Today’s Top 5
> Quinn Aguero wrastled up this 14.3-lb HAM out of a southeast Wisconsin lake. He caught it on a leech & slip bobber… Lol okay, made that part up — the fish was actually caught on a Rapala Jigging Rap. She’s headed straight for the wall to be admired forever. This was no fluke, Quinn actually caught two 30″+ that night. Dang!
Best of the rest — a lot of big fish are being caught!
Sham Wow! Kelly G.’s flawless & finned-out TANK! Winched out of Rainy Lake on a 3/16-oz Clam Bomb Spoon:
Jordan M. pans 30″ of Bay De Noc gold, using a tip-up and sucker minnow in 10 feet:
Brad D. and 34″ of Last Mountain Lake, SD ice lizard!
Greenbackin’ it to the tune of 31.5″ with Kyle B. Are you even allowed to use an auger smaller than 10″ on the Red River??
One more blimp ‘eye, which just about fits that 8″ hole. Caught on a 1/4-oz pearl chartreuse PK Spoon:
How ’bout this 16″ crappie on a Trigger X Spike Worm!
Mother Nature’s hubcaps — three more and he would have a set!
Winter largie tips.
> I catch most of my winter largemouth on lures meant for panfishing. My favorite jigs are the Hard-Rock Mooska Jig and the Hexi Fly; both are awesome fish-catchers that show up well on electronics.
Lol. Click it to watch it in all its glory:
Ice Fishing
Drill all day with this 21-lb powerhouse.2. MN: Loooooong article about fewer trophy pannies.
…with big fish magician Eric Haataja.
Eric Brandriet with hard evidence of why his Aqua-Vu isn’t just a luxury, but a hardwater tool:
> Had a hot hole one night last week and it was funny because it was about the ONLY hot hole. My Humminbird showed a solid line about 2′ off bottom and never left. The next morning we dropped the Aqua-Vu down…and bam…a dead tree with limbs in 23′. This is VERY uncommon in this body of water, a rare find that now has plenty of waypoints marking it.
> In fact, after looking with the ‘ice eyes’, our Aqua-VU camera, we found about a 30-yard area of small brushpiles! Very UNCOMMON in this lake but would not be found without our Aqua-Vu cams.
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News
1. El Nino effect could last entire winter.
2. Canadian dollar heading south.
Time to visit north?
3. ND: Feds open comment period for guides.
On National Wildlife Refuges in the Devils Lake region including Lake Alice, Rose Lake and Silver Lake.
4. MO: FWP plans to acquire 80 acres along Bynum Rez.
5. AIM Walleye Series names NoDak director.
6. 39 consecutive hours of fishing?
New YouTube series from the Uncut Angling boys that’s worth a watch. Three teams compete in a multispecies beatdown, from thousands of miles apart, for 39 hours straight.
7. Lowrance renews partnership with NWT.
Also will air on Roku, and registration now open.
8. Ranger Boats 2016 retail sales program.
9. Jason Bragg new YarCraft natl sales mgr.
> It used to be that goldfish in the ON outdoors had a very low survival rate and little success at reproducing. But officials say that’s been changing in recent years in the warmer weather we’ve been experiencing.
> Colin Lake, lead planning biologist with the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry, notes the province has been stocking walleye in the harbor since 2012 and young goldfish will definitely provide them an increase in food supply.
Events
Over $20K in prizes, all proceeds go to CancerCare and the Children’s Hospital Foundation of MB. #awesome
Fishing Reports
1. MN: LOTW fish-cleaning shacks busy.
Linda D. with 31.5″ of LOTW paydirt, caught on a Northland UV Buck-Shot Spoon in pink tiger:
> Ice fishing is in full swing on The Walleye Capital of the World and the fish-cleaning shacks are busy! Ice trails marked for ATV, UTV, snowmobiles and other light ice rigs. Snowmobile trails across the lake marked and groomed. Resorts are shuttling guests to fish houses with light ice rigs.
> On the south shore, most fishing in 22-29′. Gold, glow red, pink, glow white and orange are hot colors. A mix of walleyes, sauger and jumbo perch. A few sturgeon being caught by walleye anglers. Numerous limits. One-two punch of jigging line and dead stick. Some trophy walleyes in the mix. As always, stay on the marked resort trails.
> The Rainy River is iced over in most areas but not safe overall. For safety, work through resorts. Some locals out on ice but they know exact conditions. Safety first. Most fishing the lake.
> Up at the NW Angle, fish houses are out and good fishing reported. There is a staked trail from Young’s Bay to Flag Island and to Oak Island. Snowmobile trail to south end of lake is open. Good bite with limits in 22′-28′. Jumbo perch and pike in with walleye and sauger mix.
Stay posted to Lake of the Woods Tourism or your favorite resort’s Facebook/Twitter pages for updates.
Note: Brad Hawthorne’s hot bait/color on LOTW has been VMC Tumbler Spoons in any UV color on his jig line and VMC Glow Resin Trebles with frozen or live shiners on his set line.
Here’s a LOTW video report from Keith Kavajecz.
From Woodland Resort:
> Ice conditions: Irvine: 8″-10″; Pelican: 8″-10″; Minnewaukan Flats: 8″-11″; North End of 6 Mile Bay: 10″; Creel bay: 6″-11″. Slush still remains on various parts of the lake. Track machines in these areas are best for getting around.
> Use of full-size vehicles is still not advised anywhere on the lake. People are primarily using ATVs, side-by-sides, snobears, and snowmobiles to navigate the ice.
> Perch are starting to become more active in the last few days. Walleyes and pike have been biting in shallower areas (7-20′). Buckshots have been the hot lure as of late, 1/16-oz in green, orange, and pink colors. Minnow heads and wax worms.
Zippy Dahl, Perch Patrol: “Perch fishing has been phenomenal. Lots of limits. Fish are in 14-28 feet. We’re fishing by ourselves. We even landed a couple 2-lbers.”
> Our houses saw some good numbers yesterday. Pink jigs were the catching ticket. We are fishing anywhere from 22-30′ just southwest of Gull Rock and at Twin Rocks. Electronics have been helpful. According to our guides, you need to fish as close to the bottom as you can.
> We are finding more safe, fishable ice daily and are expanding our fishing areas. Our sleeper houses are being placed on the ice this week. Colder temps are on their way, so expect more ice and progression towards the reefs. If you are fishing on your own, please remember to take extreme caution as the ice still varies around our area.
Report from Arnesen’s Rocky Point. Visit Warroad info.
‘Eye Candy
Color win:
Tip of the Day
A little multi-species plastic trick hat might help you catch a few more fish this winter, especially on highly-pressured waters:
> Clip the nose off a micro tube, slide the spoon’s treble up through, and re-attach it. This one works for everything from herring to big lake trout. Even more than the color and scent, a little tube also really helps slow a spoon on the downstroke.
> Clear, smoke or glow tubes do a good job imitating smelt or shiners.
Quote of the Day
Is it human nature to pick on things that are smaller than us?
– Jim Uran with a strong argument to rethink how many panfish we keep on MN lakes.
Shot of the Day
Amazing shot of water thrown in the air when it’s -40:
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