I use castration rings on the majority of my TUC. I use 2 rings above the reel and 3 below

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The newer spoons like the VMC Tingler and Tumbler as well as the jigging raps I will always use a swivel. My mainline is usually braid suffix fuse or the ice braid. I run ice majic on my leader usually 18-24 inches in length attached by a small swivel. If the spoon has a split ring on it I will sometimes tie direct depending on the bite. If there is no split ring I will run a quicksnap all the time. Hope this helps, – QB

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QB – Are you using any backing for your braid line? I’m guessing backing, 3/4 spool braid and a good amount of flouro/mono leader?

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I’m not normally one to jump on the rant bandwagon, but I had/have the exact same problem as the original poster. I got my LX9 last Feb. Used it ~5 times last year, a couple times this summer, a couple times this fall, and a few times this winter. My charger has never turned green with the original battery that came with the unit. I certainly tend to my batteries monthly throughout the summer and all of my batteries in my other flashers last 4-5 years (I have 3 flashers). About 2 weeks ago, I went to pull the LX9 off the charger and the battery was hot…not warm… HOT. Like it could have possibly been boiling the battery. My battery was totally shot. It lasted 15 minutes. I charged it up again and it got hot again and was fried. Called Marcum to see how they could help me. Their solution was to have me send in my charger and they would test it and if it was bad, they would send me a new one (otherwise they would send me my charger back). Well, I wasn’t extremely happy with their service, but I sent in my charger last Thursday… Nothing in yesterday’s mail but I’m hoping to have a new charger very soon. I’ve since been using my Vexilar charger to charge my LX9 with a brand new 9ah battery (that I had to purchase..which is fine I guess).

SideTrack. Today I used my unit next to an LX7. BTW, I love my LX9. Best unit on the market, no doubt. My buddy is an (medical) ultrasound specialist so he understand these units and the transducers. He grabbed my tranducer and shook it a bit and could hear the crystals moving around… My sonor seemed to work fine today, but according to his untrasound experience, he says I should send it in… Thoughts before I call Marcum on this transducer? The bottom is also that milky/chalky white.

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Mine transducer, like yours is that milky white color on the bottom AND when I shake it, it sounds like the crystals are loose

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If I’m paying that kind of $ for a rod they could at least have a reel seat that will lock the reel down. I don’t understand why there are so few rods that do. I won’t buy one that I have to tape or use a rubber band. I want it to work the way I bought it, without having to rig something up to make it work. I’m sure the rods are nice. I didn’t even grab one, but I keep my rods to $25 or less. The folks I talked to when buying my IDO hat Saturday did seem like pretty good eggs though.

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You can simply order any rod with reel seats. Call Adam or John with anything you have in mind and they’ll make it happen without a doubt. There were plenty of rods at the ice show that had reel seats on them.

I was thinking of heading up there this weekend with this cold front coming in. Maybe!

You’re best bet as of now would be to look on Craigslist. Most if not all will have nothing in stock.

I have Shimano Sedona 1000s on both my 36″ split and 34″ standard precision rods. I like the increase in weight for the drag compared to the 500. Like John said, only downside is they gum up really bad in cold weather so you have to guy them and put in different lube which makes them run much better. I’ve had one gum up so bad, I snapped the line trying to pull out line.

Do you “shock” them after your done boiling? I always dump the hot water and cover them with cold water as soon as I can. It’s always easy peeling for me

D-Rock is way up on the north side in New Brighton I think.
Try going to Northern Tool in Burnsville. They’re an authorized StrikeMaster and Jiffy service center. I’ve dealt with them twice and are good to work with.

I too will be investing into a GPS with chip next season. I have the Navionics app + iPhone and it just doesn’t compare to an actual handheld GPS. Yes, the app will out you in the general area but it isn’t very accurate. It sucks the life out of your phone almost instantly and pair that up with the cold and your phone is dead. I’ve also found out that you can only zoom so far in on the smartphone app whereas a handheld GPS, you can zoom in as much as you want showing you those little inside/outside breaks on a break line and showing the details I want to see

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The LX-9 just arrived yesterday! Time to read up
before taking it out for its maiden voyage. Any tips?

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Update it to the newest firmware version

Nothing like that screaming and melting thru the ice

If you’re wanting to update this season, I’d say hold off. Not really worth investing another $600 into a unit only to be used for another month or so unless you’re taking the unit onto the boat.

But if you got the $600 laying around and feel like you want to spoil yourself a bit then the 6 and 7 will do the $600 tag justice. A flawless unit once dialed in.

I’ve had my 7 since the day it came out and have went thru all the growing pains with it and absolutely love it. After the 2.9 update, I wouldn’t trade it for anything else. With the newest update, it is a flawless unit. Everything is spot on and working perfect. If you’re debating on getting one, do so or you’ll be regretting it.

I have three TUC rods now. 34″ & 36″ precision split grip and a 32″ noodle split grip. All of them have the recoil guides. I love the guides. They’re light weight which ups the sensitivity of the rod. Like others have said, ice up will happen but the recoils keeps it to a minimum.

Glad I wasn’t the only one. Opened up IDO this morning and was already prepped to fill in some credit card info but noticed the $70 price tag.

I have a Lazer Pro. Routine as follows: find the spot to fish, grab auger, prime 4-5x, choke on full, pull 1-2x until I hear it “pop”, move choke to half, pull until it runs, let auger warm up on half choke, grab GPS and mark spots to drill, set up the otter, put everything into the otter, grab auger and move choke to open, give 1-2 throttle pulls, then drill drill drill.

Each time I make a move, I’ll always let the auger warm up before drilling holes

I plan on trading in my Sierra Denali for a F150 EcoBoost with appearance package in either black or white. One hell of a sweet looking truck this year. Like others have stated, the crew cabs are very roomy. Surprisingly, even the xtended cabs are roomy.

Contact any of the boys over @TUC. They’ll be more than willing to answer questions you have. They’re a great bunch to do business with. They’ll definitely take care of you.

Awesome! Caught a 12″ perch on mille lacs and could only imagine what a 15″ looks like!

I have 4 rods that I throw in my Otter rod case with one tackle box and some pliers and whatnot. My rod collection will most likely be growing for next season!

28″ deadstick
32″ TUC precision noodle split grip
34″ TUC precision
36″ TUC precision split grip.

That was your issue. V3.01 was filled with bugs. 3.17 is flawless. Good luck on URL!

Are you running v3.17? If not, upgrade. Will make a world of difference.

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I owned an Arctic Armor suit for 4 years and it was a great suit. The beginning of this winter, my wife washed and dryed the suit – and it got wrecked in the dryer from the heat. Well, I liked the suit so much that I ordered the same suit as a replacement in December. The new suit has not held up after 5 outings. The black lining on the inside has worn through in a few spots and is wearing through in many other spots. I called IDI Gear about warranty and they offered to send patch material. They said it is wearing through because of the velcro on the suit. Well, yes, it has worn in those spots, but is also worn though in spots where there is no velcro. My old suit lasted 4 years – got frayed where there was velcro, but didn’t wear through. This new suit has worn through around velcro and is wearing through in locations where there isn’t anything to rub on.

Needless to say I am more disappointed with their warranty support and how rude the 4 people were that I talked with about this – and I was very clear that I liked their product and wanted to stick with it, but did not want to deal with paying someone to patch this practically new suit that was coming apart on the inside.

Anyone else have good/bad info on the suit/service? I am thinking of going with the Frabill snow suit. Anybody have experience with this suit?

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You’ll LOVE the SnoSuit. It is a VERY warm suit. So warm that I only wear a pair of sweatpants when I fish underneath the bibs. No need to layer up with long johns and whatnot. I fish outside about 70% of the time kneeling and standing. My bibs are pretty much glazed over with ice each outing and it has held up each time. I’ve fished in the 20 mph winds once and didn’t feel a lick of wind. Real quality bibs for a great price right now. I’ve seen them for $199. I bought mine at the ice show for $250 (bibs only) and don’t regret buying them one bit! No need for a portable with this suit

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Chomps:

I’m a fan of still looking at the circular display when ice fishing, so for my eyes the 7 nails it in that regard and the 6 is a bit small. Also, when it comes to pulling double duty in the boat, you won’t find a screen that size in your open-water Lowrance/H-bird, so I think it’s a value on the soft-water side all things considered.

Just my opinions after running both.

Thanks,

Joel

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Joel-I’m glad to hear comments like this. I’m typically not an early adopter with electronics and am very close to retiring the LX 5 to make the move to digital and I’ve been fighting this whole 6 vs. 7 thing. Given that I already have a camera for the few situations where I actually use it, that upgrade capability isn’t of concern. Where I had been leaning toward a 6, I’m now back with the 7 due to screen size.

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You’ll love the 7. Main focal point over the 6 is the screen size. Still a great unit for hole hopping and is not heavy at all IMO. Get one and you won’t regret it. Some deals to be had on the 7 right now.

Hopefully they work the kinks out for next year’s model so I can sell my Lazer Pro for the Honda!

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I was also under the impression from the responses here there was a distinction in displayed colors between the two units. More colors displayed in the 7 than the 6. Did I misunderstand?

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The same colors will be displayed on both units.

MarCum customer service is the best I’ve seen. I’ve been in there to have my Lx7 looked at before the 2.9 update was released. Not only did I get my issue with my unit fixed but I also got the update installed before it was released! Very nice guys to work with! I have full faith in these guys!

Glad to hear it!

Lowest I’ve seen is $599 @Reeds.