Glad I could help.

I’m typically shooting 2, 3, and 4 shot for ducks so that’s what I’m finding. I want to say that I’ve found 7 shot but it’s not the norm.

I got the garret pin pointer after watching this video. A costly dental bill and having small children made it a no brainer. Haven’t bit into a pellet since I started using it. I’m using it to find steel so I’m not sure how well it works on other types of shot.

Adding plain salt can help lower stress levels and replace electrolytes. I too was having issues until I dumped in about 3/4 of a cup into my 55 gal aquarium. Since I started adding salt I have not had near the dead minnows I had before. It used to be that every fathead was dead within a week and now I loose a few the first few days. The strange thing is I only had problems with fatheads. I have kept leftover shiners alive for months without any issues. I’m assuming like was mentioned before that they come from the bait shop disease ridden.

No problem, I’ve been in your shoes before. I wouldn’t say that they’re setting anyone up for failure as everything is signed pretty well as far as the no hunting areas go. What’s tough is seeing the signs in the dark when you’re not exactly where you thought you were. OnX has everything marked too but it’s not as clear as I’d like it to be on the app. Maybe I need to play with it some more.

Here’s a link to the refuge maps, refuge specific regulations can also be found on the website. Paper copies are usually available at federal boat ramps as well as a few other pamphlets. I’d recommend studying maps before going and scouting during the day before hunting. You’ll find out pretty quick that the maps don’t look the same on the ground due to the ever changing river system. I’d like to emphasize that the river is not a place to explore in the dark especially now that it’s getting cold and wear your life jacket.

Now that safety is covered get out there and have fun.

https://www.fws.gov/library/collections/upper-mississippi-river-pool-maps

Here’s the pic I promised you earlier. It’s hard to tell what’s what in the photo but it can give your son some ideas of common components that are used. I tried to include a few handle types for comparison. The far left one is actually a fly rod grip that I sanded a slot in to somewhat inset a spinning real. The two colored grips are offered by several companies in a few more colors and the two with reel seats are offered as a kit and are my favorite for panfish rods. As you may notice I prefer longer rods but the beauty of it is they can be cut to any length.

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I’ve built several ice rods and you can’t go wrong with the vline blanks. Mudhole just picked them up last winter but I’ve been ordering them for a few years now from their website. I got a few of mudholes ice blanks when I started and don’t care for them. Unless lake trout or pike are the target species fly guides are the way to go. They’re plenty big to keep the ice off but more importantly they’re light. There are also several handle styles to pick from. I’ll post some pics later and will be happy to answer any questions you may have.

If you’re looking for more presenters the local DNR offices are usually willing to help with events like this. Fisheries will sometimes come with live fish and wildlife may bring tanned hides that the kids can handle.

A fly tying and casting demo is also something most kids aren’t exposed to very often. Depending where you’re located a trout unlimited chapter may be willing to help out.

Regardless it sounds like you’ve got a pretty good handle on the event and the kids should have fun.

If you’re dead set on using the short rods you could probobly fish off the docks in the Wabasha marina. Otherwise plan on bringing the long rods and fishing from shore. It’s was about 40% open as of this afternoon and it’s been going fast.

stevenoak wrote:

Google: Duckology with Dr. Frank. Delta Waterfowl link. Also several other options come up. Sorry haven’t figured out links transfer.

That’s exactly the kind of thing I was looking for. I googled the subject before posting hear and found a number of things that were less than useful. Here’s a link to the video if anyone is interested href=”https://youtu.be/j9VTChGZMao”>

This is a little off topic but is there a way to upload your quick draw maps to active captain? Other than sharing to the community and uploading the community map?

You bet. If you haven’t been there before this is a great place to look up info on fish identification.

Fish ID

I agree having them in hand is better than pics any day. The lateral stripe and mouth is what made me think golden. A quick look on wiscfish provided a pretty close match.

Looks like a spottail shiner to me. The caudal spot is hard to see with the damaged tail but a little bit is still visible. Emerald shiners mouths tend to be more forward facing.

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Appears to be young golden shiner.

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You bet and I’m glad you’re enjoying it. I agree that the bugs would get old after day one but it’s part of the adventure.

I’ve been following Justin across Labrador too. It’s a heck of an adventure to take on with only man’s best friend as a companion. Was nice of the boys to stop by and share some beer on Smallwood though.

If yuh you haven’t been watching it you would probably also enjoy watching Northern Scavenger’s month long journey across Labrador too. They’ve been putting out a video every week for a while and next weeks may be the last one of thg he trip. Here’s a link to thg the first one. Sorry if the picture link didn’t work I’m not the most tech savy.

Have you considered building your own? I just started about 2 months ago and have built 3 so far. Mudhole makes it pretty easy to get started and their mhx blanks have a lifetime warranty. Not counting drying time I probably spend 3-4hrs on a rod. I’m by no means a pro and I haven’t gotten fancy with wrapping but the possibilities are endless. It is a little tedious but in the end you’ll have something to be proud of.

How does one complete an anonymous survey yet get entered into a drawing???

I’m out…

You bet. I’m just glad to get it back to it’s rightful owner.

We may have a winner!! I sent you a pm

I’ve had great luck catching them on small inline spinners. It’s almost like trout fishing.

I also agree that they can be a blast on a fly rod.

I’m guessing you meant to include a picture but if they aren’t digested to far there’s a good chance of identifying them. There are pores on the underside of they’re jaw northern pike have 5 and muskies have 8. Northers will also be bigger this time of year due to spawning around ice out while muskies usually spawn once the water gets into the 50’s.

Ralph Wiggum wrote:

Isopropyl alcohol won’t do anything to it.

Was talking a 70-90% solution and it is widely used as a preservative for specimens stored in jars. My thought was if the skeleton was clean enough it could basically be “pickled”. Once sealed in resin assuming it was preserved enough it could last indefinitely.

A better solution to use would be 10% formalin but I’m not sure on availability to the general public.

Hatcheries will often have eggs and different life cycles of the fish they raise preserved in this manner for demonstration. Granted the biggest ones I’ve seen are only 4-5″ long.

Your best bet might be to soak it in the strongest isopropyl alcohol you can find for a few weeks then seal it in resin.

If it works it would make an awesome coffee table.

It’s just about yard sale season if you’re not in a hurry there are some sweet deals to be had.

Here’sa link to the bwca forum much like this one there are many people that are willing to help a guy out. Look back at old posts and you will likely find the answer to many of your questions.

As far as water goes do yourself a favor and get a good gravity filter I have a platypus and one of the guys I go with has a sawyer.
They both work great and the filter will last for several trips with proper care. No need for boiling with a filter but having iodine tablets as a backup is a good idea.

https://bwca.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=forum.conference&confid=1

Jack Naylor wrote:

Last week I added a new 73SV Plus to the front of
the boat, talked to Tech dept about helping me with
the software update, (he was very good and patient).
He also said my unit has the G2 mapping, but I have
12 months to do a New G3 map upgrade for free, which
I’ll do this week.
Have not had unit on water yet, but anxious to get it
out.
Jack

I’d be interested to hear what you think of it once you get a chance to hit the water. I’m planning on picking up the same unit this spring.

I too have been looking at these units and have been going back and forth between the striker plus and the ecomap plus. I’m leaning toward the ecomap because of the preloaded maps but with mainly fishing the river and some smaller unmapped lakes I’m not sure it’s worth the extra cost. They both come capable of downloading maps via the active captain app but I’m having trouble finding what maps available to download. I’m also not sure if there is a cost associated with them. If anyone has any first hand experience with using active captain I’m all ears.

FishBlood&RiverMud wrote:

Got these replicated.
Next up… Blade baits.

FishBlood&RiverMud wrote:

Got these replicated.
Next up… Blade baits.

That looks like a fun project I’ve been wanting to try my hand at replecating baits in that manner but just haven’t pulled the trigger yet. Are you just using a wire form and pooring lead into it or adding your weight and pooring with resin?