If you want to be successful when you go fishing, you need to first, find the fish. Once you’ve done that, you need to give them what they want to eat. If you do those two things, you’ll catch more fish more often. One really important thing to remember is that fish behave differently at different times of the year. Sometimes they want a bait that’s moving fast, other times they want a slower moving bait. In the spring when the water is cooler, a slow moving bait will usually catch more fish. Here are some ideas on slow moving baits that will catch more fish in the next few weeks. Jigs are perhaps the best presentation for walleyes in the spring in most places where walleyes … Read entire article »

March is a transition month for walleyes on many rivers. Two rivers that border Minnesota are the Rainy River and the Mississippi River. These two rivers have an open walleye season in March, and both of them are subject to current. This year both of these rivers have open water sections and they also have frozen stretches. The other thing in common both of these rivers, during the month of March, can be angry swollen, life threatening torrents of water. A word of caution if you are planning a fishing trip to either of these rivers keep your ears tuned to the weather because conditions could change daily. When fishing a river the important thing to remember is that the current will rule how and where you should fish. In the … Read entire article »

Success rates look up when anglers recognize that the crappies are feeding up Winter’s grip will soon relax. As the season’s thick grey clouds thin, elevating rays of sun will slash through the bitter air and warm it to a more comfortable tone. The snowpack’s about to melt; the warming environment is a trigger for once-lethargic crappie to roam towards shallow water from their dead-of-winter deepwater haunts. But a departure from the depths doesn’t always mean that fish head shoreward – they often go vertical. Unbeknownst to many is that crappies often elevate high in the water column to feast on tiny tidbits anywhere from only a few feet to mere inches under the decaying ice. But while a few anglers catch limits of slabs before the ice gives way, … Read entire article »

Most anglers know that trolling is an effective way to present a bait to fish in the summer. Trolling on the ice may sound like a strange thing, but once you understand what “trolling on ice” is all about, you’ll understand why it’s an effective way to present a bait to walleyes, perch, crappies, and anything else that you might want to catch. Here is how and why you troll on ice. I was … Read entire article »

Technological Trifecta Helps Anglers Find, Stay On, and Catch More Fish Pro fisherman Mark Courts is no stranger to technology. He’s one of the new breed of anglers comfortable with laptops, iPhones, iPads and the latest fishing electronics on the market. And he knows how to use technology to his advantage in the walleye and bass tournaments he fishes. “I’m always looking for new ways to find and catch fish, so I naturally gravitated to … Read entire article »

Focus on the bookends of the day to maximize your walleye catching success Cutting to the chase, there are two exceptional times to catch walleyes – sunup and sundown. Sure, there are tinged water ‘daytime lakes’ that potentially produce any ‘ol time. And the most crystalline of the clear lakes generally promote overnight activity. But regardless of the color of the water, to stack the deck in your favor, set your sights on the openings and … Read entire article »

Some people say that when the water temperature falls below 50-degrees, largemouth bass become lethargic, uninterested in feeding and ultimately impossible to catch. This is definitely not the case. Although severe cold fronts can negatively impact bass behavior in the heat of the summer, the late fall bass bite is generally very consistent. In fact, bass will aggressively attack large presentations. Enticing a big fall bass comes down to lure size, its movement and the … Read entire article »

During the course of multiple interviews for his new book, Ice Revolution, Dave Genz spent many hours digging through his memory banks, recounting the years he and his friends transformed ice fishing. Near the end of the process, he was asked to look into the future and envision what might come next for the sport. Are there more major breakthroughs on the horizon? Or have we settled into a period when evolutionary refinements will mark forward … Read entire article »

Big fish frequent the upper reaches of the water column and often go undetected Bellied to bottom; prowling from within thick masses of weeds— that’s the most common contemplation about the whereabouts of northern pike and what they are doing there. While it’s true many a monstrous Esox entangled in vegetation has been pulled through a hole in the ice, the truth of the matter is trophy-size fish frequent the upper reaches of the water column … Read entire article »