trapshooter

Disagree with the LCD graph, unless you are fishing on a flat bottom. You'll lose your ability to see your jig if there is any structure down there until it clears the top of the structure.

 

edit: try googling " fish finder dead zone " or just look here, one of the better explanations

 

http://www.a-guide-to-florida-bass-fishing...ish-finder.html

Flashers have a dead zone when you're fishing a sharp drop off too. I had one last week while fishing lake trout on the edge of a reef.

I still prefer a flasher myself. This is like tiller vs. console... it's all personal preference and what works for you.

I was marking my tiny in-line swivel today in 80 FOW with my ICE45. Definitely loose the support cable... FisherMike knows the deal. Enjoy.

I don't trust superline under 20lbs... seen it break too often. At least with 10lb mono there IS some stretch which also acts like a shock absorber when fighting trout. It helps keep them pinned. With no stretch in thin 10lb superline I've seen it break way to easy. I agree it's better for deep water hooksets but the other thing... it's useless if you're fishing outside and it's cold... it freezes up and becomes hard to deal with. To each their own.

I think for leader material it's fine. I use fluorocarbon leaders a lot in the winter, whenever I have to tie an inline swivel to my main line I always run a fluoro leader to the bait. Now, I don't personally use superline at all during the winter but I would def. be running a fluoro leader if I did.

Very impressive Chris. Great job!!

I believe Jos at anglers outfitters can fine tune them into the bottom quite nice..from what I'm told he is well versed with the Lowrance.

True... I bet he would even talk you through it over the pone. 519-539-5495. He's in woodstock.

I bet changing that transducer setting will make the difference. No reason that set-up shouldn't work like a charm for ice fishing. They are great little units.

I hope you like your machine. It wouldn't be my choice either. Great for 2 up riding on trails but other than that.....don't go into snow over 12 inches, never leave the trail and stay away form any kind of slush on the ice.

 

If you want to crank it when the battery is dead.....good luck. Big motors may be fun but are crap to crank when it's cold. Even the old 540 cc often took 2 people to pull the crank. Store an extra battery and booster cables.

 

Is the heat exchanger under the seat? I also hated machines that had that....you end up with a wet rear end and accumulated ice between the tunnel and the track.

From my experience this isn't true. Like I said, I have the same machine with the 600cc motor.

1. snow over 12"... come on!

2. Slush on the lake... I power through slush on the ice. Put it to the bar and ride out of the slush every time! I've been stopped in bad slush (to fish) and powered right out of it.

3. I can easily hand pull my machine in -20. Can't imagine it's THAT much harder with 100 more cc's. Cables and extra battery aren't a bad idea though, just to be safe.

4. heat exchanger is under the seat. You will not end up with a wet rear end but you will accumulate ice between the tunnel and the track.

Your sled is an awesome ice fishing machine for 2 ppl. Will tow a loaded toboggan no problem and get you where you need to go.

Did u buy it in the states?

Nice. I have the exact same sled in the 600cc. Same year, same colour and everything. You'll love it. The 600 has lots of power so I can bet the 700 will really get up and go.

Awesome job Jay. Other then that one dorsal those are really clean nice looking walleye. 3' of ice eh... we don't have near that here.

Don't worry, the fire barrel comes off the ice every trip.

Good fishin' Dr. Must have been a blast with lines going off all over the place.

What a great day you guys had. Congrats on all those nice fish. Excellent pics too.

Thanks guys. Some are Big V trout, John. I also fished a couple lakes closer to dryden.

Yeah, fished with rob 3 days this winter already. Good times. I'm always up for muskie fishing... you know that. Just a matter of finding 2 or3 days that we're all off.

This is season #2 for me with the Humminbird flasher. Still works like a charm. It marks my swivel in 80' of water... what more can I ask for.

Hey MO - not long now and you will be back up here. The real bugger will be waiting for our 2nd annual muskies and mustaches trip in Sept.

A simple 1/8th or 1/4 oz. jig tipped with a minnow will catch anything that swims. It doesn't get any easier then that. Spool up with 8lb test for nipissing and you'll be good to jig all day. You'll catch pike, perch, herring and walleye on that set-up... and if you leave it on bottom in the evenings you'll catch a mud-puppy too. Have fun.

I thought I'd share some pics from a few recent ice fishing trips.

Action on the lake trout has been good, but no real big ones yet. All have been in the 2-5lb range. I plan to put a lot more effort into trout this year in hopes of catching a 'big' one.

My buddy Rob.

We even did up a fresh lake trout shorelunch one day on the ice. Here's a pic of me frying fish with 2 pieces of kindling.

Walleye have been hitting well too. Here's a couple pictures of some of the nicer fish so far this year.

My buddy Colin with a nice 26"er

I hit this pike the other day, which was a lot of fun on the walleye gear.

We came across this wolf kill on the ice on Lac Seul. Pretty cool.

Cheers everyone, and good fishing.

ben

In the mid-range (gah, when did $100 rods become middle of the road!) Fenwick HMX/HMG has an edge over St.Croix Premier/Triumph. Fenwick's are noticeably lighter and have significantly better components. I liked my two Premiers when I first started using them, but the guides on them are just cheap crap. Once I had those stripped off and replaced with Fuji Hardloy's (which are stock on my Fenwick's) they're much better.

 

Contrary to Smitter, I've found the St.Croix's to be the worst value for dollar rod out there. Premiers & Triumphs use the same blank, only one is assembled in China and the Premier in the US. I had three guides on two rods lose their inserts, and frankly what are $100 rods using inserted guides anywho? Once you move up to the Avid & Legend it starts moving back towards St.Croix but I'm done with lower end offerings.

 

Never had a problem with any of my three Fenwick HMX's, which I found to be the best rod for dollar

Great post.

Most of my rods are Criox Legend Tournament, Avid or Legend Elite. Great products backed by lifetime warranties.

I do have a couple Fenwick Techna AV's that I really like. Sensitive for a walleye jigging rod but the backbone is what I really love.

I think with a lot of rod manufacturers, if you buy their lower end stuff it just doesn't compare.

instead of using a dropshot weight on bottom, use a jig tipped with a minnow. Half the time fish come on the bottom hook, half the time on the top hook. Great rig.

Good times in the shack. Nice fish Luc.

I filled my buddy's tag as well and we split the meat. Both NW Ontario bucks.

Those are some dandy's mossyoak!! I have a lot of respect for those guys who bow hunt. Definitely on my hunting 'to-do' list.

Hey Simon, glad to know I'm not the only one who talks to fish that I'm marking. I've played a lot of 'cat and mouse' lately with the lakers myself. I love how willing they are to chase baits... makes it fun with a flasher/graph. Saturday I've made plans to go to Kiekawabec (sp?) with some friends. Let me know when you can get out again. I still want to to try Big Sandy with you soon.

Solid introduction and report. I think you've got the hang of this.