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There is nothing as exciting as the rush I get from early ice. That first step on the ice is the beginning of a great new ice fishing season with endless opportunities on the hard water. One giant step for Walt, one giant leap for new innovations. But, the last few years I’ve cheated… I can admit it to you now. I’ve gone ice fishing out of my boat!Fishing early ice by boat What’s a guy supposed to do when the perch, bluegill and walleye are stacked? It’s a nice day, Temperature above freezing and my favorite lakes haven’t frozen over yet. Yet I want to be out there catching fish. T …

One thing I learned about fishing is that if you want to catch fish, you have to go where the fish are...unfortunately it took me forty years to figure that out! First off, you need to fish a lake with a good population of fish. If a lake hosts a lot of bass tournaments, chances are it’s a good bass lake. On the other hand, if it holds a lot of walleye tournaments, then it’s a better walleye lake. Some lakes support bass, walleye and catfish tournaments...those are the good ones. Same with lakes with a lot of resorts on them, it usually suggests better fishing. Next, check out the guide …

What’s a Bladed Jig? A bladed jig is also known as a Chatterbait. Chatterbait is the name coined by Z-Man tackle company that invented and named their bladed jig the Chatterbait. Since these baits have become a success story on the tournament bass trail, every bass tackle company has got one, but I still like the originalChatterbait and I prefer the 3/8 ounce size for most of my fishing. At first I didn’t think much of a Chatterbait,. I had one that sat around in my tackle box for 10 years, just waiting to make it to casting rotation on my old reliable St. Croix Premier casting rod …

If you want a Net full of fish...you got to fish around some junk! No matter where you fish, there is going to be junk in the water. Junk is good, junk is where the fish like to hide. “See that junk over there?” “Yeah, what is it?” “I dunno, but you better make a cast before I do!” Junk is cover, junk is structure, junk can be weeds, a pile of rocks, a pier, a fallen tree...you get the idea. If you’ve got a fancy locator, underwater camera, side-scan or live scope, you can really see some junk...and if you look closely, you will see game fish too! You …

Sometimes you have to get your butt whooped to learn something. I spent a long weekend last Spring on the Wisconsin River trying for early season walleye and sauger. On the drive up I stopped at several bait shops for info and then checked out the action on and around several parking lots below a few dams before I headed over to a shoreline “hot spot”. There were already a dozen vehicles parked on the side of the road and twice as many anglers out fishing, it looked to be pretty slow. The area consisted of a rocky shoreline along a bridge, with current flow underneath and anglers lin …