Grouse- We stayed in Mass city and rode mainly east and north of there and all trails were excellent. When we rode too far west or south, they started to get a bit thin. Hopefully they can hold up during this warm spell. More cold weather after the weekend should turn the Lake Michigan snow machine back on and provide more snow for the UP.

Bearcat- Agree, they are usually 16K and advertised for 12-13K some places. I was able to talk a dealer into 11K out the door with no fees. Of course, even that’s not a good deal if we have another no snow year or two in a row! Fingers crossed. The used market is a bit of a mixed bag. There are a lot of 1-3 year old used sleds where people seem to either be underwater, or not willing to lose a big chunk of their investment and are asking more than I paid. It seems if anyone is in the market for a late model sled new is the way to go right now.

I couldn’t pass up the current deals on sleds and bought a hold over new ’24 Switchback XC 850 for great price.

I’m in the Hayward area and we don’t have enough snow, but I’ve been up to the Western UP twice in the last week and a half. The trails were great as long as you pick the areas with a lot of snow. I’m not sure I’ve ever had more fun on a snowmobile with a new one to ride and great trails; especially after last years crappy snow conditions! I hope we get some good snow after this warm spell coming up the next few days….

I live an hour and a half north of there now, but have a buddy that fished Marshmiller last week and reported 7-8 inches. Marshmiller I believe is shallower than Otter on average, so otter may not be as thick.

I believe Lund is covering some of these if you are the original owner. Lot’s of info on FB if you use that.

I fished our lake all night with no success and decided to just troll a Rattle Trap home. This little fella decided he was hungry; in the middle of nowhere land on the lake. Total surprise. According to the DNR, there are no Muskies in our lake….

I didn’t have a net in the boat, but neighbor was fishing nearby so I called him over. He only had a small net and thee fish didn’t fit very well. The fish flopped out of the net and the Rattle Trap was still in the net stuck to the hoop, but my rod tip kept bouncing. Started reeling again and it turns out he was looped twice over his top jaw and we ended up getting him for a picture. No idea how he didn’t cut the 6 lb test line…..

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We had our best trip ever June 21-22. 44 fish in 2 days with the biggest at 26 lbs. We’re heading back over July 9-14.

Good Luck! I hope you and the boys get on some big ones.

I trust the accuracy of the GPS location; what I don’t trust is the accuracy of the depth charts on the lakemap chip. The GPS location can be accurate, but where the map shows 5 ft of water, could really be 1 or less. Of course, overall water level matters too especially in a river where the level fluctuates.

If I travel a route (like up a river) in daylight, I trust to follow the same path back in the dark.

Tracking in an MX is excellent, but for big water requires good dental insurance:( I’ve had MX1825, MX2025, and WX 2060. The MX’s were both rough in big waves. The WX hull is the way to go; still very good tracking, but much much better in waves.

I do have a pair for triple trees I’ve been meaning to put up for sale. I’m looking for $400 for the pair.

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I’m not sure where you’re fishing Kokanee Frank but where I’ve fished them in CA and OR, they are pretty small fish and don’t require heavy gear, line, etc. Most Koke’s in CA and OR are 15 to maybe 20 inches, so seldom above 1.5 or 2 lbs. The one big exception to that rule is Flaming Gorge where they do get up to 4 lbs or so. I found down riggers to be most productive with snap weights on flat lines coming in second. Lead core can work, and I’ve caught Koke’s on it, but I’ve also drown a lot of little ones that I had no idea were on the lead. If your Koke waters are similar to the ones I fished, I’d recommend medium/light rigger rods with 10 lb mono for a primary setup. You can stack lines on one downrigger to get two rods out on the same rigger and hit different depths. Koke’s have VERY soft mouths and they thrash like crazy as soon as they get close enough to feel vibrations from the motor. They get off the line OFTEN. There are days where a 50% landing rate is good. For this reason you want lighter line and a softer rod to help absorb the fight close to the boat. They are not big enough to make runs, but rather just little thrashing devils near the boat. If you want more lines in the water then I’d suggest flat lines with 10-12 lb mono and use verious size snap weights 20 feet ahead of the bait to achieve your desired depth.

Koke’s typically like a slow troll. 0.9 to 1.2 is probably most common where I fished, so if you do use lead, it will sink more than advertised.

Good Luck! and post pictures if you have success.

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My Go-To drink for years has been the Skinny Pirate! They just taste so good….

While the weather has been awesome, the mosquito’s are horrible! Middle of the day; middle of the sunshine and the things are thick! The worst I’ve seen up here and that’s sayin’ alot…..

In a similar application in the past, I added tracks to mount the downriggers to and added a 1/4 inch aluminum backer plate below the gunnel. It’s best to spread the load out across a longer section of track than have it all on one small area like your mount you’ve shown in the picture. The longer the track and back plate the better.

It’s going to suck in July when I can’t see my fishing boat on the lift over the snow bank….

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You should be able to walk into a dealer and buy a brand new X3 right now. Last I looked there were dealers in Red Wing and Rochester that had some in stock. The bottom fell out of the S X S market in the fall. Not sure if it will come back in the spring or not, so if you want one I’d grab it now.

Brian Klawitter wrote:

big_g wrote:

I left out the by products of the “meat”.

By products= LUTA. Lips, Udders, Testicles, and A-holes

Looks like a great trip and a lot of fun. Good choice in pooches:)….

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On the news this morning they showed giant tuna boats piled up on a concrete wall and the biggest one had the home port listed as White Bear Lake, MN.

Sorry; forgot to add that…… $150

I started making my own Chorizo for various things. Tonight it’s Chorizo street taco’s.

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I’m not sure if the Canon swivels fit walkers, but I like to caution people on the canon swivels themselves. the plastic gets old and brittle and they break. Had one buddy lose his DR overboard after the swivel mount grenaded and another buddy had one break, but the DR caught on his trim tabs so he didn’t lose it.

Traxtec makes very solid swivel mounts for DR’s.

Uh……..his stuff was stolen in MN and replaced in MN. So…..MN nice, or MN not so nice:)….

suzuki wrote:

I can tell you there are still idiots up north. Just last weekend I met one on the trail that thought he had a time machine and was riding centuries ago when there was no chance of meeting another human on a blind corner. Those are the guys that are dangerous both quading and sledding.

While there always certainly are a few of these speed racers around, we’ve found the Hayward area to be pretty good. There are a lot of families riding and what seem to be more responsible people in general that are out for a nice ride; at least during daylight hours. Travel out after dark and all bets are off…… We rode sleds up in Northern UP once and I couldn’t believe how many wanna be racers were flying around. 3 different times we met groups that were racing each other and going two wide around tight corners. One of those encounters lead to 3 of their sleds all colliding with each other and flying off into the timber. Once we found they were all physically OK, we really didn’t give a rats &ss how they were going to get the 3 mangled sleds out of there.

Here she is!

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crossin_eyes wrote:

Yup, the SxS has been a game changer for us as well.
My wife likes to ride her own sled, but has always rode with me on a wheeler. Having the SxS is awesome. Up to 950 miles this summer and it’s only mid-august! Can’t wait for cooler weather and the leaves to start turning.
Perhaps a quick trailer trip up to Bayfield?

Don’t forget to hit the Plywood Palace in Moquah!

The last two weekends up here have been cold and cloudy, so we spent both riding around the Clam Lake area hoping to see some elk, but no luck………so far!

My wife and I ride quite a bit. We live on Sand Lake just south of Hayward, so snowmobile season we drive right out the garage door to hit the trails. I would say we average at least twice a week on sleds as long as there is snow. When the snow get’s thin here, we trailer up to Bayfield county for the day usually. We’ve got other friends with Cabin’s on the lake, so we have quite a few group rides throughout the winter. You could say we are a bit over the top about sledding. We’ve got 5 sleds and only 2 riders in the house…… For summer riding we’ve always had a four wheeler or two around and have done that quite a bit too, but just finally bought a side x side this spring and have been using it on weekends when the weather isn’t conducive to having a lake day. I wasn’t too sure if the side x side was going to work for us, thinking my wife would prefer to drive her own machine, but it’s been working great. She doesn’t mind riding at all and really doesn’t even stress that bad when I decided to give the S x S a stress test. She know’s when to grab for the “Oh sh*t” handle….. We also have an old Sportsman 800 in the garage for friends to ride when they come up. We’re really looking forward to getting out in the S x S more this fall!

Crazy timing on this subject. Was at a dealer in Webb Lake yesterday having my SxS looked at. I noticed they had 2 brand new Evinrude kickers for sale and commented to the mechanic I was surprised to still see new ones on the floor. He went on a rant. They are a BRP dealer and he said he’s got a 75 Evinrude tiller that he has been looking for some simple part for (can’t remember what he said the part was) for a year with no luck and the motor won’t run without it. I commented I thought BRP would make parts for how ever many years and his response was “some yes; but not all by a long shot”. If there’s any truth to that, it would certainly be worth considering that into the decision making process.

gim wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>to_setter wrote:</div>
Who brings a knife tubing on the Apple River?……..

Apparently he brought it to cut ropes that they used to attach tubes. That’s what the story claims anyways.

OK that makes sense. I carry a knife usually for utility purposes, but couldn’t imagine having one on me when tubing in nothing but my swim suit, and I wouldn’t want it to get wet. That’s why it struck me as odd, but seems it’s maybe common. Whodathunkit?

Who brings a knife tubing on the Apple River?……..