Here is my little review on the XL4000T…

I ordered the XL4000T in December, and received it around Christmas time. Set it up in the yard the day that I got it, which happened to be around 0 (or 32…I’m Canadian, so excuse the Celsius temps). Setup nice and easy, really spacious. Loved it.

First day I went out fishing with it, it was super cold…like -34 (-31 fahrenheit..) without the windchill. Took it out, tried setting it up and the roof wouldn’t stay up….kept collapsing. It was too cold to brave the elements and fish outdoors that day, so I went home feeling defeated.

I called Clam and told them my problem, and it seems its very common. One (or more) of the poles is too long, and has to be removed and trimmed. The same can be done to supposedly fix the tight zipper problem. However, the response I received from Clam was somewhat troubling, in the sense that I was essentially told that if their products were actually all built to proper spec, they’d have to be more expensive. Needless to say, I thought that was a pretty weak excuse.

Now, that being said, after getting the pole trimmed, the XL4000T is quite lovely. We had four adults fishing in it comfortable last weekend, and just today, I had my four young nieces, and four adults in it supervising, and we all managed to fit (although it was tight). It sets up easy, stitching looks really good, seems quite durable, and is substantially warmer than my old non-thermal hub shelter. I looked at the Eskimo Fatfish 949i as well, as they’re really popular up here, but in my opinion, once the pole issue was taken care of the XL4000T seems superior to the Eskimo (in my opinion).

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I guess I’m out of the norm here, but I have either 10 or 15 lb. power pro on all my rods. I primarily walleye fish, but the bodies of water I fish also have some huge pike roaming in them as well, so it’s nice to have a little security just in case.

Lake Winnipeg and the Red River up north of Selkirk, MB also holds some HUGE walleyes. I won’t risk running a light line to lose a 30″+ fish.

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Doesn’t braid freeze up easily when fishing outside in colder temps?

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Absolutely, the best stuff I’ve found to prevent freeze is the fuzed line, but even it freezes up, especially in temps colder than 20 degrees F.

I’ll echo comments from Paul and Quintin, in that I’ll use the heaviest line that I can within reason given conditions if I know big fish are a probability. Braid is great, not just for sensitivity and strength, but big eyes need a good hookset in them so the minimal stretch part is attractive.

As long as the line doesn’t interfere with the fish’s preference (line-shy) or affect the action of the lure, I think we’re all looking for as much insurance as we can when big eyes are the target species. Of course, there’s a point of diminishing returns, but I’d have no problem fishing 10lb+ braid if the fish allowed it.

Joel

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Agree with you 100% Joel.

As for line freezing, I’ve tried a number of different types of line, and they all freeze up here in Manitoba when it’s cold, so now I just stick with braid.

Are you guys at IDO planning a show up on Lake Winnipeg this year? I’ve always enjoyed the shows you’ve done here in the past.

I guess I’m out of the norm here, but I have either 10 or 15 lb. power pro on all my rods. I primarily walleye fish, but the bodies of water I fish also have some huge pike roaming in them as well, so it’s nice to have a little security just in case.

Lake Winnipeg and the Red River up north of Selkirk, MB also holds some HUGE walleyes. I won’t risk running a light line to lose a 30″+ fish.

My concern over the Clam auger is the dimensions of the bit. Strikemaster and Eskimo (not sure about Jiffy) list theirs at 42.5″, while Clam lists theirs at 34.5″. If their bit is indeed a fully 8″ shorter, they won’t be selling a lot of augers up here in Canada.

You would have needed an extension on the Clam a few weeks ago already to get through the ice on Lake Winnipeg.

So is that a typo on Clam’s part? Or is there bit actually that much shorter than their competitors? It seems foolish to make a bit that short.