Which GPS System?

Photo Credit - Ben Larson - In-Depth Media Productions

Brandon Olson of Brooklyn Park Asks:

Hey Joel, I know it's the beginning of summer now and walleye opener is next week but I'm still missing one more thing for next ice season to really give me that edge on finding fish a little bit more accurately. What's a good gps system I could mount or take with me on the atv that will get me within feet of where I want to be? What are you guys running with when your out there? Thanks

I'm used to running an old Lowrance H2O. That said, this coming ice season, I'll have a Marcum RT-9 to mount on the sled or ATV!  In summer testing, I'm happy with the size of the screen and GPS Mapping features offered.  If you're used to the Navionics phone app, you'll have the ability to put in a Navionics card to get the same information in a bigger screen with sonar attached.

The unit is mounted to the soft-pack via a RAM mount, and I'll have a few RAM balls on both my ice vehicles and my hard house wall.  With that in mind, I think this will be the perfect travel-to and destination GPS/Fishfinder for the wheelhouse crowd.  

On the back of the unit, you can plug in 2 sonar, and 1 camera module, which will be the preferred wheelhouse configuration I'll be running.  Plug it into the big-screen TV via the HDMI out on the top of the RT-9, and you can operate a whole shelter's worth of electronics in one unit.  In that way, I think of it more as a shelter resource or command center for the whole house, rather than just an individual sonar unit for a single angler within that house.

Internet, YouTube, and App distractions via the Android table interface the RT-9 is on may help keep my kids out on the ice a bit longer as well!

Best Low-Memory Panfish Line?

Photo Credit - Ben Larson - In-Depth Media Productions

Trevor Hadden of Brighton Michigan Asks:

Hey Joel, it's about that time I start to look at re-spooling my ice rigs, mainly my gill and crappie rigs. I have always struggled finding a good line with low memory. What do you suggest? Thanks

Well Trevor, I'm in the same boat, er....garage.  I know what you mean about memory issues with ice line.  Ice reel spools are smaller, and with most line, especially old line, you end up peeling off coils that are wound tighter than a spring as you watch your jig corkscrew down the ice hole.

I'm a big fan of the Sufix Ice Magic and the Sufix Invisiline Ice Fluourocarbon, with most of my reels having the Fluoro version on.  I really haven't noticed too much extra memory with that pick, but it's important to remember that all line eventually forms to the spool and will become "gritty" and high memory over time.  For that reason, I replace line religiously each and every season at least.  For big trips to premium destinations, I'll re-spool key reels just before so I KNOW I won't be fighting any other factors.  Just me and the fish!