I dont even keep mine loaded in the back of my truck. Flasher, rods, gear boxes ect. i put in my back seat only thing that rides in the back is my shanty and sled. If you have the travel bag for your auger it should fit fine next to the shanty then your gear could ride on top? Just make sure what ever sled you buy is long enough to accommodate the length of the shanty bag.

Hey Rich you can get a thermocouple kit and clean the jet for bout 12 $ and an hour of time. Brought 2 back from the dead like that, both garage sale $3 specials

Have you cleaned the pilot tube?

Very nice Rich. Glad you got out and like the jacket. I wear it in the spring as well.
That's a dandy of a catch too, congratulations 😀

Yea Clint. I think that was in my original post way back . I wear a sweatshirt and wanted a lighter jacket to put over that I could take off in the shanty and would protect me outside.
I had heavy parkas that were just to heavy with a sweatshirt underneath and to hot in the shanty by themselves

Nice ! I hope it serves you well !
You ended up with the Eskimo-3 insulated ?

Fish USA Is a place to shop . They are always my first choice because of their great service. So I guess I can throw them in as a gear review for their store and services. Never once in the many years and products have I had a complaint towards there.

Do yourself a favor and put it up and take it down several times in your garage or basement. Get proficient and it will make you life easier on those cold windy days. As far as keeping it warm I was fine down to 0 with my buddy heater. Not warm, but able to operate with no gloves easily.

I copy Clint and thanks. I have a hub style ground blind I use for hunting and that sucker can be a PITA to set up and tear down for sure.

I've refilled propane tanks myself and the adapter is worth the cost if you burn a lot of propane for sure. In the days before LED lanterns or fluorescent even, we used a lot of propane in our lanterns camping the shores of the Allegheny or feeding the mosquitoes night fishing our local lakes. Not to mention heating the shanty, lighting our way on the ice and perking a great cup of coffee on the Coleman propane stove.

When it comes to reviews, thumbs up to Coleman camping products. I have Coleman products thirty years old and can still find repair parts if needed.

Tight lines and becarful pushing this new snow around.

Now I'm looking for any gear reviewers. BTDT, shanty working out ?  It's going to be a stellar weekend to use it if not already, I hope.
 
My question is I'm always looking ahead. Believe it or not I'm working on getting my Striper and trout gear ready. Plan ahead is my goal . What's your thoughts on okuma reels. I have not had great results. Its the price point that always kicks my butt on the avenger series. I bought a series of baitfeeder 55's and they seemed to light. My only size  65 was huge in size  but  had a better line retrieve and handled 30 lb mono better.
I run 4 to 6 rods be it trolling or live bait, not including jigging for bait on stripers.
The bait runner reel is the key .  Is there a better quality bait runner for $100.00 each ? don't forget X 4 .
I have an awesome shimano from the early 90's that today is over $200.
Penns are great reels too but have not owned any or used any that were made prior to the 21st century .
 comments and thoughts welcomed . am I wasting my time with a reel I'm not satisfied with ?
 
 
 

 

HT I was just talking about the hub shanty and unfortunately I have not had a chance to set the thing up.  UPS arrived late in the afternoon yesterday because of the snow and I spent the better part of this morning plowing that snow out of my driveway.  I was just telling Outasync I didn't want to get the shack outside for a trial because of all the snow still coming down.  I didn't want to get the shanty  wet in case something would be wrong and I would have to return it.  Plus, the better half said no way to setting it up in the living room cause I think she thought I might get overly excited and fire up the ice auger too. 
 
The real problem was trying to figure out how to get the shanty on the sled without chance of upsetting and dumping the works while moving.  I didn't want to unpack the thing until I was absolutely sure I could haul all the equipment in one trip by myself.  Usually not a problem taking someone along for a day of fishing on the ice, so help is usually available to carry the equipment out.  It's getting all the equipment back 'cause the help disappears, when the ice starts singing.
 
I did take a sneak peak and must say I am happy as the material is heavier, coming in at 300 denier, than I expected.  It's not insulated but the material is much thicker than the material that is on my present shanty and that thing is like me, beyond old. 
 
I hope to get out first thing tomorrow morning and try my luck at setting the shanty up for the first time but that will depend if I can turn my neck in the morning.  Spending an hour plowing snow wasn't bad except I was using a plow attached to the three point hitch on my tractor.  I been walking around looking backwards most of the day.
 
Hey, while we are on the subject of reviews and snow removal, I sure can attest to the Torro Power Shovel as I been putting one of those to the test the past week.   Stupid wind has been causing the snow to blow over my house dumping it right on my back sidewalk and deck.  If i would have had to shovel the piles of snow from those areas, there would be marks from tractor tires over the deck and across the sidewalk.  I don't use the power shovel every time but I am sure happy to have had it so far this winter.  I'll have to do a edit to post some pictures so bear with me.  Ummm, that's "bear" as in "bear" and not intended to sound like "bare".


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First impression, "sets up in seconds".... my asz. lol At least not for this old guy, the first time. Can't wait to get my wind back to see how it all tears down and fits back in the bag. Stay tuned, more exciting news when we return.
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That's cool. There certainly is a knack to opening and closing them. Sometimes the hubs and poles get tangled when opening and you must remain calm. As far as the bag goes. I have not found any manafacturs that give you an appropriate sized bag that makes it easy. I went to a surplus store and bought one .

When said and done. My heater, stove, pop up shanty, tip ups , vexliar, food and beverage are all under this cover right now, well not food and drink. This is my set up and it's pretty compact. I was a jet sked guy for years until I got this flip over that is dual purpose.
Some days we never set up home base pop up .

Great idea on the bag.

I'm waiting on the sled 'cause I know darn well they will be on sale. Some are already on the internet but the shipping is terrible.

Got a little 'xperiment going and hope to test drive the idea tomorrow. Purchased 5/16 x 4 1/2" lag screws and 1 1/2" fender washers. JetWelded the washers to the screws just for the ease of keeping the things together when using as ice anchors. Also bought a el-cheapo 1/2 inch driver socket to use in a drill motor for installing and removing the anchors.

Included in this package will be a socket and el-cheapo ratchet in the event the drill dies or the driver socket poops the bed.

On stand-by will be a battery powered reciprocating saw with extra battery and metal cutting blades. Cutting torch had to be scraped, shanty mfg warns no open flames should be used in or near the hut.

Stay tuned.😝

I hope everyone has a great weekend what ever days they may be. Mine are hitting laker waters hard for 2 days sat-Sun with a group of friends and family. Pictures to follow, I hope:)

Anyway back to my okuma question.
The reels I have seemed 2 light for chucking a 12 herring and up to 6 oz weight and hooking a 30 lb striper. The drags didn't seem adequate and construction was par-sub. To kick that series under the bus a little more, I also own them in smaller sizes for trout and bass as well as the larger level line trolling reels for salmon. That manafacturs reels have not impressed me at all and seem very disposable .

I been researching Penn again. It's seems they are trying to compete price point with a lower cost reel but still 20 above the disposable ones I seem to dislike.
I'm sure I'm answering my own question of you get what you pay for but geesh. $100.00 for a descent trout reel and $200 plus per to outfit a 4 rod specialty set up is tough.
If there are any loyal non disposable brand reels that people feel are worthy of the cost I'm very interested.
Fish USA Is waiting for my order, lol