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Chuck Thompson (AKA the Legend) once told me that he employs 16 different jigging motions until he finds the hot one for the exact time on the lake he is ice fishing, but at any given moment, that could change. So if you are using jigging motion #4, you better be ready to switch to motion #9 or you will miss the bite window. Unfortunately, I couldn't even remember jigging motion #1. Sigh..the challenges of jig fishing! Jig fishing way back when Back when Chuck was in his prime, there were no tungsten jigs available, he relied on lead jigs and copper spoons. He believed that jigging …

I've probably never been more excited to go ice fishing! After having missed the entire ice and open water season last year due to health reasons...I'm ready to go! First stop will be to follow first ice in Wisconsin and then move down to Iowa and Illinois. I've got a lot of different lakes and backwaters that I fish each year and I'm an all species ice fisherman...read on to see what I'm excited about!  I’m pretty excited to be using glow jigs again too. Glowing jigs deliver on small lakes As soon as the ice is safe, I'll grab the trusty sled, spud bar, and lightweight electric …

When I first started fishing with plastic for walleye I was amazed at the fact that I could catch them on a plastic tail and a jig, often better than when using live bait. While walleye and sauger would mouth a large fathead or nibble on a half crawler, those same fish would slam a 4-6" Moxi like my dog grabbing his rawhide chew bone!While a jig and plastic is still my top way to approach these walleye on both rivers and lakes in fall and spring, I've since added a few more plastic presentations to my arsenal like a weedless jig, Chatterbait and the Tokyo Rig. Each has their time and place, re …

Snap jigging has been around for a while now. Fishing pros have been snap jigging for walleye for years. It’s a technique that has accounted for some limit catches, when most other methods fail. If you want to catch fish this summer, whether it be bass or walleye, give snap jiggin’ a try...it might just work for you too!Where to start? A 1/4 ounce jig is a good starting point for an average depth of ten feet. Add a plastic tail and your in the snappin’ business. A good quality fast tip rod and medium action spinning reel spooled with 15 pound superline allows you to really make that jig S …

When I was a kid my father Poppee used to take me fishing. The only problem was that neither of us knew how to fish. I was the one that had the urge to spend all of my free time fishing and when you are five years old, you have a lot of free time! All I needed was a pole, some bobbers, hooks, worms and some water. We spent a lot of time fishing and not catching fish until we met up with a fellow janitor, neighbor and my honorary Grandpa, Mike Dozer. Mike had a house on Pistakee Lake in Northern Illinois, a little 14' Sears boat with a Ted Williams 9.9 outboard and all the tackle and know-how w …