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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 …

“One pill makes you larger and one pill makes you small and the pills your mother gives you don’t do nothing at all”...Grace Slick, The Jefferson Airplane, 1977. If you want to catch big panfish, you’ve got to think small. A number 4 hook rigged with a big nightcrawler, sitting under a bobber the size of a baseball won’t get the job done, not if you want to be a panfish machine. Think Small Jigs for Catching Bluegill Mick Thill, a man instrumental in bringing groundbreaking panfishing methods to America from England and who once beat the USA over the head with our own crude overs …

Kids go fishing for one reason, to catch some fish. I guess I’m still a kid. I always thought fishing was supposed to be fun, so I really don't get it when fancy pants anglers in big shiny boats pull up, cut right in front of my path and turn their backs as if I wouldn’t notice. Sometimes, I lose my cool and yell a few obscenities. “We’re in a tournament”, they yell back. Watch out for these boys...they’re in a tournament, LOL Oh my...a tournament...I didn't know that being in a tournament was so important that a prerequisite was to wreck my fishing spot and be rude to me. …

The month of May has always been a great month for walleye anglers in the Midwest. River fishing is still in full swing and lakes that had been closed for game fish spawning season will now be open. My only problem is...where do I go? I like to go where the walleye are biting. I'd rather drive an hour or more to where the bite is hot then put the boat in closer to home and have to struggle. The same goes for when I am on the water. I find myself spending more time searching than actually fishing. Sidescan, Livescope and GPS mapping has a lot to do with that as I get carried away and los …

I've enjoyed some great fishing on different rivers in March in the Midwest. Ice fishing is done and every year the fishing seems to get better! While the rest of the anglers are waiting until April, May or even June for the weather to get nice and the lakes to start producing, river rat's are catching walleyes, sauger, and other fish right now!Spring fishing for walleye When I think of river fishing in March, I think of walleye and sauger. These fish push up to the dams to prepare for spawning or are beginning to spawn. Saugers preferred spawning temperature is between 39 and 45 degrees, …