Pre-buy Fish Trap questions

[Guest]

I am looking at buying either the fish trap Guide or Voyager and I have a couple questions to owners of either of these models.

1.) How does the Voyager handle the wind with a single person fishing? It's quite a bit bigger than the Guide which I have used in the past and the Guide behaves rather well in a stiff breeze. On the off chance I can't find someone else to escape from the office, I need to know that I wont be trolling across the lake should mother nature decide to push me around.

2.) This is more general but I would need to strap the Voyager on top of my suv since it's 12 inches longer and will not fit in the back of the vehicle with the seats down. Has anyone had any luck strapping their fish trap on top of their vehicle? Or would this just be bad mojo to do such a thing? The lack of eyelets on the sled would be the first thing to be addressed...

The price difference is about $70 and the Voyager gives me more room to jump around in and set the hook on dem der fishies but the transportation and possible kite-like feature of the Voyager have me in a bit of a fix. Any info would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

[Guest]

Sorry, I can't give you any advice in particular about the fishtrap, as I am an Otter fan myself, however, a few words from experience.

In general, you will be O.K. in the wind, but that depends on the windspeed, if it is really strong, and there is no snow on the ice, consider using some sort of sturdy anchoring system or consider aborting altogether if the wind is really strong, prior to opening the canopy. All portables become an ice sailing vessel if not anchored when on a slick surface if the wind is strong enough, worse yet, is chasing an empty one, bad business, specially on early ice (this I don't know from personal experience, unless being a witness counts, I once saw a shappel take of with a 20 lb propane tank and a lit sunflower inside, I am not sure if those guys made it back or not...)

Cartopping; for the sake of your canopy material, use a sturdy type of snow-cover or a heavy canvas tarp over the top of your portable (this will prevent your portable fabric from becomming excessively soiled by road salt and debris) use at least 3 or 4 web tie-down straps, the wind at highway speed with eventually shred even the best of materials. Strap it down well! And you will be fine, most roof racks are rated for at least 100 pounds so you should be OK there.

[This message has been edited by coldone (edited 11-27-2002).]

[Seabass77]

Jynx, I can relate to your situation very well. I was debating the same thing last year. I went with the Voyageur.

As far as the wind goes, I had a few minor instances of the wind blowing me around but I think that can happen in any house. The key is to have some type of anchoring system. I picked up the ice anchors sold by USL.

As far as strapping it to your SUV, I don't think you will have any problems. I had mine strapped to my sedan all last year. I took it to Winnie and Red from the cities without any problems. Just make sure you have the cover and lots of bungies.

I personally love the voyaguer but both units are great. I like the Voyaguer because of the extra space and deep sled. It's only 19 pounds heavier than the guide and with all the extra space, I thought it was worth it. I'm sure you'll be happy either way.

If you have any more questions, you can shoot me an e-mail at [email protected]

[KJSnider]

I have the guide, and like it very much. But if you will be fishing 2 people most of the time, I would go with the voyeuger. I think you would enjoy the extra roomm
As for getting blown around, I guess I sometimes just put the gas auger in the back. I don't bring that much stuff, and it fits good, so no blowing around.
Thats what me thinks.
KJ