Stealth Bomber and Mosquito fleet take flight.

[Roccus]

Saturday was a cold one to start ( minus 9).. funny how zero and bright sun no wind can feel warm.. as others have said setting up early was a slow process, my old fingers and hands suffered early..catching fish didn't help, but it made it worth it..

I had my down sized "mosquito" traps and modded out jet sled Jr... they performed well, but need non stop attention as the spool is only 2" below the surface the down sized rig  was easy to drag.. but I miss the big trap luxury and big capacity of the heavy ( 25lbs empty) Nordic sled.. and of coarse the comfort and speed/ease of the 4 wheeler.. perhaps this weekend.

Ray got a big pickerel on the bomber, 4 -4-1/2 lbs at least.. sorry Ray my cold stiff fingers blocked all but the head of the water wolf..which was sent down the hole quickly ( unlike some slob who left a 3lb class pickerel and half eaten egg mcmuffin on the ice).. by noon the bite had died and we called it a day..each of us  with enough white and yellow perch for each of us to have a few meals..

I've added a few fillet pictures for those that struggle with the process.

[AQUAASSASSIN]

Nice work fellas! Seen the vehicles when I headed to a job. Was kinda jealous and then not when I looked at the temp lol. Nice job guys

[800stealth]

Was a chilly start but finished into a great day... Seeing the bomber get the first hit of the day on what was probably a pb dart through the ice was a treat to start the day. And fresh fish and chips for dinner was the perfect finish... Good times my friend...

Nothing like having the stache freeze to the mudflap...

[HuntnFish603]

Nice job men. I figured you'd switch up for Sunday instead, which ended up being a beautiful day. Way to brave the cold.
I bet you were psyched to get action on the Bomber Ray.

[Roccus]

Nice job men. I figured you'd switch up for Sunday instead, which ended up being a beautiful day. Way to brave the cold.
I bet you were psyched to get action on the Bomber Ray.

you figured right, Saturday was just pure mean, I went out on a half dozen lakes close to home checking ice thickness for "stealth missions" after work for an hour or so of jigging or a night time crappie run.. I wasn't dresssed for it( long term exposer), man it was brutal... although we saw where someone actually went out Saturday with a wheeler where we were.. they holed up from  the looks of it in the dead zone, you know where I mean..we only saw a few others Sunday, they came after us, made a mess on the ice  and left before us..

[TRT]

I went out at 830 arrived at the lake at 9 at -11 it was cold but no wind and quite beautiful.
Wonderful day to be out of the house.

[Lv2hunt]

Nice haul guys looked cold i'm sure you were less than thrilled to pull your hands out of your gloves to deal with that smallie joe. How do those electric filet knives work everyyear i want to bite the bullrt but want to use for perch crappie cusk and Haddock and cod in the summer wasnt sure how well it works on the haddock because of the thinner skin.

[Roccus]

Nice haul guys looked cold i'm sure you were less than thrilled to pull your hands out of your gloves to deal with that smallie joe. How do those electric filet knives work everyyear i want to bite the bullrt but want to use for perch crappie cusk and Haddock and cod in the summer wasnt sure how well it works on the haddock because of the thinner skin.

That electric knife is a 12 volt, it came with a transformer  and various different 12 volt connectors and 2 different blade sizes..
It is just as good with haddock, salmon or any fish.. there is a learning curve,  I use my dexter or Kershaw for most of my salt water fish, but when my carpel tunnel flares up, that electric knife is a game changer.

[800stealth]

Electric fillet knives are well worth it, takes a few tries to learn how to ride the spine without going through it but once you're used to it you'll save so much time... I still use an F Dick fillet knife to get the fillet off the skin but times are easily quartered with the electric...

[Roccus]

One other thing for honourable mention, my new pistol bit..
I got a eskimo pistol auger for Christmas,  1st trip out it cut pretty good, but I had to lean on it a little, not being familiar with it I figured it was because it was so light,  Ray advised I should not have to lean on it.. well Saturday it went on strike..luckily,  I had a new set of Ion blades and the tools to change them, there was a noticeable difference  in the color of the steel, the new blades even had a serial number , the old ones didn't even have China stamped on them..the new blades cut 10" of ice in seconds.. so I'm calling Eskimo today for replacement blades.

[800stealth]

Quality control has gone out the window... Both of us with new drill bits, one pistol, one E-drill and both have junk blades out of the box. When I e-mailed HT about it they didn't even ask where I got it or any proof that I even owned one... Just a simple single sentence response of "Give me your shipping address and I put a fresh set of blades in the mail", sorta tells me they already knew they had a bad batch and just put product on the shelves anyhow... To be fair, it cuts great with the new blades but it should have cut great out of the box to begin with..

[Uppervalley Kid]

Electric fillet knife is a game changer

[jigmaster5]

-9?! Brrr...makes me fingers cold just thinking about it.

That perch on the cutting board looks like he's still partly frozen solid, lol.  No problem for the electric filet knife, tho.

Glad you guys had a good trip + still have all your fingers!   

[Roccus]

-9?! Brrr...makes me fingers cold just thinking about it.

That perch on the cutting board looks like he's still partly frozen solid, lol.  No problem for the electric filet knife, tho.

Glad you guys had a good trip + still have all your fingers!   

if it had been 10 degrees warmer when the major bite was on and we could have added jig support... I think we could have added substantially to our catch.. but you take what you are given.. at least there was no wind.

[SALMONEMIA]

Excellent report nice pictures I need to get one of those filet boards.  When your are actually filleting the fish do you have to hold it or is the clamp strong enough? I always hold it but dont have the board like that. Agreed the electric filet knife is the way to go. I still use my rapala wood handle to skin the filets.  I liked to pictures the process. I actually enjoy fish processing its kinda fun for me I have a nice process and filet table. Crank up the tunes and a cold beer. And my neighbor takes all the fish heads and racks so cleaning up is simple.

[Roccus]

Excellent report nice pictures I need to get one of those filet boards.  When your are actually filleting the fish do you have to hold it or is the clamp strong enough? I always hold it but dont have the board like that. Agreed the electric filet knife is the way to go. I still use my rapala wood handle to skin the filets.  I liked to pictures the process. I actually enjoy fish processing its kinda fun for me I have a nice process and filet table. Crank up the tunes and a cold beer. And my neighbor takes all the fish heads and racks so cleaning up is simple.

That board stays where it lays, theclamp is a big time help.. funnyvyou mentioned the cold beer, being a home brewer ,I have a fully stocked fridge near bye.. due to the nature of the efficiency of the knife, I wait until I'm almost done..
It takes me about 15 seconds a side,once I get the fillet and rib cage free, I cut it down to leave a small sling tag attached to the carcass, then I cut around the rib cage down to the skin, now,I just zip the fillet free of the skin, and I get the rib section and skinned skinless fillet..

[PoolGuy]

Well done guys!!!  Nice way to break-in the bomber

[SALMONEMIA]

what brand is best rapala or intruder? I see both are made in USA

[Roccus]

what brand is best rapala or intruder? I see both are made in USA

I.only have experience with the rappala

[SALMONEMIA]

Ok thanks I'll stick with that brand I like them anyway.

[800stealth]

I have the rappala as well, though mine is corded... cords suck...

[Roccus]

I have the rappala as well, though mine is corded... cords suck...

Mines corded as well, it just comes with a transformer,  battery clips  and a cigar lighter. Connectors.. but the cord is like 10 feet long..

[800stealth]

Mine's just a plain old 110v cord, maybe 4 feet... The outlet placement in my kitchen is good though so I get by.

[SALMONEMIA]

I have a mister twister electric, cord is long but need an extension cord in the garage. I also have a battery powered rapala I will report back how it does with the WP but i doubt it will cut the bones as good, we shall see. I also just bought a brand new fish filet clamp board on ebay by Rapala and its made in the US so that is a plus for me. Good thread.