jphersh22

Does anyone fish Webb Lake near Hackensack? I'd be interested to hear about it. We make a summer trip there every year with my family, moreso for the tradition of this lake and the resort than the fishing. Going back to my grandfather my family has about 50 years of going there. I've always been curious about ice fishing it. Has anyone ever tried it? Walleyes have been down for many many years so I'm not sure it's that popular.

How are the Ticas for open water casting? I use my reels for both.

I have a Shimano Sahara 750 ($59) and and Shimano Sedona 750 ($49) and both are great reels. It's hard to go wrong with anything by Shimano. I also have a Abu Garcia Cardinal 100 ($29) and for the money it's a nice little reel. Depends on what you want to spend. I've heard the Ticas are nice for ice fishing but I don't know about open water casting, but the next time I get a reel I'm going to look at those. I have a Mitchell Avocet for ice fishing too and I'm not very impressed with it.

I have a 2 man Frabill that I load into the back of my pickup. I didn't want to do a full modification with plywood, etc, due to the added weight, but I wanted to have safer storage for my electronics. I got a 92 quart storage tub from WalMart and then bought some of that rubber mesh liner that you put in the bottom of a silverware drawer and lined the inside of the tub with 2 layers of the liner. It's non-skid and has some cushion to it. I can fit my Vex, Aqua Vu, 5 SOS (structure on a string), and my Inflatable PFD. Everything fits perfect and I don't have to worry about my expensive equipment bouncing around loose when pulling the portable on the ice. I also like the fact that I can pack all my expensive stuff together in the tub and then throw it in the truck when driving too and from the lake and keep the whole tub inside when not in use. Now I just need some ice here in Iowa. Below zero temps now though, so this weekend should be ready!

Answered you on the Iowa page.

Well I haven't been out yet either. I live near Iowa City and the ponds I check didn't freeze over completely until Monday 1/16. It's extreemly cold and below zero at night so it's making ice fast but I'd be real careful. I was in Des Moines today and stopped at Scheels and the salesman said he sold out of wax worms and some guys were out on ponds with 4" ice. If you go don't go alone, wear a life jacket and a set of ice picks. Good luck if you make it out. I plan to try a pond or two this weekend, so I hope the ice forms too.

I've seen schools of crappies chasing minnows and breaking the surface while eating them many times. Some of my favorite lakes have weedy bays that the crappies in summer almost nightly move into to feed. They suspend in the deep water during the day then in the evening they move in and you can almost track the school's movement in and out of the bay by watching them breaking the surface chasing minnows. This sure seems like feeding to me.

Hey, that's great if the DNR are able to send citations out for litter left at the shanty site. It's too bad they don't have an efficient system like that in the open water seasons. Tired of seeing the trash washed up on the banks, it seems especially bad on the rivers these days.

I haven't seen the Nuggies before. Are they too big for gills?

FYI for those interested in the Cabelas one, it's on backorder with an expected delivery of 3/11.

I just bought a 5 pack but haven't had a chacne to use them. I think they'll work great in the local ponds I fish where the fish are often located in the deepest water without much cover. I do wonder though, are the small fish attracted to these first, with the large fish being more warry???

I've had the Beckman 3 rod holder and it's worked OK but it's too small, so I end up with some rods in the bucket still. I see Cabelas has a rectangular rod bag that holds 6 rods and has a storage area that runs the length of the bag. For $20 I might try that out.

Anyone here use the red Artic Armor suits? Not the blue or grey Ice Armor. I found last year's Ice Armor on sale for about $250, but I also heard these Artic Armor suits are nice as well and they also act as a floatation device. [Note from admin: Here is the HSO Arctic Armor Suit. Note the HotSpot Outdoors (HSO) logo If you want one like this be sure to ask Dan for the HSO logo when ordering.]

A flasher helps you find AND catch fish. A camera just helps you fine tune things after you find fish. Plus at night the camera won't be much help. The Vex and Marcum units are both great, but if you're on a shoestring you can pick up an older Humminbird or Lowrance unit and mount it to a Blue Box. I did this for years and it always worked good.

I hope it gets cold soon or I'll go broke. With no ice where I'm at it seems like it leaves me just looking for more things to buy to try to satisfy my ice fishing jones. The last couple months when I'd normally be just buying waxies and minnows I've bought an Aqua Vu Scout, a Jet Sled, 20 Custom Jigs and Spins Diamond Jigs, an LED light for the ice house, and a 5 pack of SOS/Reel Weeds. On top of that I got a Inflatable PFD for Christmas. All this stuff and no ice to use it on.

I've found unpainted jigs are cheap enough that I've just bought those and painted them myself. I used the powder coat style paint and added a glow coat and they work pretty good. I found fat boy style, a vertical tick style and a horizontal banana style that all work well. I think it would be fun to design your own molds though. What will you be making the molds out of?

I emailed them a while back and they said you can get 450" of ice cut with the 7" blade. 7" would do for me, but I think I'd go with 8" just so I could fit an Ice Well in my hole. The 8" would obvoiouosly cut fewer holes. Does anyone have any hands on experience with these to confirm how long they run on one battery?

Thanks for the report and the pictures. Looked like a great day. I have no ice down here in Iowa so it's good to look at some. I noticed the Nature Vision hat and the Marcum camera. You should ask someone on here with connections at Marcum to send you a hat so you match your gear.

I see there are three sizes of the tackle pouch. What size is best?

I got a great Christmas present this year, an auto inflatable PFD. They're small enough to not be uncomfortable to wear so I have no excuse not to always have it on. I also always have my ice picks.

Even with the hooks hooked in the little wire hook holders on the rod they get snagged in the padding of my rod carrier. I was hoping they made some sort of small velcro folding type thing that could go over the lure and protect it. I know they used to make a larger version, but I wondered if there is a smaller one. I figured someone out there probably has a home remedy for this problem.

Has anyone used the Custom Jigs and Spins Diamond Jigs? I ordered a bunch of them today and they look great, at least in pictures. I'm a die-hard Fat Boy user, but I like the idea of the hook angle on these and the wider body for better flasher singal. The paint schemes look good too. I hope they're as nice as they look. They're also cheaper than the similar Swedish style baits.

I live in Iowa City, Iowa and it's 55 degrees today. Sunny and beautiful for the normal person. It's ticking me off! We had ice in this area for about 3 days at the beginning of December before it turned warm and hasn't let up. There's not even a skim of ice anywhere here. Probably one of the nicest days ever in December by a normal person's standards, but to me it sucks. Guess I better get the boat back out.

I've been thinking about getting one of those Rubbermaid storage tubs and figuring out a way to add padding and dividers so I could put my Aqua Vu, Vex, lantern and heater in the container so it's safe for storage. I usually haul the portable in the bed of my truck so it would reduce weight if I could take this tub out when lifting the shack into the truck and keep these items safe. It would also be easily removable in the offseason or anytime I don't want to leave my valuable electronics laying around in the portable. Has anyone else done this or something similar? Anyone have any ideas on the type of padding to get, etc?

UBB7-ML-924983-ML- Moved to SouthCentral MN forum.