has it for 100 bucks when a sale goes through. I can double duty that as well if i go kayak fishing. Either the garmin or i looked at the hummingbird helix 5. That would be a awesome unit(ive gotten to test it out on the lake before) but i think id have to get into fishing a whole lot more. Shelters i never really looked at because usually i just throw as many layers on as i can and go out. Ill take a look at craigslist for a used shelter. Thanks so much for your help

nhamm wrote:

Get an ol beat up boat and motor. Way less spendy than a new kayak. I’m all for a workout but cmon, fishing shouldn’t be strenuous

Take the time to learn all the things that make up a boat, trailer, and motor, and learn to fix all it. You have all the time in the world right now in youth which will give you a lifetime of knowledge when you grow older. Sure wish I would’ve learned alot of stuff back when, once you get a job, wife, couple kids. Not only saves ya time but serious money bc you know what you’re doing!

Good luck man. Should be fun for ya figuring out one way or another.

I totally would take a boat over a kayak, however the issue of finding one for a decant price near me, that doesnt have holes is an issue for me.

Dutchboy wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>hardfishing wrote:</div>
Hello, I am considering buying a sit on top kayak to fish out of as I can’t afford a boat. I am wondering how bad of an idea is it for me to buy one and use it on a 6348 acre lake that is also a reservoir. I am looking for A is it even a good idea to try, B what would you try to make sure you dont get swamped every time a boat flies past you and makes a huge wake, and C how can I figure out what kayak would be best if it is even worth it. Sorry for the dumb question but cant really ask anywhere else. Thanks.

A) It’s a good idea if you are careful. I’m on a lake that has a lot of Kayaks and Canoes. Most boats give them very little respect although some do. Buy a bright colored one. Wear a florescent PFD. Also Yaks with flags off the back are easier for us to see. I would not travel across the middle of any size lake.

B) No real answer to this. Time in the Yak and experience is your only teacher.

C) You in the Twin Cities? I think REI sells them. That Mountain climbing place over near St. Louis Park sells them I believe. Otherwise a summer road trip to Ely, rent one and test it out.

Good luck, stay safe.

No, i am in wisconsin on the otherside, so its a little far for me lol.

biggill wrote:

Now that I think about it, some of those older units will not work in cold weather due to the screen freezing. That could very well be one of them.

shoot, thats right. maybe put a hand warmer and get a soft pack to go around it or something lol

biggill wrote:

If super cheap means free go for it. It probably will not be very sensitive and likely won’t see your jig.

I wouldn’t give $20 for that unit. I had a garmin 250C so I wouldn’t bet on it being very sensitive.

A guy is if he can find the transducer and power cable gonna send it to me, Hopefully no shipping but probably that and the cost of a new battery.

Jon Jordan wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>hardfishing wrote:</div>
know a actual battery is better, i just dont exactly know what one to get.

Those augers use the same size/type as a Vexilar. (Or other flashers)

Did you get the power cable that connects to your car/truck battery?

-J.

no, this is an older model of electric ice auger, all i have is the female connectors attached to the motor inside.

Jon Jordan wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>hardfishing wrote:</div>
a electric ice auger (strikemaster electra i think) with a eskimo hand auger bit(bought both together for 30 dollars)

That was a steal for $30 ! Just make sure to get a good fresh (New) battery. More amp hours the better. Don’t expect more that about 10 holes. Less as the ice gets thicker.

I was origionally going to use a drill battery that has the male connector that fits my auger perfectly. I have three of them. I know a actual battery is better, i just dont exactly know what one to get.
-J.

buckshot wrote:

Make sure the blades are sharp on the auger as well. You can have all the power you want but if you have dull blades it can take a lot to punch a hole.

Not sure where you live but even with the really cold temps we have right now you still need to be careful out there….find a local bait shop and ask about ice conditions and if there are areas to avoid. Aerators, current in channels etc etc.

Other than that, what was said above….use the app to find a nice break line or piece of structure at have at it. Some sort of sonar/flasher would be at the top of the list for next purchases….it can make all the difference between doing well and going home skunked.

I just bought new blades for it, so if they arent sharp im gonna have a nice talk with the company. I would probably have to go to a bait shop anyways to get bait lol. So id ask questions their. As for location im near central wisconsin.

Jon Jordan wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>hardfishing wrote:</div>
a electric ice auger (strikemaster electra i think) with a eskimo hand auger bit(bought both together for 30 dollars)

That was a steal for $30 ! Just make sure to get a good fresh (New) battery. More amp hours the better. Don’t expect more that about 10 holes. Less as the ice gets thicker.

I was origionally going to use a drill battery that has the male connector that fits my auger perfectly. I have three of them. I know a actual battery is better, i just dont exactly know what one to get.
-J.

BigWerm wrote:

If you have a smart phone get the Navionics app for $10 and you will be able to setup on structure. And should be able to have some success with the equipment you have. If you have any friends that ice fish, going with them will give you a big step forward too.

Ive been using that for a bit now. I am hoping to go out tomarrow and try it out. If i like it then ill probably pay the 10 bucks a year lol.

patk wrote:

Two biggest things my first year.

1. Used Vexilar FL8 from craigslist
2. Pro tips from Dave Genz. Find his articles and maybe even videos. Gave me a great foundation to build on. Used to be on Clam’s site but that was a few years ago.

Im thinking of the striker 4 because i can also use it on my kayak in the summer time. Since I dont have alot of money i would like to kill two birds with one stone if you know what i mean.

Tuma wrote:

You have more than what I had when I started ice fishing. I had a hand auger, rope with weight to find depth, and some fishing line wrapped around some wood. As long as you can get a hole through the ice you are good to go. What type of fish are you trying to target?

(hope your videos are still going well)

I am really going for what ever bites. I would love to either get into crappies or walleye. But whatever i can get ill take.
Thanks, yeah im hoping to go out tomarrow and make a couple

Tanner Voeller wrote:

Assuming you are wanting this for ice fishing.

Before I purchased the marcum lx-6, I had the showdown troller 2. It’s a really good unit for people using a flasher for the first time. I believe it is around 200 at cabelas.

If you want one with more features you can always look to craigslist or Facebook market place for a used unit.

It would probably be used mostly for icefishing, but id like it so say im in the kayak, or a place that doesnt have a finder, i can at least find bottom contour/depth.

slipbob_nick wrote:

What are your thoughts on cheap and thoughts on good quality?

As nhamm mentioned where your fishing will be a big factor. When kayak fishing i usual worked weed edges and a handheld depth measurer of sorts for ice fishing worked. Mine was a strikemaster one. Of course depends on where and how you’re fishing

I would like a fishfidnder that is good for a kayak, would love to be at least under 150 but. I was consindering the garmin 4. I can get it for 100 bucks but no clue if it is a good fish finder or not. I also dont know about the size of the unit itself. Is it too small?