Another lure that gets fished without the benefit of live bait is the popular Chubby Darter by Salmo. This extremely popular lure is coming out this year in all new colors. According to Tom Zenanko, an avid ice-angler and Salmo product specialist, "On one trip I took, it was obvious that the Chubby Darter was as good or better than live bait. At the end of four days of fishing on every single day, the biggest walleye came on a Chubby Darter."

SHELTERS
It would seem that everyone is getting into the shelter business these days. The competition is obviously good for anglers because there are some outstanding improvements in portable units.

Clam Corporation, the leader in portable shelters, has taken Dave Genz's Fish Trap to new levels with the introduction of the Fish Trap X series. "We've beefed up the tubing size to 1 1/4 inches and are using plastic tubes so they don't bind when you're extending them," Genz said. He noted that this year the flip-over style of shelter he invented will be available in a four-person model.

Pak Shack

Frabill has also redesigned its entire line of shelters. "We have a whole new line of shelters this year," said Kellie Boone, product specialist for Frabill. "The new ones are called Glide Trax. They have a new base design, almost like a pontoon-style where you have two runners that are the only things coming into contact with the ice, which will make it much easier to pull the shelter over the ice and snow. Within the base, those runners that are on the bottom of the base can be used as storage areas from the inside. They have lids with a handle where you can store rods and other stuff to keep it away from the elements."

Snow Bear

Nature Vision, the company that brought you the Aqua-Vu sonar unit, has entered the shelter business for this season. "We're coming into the ice shelter market this year with the Pak Shack," said Corey Schmidt, their product specialist. "It's basically a folding camping chair with an accordion-style flip-over tent over the top. It sets up in seconds and folds up into a backpack. Throw it over your shoulder and walk onto those lakes that you can't drive on. It's a very comfortable chair and there are not a lot of comfortable chairs out there when it comes to portable ice shelters."

Eskimo has also taken comfort into consideration with its new addition to the shelter line this year. The new Eskimo ProFish series features a comfortable padded bench seat with independently folding seatbacks so you can access gear without the other angler having to stand. Plus, each seat bottom also independently folds forward to expose gear directly under your seat.