Today’s Top 5
WOW! Check out this Megatron caught out of Fort Peck Reservoir, MT by tourney angler Kyle Sando. Word is she went 17-lb 10.5-oz on a certified scale and measured 34″ x 22″.
How about a pair of 15″ Simcoe egg wagons that are flirting with the ON provincial record:
JP Vick awoke 16-in of Green Bay perchzilla:
33-in SK walleye caught on video by a dude named Neal Hughes, a former CFL fullback:
Hall of Fame angler Dale Stroschein is no stranger to blimp-sized walleyes, and in fact holds a world record for catching a walleye through the ice. Definitely a good person to ask about ice rod election for Green Bay:
> Through the ice, I target two main species: walleyes and whitefish. For walleye, I like a shorter rod with a nice backbone. Shorter because a lot of the time we’re fishing in Frabill Sentinels and there isn’t the overhead room you would have in a permanent shelter for a good hook set. The second reason I like a shorter rod is so I can see over the hole and I don’t want to be too far back from the hole when I get ready to ice the fish.
> A good backbone is to stick the giant Green Bay walleye we’re fortunate enough to chase up here. The rod I like is the Frabill 26″ Medium/Heavy Ice Hunter Series.
> As far as whitefish, a sensitive tip is a must-have — the whitefish bite is so subtle — you need to be able to feel that bite. Spring bobbers or an orange-tipped rod will just be that much more helpful to detect the bite.
Green Bay has more than just giant walleyes — check out this dino-fish Chris B. caught! Fish measured 72″ and was released:
Not sure that 10″ auger will make the cut next time around….
‘Tis the season — Lake of the Woods’ Joe Henry walks us through dicing up a slab of poor man’s lobster. If you’ve never had it, you’ve gotta try it! #backstraps
Definitely will try the boiling in 7Up!
Ice Fishing
2. MN: $30k in prizes to be had.
Warroad ice Fishing Derby is tomorrow!
3. MI: Ice shanty removal reminder.
4. MN: Art Shanties Project on White Bear Lake.
5. WI: Ice shack buried by plow.
Lake Poygan in Winnebago County.
MN guide Bryan “Beef” Sathre:
> Beef carries a Rapala Mini Charge N’ Glow. “The stronger the light, the longer your baits will glow. And the longer your baits glow, the longer they are in the water and not on top of the ice. Forget camera flashes, lanterns, cell phones and head lamps, a Charge N’ Glow keeps jigs glowing longer.”
7. The art of jigging Jigging Raps (video).
Crow Lake, ON, Crazy clear:
9. Rigging snowmobiles for ice fishing.
10. Huge sale on IceArmor at Reed’s!
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News
1. MN: Mille Lacs will stock walleye!
As an experiment.
> Advisory committee members also suggested stocking perch as a food source for walleye or lowering the allowed fishing limit on perch.
2. MN: New walleye regs options for Mille Lacs.
8 different options, and what they have in common is “a bag limit of one” over the whole season or large stretches of time.
3. Ron Lindner and Dick Sternberg talk walleye cannibalism.
Part 3 of 4. Check out part 2 here.
4. MN: Troubled tullibee pop impacts walleyes.
Little-known fact: the word “tullibee” does not have a single “P” in it.
5. How to find the age of a walleye.
6. WI: No more carrying paper licenses.
Will just need your driver’s license.
7. Shimano Garage tunes up your reels.
Fishing/Ice Reports
> Smaller presentations are working better. Decent late afternoon bite starting around 4 pm. Overall, mainly saugers with eater and slot walleyes mixed in.
> Ice averaging 15-22 inches on the basin. Many resorts have moved over 10 miles out past Pine Island. Fishing in 27-35′. A few houses in the shallower areas (10-20′) producing some nicer fish mornings/evenings. Most ice roads are letting out half-ton pickups with 20′ houses or 3/4 ton pick-ups with por and small houses. Contact your specific resort for more information.
> Rainy River is iced over and being fished mainly by locals. A late afternoon/evening bite in about 16′ is producing a few fish. Mainly walleye with a few pike and eelpout. For safety, work through resorts.
> NW Angle: Fishing up and down this week on the MN side. Ice averaging 22″ where resorts fish. A mixed bag of fish. Fishing best around 30-33′ in the mud. Reefs around 26′ are producing. Pike, jumbo perch and eelpout. Good crappies are being caught around the 33′ mark with guides on the ON side. Ice fishing through March.
Btw gator hunting season is approaching — here’s a stocky one from Captain Tim “Wingnut” Hill to get you pumped up:
‘Eye Candy
Giant NE bullgill caught by Nick E. You know they’re portly when the scales are all stretched out like that:
Tip of the Day
Add more rings for mid-winter walleye.
> Mid-winter is a great time to be fishing spoons. Walleyes love ’em. But sometimes even a treble hook can bounce off the jawbone of a walleye. What’s needed is a little more push to the inside of the mouth. A good way to do that is by adding a second, third or fourth split ring between the hook and spoon, which can swing the hook into flesh on the inside of the jaw bone.
> Although I usually add extra split rings with my thumbnail…a better way is carry split ring pliers or make up a bunch of baits ahead of time.
> I’ve customized some baits with chains of split rings, although two is typically about right. I’ll use more for jumbo perch fishing, or when I need something heavier and more rugged than a dropper chain.
> You can experiment with color, mixing gold and red split rings, maybe add a little spinner if you really want to get nasty.
> And if you’re targeting perch, take off the treble and use a single barbed hook with a wide enough eyelet that doesn’t impede the action of the split rings.
> Then there’s the retail-ready Northland Buck-Shot Flutter Spoon, which comes with two split rings, upping your hookset percentages. The extra split ring also introduces a little extra noise, which is never a bad thing.
> You don’t need any color other than UV electric perch. It’s the bait I give those guys who can’t catch a thing. When you sit and jig it, the Buckshot Flutter Spoon karate-kicks like crazy and that color is magic. Has made my whole guiding year.
Meme of the Day
Shot of the Day
Time sure flies on the ice:
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