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If you’re an avid ice fisherman, no doubt you’ve encountered negative panfish. Bluegills and crappies that you can mark on your electronics, but can’t for the life of you get them to bite! There are many factors in why a panfish will suddenly turn negative. Panfish, unlike walleyes, are very effected by cold snaps. With the invention of portable shelters that go up and break down with ease more and more people are venturing out on those colder than average days, with this, more and more people are encountering negative fish beneath them. Hands down the Custom Jigs and Spins Shrimpo i …

We’ve had many good days on the ice.  We’ve caught crappie, bluegill, catfish, walleye, white bass, northern pikexyou name it, we’ve caught it.  But, we can count days that can truly be called BIG, only a few times. A big day is one, where you can do no wrong.  Every decision you makes, leads to fish.  The weather cooperates to, the wind doesn’t howl, maybe a light snow, but never rain or sleet.  Your gear works right.  Augers start right up, lines don’t twist or break you’re your fish locators battery doesn’t run out of juice. Last year I had a big day …

Panfish are simple creatures. They eat, sleep and spawn to survive. In between these activities they look for better places to eat, sleep, and spawn; like I said panfish are simple creatures! Ice fisherman are simple creatures too, but times are changing and we’re getting more sophisticated and knowledgeable every day. Spend some time in the backwaters of the Mississippi or Wisconsin River and you’ll learn a lot. There are a bunch of anglers who do quite well using rudimentary techniques. Any kind of pole will do, a small bobber, splitshot and a lively Shiner minnow on a number eight …

There is something mysterious about crappie. They are good fighters that are tricky to catch and even trickier to pull out the hole. Crappie will feed during low light periods and will return to popular haunts near dusk. Crappier are suspenders. They will find a spot at the weed edge, around fallen timber or even in open water, where food is plentiful and suspend there waiting with open mouths! A good crappie area in a lake is a weedy bay. Early in the season and at last ice, crappie will be in as little as a few feet of water and as long as weeds are present, crappie will be too. As t …

Poppee set the hook and the Finesse Spring Rod seemed to break in half. The 1-1/2 pound test held even though the line was rubbing on the ice edge. "I-YEEEE,” he yelled out. This fish was bigger than the previous half dozen ‘gills that we had just caught. She came up to the hole and I realized it was one of those giant pumpkinseeds that Lake Geneva was noted for. "Whoooaaah look at that bluegill," exclaimed Poppee. "No, that’s a pumpkinseed," I said. "That bluegill is a pumpkinseed?" "No, that pumpkinseed is a Pumpkinseed." "Then what is the bluegill?" "J …