Cruizin for Fish

Fellas - Do you feel it's worth covering your ATV with a trailering cover (say a Dowco heavy duty trailering cover) for our high salt roads, or does potential machine damage outweigh the need? Typically trailering 200-300 miles per trip, 4 trips per winter. Secondly - Diamond shape studded chains or diamond shape not studded chains for pulling 750 lb house during low snow conditions on the ice?

You may want to consider making one out of the canvas materials the manufacturers use. I have done this in the past to save some coin, but as others have mentioned - now I go with the manufacturers. I would steer clear of the tarp material for it will not last long - if prototype is a must - go with canvas. Cruizin

Frank's post hit it on the head - for bitter temps - the sno suit will not let you down. By far the warmest suit I have owned. Cruizin

I have had the same situation in the past and so far have not struck out when I changed my bait to be tipped with a eurolarvae (red, white, orange, green) or with a little atom wedgie. They tend to wiggle more than other baits and the slabs really seem to like them. Like Deitz said - be sure to stay above the fish and get them to chase it up. Sometimes you can lietrally get them to chase for 10 feet or more and agressive tactics sometimes are the trick. If they seem interested at all just get more agressive with the bait leaving and they often strike then. Cruizin

My father was up recently and I took him out fishing musky - caught (3) 40+ inchers and he was thrilled. The man that has everything likely does not have everything up to date - maybe consider replacing something he uses a lot that is out of date that today is significantly better than what he has. I find myself replacing many items as time goes on so I can keep up with technological advances and be on the cutting edge of (hunting and fishing in my case). Some good examples would be a new scope, new top notch flashlight, custom built thorne brothers rod, engraved item (watch, fly box, compass, etc). Then you could always give him a nice photograph of the two of you with a note on the back telling date, other information for him to remember that special time you shared. I have found that as my father has aged (70 today) he holds on to the memories more than material items. Art - wildlife photograph or print - many can be found online or at DU, whitetails unlimited banquets, etc. Hope this helps !

Assassin - I think you hit it on the head with "cant replace the memories" - that does make it a little easier. Amazing how it happened so fast though - ploop (there goes the GPS), splash (then my arm), _ _ _ _ (the slow motion words uttered by Ralphie in A Christmas Story when he accidentally hit his fathers hubcap full of lug nuts). Jman - I did look for about an hour with the camera but it was very difficult to see anything in the murky water and the only thing I figure could be snagged was a little rubber piece that covers the computer attachment. Certainly it would not fall straight either - my luck - it landed 20 feet away and stuck in the sediment enough that even a diver could not find it. P.S. I do have the precice coordinates and could find the exact hole I was in when my heart sank on Sunday! Not being a diver and figuring it would not be worth any additional effort I already have the replacement being shipped today. Cruizin

Deadhead - Your tether idea has already gone through the numb skull - maybe fasten the dead end to my neck since I know it would be tough to squeeze me through an 8" hole! Attitude - good call on testing it in a much safer and shallower environment - looks like my kids get to have some fun in the tub with my new GPS! Believe me - the new one will be fastened at my hip and coated with 6" of foam for floatation. Dietz - I hear ya on the new unit and new chip - guess I will get 80 more lakes to view contours for now! I think your all right - maybe for numerous 16" - 17" + but not for the 12" - 13" I managed. Cruizin

I had a 'Red Lake during the hayday' day on slabs this past weekend, however, as I was reeling up one of the numerous 12"+ slabs, I tipped over to pull one out of the hole and poof my new GPS with the 2007 chip landed directly in the center of the hole. I slammed my hand down the hole as fast as I could but only managed to touch it before I watched it plummet out of sight. I found out my GPS sank like a heavy lead weight. At the time it was as fast as you could get the bait down, bam, hooked another one. For some reason, I was not having as much fun after that. I looked with the camera all over, but no luck. What do you guys think - would it be worth your best day of catch and release on slabs only to find out you lost your $400 GPS unit down the hole? I am undecided and have already placed an order for a new one - OUCH ! Cruizin

Sloppy - In my experience - the manufactured homes have limitations on size - they could not build the size house we wanted to be placed on our 40 acres. I hear the value of the home is reduced due to it being manufactured. I do have relatives with one (built 2005) and so far they like it. I know with the transport you do end upwith damage but the manufactured builder generally will take care of damages. Just something about a house being transported, shifted, rocked, bounced, moved that tends to make me feel the luster is lost. The companies will do all they can to convince you they are not a problem. I built mine with insulated concrete forms (ICF) to the roof line - if you are familiar with legos - you could do it too. Overall I am glad ours is ICF and interior stick built. Cruizin

Zelek - Please respond to my email and I can get you some answers. jkorienek@nrecomapny.com Cruizin

I built my house with Insulated concrete forms (ICF) from the basement to the roof line. Additionally, I used spray foam in the ceiling and in the sauna and in a few other rooms. Those products are fabulous. As mentioned earlier - sound reduction is great, coverage is superior to fiberglass, mold cannot grow on the surface since there is nothing to keep the mold growing. I am an environmental engineer and wanted to build as safe of a house as I could. I turned my basement heat on for the first time in 3 years a few weeks ago when the temperatures dropped below 30 below - the basement dropped to 65 so I turned it up to get back to its typical 70-72 year round regardless of the outside temperature. I am sure the ICF has a lot to do with it but the spray foam in the ceilings certainly prevents air movement and reduces heating costs. I would do nothing different if I built again. If anything - I would use more spray foam. I did a lot of research at the Minneapolis home show - there were several distributors there and I picked their brains and read lots of literature before I decided to go with the spray foam. When I built, the cost was not triple the cost of fiberglass - more around 1.5Xs to double. Keep in mind that during the application process (especially for ceilings) it is incredibly difficult for the contractor to evenly apply the liquid (that ultimately turns into foam) and therefore, you end up with a number of areas where the insulation is significantly different in thickness than in other areas. Since it is difficult to control the amount of liquid that comes out - you simply ask for less to be applied (in the ceiling that is) say 3" instead of 6". What will end up happening is you will have anywhere from 6 to 15 inches in the ceiling - remember that a seconds hesitation on the spray gun means several additional inches at that location - the expansion is incredible. By doing it this way you pay for 3" application and get 6 to 15 inches instead of paying quite a bit more for 6" application and get 9 to 15 inches. I love it - can you tell. Cruiz

Guys - thanks for all the suggestions - there was no snow or slush - it was just 18" of rock hard ice. I will try the pam and I definately will test the icing up theory by cutting several holes without breaking through. Thanks again. Cruizin

I will check next time I am out - this happened on Sunday when the temperature in Duluth area was close to 0. If it is the blades getting iced up - what is the best solution for getting the ice off?

Have any of you had this happen before? My Nilsmaster has been cutting phenominally on the first hole I drill then every hole after that it just will not catch and dig down. I never push down on it but end up reducing the speed and then sometimes it catches and digs the way it should other times it looses its grip once it catches. The weird thing is that if I let the auger sit for 5 minutes or more - the first hole I cut goes down incredibly fast again - then on the remaining holes it just spins and does not catch. I would say I have drilled 1200 to 1500 holes and have not had it sharpened yet - I assume that is the problem - but why does it cut so good only on the first hole of each drilling session - are the blades getting iced up?

Guess I am in basscatchers boat - no way would I trade the money for no fishing - I am certainly one of those guys that lives for fishing and hunting but not having one or the ohter would be tragic. Fishing and hunting are the few places I truly can relax and just enjoy myself - no worries - just anticipation as to what might be on the line next or what may walk out from around the bend. If you really love it - and I do - you could not give it up. Sure can be fun to think about having lots of money and what you would do with it but I would rather just work hard and play harder. Cruizin

Maybe this is well known - maybe not - so I will mention it anyhow - keep in mind that mice travel along edges so if you go with traps - set them right up against the edges of the room, structure, garage, etc. and you will have good success. Cruizin

Well - I can say I have some recent experience with this. Them little buggers were getting into our new vehicle so I set traps and BAM had 4 mice in 5 traps. So I decided to get a few more traps to see how many there were. I kid you not - we have caught 65 mice outside our house in the past 2 months - quite a few in the beginning now they have tapered off. What I use is a trap called Snap-E and it seems to work very well - the reason is the bar that holds the mice is 50% closer to where it ultimately ends up when tripped (i.e. when you look at a set trap there are 2 bars rather than the typical 1 bar you see - for the 2 bars - one is pointing towards the sky while the other is setting the trap). Why has this been so effective - simply stated - IT RARELY MISSES - it only has half the distance to travel than what a standard trap has - so as far as traps go - my vote goes to the Snap-E brand trap - I just put peanut butter in it then every morning empty them little dudes out of the trap (they also have a plastic coating on the bar so the mouse does not stick on the bar - we all have witnessed that!) On another note - I feel that is the best trap, however I have always been interested in the 5 gallon bucket trap as mentioned earlier - I know some guys that have done that with great success - I have not tried it but I hear it really catches mice quickly and obvioulsy there would not be great expense with that set-up. Cruizin

Interesting - I did not know about their reviews - believe me, trying the outfit on is the only way to go - I could not believe it when I first put my hands on it - very well designed, functional, definately built with many hunters input taken into consideration. I have spent my hunting career in sub-par gear and like blackjack mentioned when they last 25 years it is not such a bad investment. My new gear makes me wonder what took me so long to purchase such good quality! Cruizin

Thought I would provide an opinion of my new Stand Hunter Extreme clothing from Cabelas. I headed to the Owatanna Cabelas in search of extremely warm and comfortable hunting clothing. I tried on every jacket in the store and when I put the Stand Hunter Extreme on - it felt like finally finding the vehicle you have been looking for - you just know. It was incredibly soft, quiet, and comfortable. Luckily I had built up my Cabelas Club points from the Cabelas Visa Club Card and spent little cash on it. I followed it up a month later with the bibs. Well - I tried them out this past hunting season and let me tell you - INCREDIBLE ! I have never been so comfortable and warm as I was this year. It comes with an attached hand muff that has space for hand warmers - man have I missed out all these years by not having the hand muff. During the season, it rained, snowed, was windy, and at times cold - the suit weathered it all. It is definately for stand hunting - it is quite heavy and you can get very hot within a short period of walking. So - I give the Cabelas Stand Hunter Extreme an A+. It is quite spendy but by far the best outfit I have had in over 20 years of hunting the majestic whitetail. Cruizin

Boys - thanks so much for looking into this for me. The heater body suit does ring a bell - I will certainly look into that. As far as stand hunting - that is virtually all I do so it appears it may fit me well. I will be adding a post sometime about Cabelas Stand Hunter Extreme clothing that I purchased a few months ago that worked quite well also.

I will third the Nikon products - I have several pair of binoculars, spotting scopes, scopes, and range finders - all Nikon - all have been flawless so far.

I can agree that Tred certainly has the opinion of many and his shows do show the struggles that us average hunters encounter. I have always liked Eastmans - they are all fair chase and they really seem to stress that on their show. However, they do seem to cath an unreal number of brutes on camera - likely because they and all their scouters have found the animals first. It would be very interesting to see a show where these 'professionals' compete in a real life hunt outside the fences where they have to use their experience alone to find the best buck they could on property typically hunted by us average guys. The thing that also gets me on the outdoor channels is the other shows that have nothing to do with hunting or fishing. Cruizin

Guess I should have mentioned that it is not very apparent when reading the article. However, it is in there - I only have memory to go from but from what I remember he rather nonchalantly mentions he would not be there (Saskatchewan) without his _ (suit or outfit or clothing). Hopefully you can find it.

Hello - Just found out that someone tossed my November issue of Outdoor Life. There was an article in there that I read called 'The Waiting' about hunting brutes in Saskatchewan. I was wondering if any of you have that issue and could take a read of it and tell me what hunting outfit the author mentions he would not be left without in the cold conditions of Saskatchewan. I have been trying to remember what the name of the suit (obviously extremely warm) was but I just cannot recall. They no longer have this issue at the stand, and so far, Outdoor Life Customer Service has not been able to help me. I want to track this down before it gets too old. I would like to look into the suit to see if it appears as warm as he mentions. Note - it was not a brand name item - I had never heard of it. Thanks! Cruizin

Great! - I have never been to Shorewood but I know Chanhassen and Minnetonka are close and I have been there so I am sure I will be able to find it - thanks again.