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Is anyone planning on getting new gear for this season? I went from planning to get an underwater camera, to all new rain gear, to finally settling on merely getting a cheaper pair of rain pants to wear under my current bibs. I also got another ultra light panfish pole since it's always the most popular one on the dock.

Anyone buying new boats? New rods? New electronics? New cabins?

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Side image depth finder and a few new spinning reels.

Also getting my boat revamped!

Cliff

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  • Official Fishing Report Team - MN

Fortunately I am set Boat is rigged to max. Maxed out thrust wise on front and the back trolling motors. Elite 7, Hook 7, vexilar fl18 in back. Front X 15. Definitely a Lowrance man. If that doesn't find me fish then  I might as well hang it up :grin: lol!  Maybe  get rid of my butt seat buy a new pro pole seat with the flip seat to lean on a little more. As far as gear Have my eyes on a Engel Bait cooler probably pull the trigger on one of those as they look good and have heard good things about them . Oh was down at the NW Sportshow today and added a new Okuma. Definitely didn't need a new one but  u know how it goes :grin:  Very tempted to break out the wallet a few times but resisted temptation. LOL ! Odds and ends here there but major purchases are done for a bit. 

Edited by IceHawk
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I need to pick up 1 or 2 Muskie combos by June but haven’t fully decided what I want.

Other than that, I’m taking it easy. My checking account is still feeling the effects Black Friday 2017. :cry:

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I picked up new rain gear last year.  I took a layering approach and went with Gill. I love the stuff and can more comfortably wear it in warmer climates.  

jacket - https://www.gillmarine.com/us/fishing/foul-weather-gear/tournament-jacket-fg21j.html

bibs - https://www.gillmarine.com/us/tournament-trousers-fg21t.html?sqr=FG2 bib&

insul bib - https://www.gillmarine.com/us/fishing/foul-weather-gear/winter-tourament-trouser-fg25t.html

 

 

 

 

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A fishing buddy is moving to Olympia Wa and selling his great lakes gear ,,, May pick up some more great lakes gear from him

Picked up a used lund rebel a month ago that is only partially rigged to my specs ,,,, Need to load my walleye and musky gear in that boat (nothing to buy ,,just move),,, Watching the weekend fishing shows there is some tackle thats peaked some interest but at this point is a want and not a need 

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I bought myself some good will from my wife. Started a bathroom remodel for her so I should be able to get away with murder (fishing and huntingwise). I usually get away with it anyway but this doesn't hurt!! ;)

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I've loaded up with Jigging Raps. I want to make those work this year. A couple St Croix's from the factory store in Wisconsin and some CHIRP technology.

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Jigging raps are awesome lures! I can't get enough of those. Just got a 5/8 to 1 1/2 oz jig mold with the wire bait keeper. Big and heavy for the old Miss. Now I need to rob some chickens of their feathers. They make some awesome walleye jigs

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On 3/23/2018 at 2:48 PM, Cliff Wagenbach said:

Side image depth finder and a few new spinning reels.

Also getting my boat revamped!

Cliff

Cliff - what are they doing to your boat? Plush leather couches and a big screen?!?

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Needed a few repairs under the deck so I am having a second seat pedestal installed in the bow.

Sure would like to install an air ride captains seat! :D

Cliff

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Getting a 14' sea nymph handed down from an uncle.  It has no motor, so I've got to pick up a tiller this spring.  The boat will mostly be used on small lakes around Eveleth, but I'd also like to take it into trout lake 1-2 times a summer.   Seems to me for small lake purposes, I could probably get away a 15 HP, or maybe a 20?  But for Trout Lake, rolling heavy with gear/people over longer distances, I may want to go with a 25HP.

There's no shortage of opinions on this site :) so please weigh in.  I'd welcome information/insight so I can make an informed choice.

 

Matt

 

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Go big with the 25. That should push that boat 30 mph or better. Gets on plane fast. Not much difference between the 15 and a 20. If you're transom can handle the extra weight. 25 2 stroke will weigh around 85 lbs. I used to run a 1987 25 hp the Evinrude on my old 16 ft. It flew, until I smoked a log going wide open. Busted the drive shaft in side the power head. Took it home got it apart and got the broken crap out and swapped it out with a different drive shaft and was back on the water in an hour. Older tillers are a cinch to work on.

Boat stands for.....bust out another thousand. Fishing stands for...  Well....fun. 

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21 hours ago, Cliff Wagenbach said:

I am having a second seat pedestal installed in the bow.

Great idea!

It amazes me that this isn't a thing with the bigger boats. When I fish with my buddies in the fall I have all the room in the world up front and the 4 of them are crammed in the back half tangling their lines up. Guess who catches most of the fish :grin:

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Matt,

A 25 hp is a lot of motor for a 14'  Sea Nymph.

I have a 14' lund fishing boat and a 15 hp pushes it pretty well. A 20 hp would be plenty and it will also troll great. Lighter also!

 4-stroke motors are the best but much heavier then a two stroke.  Nice to not have to mess with mixing your gas!!

Cliff

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  • 'we have more fun' FishingMN Builders

Bout the only thing I need new this year is two new rod holders in the back of the boat for the Grand-monsters.  Since they both got their first Walleyes with grandpa last year I think I stuck myself and fishing off the dock isn't going to cut it anymore.  :lol:

Edited by leech~~
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Visa rewards gift cards don't show up on the credit card bill.......where did this come from?!?!

20180328_160715.jpg

Edited by LBerquist
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I ordered a new Terrova i-Pilot Link yesterday to replace my Powerdrive with Copilot. Now I can follow the contour hands-free. Can't wait for ice-out, but that won't be soon.

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I'm getting excited for a late ice-out on Vermilion. Should be a whopper of an opener

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Hey all

So I tallied up my gift cards to scheels outfitters from the last 5 years. Got 500 bucks worth!!!!YEAH!!! time for a new sonar. Looking to spend around 750 to 800 on a unit. Looking at the lowrance hook9 , but it looks like they got some issues. Garmins 73sv looks pretty sweet, good reviews. Any tips on what brand people have luck with? My dad has a humminbird 998 , its pretty sweet even for a 3-4 year old unit. Just throwing it out there, thanks guys.

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Humminbird Helix. I picked one up last fall and it’ll be one of those buys you can’t just do without anymore, with the mapping it feels like your cheating, almost. You still can’t make all the fish bite. 

Mapping, side, and down imaging  for finding that spot on the spot you didn’t know was there. Finding fish off to the side you normally wouldn’t find. Find humps or other structure that are not on any other maps. 

I only mapped one point on a lake before ice fishing and that turned out super. Let’s just say I’ll have a lot of fun with this when I get to know it even better. 

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I picked up a helix 7 Side/down imaging, a new lakemaster chip and onboard charger. I've been playing with it on demo mode, I can't wait for open water. Naturboy, did you upgrade the transducer?

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You guys are going to love your Helix. I have one on my smaller trout lake boat. Great units for the money. 

I didn't too much new stuff this year.  A new trolling rod and some tackle, but that's about it.  

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i bought the helix 7 chirp si gps. now i got install it. the fish are gonna be in serious trouble..

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5 hours ago, Alex wilhelmi said:

i bought the helix 7 chirp si gps. now i got install it. the fish are gonna be in serious trouble..

You might need to set it up as an ice fishing unit the first couple weeks.:lol: 

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  • Your Responses - Share & Have Fun :)

    • Brianf.
      I'm not there, so I can't tell exactly what's going on but it looks like a large area of open water developed in the last day with all of the heavy snow on the east side of wake em up Narrows. These two photos are from my Ring Camera facing north towards Niles Point.  You can see what happened with all of snow that fell in the last three days, though the open water could have been wind driven. Hard to say. .  
    • SkunkedAgain
      Black Bay had great ice before but a few spots near rockpiles where there were spots of open water. It looks like the weight of the snow has created a little lake in the middle of the bay.  
    • LakeofthewoodsMN
      On the south end...   Thanks to some cold spring weather, ice fishing continues strong for those still ice fishing.  The bite remains very good.  Most resorts have pulled their fish houses off for the year, however, some still have fish houses out and others are allowing ATV and side by sides.  Check social media or call ahead to your favorite resort for specifics. Reports this week for walleyes and saugers remain excellent.   A nice mix of jumbo perch, pike, eelpout, and an occasional crappie, tullibee or sturgeon being reported by anglers. Jigging one line and using a live minnow on the second line is the way to go.  Green, glow red, pink and gold were good colors this week.     Monster pike are on a tear!  Good number of pike, some reaching over 45 inches long, being caught using tip ups with live suckers or dead bait such as smelt and herring in 8 - 14' of water.   As always, work through a resort or outfitter for ice road conditions.  Safety first always. Fish houses are allowed on the ice through March 31st, the walleye / sauger season goes through April 14th and the pike season never ends. On the Rainy River...  The river is opened up along the Nelson Park boat ramp in Birchdale, the Frontier boat ramp and Vidas boat ramp.  This past week, much of the open water skimmed over with the single digit overnight temps.   Areas of the river have popped open again and with temps getting warmer, things are shaping up for the last stretch through the rest of the spring season, which continues through April 14th.   Very good numbers of walleyes are in the river.  Reports this week, even with fewer anglers, have been good.  When temps warm up and the sun shines, things will fire up again.   Jigs with brightly colored plastics or jigs with a frozen emerald shiner have been the desired bait on the river.  Don't overlook slow trolling crankbaits upstream as well.   Good reports of sturgeon being caught on the river as well.  Sturgeon put the feed bag on in the spring.  The bite has been very good.  Most are using a sturgeon rig with a circle hook loaded with crawlers or crawlers / frozen emerald shiners. Up at the NW Angle...  Ice fishing is winding down up at the Angle.  Walleyes, saugers, and a number of various species in the mix again this week.  The bite is still very good with good numbers of fish.  The one two punch of jigging one line and deadsticking the second line is working well.   Check with Angle resorts on transport options from Young's Bay.  Call ahead for ice road guidelines.  
    • CigarGuy
      With the drifting, kind of hard to tell for sure, but I'm guessing about a foot and still lightly snowing. Cook end!
    • PSU
      How much snow did you get on Vermilion? 
    • Mike89
      lake here refroze too...  started opening again yesterday with the wet snow and wind...  very little ice left today...
    • Hookmaster
      A friend who has a cabin between Alex and Fergus said the lake he's on refroze. He texted me a pic from March 12th when it was open and one from 23rd when it wasn't. 🤯
    • SkunkedAgain
      I don't think that there has been any ice melt in the past few weeks on Vermilion. Things looked like a record and then Mother Nature swept in again.   I'll give my revised guess of April 21st
    • leech~~
      As I get older it's really not just about sending bullets down range.  Some of it's just the workmanship of the gun and the wow factor. The other two guns I have really wanted which I'll never have now because of their price, is a 8mm Jap Nambu and 9mm German Luger.   Just thought they always looked cool!  
    • jim curlee
      I had a guy hit me with a lightly used 1969 BAR, he wanted $1650 with an older Leupold scope. More than I think they are worth, I made an offer, he declined end of story.   You know if you look at the old brochures, a grade II BAR sold for $250 in the late 60s, $1650 would be a good return on your investment.    Why would anybody want a 50 year old gun, they are heavy, have wood stocks, and blued metal.  I guess mainly to keep their gun safes glued to the floor. lol   You can probably buy a stainless rifle that you never have to clean, with a synthetic stock you never have to refinish, is as light as a feather, and for half as much money, perfect.   I'm too old for a youth gun, although I've shrunk enough that it would probably fit. lol   No Ruger 10/44s.   Jim      
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