New Berkley colors outed, Ice fishing stereotypes, Panfish too big for pans

Sort of funny how a lot of folks (myself included) couldn’t care less about catching bluegills or crappies for the other 8 months of the year…but soon as there’s fish-able ice we’ll hoof it 4 miles down an old logging road to try and catch ’em. 🤣 Half the time not even knowing if that backwater slough even has fish in it or not!

But it’s worth it if/when they’re fish of THIS caliber…

1) Andrew Kraft (@krafty_38) has been wailing on backwoods pie plates with his 2B “Select Series” Ultimate Nood rod in hand — believe that bait is a P3 Plastics Micro Spugg…sorta like a mini paddle-tail for panfish. Yup, bluegills can have shoulders too!

Few details from Jadyn:

> “Focusing on the primetime feeding window of dusk was key as the big crappies moved up onto the weed edges from the basin looking for easy meals…and we were there waiting for them.

> “…much as I love catching big slabs myself it made me smile seeing my cousin crush his new PB crappie with a 14” slab.

> “As always these bigger fish were released which will guarantee the continued quality of these fish in this system for years to come, something I encourage everyone to practice wherever you find trophy panfish swimming.”

Way to go, fellas!

3) Karlee Tower is back, and the fish aren’t getting any smaller. She iced this tall basin-dweller on Lake Nevuhtelja (pronounced: neva-tell-ya! 🤐) using a “black chartreuse” color Clam Drop-Kick Jig:

Btw Karlee said she “highly recommends” that StrikeMaster Allie suit — even added a couple 💯🔥 emojis in there to make it o-fish-ial. Awesome.

4) Call these Mother Nature’s hubcaps — 2 more and Dylan Foui would have a set!

Dude had himself a day using the original Clam “Maki” plastic (white). Said they caught 150+ fish “with 35 of them over 14″ and 6 over 15″….” 🤯 Sheesh!

Said they were primarily fishing in 19-23′ where a 10′ mud flat sharply dropped into 18-24′. Had huge pods suspended 11-17′ down, but the feeders would come all the way up between 6-9′ to smash the bait. I’d love to see those thing flying up on the graph!

‘Cuz there’s still a few diehards chasing those cold-water walleyes…

1) Andy Fisk whacked this razorback running Salmo Freediver 12s on Saginaw Bay:

They’re adding limited-edition “HD Flash” colors to the Flicker lineup and Hit Stick:

> Berkley scientists have combined HD Tru Color and Flash technologies to give anglers a real match-the-hatch edge come ice out with the new Limited-Edition Color Program.

> …4 ultra-realistic HD Flash Series patterns including HD Flash Chubby, HD Flash Ghost Minnow, HD Flash Threadfin Shad, HD Flash Perch. Exclusively available through select retailers beginning in Jan 2021.

Here’s a little sneak peak posted by Mark Courts recently:

1. 2021 NWT schedule is out…again.

It was already out, but looks like some changes:

• Apr 29-30 – Missouri River – Chamberlain, SD
• May 27-28 – Sturgeon Bay
• Jun 24-25 – Lake Erie – Huron, OH
• Jul 29-30 – Lake Oahe – Mobridge, SD
• Championship – Sept 15-17 – Otter Tail Lake, MN

Believe they dropped the ND event and added another SD stop. Would guess that has something to do with ND Game & Fish now wanting a bigger chunk of tourney $$$….

In case you hadn’t heard, ND’s now requiring a 10% tournament permit fee — with no limit/cap to the amount — based on “gross receipts/entry fees of the tournament prize purse to be paid to them in order to secure the event permit.” Used to be the same 10% fee but it was capped at $5K.

If my algebrateria (lol) is right, ND Game & Fish would’ve snagged a $30K+ (?) chunk of that now-rescheduled NWT stop. And the NWT isn’t the only one to switch up their plans to visit “The Peace [of the pie] Garden State.”

Head2Head’s “Pro Walleye Series” had Stump Lake, ND on its 2021 schedule, but also announced they’ll be “finding an alternative site outside of ND. The new policy means the Head2Head event would have had to pay Game & Fish $9.6K rather than the previous cap limit of $5K.”

I’m sure some locals are happy to keep “their lakes” to themselves — I mean no one likes added attention and fishing pressure on their favorite honey holes — but think about the hit those local economies will take….

2. How much $$$ does the NWT bring to a community?

Is it $50K?…$100K?…$200K??…or maybe:

Okay…it’s not quite to Dr. Evil Hoyer’s level, but it is a ton of dough according to a survey done last year in this write-up. They polled the 174 fisherpeeps (I hate the word angler for some reason) in the 2019 NWT Championship at Devils Lake, ND and found that:

> “The average expenditure per angler was $1,375…. Those dollars totaled nearly $250K and they revolved throughout the community many times.”

Of course the 174 peoples surveyed doesn’t include any friends or family that made the trek, or locals who came out to watch all the fishy shenanigans.

Also, I believe there were 87 boats that qualified to fish that championship. The 3 other NWT stops that year averaged 138 boats per event (2-person teams), so about 276 fisherpeoples. Using the same $1,375/person figure above would mean roughly $380K is dumped into each community from the dudes/dudettes fishin’.

And:

> “…the fishery and the area receive positive news coverage in social media, magazines, websites, TV and media throughout the country.”

No doubt you can expect more people and $$$ to make their way over to fish after watching the pros wallop on fish, and spitting out exactly how they caught ’em.

Another interesting fact from that Devils Lake NWT stop:

> “The average angler spent 7 nights in the area: 36% stayed at resorts, 32% at motels, 16% at campgrounds and 11% with friends. The average angler traveled 575 miles round trip to fish Devils Lake, and 14% drove more than 1,000 miles.”

And here’s how much John Hoyer dropped on dinner after winning lol….

3. Get your lithium on!!!

If you’ve been thinking about going to the dark light side — do it! You absolutely won’t regret it. Few years ago you would’ve had to fork out $300+ buckaroos to upgrade your lead flasher/graph battery to an itty-bitty lithium one…but nowadays it’s getting WAY more reasonable.

One killer option is the MarCum Brute Kit. Comes with a Lithium 12V 10AH LiFePO4 “Brute” Battery AND 3-amp charger for $99 bones. That’s a direct replacement for your “stock” battery in most all units = half the weight + twice the run-time! I snagged this exact unit earlier this fall and have been super impressed:

4. Berkley and BoatUS bait/line recycling ideas contest.

> …to seek out new ideas and improvements to fishing line and soft-bait recycling, new recycled-product ideas, or a technology breakthrough for the current process that will increase the volume of line and soft baits that are recycled.

> A total of $30,000 in prize money is at stake for any boater, angler, armchair technologist, team, student or anyone willing to submit a contest entry now through May 14, 2021.

5. Frabill’s “College of Ice” extended thru Jan.

The live show has been a hit, so pumped they’ll be bringing even more episodes:

> …Frabill will continue the series with new episodes airing each Wed throughout the entire month of Jan. Hosts TV personality Steve Pennaz and “Bro” Brosdahl will be online, to share their tips, tricks, and ice fishing know-how.

> Each week, “Bro” and Steve will be joined by other pros and industry experts that offer unique insight into fish behavior, tackle, tactics and equipment to help you hook more fish. Tune in to Frabill Facebook Live after the holidays to catch the new shows, scheduled for Jan 6, 13, 20, and 27.

6. Rapala VMC Corp launches new sustainability strategy.

> For example, the release of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in the lure manufacturing units in Finland, Estonia and Russia has almost halved in the past 4 years. The company also introduced new packaging designs in 2010 containing 50% less plastics compared to the previous packages.

> The individual components in Rapala hard baits have also been carefully reviewed and substituted for more ecological options wherever possible without compromising the product performance…. For example, did you know that the swimming lip of a Rapala wooden lure is currently 40% bio-based, and 85% of the hard baits…are lead-free?

> The company aims to introduce 100% lead-free Rapala wobblers by 2023, to further reduce the amount of plastic used in lure packaging, to release new plastic-free packaging for multiple product categories and brands, and to shift to renewable energy….

7. MN looking for AIS advisory committee members.

 > The committee was established in Jan 2013 to help guide the DNR’s AIS prevention and management activities. Members provide advice and diverse perspectives to the DNR Invasive Species Program.

8. OH offering $3 mil in ramp grants.

9. Justin Russell talks Lowrance Live system (video).

Show and tell.

10. Did the feds give us Asian carp??

> …the US Dept of Fish and Wildlife [Fish and Wildlife Service] introduced the breed to AR ponds in the 1970s to prevent algae. Floods eventually led to a large number of the fish migrating into the Mississippi River and eventually into Kentucky and Barkley lakes.

Also from that post about those lakes:

> “We’ve pulled out 6 mil lbs of carp in the past year or 2. If you don’t think that makes a difference, let’s take 6 mil lbs of carp, dump it in this lake, go ride around and see what happens. Had it not been for the commercial fishermen, those fish would still be swimming around, jumping in boats, and reeking havoc on our fishing.”

11. New all-natural “zebracide”?

> ZebraCide recently announced that it had been granted US patent # 10,863,747 for its all-natural zebra mussel pesticide.

> “…has been deemed safe, as defined by EPA’s definition of a minimum risk pesticide. It is compiled of whole food ingredients…. ZebraCide is not a bacterium pesticide, chemical pesticide nor does it introduce heavy metals or other harmful chemicals into the water.”

12. VT: 1,400 milfoil plants pulled from Lake Salem this year.

There’s supposedly some quality ‘eyes in there, so guess now you’ll have to start looking deeper. Or maybe the shallow weeds will be more fishable? 🤷‍♂️

13. New Zealand is using mats to get rid of aquatic weeds.

> …[biodegradable] hessian matting has been laid at a number of sites in Lake Wānaka to suppress the spread of the highly invasive waterweed….

14. MN: Sounds like Mille Lacs is locked taut.

Folks have been ice fishing in some of the protected bays for a couple weeks now, but sounds like the bigwater has finally capped solid.

Of course Nick Lindner already snuck out there yesterday to harass him some waldos. And good to see he’s bringing the ‘stache back lol:

Here we go! 🔥 Have a shot at winning this $350 spread [!!!] of ice-fishing goodness from Acme Tackle and Beaver Dam!

Including a bulletproof (and sold-out everywhere) Beaver Dam Tip-Up, ice-fishing rods and of course more baits ‘cuz you can never have enough…am I right? 👊

And if you haven’t seen those Acme Tackle Tungsten Sling Blade ice jigs yet, they have a “free-swinging hook” (on a singular axis) that adds a “tail-whipping action” to your bait/plastics, without having to actually move your bait. For you visual learners:

Deep-water basin crappie tips.

The AnglingBuzz fellas talk how they snatch finicky, deep-water crappies using tungsten in places most others would use jigging spoons.

Also debunk one of the biggest fishin’ myths you’ve probably heard…how if you reel ’em up outta deep water niiiice aaaand sloooow, that the fish’ll be just fine — but that’s just not true…. 👀 Jer says you’d probably have to reel that fish up over the course of 3-ish hours [!] for that to be the case. So get enough for dinner, and get out:

National Professional Anglers Assoc. 

MN-FISH