Ice fishing testing

[jsdx]

Well, had to post this even though no fish up top.
Went out to test my new camera and clam electric drill/auger and maybe pick up some fish. Thats my story and I'm sticking to it.

Found 6 inches of ice, clear - electric drill handled that in seconds. Using a dewalt 20v + clam attachment.
Too cold and windy to set up a tip-up outside so drilled two close holes and used the underwater camera to check out whats happening. Found it hard to position right at the bait as it rotates, but got lucky a few times and positioned right next to my line (which turns out to be too close) as I also caught the whole mess with a minnow who decided to wrap around the cable and tangle me up real good.

Was nice to be out, heater, lines in the water. All good.



The underwater camera was neat to watch and now I can see that I missed catching fish I didn't know I was missing before Watched this perch come up and ignore my jigging for an extended period of time. Spend as much time fussing with the camera as with jigging so unclear its helping with the fish. I could see it entertaining the kids though.



A little more creepy was looking up from underneath. Clear ice with sunshine and the outline of my popup and me was clearly visible. I could see myself move. Made the ice look thinner. The ice was cracking hard, especially in later afternoon so I had to poke my head out a few times to see if i was still attached to land



Lots of very very soft bites on minnows, they seem to be gumming the bait and then walking with it.

Equipment all tested out, next time hope to post some fish pics
John

[JimW]

Thanks for the post. What Dewalt drill are use using? I am looking to go the drill route this year.

Tight lines.

Jim

[jsdx]

What Dewalt drill are use using?

I'm using the 20V MAX XR Li-Ion Brushless drill mainly because thats what I had.This is the 2 speed, not the 3 speed hammer drill. Super nice to drill with. Took literally 10 seconds per hole. I imagine when the ice gets thicker it will have to work a bit harder. I don't usually drill a lot of holes (mainly because hand powered) so this is perfect. I may start to drill more holes now thats it easier so hopefully this drill will keep up.

Also, the clam ice auger conversion kit is the base one. I considered the gear box version but am only drilling 6 inch holes so direct drive is fine.

[Fisherman89]

Hey jsdx, nice setup! I'm hoping to add an underwater camera to my arsenal soon as well.

For hole placement I like having 3 holes in the shack, left hole for actively jigging, middle for transducer, and right for a dead stick or second fisherman. I try to keep the left and right holes as far apart as possible to avoid lines from getting tangled. With this setup and depending on the depth (and current) I can usually see both baits on my sonar.

hole_placement.png (1.52 MiB) Viewed 818 times

Adding an underwater camera to this setup, I'd probably place another hole further back, or maybe just outside the shack to try to get a better viewing angle of the baits. But the best setup for that will come through trial and error.

Thanks for the post. What Dewalt drill are use using? I am looking to go the drill route this year.

Hey Jim, I'm also using a 20V Dewalt this year with an 8" Eskimo Pistol bit. No complaints so far. I have the hammer drill version, I believe the model is DCD996P2 and the kit includes 2 5AH batteries as well. Not using an auger conversion kit, just the drill with the side handle attachment.

Cheers!

[Fordpodolski]

I have an aqua vu and it came with a tripod. You can def. DYI one but I’d highly suggest that- makes it a ton easier to set up! As for drills. I’ve had an Eskimo pistol bit going into season 3. First year I had the Milwaukee 2803 Hammer drill. Blew through ice like a dream. Mid season last year the motor in the drill died. So this year I got a cheaper Bemchmark compact hammer drill. Huge difference, however it does the job. Mil. Had 1000lbs Torque I believe. This one 450. So you CAN get away with a cheaper less powerful one. But it would have been a smarter idea I think to spend the money on a 40v electric auger. That will be my next purchase.

[jsdx]

The tripod is a great idea. I found when I was rotating the camera via the very thin cable, it tended to rotate back. Having something to hold it in place to allow fine tuning would help. I was considering a telescopic rod for shallow water that would allow easy positioning from fixed mount. For now, I fuss with it via the cable, find my lure, slush up the line so it doesn't rotate and try not to move it after.

More gear doesn't always help. All of it takes time to setup, now I have heater, hut, fish-finder, camera, music and all the corresponding time to configure (more comfort too). I remember my early ice fishing days, a bucket as the chair, ice scoop, a single rod, a hand auger and two lures. Walk, drill, sit and jig.

Camera is cool though, a little frustrating when a fish comes up to the camera and ignores your lure though.