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So its kind of that in between season time of year and I was wondering if any of you have new toys that you put together for ice season. For instance a new sled, pole holder, tote, shelter or auger. I always love seeing our members creativity and some of those ideas are really useful too. So if you don't mind sharing your ideas we'd love to see them.
I know I ended up building a tote years ago rather than pimping out my sled because I can take it in my boat in the summer or I can change it from big sled to small sled depending on whether I'm taking the tent or not and how steep the lake approach is. Well this year my tote is damaged so I'll be rebuilding and thought you may have ideas I haven't thought of that I could incorporate. My last tote had 6 rod holders, fishfinder mount on lid, battery inside, transducer stand mount, pole holder for rod being fished. Lots of storage space inside for all the goodies and tackle. I think I'll simplify it a little for the next round. No hot chocolate on tap or anything cool, but just clean and simple. Lets hear your ideas and pictures help us verbally challenged folks like me. Thanks J
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I did two. I screwed two pieces of PVC inside the back corners of my little sled because I discovered that my Scotty rod holder just fits inside 1" tube.
And I cut the aluminum handle of my ice scoop and used pop rivets to add a piece of PVC to it as an extended handle - and added inch marks so I could use it to measure ice thickness.
I also pre-tied some two-jig terminal rigs so I won't have to try to tie knots with numb fingers. I tie a snap to the end of my main line, and have a small swivel on each pre-tied rig. Quick changes of lure size or color - and no tangling hooks when I'm not fishing.
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I bought me a One Shot Skimmer with interchangeable 6" and 8" heads to accommodate my two different sizes of augers.
[url "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3dZMpg0Jqtg"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3dZMpg0Jqtg[/url]
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Your welcome for me posting that a while ago [  ].
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Yep, you are the reason I purchased it. Hope it works as advertised.
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I needed a bigger sled for all my gear so I made me one a couple months ago. It turned out ok but I think it might be a little top heavy. I need to test out out and see how its going to work. I bought a plastic container with a hinged lid and went from there building holders out of pvc. I bought some water skis because they were a little wider thinking that would help out with all the weight on top. I just finished putting a new motor in my mini sled to pull it with. I was using a four- wheeler but kept getting stuck, so I hope this little thing can pull it! If you see someone with a little kids snowmobile pulling a big sled this season, stop by and say hi.
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Great ideas Rocky, I marked my skimmer last year And really like that for ice thickness measurement purposes. Thanks for sharing. J
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Nice upgrade Kent, I wonder where my skimmer is? Might be time to get ready. Later J
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Hey very nice slide ya got there. Your post reminded me of years gone by when we used to build hill climb sleds. Good times!! Thanks for a great post make sure you let us know how it works for you through the season. I'll bet that will be really nice. Thanks again. J
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Things I did to get ready are: Went to the local thrift store and got ski's $5 a set and then to the local hardware store and bought 2'" carriage bolts and 1" galvanized pipe Drilled and mounted them on the bottom of my clam shelter and my jet sled. This raised my sleds up about an inch and a half hopefully they will slide easier (less drag) especially with the wet heavy snow conditions we have been getting these last years. Also organized the jig box. Got new line and re-did all my ice fishing pole reels. Still have some 6 pound magna thin left if somebody would like to spool off a couple of their reels. Charged the vex and the auger and I'm ready to go. With all this good weather freezing I'm getting excited.
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Great tips but I can't picture what you did with the pipe and carriage bolts. Hope it works out though. Thank you for sharing. J
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That looks like a pretty good setup, sharksugar. I agree with you, It does look like it might be top heavy. Don't get going too fast on the kids snowmobile.
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Ya I will have to buy one someday as well and hope it works as good as it shows on the video. If it's that good it's the best one on the market today.
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To explain myself better. The carriage bolts were 3/8". So I drilled up through the bottom of the ski, pounded the carriage bolts into the ski, then I put the 1" galvanized pipe over the bolt coming out from the ski( using it as a spacer to hold the ski and the sled apart 1"). Then I put a locking nut and a flange washer inside the sled to hold the ski on. I've mounted these several times. What I have learned is to put 3 bolts in each ski and bolt them where the ski is at the fattest point. I hope this helps.
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Sure does help, now I want to know how that turns out verses just a sled sliding on the snow. Deeper snow really gives me a work out, would be great if that would slide easier. I think the weight is the work out factor when I haul my tent and battery along. Guess I need to get another small battery instead of my boat battery that I carried with me last year. But it was sure nice to not worry about the fish finder running out of juice. Thank you for the clarification. J
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Oh it will help quite a bit. The friction of the snow and the sled versus the snow and the ski is about 1/4th I would estimate. Sounds like you need to get rid of that farmers way of thinking lol. You can buy a 12 volt battery for $22 That will last you for 3-5 days of fishing. Better yet buy ya a vexlar and you'll never go back to that other fish finder. The key on the ski's is to buy the clear bottoms ( newer style) cause they have a piece of metal in them that makes them stronger. If you want to know what is popular back east just google smitty sled's. They are really popular. They serve the same purpose. The reason why I didn't make a smitty sled is I like them to be permanent. And yes I was raised on a farm.
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I did have one of the small batteries but I guess when it got old it lost its ability to hold a charge and I found that my boat battery seems to hold up better with the frequent recharges so farmer method works great until I'm trying to get my junk up out of porcupine.
As far as those Vexlars go, I need to fish with one to see what the fuss is all about. I like my Humminbird graph and have never been able to figure out the flashers so I'm not sure why everyone thinks they are so great, I need a demo to convert me. ShawDog may have one of those and if so he schooled me one day on kitties. I still couldn't see what he was seeing when he would jerk and hook a fish. I may have to spend some time to figure them out. Later J
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Okay well when the ice does get here you let me know where you want to go and I well teach ya about a vex. In fact I have an extra one and we can school each other. LOL
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Sounds like a plan. It might be soon, I seen what looked like someone on the white edge of Mantua last night out in the South East bay. Pretty crazy there can't be more than 2" of ice. Too thin for me. I did get two poles ready for ice last night, changed the line and moved the reel over from a long pole. Now its time to switch some tackle around and get the sleds waxed. Set up the tent and hope the mice didn't get in it over the summer. Change of seasons is upon us. Later J
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yes yes thin ice is not good for a fat man I learned a long time ago wait for 4 inches[ ]
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