2010 Articles

2010 Articles

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March 2010

Get Ready For The Best Ice-Fishing of the Season! by Bob Jensen
My favorite time of the year for ice-fishing is getting closer all the time. While I really enjoy early ice and its potential for fast fishing, there's just something I enjoy more about the final three or four weeks of ice-fishing. Maybe it's the... [ read more ]

Late Ice Crappies by Dave Duwe
The warmer weather of March means the end of another long Wisconsin winter. The ice is becoming soft and can be dangerous, so always use caution. The end of the ice fishing season does offer one big benefit; some of the best crappie fishing of the ... [ read more ]

Time For A New Boat? by Ted Peck
My tax guy tells me I need to buy a new boat every five years. This is the year. My 1860 VSD Lund was ever faithful. But it's time for her to go. With the Bush tax cuts set to expire the end of this year, I suspect many folks who fish for a living ar... [ read more ]

Trout thru the Ice - Just the Basics with Brad Bricco by Steve Ryan
The bend in the rod foretold the tale of the tape. This was not the pull of a walleye or even a pike for that matter. This fish had a purpose, which did not include making an appearance on the topside of the ice. Jenny fought the fish with all the... [ read more ]

Walleyes Come as No Fluke by Brian "Bro" Brosdahl
Brian "Bro" Brosdahl with Mark Courts Admittedly, I'm a meat and potatoes sort of guy. I'm eyeing the porterhouse steak on the menu long before the canary food, organic "meals under 500 calories". In fact, I'll take the whole right side of the m... [ read more ]

February 2010

Baiting Technique Turns Fish to Stone by Brian "Bro" Brosdahl
Creating "Medusa's Head" with maggots popularized by ice fishing pacesetter Brian "Bro" Brosdahl Warning to panfish everywhere: Don't look into her eyes, or at that living crown of writhing maggots for that matter. If you're lucky, it's Stoneheng... [ read more ]

Lure Action For More Ice-Fishing Action by Bob Jensen
It's that time in the ice-fishing season when we really need to start fine-tuning our presentations if we want to experience ice-fishing success. The easy ones have been caught, and the remaining fish have been pounded pretty good by this point of t... [ read more ]

Nonprofit Madison Fishing Expo Celebrates Its 25th Anniversary by Dan Durbin
The Madison Fishing Expo (MFE) will be celebrating its 25th year February 26th through the 28th with one of its largest shows ever with more speakers than ever before. Chuck Rolfsmeyer, President of the show, said they have come a long way in their... [ read more ]

Open that Door! by Ted Peck
Door County, Wisconsin has been one of my favorite fishing destinations for over 30 years. This is a place where you want to bring all the gear-from downrigger rods to perch jerkin' tackle-because the bite will always be good but finding the best act... [ read more ]

Top ice anglers test skills, electronics at the 2009 NAIFC Championship by Ted Pilgrim
Reluctantly biting fish and the need for well-tuned electronicseverywhere lakes freeze, these two themes figure largely into the schemes of ice anglers. So it was during the 2009 North American Ice Fishing Championship. Eighty-four of North Ame... [ read more ]

January 2010

Camera Or Flasher For Ice Fishing? by Ted Peck
There is no doubt electronics will improve your ice fishing success by at least 75 percent. Both an underwater camera and sonar flasher unit will help you put more fish on the ice. Which is better? Ask two old bucketeers what they think about ... [ read more ]

Hand to Fin Combat by Brian "Bro" Brosdahl
A proven pattern for hooking gargantuan pike during early ice Up above, I tiptoe across the frozen shallows maintaining a low profile. Stealth is a big part of the game. Down below, however, it's more like lions in the Coliseum tearing and tossin... [ read more ]

Hole Hopping by Dave Duwe
How can I catch more fish? This question has haunted some ice fishermen for years. The answer is really very simple, hole hopping. Hole hopping is aggressively moving from ice fishing hole to hole searching for the active, feeding fish. My favo... [ read more ]

Ice Fishing Ideas For Finicky Fish by Bob Jensen
Fish under the ice, just like fish in open water, sometimes get finicky. It seems that they just don't want to open their mouths to take the bait we have down there. Here are some ideas for getting fish to eat your bait when they don't seem to want... [ read more ]

Search And Destroy by Tony Roach
"New Wave" Fish Finding Tactics on Ice When you spend your winters guiding on a huge lake like Central Minnesota's Mille Lacs, doing all the things it takes to find biting fish can test your resolve. There's only one way to the fish - drilling lo... [ read more ]