Lund Explorer

I got to hold a very beautiful little girl this year. She is the first Great-Grandchild for this old man. For the decade, I'm not sure if any of us can compete with Glenn's accomplishment..... Bass Resource!

Howdy fellow Michigander! Just another 3-4 months and we'll be back on soft water. In the meantime, this forum is a great place to pick up plenty of ideas.

Hey IDbasser, that's a nice looking trout there. Back here in Michigan, I've been stuck fishing for gills and crappie, but not much luck in the size dept. I did get one northern about 29" last Sunday, but inland pike are just too slimy for my tastes. Our good trout lakes are still two-three weeks away from having safe ice. Then the deep jigging can start. How deep is that lake you're fishing?

My favorite is a Swedish Pimple. Many other jigging spoons will work, like Hopkins Spoons, Kastmasters, or any other fluttering spoon. Larger teardrops can work as well. Maybe even one of my favorite steelhead baits which is a small pinkie jig. Any of these will take a variety of baits to sweeten them up.

Just another option to a tiller extension, is to use a connector rod that attaches to your main outboard. This way, you can use your steering wheel. Cabelas has them. Look under Boating / Outboard Accessories.

Doesn't really matter how thick it is, it needs to be clear "blue" ice to hold weight. 2" - 4" of good ice will hold up almost any person. But it depends on how much other weight is sitting on top of it as well. That foggy frozen slush, grey/white in color just doesn't cut it. Back in younger days, better known as "Young and Dumb", it only took about 2" of clear new ice to get me on the lake. Spongy enough that water would slowly fill the depression around the hole. Back in those days, anything that took more than two whacks with a sharp spud was supposedly safe. These days, I really don't like to go out until there is a solid 4". Hopefully there will still be something left after Christmas Eve's little storm.

9/11 has to be the biggest event of not only the decade but sine Dec. 7th. That said, I wonder why no one else thought about the very first day of the decade? Y2K..... What A Flop!

'What event, invention, or fad will the decade be remembered by?' This is a Fad that has reemerged. Therefore I included it into my list. Seems like all the youths have resorted back to a Hippie/Hobo look. I guess thats whats "IN" ;D ;D ;D I wonder when my Leisure Suits are coming back! ;D

Being a twin, it wasn't like the other 364 days were all that easy. Christmas though always held its own little troubles so to speak. Especially when you parents and both sets of grandparents were all firm believers in equal rights for both of us. Sometimes a lack of communication between all these folks didn't help much either. My tenth Christmas was a case in point. Christmas Eve always found us heading south to visit Dad's side of the family. There was always something anti-climactic about watching your brother open a present when you knew that next gift you got was the exact same thing. That year it did hold a little excitement though as we both got new electric train sets. The next morning, we had our own celebration at home before heading out in the other direction to Mom's family. We eagerly (?) opened up gifts at home though it seemed like we didn't get the normal "haul" of goodies. When we arrived at the second set of grandparent's, a slight problem came up in the kitchen. My Mother had decided to tell Grandma what we had gotten the night before. Yup, to make this long story a little bit shorter. We each got a 2nd train set! It wasn't until we were heading home that night that we got let in on the whole secret. The reason the mornings pickings seemed a little slim was, you guessed it. Now what do two boys do with SIX, count 'em SIX train sets?

The grown men in the family started my fishing addiction, but they all had different species. My Dad was an avid golfer so fishing was mostly through the ice for him. Of the two Uncles I fished with as a child, one was big into fly fishing for trout while the other enjoyed trolling for pike. When I finally got serious about bass fishing, the internet wasn't even thought of. Magazines like Bassmaster and In-Fisherman was my source of information.

And birds, amongst other critters. I remember one night when the side door to our garage was left open. As I was getting ready to hitch up the boat the next morning, I discovered that a racoon had made a visit. The remains of a chewed plastic bag that just the day before had held almost 100 brand new 7" power worms was almost completely empty. At the time, I was more upset that the critter had decided to dine on a favorite color, than on his chances of survival. Just another good reason to keep an old coffee can in the boat. Great place to throw used baits and all the other junk like old line, etc.

I found it rather confusing. Michigan was something like the third/fourth slide, but the number 49 shows when you scroll on top of the picture. So is it #3 or #4, or is it #49. Seeing a picture of Rich Rod's Wolverines makes me thing it is the latter of those choices.

Snow Blower for Rent. ;D Just kidding.... But when you guys finish digging out your own driveways and sidewalks, remember to watch out for the older folks in your neighborhood. Even up here where we're used to moving snow piles around, we have older folks suffering heart attacks from trying to clean up after storms. A quick phone call to make sure they have help, or to see if the need anything (food or medicine) until they can get out would be a big help.

You may also want to start looking at that echo to try to determine what type of bottom you're on top of. Besides looking for small depth changes, or a sunken brush pile, a change in bottom content will create an "edge" that fish will hang on. A quality sonar will give you that information as well.

Probably best to leave the bassin' gear to home and shift over to pike or walleyes. You may get into a few bass with Tip-Ups & Minnows, or perhaps a jigging Rapala, but bass get pretty lazy under the ice. If you ever get the chance to sit inside a spear house you can watch them slowly swim along the bottom. But it is very hard to get them to bite.

Remember to include Momma, Trains, Prison, and your Pickup Truck! ;D

Up here, Jack is either straight or mixed with coke. Unless you go to a certain bowling alley that mixes it with Apple Pucker. 50/50 makes what they call an Apple Jack. After the first five or six, they actually start going down fairly easy. My choice though is the other Jack, Yukon Jack. There is something completely wrong about thinking of drinking @ 5am.

No Pics yet..... No Safe Ice. I have had the chance to sharpen the blades on my auger, put new line on the bluegill rods, the battery for the fishfinder is on the trickle charger. Everything else is in the ice box just waiting. Friday night, we got down to -6 and got a good looking start. Last night only got down to 32 with what the weather man so eloquently called a wintry mix. Right now we need a couple of really cold clear nights, a no more snow. BTW, most of my jigs come from a company called K & E Lures. Its a local home grown company.

Hmmmm, An Inter-Continental Ballistic Missile. There's no way that I can see using that acronym and Mike's confession in the same sentence unless I want to get a warning from Glenn and the Mods. I'll pass. ;D

Morning Glenn, Well it sure looks like at least one person from Lubbock TX knows a little about deep frying. Those were all good tips. A few things I might add would include the following: 1. Make sure to keep your oil at the right temp. The big commerical fryers are gas fired and can handle quite a load of frozen food. But if you have one of the smaller home models, you'll want to do a little practice with it first. When your oil is at the proper temp. (at least 350), anything you drop into it should immediately flash cook the outside of the food. This not only reduces the amount of breading that will fall off, but stops the oil from soaking into the food. French Fries are a good cheap frozen food to practice with, but be aware that even thawed food like fish will cool down your oil as well. With a little practice you'll be able to figure out how fast you can add food into the fryer before you have to stop and wait for the oil temp to recover. 2. Keep your oil clean! The only thing worse than a piece of fish that is staturating with oil, is one that comes out dark, and tastes like you cooked it over a campfire. There are two keys to maintaining good oil. First, don't overcook your food, as overcooked food will transfer a burned taste to the oil. Secondly, make sure to strain your oil after each use to remove any breading or small floaters. If these things are left in the oil, they will only continue to cook/burn, which shortens the life of your oil. 3. Season any new oil. When you get to the point that you plan to refill the fryer with brand new oil, safe a little of the old oil (if it isn't burned) to help season the new stuff. Brand new oil will cook just as fast as older oil, but your food will look much lighter in color. That can lead to overcooking in new oil. 4. Talk to a Pro! We all are advised on here to listen to the pros about the best ways to fish. Same goes with cooking. Might not be a bad idea to stop by the local watering hole to buy their cook a couple of tall and frosties in exchange to a tour of the kitchen. Or, as you are a lot closer to the Fraternal Order of Eagles Aerie #1, than I am, maybe volunteering to help out at a local non-profit's fish fry could help. 5. Safety. Probably can't say enough about it. Know the flash point of the oil you are using and keep the temp below that mark. Don't do like one gal did at our local Eagles club and try to hurry the process of heating your oil by cranking the heat up past 375. Keep plenty of baking soda or some other fire retardant handy. If the worst happens, don't try to move the fryer, smother it. Don't drop food from altitude! Either use the basket, or simply lay the food into the oil before you let go of it. Have a burn kit handy just in case. 6. Oh Kerri.... Can't you just talk the better half into doing all of this? ;D

I wonder where Jessica is?

Glenn, We as the members/users of this website have many opportunities to read great articles, view very informative videos, and to also share and learn through this forum. And it would take a month of Sundays to explore all of the links collected here. I think all of us can agree that this site has helped to improve our lives. But we also need to keep in the back of our minds, that as the owner of this site, you need to make sure to make the bills. All of the time and effort expended in this venture can't come free. As a business owner myself, I can fully understand and respect your decisions. I surely hope that the rest understand it as well. I think we'd all be better off just enjoying what it is that we do here, and leave the business decisions up to you. Thank you again for providing us with a great website.

I think it would be a good idea to say that to Chris as well. I'm sure its taken quite a bit of effort to put into writing all of the things that he has. I for one have done the copy and paste to many of his writings so that I could print them out to read away from the computer. Now you could say they have become the bathroom reader, but they have also given me the inspiration to double my crankbaiting efforts in the future. He deserves a lot of credit for his efforts.

I understand what you are saying. I think its going to common in any sort of fishfinder whether its a flasher or LCD. You might be able to get that signal toned down, but it is a matter of trying to set the gain down that far. Most of my ice fishing is one for bluegill and crappie, though I do go after walleyes as well. I think about it this way. When I'm after bluegill or crappie, I'm using a small lure for a relatively small fish. For these times it is pretty easy to set the gain down as I described above. But I have seen what you are talking about when I'm wallete fishing. Most of that fishing is done with a jigging rapala, jigging spoon, or with a rather large minnow on a live bait rig. At these times, I have a hard time getting just a plain green/organge/green signal for the bait. What I do get, is a smallish red signal. About the best way to see if a walleye or other bigger fish is nearby is to raise the bait to see if a signal stays at the depth I was fishing at. Also, it depends on the depth you are fishing if this is really a big issue. The cone is rather small at shallower depths. So even if that big fish is on the outside of the cone, it is still within range to see that larger bait and react to it. Hope this helps.

My favorite was told to me years ago by a friend, who told me that when he first heard the story, he thought of me. Yeah, I couldn't figure it out either. It was a December day when a small sparrow found himself sitting high atop a tree just as a huge snow storm started to blow in. As the tree was completely devoid of any leaves, the sparrow had no protection from the ice cold wind or the heavy wet snow. Finally after two days, the storm passed, the clouds began to clear out, and the sun shone. While feeling what little heat the sun gave off, the sparrow knew that he was in trouble. Nearly frozen solid and starving, he had pretty much given up all hope. At about this time, a horse wandered under the tree. As he moved under the sparrow, he let loose of a fairly good sized "road apple" and continued to move away. The sparrow, sitting high on his perch spied this latest development, and was know faced with a possibly life changing (perhaps life saving) decision. Finally he swallowed his pride and flew, though it was more like fell, from his perch and landed squarely in the pile. Still nice and warm, the sparrow enjoy the first sensation of heat he had felt days. He decided to take a little taste, and finding that it warmed him even more, ate his fill. Soon he flew back to his perch. Knowing that he was finally warm and that he wouldn't be passing away after all, he sang a little song. Feeling a little chill starting to return, the sparrow flew back to from the tree. Once there, he gorged himself. He was so stuffed, that he could barely lift off the ground when he flew back into the tree. It was amazing, the sparrow was so overjoyed with the knowledge that he would live to see another day, he broke into song once again. About this time, a hawk circling high above was in trouble. Two days of being grounded by the storm had him searching for a meal. All of a sudden, he heard a little song. Well, it didn't take long before he spied the sparrow sitting in the tree. He locked onto the hapless little bird, and on the first high speed dive, snatched the sparrow by the neck, killing him instantly. The moral of the story: If you are full of crap, keep your mouth shut!