One of the more innovative companies on the ice fishing front is Ice Hogger.  Their bread and butter is the Ice Hogger shroud system which is meant to put ice chips from your power auger in a place that you want them, and not in your ice hole!  But unfortunately my Strikemaster Lazer Mag Xpress auger is one of the few augers that can't accept the system.  However, they have another product that is meant to ease the time you spend taking the cover on and off of your power ice auger.  That is the focus of this review, the Ice Hogger Magnetic Ice Auger Blade Cover system.

First Impressions:

When I first got the package it seemed too simple to be true.  A couple of round magnets, a couple of bolts and a couple of washers.  Oh, and a set of instructions and a template to use on your auger cover.  As an engineer, simple is nearly always better, so I was impressed right out of the gate.

Setup:

I figured setup was going to be a pain, but I was dead wrong.  Simply cut out the template, put it on the inside of your auger cover, mark the places to drill the holes and drill.  From there it is simply placing the magnets in the holes and attaching the hardware to secure them.  10 minutes and you are in business.

The auger blade cover system in action:

there are 2 things that jump out at me as to why this is a great system to use.  First, taking the cover off is as simple as putting your foot on the cover and pulling the auger away.  No taking off your gloves, freezing your hands and removing the cover.  And reassembly is even easier than that, simply place the cover on the ground and put the auger back down.  As long as you are pretty close the cover will find the right way to align and the magnets do the remainder of the work.

Final Take:

Obviously this is not a MUST have item.  You could simply use the factory system for putting the cover on and off.  But trust me, if you use this even 2 times per year it is well worth the investment.  The time savings and lack of hassle from even the first trip will be evident.  I would recommend it myself and will absolutely be using it going forward.

With the ice fishing season underway in northern Minnesota I had a chance to try out many products the past couple days on Upper Red Lake.  One of those products was the Rod Strap from Today's Tackle.

The concept of the rod strap is pretty simple.  Hold your rod while you set it down.  In the winter this is very common as we can have 2 lines down in the winter here in Minnesota.  My usual setup is for a jig rod that I actively fish with my flasher and either a dead stick or a bobber rod which I have set down.  It is for the 2nd rod that the rod strap was invented in my opinion.

First Impressions:

Before getting out onto the ice I opened up the rod straps and gave them the once over.  The nylon sheathing is quality made and should last a while.  They are lightweight, which would be a good thing for the modern ice angler who is perpetually on the move.  And finally, the price is very good, $5.50 including shipping for 2 of the straps is a bargain in just about anyone's book.

Thoughts while out on the ice:

The velcro was easy to use and allowed for me to put the strap just about anywhere.  My thought was to use it for my bobber rod and that is where I started.  The first day I had a hard time getting the strap to stay where I wanted to on my metal poles of my portable.  I have a Clam flipover house that is a few years old and the poles are a reasonably small diameter and so the strap wanted to go with gravity, not where I wanted it.  I'm pretty sure with the larger diameter poles of the portables of today this wouldn't be an issue, but it was with me.  Thankfully i had a small roll of hockey tape with me in the car and placing this on the pole worked great to keep the strap where I wanted it.  Removing the ice rod when a fish hit was pretty simple with the pink strip of material and I thought it worked for what is intended.

Final Take:

Advantages:

Inexpensive

Quality made

Allows you to save up valuable floor real estate in your portable house

Lightweight and collapses down for easy packing and transport

For the run and gun fisherman that uses a bucket this would be great

Disadvantages:

Slid on poles of portable

My final take would be this is a pretty good deal, especially for the run and gun angler.  I think that I still prefer the rod rocker 2 and found myself going back to that often especially when dead sticking, but among what I have seen on the market I think this is a solid product at a square price.