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Today’s Top 5
Rare silver pike caught!
Haven’t seen many — especially plucked through the ice — but Michael S. caught himself one fishin’ with Lake of the Woods guide Jamie Bruce.
Same species as northern pike, but believe a genetic mutation gives ’em this B-E-A-utiful silver coloring:
> Jamie: “I’d like to say it was on a quick-strike rig with silver blades placed precisely below the ice on the first break outside of a spawning bay…but it was on a filthy old 1/4-oz jig with a Mustad 570 hook.”
Lol I appreciate the honesty, dude! Would still be a sick fish if it had been caught with a 5/16-oz barbless sock tipped with a dash of yogurt…which might actually catch slough sharks late-ice….
The ultimate ice-fishing Vlog setup.
The term “game changer” gets thrown around a lot in the fishing biz, but IMO the MarCum Lithium Shuttle is just that if you’re into filming your fishin’ trips.
Has a 12Ah lithium-ion battery that can extend a unit’s run time by 40+ hours [!] and trim about 3 lbs off. Between the USB plugs and three 1/4-20 ports, options are endless for mounting cameras and you can run ’em all day…or weekend:
Now I can finally retire my old Vloggin’ setup:
Case you didn’t know: You can put any unit (Humminbird, Vexilar, Garmin, etc) on the MarCum Lithium Shuttle, just need this power adapter.
Underwater footage of a lake trout scarfing.
Haven’t had a chance yet to go through all the footage from our trip to Bakers Narrows Lodge in MB…but did throw together a 60-sec clip of one of the fish catches.
In this one Amanda was pounding bottom with a 3/4-oz Mission Tackle Rigged Lake Trout Tube and a strip of sucker belly when that thing turned on her. Had been watching it on our Aqua-Vu HD7i Pro for a bit before the fish said “enough!” and thwacked the bait — dang do these things get the heart pumping!
I don’t own a video recorder (yet), so just quick pointed my camera at the Aqua-Vu screen when the fish strolled in.
We used the underwater camera in 34-65′ and were honestly surprised at how good we could see…. They have a pile of ice and snow pack up there — need an auger extension in some parts — so there’s not much light getting down that deep.
What blew my mind: That afternoon we saw 17 fish on the camera and only 1 showed up on our flashers…was a 3-4′ dead-zone on the flasher since we were fishing such a steep break. For sure made me a believer in underwater cams….
Btw this wasn’t the biggest laker we had on video that day — let you know when I drop the full video.
“I just about went in the drink…because I’m an idiot, that’s why.”
That’s what *cough* yours truly *cough* said after my day was a few inches away from ending early….
Was cutting a sight-fishing hole with my StrikeMaster Lithium 40v (yup, you don’t need chipper blades to drill holes side-by-side) on Twin Lake in Manitoba, where Nick Lindner and I were chasin’ a brookie-brownie hybrid called tiger trout.
I was too stubborn stupid to ask if I could borrow a chisel from the other guys…instead thought it was a good idea to break apart the last slab of ice using my…body weight. Ugh. In all seriousness, don’t try this at home:
Could’ve turned bad reeeeal fast. Lessons learned to 1) slow down, 2) pay better attention to the surroundings, and 3) not be an idiot lol!
> This Jiffy isn’t just any regular auger…it drills dreams. It bonds relationships between fathers and sons. It smells like 2-stroke gas fumes, and you know what 2-stroke gas fumes smell like, Terry?!? They smell like lifelong friendships.
> She’s a model 76, which contrary to popular belief actually stands for the amount of hi-fives per minute you’ll be dishing out to your mates due to all of the fish you’ll be catching on every single ice-fishing adventure.
> This beast of a drilling machine was once rejected by the diamond drilling industry because it was simply too powerful and actually melted diamonds during the drilling process. You can own THAT drill!!
> USER WARNING: Do NOT hang out with friends who have a low self esteem when using this auger. They will be jealous of how well it cuts through ice — like a lightsaber through a stormtrooper — and probably attempt to talk more about how strong the little battery is on the new electric auger their wife got them at Claire’s.
> MUST HAVE HUGE ARMS TO OPERATE!
> This thing runs on love and a 50:1 mix as accurate as one beer drinkin’ fella on a Saturday afternoon can mix it. She may need a little cleaning internally but has a brand spanking new recoil that bounces back into position promptly.
> Haven’t had it running in over a year, but it won’t take much more than a little fresh fuel, a few kisses and a plethora of F-bombs within hearing distance of the kids to get ‘er goin’.
> Bought it for over $5,000 from a Tibetan monk who harnessed its powers to connect with the 5th dimension to battle demonic powers, but willing to let her go to the right angling wizard for the low-low rate of $250 OBO…plus a couple hi-fives and a couple cans of your favourite craft beers (craft beers NOT optional).
Personally I’d rather catch (and release) one on a rod/reel, but it’s part of the local culture for Wisconsinites, which I can respect:
> “Lake Winnebago is host to the largest naturally self-sustaining lake sturgeon population in the world…estimated to be around 19,000 females and 24,000 adult males. The only other spot in the world to spear lake sturgeon is at Black Lake in MI, where the harvest limit is 5 to 6 fish.”
On Lake of the Woods and the Rainy River. The DNR is hoping to protect sauger in the lake and smaller male walleyes in the river:
> Lake of the Woods: The aggregate walleye and sauger limit drops from 8 to 6, with no more than 4 walleye. The protected slot limit remains in effect that requires anglers to immediately release any walleye between 19.5-28″, with only 1 fish over 28″ allowed in possession.
> Rainy River and in Four Mile Bay: A catch-and-release season will be in effect Mar 1 to Apr 14. In recent years anglers could keep 2 eating-size walleyes.
> Estimate the age of individual fish using a variety of aging structures: scales, otoliths, cleithrums and spines are the most common. All contain rings for each year of growth, much like a tree….refer to these marks as annuli.
> Fish lay down an annual mark during periods of slow growth during the winter. During periods of fast growth during the summer fish do not lay down annular marks. Biologists count these marks to determine the age of each individual fish captured in a fish population assessment.
Yes it can! Pretty cool write-up from ice-nut Scott Mackenthun. Breaks down what he thinks are must-have items if you wanted to start ice fishing and had a $1,000 budget to get everything you “need.”
Burbot, eelpout, lawyer, ling, mud shark, lota lota, grease pig…whatever you wanna call ’em, they’re my absolute favorite fish to target through the ice. Finally seem to be gaining some respect in the fishin’ world.
Prime “slime” time is comin’ in hot, so I piled everything you need to know about chasin’ burbs into one video (best spots, baits, technique and gear)! No matter if you’re a first-timer, or a seasoned vet, there’s a little something for you.
Lot of what I’m talkin’ is about north-central MN…the type of structure may be a little different for some of our Canadian neighbors waaaay up yonder, but how/what we catch ’em on is much the same:
Meme of the Day
Show this to someone that’s “butter soft” and refusing to leave the couch ’til things warm up:
Lol! That’s my buddy and In-Fisherman video magician Christian Hoffman gettin’ after it, despite Mother Nature throwing freezer-burned wrenches into the plan. BUT it’s paying off for him:
If you’re forwarding Target Walleye/Ice to a friend who loves to walleye-fish or want your fishing buddies to get these emails, just send us their email addresses and we’ll take care of it! (We won’t sell the addresses, use them for spam, etc.)
Target Walleye/Ice — walleye during open water and all species during hardwater — is brought to you by Al and Ron Lindner, Jim Kalkofen, Brett McComas and other diehard fish-nuts like you! #fishheads
Brett McComas is the main man for Target Walleye/Ice. He was discovered in Brainerd, MN after years of wondering how in the heck people break into the fishing biz. He’s in it now, but still can’t answer that question…. Brett is one of those guys who majored in marketing, only because there was no such thing as a “fishing degree” at the time…. Get him at brett@targetwalleye.com
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