Welcome to the Ice Force IceBlaster, your 2x/week email with the best ice fishing info IN THE WORLD! Enjoy!
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Today’s Top 5
1. Word record walleye thru ice!
Grant McAllister, Bay of Quinte, ON, catch and release record. Measured 35.3″ long and weighed a whopping 14-10. He had no idea it could be a record. Cool! Caught it in the afternoon:
> A common mistake most anglers make on Quinte is only fishing mornings and evenings. But I’ve caught all my big Quinte fish between 1:00 to 2:30 pm, when everybody’s off the ice having lunch or whatever.”
> “I concentrate on high-percentage areas like breaklines and wait for those one, two, three, four big marks you’ll see on your flasher [Marcum LX-9] during mid-day.”
Kentucky Afield boyz tap winter panfish and bass…outfished by a young girl…!
And, uh, – 6″ for safe foot travel? Guess southerners be a bit ice shy….
Intentionally targeting largemouths though the ice? If your state has an open season, why not?
> “It’s much like fishing a Senko in open water…both ends get flapping on the fall, just irresistible to bass. Then add the tungsten Majmun and it’s able to penetrate weeds without getting hung up. Deadly.”
Ever get this close to a lynx?
> Don’t worry PETA (like we give a dang): “No live fish were used in the making of this video.”
> Maine redneck fishing engineers reveal “Fish-O-Matic.”
> Can’t believe we’ve never seen this…AWESOME.
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News
1. NEers win NAIFC on Manomin.
WI’s Lake Manomin:
> Jim Hesse and Zach Nadolski beat WI’s Dan Dittman and Luke Kersten with 16 mixed crappies and ‘gills for 10.44 lbs.
> Following the event, teams Fassbind/Smyers and Newbie/Wilson are 1 point away for NAIFC Team of the Year.
> Recent blizzard restricted lake travel to track machines and snowmobiles. Rumor was competitors canvassed Menomonie’s watering holes the night before to rent every available snow machine in town.
> Although Manomin is loaded with man-made cribs, top finishes came down to a few fish-holding cribs and scattered basin fish.
> Conditions described by NAIFC competitor Shawn Bjonfald as “post-front blues.”
> Last tournament of this winter scheduled for Mille Lacs, MN Sunday, March 9.
> 2014 National Championship is for Saturday, Dec. 20, 2014.
4. WI: Family tourney still on.
Lac Courte Oreilles Mar. 1
6. ME: Ice fishing for cancer.
Very cool, and cool vid.
8. NM: Shortest ice season yet.
9. OH: Ice breakers coming through!
12. Cool late-ice vehicle floats!
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Fishin’ Reports
> A mix of walleyes and saugers with jumbo perch, eelpout and tulibees in the mix.
> Action seems to be better near reefs. Some houses hitting morning bite, others great afternoon. Reefs still good 26-32.
> Jigging spoon tipped with minnow head or tail section in glow colors or gold. Fish spread out on mud flats. Bite is 16-20 or 24-31′.
> Monster pike season is upon us and the fish are hungry! 6-8 feet best with sucker minnows on tip ups set 1/2 of depth.
> Rainy River gearing up for pre-spawn. Fishing still best towards mouth of river mornings and evenings. Gold, chartreuse and red best colors tipped with live minnow. Emerald shiners a plenty in the river!
> Up at the NW Angle, walleye, sauger, pike, and perch all active in 24-29 feet.
3. ND: Devils Lake perch again.
Can’t not cover it, fishin’ just too good!
> We are midway through February now with March right around the corner. The good news is our ice is so thick we are having to use extensions on our augers. We are very confident we will be able make until the end of March this season.
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Tip of the Day
How McAllister catches mega-walleyes.
> …a one-two punch of calling them in and seducing them to bite with two vastly different jigging cadences.
> “I’m a huge advocate of understanding jig cadence. After a lot of trial and error, my typical cadence involves two high lifts of the PK Spoon four or five feet, three short lifts of a foot, then three or four bangs on the bottom. Then repeat.”
> “Since I’m really ripping it, I go through a lot of minnows, something most guys don’t do. But it’s huge in drawing these big fish in. Then, once I have them on the flasher, it’s like teasing a cat with a string.”
> “The Marcum LX-9 allows me to get within a 1/4-inch target ID separation, so I put the spoon right on top of the walleye’s head, and slowly bring the fish higher and the higher off the bottom, sometimes six, seven, eight, nine feet before they strike.”
> “I’m just shaking that spoon, trying to get wiggle out of the minnow. Once you get it in your sights or on your zoom, those fish are going after the minnow and absolutely crush the bait.”
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Quote of the Day
Time to plan your extraterrestrial [ice] fishing trip? Maybe.
– Science writer Annalee Newitz, who said:
> “New evidence has come to light that the vast, ice-encrusted oceans of Europa may be harboring Earth-like life that lives on the oxygen-rich waters.”
That’s a moon of Jupiter btw. Just one question: Do we need to pack an auger extension??
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Shot of the Day
51.9 inches. Sweden. Note to self: Renew passport!
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GET OUT AND STAY OUT ICE-HEADS!
