I have a Yamaha Bruin 350 with an Otter monster box on it. Fits great! Definitely the best storage option for an ice machine in my opinion and I’ve tried a lot of different options over the years hauling gear in tournaments.
I used an old IDO thread to figure out how to make my own St. Croix spring bobbers. Now I can add them to any rod I want.
Found the 1/8″ rubber grommets from the hardware store. Found the right size ice rod eyelet to pair with it to glue onto the rod tip and then St. Croix sells the springs themselves separate to switch out different actions you want.
used the Loctite gel super glue and then painted over the glue with clearcoat to make it pretty.
Added this to my new Ace custom rods schooley.
pretty pumped about this set up!
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Vexilar has the best signal return sonar of any unit on the market. That’s what they pride themselves on and why they haven’t dove into combo graph/sonar units.
The sonar signal is so refined on my FLX28 that when a sunfish is hovering at the bait trying to decide to take it or not, I can see the flutter of a fish’s top or bottom fins and tell which way its going to move toward or away from my jig.
If you want to take your vex to the next level just add a small GPS unit to the side of it with a ram mount. I’ve been running this combo with my vex’s and a lithium battery for 6-7 years now.
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A lot of guys use these for hauling wheelers and sleds in the UPL circuit. I’ve heard that getting the underside special coated to protect from salt corrosion is a must.
I haven’t made the jump yet to an enclosed trailer,(still using an aluminum Beartrack) but plan to soon. Being able to stick a buddy heater in there and warm a wheeler up if it doesn’t start after a cold commute to the lake sounds like a handy thing to have.
It does not have any mapping built in
I use the Lowrance lake insight pro chip in that elite 4 HDI.
It’s very detailed.
Yeah for the first couple years of this setup I used the DC “cigarette lighter” plug in adapter with the round fuse connection. But broke a fuse once on an ice trip leaving it useless.
Now I’ve had it connected direct to the battery with the piggy back terminals for 5 years and haven’t had any issues at all.
Just find some “piggy back” terminal connectors at your local hardware store and splice to an extra power chord connector for the Lowrance. I’m running an even smaller 6ah Amped outdoors Lithium battery on this setup now and still have had no issues with it getting drained in atleast two days of fishing without a charge.
Vexilar is in the works right now of making a similar underwater camera to the Aqua vu revolution line winder is all I’ve heard at the moment.
Being married to your Navionics on your phone or hand held GPS doesn’t have to be your only option with the vex… Been running this setup for 8+ years now and I feel its been ahead of its time. I have my topo GPS right next to my sonar screen and have no need to reach into the pocket all the time for the phone or worry about it dying in the cold. Location is everything and knowing exactly where I am at any given ice hole is crucial. Combined with the most real time sonar signal return of the Vexilar. It’s a win win.
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I have a large variety in my collection of panfish rods from TUCRs, Jason Mitchell meat sticks, Clam legacys, Ace custom rods noodles, St. Croix golds/blacks, and Northland cherry pickers. They are all great rods and have their place for different situations and bait presentations. But I find myself turning to the St. Croix Blacks 30″ Medium Light most often when the fishing counts and I need to fill a tournament bag. The design of the spring bobber on these has unrivaled bite detection and the more generous flex of the backbone in the rod blank seems to keep the fish pinned better when thrashing at the hole.
Spotty ice conditions on the East side metro. On the big lakes I would be walking only still.
There are none left over.
That is the Glo Redfish from a few years ago. The difference was caused by a manufacturing change and Northland has since gone back to the more “pinkish” glow red. The “pinkish” glow red gives you a much brighter and longer lasting glow. It also allows for each lure to stay more consistent. Scheels has an exclusive Glow red color that has a more orange tint to it but no baitfish image sticker or additional paint on the front.
I’ll send this forum thread up the chain at Northland Tackle.
We’ll see if they still have any laying around at the Bemidji warehouse.
Metro winter ‘eyes are very finicky. Your best bet to get some is early ice before the vehicle traffic comes out. Put a tip up out with minimalist setup on it (shiner minnow, treble hook, split shot on a fluoro leader).
Sunken rock humps or points at sunset are best.
Don’t go near it, just leave it be. The less noise and disturbance the better.
White Bear lake is super fun to fish in the winter. I call it “fishing the jungle”. You can sight fish crappies and gills in 15ft of water its that clear from being so choked out with weeds.
Fished Brighton beach in the morning and Mcquiads in the evening on Saturday. Seemed like a dead sea out there. Had one fish follow at each spot but no hook ups.
Have to fish deep in the weed jungle to find nice fish out there.
I’ve compared both the Black blade and the Red blade for the Nils this year. The red blade is more aggressive “grabs the ice more” (steeper pitch). The black blade seems to be just as fast but smoother with a shallower pitch.
We have been doing a test runs on the new Trophy Strike 120V Lithium battery power heads paired with 6″ and 8″ Nils bits this season and it is a match made in heaven. It is the fastest 8″ electric auger I have ever used. Check out the video test runs on the Nils Facebook page. The vids speak for themselves. I used this electric auger to run and gun all day a few times on Mille lacs this year and it didn’t even use up the whole battery.
As far as a Brushless drill setup, the 6″ Nils Trekker with black blades is the way to go. I have attached it onto the extension of my drill plate w/ Milwaukee lithium brushless hammer drill and
9 amp battery. I used 2″ hex bolts with nylon threaded locking nuts instead of the included “wing nuts”. This set up has been a tournament work horse this year going on 4 tournaments so far and well over 1,000 holes with the same blades. The true awesomeness of this Nils auger drill bit is shinning right now with this late season thick ice 3ft+. With the “self taping screw” design of the shaft it punches right threw in ONE clean swipe. No clearing ice shavings half way down the hole and jerking your back out of alignment. Just one clean punch straight through. You wont see that with other brands of auger shafts on this late season ice.
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Nils is a European company based in Finland. All augers, parts, and pieces get imported into the United states through one or maybe two guys at the moment. This is probably why you are experiencing issues in getting a replacement part on warranty. I’m just a prostaffer so I’m not exactly sure how their whole logistics works, but I hope they will soon get a good base operation here in the USA and gain more customer service and marketing outreach because these are truly great augers. From my experiences, the smoothest and fastest cutting auger drill bits out there. They are already making efforts to do so by no longer partnering with Tanaka gas engines and now partnering with Trophy Strike electric and gas power heads based out of Colorado. We have been doing a test run of their 120V Lithium battery power heads paired with 6″ and 8″ Nils bits this year and it is a match made in heaven. It is the fastest 8″ electric auger I have ever used. Check out the video test runs on the Nils Facebook page. The vids speak for themselves. I used this electric auger to run and gun all day a few times on Mille lacs this year and it didn’t even use up the whole battery.
As far as the 6″ Nils Trekker goes, I have that also attached onto the extension of my drill plate w/ Milwuakee lithium brushless hammer drill and 9 amp battery. I used 2″ hex bolts with nylon threaded locking nuts instead of the included “wing nuts”. This set up has been a tournament work horse this year going on 4 tournaments so far and well over 1,000 holes with the same blades. The true awesomeness of this Nils auger drill bit is shinning right now with this late season thick ice 3ft+. With the “self taping screw” design of the shaft it punches right threw in ONE clean swipe. No clearing ice shavings half way down the hole and jerking your back out of alignment. Just one clean punch straight through. You wont see that with other brands of auger shafts on this late season ice. This is the true advantage of the Nils.
I hope you get things figured out Joe because this is really a great product design. They are just trying to figure out ways to gain a foot hold in the USA and create a better service to the overseas market. Slowly but surely there are good things and new opportunities to come from NILSUSA.
Tight lines and have a great day
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The company went out of business
Here is the former owners number if you want to make a call
Curt Hill
Exchange System Cargo
218-259-5678
I live on the lake and its been tough out there. The crappies and gills are never in the same areas year to year.
I’ve owned both. Currently have a Recon 5+. Great screen display and clarity. I like that the camera chord is thicker also for making it easier to twist the camera in different directions. Downside is the screen displays (Direction, temp, depth) already are toast after only one year old. Fixable on warranty of course.
I use the camera a ton and I like the line winder reel on the back of the new generation of Aqua vu’s. If Marcum doesn’t adopt this feature. I maybe switching companies in the future.
I was out on Sherman’s point with the wheeler two weeks ago right after the big snow. There were trucks and even a mini van off-roading to get out to Sherman’s flat. 16″ of ice then. Wish I had drove out too because the wheeler was struggling in the deep powder. Walking would have given you a heart attack.
^^^^ Exactly robby. Quantum hot sauce grease and oil works wonders on the drags and free spool of the inline reels.
I love my Eagle Claws. I use the cheaper ones too. Much lighter and better balanced on the feather light custom rods than the metal ones I’ve sorted through most of the higher end inline reels through the years and they all eventually get sold off and my Eagle claws stick around. No I am not affiliated with the company.
I landed a 10lb walleye with one on 4lb line while crappie fishing like 5 years ago. Maybe that’s why they remain sentimental to me haha
The Gill in my profile picture is 11.25″
