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Jigging a live minnow is the most popular way to catch river walleye and sauger. However, there are a few alternatives that will sometimes be more effective each Spring.  I, for one, have been using plastics, blade baits, and spoons more often in recent years and have caught some of the biggest walleyes of my life as well as limits in the process.  I used to grab five dozen minnows and a few dozen crawlers every time I went fishing, but now, instead of spending $60 on live bait, I'll spend under $10 because, of course, I still MUST get a few dozen “SECURITY MINNOWS” just …

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 …

Jigging a live minnow is still the most popular way to catch river walleye and sauger, but a few alternatives can often be more effective.  I, for one, have been using plastics, blade baits, and spoons more often in recent years and have caught some of the biggest walleyes of my life, as well as limits of keepers in the process. I used to grab five dozen minnows and a few dozen crawlers every time I went fishing, but now instead of spending $40 on live bait, I'll spend under $10 because (of course), I still must get a few dozen “security minnows” just in case. LOL    …

Have you ever been catching bluegill like crazy and the bite shuts down? Have you ever been pounding the perch, and then the pounding just ends? Well, chances are a predator has moved into the area, been attracted to all the commotion, and is looking for an easy meal. The predator could be a walleye, bass, pike, muskie, or catfish. I’ve known this was true for the forty-some years that I’ve been ice fishing, but I’ve never really seen it happening live and haven’t capitalized on it enough, until now. Watching for big predator fish with a scope Livescope, better known as …

There are a multitude of ways to catch a fish through the ice. Once you find the way that works best for that exact moment you are fishing for whatever species you are after, then BINGO, you’ve solved the fish puzzle for one day, because tomorrow that puzzle might change. I can’t tell you how many times that I thought I had it figured out before I got to the lake. I’ll have a plan, a spot, a species that I’m after and when I get there, everything I believed would happen, didn’t. I’d get to my spot and someone was on it. Which jigs do I need? Should I use my favorite lead jigs or try out t …