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I should get a GPS.. Actually, I do have a really old eTrek, but it is for trails mostly, and has no maps, just looks like an etch-a-sketch with a couple icons here and there. I guess I could make limited use of it, but with Christmas coming I'd be interested in inexpensive suggestions..

If that's a joke, it's hilarious. If it's not, it's retarded. Happy Halloween, and Merry Christmas, everybody!

Yeah, I use the Voltaeus, and I love it. But I haven't used many other rods. All I can tell you is that it's a far, far better rod than the Ugly Stiks I've used.

One for every lure!!! They should label them with the lure they're meant for - oh wait, they do.

Nice pike! I know of at least one stocked rainbow lake near me, and rainbows are open all year in our zone.

Yep, it's a good idea to keep the other spool filled with something. My spare spool arrived from Shimano yesterday, and I'll be loading it up with my main line, probably I'll try 12-15lb SpiderWire Stealth Braid in moss green, as GBW suggested. On my other spool I have 4lb P-Line for when I go after trout. As a side note, that 4lb stuff sure casts far, even with nothing but a go-getter and piece of worm on the end. It took me a while to get used to the distance.

You WIN nothing!

I want that and I have no clue about how to use it. It just looks like something I need.

Brooklin is pretty far away.. I can get to North Bay... and plan to!

Hey, those look pretty nice! I happen to know of a decent walleye lake about half-way between you and me. Now, I never tried it in the winter, and I'm not real sure how accessible it'll be with all the snow, but if you ever wanted to give it a shot, let me know...

haha, Craig. That makes me think of the recent episode of The Office, when that one chick who I forget her name now had a big fish of some kind that she bought at the store, hidden in the lake on the end of her fishing line. Oh yeah, I meant to ask in my original post - why do the steelhead and rainbow trout filets look and taste the same, but the steelhead is cheaper? lol

Yeah, that's good advice, and considering I don't own anything, not an auger, not winter clothing, no float suit, no sled, not even a long drill bit (though I do own a bag of potatoes - Sinclair will have to give me more details on how to use these for safety purposes), I'll probably have no choice but to go with someone who has at least some of that stuff. I know a few people who have plans to take me out on the ice, and my cousin and best friend both have ice fished and are interested too. I'm not sure if I'll find an actual ice fishing pro around me, but I definitely don't plan to go alone yet.

Thanks for the useful replies. And what the hey, thanks for the useless ones, too.

I haven't ever really bought much fish in my life, but like the actual sport, I've made it more a part of my diet than ever before this year. Especially until the ice is a good 8" thick, I'm gonna want to be picking some up at the store occasionally. So, I have a few questions about the fish filets available at the grocery stores. First, if I have caught and kept my limit of a species, say walleye, can I legally buy another filet at the store? It's not an important issue really, I was just curious how that works. The second question partnered with that is, can I buy more than a catch/possess limit? Not because I want to stack it in my freezer, again, I'm just curious (and hey, if a good sale goes on, I might buy a bit extra). Another question: maybe I don't understand what steelhead is, but I thought it was just a name for rainbow trout (as in, the SAME species) that trek to the ocean and return to freshwater? How can they be selling "farmed steelhead" right beside "farmed rainbow trout"? And why does the the steelhead cost less? Marketing gimmick or am I really missing something here?

Maybe he was trying to impress you.

The problem I see with measuring ice thickness is that if it's too thin, it's probably gonna be too late. I will probably play it very safe and wait for the cars to get on the ice first, and then I'll go. Haha, thanks. You might like , then.

I know this isn't the same thing, but I was fishing with two other people on an unnamed river bank, and some idiot comes along on his parents' Seadoo and starts ripping past us as fast as he can, over and over, and waves are splashing onto our feet, etc. He had the entire river, and this moron comes over to us, where there are signs up that state he shouldn't even be there! He had a smug look on his face, and I wanted to rip it off... Unfortunately he was just out of casting distance, and even my heaviest Williams spoon fell just short of hooking into his PFD. Eventually the kid's dad, who was standing on the opposite side of the river, watching, tells him to not go near us anymore because "there are people fishing there." Gee, REALLY? As for your situation, that's a tough one. I don't think I'd ever have to worry about it, heh. It's rare I see others fishing even close to where I am, and I'm not pulling much up anyhow (maybe that's why there's nobody else around).

Free rug - some disassembly required.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ykmQ13ZFMcA

Awesome!

I need a sled too?! I'll never afford this! (the fat part. lost over 30lbs so far this year.. not sure exactly how much because my scale just said ERR2 when I'd stand on it, so I really don't know where I started, just when my weight started showing back up on the screen.. lol.)

Nah, not afraid - I welcome it. I tried it before and really didn't like it, but things are different now. Tastes change. I'm older, married, more mature, I like asparagus (still don't like brussels sprouts though), so maybe it'll be something I enjoy now. If it can help feed my fishing addiction through the miserable months, then I'm DTF (down to fish) in the winter. Of course, being so fat I worry about the ice breaking, but I'm slowly working on that.

I love how nobody voted in the poll that they only fish on ice. Might be a reason for that! In all seriousness, I'm really looking forward to trying it out again. I wish I had a snowmobile though, so I could get to some lakes I want to try where there are likely no roads plowed (they don't maintain them in the summer, so I doubt winter will be any different). It'll be a long time before I can afford that, since I don't even own winter boots. I'm starting basically from scratch here. The only ice fishing gear I already own is hooks, and even those are probably a special summer-only kind. I was thinking that exact thought. I really gotta get my hands on one or two of them. Guess I'll start with a trip to the dump.