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
Lookit that fish!
Dude Kyle is usually behind the camera, but kid’s a natural-born star. Check out those pearly whites.
2. 11-yr-old wins $15K in ice derby!
> King had spent most of his childhood fishing with his father, and this was his opportunity to test his skills and prove his mettle. He was with his father when he pulled in a 4.25-pound pickerel that he knew would place high….
> King was among 14 of the top ice anglers in the fishing derby to be entered into a drawing for the grand prize. King’s name was drawn, and the boy went home with $15,000 in prize money.
> No word yet of how the boy plans to spend the money, or if his father will let him just yet.
NICE!
4. Pike spear hot-rodded with GoPro.
What do ya do with pike? Pickle ‘em! Soooo good.
5. Meet the “Frozen Chosen.”
Hour-long spearing show/movie. Lots of sturgies. Very cool.
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News
1. 10 V-Day gifts for ice heads.
Forward it to her now! Hahaha!
2. Video: 10-ton ‘dozer breaks thru ice.
> “It was a close call for a man on Lake Wissota. He narrowly escaped after a bulldozer broke through the ice in about 40 feet of water.”
> “…Kirk Brown of Brown Excavation was using the bulldozer Thursday to get a track ready for this weekend’s vintage snowmobile races on Lake Wissota.”
> “The DNR says the law requires the person responsible to get it out of the water within 30 days.”
> A jigging spoon, jigging Rapala, lipless crankbait and deadstick are the four lures and methods the pro staff said can be used to catch walleye nearly anywhere.
5. MB: Free fishing this weekend.
6. MN: Art shanties this weekend.
Guess ya gotta do a dance too?
7. ON: Family ice fishing day.
9. UT: Five great places to fish.
11. SD: Derby, Jason Mitchell talk.
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Fishin’ Reports
1. Erie: Lot of giant ‘eyes…
…pulled from Erie this winter:
> John Gillespie’s fish caught on video.
> Seems like posts nearly every week from Capt. Ross Robertson. More on dat herez.
> “The cold weather is good for one thing…good ice and even better ice fishing on Erie. Moving around and being ready when they decide to chew has been the key…” (from here).
Nice ‘eyes, free flash freezing!
3. WI: Ashland area.
Rockin’ lakers vid from Beyond The Catch Guide Service.
> Had a great Saturday with clients Joe and Scott. Weather was perfect and the lakers were hungry. Action was insane….
4. ND: Devils Lake.
5. MN: West metro area.
> Sunfish reports remain favorable in 18 feet on Lake Sarah, 14 feet at Lake Susan, and 14 to 20 feet at Rietz Lake
> Tip-ups and sucker minnows are producing northern pike in 10 to 14 feet on Lake Auburn, Lake Minnewashta, and Lake Zumbra.
> There’s an evening crappie bite at Whaletail Lake in 16 to 18 feet.
6. MN: Itasca County.
> “…one spot that had been haunting me all week long…a shallow area of mixed weeds, clam beds and gravel that have been know to hold schools of good-size perch.”
> “We had stumbled into a territory where small packs of fish were roaming a shallow flat in roughly 7 feet of water.”
> “Fish would appear on the electronics, bite for a minute or two and then move on. Like Arne said, ‘You gotta catch as many as you can before they leave and then wait for a new batch to move in’.”
> “The Red Glow Frostee Jigging Spoon…tipped with two or three wax worms. Perch and sunfish were all over this bait. “
> “If you know about a lake that has a) a mixed population of perch, sunfish and crappies and b) has large areas of shallow cover like wild rice, bulrush or milfoil, then there’s a good chance you can duplicate this pattern by fishing the shallow flats located near the shallow cover.”
7. MN: Winnie.
> Fishing over the last week has been decent, best depths have been 20-27′.
> Still doing some sorting for decent perch but most groups are reporting enough decent ones to keep them busy.
> Walleyes have been biting the last hour or two before dark. Jigging spoons tipped with a minnow head have been working best, although dead sticks have been catching a few also.
> Denny’s Resort has a great road system to get to new fishing grounds, and with the weather looking up we are looking forward to the last 10 days of the walleye and pike season.
CT too.
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Deals of the Day
Tip of the Day
In-Fisherman contributor Steve Ryan:
> “In ponds and small lakes and reservoirs, a good starting point for locating catfish is the deepest hole.”
> “Channel cats often are tight to the bottom when not feeding, and patrol edges during feeding periods. Like bass, they occasionally come as shallow as a couple feet to feed on weed flats. The greatest concentrations of catfish, however, are in deep water.”
> “To locate cats on big waters, I rely on a good sonar and underwater camera…. Keep searching until deep holes are located and the edge of nearby structure is pinpointed.”
> “Even when their general wintering areas are discovered, these fish can move several hundred yards over the course of a day. That means drilling plenty of holes and thoroughly covering an area as large as 5 to 6 acres to stay on active fish.”
> “Concentrate primarily along the edges of breaklines or in areas you previously located fish. From the center of the area, drill holes out to slightly deeper and shallower water to increase the target zone.”
> “The center point of this area is reserved primarily for jigging. Out from there, create a circle or cross pattern with tip-ups.”
> “Channel cats rarely eat baits bigger than a couple inches in size in winter. They also prefer fresh baits, not soured or stinky.”
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Quote of the Day
Remember, when you take kids fishing it’s their fishing trip, not yours.
– Kurt Beckstrom, managing editor, North American Fisherman.
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Shot of the Day
Nice perch, even nicer fingernails…lol.
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GET OUT AND STAY OUT ICE-HEADS!
