In addition to the greater capacity of the amount of ice the Alpha can drill on one battery the specs state the the Ion Alpha drills a tiny bit faster and it weighs a bit more than the E-40.

I have not paid much attention but K-drill came out with a new model that might extend.

The best deal is $100 off a $500 purchase. You can consolidate items to achieve the $500. Starting with the Strikemaster on clearance at $260 you are just half over the $500.

Mills has had a similar discount offer off and on since approx. last fall. Yes, I have used it on more than one occasion…..

Bearcat89 wrote:

What else is that code good for ?

$20 off when you spend $150+ with code WINTER20OFF
$50 off when you spend $300+ with code WINTER50OFF
$100 off when you spend $500+ with code WINTER100OFF

Good for almost anything but they do have some exceptions. You can look at their website any look up the exceptions. Echo and Weber are a couple that come to mind.

jimmysiewert wrote:

Tariffs just put in place will affect the average family $2,000 per year. On top of that we just learned today our work health insurance premiums are going up 34%! I’m NOT willing to sacrifice for some pompous ass’s named Trump and Musk.

Anyone thinks this is ok – please send this single father of 3 (all in college) son’s – PM Me for my address to send your check.

Yes – I am upset.

Sounds painful. With out changing the type of coverage, I have not heard of this type of increases to a health insurance policy this year. It sounds like your company just decided not top chip in as much to the cost of your policy. Can you share on the reason given by the company that you work for for this increase?

I am not sure on how Musk is impacting either of these increases that you mention. Can you elaborate?

So, were your drinking or not before your post last night at 11:00?

buckybadger wrote:

See previous post about being Putin’s b***h.

I had thought that you may have been drinking before that post. Late at night, not making a lot of sense….

Had to find a way to offset the no tax on overtime that I am depending on.

jimmysiewert wrote:

Still awaiting the current administration supporters why they are ok with Hegseth stopping all preemptive cyber operations against Russia yesterday… And I bet Russia hasn’t stopped.

I did not follow this and can’t offer a opinion. What was the reason given?

Full draw wrote:

Thank you for the heads up. I just looked again. Didn’t pay attention to that when I looked the first time. It gives approximate heating time with @15A.
I wonder if my 10a will run it and just take longer or do I need the 15a.

I seen someone previously asked if anyone has tried a 10 amp charger on the heated models and if it worked but I have not ever see a response to this question.

I had watched a independent review video on the heated LiTime battery. I believe that his charger was 20 amp. During the heating process his equipment showed approx. 9.6 amp draw and when the battery got warm enough it changed to the charging cycle and then shown approx. 20 amp draw.

Full draw wrote:

I just bought 3 – 12 volt 100 A/hr LiTime batteries with built in heaters.
2 for the trolling motor and one for the electronics.
I was kicking around buying a 24 volt battery. Ultimately decided I didn’t want to buy a 24 volt charger when I have a 3 bank charger now.

The built in heaters take a bit of juice. I am surprised that you had a existing 3 bank charger that would handle this. LiTime states 15 amp per bank for the built in heaters. There has been some discussion if 10 amps would actually work but I personally have not heard any one confirm if 10 amps work.

Yep, it is currently pretty thick. Think of how much ice would need to melt on a daily average for a March ice out date.

I will say April 14th.

Speaking of a persons height, the height of the Otter Cottage is not that tall. Being 6′ tall plus add some height while wearing boots and I surely can not stand up straight inside the Cottage.

LabDaddy1 wrote:

Don’t even get me started on the issue of them ever fully shutting the mailbox. I know it’s difficult to give a $h*t…

Yes, how much effort is it to push slightly on the door so it stays shut. Happens frequently at my house.

Recently USPS delivered some small packages which the size of each would have fit in the mail box but because there was 3 or 4 the mail box door would only close about 1/3 of the way. The postal carrier then took a rubber band, flipped up the flag and attached the rubber band from the flag to the door. I live on a country road with a lot of traffic with my house about 300′ from my mail box. They normally just drive up to the house and drop it at the front step if it does not fit.

I have a standard size mail box. How many rec’d the little card from USPS about replacing your standard size mail box with one of the large ones?

I have a Otter insulated cottage. I previously had a non-insulated Otter cabin but when I wanted to upgrade to insulated the cottage size was a better fit for my usage. The cottage is slightly wider than a typical one man which I desire and I personally would not go smaller than this. You could squeeze in another person but unless it would be a child I would not plan on this.

You can shave a few pounds with another brand generally due to the tub being less robust and lighter in weight. Generally the Otter’s tub is beefy but if you are not planning on dragging your portable behind a atv or snowmobile then almost any brand/model tub is sufficient. If I have too much gear in the tub of the cottage then it still gets pretty heavy to move it in or out of the bed of my truck by myself. It is much more manageable if I have minimal to no gear in it while loading or unloading. If it was not as cumbersome to pick up by oneself then the weight would not be as much of a issue.

I typically only fish one hole. I would say that would not want anything smaller than the cottage for 2 holes, with livescope in one of the 2 holes and a heater. I suppose you could drill a 3rd hole close together for the livescope but it gets cluttered pretty fast. Along with width I would also pay attention to the interior depth inside (fishable area) if looking at other brands/models. I do not consider the Otter Cabin to be very deep.

B-man wrote:

All they say is to charge non-residents more…well, they have been increasing non-residents in the last 20 years…and it’s going up again.

I’m a former 25-year Wisconsin resident, own and pay taxes on land there, and live 2 miles from the WI border.

Am I thrilled I have to pay even more as a non-resident and the rates are increasing again? No. But I’m not whining and crying over it either.

At least Wisconsin has what I consider a reasonable charge for nonresident youth deer license. I am surprised that this has not tripled or more in price.

I was not criticizing your statement. It was a discussion of facts. If I had addressed your opinion then we could call it as criticizing.

Many people do not actually watch or listen to a complete events. For this type of person that might be on this site I was just trying to avoid them getting wrong information from that statement in your post. Call it a public service announcement.

Matt Moen wrote:

You didn’t make a single point so I guess you are right…you have nothing to add.

Did not make a single point – what?

All I stated was that your statement of what Vance said was factually incorrect. You then provided a transcript that proved me correct.

Am I supposed to offer a opinion on the events? As you have the right to offer a opinion I have the right not to offer a opinion.

You want my opinion? O.k., my opinion is you are showing a lack of objectivity and your response is showing lack of reasoning. But if you want to get but hurt over some one responding to your post then just go ahead and get but hurt.

As I remember my own needs. MN fishing license expires today.

Matt Moen wrote:

Well, since I have it so wrong, here is the whole transcript. Vance states he wants diplomacy and then reiterates, time and time again, that Zelenskyy has disrespected us.

Tell me what Vance added to that conversation? Bottom line is he was the one who disrespected Zelenskyy. Vance has been an outspoken opponent of the aid we have given Ukraine and he used this as an opportunity to undermine Zelenskyy.

I have nothing to add. The transcript that you attached clearly supports my statement.

Matt Moen wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Karry Kyllo wrote:</div>
Trump and Vance treated Zelensky like crap. Those two embarrassed the US.

I tend to agree with this. JD should keep his mouth shut around the grown ups. All he could say was “you never said thank you.” Grow up man.

Trump’s point was valid…Ukraine has no leverage but dressing down Zelensky was foolish. Rare earth minerals are a huge strategic advantage. I hope there can be an agreement done.

The Ukrainian people and soldiers have to be shaking their heads. They are taking the brunt of this war and that’s going to continue.

Most people would agree that everyone should be able to share a opinion such as “JD should keep his mouth shut…” but “all he could say” is not presented as what a opinion would be and it surely is not factually correct. If “you never said thank you” is all that you heard then you did not hear his full statement or you are a little low on objectivity today.

Bearcat89 wrote:

Honestly I have no idea, I think the advanced GPS terrova was new last year and came with the upgraded remote. I could be wrong. But the box had advanced GPS all over it, and the other terrova next to it did not.

I believe that they have/had 2 remotes but I think that the different remotes previously had more to do with it being a link model or not. I am not sure if they came out with a different remote with the roll out of the Quest series.

Did you buy a Quest model?

Bearcat89 wrote:

The 2024 advanced GPS terrova is the best investment i got in a long time, paired that with 2 100ah 12v lithiums and it’s been fantastic, even in cold rainy river temps. I love that set up.

Out of curiosity – When you say advanced GPS are you referring to a Quest model? I know the Quest model GPS is supposed to be improved GPS over the previous generation but I was not aware (maybe I have not paid attention) that the non Quest models had a upgraded GPS. I just looked at the Minn Kota website and they phrase the GPS descriptions differently between Quest/Non Quest so it is not clear that they changed the GPS on the 2024 models of the non quest series compared to what they were in the 2022, 2023 or when ever they made they previous GPS change.

Now I am curious if there was a actual change on the non Quest series or if this is just Minn Kota marketing confusion.

fishingadam54 wrote:

In prior years when there was a good perch population did the fish move in shallow as you get later into the season or do they normally stay out deep in the mud basins? Do they look for shallow weeds, rock or sand?

I am no perch expert. I normally focus on walleyes when the season is open. I targeted perch more in my younger years and late in the ice fishing season I still focused in the deep water. I also had better success in the past than my 2 perch outings this year……

Maybe some one that targets perch more than I can offer a opinion.

Quite a few people out fishing for perch yesterday. I would think that with the added perch interest this year that road access fees are still a viable business plan until mother nature maybe throws in a snowstorm, heaves, cracks and/or shoreline erosion problems.

The off road travel with my 4 x 4 truck yesterday went just fine. I did pull out a 4 x 4 truck that drove in a thicker patch of snow yesterday but his tires were crap. Twin pines road did not go out very far when I last visited but if they are still open then you are not that far from the Garrison Sports roads. You should be able to travel off road from Twin Pines to access the Garrison Sports road system.

I occasionally order form my county SWCD. I like to mix it up a bit. New species for the homestead this year on order is 10 white spruce, 10 paper birch and 25 American hazel nut. The SWCD classify this hazel nut as a shrub but at full size of 15 – 18 feet it sounds more than a shrub.

Going with the water and try to protect (from deer) method…

Before you spend too much time on collecting pine cones I would suggest that you review on the MN DNR website on how to collect these and condition requirements for sale to the DNR.

I am guessing that they are not the newer Quest model for sale and people are just upgrading.

B-man wrote:

It was a joke?? (The drink chip part)

Thankfully nobody got hurt or killed and it was just a close call.

But for it to have happened someone screwed up (I have no idea if it was air traffic control, or if one of the planes took the wrong runway/taxi which happens too)

I experienced a hotel elevator problem multiple years back. It was at a trade show and due to the crowd of people they were using the freight elevators. I started on the first floor with the destination of the 10th floor with a packed elevator. The elevator went up at least 1 floor and then started to drop down past 1st floor then the basement level till it hit the base about 1/2 floor past the basement level. It hit pretty hard with dust falling from the ceiling vents and my coffee shot up on my clothes and face (not very hot). After about 45 minutes they finally started getting us off using a ladder. The first hotel representative that I encountered I asked him “all I want to know is who is buying my drinks tonight”.

It is official. I have no horseshoe up my…. Finding these hog perch should be easier. The bright spot was the very pleasant weather today. I think that I need to fish for some crappies to boost my confidence in my fishing skills.

Used my new Ion Alpha Plus for the first time. It worked great for running around drilling a lot of holes through thick ice. I would say that the blades might be a little too aggressive. It felt like I needed to lift up on it as it drilled.

Anyone try and pickle tullibee? After cutting away the wide lateral line crap the balance looked pretty good for pickling. Going to give it a try.