Green Bay ice rescue, Power drill tip-up hack, Hilarious ice fishing video 🤣

From here:

> The Brown County Sheriff’s Office, New Franken Fire Department, Green Bay Metro Fire Department, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and the U.S. Coast Guard all responded to the incident.

Folks had to leave their gear behind on the ice ‘cuz the Brown County Sheriff’s Office needed all the room they could get on the “ice boats” for the people being rescued after multiple trips:

Glad everyone made it to shore safely!

The bay isn’t completely frozen over, and they’re speculating that ship/barge traffic could have weakened the ice along the east shore of the bay.

And not on the Great Lakes…. 🤨

Pretty sure anything is possible when you’ve got John Hoyer involved – and how about THIS shot?!

Few details from the Hoymeister:

> A recent hunting trip to the Dakotas included some pretty amazing after-dark action. Leave it to Paul Steffen (@huntpierresd) to mastermind a 4-day schedule of all-out fun.

> This night was extra special, our maiden voyage which started off with 2 hrs of not catching anything pitching plastics or casting crankbaits. Pauly said he wanted to try a couple passes in the current pulling shallow-running crankbaits on 3-way rigs. We dropped in the #9 Berkley Hit Sticks and things instantly started happening.

> It seems like all my favorite fishing days start with an extended period of not catching…followed by a change in location or presentation to open the proverbial floodgates of fish!!! [I couldn’t agree more]

Btw I’ve got to call-out a few of my favorite comments under Hoyer’s post:

> Carl Fekula: “When I first looked at it I thought you caught that walleye in the Bellagio Fountain in Vegas.”

> Jake Brooks: “If you’re not finding anything anywhere, it means that everything is somewhere! Once you find ’em it’s game on!”

> @wy_nd_outdoorsman: “Shhhh there is no way to fish out of a boat in December in ND….”

Semi-related side note: Have you seen Busch Light’s new limited-edition ice fishing cans?

Honestly they look super cool [!!!] but there’s a couple things that looked funny to this self-proclaimed “ice head.”

1. They’ve got 3 folks all fishing out of the same hole. Must be trying to keep that school of jumbo perch fired-up! Lol.

2. And dude is using a 7′ flipping stick on the ice.

1. MB: 3 teens rescued on Clearwater Lake.

When their truck broke down in -38° temps. Police said the stranded fishermen and some of the searchers suffered minor injuries due to the extreme cold.

2. OH: Fish declared extinct 82 yrs ago found alive.

It’s called the longhead darter – rediscovered in the Ohio River for the first time since 1939, and looks like it’d be a killer crankbait color lol:

3. All-female fishing club grows to > 450 members.

Called WI Women Fish, and isn’t just for Wisconsin residents:

> “Our ‘little’ fishing club for women now has members from 20 states and 2 CAN provinces! If you’re a woman who loves to fish, or wants to learn more about fishing, check us out!”

🙌 Love to see it.

4. MI: “Women on Ice” event happenin’ Jan 14-16 in the UP.

A media event to support women ice anglers as they collect media content, share tips, and celebrate all Women On Ice.

5. MN: NW Angle ice road opens Friday.

> An ice road from MN’s Northwest Angle and across Lake of the Woods to Springsteel Resort north of Warroad was plowed Tues and is scheduled to open Fri.

> The road, which connects with an ice road Springsteel Resort maintains on the south end of the lake, will allow visitors to reach the Northwest Angle by road without having to drive through CAN.

6. Proof burbot will eat a walleye. 😳

And of course loads of crawfish as well:

I’ve got to share this funny comment under the vid from Joe Gardell:

> “One of my biggest mistakes was cutting open a stomach to show my boys what they were eating. I’ve yet to be able to filet a fish around my kids, without cutting open every single stomach from then on!!!”

Lol!

7. ND: Lake Ashtabula Ice Fishing Derby canceled.

Due to excessive snow = slush and poor ice conditions.

8. MN: Virtual “Hooked on Itasca” ice derby, Jan 28 – Feb 6.

Thru the FishDonkey app and benefiting United Way of 1000 Lakes.

9. NY: 36th annual ice fishing contest at Grafton Lakes State Park…

…happening Jan 15.

10. NY: Greater Niagara Fishing and Outdoor Expo canceled.

11. John Acosta is the new marketing VP at Costa.

> Before joining Costa, Acosta served as the VP of marketing & business development at Major League Fishing where he was responsible for brand building and strategic partnerships…. Prior to MLF, Acosta served as the director of marketing for Bass Pro Shops for 12 years.

12. SIMMS acquired The River’s Edge Fly Shop.

13. MI: Black Lake sturgeon season set for Feb 5.

The total season limit (for everyone) is 6 sturgeon. Sounds like the “season” usually closes within about 1 hour of opening…so don’t blink!

14. Al’s Goldfish Lure Co celebrates its 70th anniversary.

15. WV is trying to get people to fish for more species.

> The [DNR] this week launched its “Master Angler” program. To qualify…a fisherman needs to catch 22 different species of fish in state waters. Those are divided into a series of 6 “slams.” A slam needs to be completed in a calendar year.

> “As fishing has evolved people have gotten to where they say, ‘I’m a bass fisherman’ or ‘I’m a cat fisherman’ or ‘I only chase musky.’ That’s great, everybody has their favorite fish, but when we started fishing we didn’t care what was on the other end of the line,” said Mark Scott, assistant chief for fisheries….

16. Bass Pro Shops can’t keep $6 trucker hats in stock.

I’m blaming TikTok’ers for this….

Tip-up spooling hack using a power drill.

This is an old trick from hardwater-junkie Adam Walton, but one that can save you a ton of time/frustration. I was just doing it the other day, so thought I’d bring it back to life.

Adam uses a cordless drill to spool up his Beaver Dam Tip-Ups which 110% beats the old-school way that gives you carpal tunnel:

“Some say the history of ice fishing is essentially divided into BG and AG, Before Genz and After Genz.”

– Love that quote talking about “The Godfather of Ice Fishing,” Mr. Dave Genz. It’s tough to imagine where the ice industry would be without all Dave has done…so a big thank YOU, man!

National Professional Anglers Assoc. 

MN-FISH