Tune your tungsten, Rare golden pike caught, Hoyer likes Fat Bottoms? 😁

1. Thoroughly cleans the eye (more on that below).

2. Always sharpens the snot out of the hook. Especially important if there’s any over-spray paint.

3. Carefully [!] bends the eye to 90° so the jig hangs more horizontal. Says horizontal always gets more bites.

4. Also “opens up” the hook for better hookups. Notice how the hook tip is actually pointing slightly above the jig’s eye?

Gotta be careful when tuning tungsten – and even expect to break a few in the process – but Lawrence says tuning the jig this way also allows for him to use a snell knot…. Pretty sure he’s the first person I’ve heard talking about using snell knots on ice jigs.

Takes some time to tie, but says it helps keep the bait perfectly horizontal. Like how Dave Genz always shows to straighten your knot by sliding it back on the eyelet…. When you snell, even the fish can’t move the knot.

Couple other notes….

He’s always using 3mm tungsten (or even smaller) on pressured lakes.

But says when they “get up north like where the NAIFC Championship is, then you can go bigger. Sometimes that bigger profile is key when there’s really big sunfish….”

If he’s bumping up to a bigger profile, he likes switching to lead because it’s lighter and easier for bluegills to suck in. Bet ya never thought of that! I hadn’t….

One more thing….

The final trick he didn’t talk about, but I’m gonna, is the importance of a reeeeally good ‘stache. I wasn’t able to cross paths with him at this year’s ice show [☹️] but here’s a snap of his facial powers from last year:

How awesome is that? Lawrence can for sure pull it off – wish I could.

I’m thinking that ‘stache has gotta be part of his pre-tourney plan…. Think about the intimidation factor when dudes with a ‘stache like that are NOT smiling – can’t say I’d recommend fishing too close to any of these fellas during a tourney:

[Drum-roll sound effect]

It’s…a tie?!?! 🤔

Was gonna say it’s none other than Jason Durham of Go Fish! Guide Service 👏👏👏 and pics seriously do NOT do his get-up justice:

1. No more H2H Pro Walleye Series in 2022.

Loved those live-streamed walleye derbies. 😔

The good news is that Head2Head Fishing’s “Open Events” will be returning in 2022.

2. IN: Merc’s building a massive distribution center near Indianapolis.

New 512,000 sq ft facility. But wait, there’s more:

> “Additionally, Mercury has announced 3 new expansions to its Fond du Lac campus to meet record demand from its global customers. Mercury will make 2 additions to its foundry and 1 to its machining facility, adding 100,000 sq ft to its global headquarters. With these additions, Mercury will now have 3 mil sq ft of manufacturing in Fond du Lac. Since 2009, Mercury has now invested more than $1.7 bil in capacity and expansion growing to now more than 4,000 employees in Fond du Lac.”

3. Northland Tackle names industry vet Mike Anselmo marketing director.

Mike’s coming over from Striker Brands and was with In-Depth Media Productions prior to that. Got to chat with him briefly at the St. Paul Ice Show and he seems like a great dude! 🤝 Congrats to both!

4. First-ever virtual “Clam Trap Attack” happenin’ Jan 15-16.

Multispecies derby (costs just $10 to enter) that can be fished by any ice angler thru the FishDonkey app. Thousands of $$$ in Clam goodies up for grabs and a pile of different way to win – more info here.

5. Ice Queen Virtual Fishing Tourney is back.

Running thru the entire month of Jan. There’s $5.5K in prizes and weekly giveaways donated by companies that support WAM’s (Women Anglers of Minnesota) mission of getting ladies out fishing! First 750 gals get free registration – more info here.

6. MN: NAIFC national championship happening Dec 18-19.

Teams that qualified at a 2021 NAIFC event will be bringing in their biggest 8 bluegills and 8 crappies per day, fishing for a chunk of $15K+. Day 1 is on Big Elbow Lake, and day 2 on South Twin Lake. Good luck, all!

7. Heads up: StrikeMaster Lazer Blade replacement notice.

There’s a potential performance issue with a small percentage of 8″ Lazer Blades on a handful of new augers purchased after Aug 2, 2021.

Honestly tho: BIG props on StrikeMaster’s commitment to taking care of anyone fast if they have new blades that are not perfect. Says a lot that they don’t just try to sweep it under the rug. 💯

8. Bass Pro Shops buy of Sportsman’s Warehouse is off.

> Sportsman’s Warehouse, which is a publicly-traded company, said in the filing, “The decision to terminate the Merger Agreement follows feedback from the Federal Trade Commission that led the parties to believe that they would not have obtained FTC clearance to consummate the merger.”

> The acquisition was expected to close in the second half of 2021. Under the termination agreement, Great Outdoors Group agreed to pay Sportsman’s Warehouse a termination fee of $55.0 mil.

> On Dec 21, 2020, The Great American Outdoors Group agreed to purchase Sportsman’s Warehouse for $18 per share in cash, equating to about an $800 mil purchase price. The price represented a 42% premium versus Sportsman’s Warehouse’s closing price of $12.65 on Dec 20….

> Sportsman’s Warehouse’s smaller locations were expected to provide Bass Pro with more flexibility to open stores, including opening closer to urban markets and exploring smaller markets.

> According to Moody’s, Bass Pro, which is majority-owned by its founder, John Morris, and privately held, had revenues in the 12 months ended Sept 26, 2020 of $7.1 bil. Sportsman’s Warehouse’s sales in 2020 were $1.45 bil.

9. Garmin makes switch from Nasdaq to NYSE.

> Garmin, Ltd. [GRMN] completed its listing transfer and began trading Tues as an NYSE-listed company. Garmin said it could now leverage all of the advantages of membership in the NYSE community.

10. Ever thought of adding an Ice Defense in your permie?

For those pesky holes that like to freeze-up overnight whether the thermostat is set at 65°F or 80°F hahaha:

Pretty slick that Cold Nation Outdoors now has 110V Power and 12V Socket Adapters for their Ice Defense Pro systems.

11. How global disruptions are affecting the fishing industry.

Long-ish post about shipping delays and tackle availability.

12. NC: International Custom Rod Building Expo, Feb 26-27.

13. Caymas has a new multi-species rig coming.

> “This new [DV] line will consist of 3 models that will offer multiple deck variations for each. The first boat that we are releasing is the DV 22. They will be available in early ’22 from your local Caymas Dealer.”

14. Bezos Earth Fund awards $30 mil to the NFWF.

NFWF = National Fish and Wildlife Foundation.

> “…to support conservation projects in the U.S. that will generate immediate, overlapping benefits across 3 urgent areas of concern: advancing carbon goals to mitigate climate change, conserving wildlife biodiversity, and boosting the resilience of communities across the nation.”

15. Nick Lindner is ice fishing 30 days in a row.

Sounds like a dream come true, but also sounds like a major lack of sleep + a TON of work seeing as Nick will be kicking out a YouTube video every…single…day. He’s already pumped out 4 vids and #5 is dropping tonight. 👊 Keep grinding, dude!

16. FishUSA has some Two Brothers Innovations rods in stock.

Both from 2B Fishing and Elliott Rods = incredible short sticks. And, well, not-so-short sticks if you’re talking about Elliott’s new-ish “Evolution Series” ice rods…which I’d bet will be sold-out by the time I press send on this email. 😳

17. I’ve always been a sucker for lime green…

…so of course this “Radioactive Pickle” color Black Betty FreeFall Ghost caught my eye reel quick. 🤩💚

Other than the obvious color splash, here’s what else makes ’em different:

> “…features the revolutionary FreeFall trigger that allows hard water anglers to hit specific depths, and get instant hookups by releasing the trigger in the target zone. Expect easy one-handed operation, smooth drag, and the perfect all-around gear ratio [2.5:1] for shallow to mid-depth ice fishing. No line twist, drop-speed control, and a tangle-free spool cap create a user-friendly design that simplifies line management and makes your time on the ice more enjoyable.”

Yup, this is real life! 🤯 Here’s your shot to win a new MarCum MX-7GPS lithium-powered sonar/GPS unit!! 🔥 GPS mapping + MarCum’s legendary sonar platform = we almost feel bad for the fishes…almost!

> Customizable HD display, industry-leading 1/2″ target separation, real-time sonar designed specifically for ice fishing, and comes standard with a MarCum Brute 12V10Ah Lithium LifePO4 battery!

Takes just 10 sec to enter and can share the link you get for bonus entries. 👊 Good luck!

How Hoyer “Fat Bottoms” thru the ice.

You already know (and probably really love) the OG Shiver Minnow…but did you know that Moonshine recently released a “Fat Bottom Series” with even more gliding action? Know plenty of folks who took it out for a rip this open-water season, but it’s actually primarily designed for ice fishing:

“This is what happens after a night of -22 wind chills. Yep, it’s all ice today.”

– That’s Border View Lodge talking about a capped-over Lake of the Woods. #Jackpot!

National Professional Anglers Assoc. 

MN-FISH