I have mentioned this on my social media such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter but I thought I would go into more detail and explain how I am handling my hat giveaways. I pretty much adopted the idea of Geo-Caching where I pick a random location, hide a hat, and then post the GPS coordinants and pics for people to go find.
The purpose behind this is to offer my followers some cool giveaways but don't just ask them to like a picture or tag a friend. I will also do other giveaways on my blog and other mediums where you don't have to be in Idaho to win. I just wanted to motivate people to get outdoors and enjoy the scenery Idaho has to offer. It seemed kind of contradictory to have a blog and social media outlet which is focused on the outdoors then reward people for being on their computer or indoors all of the time. Sooo.. here we go for a giveaway!!!
Alright folks, If you are in the Eagle Idaho area (or close by) we have
hid an Idaho Pursuit hat in the Eagle Island State Park. So if you need
something to do in the morning here is your first clue/photo
Be sure to follow me on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for all of the details and updates!
Alright people, I have definitely had some adventures lately. Sad to say I haven't done as much ice fishing as I would have liked, but none the less I have been able to get out on the ice a few times. One of the things that kept me off the ice a few weeks was vehicle problems... On my way home from ice fishing a few weeks ago, my rear left tire decided it didn't want to tied down any more and popped off at 65 miles per hour! With the sparks flying and my nerves rushing, I luckily pulled off to the side of the road and watched my tire plummet down to the bottom of a canyon! Long story short, I was glad I did a lot more praying than cussing in this situation and I am glad that things didn't end worse than they did!
Between vehicle problems and the busyness of the holidays I counted myself lucky to get out when I did, and luckily I had decent success every time I've been fishing so far. I can honestly say that my success would not be as high if I didn't have the JawJackers! While other people next to me are getting skunked and not catching fish, I have all my JawJackers spread out trying to locate fish and up my odds of getting one to bite. On one of my trips this year I was fishing with 5 other people which meant we could have 25 rods out... We weren't having success so we started drilling more holes and putting out every rod we had. Luckily through this process we started catching fish. The interesting part about it was that every fish we caught was on the JawJacker and was out of the same exact hole! That day we ended up catching 18 fish while the group next to us walked away with 2.
Here is a video of me ice fishing Henry's Lake in Idaho!
I've said it again and again but every time I go ice fishing next to someone who doesn't use the JawJackers, I am reminded of why I have become such a strong believer in them. Don't get me wrong, you still need to know where to fish and what to use for bait, but the JawJacker increases your chances of changing fish every time you use them! I have caught some amazing fish through the ice and couldn't imagine fishing without the JawJacker. Just like last year I want to share this joy with someone else by giving away a free JawJacker. In partner with the JawJacker Twitter account @JawJackerFishin we are giving away a free JawJacker to one lucky follower so here is how you can get entered! a Rafflecopter giveaway
Remember that you can tweet about this giveaway every day to get two more entries for your chance to win this JawJacker!
There are quite a few different "Tip-up" and "Hook-set" set ups for ice fishing these days. One comment I recently saw someone make on a discussion board about legalizing the use of devices in Minnesota such as the JawJacker was this, "Don't we have enough electronics already? Does someone really need more to catch fish? Remember, it's fishing not catching!!! If they do pass it I wont use it but if someone wants to then fine but I would say no." - Doug. My post is not to necessarily argue with Doug making this comment but rather point out some misconceptions that many people (such as Doug) may have and give some reasoning and benefits of using the JawJacker.
Misconception #1 "Electronics" Well the JawJacker, along with all of the other devices of this kind, are not electronic at all. It is unfortunate that those who are "against" using these devices are under the misconception that the devices are electronic and some how give the fisherman an some unfair advantage by being electronic. The truth is that the JawJacker is a device that is powered solely by the ice fishing rod that you put in it.
Misconception #2 "Spring Loaded" Even though there may be a spring on the trigger adjustment of the JawJacker to adjust the tension of the trigger mechanism, the spring does absolutely nothing other than adjust how sensitive the device is set. There is no spring loading in the way the device sets the hook or in the way the device is held in the ready position. The JawJacker relies primarily on the tension of the rod itself to set the hook which can be adjusted to match the fish you are attempting to catch. The angle of the rod in the rod holder as well as the length of the trigger arm will fluctuate the momentum of the rod from an extremely light hook set to a harder hook set for bigger fish. To demonstrate how these devices work please watch the video provided by Matt from JawJacker!
Misconception #3 "Fishing not Catching" One thing I am a huge believer in is that this device does EXACTLY what it says it will do! I have never used a product in fishing that is more spot on with what it promises to its consumer! The JawJacker website state, "The JawJacker is a new ice fishing device that is designed to help ice fishermen catch more fish. When a fish bites, the trigger releases the bent fishing rod so it can snap up and set the hook. The trigger is very sensitive and can detect light bites." There is also a slogan that JawJacker stands by which says that this device "Makes good ice-fisherman better" which is exactly what this product does. It is important to point out that this device is not 100% guaranteed that you will catch a fish. There are times that this device is set off while missing the fish, why it's still called fishing not catching! There are lots of tips to up your hook-up percentage with the JawJacker but even with these tips nothing is 100%. So this device does not make ice fishing into fish-catching. It is also obvious that you need to be where the fish are to catch fish as well as use the bait the fish are biting on. The misconception that the Jawjacker will take the sport out of it is simply just not true.
Lastly I just want to say that no one I have visited with, chatted to, or tried to convince about the JawJacker has really been completely 100% sold on it until they have seen them in action (either in person or on YouTube)! I have been ice fishing numerous times this year where I have had people come over to our group to see "what we were doing different" or "what all the excitement was about". The answer to their question is quickly given to them as they watch the JawJacker in action!
Check out how much fun this kid has catching fish on the JawJacker!
As many times as I have been out ice fishing I still get the rush when the JawJacker goes off, but nothing to me is as exciting or fulfilling as when I take a few "first timers" or a few kids up ice fishing with the JawJacker! Watching kids run from pole to pole as they go off with a school of hungry fish swimming through is irreplaceable! As I said earlier that the biggest selling point is watching these in action so I want to not only show you a video of the JawJacker in action but also a way to get entered to win yourself a JawJacker!!! That's right, here is your post-Christmas present from JawJacker!
To get entered just follow the instructions on the Rafflecopter below and be sure to share the word so that we know you like what we are doing! Good Luck!
As some of you may have read in one of my earlier posts, I am a pretty big fan/believer in the JawJacker ice fishing tool! I have caught a lot more fish than I ever thought possible since I've started using them! I have used them now for about a year, and would never go ice fishing without them. I have used them mostly to catch trout, seems how this is the type of fish that is primarily in the area I live, but I have also used them to catch kokanee salmon and perch. I like how versatile the JawJacker is and how it allows me to successfully fish for these different species. Because kokanee, perch, and trout all bite differently, I am able to use different actions of poles; lighter action for the perch and kokanee, while using heavier action poles for the trout. I am also able to use various lengths of poles, which I enjoy because I am not tied down to using one specific pole for my JawJacker. The other adjustment I can make is the trigger sensitivity for the different types of fish I'm going after, and anyone who has been ice-fishing knows that some days the fish bite harder and other days they barely bump the bait. Those are all the different ways I can adjust and adapt the JawJacker to up my chances of catching fish while on the ice.
JawJacker set up with my South Bend pole. The brook trout I caught with this set up!
In Idaho I am allowed 5 poles while ice-fishing so I typically use as many JawJackers as I have while sitting close to the poles I'm jigging. One of the only issues I have run into when I began using the JawJackers was not having enough poles! This was especially true when I would take some of my friends or family fishing with me. To ensure that this isn't the problem holding some of you back from trying out the JawJacker yourself, Matt (the designer of the JawJacker) has decided to sponsor a giveaway on my blog to win two 30" medium action, South Bend ice fishing poles!!!
South Bend "Blizzard" 30" Medium Action Ice Fishing Pole
Here is the info for the giveaway:
Follow the instructions on the RaffleCopter icon below to be entered to win 2 South Bend, Blizzard 30" Medium action ice fishing poles!
This giveaway was sponsored by JawJacker Ice Fishing Supplies. The ice fishing poles for this giveaway are not made by or associated with JawJacker Ice Fishing Supplies, but have been selected as the items for this giveaway.
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 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.
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!
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