by Mitch Eegan They glitter. Shine. Shimmer in the light. Minuscule minnows and young-of-the-year fishes are everywhere. Deep, shallow, swimming amongst the thickest cover, suspended high in the water column or bellied to bottom. The fact is there are more of these tiny tidbits swimming about lakes, reservoirs and rivers than any other species with scales. While there are still days the old adage “big lures catch big fish” holds true, the fact of the matter is the opposite is more often spot on. Over all, little fishes are what larger fish eat; the reality being all sizes and species feast on bite-size prey over the hefty ones every day. This premise drives the recent explosion of micro crankbaits hitting the stores. The devil is in their details - external scales, realistic ... [ Read More ]
Reading fall walleye structure
During late summer and fall, if walleye are present, they are going to show up on electronics. Favorite fall walleye structure is rock reefs, deep points and classic structure that is between fifteen and forty feet of water - you are going to see fish on the screen. Bare spots that are void of life are usually a waste of time. No arches, no clutter, no bumps on the bottom - this often means no activity. Fishing this time of year is often very methodical and calculated. You have to trust your electronics and put yourself into position to be successful. Find the right fish and wait them out. Usually, when the marks start to lift off the bottom and separate, those are your active fish and that is your window to strike. This entire strategy however will unravel if you spend the entire ... [ Read More ]
7 Ice Fishing Facts To Help You Catch Early Season Panfish
Are those early ice fishing panfish eluding you? Have you ever wondered why crappies and sunfish, during early season ice fishing, aren't in the same locations as they were the previous year? Maybe you had an experience where you were on an awesome bite one day and the next everything was gone. What happened? Here are some clues and a number of facts that may help you. Factor them into your ice fishing equation, and maybe these pieces of the puzzle will make your ice fishing season more productive and enjoyable. When ice fishing, crappies, sunfish and blue gills will primarily feed on zooplankton. Crappies have large baskets for mouths with finely evolved gill rakers to trap the plankton. That is why you often catch them in the evening, because they just have to swim and ... [ Read More ]
Ice Fishing Technique – Hook, Line and NO Sinker
Using a no sinker approach in your ice fishing technique. Jim Hudson explains when, where and why you should use this approach. He also shows you how. by Jim Hudson You know that age old comedic saying – “I got ya, Hook, Line and Sinker”. Been around for years. Anglers always perpetrate their buddies into a punch line of a joke or story they are playing out, ending it with “giving them” the finale of a ribbing that only a fisherman can give. Same goes on the ice. Lots of ice anglers rig up just as the saying goes, and then carry on to fool their finned quarry. Works, yup? Always the best way? Nope, in actuality, this story is actually best played out without the sinker. When talking about bite detection and ice fishing technique while jigging for any fish we are going to pursue through ... [ Read More ]
Winter Trout in Minnesota
Effective winter patterns to consider trying for the season on selected streams predominantly include nymph patterns. The trout become lethargic in the cool winter moths and try to expend as little energy as possible. With water temperatures hovering between 34-40 degrees for most of the winter, trout will not chase their food down, but will suck it in as it floats by. That is why nymph patterns are so effective. Several nymph patterns are effective for southeastern Minnesota. The basic pattern is the scud, or freshwater shrimp in an orange or yellow color usually tied on a size 14-16 curved nymph hook. I usually use this pattern as my main nymph and tandem rig it with a dropper fly (the traditional two fly system). The scud is effective because of its color and appearance, not to mention ... [ Read More ]
Ice Fishing Microplastics – Zero In On ‘The Zoo’ Bite (Try It)
Downsize to ice fishing microplastics for more panfish this ice season by Scott Glorvigen In the 1990s we discovered the benefits of downsizing to 1- to 2-pound test and using Rat Finkies and Hornets for hardwater panfish. It was incredible—we began to experience unprecedented bites on tiny horizontal jigs while guys near us fishing minnows struggled to put fish on the ice. But it wasn’t good enough that we were catching lots of fish. Since I have a hard time accepting that fish eat just for the sake of eating, I had to find out why we were catching so many fish. It was odd. You’d catch a bunch, keep a few, clean them and find nothing in the stomachs. But I knew they had to be eating something. So I started cutting their bellies open, dumping the milky stomach contents into Mason jars ... [ Read More ]
Minnesota Deer Hunting Opener
Minnesota Deer Hunting Community - If You want to talk or get more info - Click Here please: The Minnesota deer hunting opener has hunters ready and eager to head out to the fields and forests for the firearms deer opener that gets underway a half-hour before sunrise on Saturday, Nov. 7. Here are some other reminders from the DNR for the Minnesota firearms deer season: Be sure to review new deer hunting regulations, permit area designations and boundary changes. Find this and more deer hunting information from the DNR. With nearly 500,000 firearms deer hunters in the state, the DNR encourages hunters to purchase a license early to avoid long lines and any potential system issues associated with the high sales volume. License agents where you can buy a license are located across ... [ Read More ]
Mallards In the Field
by Jason Mitchell Jason Mitchell hosts the outdoor program, Jason Mitchell Outdoors which airs on Fox Sports North and Fox Sports Midwest. Show times and listings can be found at www.jasonmitchelloutdoors.com. For many duck hunters, duck hunting is all about cattails and mud, ducks splashing on the water with a wet retriever shaking in the blind. Field hunting opportunities are not present everywhere but in the heartland of the Midwest; mallards routinely get conditioned to feed on waste grain, wheat, barley and other crops. Field hunting offers an exciting in your face perspective. In order to experience incredible field hunting where flocks of bowed up mallards are dropping down over the decoys, you have to be set up where the birds want to be. In farm country, there is no ... [ Read More ]
Ice Fishing tips for Walleye – Fish Posture and Strategy
Ice Fishing Walleyes by Jason Mitchell When you watch walleyes while ice fishing on an underwater camera, you can usually tell if that fish is going to eat just by how the fish is postured. Let’s take walleyes for example, walleyes that are in attack mode typically have a different posture… the fins are up and the back is arched. All fish including bluegills and crappie have that posture where they mean business. The fish are cruising and alert. These are the fish that make us look good as anglers and there are often key windows through the day where you get this activity. On the flip side, the fish that are not cruising that have their fins tucked tight to the body are much more difficult to catch. Not very often, but every once in a while I have observed mass migrations of fish ... [ Read More ]
First Ice Fishing Homework Starts Now
Hitting the ice at the start of the season is a new beginning. There are times where we find fish right where we thought the fish should be at first ice and there are times when the fish are not where you think they should be. Some lakes that were good last winter will not be good this winter and vice versa. Finding fish at first ice is a process of elimination. There are lakes I cannot wait to hit this winter but I truly will not know whether they are good or not until I start drilling some holes. Enhance your Edge on First Ice Fishing If there is one thing however that can greatly enhance your edge at first ice, my advice would be to watch fall bites closely. If possible, look at some lakes that you intend to ice fish during the fall. Not only can you get a really good handle of the size ... [ Read More ]