Dabluz

I'm sure your auger is not sharp enough. The blades should be so sharp that they really dig in without any weight on top of the auger. They should just not scrap but really shave the ice in a very positive way without the least bit of slip. Slip is often caused by not keeping the auger straight up and the blades flat on the ice but if there is any slip when you are doing it right....the blades are not sharp enough. The biggest mistake I see is the fact that when guys are holding their augers, they bump them upright on the ice. This immediately takes away the angle of the cut. The very sharp part of the blade is extremely thin and will bend at the least bump on anything. I sharpen my blades with whetstones. One pair is about 30 years old and the other pair about 20 years old. I've seen some commercial blade sharpeners with carbon sharpeners and I may even try one of these sharpeners one day because the whetstone job is long. I sharpen my blades after every outing. One pair of blades have a few tiny nicks in them.....came from lending my auger to someone who wanted to drill the bottom of the lake. He was drilling too close to shore where there was about 1 foot of water. I sharpen only one side of the blade and I carefully remove the curf by laying the blade flat on a very hard fine stone. When the ice is thick, everyonce in a while, pull out the auger because too much shaved ice in the hole puts too much weight on the blades. Never try to re-open a hole with the auger. Use a spud (ice chisel) for that.

Very recent studies are showing that few smokers develop alzheimer's.

Very recent studies are showing that few smokers develop alzheimer's.

I like vintage sleds, ATVs and motorcycles. My sled is an 88 Safari 503 long track. My ATV is an 89 Yamaha Big Bear. My motorcycle is an 83 Yamaha Virago 920 cc. Nobody want's to steal them and insurance is very very low.

All the reasons above plus the fact that I invite women to my ice hut too.....but don't tell my wife.

120 mph....wow....are you sure???? Yes....in soft snow....2 feet of soft snow...no problem for an ATV. It's when it starts to get warm....just above freezing that things start to get hairy. Now back to 120 mph. A buddy of mine just loves to run at 100 mph and take photos of his speedometer with a fast Polaris snowmobile but he couldn't quite get 100 mph on a lake covered with 15 inches of soft snow. If an 800 bombi is a Bombardier....isn't the speedometer in km/h?? Does Yamaha make a 450 cc ATV?

I guess I should have known that they do exist. Like I said earlier, I'm an old guy and I know more about older snowmobiles. My snowmobile does not have a heat exchanger....whatever that does nor do I need things scratchers because there is always lots of snow here. The only machines that have studs are the ones that the tourists bring from the "states". My machine doesn't have fancy stuff like electric start or reverse. My machine hardly has any steering when I'm on icy trails nor does it have carbide thingys under the skis. Yet, a lot of guys on their fancy machines have trouble following me on small twisty trails. I rarely get to sit square on the seat for very long....lol.

I have a different way of making the abdomen of stonefly nymphs. I take a large feather...any large wing or tail feather will do. I remove all the plumes from the stem of the feather and then soak the stem in warm water for an hour. Then, I cut a slight nick near the thin edge of the face of the stem and slowly peel off the surface of the stem. This makes a ribbon that gradually gets larger from one end to the other. I apply the ribbon to an already dubbed abdoment on the fly starting at the tail with the narrowest end of the ribbon. I tie each turn close to the previous turn until I get to the thorax of the fly. This makes an extremely impressive segmented thorax with a slight fuzz that escapes between the rolls of stem feather covering. Wing feathers from crows make a beautiful black abdomen while wing feathers from turkeys make a great mottled brown tapered abdomen.

I have a trick for you to try. Add a screw or two to the rear end of each ski. The screws must be long enough to scratch the ice and throw up ice particles to lubricate your slides and maybe the heat exchanger.

Well....my music has to be varied....Unagadadavida by Iron Butterfly, then some Santana, then some old swing tunes from the 40's, followed by Frank Sinatra and then some Buck Owens or Roy Orbison or Johnny Cash, then some Big Mama Thornton, then some Black Sabbath, then a french Canadian blues from Nanette Workman or Pagliaro or Jerry Boulet, then some Fine Young Cannibals followed by Ray Charles and throughout all of this, some Clapton, SRV, Pink Floyd, Ronnie Earl, Buddy Guy and a lot of blues music with lots of harmonica. Anyway....with only 1000 tunes....I still don't have enough. If you can find "Rollin' and Crumblin'".... a tune from one of Tarantino's movies....it's a great waker upper. A heavy metal tune with harmonica.

I liberally apply salt all over the minnows....lots of pickling salt. I place them on a large flat plastic tray in such a way that they don't touch each other and freeze them in the freezer. 30 minutes later, I put them into plastic bags, add a bit more salt and put them in the freezer downstairs. They never stick together. I have tried salted smelt against non salted smelt and it seems to me that the non-salted smelt produce more fish.

I live about 3 hours north of Quebec City and on the fishing forums from around Quebec City, not many go for tommy cod. It's quite expensive. I would go there only for a couple of hours with the kids. There are lots of places on the St-Lawrence for walleye, pike, perch etc. Go to this forum: It's a french speaking forum but I'm sure that you will get some great answers from the guys I know. I'm almost certain that you will even get invitations to go fishing with some of the guys. You will have to join the forum to post a question but that's easy to do. My name on the forum is "Phern". If you want translation help, I will be looking out for your questions and I will translate. http://www.pecheenville.com/Forum/index.php

I have both and the ATV would be more advantageous due to the fact that it can be used all year round. If you want both, spend more money on the ATV because there are a lot of cheap old sleds that you can use for ice fishing . On the ice, any sled will go. There is never enough snow to stop any snowmobile and rarely too much snow to stop an ATV.

I bought my 88 Safari 503 Long Track for 500 dollars at an auction. I knew nothing about snowmobiles but I quickly had to learn. The machine did run when I bought it but that did not last long. The chaincase litterly blew up on me in -35 weather. (for those of you who are not familiar with celsius or farenheit, -40 C and -40 F are the same thing). This is when I decided to take the snowmobile apart and this is where I found out that there were other things to repair....mostly on the suspension. I also decided to do it myself. I did most of the work from photocopying the parts diagrams at the nearby Bombardier dealer and then I bought a Chilton's book at Canadian Tire. I replaced a lot of bearings and instead of buying them from the snowmobile shop, I bought them at an industrial store that sells bearings. Saved quite a bit doing that. It took a while and it was a good learning experience. New chaincase, new chain, new bearings on each end of the main shaft, new springs, some new roller wheels, new slides, very wide plastic skins on the skis, rod ends for the steering, suspension adjustements, track adjustements, new speedometer cable and adapter that goes on the end of the shaft, a bit of electrical work, etc etc. Wow....huge difference. No longer bottoming out when 2 up riding on trails. Eventually, I put on a new track and there was a huge difference in traction. Now, I can go over the machine part by part, grease it good and if anything is about to break, I can spot it. The machine won't go over 80 km/h unless I'm going downhill on a trail but for off trail....you don't go 80 km/h. I'm not much for cruising just for cruising's sake and I don't like to spend my time at the drinking posts....I use my machine for getting somewhere (cottage or fishing) and then going off trail with a bunch of friends and try to get stuck or to help someone collect wood. We are only able to make about 30 km in an afternoon but that's what I find to be the best fun. Riding at night is what I like the best.

I do a lot of offtrail riding. Been doing it for many years. I bought a trail pass only for 1 year, a long way back and didn't like it. To scary to ride the trails. The newer machines are just too fancy and heavy....anyway....I don't have much experience with the recent machines but you did say that you were looking for a used snowmobile. First thing....stay away from those so called mountain machines. They are made for mountains but not for deep snow....I used a Summit for a couple of days and hated it. If you are not worried about speed, a Toundra is the best. Economical, light and goes anywhere. If it's for towing and 2 up riding, you will have to go with a Skandic Wide Track and a 2 stroke engine. Finding a used one is very difficult. I have a 1988 Safari Long Track. It was built the only year that Bombardier did not build a Skandic. It does not have electric start, no reverse, no heated tunnel and a 503 stroke engine with only 1 carb. It's light. I'm old and I can still lift the front end off the ground. It has a huge windscreen and the only things heated are the grips. It could have a wider stance and the widest skins I could find do help a lot but it will go between trees. The suspension does not have much travel but in deep snow....you don't need suspension. The biggest thing is the fact that it does not freeze up and will start no matter how cold it is. Ok, when it is cold, you have to pull twice. It has a primer but no choke. The track is 144 inches by 16 1/2 inches. You will have a hard time finding a used one. I have to admit that adding a person behind me does make things more difficult. If you are really lucky, you may find a Nordic with a 24 inch track. They are also made by Bombardier but are rare. Also has a 503, 2 stroke engine. I've never been on one but I have heard that nothing can beat this machine in very deep soft snow. The Yamaha VK are heavy and so is the Polaris and the Bearcat. The carbs on the Polaris machines always freeze up. You have to pour boiling water on them in order to start when it's very cold. There are a few tricks when riding in deep soft snow and the most important one is to circle around and come back into your track before stopping your machine. Then, take it easy on the gas when leaving your spot. I have a big solid bumper on my machine and I have added an electric winch to it. I used to use a manual winch. There is always a bucksaw, an axe, nails, wire, rope, a pair of snowshoes, a shovel, a one burner naphtha stove strapped or stowed on my machine. I often go alone because no one wants to follow me....lol. I use the machine mostly for going to remote places for fishing.

For me it's blues music....From Albert King and BB King to Stevie Ray Vaughn and ZZ Top. Ok....it's not always smooth blues, there's lots of southern rock and blues mingled with jazz or swing but then when I want it to be a bit smoother, I choose Ronnie Earl and the Broadcasters. I guess I have about 50 of their tunes. I have about 1000 tunes on my computer and every now and then, I change the tunes in my MP3. I play the MP3 through the stereo system of my vehicule. I have classed most of my tunes into different catégories (slow, fast, etc), old rock, early metal, and there are a bunch of tunes classed by what key they are in because I often play harmonica along with the tunes and I don't have to change harmonicas or search for the right harmonica for certain tunes.

I've got a really old pair of snowshoes....they look hand made. Very light and the webbing is close and fine....like the homemade ones that the natives make. But....they are quite old and probably fragile. They have a large hole for the toe of my huge snow boots.

What are the best snowshoes for really deep soft snow. I mean snow so soft that when you step off your snowmobile, you sink almost to your waist. We get quite a bit of snow where I live but less than the regions closer to the St-Lawrence. However, it never gets warm enough for the snow to get hard. Without snowshoes, it's trundging along in snow up to your crotch all winter. I've always liked my traditional snowshoes because the snow does not accumulate on them but the hole where the toe of the boot must pass through is too small. I have to wear huge snowmobile size 12 boots to stay warm.

Well....first off....I wouldn't target bass and then muskie with the same rod and reel. You usually don't want to use a fast action rod for crank baits. You want a little bit more "give" so the hooks don't rip out of the fish's mouth. I have always loved very fast action rods but I have to admit that the slightly slower action has improved the number of fish captured. Since you will be fishing from shore, how about an 8 foot rod. I use a Berkley Series One (salmon-steelhead) rod for cranking from shore. Use one of those Shimano Citica 200E. I don't have the budget for one so I use a Procaster Z H103 or a Procaster X H103.

Making good coffee in the bush is a big part of the outdoor experience for me. I even bring along a one burner Coleman naphtha stove, and a percolator when I go ice fishing. The morning coffee is the most important one. I take it black and it has to taste good. I grind my coffee before leaving home though but I bring lots and I make it quite strong. A clean percolator is best but I have just added coffee grinds to boiling water and let the grinds fall to the bottom. In the evening, I may add some Cheminaud brandy. No Starbucks in my region so I will stay away from instant coffee for a while yet.

Thanks for the heads up. I'm familiar with old engines. Yes...I do mean letting the motor idle until it runs out of gas. I was just talking to a buddy and he just bought a 2 h.p. Jiffy auger and is disappointed. It is harder to start than the Eskimo. It also has much more plastic and only a single blade. He regrets not buying an Eskimo. I'll have to get a close look at the carb setup on these newer machines. I still use an 8 inch manual auger....I like the exercise. More often than not, I just use a homemade ice ice chisel (spud) when I want to make holes. It may not be as fast but it keeps me moving and warm when it's very cold...lol. I'm old, diabetic, heart problems, wearing a pace maker/defibrillator and I still prefer to remove snow from my 10 car sized driveway manually and cut my ice manually. I also do some icefishing in remote lakes so snowshoeing 1/2 to 1 mile with a gas auger is not much fun. I even made a spud that I can attach to a small tree trimmed of it's branches and not having to tow a sled behind me.

Wow....a Tectan user. I love that mono too. Quite expensive because I have to order it from Europe or the U.S. I have been using 3 lb Tectan Premium for brook trout fishing in the summer....haven't used it for winter fishing yet and it is very fine. It may not be as strong as other 3 lb test monos but it is finer (feels and looks like 2 lb mono) thus this means that the company does not sell you 3 lb line that is the size of 4 or 5 lb test line and say that it's super tough. Stren does that. They sell 8 lb mono that is the same size as the 10 lb mono other companies make and then claim it's the strongest mono on the market. I would like to use Stren Original Clear mono but it is an inconsistent line....the diameter and strength varies throughout it's length. That's why it is not expensive.

Wow....nice tip downs. It's more fun making our own anyway and better quality than the tip downs sold in stores. I use tip downs often. I make them longer because with the lead weight on bottom and the tides, I don't have to adjust them every couple of minutes. Since I often fish in 150 to 350 feet of water, I attache 3 sets of hooks with bait at about 30 feet intervals. One almost right on bottom and 2 other bait sets at 30 feet from bottom and 60 feet from bottom. This is for salt water species in the Saguenay River which dumps into the St-Laurence about 75 miles down stream. For smelt and brook trout in the shallow water, I use small ice rod and reel and sometimes another lighter tip down.

Great answer by MJL. For steelhead and salmon and pike, I would definately go with a 9 weight rod. This way, you can get a 7 weight rod for trout and then a 5 weight for stream fishing. This will mean that you have a good "spread" of rod weights. Yes....you can vary the weight of your line a bit in order to fish specific conditions. With those 3 rods, you could play with just about any weight of line.

I hate fluorocarbon of any sort. All of the independant tests on the internet say that it is just as elastic as most monos, is not more abrasion resistant than most other monos and it sure has terrible knot strength and shock resistance. It's also stiffer than most other monos. If I'm just using some whippy branches that I cut on the way to some distant lakes for walleye and pike, I use rather large mono (15 to 20 lbs) and a finer leader of mono for the walleye or 12 lb 54 strand steel leader material that is about the size of 4 lb mono (expensive stuff) for pike. I use the large main line because it is a hand line. For cod, flounder, halibut in 300 to 600 feet of water many years ago, I used to use 100 lb test mono as a hand line because of the stretch factor. With a large trolling reel and rod, I use 30 lb test braid now. For places where there are just walleye and I'm using a rod and reel, I use 6 lb good quality mono ...like Sensithin (no longer exists). Ice line....that dark blue mono ice line....plain junk. It may be ok where it's -20 or -30 but the water is nowhere near that temperature. It's way too elastic and soft. It even is thicker than ordinary mono of the same lb test. Fluorocarbon and co-polymer lines....have always disappointed me. I tried 25 and 15lb test fluorocarbon leader material (Vanish and Seaguar) and it was terrible. Luckily, I had won those spools in a contest so I did not waste any money. However, I'm glad when I see fishermen using fluorocarbon line....it means more fish for me. Sure...ice builds up on the line. If the line is old....the build up is worse. New slick lines have less build up. In any event, it takes a second to push it down the line into the hole where it softens up. Ice on the rod tip is another problem. I prefer using the thin titanium rod tips but I don't mind removing the ice on the rod tips....it's part of icefishing. It only happens when you reel in fish and you let the water freeze up.