Left hander here with left handed shooting kids – look at the Winchester SXP buck/bird combo as the Winchesters have a reversible safety. Yes it is a 12 but shoots soft and kids never minded it.

One piece not to overlook as you research vests is the re-charge kit, how easy can you get one and what do they cost. I made the mistake with a Cabelas vest where the price looked good but the re-charge kit is a total pain to get. All it takes is to forget that instant inflatable vest in the bottom of the boat when it rains and POOF you need a recharge kit.

You get hooked on this method pretty quick. Beef brisket that never fails or taking the cheap cuts and turning them in to items people mistake for fillet. Pretty soon you’ll have a modified cooler, an Anova and a Jule and be doing 72 hour cooks with variations of smoke before or after (after gives classic bark )

slipbob_nick wrote:

If mills fleet doesn’t have it you don’t need it.

Remember Fleet Farm was sold as well. I was in the Blaine store recently and their stocked waterfowl hunting equipment was significantly reduced from previous years…and the duck season in MN hasn’t even opened yet. It was down to one small short isle.

Big issue has been the plowing of every single square inch – road ditches, burning every slough and wet spot, taking out wind breaks even. There have been many spots I walked in SD just a year or two ago that were sweet spot hedgerows not even 10 feet wide or a fence line that are now just bare earth or standing corn.

It is farm land, not bird production land, and many farmers do not hunt pheasants. The land has to pay for itself in crops, or just as commonly now leases to guide services.

…..Groups such as Minnesota Trout Unlimited have long been opposed to Kamloops rainbow stocking because they fear it will dilute the wild steelhead strain, first introduced to Minnesota waters of Lake Superior in 1895…..

Trying to protect the purity of one introduced fish from another introduced fish. I guess things that started in 1895 gotta take precedent over things that happened in the 1970’s. Not looking to start a fight, but this really seems funny.

Tuma wrote:

It looks like different boats / different hulls. Are the trolling motors the same thrust?

I’d also like to see the boats switch buoys, because you know science stuff and those pesky variables.

Used them out on Devils in really bad conditions, worked on par with spinners the others in the boats were using. Plan on using them as part of a Denver rig on the river this spring.

Have fished it open water, but not ice. There is a nice access point with good parking. They gave up on zebra treatment in 2015. We’ve run into an unofficial ‘inspector’ in the summer, but haven’t done winter. You will have to walk out about 600 yards over extensive shallow weed bed area to get to trout depths. It is an extensively spring fed lake, so you would have to spud bar to move around safely no matter what. Trout are there and they can be caught if patient and hit right window of bite.

Buddies loaded up F150 Platinum does not have the keypad, but boy it likes to beep the horn and flash its lights at you every time you close those doors. It conditions you to have that AH #$%@ moment a couple dozen times a trip when the truck is idling on the ice.

ps0345 wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Bonawitz07 wrote:</div>
Original Combos and a Gatorade. Every time.

X2

X3 – thought I was the only one partaking of that particular convenience store combo.

Started off ice fishing only a few years ago out of a truck. Since then have spent way more money and got way more stuff, but still find it the least hassle not having to pack up just to move about on even a small piece of structure.

Dragged the Otter around behind the wheeler all last season fishing mostly Mille Lacs, flipped it over once and that was only because it was raining. And that was during 10+ hour days/nights on the ice. While I did have times where my chair would blow across the ice as soon as I stood up, I was perfectly comfortable in my ice suit and gloves. But knowing you could flip the house over and start the heater if you really wanted was a comforting thought during the longer sessions.

I picked a couple of those up at last years ice show. I have them attached to my tackle boxes since so small and use them constantly when I retie. I haven’t found a line they don’t cut easily yet.

Reminds me of the bear in NJ that walked upright because the front paws were injured. Does the racoon seem lame when down on all fours drinking? I had one in my back yard a few years ago that had an injured back leg and it seemed to balance on the front two, but still got around (and on my deck to torment the dogs) very very well.

The fleet Farm in Carver (out your way Crappie) is where I got mine. Like other surplus items they either have them or they don’t but best chance is coming up with the winter season stuff coming in. They do run big, they are heavy and they are slippery. But very warm, waterproof and ice cleats fit them nice and snug. I wouldn’t wear them walking a bunch, but nice to have on the 4 wheeler.

Was out on Saturday from 6am-3pm. Was way more boats out than I thought there might be. Started the morning pulling cranks on the edges of flats and couldn’t get a nibble. Switched over to a mix of leech and crawler rigs and picked up a couple small fish. Finally moved up on the flats and every one switched to the same leech rig and pulled in two nice fat 26 inch fish and a fat 24. The boats around us were having more consistent luck. Talked to a number of people drifting past who also pulled bigger fish including a 28. All ice season it was a bunch of the little guys, so while not the active bite in our boat the quality was much better.

We did see at least two floaters of decent sized fish while we were out. Will be our first and only open water trip to the lake this year most likely. The action is nice, but just don’t personally want to up the chance of making floaters as it heats up.

Just as soon as the barrier of the $100k truck is broken. Can’t pull a cheap boat behind your Cowboy Cadillac

Yes! I switched over to lard after trying all the others, and for my personal taste I will take the lard over any of the others. The lard itself has no flavor to it, not like your fish is going to taste like bacon.

Cooking at the wrong temperature is what causes any oil to make food be greasy, and I have found the other oils to impart their flavors to food much more easily than lard.

wgorby wrote:

Did the ones you looked at have the 2 vertical “spreader poles” installed in the front upper and lower corners…if you don’t put those in it gets pretty sloppy/flappy….peep my video I linked above, during the walk around you’ll notice that one side seems to look “saggy” that’s because I didn’t have the pole installed on that side. FYI.

Good video. The one at Fleet Farm likely didn’t, but the one at the St Paul Ice Show did. Talked to the Eskimo Rep there who answered it had been tested in then wind, but he didn’t come across very confident at all on the subject.

If you ever get a chance to film it in a 15-20 mph breeze, love to see it in action.

How is the roof hub in the wind? I was looking at the crossover hard, but the ones I saw on display seemed really loose in that small roof hub to the point it would drop down on your head in any real wind gusts. I can’t imagine repeated use is going to make them tighter.

Recently used the slow death hook/spinner setup on Devils Lake and it worked well. Walleyes seemed to want leeches more, but the slow death spinner outperformed the traditional spinner. I did need to still pinch off half the crawler to get the slow spin.

Don’t shy away from the quick clevises, I liked being able to switch blade sizes and colors just as much as whole rigs.

I had the same problem setting up my 15 foot boat. I picked up an 18 amp hour mobility scooter battery from Amazon for under $30 and run all my electronics off it (Lowrance Elite 5 HDS, bow and stern lights and pump) even though I have a marine battery and trolling motor. The scooter battery fits in a standard waterproof ammo box with a little filing under the lid. I hooked my electronics up to a protected marine bus bar, ran wires through the box lid to connect to the bar. No interference issues and I can pop the box/battery out no problem. Running everything, I’ve never come close to depleting that battery in a day.