home made s.o.s.

[ice bandit]

yesterday was my first time out using my new home made s.o.s. and 2 time for my new underwater camera. tell you what wont fish now with out 2 things my vex and the s.o.s. Drilled all my holes and put the s.o.s. down first put all the rest of my stuff in the house got situated which probably took 5-7 minutes drop the camera down and had a couple blugill under me right away. turned the vex on grabbed my spring bobber rod put a gulp maggot on and dropped it down decided to give the camera a spin as I panned around past the sos and looked back at the vex the sreen was lite up like a xmas tree and i had ooodles of gills and crappies sitting right under me swimming in and out of the sos dont know if it was luck or not but they hung there till dark when the eyes moved in maybe Im wrong but i think that stuff works

[fishingman93]

what did you make them out of?

[ice bandit]

picked up green clearance christmas garland at walmart 9' for .99 the kind that looks the fake christmas tree limbs only strung out. I made some wooden crosses and wrapped 35'of green mason line to it I bought 18' of the garland so I made 1 string 9'I started at one end and tewist the line aroung it and tied it together tied a 1 1/8"X3 bolt painted black to the end of the line and cu\ontinued to attach the line every 12" or so on up made 2 more strings one about 6' and one about 3

[Gadgetman]

How is your SOS holding up so far? Falling apart or bleeding color off it?

[wayne123]

Any chance you can post a picture?

Wayne

[cold one sd]

A friend made some out of the same type garland. He tied fireline to it from the bottom to the top at certain intervals to hold it upright. Used a bell sinker at the bottom and a styrofoam ball for a float. He made ten of them six feet tall and uses them all the time. They seem to be holding up fine.

[StCroixNewB]

awesome idea!!! I know what I'll be doing in the garage tonight!!!

[Sandmannd]

I found six foot pieces of Ivy at the dollar tree. Haven't had it on the ice yet, but will try whenever we get some ice. Built 6 of them for under $10.

[frabillfisher]

I think you just saved us all 50 bucks..not trying to bash sos but i dont have the money to pay 10 bucks a piece for a fake weed...did the walleyes seem to relate to it well too? I was looking all over in the aquarium section for something similar i could use but no luck im glad you posted this..Im headed to walmart tommorow hopefully they have some left i'll have to buy them out, thanks for the tip!

[harvey lee]

Hopefully there are no chemicals in the weeds that you are planning on using. We dont need anymore stuff dumped into our lakes that isnt needed. I know that it doesnt seem like much but, if many did it then it could add up to more than we all realize.

[nate larson]

I am going to try to make some home made s.o.s. this weekend. Does anyone else have any tips to share before I get started? Pictures would be very helpful!

[BIG DS]

Please consider that the SOS is built to be used in the water under extreme cold temps. The plastic that they use is non-toxic to the waters and the color will not bleed. They spent a lot of time and money to research the plastic so that it will not harm our waters. Thanks

[NAPAFISH]

Quote:

---

Please consider that the SOS is built to be used in the water under extreme cold temps. The plastic that they use is non-toxic to the waters and the color will not bleed. They spent a lot of time and money to research the plastic so that it will not harm our waters. Thanks

---

You work for Ladredge?? If the guy wants to create his own, why are you trying to stop him????

[delcecchi]

None of that stuff should be left in the lake in Minnesota.

So is there any evidence that this sos thing leaches any less than plastic plants from walmart?

(I always thought SOS was something served on toast in the army)

[fishing tech]

S.O.S.? If i were to take a couple of small trees, tie a rope to them, and drop them down a hole, remove them when I pull my permanent shack off the ice would this be legal?????? What if any is the differance? Can I do this to my floating(diving) dock in the summer.

[harvey lee]

Quote:

---

Quote:

---

Please consider that the SOS is built to be used in the water under extreme cold temps. The plastic that they use is non-toxic to the waters and the color will not bleed. They spent a lot of time and money to research the plastic so that it will not harm our waters. Thanks

---

You work for Ladredge?? If the guy wants to create his own, why are you trying to stop him????

---

I do not work for LaDredge. I dont think it is wrong to make your own as long as you know for sure that there isnt some chemical in the weeds that is bad for the water. LaDredge has done thier homework in regards to making a safe, chemical free product for our waters. I know it doesnt seem like much harm could be done but, the concern is for our lake water and how would the consumer know what they are putting in the lakes.

[rpaulson7]

oh my harvey. Do you own a boat, or have you ever ridden in one? How much more pollution does a boat put into a lake vs. 6 feet of fake weeds, but we don't think twice about that.

Do kids' plastic buckets and shovels need to be certified "lake-friendly" before anyone buys them? They're plastic too. How about the little plastic knobbies on the ends of the string in my swimming trunks?

Get real.

And thanks for the tips on making my own SOS. I'm gonna make some for my perch trip to SoDak in 2 weeks.

[jigging-matt]

Paulson, why are you so quick to criticize Harvey lee? All he is asking is that everyone be responsible sportsmen (and women) by not putting toxic items in the lake. Sadly some plastics are very toxic to animals and aquatic plants. I enjoy making my own things around the house, and most times you can save yourself a lot of money. Just remember many items are made for one specific purpose and while they seem like a useful solution for another project, they might not be suitable. Hope you find some good fake ivy and you homemade sos works well. I might even see you in SD plan on going there in about 10 days. People seem to be a little tense lately. Everyone should just get out and fish more.

[smg04]

maybe try and pick up some plastic plants used for large aquariums? they almost have to be made with "fish freindly" plastic thats non-toxic

[Borch]

The biggest issue I've seen with the homemade ones with the plastic weeds is how brittle they get at cold tempatures, (not that we've had any yet this winter). When they get brittle they break apart. Sometimes in the water before they warm up. That is not good. If you find somnething that works and doesn't harm the system more power to you I guess.

I don't fault folks for the "doing it yourself" mentality. I'm very much the same way myself.

Good Luck!

[Sandmannd]

Any reports on how these are working? I was at Fleet tonight and they had 25 feet of garland for fifty cents. Bought a few and made some up. Hopefully I'll get to go give them a try tonight.

[FishnBear]

I made 4 strings of homemade SOS last week and my friends used them at Waubay this weekend. They said that they hade more success not useing them. Kind of disappointing news.