Hard Water Preview Fall 2020

[SkunkedAgain]

For my hardwater season I've been shopping around on KSL and local shops. Picked up the following:

1. Used Clam hub type shelter - non insulated
2. Mr. Heater propane heater/stove
3. New ice rod commissioned from a local builder/ soft plastics dealer

Still shopping for:

1. Inline reel - deciding between the 13 freefall ghost or the frabill 371
2. Ice cleats
3. Better portable setup for my Garmin Striker 4 finder

Sounds like you have a great start on things... Suggestion on the inline reel, I really like my ghost, I have the black betty as well and I like the ghost better...  I've found I use my inlines mostly on panfish and smaller fish that I need to do a very finesse presentation to, but when I start playing with the bigger fish and faster fighting fish, I like my spinning reels.  Good luck and have a great season...  rumors are saying ice is forming... Later J

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Today, I  spray painted my orange shelter with a light covering of black, to help take some of the glare off of my Striker4. the glare terrible. I am also changing out the risers on my sled's skis from wood to aluminum. Got a new pair of cleats last week from Amazon. Just need to respool my reels. Not sure what to put on.

Before you tear the line off your reels check and make sure you can find some replacement line... Logan Sportsmans is nearly out of everything, I went with some of my love-hate line nano-fil... I like the stuff when it's new, but it sure doesn't last very long and costs way too much for how long it lasts, but it was about my only choice this year...

Be interested to see how your riser mod goes, I'm an old wood sled guy and the wear and tear behind a snowmobile is really tough on the sled.  I need to replace some skis too this year... I tore the p-tex off the bottoms of my current set pulling it across the bare roads at Cascade at the end of last season... Really wiped them out...  Anyone have a good way to counter sink the bolt heads in the bottom of the skis?  I've bought a couple high priced bits to do the job and the metal has ruined the bits two for two times... I need a cheaper way to do this..  Made the mistake of not counter sinking these deep enough the first year I did a smitty and I couldn't pull the sled on bare ice because they dug into it so hard...  Later Jeff

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I found my ice gear in the back of the storage shed, from the move last week. Pulled it all out and started checking reels and line. Added to my tungsten jig, and ice plastics selection when I dropped by Sportsmans earlier this week.
Did not see Steve there ( heard he was out on the river with his whippy stick) but raided his shelf of some crappie plastics (in addition to the ice gear additions) so he had somthing to do when he got back

Sounds like the Riverdale store had more stuff than Logan, maybe I need to drive south... J

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I went through my ice fishing lure box and cleaned out some plastics that just never worked.  Reorganized so that everything was back in the right place. Took inventory of what I wanted as far as tubes and ordered some online.  Got some great new colors that the trout will probably like.  Also ordered some more jigging lures, just waiting for them to arrive.  I will be respooling my reels with new line and then I should be ready to go.  Earliest I've ever started to get ready.  I'm itching to get on the hard deck.

Hey Paul, hopefully we can get a chance to fish the hard deck together sometime this year... Would enjoy sharing a trip sometime... I sure need to do a thorough cleaning of my gear, I'm terrible and I keep throwing more stuff in the box and I can't find anything anymore... Plus I need to locate all the good stuff I transferred into my summer box that never got used and get it back into the winter box...  If I'd only take the stuff that I know I'll never use out of my box I'm sure it would be a lot easier to decide what to use..  I think if truth be known, I only use maybe a half dozen different lures all ice season... Most are tungsten jigs or Maniac Cut'r bugs, then they become the bait delivery device... I think the wax or meal worms or chunk of perch where legal seal the deal most of the time....  Later Jeff

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So I know there isn't a huge ice fishing following on here, but I was wondering what you guys are doing to get ready for the new hard water season this year?  I tied up a new ice rod during conference and got an Okuma Avenger reel for it... I really think I'm going to like that rod..  Spent most of my six or seven years of saved up Cabelas points on an Otter Lodge shelter that I'm going to modify into an ice house sleeper... more to come on that project...  Getting excited, but it's looking like ice will start to form this weekend in the high country so not far off... Later Jeff

When, and it can vary, I get a chance, I fish out of the float tube, scoping out areas to fish this upcoming hard deck season. Lots of fish will be in almost the same areas once the hard surface arrives. So, find good spots on open water and remember those locations.
My two cents of advice.
Gabe

Gabe, that is really good advice... Years past I scoped out Hyrum and found the banks of perch and sure enough first ice found lots of perch in the areas that had been good before the hard deck hit... I also started using my ice rods and ice fishing techniques from the boat in Novembers past and they worked really well.. I did have to use my longer ice rods, but had lots of fun and actually caught some of my best perch that way... so great advice... Thanks Jeff

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Bought two 13 Free Fall Ghost inline reels and three new ugly stick ice poles for me and my wife. Installed Sufix 6 lb test braided fishing line on both reels.  Bought 16 lf of LED light tape for the inside of my ice tent for night time fishing.  Rigged up the 12 volt battery of the Vexilar Fish Finder to plug the LED's into for my power supply.  Started the snowmobile and idled it for a few minutes to make sure it will be ready to go.  Still need to check the battery charger on my underwater camera.  For some reason it was not charging last winter when plugged in.  I want to pickup a net and go to Strawberry or somewhere and net some chubs for winter bait.  Never done this, so I may be asking for some pointers on how to do it and where to go.

Sounds like you're in great shape for the season... I really like those ugly sticks for my jaw jackers, they stand up to the bending and set the hooks well.  Hope the chubs are the right size for you... I've been after carplets lately and they are almost 6" long now so not exactly the minnows I wanted to fish with.. I should have started earlier in the summer i guess... Good luck.. J

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[quote pid='1103987' dateline='1597011261']

For my hardwater season I've been shopping around on KSL and local shops. Picked up the following:

1. Used Clam hub type shelter - non insulated
2. Mr. Heater propane heater/stove
3. New ice rod commissioned from a local builder/ soft plastics dealer

Still shopping for:

1. Inline reel - deciding between the 13 freefall ghost or the frabill 371
2. Ice cleats
3. Better portable setup for my Garmin Striker 4 finder

Here is what I did:




Holds the battery, transducer and unit pretty well. I use foam to take up the access space.


Great idea, I guess the battery keeps it balanced... should work for you... Good luck... J

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I drove the Mirror Lake Highway yesterday and noticed the smaller ponds and beaver ponds were beginning to ice up. That got me thinking it's time to get ready and geared up for the upcoming ice season. I'm looking forward to the ice season.

Can we talk you into running the ice fishing challenge again this year?  I love that contest, and look forward to it from the day it ends until we get it going again...  Think you could be ready to roll on November 1st the day after the cat contest winds up?  I think I could fish through the ice on the farm pond this morning, might have to stay on the dock, but I'd be fishing through an ice hole...  Anyway thanks for the input on the mirror lake highway... that's probably some of the first area to open up to hard deck fishing... Later Jeff

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Hiked up to Abe lake near the middle fork of the Weber.  Ice already on the edges up there.

I'll bet it's close to fishable by now... but have your water wings on to keep you floating if you go through... thanks for the report... Jeff

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So you’re saying there’s a chance....... that we might be ice fishing by Halloween again this year?  Hey Jig if you get bored- instead of tossing those old plastics, try cutting and combining the best parts into a funky new design and color combo.  My kids and I have assembled some interesting fishing “art” pieces from broken and dissected plastics. Fun to hear the names they come up with for them too.  jarner’s dealer and Steve may not be happy if you keep reusing old goodies though.

Rumors of over 2" of ice on Henrys has me thinking fishing by Halloween might be possible... Haven't heard how much is up there today, but could be time to head north... Later Jeff