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"You gonna fish your way, I gonna fish mine!" - Poppee Poppee always fished way different than me. I was always, thinking, drilling, grabbing a different rod and generally panicking that if the fish weren't gonna bite soon, it would be a tough day and THEN WE WOULD HAVE TO FACE MY MOM WITHOUT FISH FOR THE FRYER! Poppee would just be sitting there, seemingly doing nothing, almost mocking me and my efforts. He'd be drinking coffee, eating cookies, dozing off...then his rod would buckle and a fish would pop out his hole. That's why he was Poppee, always popping fish!We’re one of th …

Sorry folks, I can't come up with one single "best ice fishing jig ever". But how about a jig that has stood the test of time for more than 40 years, having caught millions of fish during this time! This is one of THE best ice fishing jigs ever for walleye, crappie, perch, rainbow trout and bluegill! The Demon is one of the most effective, versatile ice fishing jigs ever created. It has a unique design, a dash and dart motion on the lift and a flutter-flash on the fall. The Demon is available in five sizes from 1/100 oz. to 1/14 oz. which covers all species of fish. Th …

Oh panfish. I love panfish. They are fun to catch and good to eat. If you’re new to fishing, you may wonder what is a panfish? It isn’t a specific species. It’s a term that refers to many different species of fish that are small enough to fit in a frying pan but large enough to be legal and fun to catch. Perch, bass, crappie, are all panfish and we talk a lot about how to catch them. Once upon a time the Fox Chain in Northern Illinois was a yellow bass factory. Everyone complained that those pesky yellow bass were infiltrating on their bluegill and crappie fishing, but not me and Popp …

How the heck did anyone ever catch a fish through the ice without modern advantages of flashers, underwater cameras and Panoptics Livescope? Well, once upon a time, we had none of those things, all I needed was a jig, a hand auger and some wigglers. I'd drive a hundred miles for those wigglers. Those wigglers were the key, they were golden! It don't get more old school than Poppee on the ice! Well looking back on more than three decades of ice fishing, a lot has changed. In the beginning, I was young and strong, I could drill a dozen holes with my hand auger, move around and drill a …

When I was a kid we didn't have much. It was a big deal to go for a drive out in the country and go apple picking. My mom was so happy. "Just look at the beautiful Fall colors", she would say. Once at the apple orchard, we'd take the tractor ride out to the fields. "It's so beautiful here, just smell that fresh air, look at the trees, where's my camera...those were happy times. While she was excited about nature, my father Poppee and I were excited about one thing...apples!Me and Poppee just love apples The plan was to eat as many apples as we could humanly stuff into our mouths, a …