Pack has a tough road, even if Rogers gets back he will not be the same type of QB. The scrambling days are over he cannot afford to be tackled like a running back, the GB line not good enough to protect him in the pocket. My guess is they do not play him until next season so the have the draft to help with their line.

What pound test did you try and put on? Something wrong with this picture, have never had line uncoil off a spool that far. Vanish is excellent line, has some memory but I have never had it come close to doing that? Maybe was sitting on a store shelf a long time or took on extra memory some how. Like nhamm said, crazy.

Jack have him use Spee Dee, should be under $10.00 to ship in state.

Shoot an auto 10 for late season geese.

Have messed with forage beans a little bit. Details, which brand are you offering, how much a pound and where are they shipping from? We normally plant lots of brassica, corn, regular beans, etc but with CWD kill going to happen in our area we may make a switch to more clovers and alfalfa for the next few years. Will not decide for sure until we see what happens with the herd reduction and how much it effects our farm but always open to
consider good deals on good seed.

Hi James, thanks for letting us know. Understand how it can get very busy for you guys, not easy having to catch all those fish . Anyway that is to bad, maybe next year. Really enjoyed last years event, learned a lot and had fingers crossed it would be possible to try and get to another event like it this year.

Good luck this season and be safe. Look forward to seeing the new shows.

Depends on flows and ice thickness, not often can you trust it.

If you guys pick Wabasha-Lake City area I can assist the organizer with some contacts. Know the owner of the largest hotel in Wasbaha, know the owners of the sporting goods dealer/bait shop in Wabasha and Lake City. Also have couple good contacts with some diehard local fisherman who can help with what is happening reports.

Backwater and Mississippi River ice fishing can be great or fickle based on now much snow, ice and current there is. Dissolved oxygen can be a factor in finding backwater panfish. As far as the river ice thickness and current can limit the spots you can get to, using common sense and caution is a must as current can change ice thickness rapidly.

From Wabasha you can reach miles of productive fishing spots on both sides of the river and your fishing opportunities run from jigging walleye and sauger, to tip up fishing for northern pike to bluegills, crappies and perch depending on what you want and where you go. It is really not much different than fishing a good lake with the exception of dealing with the challenges of current. I have at times had to actually drill an extra hole as much as six feet down stream of the hole I dropped my lure down in order to see it on the locator. Most often you try and fish the slack out of the current edge of the seam but when you have to be tight right on the current edge it can make for some seriously challenging but fun fishing.

Totally up to you guys because I like fishing lots of different kinds of water, fish and places so I will try and go with whatever the majority of you guys like. My personal choice for what it matters is the Walker area, I would like to see that area again but with a focus on not just Leech but the many surrounding small lakes. I would like to learn more about how to approach and fish those new bodies of water and having IDO members trying different lakes, techniques and than sharing those reports over evening beverages and dinner would be an awesome way to add to ones ice fishing knowledge bank.

IDO staff please chime in, is there a date and place you would like to explore?

Walker or Wabasha between January 23rd and February 10th, 2017. Would think Trappers and other resorts in Walker area would be happy to have some extra business. Wabasha and Lake City area would give access to many spots on Lake Pepin and backwaters.

Willing to lend a hand to whoever is the organizer. Is is possible to get IDO unofficial ok to say it is an IDO member GTG when trying to get hotels/resorts to block rooms, give discount?

Pick a date.

We Need Ice!!

Last year I bought a HWI Tight Line Extreme Reel and matched it to a TUCR Precision Noodle Ice Rod with EVA handle. The line comes off the top of the reel not the bottom so you stay in contact with both line and rod which lets you feel the jig at the same time you watch the noodle tip for fast negative bites. I also think the free spool thing is mostly BS because you should not bomb the fish. I am a firm believer in controlled descent, I bomb the lure half way down, slow down or stop for a second and then do a control descent into the fish zone watching for the gulpers to rise up and let me know on my electronics what the fish want not what I think they want. I am also a believer in if you only use a reel’s drag and not your finger to feather or stop a fish you have not learned how to stay in control. Palming the reel and rod let you do that. It is all about, FEEL, CONTROL and fishing a setup light and responsive enough to get every ounce of pleasure out of your fishing experience. Think so much of this new setup I have ordered two more reels and will be matching them to two new rods with different weight tips for different weight jigs. Everyone has different tastes and fishing styles but when considering inline setups this one will help you catch more fish. Remember selective release, let those big bulls go so they can protect their redds from predators and pass on those superior genes.

Nice fish, sounds like a nice day on the ice.

Is there much current to deal with there?

NICE!! Congratulations on a fun day on the ice. Brookies are great fish. The white line on the fins is found on mature Brook Trout, males especially show the brilliant colors and markings in the fall/early winter because they spawn then. FYI Brook Trout are not really trout they are actually Char and the only native salmonid found in SE MN pre-European settlement.

If you don’t mind would you share what were you using as far as a method goes, deadstick, jigging, live bait, artificials, etc.? If you prefer please PM me.

The Legacy money and DNR funding are two completely different issues.

MN DNR does not do everything right and it does not spent all the dollars in the right places but they are sorely underfunded for the amount of resources they have to oversee and manage for us sportsmen and women. A license increase while painful in hard economic times is way overdue. Even if they doubled the license fees it would still be cheaper than a round of golf, a tank of gas or a night at the movies so stop complaining and start supporting. My question to those complaining is what have you done to help our resources, when was the last time you stepped up to the plate and volunteered to help remove invasive plant species from a WMA, cleaned up a boat landing or shooting range, worked to protect groundwater or prevent ag runoff from entering a lake or introduced a kid or non-outdoors person to nature? If you are not giving back time and money to protect and improve our resources you are a user, abuser and you need to put up before you speak up. If you are not giving back to the resources you enjoy you are the problem not the solution and you have zero right to complain. Want a novel idea, tax agriculture and polluting businesses like golf courses, mining and ethanol plants to help fund the DNR, why don’t they have to pay for making money on our natural resources while destroying them?

Now addressing the Legacy money, I don’t know every project they funded but I do know that 4.5 miles of new trout stream habitat improvement work was done in the summer of 2010 on the Middle Branch of the Whitewater River, Mill Creek and Trout Run with Legacy funds. That is 4.5 more miles of quality fishing, more and larger trout and the elimination or great reduction in the amount of invertebrate and trout egg smothering slit that enters our streams and rivers. I for one agree with the voters that MN has a great natural resource legacy and if we want to protect, restore and enhance it for us and future generations we have to pay the piper now or kiss it goodbye.

Good posts guys, L-SOHC oversees the fish and game habitat part of the Legacy funds, Bill Becker and committee have been doing an excellent job of making sure the funds are spent for the intended purpose, fish and game habitat improvement and acquisition and that every dollar is accounted for.

Now when it comes to the other parts of the fund I do not know as much about them but I can tell you without oversight committees and very strict rules for awarding the funds those dollars are in jeopardy of being misspent.

Regarding the DNR being stripped of their general funds look no further than Governor Tim, he stripped DNR general funds and frankly given the way the Legacy Amendment was set up specifically stating DNR funds could not be reduced or replaced with or because of Legacy funds I would say Gov. Tim did not follow the intent of the amendment.

As far as the big city politicians Brian H you hit it right on the money, a few of the money grubbing politicians from the Cities since day one have been trying to get their hands on the funds so they can run off and spent it the way they want and not the way the citizens of our fine state said it must be spent. These funds were intended for one thing FISH and GAME HABITAT not planting trees along urban streets, not for urban parks or greenways, not for urban flood control or the million other things some urban politicians are now trying to call fish and game habitat, fish and game habitat is habitat that can fished and hunted.

As many others have already stated all sportsmen and women of this state have an obligation to keep a close eye on how our Legacy funds get used and make sure the intent of the amendment is the first thing considered before a proposal is even considered for funding.

BZZSAW, the fish and game part of the Outdoor Heritage money is working exactly as intended, it is paying for the improvement and funding of more fish and game habitat and it has nothing to do with the DNR other then they like anyone else can apply for the funds if they go towards approved fish and game habitat improvement or acquisition. Like I mentioned in a previous post MN while far from perfect has taken a higher road in protecting it’s fish and game so I question if it is not hypocritical when people want to come over here and take from our resources without paying more because WI has already screwed up their waters with bad laws. As they say we have to pay to play or else we are part of the problem and not part of the solution. Fish and game licenses are a great value, don’t cut off the hand that feeds ya, there are far fewer of us anglers and hunters then there are non anglers and hunters, we need every dollar we can get to protect what we love, our natural resources, from all the pressures put on it by those who don’t understand or appreciate the value of healthy fish and game resources and populations. We all have to buck up and work together for the loooong haul.

CatchnRelease, add catches fish or game and gives it away so they can keep killing and you’re right on in your definition.

BIG FISH TAIL, thanks for the chuckle

By law all hunting and fishing license fees go straight to MNDNR fishing and hunting funds.

They are looking for an increase so they can do more for the resource in the face of their general funding having been cut to almost nothing the last number of years. In addition the problems of ever increasing population, more fence row to fence row farming, more field drain tiling and more and more pressure on all the natural resources are making them look for a way to fund the protection and enhancement of what we have left. Think about what a night at the movies costs or a ball game or a concert, hunting and fishing license fees are the best entertainment deal in MN.

As far as two lines cannot support that one. MN has held itself high in the fair chase standard for many years let’s not lower ourselves to the bottom of barrel just because some other state does it. Like baiting deer, because it is legal in some states does that make it right here? Would you jump off the cliff just because someone else did it? Thousands of folks from WI and IA as just one example come to MN every year because of the quality of our fishing. Their resources have been trashed by poor laws like multiple line rules. Let’s keep MN on the high road, the air and water is better up here versus the bottom of the barrel.

Looks like a Water Boatman, common in MN waters. Check out this link for additioanl info. http://www.everythingabout.net/articles/biology/animals/arthropods/insects/bugs/water_boatman/

Depends on the style you like but if looking for comfort and max warmth these are a decent option. Have had mine for three years and all you need is one thin wicking sock on most days, real cold add another sock. Pros, comfort, warmth, light weight, fairly easy to walk in. Downside, bulky and can be to warm on some days. Boot size comment is on the money, your feet cannot be to tight in the boot or you will get cold fast. Pac Boot

Hi Big G,

You are right and wrong about me. I have followed this board for years, even before it was IDO, and enjoy it very much. Never opened an account because my darn businesses keep me too blasted busy. IDO has been my go to spot to get my fix of Midwest outdoors and the reason I posted now is because I knew there was no better place to oil a squeaky wheel and get great advice at the same time.

I am happy to report Marcum called me minutes ago and my unit will be in their hands tomorrow morning. They were great on the phone and I am certain now that we have connected service will be excellent. Can’t wait to get that good target separation again.

I also want to thank those of you who sent me private messages with assistance, from one fellow angler to you others, Tight Lines!

FYI, quick fish report, fished Pool 6 backwaters Sunday AM for four hours, fished a weed break in 6.5 feet that dropped into 12 feet within 15 foot distance. Found fish along weed edge in 6.5 and in the 12 foot stuff. Caught many fish but to get the 8 inch and better fish ended up using three worms,2 T-Boned with a single tail, on a 1/64 plain lead head jig, drop as fast as possible to bottom to avoid the little guys, left sit for 10 seconds if they left it alone that long, when they did would trigger a bite with a slow 2 inch lift and pause. Nothing fancy but I left with 14 gills that made a great fish fry for the family last night.

Thanks again for all your help and comments guys and now that I have a real account I will try and post some reports when I get the opportunity.

I can understand swamped but not rotten service. I am a business owner and if I had these problems I would hire more help and turn problems into profit by taking care of customers. Customers are to hard to come by in this day and age so I would NEVER drive them away with poor service. The worst part is I am considering the new 825 camera they make but if they will not stand beside their products I am going with Vexilar and the LX5 is going on YouTube as I send it to its final resting place. One more day of no call backs or no emails and I start working on the grave marker.

Thanks Calvin, I used that link at least half a dozen times in last three weeks, not one reply.