JBrobeck

IE8 I use most frequently.

Yes, if I use the zoom feature, and I zoom out to 91%, the page fits perfectly, all 3 columns, like I said before, not a big deal just annoying, when I am on other web forums/sites I then have to reset the zoom to 100% otherwise it doesnt fill the page. Odd....

1024x768 is the screen resolution setting, this is the highest setting available in my display setting.

This is on my desktop. Its not that the bulletin board doesnt fit, but the right hand column. This would not be a big deal to me but the search bar and new posts list is on the right hand column and the right hand column is cut just about in half, and then obviously the right hand side of the main HSOforum header as well. Only thing I can come up with is that my laptop is not a wide screen and that the HSO page is formated in the wide screen format but I just assumed that the browser would compensate. No other bulletin boards I frequent have this issue, (well for that matter no other forum I frequent has ~7,000,000 advertisements on it like this one does either!)

I have tried in IE and firefox, and unless I use the zoom out feature, the HSO HSOforum does not fully fit in my browser screen and its really annoying to have to use the scroll bar, or zoom out everytime I use this site? are there any forum settings that I am missing to solve this problem? Thanks Josh

I was out on clear lake today, just south of Forest lake, (my in-laws live on the lake) and I walked out 20 yards or so from the north shore, nice solid 1.5-2" of ice, chipped a couple of holes with my spud bar to check thikness and it was pretty consistant at 1.75" or so, I figure to be fishing on it by Friday without problems.

I am assuming you are talking about a power post hole digger? If so, you could just buy a new auger assembly from another brand and retrofit it to the power head. Josh

What Kind of work do you need done? Just not running right or what?

HOLY BALLS BATMAN!!!! Gander mountain in Forest lake has the Jiffy Mille Lacs chisel for $29

+1 for the Jiffy Bar, it works wonders, I just bought one this year and I can confidently say that I will be using it until the ice is 6"+ I don't need to drag my gas auger out on early ice (don't own a hand auger, prolly never will!) And the spud bar is an awsome tool for checking the ice thikness in a hurry. Josh

Yes, whole lake is frozen over, I ventured out about 1/4 the way between the bull rushes and the island, I really wanted to get out to the basin, but Had nobody with me. I'd love to get out there with another person and a rope and just take the spud bar for a walk. The ice was very consistant at 3.5"-4" and would immagine it should be all the way to the island, however there is often thinner ice at the southeast tip of the island, so its really hard to judge the status of that area.

Well, I am please to say that tonight was my first night of the season on Bald Eagle lake, I went out from the boat launch, there were about 8 other people out on the lake, I had no less than 4" of ice from the launce to the bull rushes, I finally set up about 100 yards west of the bull rushes and was in about 3.5-4.0 inches of ice still. I had my eskimo quick flip 3, lantern, spud bar, vex, and rods/gear with me (probabaly bout 150lbs) and was totally confident in the ice. It was nice to finally be out on the ice! I did manage to forget my spare propane tank and had to hoof it back to the launch to get my spare (moonlight just wasn't quite cutting it I was fishing in 15 ft of water with a small genz worm and a crappie minnow hooked through the back, managed 4 walleye (3 under 10" and one just over 13") Other than that, no action, I was very happy considering I only stayed out for about 2.5 hours and it was my first time out this year. Looks like we may have some good ice this year, (bout darn time!) Later Josh

I use the Frabil arctic fire tipups (thick yellow plastic ones) they are much more durable than the standard black polar tipups, and still very inexpensive, the beaver dam and other wood base tipups are nice and store well, but can be a bit more spendy and bulky/heavy. I Too am a believer of the black foam hole covers, they work awesome. I like having a few (always carry 4 with me) set up with different leader/hook combos, my gear bag will hold 4 tipups and 4 rods, but would not accomodate the round tipups, so, ive never used the round ones. Josh

Interesting to hear of this problem, When I was looking at these in the store, I kind of wondered how sturdy they would be, I LOVE the bech seat in my Eskimo quick flip, but it mounts differently and is VERY sturdy, I was actually looking to get the guide, guess I'll stick with what I've got for this season and see what comes of it. Josh

I've got a 3hp 10" jiffy, I really like the machine, its a bit heavy, but it just plain works, EVERYTIME. I've had a Mag2000 and never had any problems with it, but I sold it to a friend and got the Jiffy. I have always wanted to try out the 4 strokers but I'm not real carefull with my equipment, and if they aren't layed the right way, or get bounced around a lot, you can see oil leaks and get oil into the cylinder (rare) With a good 75:1 or even 100:1 synthetic oil mix, the 2 strokes are really clean burning and are typically faster. I've heard great things about Nills, but have yet to see one on the ice so I can't say first hand. Just get whatever tickles your fancy, they all run well if you take care of them. Josh

So they are actually colored waxies? Is the glow powder just a coating on the waxie or is it something that it has ingested like the colored larvae? If its a coating, does it last once it hits the water (and does it actually glow)? Sorry to hijack the post, but I am very curious about these. I use eurolarvae when its a finiky bite, but its nice to have a tin of waxies around too when the bit is a bit stronger (I believe it helps weed out the smaller fish) Thanks Josh

They are likely colored Eurolarvae, are they a bit smaller than waxies? I have been using the colored Eurolarvae all season, I do believe that it has helped me, as there is a definate difference in bite on different colors, same as jigs. My only gripe about the Eurolarvae is that I can't seem to keep the buggers alive, waxies I used to just keep in a cool place in my home, I have only recently read that you must keep the eurolarvae around 35* HTH Josh

You don't need to use the Fan on the heater but it really helps the temp stay consistant. My fan is nice and quiet, you can definately hear it, but its still more quiet than my Vexilar! Maybe there is a quality control issue with these heaters because I have seen a few valid complaints on them. Mine must have been built on a wednesday, it works great in every aspect! Another advantage to running the fan is that it tends to pull a little draft on the pilot flame and actually pulls in into the thermocouple more, not sure if its designed that way, but the thermocouple will get a cherry tip on it which really helps keep it lit. I can set my heater on the ice with no coverage and as long as its not facing the wind,it stays lit no problem, other say they can blow theirs out with a puff of their breath from 10 ft away?, I've never had that problem. Edited to add, I'm not sure about battery life, but I am at about 5-6 hours on my standard eveready batteries, I think thats pretty sufficient, I think if you wanted to , you could probably rig some form of a transformer to step down your Vexilar battery voltage and just have a nice 3-4 ft pigtail coming out of the vexilar case that could plug into your heater if you can't/won't afford the batteries. Josh