You are correct in assuming you reel it like a spinning reel. Right handed means you reel with your left.

Thanks guys for all your help. I ended up borrowing one and hauling it up with me. I just wanted to do a little scouting around for weedbeds before ice up. I will be back up in a few weeks to scout some more on the ice.

Thanks guys I hope to get out a few times while Im there. My hope is to do nothing but good things at the plant lol. My trips to Mille Lacs are a pre ice scouting mission to locate good weed beds for the sunnies and crappie. Do they have any boat rentals on Isle or Wahkon ?

I used the Honda all winter fishing tournaments from MI to MN. The only issue I had was on Mille Lacs on the second day of the tournament, the linkage froze up on me and wouldnt run over idle speed. After that I made sure to dry my auger out after every trip and keep wd-40 applied to all linkage parts. Make sure your linkage cable is not overly slack as it can come unhooked at the carb and is a pain to fit back in with cold hands. You will not have a problem with power. I also run a Tanaka which is a little faster but if it breaks getting it fixed is an issue. Had a gearbox go out in its second season and it took 6 months to get it fixed under warranty.

Cspt. Jim… Very informative story. The viewers of this site are very lucky to have someone so knowledgeable and free with info. sharing it in a public forum Kudos yo you. You do a great job putting it in words also.
Your rules fit very well on our side of the Lake where I fish.
Thanks

My partner and I will be there, looking forward to fishing a new lake. Hopefully it has some big crappie. This would be a great opportunity foranyone wanting to fish the Championship on Mille Lacs to qualify. That lake has some real slab crappie and gills, cant wait to get back there.

Pelican is a great lake for a panfish tournament. Ive fished a couple of them there on the western portion of the lake. Id be curious to see whats available on the rest of the lake. Its very sad that it is to be drained for a duck marsh. How many people will be able to utilize it then as compared to now.

Awesome show, you guys do a fantastic job.

Fished Isle Bay from the 7th thru the 17th. Started out with 5 to 6 inches most places and by the time we left there was 8 to 12 inches. What a great fishery you have there, not an easy bite, but quality fish available. Also a great community of very nice fishing oriented people.I cant wait to get back there someday. Bluegills up to and over a pound and crappie up to almost 2 pounds available. Are all the lakes in MN like that ?

Electronics have spoiled us and also made us better, but we used to catch fish before. Having the Navionics on your phone is a little help providing you can see the depths ( Im getting old and cant see em without glasses) . If you know whether your dealing with a shallow water weed oriented bite or a deeper water basin oriented bite would also help. The shallow bite is preferred without electronics because the basin bite usually involves fish that may be suspended 2 to 8 or more .feet off the bottom. In shallower water you will be able to cover the bottom 2 feet where 90% of the fish will be ( just remember fish are usually looking in front and above ). Drill a lot of holes and dont spend more than 4 or 5 mins in any one without a bite. Once you get a pattern look at your Navionics and find similar depths, especially if there are fingers, horseshoes, or similar variations in the contour lines. If you must fish a deeper basin bite, look for where other people have been fishing to start with. Go to bottom and
work your way up to 4 or 5 feet off till you get a depth figured out. When you do, you can go to your Navionics and look for similar depths. Again drill lots of holes and move often. Good Luck

I use the trilene knot also, I just make sure I put the jig at the proper anglr after each fish. Started out using the loop knot they reccomended, but I like the standard knot better. Besides with my poorer eyesight the trilene is the easoest for me.

How far out is Isle frozen ? Also is Wahkon frozen and how far ?

Nice pic Chris… I too eat, sleep, drink and live to fish 24/7 12 months of the year. Unfortuneately I wont be in the MN area until a week from Sat. I will however be doing seminars and Ice Force promos this sat. and next frid. here in MI. Cant wait to get to MN though.

I will be in Isle on the 7th of Dec. for 10 days if anyone would like to hit the bays for some recon. Will be staying at McQuoids.

I am so jealous Juan, I am sure I wont be getting on the hard water till Mille Lacs tournament. I see you got in it. We dont have a chance now, all I can hope for is second place lol

Awesome, I’ve caught thousands of crappie in 50 yrs of ice fishing but never that big. Truly magnificent specimens. 14 1/2 is my biggest. Thanks for sharing.

They are only hurtimg themselves by not allowing free speech. There are many good products out there by many different manufacturers. Those of us using those products can and do give valuable unbiased feedback for all to learn from. That includes product comparisons and value rating. If anyone asks me what I think about a particular product they will get an honest answer regardless whether I am on their pro staff or not.

I second the little atom plastics, but am gonna try the impulse this year as soon as we get some ice. I always have spikes with me too, if its a tough bite the meat can be the ticket.

Really looking forward to hearing more about the hondas. I have been pretty impressed with the Tanakas except when we smoked a gear and it took 6 months to get it fixed. I gotta believe Strikemaster would be right on it.

I already won it so dont waste time and energy bothering to put in an entry. Your time would be better spent respooling the rods with new line and sharpening those hooks.

Been using Suffix the last couple years and its been great. The 2lb has cost me a couple jigs but the 3 and 4 hasnt popped other than getting hung in a crib, evem then the hook usually breaks first lol