Scout Smarter for Turkey Season Success Pro Alex Rutlege reveals his pre-season back of tricks By Lance Davidson Most turkey hunters like getting out in the field to patch together the pieces of the puzzle that will help them bag a bird once the redbuds start to bloom. Serious turkey hunters, however, see scouting as much more than an enjoyable way of shaking off late winter’s cabin fever. For the folks whose season plans involve numerous hunts in multiple states, scouting is mission critical to getting birds down early so they can move on to the next hunt. “Success in any hunt comes down to scouting,” says Tenzing Outdoors pro and host of Bloodline TV and Radio, Alex Rutledge. The Birch Tree, Missouri native’s 30 plus years of workmanlike hunting experience have ... [ Read More ]
Stick to the Plan – Turkey Hunting
I love to turkey hunt, but I can’t sit still, so at times it’s a real challenge. When I first started turkey hunting, I’d hunt in the same spot, nice and still until about nine o’clock and then head home. On the way home, I’d see toms strutting everywhere and I soon realized I was doing something wrong. Since then I have developed a solid plan that works for me. I hunt in phases. Each phase is a time of the day that corresponds to certain turkey behaviors. I hate wearing a watch, but when I am hunting with my plan, I use the clock on my cellphone to keep me on track and keep me disciplined. When I am bored stiff hunting, time seems to move really slowly, the clock keeps me honest. I also bring plenty of food and water, in case the plan takes a while to work. When I turkey hunt- I like to ... [ Read More ]
Nuclear Ant Dare to Drop a Nuclear Bomb
Supercharged Nuclear Ant leaves mushroom clouds during last ice - Ice Fishing Mayhem Swirl. Whirl. Slurp and munch. Fish are frantically siphoning food from the flow. The bite? Fast and furious. After all… it is last ice. The sun’s high and bright, and its intense rays are literally liquefying the layer of snow right out from underneath your boot’s cleats. The melt-off’s draw from the still-frozen surface is flowing down through your hole, as well pouring in from the surrounding springs and streams. Within the runoff, miniature morsels of food have been lying in a frozen state since the water first solidified. It’s the time of year when panfish of all species are treading high in the water column; their dorsal fins literally tickling the lake’s soon-to-be-departed icy shell. The ... [ Read More ]
Experience Wins Over – Ice Fishing Perch, Crappies & Bluegill
Experience Wins Over - Ice Fishing Perch, Crappies & Bluegill Being in the fishing game as long as I have, a slight bit of common sense seems to take over every once in a while, certainly a whole lot more than it did when younger. A “two group” Ontario lake trout outing got me to thinking about this.Planned a month in advance, there would be eight of us. I use the word “us” loosely, as Blake and I weren’t planning on making the trip, as we were penciled in to help with the annual “No Child Left Inside” program, put on by the Nashwauk-Keewatin school district. Scheduled for a Friday, it would be the same day the trout outing would get underway on Lake Manitou. I thought about running up there late Friday or early Saturday but came to my senses after watching the weather ... [ Read More ]
What Lies Beneath Discovering Hidden Hotspots on Ice
Right now, there’s a hidden hot spot in your favorite lake, and most years it never gets touched. “There’s this lake I’ve fished my whole life,” says legendary ice angler and guide, Brian “Bro” Brosdahl. “Thought I knew it pretty well. Then several years ago, I ran the entire basin in a boat armed with Side Imaging. What an eye-opener. Discovered a sweet spot that had likely been untapped for decades, maybe longer. It was just filthy with crappies and big sunfish. Still is.” The truth, Bro says, is that every waterbody in the Ice Belt has secrets to share, if only anglers will “listen.” Whether it’s a reservoir in the Rocky Mountains or Dakotas, a pond in Pennsylvania or a big lake in Minnesota or Michigan, the surface conceals an assortment of unusual fish attractors—submerged ... [ Read More ]
Hop, Drop and Troll For The Best Minnesota Slab Crappies – Ice Fishing
It’s no secret. Big water grows big crappies. The large, deep lakes of Minnesota have an abundance of forage and more places for crappies to hide, feed and grow. Find a big lake with relatively low angling pressure, and you’ve set the stage for potentially epic slab crappie fishing. But you’ve got to find them before you can catch them. Anglers who do a little research, drill enough holes, stay mobile and fish speedy baits will be rewarded with success. Seasonal Crappie Movements In smaller, shallower lakes, crappies are typically located and caught throughout much of the winter season over main-lake basins. In large, deep lakes, however, they tend to avoid the deepest areas and use flats, humps and basins ranging from 20 to 40 feet deep. But crappies ... [ Read More ]
Sight Fishing – Get In On The Excitement!
Sight fishing is nothing new to ice anglers. Sight fishing is a staring contest between you and the fish. Here we are, sitting above a hole cut in the ice staring at a wary bluegill, just waiting for it to take our tiny offering. This is as real as it gets. Everything is real time and what you see is what you get, there is no guessing. There is just something magical about actually watching a fish take your jig. “Now you see it, now you don’t.” You have to love that expression when sight fishing, because it’s so true. Panfish are notorious for inhaling and exhaling tiny morsels in a split second. Your helpless jig is now in the realm of the bluegill and its fate is entirely up to that plate sized trophy. You sit intently waiting for a reaction from the flutter below. You hold your breath ... [ Read More ]
Panfish Tournament Series
Throughout many of the states located in the Ice Belt, ice fishing series targeting Panfish have been taking off. To name a few of the series - the North American Ice Fishing Circuit (NAIFC), Team Extreme and the Ultimate Panfish League. They each have their own set of rules & regulations, as well as sponsors and payouts. This season upon my move back to the Midwest I decided to try my hand at competitive ice fishing and joined the Ultimate Panfish League. The Ultimate Panfish League event on Medicine Lake, MN is in the books. It was the coldest event of the year so far but the teams battled through it and brought in some decent weight to the scales. Medicine is a new lake which was voted in this year and many of the teams were unfamiliar with it when it came to ice ... [ Read More ]
Tungsten Jigs: The Answer To Finessing Aggressive Panfish
Excuse me? Finessing an aggressive fish, huh? I suppose you’re wondering what that even means and why I’m titling this article in a manner that would contradict itself. Well, believe it or not, even aggressive-natured fish need a little coaxing at times. So just how do we identify the aggressive fish that need to be teased with finesse applications? That’s a very fair question. I look to my Vexilar flasher. It’s amazing what your electronics will tell you. You can see when fish crash the bait only to halt upon impact, moments before striking. This tells me we’re dealing with aggressive-natured fish, but the offering didn’t seal the deal. Sometimes it’s because the bait is too large, not the right action, looks awkward, it could be a number of things. Me, I turn on my finessing aggressive ... [ Read More ]
Late Ice Perch – Bug Brained Perch at Late Ice
Late Ice Perch - Plastics Plastics Plastics! The author Jason Mitchell with a giant perch caught over a soft bottom transition using a Northland Tackle Blood Worm. There is no silver bullet with late ice perch regarding location but make no mistake, some of the most impressive catches and fishing for the whole calendar year take place in march. Late ice is prime time for jumbo perch but the tactics and patterns can run the gamut. On so many lakes, late ice perch move relatively shallow and become more aggressive as the ice rots. Large sand flats or gently sloping flats that have chara and sand grass often hold fish during late ice particularly if these locations are near the mouths of bays and other shallow water that where these fish will eventually spawn. These shallow flat patterns ... [ Read More ]