Tried to like the lx7 but I never saw the advantage, I liked that you could see the full dial and the zoom on another vertical graph. Whether or not the lx5 is the best I don’t know, I had one for awhile as a backup to my flx28 but I just couldn’t like it, the dull colors and the hectic display was too much. I got it as a spare for when I had someone fish with me that didn’t have a flasher. Problem was they couldn’t read it so I ended up fishing with it and gave up my flx28. I scratched my head when they went to humminbird. I now have a helix as my backup and it works great, not my main unit but it’s there when I need it and my buddies can read it..

If you never look to the future or look for change you will be disappointed. Was I disappointed when I saw in depth switched from Otter to Eskimo, a little but that’s only because I bought an otter because when I first got into ice fishing several years ago they had the only good weekly ice fishing show on the web. That being said I think Eskimo has stepped up their ice game tremendously in the past few years. When it comes to rods I’ve tried a lot, I’ve had a tickle stick for a long time, also have a custom Al dente DH custom rod, with a handful of dead meat sticks. I use the $40 meat stick twice as much as the custom rod. I really like the black Betty reels though. Expensive custom rods are fine but I find it hard to justify even buying a rod case full rod reel combos that exceed $200. To each their own, won’t stop me from continuing to support in depth outdoors. Spot on the spot is always one of my favorite things to watch.

Feast or famine. What species are you after? What part of SD?

Don’t worry he has a plan.

Hopefully they don’t do a total shutdown like last time.

Tried it last year, I didn’t allow enough time to setup and rushed through it. I had a big buddy heater and i still could not heat the tent. All i can say is if the weather sounds bad don’t be afraid to throw in the towel and Go home or in my case get a motel room. I said after last season i would never try it again but i might try a little closer to home this year. A floor would help a lot, had some interlocking mats but not enough to make a floor. There is a great thread about this on ice shanty as well. Also some YouTube videos by a guy whose channel is call Prospector. Really cool stuff, he is also a contributor to the iceshanty thread.

I have a handful of them that i follow quite a bit. Jay is one of my favorites along with Aaron and Clayton. I just found Tom a few weeks ago, great content!

The shappell fx100 is a great light weight one man flip. Used mine for a few years now. Good size, definitely on the cheaper side but works well. I think it weight 30lbs or so.

Ive seen a few here in iowa going for $650-$750. If you can get that much good for you, I bought a new x-over pro lodge last February for around $600. I’m looking at upgrading my one man to an otter cottage or clam legend xl. Used ones are within $50 of new ones, its like everything to do with the outdoors in 2020, supply and demand.

Finally got into some fall crappies last weekend. Doesn’t look good for this weekend but next weekend looks pretty good!

Dug a post hole or two in my life and you always lift the bit and clean the hole, hard on everything if you don’t. The kdril is a great product, used one for 3 years, switched to the lite flite last winter and I for one prefer it to the kdril. Lite Flite cuts smoother and doesn’t catch as often as my kdrill did. Had my dewalt drill torn apart to replace the cracked chuck and found that the drill casing was cracked almost all the way through. Always used it on a clam plate so i know why it cracked where it did. Both augers are great products but I think they were a bit too aggressive when it comes to bashing a competitors product…..

Can’t argue with the logic about the new unit. I have a 28 and don’t see me “upgrading” anytime soon. Flashers will always have a place in my book. I fished with a Garmin livescope last winter and while the guy i was fishing with tried to used it to catch fish i sat right beside him and caught 10 fish to his 3. Sold my 18 a month ago to buy a helix 5, If i like it i may go with the helix 7 next year, but i still don’t see myself getting rid of the 28.

I feel like I’m ahead of the game this year. Bought a helix 5 for the boat and now i need to get a genz box, ram mounts and the iceducer for it.

After tearing apart my Dewalt dcd996 drill to replace the chuck that was cracked in 3 places i found the plastic Casing was cracked over half way across the drill…… not cool. So i bought a new one, luckily it was buy the drill for $160 and get a 5ah battery with it for free. Found a replacement chuck for the old drill so i guess i have a backup now.

Definitely going to get some new jigs, Z-vibers, maybe some of those sling blade jigs, pinheads, who knows……

This will be my 3rd season with the flambeau (same as the eagle claw) mine is awesome, has room for my main rods and all of my jig boxes and then some. Price is good and it has held up well.

Not sure on the measurements but the main reason i got the pivot hitch was so I wouldn’t have to take the hitch off when I put it on the trailer. My trailer is 6.5’ wide an i have an otter lodge. I don’t see why it wouldn’t fit sideways if you have cabin.

I treat drilling through ice the same i do an earth auger or drilling through wood, gotta clear the flitting to drill efficiently.

THe one advantage ive seen for propane over gas is that you don’t have worry about spilling gas or the smell, otherwise i have not regretted my decision to go with a clam plate and a high torque drill. The fact that my setup is half the weight of my old eskimo MAKO is reason enough. Gas augers had their day and its over. If I were buying a new auger this year i would go with a lithium Lazer, but a dewalt or Milwaukee drill with a 9a/h battery is a beast.

This will be my 5th season with my Striker Predator suit, I have never been cold in it. I have fished when its been as cold as -22 and never had issues. Like others have said try it on or get the next size bigger. I have a XXL Tall jacket and it is not all that long. I know everyone has an float suit now but i will be staying with striker for quite awhile.