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My father, Poppee, hobbled out on the ice. His surgically repaired titanium hip squeaked a little as he walked. When he smiled, his tungsten teeth sparkled in the sunlight. He turned and reached into his bucket and pulled out 26” Frabill Quick Tip ultralight ice rod with a titanium spring bobber tip. “HASTA LA VISTA, BABY!” He whispered and lowered a tiny 4mm tungsten Glazba jig down the hole.Chekai is the stuff of fishing nightmares! Immediately he had a bite. It was heavy, screaming drag, but soon he gained ground. Finally, out popped crazy cousin Chekai from the hole, flopping on th …

Without a doubt, when it comes to ice fishing, I have put forth more effort panfishing than other larger species. Looking back on thousands of hours I have spent ice fishing and ice jig making, two things are certain, a fish is a fish as long as it is the same species. It doesn’t matter if its bluegill, crappie, perch, or white bass, each species reacts, eats and attacks prey differently. If you build the right jig...they will come! I love my Livescope I have spent a lot of time staring at a spring bobber, wondering what was going on down below the ice. I spent more time watching a …

I icefish for two reasons; to catch fish to eat and to catch fish to release! I don't go for the camaraderie, to cook a pot of chili or to drink beer and shoot schnapps, I can do that at home or in the garage. I've been ice fishing for more than 30 years now and I might be more excited about it than ever before. I've got my areas I like to fish, some secret spots and all the tackle and gear to make me successful. I like to go ice fishing to get away from the crowds, LOL! Some spots I fish are shallow, no need for a flasher, drill a dozen holes real quick and hop around until I …

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 …

"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 …