What's the worst ice fishing item you ever bought and the best and why?

[hole_hopper454]

Best: Humminbird Ice 45 and Striker Hardwater Suit

Worst: cheap Celsius tipup

[cwavs1982]

Worst would be the Jiffy Propane auger.  Had it one season, bottle and lines kept freezing up.  PITA.  Next year the K Drill came out

Best would be the K Drill with the Clam plate setup.  Love the way it handles and works.  Buddies have tried it and now they own them.  Close second would be my 2 man flipover.  Tricked it out for my needs and this has become my go to sled.  Have a buddy who doesn't get out much at all and he loves to sit there all day. 

[perchnut]

Best......I'll echo the first Vex I bought, changed my life forever......

Worst....Oh there have been a few things....like the clam chair with the built in rod locker...a couple really cheap small bait cast er type combo's....and of course....all those damn styrofoam minnow buckets when I forget my bucket!!

Interesting reading these lists and how often underwater camera appears on the worst lists....

[Figure ate]

Best- Helix 7 SI G2 CHIRP. Map out the lake using side imaging during open water then fish the creek channels, trees and rock piles during the hard water season.

Worst- yaktrax ice cleats. Just enough grip to FEEL stable, not enough to BE stable.

[Whytie]

Best
- electronics - Marcum LX-7. started with an LX5 and this is a world of difference
- auger - Eskimo Z71 great for chewing through 40" plus durring late season
- clothing - Striker Hardwater jacket and bibs. The bibs are warm enough I spend most time outside in nothing more than bibs and a hoodie.

Worst
- jigging raps, moonshine minnow, or anything similar. I try them when I can and can't catch a thing or incite a bite.
- plastic scoops. they constantly break
- underwater camera. Good if your siting in one spot all day but moving and searching puts more fish on the ice.

[marmooskapaul]

Best- Helix 7 SI G2 CHIRP. Map out the lake using side imaging during open water then fish the creek channels, trees and rock piles during the hard water season.

Worst- yaktrax ice cleats. Just enough grip to FEEL stable, not enough to BE stable.

YES>>>YES>>YES>>> I about broke my leg wearing Yax Trax...I was walking across a linoleum floor ...but still, no grip on ice either.!!

[52isntbigenough]

Worst... Nature Vision Buzz Stik and OVS camera.





Best.... KDrill and ATV

[Seamonkey84]

Best......I'll echo the first Vex I bought, changed my life forever......


Interesting reading these lists and how often underwater camera appears on the worst lists....

There is definitely a pattern lol. The only real use I get out of the cameras is checking bottom composition and weeds, and that rarely works due to water clarity.

[ejdelvo28]

Best: Vexilar FL18 for all the reasons mentioned above.  Honorable mention goes to Baffin Titans.  Keeping your feet warm is priceless.

Worst: Marcum Pancam.  What an absolute piece of garbage.  Even in gin clear water, the entire screen was a gross yellowish green and you couldn't see anything.  I resorted to dropping a cooking pot down on a rope 2 feet away and couldn't even see that.

[hnd]

underwater cameras just don't work well in some areas with bad water clarity.  i would venture a guess that water clarity on most bodies of water are not conducive to underwater cameras really being useful.  I'd also wager the the learning curve or figuring out how to best use your camera is a big one (it was for us) and that eventually for a good while you spend a lot of time fidgeting wiht the camera instead of fishing and  you eventually throw your hands up.

my worst purchase was Fish TV.  not because it was a camera but because it was an awful camera. 

[DR.SPECKLER]

worst was the clam nitinol titanium spring bobbers,they were like a wet noodle  in the cold.threw them in the garbage.

best is my fleet of vexilars because it changed the fishing game for me ten fold.

[Baetis62]

Worst was the toilet seat/conduit/trash bag crapper combo.

Best was my Fish Buddy.  Rudimentary to be sure but using it taught me
1- Move until I was on fish
2-Sometimes they suspend
3-Spending considerable $ to upgrade to LX5 and 6 is actually a good idea.

[Seamonkey84]

Worst was the toilet seat/conduit/trash bag crapper combo.

Best was my Fish Buddy.  Rudimentary to be sure but using it taught me
1- Move until I was on fish
2-Sometimes they suspend
3-Spending considerable $ to upgrade to LX5 and 6 is actually a good idea.

For my first year of serious fishing, I picked up a sonarphone Tpod, and a fishing buddy. Both of those worked well enough (except the side scan on the fishin buddy) and taught me the same lessons you learned. Plus they are super portable for open water use, especially when you don’t have your own boat and go out with friends that do.  The sonar phone still stays in my gear bag year round as a backup, and has helped on more than one occasion.

[Just a random icefisherma]

Worst: dx3000. It's a decent shack, but it was extremely noisy and drafty, if we got more snow like we did last year, it would be alright, but that was one year out of 5. I would have to rotate seats with who ever I fished with, as one foot got cold, and the other too hot due to the lack of space.

Best: a little size 8 blue and white wonder jig that I got when I first started ice fishing. That thing outfished everyone else who I fished with. On productive days, I've caught 1-200 gills and crappie in around 4 hours.

[ice--cube]

Worst --> Fish Tv,  Buzz Stick

Best --> Vex, and my clam flip over shelter

[Handy]

I still have my worst purchase, Those fake weeds on a foam holder. The idea was to attract and hold fish but I only used mine a few times then realized why am I drilling all of these extra holes, I should just move more often. Just can't bring myself to throw them away,lol.

The best would be my striker suit, eskimo quickfish 3 and a buddy heater. I would like to add my helix 7 but have not used it on ice yet. There are more but these are tops.

[Baetis62]

For my first year of serious fishing, I picked up a sonarphone Tpod, and a fishing buddy. Both of those worked well enough (except the side scan on the fishin buddy) and taught me the same lessons you learned. Plus they are super portable for open water use, especially when you don’t have your own boat and go out with friends that do.  The sonar phone still stays in my gear bag year round as a backup, and has helped on more than one occasion.

I still have my Buddy.  I don't ice with it but its great on my 10' pontoon rig for fly fishing the stillwater.  The side finder was worthless in 70' water.  Learned that pretty quick.

[SkiSoloII]

Gotta go with several lessons:

Best:
Shappell Rover 1.5 DX - with a padded bench
Strikemaster Glide Lite - gotta modify it, though. PVC rod holders, sonar mount, hinged cover over the big hole, short skis mounted to the bottom, etc. Great lightweight run and gun tool.
ATV
Clam plate w/Rigid and 6" auger - Light, efficient.
Lowrance X67C - use it on hard water, and on my boat
Subscription to Ice Shanty forums

Oh, and my Ice Suit - any of them will do fine as they are purpose built.

Worst:
Old Jiffy 30 (gas on hands every time, heavy)
Cabelas suitcase shanty - wow, was that heavy, and took a while to set up. Taught me why a Smitty Sled was worthwhile.
1st gen Aqua-view camera

Dave

[esox_xtm]

Worst: Didn't buy it but was a gift. Jig-em-Up battery operated tipup. Total junk. I used it one time and only to prove to myself what I suspected when I opened the package.

Best: Any iteration of power auger. After hand drilling with 8" Moras for a decade or a little better for both my son and myself (and maybe some of his pals) the addition of power was truly a game changer. The latest tool is the MKE Mud Mixer/K-Drill. Love it, but thinking of throwing a Nero into the mix (thanks lefty  )

[aquarium234]

worst item were those stupid foam ht round tip ups, low and you can't chip them free easily if they freeze in, what a pain, only paid 1.5 for them so I can't complain there, I did wonder why i was able to buy them so cheap...........

Best Item
Vex
Vex camera -i know you guys keep dising them, but I have found out what species of fish is in areas I had no idea were swiming by my lures, especially walleye. Seeing how to improve my presentations to get them to bite priceless. While perch running and gunning not so useful, huge assest for finding a new perfect spot with out wasting a day blind testing. Vex wins over camera, but i wouldn't give up that toy for anything
UPgrading from a 71 elan to a 2018 tundra long track was good too.... :-). Still have the ol sled for riding around though :-)

[lefty2053]

Worst: Didn't buy it but was a gift. Jig-em-Up battery operated tipup. Total junk. I used it one time and only to prove to myself what I suspected when I opened the package.

Best: Any iteration of power auger. After hand drilling with 8" Moras for a decade or a little better for both my son and myself (and maybe some of his pals) the addition of power was truly a game changer. The latest tool is the MKE Mud Mixer/K-Drill. Love it, but thinking of throwing a Nero into the mix (thanks lefty  )

[markrazzy]

Best:  There's a few items that have been huge in  my development as an ice angler:
1.  That marcum LX5 that came through the Bargain Cave back when I was the processor... up until that point, I was a "set tip ups and watch for hours blindly" kind of guy.  The LX5 led me to start jigging and eventually start fishing for my favorite winter fish - bluegills.  I have since upgraded to an LX7, but still have the LX5 as a backup. 
2.  Not long after the LX5, I was exposed to the St. Croix spring bobbers - at first on a St. Croix Rod, but eventually on just about every panfish rod I use.
3.  Fiskas.  That same year I started jigging, I tried a couple Fiskas jigs (2009ish) and was in on the "tungsten craze".  I fished with guys who had never seen fiskas before and I'd get my jig back down after catching a fish while they were still working on taking said fish off.  Barely use anything else.
4.  Strikemaster Lazer Pro -  I had a lemon of a 2001 Strikemaster Magnum 3 hp Tecumseh that just sucked.  I had multiple guys try to get that one running into tip top shape, but it just never ran well.  Got rid of it andbought the Lazer Pro in November of 2010 and have been swiss-cheesing lakes ever since. 

Worst:
1.  I made a stupid decision last fall and decided to buy into the custom craze and bought a few custom rods - mainly panfish.  Figured out pretty quick that they don't help me catch anymore fish than my old setups - and when one breaks when you're being careless - it really hurts.  Like $100 hurts.  Still mad at myself for that.  Don't get me wrong, they're nice... but meh. 
2.  Frabill Commando Shelter - I bought that back in 2010 as well and still have it.  But I mainly use it for the sled.  I run and gun constantly and rarely post up and fish one spot.  It's nice to shelter me on some lakes so guys can't see if I'm catching fish, but the front bar doesn't touch the bare ice... and on those bare ice days with wind, good luck.  I'm probably getting rid of it pretty soon and am going to look into an otter hideout. 

Purchases in the future:
Once it's time to get rid of the Lazer Pro, I'll be looking hard at the 40V Lithium Lazer.  If I don't pull the trigger on a hideout this year, my next purchase will probably be a Striker Float Suit.  My 2009ish Frabill IceSuit has seen much better days but still keeps me insanely warm.  After a mishap after re-applying waterproofing (don't dry these suits too long...), I've been ready to upgrade the last couple years.  Now with a baby girl at home, a float suit is something that seems pretty enticing - and might be at the top of my list over the otter hideout. 

[KinnickResident]

Purchases in the future:
Once it's time to get rid of the Lazer Pro, I'll be looking hard at the 40V Lithium Lazer. 

Other than my first flasher the 40V Lithium was the best purchase I've ever made. You will not regret it. I got mine with the free extra battery special but you most likely will never need it.

I ran a drill setup for a year and a half, and the SM 40V blows the doors off of it. Faster than my Lazer gas auger ever was, and WAY faster than a drill. On January 15th last year (I have the date from my pictures) I drilled 87 holes in 26" of ice and the battery was still on 2 bars out of 4. I kept track of the hole count because I wanted to see how long it'd take to kill the battery. It was single digit temps that day in NW Iowa and I never had the battery in the flip over with me, I just left it in the auger and laid it down while I fished. I've even contemplated selling the spare battery to pay for another TUCR Bullwhip.

[matzilla]

Best: Humminbird Helix, shacks, drill/lazer, Mossi bibs
Worst: Fish TV (couldn't see crap when it worked even in clear water, didn't work long)

[niru_04]

Worst: Underwater camera. When I dropped my wallet into the lake, I didn’t find it.
Best: Makita's electric drill. I can easily drill ice holes.

[SLAYERFISH]

Worst was the Clam Jr. ice shelter. It had all these freekin rods you had to assemble then drape the canvas up and over the framework. brutal in cold and wind.


Best was my Fuel/ Clam Plate/ Mora auger setup.

[bart]

BEST: Nils 6" hand auger(cut like butter!) and a Marcum VX-1(Can see the lure, the fish and how they react to the lure), very close seconds Clam Fish Trap Pro(out of the weather) and Arctic Armor(warm and safety).

WORST: The worst thing I bought into is this IceShanty thing... ice fishing has become an absolute addiction and has cost me a fortune! 

[lefty2053]

BEST: Nils 6" hand auger(cut like butter!) and a Marcum VX-1(Can see the lure, the fish and how they react to the lure), very close seconds Clam Fish Trap Pro(out of the weather) and Arctic Armor(warm and safety).

WORST: The worst thing I bought into is this IceShanty thing... ice fishing has become an absolute addiction and has cost me a fortune! 

[esox_xtm]

Another best: SnoSuit bibs and parka. Bibs go on most every trip. Warm, durable and waterproof (kneel in the water, don't need a boat cushion). Incredible outerwear. I can't even wear the parka unless it's <10F. When I do get to wear it, it's bulky but unbelievably warm. I've stood outside in -26F and never shivered once.

I understand Frabill bought 'em out. I got some years left in this set. Hopefully there will be a worthy replacement when I'm ready.

[chilly-willy]

Worst is My 6 man frabill bunker 450 full thermal..  to heavy to drag out on ice to hard to set up cause heavy..  to hard to heat with one big buddy heater.. so I had to buy a secound..   only used it once..  but will use it this up and coming season.. at least once .. on a side not it well made that why it's heavy..


Best item is my rigid cordless drill I had briefly last year liked it so much I bought a octane this year..