Best deadstick setup, Things walleye fishermen say, Midwinter panfish tricks

Sheesh, ice fishing for walleyes can be soooo dang frustrating. Sometimes they cooperate – 🤦‍♂️ usually they don’t. Why do we do this to ourselves LOL?!

I shot a video talking my go-to deadstick setup for when the bite is tough. Was going through the footage when editing the video and caught a zillion clips of me “talking myself through” all the times I was getting turned down by fish on the graph. Figured instead of scrapping it all…I’d keep it real 💯 and include a little “things walleye fishermen say” portion on the front-half of the video. 100% not staged.

If you stay for the back-half of the video, we do finally stick a couple hawgs [!] and I break down my favorite set-line for when those fussy buggers won’t commit to the jigging stick. The same rig works no matter if it’s on a deadstick, tip-up or rattle reel:

All the gear I used is linked in the video’s description. Here’s a brief rundown of the primary schtuff case you’re too stubborn (lol) to click over there:

#6 or #8 VMC Glow Resin Treble.

Sticky sharp and screams “bite me!” That little drop of epoxy resin infused with glow-in-the-dark coloring stays charged for up to 15 min – adds just enough something to that small shiner or fathead dangling down there.

JB Lures 10″ Lighted Fire Float (small).

Where have these been all my life?! It’s a balsa wood weighted float that has a fiber optic stem and a transparent bulb at the top…powered by a 3v lithium battery (included) that lights up the entire stem and bulb. Also like that you can pop ’em on and off without retying.

That tall 10″ version is super cool – can see your bobber from basically any angle when hole-hopping around your deadstick, or when set inside your wheelhouse.

6-lb Sufix Advance Ice Mono.

Stuff is cheap and works GREAT. Has 50% less stretch than traditional mono, is crazy strong, low memory, and doesn’t freeze up which is important for set-lines or when you’re hole-hopping outside.

2B Fishing “Select Series” Mag Lurchin’.

A 34″ M fast-action carbon blank = a rod action that I was missing in my lineup as I always tend to go overboard with super-stout whoopin’ sticks. But this rod legit says in the description that it’s great for “average walleyes,” which is what I put topside more often than I’d like to admit lol.

Btw those 2B ICE rods are another gem brand under Paul and Gregg Thorne’s Two Brothers Innovations.

Matthew Gelley (@mgoutdoors) is no stranger to big fish, but look at the ridonkulous girth on this 14-lb Lake Winnipeg, MB greenback he iced a couple seasons back:

That walleye is my spirit animal…. 🤣

Matthew stuck that portly feller on a “pink tiger glow” color Acme Hyper Glide. Released to get even more bigger-er:

Huge props, dude!

Whether you like it or not, the deep freeze is coming = good news for making ice, but can be bad news far as the fish’s moods go.

Came across this great video on Northland Tackle’s YouTube channel with pannie connoisseur Will Pappenfus breaking down his 1-2 punch for finicky crappies and bluegill. If you’ve ever scrolled through Will’s Instagram, you know he ices a pile of huuuuge panfish. So a solid dude to be dropping knowledge 💣s on the rest of us. Few excerpts from the video below:

> Most of those fish are going to be moving out to the deeper basins somewhere between 20-30+ ft. The one nice thing is the fish like to school up a little tighter…usually if you can find ’em you can catch a lot more. But if you have a big-enough basin they’re gonna be hard to find, so you’re gonna have to put more work in…drill lots of holes just to be able to stay on ’em cuz they like to roam a lot looking for food.

> One big thing to keep in mind when targeting basins…are you trying to find crappies, bluegills, or both?

> Lot of times the smaller ‘gills tend to run with the crappies out in the middle of the basins…but if you’re looking for bigger ‘gills…try checking little corners and inside cuts on the edge of the basins in 15-22’…. Crappies like to roam deeper….

> One of my favorite baits when the bite gets tough (towards the end of Jan thru the middle of Feb) tends to be the Tungsten Punch Fly Jig…with a couple little spikes [euro larva]…keep it small and simple.

 

> …if there’s a lot of fish down there that don’t want to eat, I like dropping a small Rippin’ Shad down there to see if I can get a reaction strike out of ’em…just like you would summer for walleyes if you’re throwing a Puppet Minnow around just trying to get 1 or 2 big bites.

> The biggest thing you wanna do if you’re working these fish if they’re just barely moving…keep the bait just above ’em and move it as slow as you can. If they’re kind of far away, work a little harder to see if they’ll chase…if not, stick it right above their nose and just keep ’em moving…move that jig slow enough and lot of times they’re gonna come up and just breathe on it enough that you’re gonna be able to hook ’em.

Sometimes even having the right bait, in the right location, isn’t always enough to fool these fussy midwinter pannies:

> Keep your line as thin as you can…2- or 3-lb…and 3 is probably about the highest you want to use. The fish are super lethargic and finicky…sit there and stare at your jig…. Lot of times they’re just going to swim away if you have 4- or 6-lb on there.

More info in the video where you can see Will putting this stuff to work:

Oh, and did you see the action of that Elliott Rod’s “Evolution Ice Series” 44″ UL?! This is just a quick, blurry screenshot from the video…but you get the idea of that fish-sexxy bend when it’s loaded up:

Things are LEGIT. Hands down the coolest, most unique ice rod I’ve ever handled. Tough to describe in words, so I absolutely recommend you get one in your hands to feel for yourself – they’re selling out everywhere for a reason….

My buddy Greg Clusiau posted this pic of the stomach contents from a lake trout they plucked out of a small mine pit in northern MN. Guess we know what appetizer is getting fried-up before the main course:

Wow! The fish was caught in 40′ – so do frogs go deep, or do lake trout go shallow…? Either way frogs probably can’t hide:

First off: Sorry I don’t have a direct link for this post. Came across the info on some random FB group and can’t seem find the link anywhere. But really interesting info from a MN DNR fisheries biologist that I felt was worth sharing:

> “Old school thought was the old fish produced less viable eggs and weren’t all that important. Newer research suggests that those eggs are larger and have better survival. They are still helping the population and probably most important to have big eggs when food is scarce or there is a dip in temps after hatching so the fry can live longer off the yolk sac when a smaller yolk sac fish might die. The relative contribution from large fish is low compared to the large numbers of small adults but increasingly important when those environmental variables negatively impact the year class that just hatched.

> “The most overplayed concept is genetics of a large fish. If a fish has the genetics to get large, those genetics exist immediately. The only thing that changes is how many times that fish with the big genes gets to pass them along.

> “Over harvest of large fish is the fastest way to drive down population size structure. Look at bluegill. You can have a lake that has no bluegill over 6″, take a bunch out, put them in a pond with little to no competition, and the fish respond by getting bigger. Our FiN program does just that, then net them and stock the bigger fish for anglers. Bluegill can also get crowded and stunted, but the second they reach a size desirable to an angler, it is removed from the system. Not the same as walleye, but kind of an extreme example to demonstrate my point.”

Now you (we) know….

1. ON resorts brace for possible 2nd summer without US guests.

> So far neither government has offered any criteria that would hint at when the border might reopen. …there’s some hope that a fast-response COVID-19 testing system could be developed to allow U.S. travelers into CAN at a large scale (and vice versa) by summer. Short of that, it’s believed that widespread vaccinations would need to be rolled out in both nations, or at least drastically lower COVID case rates, before the border reopens to general traffic.

2. ND: Lake Sakakawea has latest ice-up date EVER.

Finally capped over on Jan 18.

And the earliest “ice free” date on record for Sakakawea is Mar 27, 2012…which now a lot of folks are expecting could be beat this spring.

3. Uncut Angling is back.

He went on a recovery mission to retrieve the rest of the gear he lost after breaking through the ice. Afterwards, dude casually went out and stuck a 15″+ crappie lol.

NO one can duplicate what Aaron brings to the table. Always love his energy, and of course those off-the-wall fishing shenanigans mixed with education.

That “weirdness” of just being yourself is refreshing. Not exactly sure why, but there’ one little snippet in his newest video starting at about the 19:50 mark that I have watching at least 47 times, and for some dumb reason I laugh harder every time…

> Aaron: Everybody calm down.
> Also Aaron: A LUCKEEYYY GROUSE FEATHER!

Glad to have you back, man!

4. NY setting new mgmt plan for panfish.

Draft. Few highlights:

> Reducing the sunfish statewide daily harvest limit from 50 to 25 fish.

> Increasing the crappie statewide minimum size limit from 9″ to 10″.

> Establishing the Big Panfish Initiative, which includes [too much to put here].

5. WI: Crews rescue man lost on Lake Winnebago.

> …called emergency services [around 8pm] for help finding his way back to shore…was located, unharmed, by search crews around 9:50pm…almost a mile off shore.

Glad all was okay! It’s super easy to get turned around on the ice after dark. Would think if you have enough phone battery and cell service to make a phone call, that you would be able to pull up Google Maps, Navionics, etc and see which way to be heading? Then again apps don’t always like to load if service is spotty or your phone shuts off from the cold.

6. Man, do I need one of these in my life…

Sure my wife would be super impressed with me cutting holes in the floor of a UTV for a Catch Cover…but ya gotta do what you gotta do, right?! 🤷‍♂️

7. Couple more ice derbies cancelled.

MN: Chaska Fire Dept’s 64th annual ice-fishing contest
MI: Midwest Open Ice Fishing Tournament.

8. PK Lures has a new exclusive Rattle Spoon color…

…only available at Cabela’s Canada. Designed by Dane Heid of DH Custom Baits:

Yum!

9. ME dude wants to folks jailed for illegal stocking.

> In the case of bucket biology, we need to do more to discourage it, like higher fines, higher rewards for turning perpetrators in, and the ability to incarcerate perpetrators for more egregious offenses.

10. ND man who crafted his own fishin’ coffin…

…passed on. Ed “Sonny” Olsen. RIP fishing brother. Sharing this because it does have a happy ending….

> Deer antlers, rope, copper tubing, a cross and a wooden fish would be featured on the exterior of what Ed Olsen called “the box.”

> Inside Sonny’s coffin will be a deck of pinochle cards, his favorite ice fishing rod, a miniature bottle of his favorite brandy and a snorkel, in case the nearby Goose River floods, his son said with a laugh.

> The coffin will be loaded into his fishing boat and pulled with his pickup truck to the cemetery.

> A fire truck will lead the procession, to honor his more than 50 years as a volunteer firefighter, and will drive by the hardware store for one last time.

Which it definitely can be. BUT the first thing that came to mind was this relatable meme:

Usually try to share one, quick, hard-hitting tip here…but this is a little different. It’s a 50-min- video the AnglingBuzz crew just dropped that’s all about ice fishing for walleyes. Long, yes. But lots of good little nuggets sprinkled in from start to finish, if you’ve got time to kill:

“Staying still in frigid temperatures while peering through a spotting scope or binoculars can test the mettle of the hardiest of game wardens.”

– That’s a line from this Jim Fahey write-up talking about some of the coooold measures ME game wardens have to take in order to catch folks ice fishing illegally.

> “I enjoyed the challenge of snowmobiling, then snowshoeing into position to observe activity on the ice. It was solitary, cold work but the best way to enforce the laws protecting the state’s cold water fisheries.

> “Simply walking out or driving up to a fishing party on a snowmobile was not an effective way to detect undersized or extra fish that had been illegally taken and hidden beneath the snow or in the various containers and gear that ice fishermen haul around.”

Those Berkley Warpigs aren’t just for springtime ‘eyes:

Btw here’s how John Hoyer fishes ’em when the walleyes are angry:

> Does a 2′ rip – adds a decent amount of slack in the line after each pump – then follows it down on a tight line. That slack is key ‘cuz it really lets the bait ‘walk’ and get outside the cone angle.

National Professional Anglers Assoc. 

MN-FISH