Blog

The ice is here, and I’m out chasing bluegill and other panfish.  It could be in Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin, or Minnesota. Just give me some solid ice, a shallow weedy bay, channel, or backwater, and I’m on my way! Are you catching fish? I’ve been chasing panfish for more than forty years, and it has never gotten old, even though I have.  I’ve learned a few things along the way.  The first and foremost goal is to catch a bunch of fish. There is absolutely no reason to invest in all the gear, expend all the effort it takes to go ice fishing, and be satisfie …

The last couple of years have offered some great ice fishing for me, especially in shallow water less than ten feet deep.  It is here that bluegill, perch, crappie, and pike roam freely and are readily caught, especially at first ice, that is, right now! Flutter spoons for the win!  It is here that old school flutter spoons still produce.  Standbys like Custom Jigs & Spins Demons, 2-Spots, and Rockers, Demon Jigging Spoons, Lil’ Cecils, and Slender Spoons are killer producers in these shallow weedy areas.   Small tungsten jigs are most effective in clear wate …

Steep breaklines are a favorite spot for Fall walleye and pike to feed. These are areas where schools of bait will huddle up. Active gamefish travel along the break line, corralling that school and scarfing them down or spooking them up shallow where they slurp them up. Deadsticking with plastic presentations I’ll approach these fish with my one-two punch, which is dead sticking with rods in holders and casting jig-n-plastic presentations. Basically, dead sticking is baiting up, lowering down to the fish zone, and then setting your rod in the holder, waiting for a bite. When a fish bites …

 In case you’ve been living in a cave, you should know that getting up early and fishing as the sun rises, plus the next few hours, is often the best fishing of the day.  Even though it’s hot in the Summer, there will be plenty of active fish shallow.  When I’m fishing in shallow water, I like to make a long cast so as not to spook the bigger fish cruising around.  For bass, I focus on two presentations: a soft plastic pre-rigged worm and a Chatterbait with my favorite trailer.  Chatterbait is the ticket for aggressive fish To cover water quickly an …

When the going gets tough…use lighter tackle...get small and you might just catch bigger fish!  Many times, my big plans end up much smaller. Time and time again, I’ve scaled down tackle and presentation and caught more and even bigger fish!  You’d be surprised at how larger predators like walleye, bass, pike and muskie will really go gaga for the small stuff.  But, you should be smart and not only scale down your lures but scale down your presentation to make it all work together. Catching Summer Walleye I fish a lot of jigs in the river all year long.  …