Thursday, November 29, 2012

Contest Winner


The winner of the JawJacker giveaway is Karen Philips a follower from Facebook.  She is an Idaho resident who has been begging her husband to take her ice fishing and it look like now he will be begging her to come so he can use her new gear!   Congrats Karen, I hope you and your husband enjoy ice fishing this year.  Let us know how you do!


Friday, November 16, 2012

JawJacker Giveaway!!!

JawJacker
JawJacker Ice Fishing!

Many of you may not know what this contraption is, but hopefully after reading this it will be on your wish list!  What you see above is called a JawJacker which is an ice fishing contraption with the purpose of making good ice fisherman great!  The way it works is explained and demonstrated thoroughly on this video from YouTube.

See them in action!
JawJacker in Action!!!

When I used these for the first time myself, it shocked me how easy they were to use!  I will admit, I was worried looking at it and wondering if I would set it up wrong with all the different adjustments such as the rod height, the trigger slide, and the trigger tension.  After getting it out of the box and playing around with it, I realized that all of these adjustments are extremely simple and self explanatory.  If there is any confusion on how to set it up, there are step by step instructions on the back of the JawJacker box.  I headed up to the lake Friday morning to give these a shot in hopes that I would have some good luck.

JawJacker
JawJacker set up and ready for a bite!
In Idaho, we are able to use 5 poles which can be hard to monitor all 5 poles at once.  With my poles in the JawJacker, I didn't stress about looking around constantly checking to see if my poles were getting a bite or not.  This made ice fishing so much more relaxing and enjoyable because I was able to sit and jig one pole while all my other poles were being "monitored" by the JawJacker.  It wasn't long until I got some action on the JawJacker and the only words I have to say about my first experience is that these things work!


JawJacker with my 3 pound male Brook Trout
I was able to catch some great fish using these things and had a blast every time one went off.  I would be in the middle of a conversation and then hear the sound of a JawJacker go off and my adrenaline would rush in anticipation of what would come next.  There were a few times when the JawJacker would go off, but fail to hook my fish... I was a little frustrated and thought that there was just a little fish messing with my bait.  Then I remembered a tip which was also on the back of the JawJacker box which said that if you are getting bites on the JawJacker but not having many hookups, then try to downsize your bait.  I thought what do I have to loose, so I gave it a shot... Sure enough the next time the JawJacker went off the fish was hooked and the rest was left up to me to get that fish on the ice.

ice fishing Idaho
My dad and one of his fish of the day


My dad and I spent about 6 hours on the ice and caught almost 50 fish.  There were quite a few people fishing around  us who kept saying that the fishing was quite slow.  In respect to them, the fishing was quite a bit slower than what it had been for them a few days earlier.  They were catching a few fish here and there, but the fish were not biting very hard for some reason this day.  Those next to us would run from pole to pole because they would see a fish was nibbling on their bait, but by the time they got to it the fish was either gone or it was not interested in their bait any more.  I would not say that we had more bites than the other fisherman around us, but the difference was that when we were getting bites, we were mostly always hooking up with a fish because of the JawJacker.  A few of these people kept asking us what we were using for bait and we were open and honest about what we were using.  To their disappointment, it was the same thing they were using, but we were catching more fish.  I would definitely say that the purpose of the JawJacker, which is to "make good ice fisherman great," was fulfilled because the only difference between us and the other guys was the JawJackers... AND... about 30 more fish!

When we decided to call it a day and pack up, the JawJackers collapsed very compact and simple so that they were easy to pack on and off the ice.  They are also secure so that you don't have to worry about any part of the JawJacker getting caught on something and breaking off.  My personal favorite part about the JawJacker is that you are more likely to catch more fish with them than you are without them.  In my opinion, the more fish you catch, the better chance you have of catching a big fish! The great part about this day is that my thoughts were confirmed because the last fish we pulled in for the day was this great trout!

My Catch of the Day! 
 I would 100% recommend the JawJacker to anyone who enjoys ice fishing, or is thinking about getting started in ice fishing.  You do not have to be a professional to run one of these contraptions, and they are worth every penny.  Honestly if you see one of these things work you will realize that they are worth it! This is why Matt from JawJacker Ice Fishing Supplies is letting me give one of these away on my blog to show some lucky reader/follower how amazing this product really is!  All you have to do to be registered to win is share this blog post either on Facebook or Twitter AND leave a comment below!  The drawing will be Wednesday November 28th so please pass this word on and leave a comment for your chance to win a free JawJacker!!!

 If you would like to purchase a JawJacker, please visit http://www.jawjackerfishing.com/
 Visit his website for tips on ice fishing and other ice fishing gear!


Monday, November 12, 2012

ICE FISHING TIME!!!!


Ice Fishing
Great way to start the morning!
It is getting to be that time of year again!!! I love winters in Idaho! I know a lot of people complain about the cold and the snow, but I absolutely love the winter because it means one thing... ICE FISHING!!!  I have grown up ice fishing, but the last two years, I have really taken it a lot more serious.  I used to go out with one, maybe two poles and sit there frozen next to a hole in hopes of catching a fish or two.  In Idaho, you are able to fish with 5 poles as long as you can maintain all 5 of them.  My dad purchased a gas powered auger so that we wouldn't have to hand drill all of our holes, and my wife (yes it was her idea) informed me that if she was going to continue ice fishing with me then I would have to buy a ice shelter

My Eskimo Quick Fish 6
Between the auger, the shelter, and all of the other gear, I was destined to make it worth the investment.  My wife and I started to go as often as we could and began to have a lot of fun!

My wife and I goofing off while fising
Eventually, I was able to talk a few of my family and friends into coming out and going fishing with us.  I realize that the idea of going outside while it is literally below freezing (often times below 0) standing on a frozen lake over top of a small little hole waiting and hoping for a fish to bite doesn't sound like a lot of fun to people.  I have however, been quite surprised at how many people have really enjoyed ice fishing once they get out and do it.  It really helps having the ice shelter and a little heater to stay warm, but even without it most of the people we took has a blast.

A few of my family on one of our ice fishing trips
While reminissing on last years season, I can't help but get excited to get out there again soon and hit the ice!  I have a few new things I have been wanting to try out and hope to out do my best ice fishing catch of last year which was a 7 1/2 pound trout.  My uncle had to torture me today on his day off by being one of the first ones to hit the ice this year and witness this 9 1/2 pound trout being pulled through the ice! If all goes my way I will be out there Friday trying my luck!

9 1/2 pound trout (2 inches of ice...)
If you want to read more about our ice fishing from previous years you can check out my brother's post on his blog !