EC1

I actually like the white alot! Except there doesn't happen to be a white reel in all of the USDM fishing scene! For a hundred bucks, that will be AWESOME!

Fenwick Eagle GT in 7' ML 4pc. should be fine too. I've had an Eagle GT in 5'6 UL and don't have any complaints about it.

As much of a fish story it is, I enjoyed the read on this. Was there any possible chance of you guys drilling another hole right next to it to enlarge the hole while bringing it in? I've always had that thought in the back of my head if a fish ever does get too big for 1 hole. But go back at it and get at those pike again! Good Luck!

awesome job dirk! You got into the big ones that have eluded me the last couple of trips I had!

the storm swimshad produced nothing for me last year too! Lol. Also, one of my cotton cordell wally divers didn't seem to catch me any fish either. It's a jointed one in a (Firetiger)? pattern. I don't know why,it has yet to have produced me a fish! I've had another wally diver (Orange/Gold) that seemed to continue to produce though.

I used a 6' walleye class by fenwick before, and am very happy with it. Other people might like different rods, But fenwick, st. croix, loomis - you can't really go wrong with any of them. It probably will come down with you and balancing the rod out, objective view on sensitivity, and the preference of the combo being lighter or heavier.

And whoever that is in worm dangler's picture is Crazy!! So are you guys gonna let me in on what's the best booze out on the lake?

Thanks once again Gentlemen! I think I will take my first look at the Wal-Mart ones, and if they fail(hopefully not), will move onto more expensive gear when I get a job finally this summer.

Wow, Thanks everyone for the quick replies. I'll read into the websites you guys gave. Looking forward to not sweating like crazy this coming weekend

I find it makes me not dread winter as much as I did in the past years. This is my first year, and I'm finding it's a good thing to not have to wait until softwater. Come to think about it, Just over a Month til I can fish for pike, and I'll probably be fishing for crappie in Just over 2!! Excited!!

Hi All, Good evening! I find that the last few trips I've had, I would work into a big sweat before I even make it onto the fishing spot, only to sweat some more while drilling into the ice. Usually I wear a normal t-shirt, 2-3 sweaters over top, and a Goretex Jacket. I pretty much need something that could wick away sweat or have it allow me to regulate my core temps a little bit easier. At this rate, Would I be looking to wear something along the lines of UnderArmour Coldgear or Heatgear? And Another question, is there an alternative that would be cheaper than Underarmour? On a student budget, I want to get away with every extra penny I can save Thanks In Advance

You should try out all of the line in your spool? You just have to make sure you don't strip everything out on the same spot on the floor. My preference is to pull 3 arms length onto a spot, take a step to another spot in the room, continue until you have the whole spool out. After that, reel in all of your line again like you were spooling again. Good luck!

LOL I like this one! Now I'm a little bit hungry too!

Ahh, nice. I, on the other hand stayed inside the hut for practically the entire day to stay away from the cold and freezing lines. And to report my findings on P-Line Floroice in 4#, I have very mixed feelings about it. First off, I loved the fact that it didn't turn into a slinky even at the end of the day. The line was very supple, and didn't make any loops even when I was reeling line in carelessly. BUT, for some reason I had this line snap on me on 2 hooksets(?) I may have put the line in contact with the heater, but I'm pretty sure that I didn't. Glad I didn't lose tackle from it, as I was lucky enough to grab the line just before the fish swam away and actually caught 1 of those 2 fish on the broken line I believe I will be trying that line out ONCE more before I decide to keep it or throw it away, and might try the reel magic if I do make a trip out to BPS.

Oh Will! Where are you going to be? Is Ms. Smith going to be out too? And now all my rigs are set up with a cheap mono backing, tied to ~30m. floroice, with a 1.5ft FC leader. Hoping for the best! Thanks everyone for the input.

And thanks guys for the reply! I'm going for crappie though. I don't know if I want anything more than 6.

Mike, going to be on scugog tomorrow? If yes, see you there!

thanks guys. Will go get some floroice as soon as i have time today. Will report back and tell you guys how it is!

Thanks Bigredneck. I am a little weary for using summer lines, but I don't know if I can get away without buying ice line, that's all. No tips from anyone else? What does everyone else put on their reels on the ice?

Good Afternoon everyone! Hope you guys have started your ice fishing / softwater adventures for the weekend! I just had a quick question for everyone that is ice fishing. Is there really a need for ice line, or what type of line could I get away with? I used Sufix Elite in 6lb last weekend, and that line has pretty much turned into a slinky. Would ice line actually stay supple even in the extreme cold? I just wanted to make sure before I go spend anymroe money on ice fishing. Thanks In Advance!

This is kind of biased. Everyone knows that artificials need to be twitched, jigged, and not stationary the whole time! In order for this info to be accurate, how about someone actually be put there to jig for 2 hours?

And thanks leechman for the insight!

I would say its close to a 30 degree jig instead of a 45 degree diagonal one. The head always points downwards, until your bait lies completely on the bottom. The feathers give some action, but the rest of the body is hard and looks pretty stiff in the water. When jigged, the tail flutters a little bit and thats about it. I guess I will try it for about 15 minutes this weekend, and I'll tell you my results with it. It's my first year ice fishing, and my second time this weekend..so I have a ton of baits to try, and find myself a favourite one real quick

I would like to know the answer to that too! I bought a couple of them, but they never saw the ice last week. My initial thoughts to it was that they were going to be decent, but once they came out of the package I noticed one of the hooks were dull to begin with. And after tests in the bathtub, I've come to a conclusion that they should be ok..and I would tip it with a maggot or something. To be honest though, there's a whole bunch of other stuff I would like to try before that actually will make it onto my line though

Awesome report, thanks for sharing! I love the colours on the last picture you have! By the way, I was wondering what you did do to install your strike indicator. I see two pieces of foam(?) attaching it? And where did you get it?