Welcome to the Ice Force IceBlaster, your 2x/week email with the funniest, bestest ice fishing content IN THE WORLD! Enjoy!
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Today’s Top 5
> National Geographic Channel…plans to send a crew to the Sebago Lake Ice Fishing Derby on Feb. 15-16 to film segments for an upcoming reality TV series on ice fishing…will air later this year.
> The filming at Sebago Lake will be done by Loud TV, a New York City production company. Loud TV has already scouted in Maine and other parts of New England for ice fishermen, and will film those fishermen at Sebago Lake.
Hold on – NYC?! That’s sure to be a winner….
Hope it’s better than that show Cold River Cash (snore), but North Woods Law is cool. Still, can ice fishin’ really compete with reality TV like this:
2. Deeks, spears, pikes.
Awesome underwater pike ice-spearin’ vid. Love the way they crack the decoys. Who says fish are cold-blooded??
3. Hand model??
Cabela’s updated their Facebook cover photo – cool, but check out that hand! It looks so…lotioned!
See that beautiful hand bigger here.
> I discovered a new drink popular among ice fisherman, especially those in the northeast and in particular Pennsylvania’s coal country. It’s called boilo.
> An Americanized version of an old Lithuanian cordial, boilo is a homemade concoction formerly (and sometimes currently) made with high-test grain alcohol and a variety of fruit and spices. It sounds a lot like what we call “apple pie.”
ON’s Crow Lake is a solid-numbers laker hole…but some giant ‘skies too. Long-armed Pat Donelan whips out a monster.
If you want to start right at the money shot, click here.
Spent a lot time in the dairy barn, that Pat did….
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News
Road trip! Leave tonight and you could make Mobridge’s annual ice fishing par-tee! 4 reasons to go:
- Lake Oahe walleyes
- High-$ random prize draws
- FREE BEER
- FREE BEER!!!!
2. IA: Ice fishing concert Sunday.
Nap music for ice heads!
Utah is payin’ a bounty for each burbot (aka ling, eelpout, lawyer fish) iced in the state’s largest ice fishing tourney, Jan. 25-26. Thousands will compete, some fishing a legal SIX LINES a piece. Wuuuttt? That’s a lot of poor man’s lawbstuh!
“Big-money/high-stakes,” the Jan. 18-19 Lake Chautauqua event is part of NY’s only $75,000-plus ice fishing tournament series.
Fish ‘pro’ for $160; classic derby-style biggest fish ‘Open’ for $30. Gangsta mang!
Not all ice anglers leave a mess on the ice. Don’t be a rotten apple. Keep the ice cleaner than you found it…dingus.
7. Brothers catch trophy…twice!
Big toothy critter trips tip-up flag two days in a row!
Proves the importance of smart, quick, fish-handling for trophy pics in cold temps. Good work, guys!
Fishin’ Reports
From Paul Nelson, Bemidji Area Lakes Guide Service, panelsonbemidji@gmail.com:
> “There was a slim chance that we’d recover from the bad ice situation, but it happened. The recent long cold snap saved these lakes. So we’re really just getting mobile, roads are going in, truck travel is possible and anglers are getting permanent houses out.”
> “Fish have already switched to mid-winter patterns. Any fish suspended in the deep basins are higher up in the water column, basically right to the edge of where the light is penetrating the water.”
> “Lake Winnie and Leech are just getting started. Most of the pressure up to now has been on Red Lake and Lake of the Woods. The Red walleye bite has been from the shoreline break into the basin and LOTW has been a shallow morning and evening bite, with fish suspended during mid-day.”
> “Walleye bite has been very good especially during low-light conditions and after dark. Tip-ups baited with small suckers and golden shiners have been our go-to setup.”
> “We are running the tip-ups in 3-8′ along weed edges and shallow gravel bars.”
> “The Lake Winnipeg ‘greenback’ walleye bite kind of spoils you from wanting to chase big walleyes anywhere else,” says ice stick Chris Bressler.
> His crew recently iced two giants over 11 pounds and lots of 25-plus-inchers over the holidays. With temps improving, sounds like the bite may get even better in upcoming days.
> “Drilling lots of holes and staying mobile is key. They’re roamers. You just have to find ‘em. And you don’t have to go out far. Just keep following the shoreline and cover lots of water until your electronics light up! But hire a guide if your system isn’t 100%. The lake will beat you up.”
> “I fished the Confluence yesterday, 4″ of clear ice. Farther uplake around Firehole, 8-10″. Fishing for big, healthy rainbows was red hot in shallow water off from rocky points.”
> “Many of the side roads uplake had substantial snow drifting, so 4WD and high clearance is highly recommended.”
> “Our guys have been doing well on Green Bay, Sheboygan County lakes, Lake Winnebago and Blackhawk. We’re seeing great numbers of panfish, whitefish, northerns and walleyes. Recent cold temps had us downsizing our jigs and Slender Spoons and fishing deeper and slower than normal. The fish will only get more aggressive with warmer temps.”
> “Shallow fish are sticking to the green weeds off the edge of currents generally in a break or bend. Deeper fish are sitting off of mud flats on the transitions or funnels between flats, searching or roaming mud flats bouncing between bloodworm beds. Pike are roamers: one minute they are in 6′, the next in 30.
> Use your search patterns: diamond grids to cover shallow/deep and both sides of a general flat. Walleyes have been tight to transitions between weeds and mud.”
> “Anglers have landed 11- to 13-inch rainbows through ice that is averaging 8 to 12 inches thick across the reservoir. Green PowerBait and nightcrawlers are working the best. The park will host its Ice Hole Invitational Tournament on Jan. 18. The event will start at 10 a.m., and registration will take place on site. Call 775-728-4460 for more information.”
> Bluegills and crappies have been biting in weedlines from 8-12’ and holding off steep ridges nearby. They’re also starting to school up in deeper holes so check your lake maps for the deep basins.
Deals of the Day
1. 20K maggots under $100 – to your door!
Gary Roach’s live-bait beliefs hold for ice fishing too. Use the best, freshest stuff available and re-bait often.
Vados Bait Express has some of the best in the U.S. of A. Enough for the entire season if you treat it right. Just don’t tell her they’re in the fridge.
The Ultimate Giveaway winner wins:
- Rapala custom-wrapped Polaris Indy Voyager 550 snowmobile (WANT!)
- Otter Pro XT1200 Lodge portable fishhouse
- MarCum LX-6 fishfinder
- StrikeMaster Honda Lite 8-inch auger
- Ice Force suit, gloves, neck gaiter
Plus hundreds of dollars in Rapala, TriggerX and Suffix baits and line. Estimated retail value is – check it – $10,500!
Just ‘Like’ Ice Force to enter, peeps!
Tip of the Day
Dave Genz: Big fish on light line.
> What you don’t want to do is reach down and touch the line with your hand. If you do that, the line’s gonna break, so you need patience. Let the rod and reel do the work.
> Some people will backreel, taking the anti-reverse off and actually letting the handle go backwards. I choose to use a good-quality drag.
> As long as you don’t touch the line, you can land any size fish on light line.
Quote of the Day
He took a big anger dump in the ice.
– Comedian Louis C.K. recently finishing the apparently famous ice fishing story from the movie American Hustle. Sorry to get all PG-13 on ya….
Shot of the Day
Check this 30″ ‘eye – NICE! Yesp, that’s a Rapala Jigging Rap – learn more about that bait here.
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GET OUT AND STAY OUT ICE-HEADS!
