X2 Log

[Scott M]

Well, I feel like the last guy that got to the ice, but I say better late than never! I went out solo to the Sauk Chain near Cold Spring in Minnesota. I finally had a chance to try out my new Clam X2 thermal. It was about 12 degrees out with a slight breeze on Sunday night (12-23), and I had the heater on low with sleeves rolled back on my longsleeve t shirt. As I was hoping, I really like the thermal fabric. I turned on the sled lights after dark, kept my other lights off, and had pretty consistent channel catfish action for the three hours I hung out.

There are lots of great spots to try on the Sauk Chain in Minnesota if you want a crack at some fun and feisty channel cats through the ice.

[Rick G]

Pretty cool video da_chise. Looks like those cats can be fun

[Sifty]

Nice video

Sifty

[Borch]

Looks like a good night Scott.

Nice video!

[Scott M]

I changed the title from First Ice Cats to X2 Log. Figured I could occasionally add on as the season goes.

I took the X2 up to Red for the first big trip of the year. I had my dad with me and he's not much of an icehead, so I needed to keep him warm, comfortable, and on fish. We started on a small panfish lake and had some success. I fished outside with a buddy on the ice. High marks, by the way, for the IceArmor Extreme Suit this weekend. The extra padding on the front really helps when you are sloshing around lots of water and it's freezing to your exterior. Maybe it's cliche to say it's like wearing your fish house, but for all intents and purposes, it is. The Friday night fishing was good although the bite was tough. Biggest bluegill was 9.5 inches and fat, largest crappie was a foot long.

Saturday found us on Red. A run and gun approach with Dad wasn't going to work, so we picked a good spot, got him set up, then hole hopped outside. After Dad was outfishing us, I sat down next to him and ended up being his wing man. Just like you need a good net man in open water, I was his landing team. He can't really lean over and reach the hole very well, so I was Johnny on the spot, removing the transducer and making sure walleye halfway up the hole didn't get away.

Dad sat all day, with all 6'6" of him parked in the same seat. He didn't get bleacher butt and he kept warm. He was really impressed with the house; when we caught our last fish to fill out and we loaded up, the truck read -8 and we ran our little heater on low the whole time and fished with jackets and hats off in comfort. I'm really pleased with the thermal fabric on these X2s.

Another feature that I like is the zippered rear entrance. Lots of times you want to pass things to your fishing partner, without having to dance around holes, flashers, and the heater to do it. The rear zipper is nice for passing things along or putting stuff you may need right behind you on the ice.

Here's one that escaped Dad's tractor beam and bit on my line.

Next up: Lake Trout Opener in a couple weeks and Lake of the Woods some time next month. Going to put some miles and use on the X2 and see how it performs.

[aaron otto]

Good stuff Da_Chise!

[Lunker Luke]

Nice Walleye.

[Scott M]

1-11 to 1-13, 2013

Made it up to Saganaga for the lake trout opener. My brother in law and I experienced some really funky weather. Warm air created a bunch of slush, followed by a huge mid-day drop on Saturday that froze everything solid. We had remote area border crossing (RABC) permits from our June fishing trip that were still good. We’d be staying just one half mile south of the launch and could enter through the narrows into the Saganaga corridor and onto the lake. Once you pass the narrows, you enter the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW). Day permits are required and you can only operate a snowmobile within the Saganaga Corridor. Canada allows snowmobile operation on their side of the border on Saganaga, so our plan for Saturday was to drive up the Corridor to Canada, then walk into the American side and fish. We made our way west and found some good places to (hand) drill. We put ourselves in 40-50 feet and had some good marks early on. We each missed a fish, and then shortly after lunch the fish came through in regular spurts. When we were down to our last hour of light, we got our last fish and packed up. It was really a super day. We had the whole area to ourselves, save for being checked by a team of conservation officers at lunch time. The scenery was gorgeous. Gray skies, the cold of winter, and the famous pine and boulder covered islands of Saganaga, some charred by various fires and others entirely unmolested. The beautiful markings of lake trout pulled from clear deep waters. How could it be better, save catching a couple monsters instead of eaters?

Returning home was a little more tricky. The dropping temperatures froze all of the slush, and the X2 didn’t track very well behind the sled since it was running on essentially glare ice where it had earlier done well in the slush. Back in the corridor where most of the people had fished, the corridor snowmobile trail had turned into a frozen minefield of bumps and tracks. But with travel outside of the corridor prohibited and the C.O.’s out and about, we knew better than to chance it. We moved slowly down the corridor with the house swaying behind. It was hard on the runners but we made it back in one piece.

Today our saving grace was probably the travel cover. I really like how Clam’s travel cover has the zippers and snaps to access things. We could pull out a flasher and hand auger from the top of the house and locate some fishing spots without having to take the top off and rummage through everything. The travel cover being oversized helped cover most of the fabric of the house…this was key since the temperatures dropped and any kicked up slush would have later frozen hard onto the house, adding weight and stressing the fabric. I watched one guy in the morning pull his house through the slush and the winter portage and I just knew he was in for a tough day; his cover was thin and dripping water while bowed over with the weight of ice and snow. It was likely miserable for most, but for us we could fish further out in better water and make it back in one piece. We used the X2 as a warming house and lunch room and spent the better part of the day hole hopping outside in Ice Armor.

[IceHawk]

Awesome sounds like a blast thanks for the report.

[aaron otto]

So cool!

[Scott Seibert]

Great fishing stories and pictures, I really think Clam did a great job with the X2 I really like fishing out of mine.

[Scott M]

After some trips in friends' fish houses, it was time to bring the X2 out to Mille Lacs on Saturday. I only had a few precious hours to fish, but a few hours beats no hours, so we headed out to some mid-lake flats to drill around and look for fish. We popped a couple small perch, then sat down as sunset approached to wait for Mr. Walleye.

Sad to say, Mr. Walleye showed up a couple times, only to sneer at our offerings and high-tail it out of sight.

I actually bought a Go Pro camera on the way outta town, and am looking forward to using it for better fishing days.

Here's a peek inside the X2 (test run clip - nothing fancy, no fish were caught on camera )...plenty of room for all your gear! You can see how the sled lights offer plenty of light. I installed a few extra lights on my frame poles that really lit up the shack, but since we were sitting on the edge of a flat, we wanted to keep things dark so as to not spook fish. (Great idea in theory that night )

[bassNspear]

It's a great house. I love mine. The room is awesome and the product is top of the line

[Scott M]

Last weekend I got to chase around for some big panfish. Here's a video of some crepuscular crappie catches:

[aaron otto]

Great Video and Report.

[Scott M]

Well, I broke down and dug her out...

I'll get the X2 out quite a bit this year with a new snowmobile. But I'm also going to put some time on the ice after work with the new Legend Thermal one man now that my daughter is a little older and I don't feel guilty leaving her with momma for too long!

There's plenty left to do this fall but I finally felt the chill of low 40 degree air temperatures here in south central Minnesota. Won't be too much longer!!!

[Day_trader]

COUNTING THE DAYS!

[Scott M]

Had a PM from another member about why I chose the Legend Thermal over the X1 for a one man shelter. The other member plans to use his ATV to run around but wants something that isn't too heavy so he can pull it at first ice.

Here was my take:

Quote:

To be completely honest, for me it's entirely the price point and my intended use. Manufactured suggested retail on a X1 is $600, while a Legend Thermal is $500. For $100 less, you don't get the beefy tub (and the weight that comes with it), the fabric is 600 denier versus 900, and you lose some height and with it some fishable area. Those are the downfalls. It's a lot to sacrifice for $100 in some respects, but the new Legend Thermal also includes some LED lights (**one correction, both the Legend Thermal and X1 include LED lights this year). All in all, knowing I need to pinch the pennies to make my trips go further or do more of them, I'm okay with it. My intended use with the Legend is first and last ice drags and after work prime time sunset bite short trips. My X2 will be the weekend workhorse to be drug behind the sled.

If you think you will be using yours behind a wheeler or sled, I would go with your gut and lean towards the X1 for the reasons you describe. That beefier sled is a tough nut to crack.

If you want to do these comparisons for yourselves, check out pages 7 and 11 in the 2013-2014 Produce Catalog And be sure to check them out in stores, at the Ice Show, and check out the competitors. It's probably the best way to know what you're getting for the money.

[Brad B]

Scott,

the Legend actual has a MSRP of $400.00 not $500.00. so it's a $200 difference.

if that other member plans to pull the house with a atv or snowmobile then by all means I would recommend the X1 in that case because the X1 was designed with the intent of people pulling it with a sled or atv more so then hand pulling it. hence the beefier tub that can take the wear and tear of being pulled by a machine.

[Scott M]

Thanks Brad, good catch!

[Scott M]

Finally got the big house out, and just in time! The cold spell we've been under has made ice but made being out in the wind miserable. I was happy to be hunkered down and catching fish.

You can see the frost on the sew lines where there is less thickness and the condensation freezes. As a reminder, when you get a frosty fish house and it gets really cold, you should thaw your house out and dry it out.

I've got family plans for the holidays and on some of the weekends, but very shortly I'll be taking some road trips with this house. Lake trout, glacial lakes perch, back country panfish lakes, Lake of the Woods cross country walleyes. There are going to be some miles and memories!