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Why aren't you boating? (A place to brag or vent)

FSH 210 Sport said:
Do any good or was it just fishing and no catching?
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Good question, enjoying the sun! I was actually out testing the ice, and never brought any live bait thinking the ice was too thin. Now I wanna get out further, and as soon as I see 8" all the way out to my walleye hole, then I know I can drag my skid house out pulled by my SXS.

Only one perch brought up. But I was marking plenty of larger fish (walleye) but without live bait, they lost interest quickly. This weekend will be different, more ice, better bait, but same cold beer. I love nature's cooler!! Cans sit so well in the snow/slush
 
@biffdotorg,

I have never ice fished before, what is this contraption?

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Jim
 
biffdotorg said:
Good question, enjoying the sun! I was actually out testing the ice, and never brought any live bait thinking the ice was too thin. Now I wanna get out further, and as soon as I see 8" all the way out to my walleye hole, then I know I can drag my skid house out pulled by my SXS.

Only one perch brought up. But I was marking plenty of larger fish (walleye) but without live bait, they lost interest quickly. This weekend will be different, more ice, better bait, but same cold beer. I love nature's cooler!! Cans sit so well in the snow/slush
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Right on.. at least you didn’t get skunked! Any day I go fishing, as long as I put one fish on the boat I’m good… better if its a really good fish, but okay if its a little bait stealer too.
 
FSH 210 Sport said:
That is a fish finder. Very similar to the old school ones but these are used for ice fishing.
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Exactly a Sonar that uses Flasher Technology is still king for vertical fishing. Back in the 80's chart plotters and then LCD Graphs took over as they gave the fisherman a sense of the bottom as they moved along. But when using a vertical presentation, a flasher is the best way to see all that moves in the sonar cone below you.

I bite my tongue as I say that, as in the last couple years downscan imaging technology has evolved greatly and $2000-$3500 imaging systems have become popular showing anything that moves within a 50-100ft cone and it's live imaging, showing not only depth but distance from the hole. It's amazing.

For us, using a Vexilar, Lowrance, Marcum etc Flasher is the way to go. And it allows us to punch a bunch of holes and easily hole hop till we see fish. Or give us a heads up if we are not position at the proper depth in the water column. Walleyes will be from 10-20' this time of year, and head out to 30-35ft mid to late winter. Tulibes will sit anywhere in a 75-100ft water column so sonar is vital to catch those.

And then there is sight fishing. Cutting a 2x4' hole and watching the bottom for panfish, or using a spear to take Northern Pike. I have a site fishing video too. Pretty cool clear ice. I apologized if I shared this before.

 
biffdotorg said:
Exactly a Sonar that uses Flasher Technology is still king for vertical fishing. Back in the 80's chart plotters and then LCD Graphs took over as they gave the fisherman a sense of the bottom as they moved along. But when using a vertical presentation, a flasher is the best way to see all that moves in the sonar cone below you.

I bite my tongue as I say that, as in the last couple years downscan imaging technology has evolved greatly and $2000-$3500 imaging systems have become popular showing anything that moves within a 50-100ft cone and it's live imaging, showing not only depth but distance from the hole. It's amazing.

For us, using a Vexilar, Lowrance, Marcum etc Flasher is the way to go. And it allows us to punch a bunch of holes and easily hole hop till we see fish. Or give us a heads up if we are not position at the proper depth in the water column. Walleyes will be from 10-20' this time of year, and head out to 30-35ft mid to late winter. Tulibes will sit anywhere in a 75-100ft water column so sonar is vital to catch those.

And then there is sight fishing. Cutting a 2x4' hole and watching the bottom for panfish, or using a spear to take Northern Pike. I have a site fishing video too. Pretty cool clear ice. I apologized if I shared this before.

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Nice fish man!
 
Had my two favorite “winter” Yamaha’s out on the ice tonight. Moonrise over the lake. -6f when we packed up. But we had a solid 8-9” of clear ice the whole way out.

Gonna get the skid house out tomorrow since we had our ice scoping day today! Woo Woo, game on!

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We reached the magical 12" of ice! This is big, as it allows us to run full sized vehicles out on the ice safely. It's so much nicer running out in the General, for comfort, capacity, rear flood lights for packing up, and a bit of heat in the cab.

Still in portable houses until I can gather a crew to put the skid house out. Fair-weather fisherman! 30 degrees on Thursday will do it.

Walleye sunsets are worth the trip in itself!

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My latest flying video. Flying with some of my closest buddies.
 
Over 20" of fresh snow! We got 84 miles on yesterday, surfing lakes and Groomed/ungroomed trails! Heck, the county plow even got stuck in my driveway!

-21f the day before last, and I took my Brother in law and his daughters boyfriend out for a sled ride.

Let's just say, they have not been exposed to much snow, let alone ever ridden a sled being from Southern Texas. They had a blast, and with good gear were actually working up a sweat!

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Cuz she's super deep, super deep, she's super deepy ow!
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We were missing our lake neighbors and had a big sleep over (reason to party). Spent some quality time watching the NDSU Bison win yet another championship, then headed to the fish house for some Pike action.

Of course as the temps dropped well below the donut, we crammed 5 sleds, an ATV and SXS in my heated shop only to find we blocked the beer fridge! The shop party lasted until our coolers were empty anyway. Good times!

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I am truly sick of this -20f crap. We did get 85 miles in on MLK day last Monday. Of course Mondays mean trail are beat up and bars are closed. But we made the most of it.

Watch this one on YouTube for the full 360 experience
 
First had the engine problems, then supply back-order, got boat ready to go and then bat shit crazy winds every weekend! Now 10 year event of ice! Holy frozen tights Batman I can’t feel my legs! Yes that is ice you see! This is actually an improvement from yesterday!7617AE97-5B5D-4775-82B9-BE55A24825E0.jpeg
 
DonJohnsMusic said:
First had the engine problems, then supply back-order, got boat ready to go and then bat shit crazy winds every weekend! Now 10 year event of ice! Holy frozen tights Batman I can’t feel my legs! Yes that is ice you see! This is actually an improvement from yesterday!View attachment 170037
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Close that bimini! Not good to keep it open all winter with freezing temps. I would take if off and store it away for the winter. It comes off in seconds
 
Water is still a solid…. Tick tock..count down to ice out.
 
We were out on the lake on Saturday.....lovely day!

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Just to give you an idea of how cold it was in Minnesota this past Friday. I opened up the back of the boat to dig out my inflator. I wanted to drag some ski tubes behind the snowmobile.

I leaned on one of the swimdeck seats and literally heard the vinyl crack!! I can't believe that crap. I've had this boat forever with near perfect vinyl from bow to stern, and I go and do something stupid like that. I'm really sick to my stomach as I look down at that 1-2" crack. I'm tired of cold. Good thing it was nearly 30 Saturday and Sunday. It helped me forget about it.
 
Our first day out will be this Friday. It will also be our first time out on our new home lake, Lake Lanier (GA). Current forecast mostly sunny and 71.
 
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