What Are You Adding This Year?

[ice warrior]

thinking of upgrading my sled might order some indian hiil traps

[Duckbutter]

Last year attempted to take my wife and three small kids in my Eskimo Quickfish 3.  Yeah, I didn't get to fish in the shelter.  Planning on upgrading to a 5-6 man shelter.






It was my only skunk on the hard deck, but I had great distractions.  Just need a bigger shelter....

[SnoHam13]

making a new/much lighter base for the home made pop up [cant do the FX 100 this year]
ditching as much weight as possible to make traveling easier with the smitty sled
broke a ski because too much weight and a plow pile in the middle of the access road at rice lake [ski's don't bend sharp]
after the repair we did Lilly pond and the smitty sled worked great for the walk from M 203 to the canal [gorilla glue is great]
also looking for a large pair of tubs snow shoes

SnoHam13

[jwetovick]

Ordered a tanaka power head and mora auger. Retiring the jiffy 30 for this lightweight setup. Also building all new ice rods to replace all my cheapo combos i purchased as I started to get into ice fishing. Looking at the Marcum wifi camera as well. Still waiting for more reviews on that though. Ordered the new frabil inline to see what all this inline reel fishing is all about. Have always used spinning reels. Personally I think $70-$100 for an inline is absolutely nuts but whatever, had cabelas pts to spend.

[eiderz]

Last year attempted to take my wife and three small kids in my Eskimo Quickfish 3.  Yeah, I didn't get to fish in the shelter.  Planning on upgrading to a 5-6 man shelter.
(Image removed from quote.)

(Image removed from quote.)

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It was my only skunk on the hard deck, but I had great distractions.  Just need a bigger shelter....

Beautiful family DB, you definitely need a bigger tent!

[nocod]

getting a trailer ready,trucks gone so mini-van and trailer is my new mode of transport.

[Elrik]

Just ordered an eagle claw inline to see what the fuss is about, and an ice armor suit as cabelas canada had them on clearance and a free shipping promo.  hoping to get a one man flip over this year as well for when i go out without the family and still want some protection from the elements without having to give up mobility.

[RapidsJigger24]

Really debating if I "need" an aqua-vu micro or just really "want" one.  I'm really happy with all the equipment I own but would consider upgrading my power auger if I ran into a good deal on a new/slightly used one.

To buy a micro...or not...

That is the question!

[spikes]

[quote author=eiderz link=topic=292593.msg3063329#msg3063329 date=
In same situation with three little ones. Looking at the new clam six pack 1660 thermal.  Not sure how they get sizing on the tents. 
[/quote]

[tightliner812]

Really debating if I "need" an aqua-vu micro or just really "want" one.  I'm really happy with all the equipment I own but would consider upgrading my power auger if I ran into a good deal on a new/slightly used one.

To buy a micro...or not...

That is the question!

I would say buy one . I got one at the end of the season last year . I only got to use it a few times before ice out but it was a lot of fun . I run a fl20 for a flasher but one day that I did use it I had perch that would follow up but not hit or just bump the bait . Come to find out when I dropped the cam down it's was just small ones just nosing the bait . I would have not know what was going on with out the cam .

[jopes]

Picked up a Aquaview 760CZ new from Cabelas for $340 plus a little tax.

Probably be my only purchase for ice fishing other than bait and maybe a few pk spoons.

[thomasthepikehunter]

I'm hoping to buy as little as possible. I will be looking into trading my car for a truck in about a month. My old truck still runs great, but its getting past its days of long distance driving.

I am upgrading my auger. I am working on an old school straight pipe exhaust now. Its not nearly as effective as a tuned expansion chamber pipe, or even a pipe with a defuser, but when its cut to the right length, it is way better than a muffler. I even made a custom silencer on the end just like a dirtbike. I would guess its just as loud as with the muffler it came with. Now I just need to bend it out of the way. With that, I also sharpened my auger blade as best I could, and shimmed it at a little more aggressive angle.

The other thing is I am looking into building a flip over shanty for a cheap as possible. I am either going to buy a small molded sled for a cheap as possible and make a one man flip over, or make a custom wood sled like a smitty and make a 2 man flip over. I got the mechanics of it pretty well figured out, and I think for the poles, pvc might be the best way to go. The thing I'm not sure of is what to make the walls out of. For straight up cheap, I was thinking poly tarp, but its not very durable, and you cant sew it. I'm not so sure about taping it together. On the other end is canvas, but I have never found it for cheap. Usually one square yard of canvas is the same price as a small poly tarp.

[nws6373]

Pike Hunter, Go to your local fabric store and check to see if they have Denier fabric. Same as what the flip overs are made from. I bought some from Field's to repair the holes in my pop up.

[pisces]

I am adding more time out on the ice. I bought  a couple of rods and some lures and plastics.

[Muskyrush]

Just picked up an Otter Cottage xt1200 😃 I can see already I'm gonna love it no more wind whip and super comfy

[skifisher]

I'm thinking about a sled or 4-wheeler for lake trout on Granby...I really can't decide. I can cover more ground with a sled especially if there's snow on the lake, but then again, I can use the 4-wheeler year-round. Since I'm getting "older" and can only afford 1, I think maybe the 4-wheeler would be the best choice. Thoughts?
Ski

[OldSailor]

A 4 wheeler can be used year round!!

[thomasthepikehunter]

I'm thinking about a sled or 4-wheeler for lake trout on Granby...I really can't decide. I can cover more ground with a sled especially if there's snow on the lake, but then again, I can use the 4-wheeler year-round. Since I'm getting "older" and can only afford 1, I think maybe the 4-wheeler would be the best choice. Thoughts?
Ski

My opinion is that a snowmobile makes a much better ice fishing vehicle. A snowmobile will go though just about anything, even open water. A 4 wheeler can get stuck in deep snow, and is next to useless in deep slush. Yes you can use a quad all year, but you can use your truck too. If you only have a car, thats a big plus for the 4x4 quad. I think a car/truck is the only thing that should have 4 wheels, just saying.

[Rugburn]

I need to add a "Smitty Sled"!

[wileyc3]

I'm thinking about a sled or 4-wheeler for lake trout on Granby...I really can't decide. I can cover more ground with a sled especially if there's snow on the lake, but then again, I can use the 4-wheeler year-round. Since I'm getting "older" and can only afford 1, I think maybe the 4-wheeler would be the best choice. Thoughts?
Ski

Could allways buy a track kit for the 4 wheeler if it doesn't seem to do what you expected it t do.

[smitty0312]

I need to add a "Smitty Sled"!

It will definitely make your life easier......

[LateSeason]

My wife came home with this today for a Christmas gift.
On clearance at FleetFarm for $89.


O' how I love my wife.

[HUNTnFISHSD]

 Lots of jigs and other fishing gear! I also got some new winter apparel for the upcoming ice season! Can't wait to try it!

[fish8mybait]

Yaktrax and maybe a smitty sled.

[thomasthepikehunter]

I had yaktrax, and I did not like them at all. Mine just had the coiled up metal on the bottom, and it hardly had any grab at all on bare ice. It wasn't long before the rubber broke on them either. Luckily there was snow by that point. If you go with yaktrax, get the ones with actual spikes on them. I feel there are better ones out there. If I ever find a deal on them, I'm going with stabilicers. They don't use rubber, they use Velcro straps.

[wizzard77]

I think that I am going to add a aqua-vu micro this year. I'm tired of hearing about all the fun I'm missing out on.
 now to find the best deal on one.

[dirtymike]

Anybody use kahtoola (SP?) spikes?  Thinking about adding a pair.

[hardwater diehard]

Anybody use kahtoola (SP?) spikes?  Thinking about adding a pair.

Kahtoola  the best Spikes out there ...also recommend Eskimo Ice anchors ...tried every anchor out there ...easy in and out no tool required .

[Raquettedacker]

I'm just adding more filet's to the freezer...    I hope...   

[OldSailor]

Thinking of getting a No. 8 GCI reel to try!