Thanks all! I love the Shimano Sierra 500. I will grab a few more at the ice show and go from there!

I realize it isn’t as easy as just plugging in the camera to the lx7. I guess I am wondering if I can utilize some of the hardware from mg camera to save a couple bucks. I will call Marcum today and see what they say.

Thanks for the reviews on the lx9. Good to hear it is worth the cost.

Any info on a 36″ DH El Dente?

I have two blanks coming from DH tomorrow and was just wondering if the spacing would be included. Great resource you have provided. Thanks in advance.

Thanks all. I just ordered a kit from MudHole.com. I was planning on buying a few new rods this year, but instead I guess i will make them. If nothing else it will give me something to do for a while. Here is to hoping that the rods turn out.

On a similar, yet slightly different note, what kind of quality should I expect from these rods? Rod quality from a $30 combo? $60 Combo? I have only ever purchased rods as part of a combo so really have no idea what to expect. Any insight is appreciated.

Thanks.

blank wrote:

I had a similar situation last year with an old canoe that didn’t have any registration stickers, title, or hull ID. I filled out a “statement of facts watercraft title” and a “universal registration form” to properly license the canoe. I took those into the DMV and it was pretty simple, with no hassle, and the only cost was the registration sticker if I remember correctly. I would assume a bill of sale would be equally painless.

I used the forms at the bottom of this link:
http://dnr.state.mn.us/licenses/watercraft/index.html

When you get the chance, post some pictures of that cool old boat!

I got out to take some pics today. I also walked around the boat to take a closer look too see how much work it could be. Floor in the back is a little spongy. Hard to tell on the fiberglass as I need to power wash. Overall I think it might be a fun project that I may tackle assuming it floats and we can get the engine going.

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Brian Klawitter wrote:

In MN…

https://marinedebris.noaa.gov/sites/default/files/ADV-Docs/MINNESOTA_ADV_Legal_Review_2015_NOAA_MDP.pdf

Brian Klawitter wrote:

In MN…

https://marinedebris.noaa.gov/sites/default/files/ADV-Docs/MINNESOTA_ADV_Legal_Review_2015_NOAA_MDP.pdf

Brian Klawitter wrote:

In MN…

https://marinedebris.noaa.gov/sites/default/files/ADV-Docs/MINNESOTA_ADV_Legal_Review_2015_NOAA_MDP.pdf

This defines a “watercraft” as any vessel 16 feet and over. This is registered as a 15 foot boat. I don’t think the link applies to this boat in question. Getting back to my post above not knowing if it was the age or the size of the boat that made it much simpler, it appears that it is the size of the boat that is making this simple.

Am I understanding the link wrong?

So I wanted to provide an update. I have found out that this is a 1965 Alpex boat. It is listed as a 15 foot open motor. I don’t know if it is because of the age or because of the length but I was told by the DNR today that it was a non-titled boat and I would only need a bill of sale from my father in law to get it registered into my name. I will call back later today and ask a few more questions. I think I explained everything to her correctly on the phone but didn’t ask any questions when I got the answer I wanted. My guess is that the reasoning of “Some gal told me I could” won’t make it very far is she misunderstood my situation.

Thanks for all the responses and I am glad it SOUNDS much easier than what some of you laid out. I was a little nervous reading the replies thinking a boat worth 200-500 as it sits wasn’t going to be worth the hassle.

Similar. I don’t know a lot about the Alpex boats as I had not hard of them until yesterday. From pictures I have seen I think the one in the barn is from the later 60s. Beautiful old boats though. I love the character of them.

There is a hull ID. I will call the state and see what the have to say. Our assumption is that the owner has long since passed away and any kids had no idea where the boat was or had no interest in dealing with it.

I don’t have much for pictures. I did take one of the wheel. This feels as much like an old Cadillac inside as it does a boat

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I agree with everyone else. I can watch anybody real in a fish on YouTube. I come to IDO, and recommend to all my fishing buddies, because you explain the why. Love the new breakdown on the lake and why you set up where you did.

I also love that you break down the tackle. Until I watched IDO I would have never purchased a Tingler spoon or a slender spoon. Now I rarely have anything else hooked up. My biggest frustration with going to Cabellas is it felt like I was playing the lottery with the aisles of lures and having no idea what to get. I now have a “go to lure” and brand because of watching IDO.

We will be renting from them the first weekend of January. I did some research and they seem to be a good as anybody. Agree with others that a person can’t expect to be on fish all day in a big house. They will always do their best to put you on fish as that is howthey get repeat customers.

I have been very pleased with the customer service over the phone.

As long as the beer is cold we will find a way too have fun.

I am working on adding waterproof led lights. I put them in front of the tub for my foot area, around the inside of the tub, and on the top bar. I picked up an on, off, on switch and will wire the front lights separate from the top and tub.

Figured that would be the most useful way to wire. I was thinking about putting three different toggle switches, one for each set, but $20 for that panel vs $2 for the switch made up my mind.

Tyler Warner wrote:

Ton of respect for you Joel. I myself have a 6 yr old daughter. I’m trying to convince her to come ice fishing with me whenever we get ice. I’ve re watched all IDO episodes so many times now she’s always saying “daddy always watches fishing shows” lol. She comes bass fishing in the summer but when I ask if she’ll come <strong class=”ido-tag-strong”>ice fishing I get a blunt “nope”…

Couldn’t agree more. Family first. If you figure out that whole 6 year old thing let me know. I have a 5 year old daughter that I am going to get to come with me more this year. I invested in a Marcum camera last year. She seemed to like that as a start. I don’t bring many fish to the top of the ice but she was always excited to see them swimming around!

First of all I love that all of you are still reading the ice fishing forum in late August. I expected a response or two in the next week. Not 6 in the first 12 or so hours.

You all have me convinced. I talked to a couple of the guys last night and it sounds like we are going to give Red a go. Anybody have recommendations for resorts and/or fish house rentals? I did some quick Google searching last night and it appears that PortAvilla, Alpine, and Red Lake Remote seem to be good options for 5 guys as they have some 5 man houses. Anybody have any experience with any of these?

Thanks for the recommendations on the houses. I was thinking Thermal so I could just use a Mr. Buddy or something smaller to heat it. I have a sunflower heater for the 5 sided but don’t want to bring that into a flip house, especially with a 5 year old. I will have to go to a ice fishing show or two and sit in a few before making a decision.

This forum is the best! Thanks again for all the responses.

wgorby wrote:

Eskimo Wide 1 Inferno for the win

Did some research. This looks like a great option! Appreciate all of the feedback from everyone.

I made a tip down this year for my dead stick. I, as many of you stated, have a hard time watching the bobber on my dead stick. It is much easier to see the tip down out of the corner of my eye than it is to see the bobber in the hole. I thought it would be a nice cheap option for me this year as I made it out of things i had around the house. If i like it this year i may invest in a nicer tip down for next season.

My gauge is usually seeing at least 10-12 vehicles that i know are heavier than mine on the ice. There are always a couple of people who get out early with trucks. When i start seeing about a dozen i figure the ice is safe to drive my vehicles out which are all smaller than trucks.

I like the plow road idea as well.

Keep in touch with In Towne Marina. They are good about updating ice conditions on Waconia. I was on Waconia on Friday and there was about 4-4.5 inches. My wife and I were both in my portable with all of my gear and we were fine. I am a bigger guy (6’7 about 290) and I felt safe. With that said i can’t provide a very good fishing report. We had the camera down for 2.5 hours and saw 3 fish.

I would assume Parley and Whale tail would have similar ice. Nothing great yet, but getting there. Granted getting there very slowly, but we are getting there.

Seems to be a good deal at Cabela’s on an Eagle Claw micro inline.

Anybody have reviews of this one? I think I want it but would like to hear good or bad first.

I was just at Cabela’s today. Most of the ice tackle was on sale. Picked up a few small tingler’s. I would recommend going sooner rather than later to get better selection.

I did a fair amount of research on this prior to picking one up earlier this year. I had a Fish TV for a while which works ok in clear water during the day, but outside of that it wasn’t great. A buddy I fish with has a Vexilar camera that was hands down better than the Fish TV. He even admitted that the Marcum is the gold standard in cameras. You are on the right track with the Marcum.

As far as the VS8 or VS4, I went with the 4. The biggest difference I could find was the 8 has the temp, depth, and direction of the camera. Getting this information was not enough for me to spend the extra money. Some swear by it, I don’t get out enough to make it useful for me.

Just my two cents. Good luck.

Me and a couple buddies have done this every year for the past 4 years. We go a little earlier in Mid January. We hit Milacs the first year and caught a lot of fish. Just very frustrating putting them all right back down the hole. We have also done Winnie and Leach with little success. The resort at we went through at Winnie was great (I want to say Denny’s) as they had a bar on site and were very honest with us that due to a big ice heave keeping them from getting where they normally go the fishing hadn’t been that great. Any resort you go out of will do its best to get you on fish, it is obviously in their best interest. I would work through one that has some sort of alliance with a few other resorts on separate lakes to make sure you get on some fish.