Today’s Top 5
Not much ice yet but…
Here’s a Bay De Noc, MI beast caught by @hooksetmillette with a firetiger Rapala Minnow Rap in about 10 FOW. Sun’s down, fins up!
@thecreekrat battled 30 mph winds, hail, rain and snow on the shore of Erie to get this beast, which fell for a Rapala Husky Jerk:
There’s still lots of open water in Ottawa, ON. @thefishingnutt took advantage of it by busting this beast:
Okay this one’s not from shore but too big not to include. Terry Kunnen with a 12-lb BEAST from Muskegon Bay:
Riddle for you: How many rods does it take to catch 5 walleyes?
Maybe spider-rigging for walleyes is the next big thing?
…sorta. Is this how they make crappie cribs??
#JumpedTheGun
These guys too — yes, that’s a truck:
Luckily they got it out. Blame it on:
NY resident Tom Allen has been chasing perch for nearly 30 years. This blue perch (one of a dozen he’s caught in his lifetime) was from the north eastern basin of Lake Ontario — ate a fathead minnow on a gold hook out of 8 feet. Olde school!
Word is if you eat a blue perch you’ll blow up like a balloon and get attacked by oompa-loompas:
Don’t you think these things are getting a bit out of hand??
Lol! Upper Red Lake guide Johnny P. just rigged up that new “ice checker.” Sure beats a chisel!
Unfortunately it sounds like he won’t be needing to use his new toy anytime soon:
> In the last hour we have gone from a 1 foot wide crack to a 15 foot wide crack. We have a limited amount of guys out fishing today and work is underway to get them off the ice.Giving the current circumstances we will shut down the access this weekend.
Here’s the video of them getting boated off.
Ice Fishing
1. MN: The St. Paul Ice Show HAPPENING NOW!Target Walleye/Ice staffers are there now — look for us in the Reed’s booth, and also hitting all the Target Walleye/Ice supporters (Ice Force, Northland, Clam, etc.)! Crazy excited about it! About a million contests to win stuff, and a ton of stuff to learn from the best there is.
Ice Force
Ice Force also has these insane giveaways:
Jason Mitchell made a pit stop on his way down to the show and:
2. Bluegill warning from John Grosvenor.
Ice Force pro:
> WARNING: To all Okoboji Bluegills. I have my VMC Tungsten Tubby Jigs and Tungsten Fly Jigs. You will be tricked this year.
Check out what colors he likes:
Learn more about all the VMC ice tungsten jigs here.
3. MN: Photobomb your way into a $500 Clam prize pack.
Photobomb any of the boys in blue at the St. Paul Ice Show this weekend. Post the pic to your social media accounts and tag #ClamBleedBlue to be entered.
4. Guy invents quick-coupler for auger blades.
5. Big-time model loves to ice-fish.
She’s from WI so….
6. Beginner tip: How to ice-fish with a Vexilar flasher.
9. Would you buy a used car from these guys?
_____
News
1. MB: Petition to ban large nets on Winnipeg.
More info at the link.
3. Probly not a world record muskie.
The giant muskie caught at Mille Lacs might have been a new world record, but the world record was NOT 58 lbs as the article we quoted said. Instead the current WR ‘skie is actually 67 lb 8 oz, caught in 1949 by Cal Johnson on Lake Court Oreilles, WI.
Not sure they had cameras back then (let alone Mag Juice Bucktails), but here’s a snap of the actual skin mount:
4. MN: Gull Lake locals don’t want muskies.
Many think introducing a low-density population will ruin the walleye fishery [despite DNR research pointing to the contrary]. Some attendees even compared adding muskies to netting!,
But…did you notice that many of the best walleye lakes in the state have muskies in them? (e.g., LOTW, Leech, Winnie, Vermillion, Miltona, Rainy, Bemidji, Cass).
5. ‘Rude wants Midwest sales manager.
6. MN: Phantom Lures buys Dakota Lure.
7. MI: Whitefish poaching sting.
8. ‘Do you want to catch a crappie?’
A beautiful arrangement from Jason Rylander. Guess he is a tenor?
Reversal of fortune to Navico (Lowrance), but is appealing. Also lost to Johnson Outdoors (Humminbird).
‘Eye Candy
Bassmaster Elite Series pro Kevin Short recently quit the pro bass circuit, and here’s why:
Finally getting with the program! He’s now doing some work for Bass Cat/Yar-Craft, caught that slob on Green Bay.
Tip of the Day
> Generally, use much bigger and faster presentations when the fishing’s good, and use much smaller and slower presentations when the bite’s tough.
One Extreme
> Aggressive options are particularly productive during the first-ice period…when crappies are unpressured and hungry — and again at last ice in late March and early April, when their metabolism kicks back into high gear.
> A tiny, trembling, micro-jig tipped with a maggot barely hovered near a crappie’s nose is ignored, while the same fish kick down the door and pummel a hunk of dancing metal.
> I carry a whack of 1/7- and 1/4-oz Williams Wabler spoons. I often use 1/16- and 1/8-oz Northland Buck-Shot Rattle Spoons, and HT Hawger Spoons of the same size. The #2 and #3 Jigging Raps are standard fare for me, along with smallest Northland Puppet Minnow, the PM1.
> I typically tip these lures with a small minnow head to begin, seeing if it’s necessary as the day advances. Often, especially with the Raps and Puppets, it isn’t necessary to tip.
The Other Extreme
> The mighty mites at the other end of the scale excel when the bite’s tough, as it typically is during midwinter. During tough times, many anglers don’t scale down enough to interest crappies, nor slow down enough to finally trigger fish.
> Sensing how touchy the fish were, they experimented with progressively smaller jigs, finding that hair jigs weighing 1/60-oz were part of the key. They didn’t need to be tipped but they had to be fished dead slow, almost deadsticked.
Often the only way to get a bite is to prop the rod on the ice and watch the tip. At times, just barely touch the spring tip with a finger to tickle the jig below. Other times, don’t touch it at all for minutes on end.
Quote of the Day
I don’t like screwing with all that electronics stuff, but for the guys who do, they catch a lot of fish.
– Uh…yep! MN author of a book on ice fishing…who apparently should put only one thing on his Christmas list.
Meme of the Day
So if you could just stop complaining about the lack of ice that would be great, mmmk…
Shot of the Day
Don’t know where this guy is, but it’s his first ice trip of the season and he looks pretty darn excited — we can’t wait to feel that way, bet you can’t either!
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