Fall for Crappies

Fall has fell in the Midwest. When we left the dock at Kabetogama Lake in northern Minnesota last week at about 8:00 a.m., the air temperatures were in the high 20’s. That’s pretty chilly, but we hadn’t traveled to Kab to sit on the shore. We pulled on the Guidewear and headed onto the lake […]

Fish the Weedline in the Fall

The weedline is a great place to find and catch fish all during the open water fishing season. Lots of anglers even work the weedline while ice-fishing. Simply put, there is almost always a fish somewhere along the weedline that is willing to get caught. In the autumn months a variety of fish will be […]

Spread Out for Fishing Success

We’re into the summer bite! For most species of fish, the spawn is over and the predator fish have one thing on their mind:  Food!  Their only concern for the rest of the summer is eating.  If we want to catch more fish, we need to be where they’re eating, and then we need to […]

Put a Glow in Your Fishing

by Bob Jensen Lure presentation is always an important part of fishing success.  Of course, you have to find them before you can catch them, but in open water or while ice-fishing, once you find the fish, you have to make them bite.  One way to make them bite more often, which I learned quite […]

Falling for Panfish

By Bob Jensen  I’ve said it so many times, and I don’t like to be redundant, but the autumn period is a wonderful time to go fishing for pretty much any species of gamefish that swims in the Midwest.  Walleyes, bass, northern pike; even muskies are susceptible to an angler’s presentation in the fall.  Crappies […]

Planer Boards: Not Just for Walleyes

By Bob Jensen Planer boards have been a part of many a walleye anglers’ arsenal for a long time.  Salmon and trout anglers also employ boards frequently.  Planer boards do so many good things when a trolling presentation is called for.  They enable an angler to get lines and baits out away from the boat, […]

Key Tips for Catching More Fish This Season

by Bob Jensen  It’s the beginning of yet another open water fishing season and anglers have high expectations for fishing over the next few months.  Many have new rods, reels or lures that they’re anxious to try, and some have new or new-to-them boats, motors, depth finders and electric motors.  Some of the products that […]

Crankin’ Up More Fish

by Bob Jensen   This morning there were two inches of new snow on the ground.  Winter doesn’t want to let go, but like it or not, winter is going away.  When it does, I’m going fishing.   And I’m going to be using a bait that many anglers don’t use early in the year.  I’m […]

Ice-Out Panfish

by Bob Jensen   Most of the ponds and many of the small lakes across the Midwest are either free of ice or will be soon.  For those of us that are looking forward to getting back to open-water fishing, that means it’s time to get the panfish gear together.  In some places we fish […]

Try Different Stuff This Year

by Bob Jensen   I was going through one of my ice-fishing lure containers the other day and said to myself “I’ll be putting this stuff away before too long.”  It seems I talk to myself more and more lately.  Anyway, too much of the time we get locked into ideas that some lures are […]

New Fishing Guide Changes in North Dakota

  by Doug Leier North Dakota’s fishing regulations are different than any other set of regulations the State Game and Fish Department produces. While they all cover laws, limits and season lengths, the fishing regulations cover a two-year period, while the others are developed annually. Fortunately, for pretty much all of the regulations guides that […]

Small Details, Bigger Catches

by Bob Jensen Fishing in the fall can be good. Really good.  Really, really good.  If you pay attention to detail, you can be even more successful at this time of year.  As I think back on some of my fall fishing trips, I remember how we caught a lot more fish because we tweaked […]

Crappies Down Deep

by Bob Jensen Almost anyone who enjoys freshwater fishing enjoys catching crappies.  Crappies are great on the table, they’re abundant in many waters, they are very appealing visually, and best of all, when you get on them they can be willing biters.  In the fall months, if you can find the crappies they will provide […]

After Bite

A lot of people think bluegills and crappies aren’t catchable during the post-spawn period; that they’ve gone tight lipped, bellied-up to bottom and comatose after the spawn

VERSATILE ANGLERS CATCH MORE FISH

There are other techniques that I want to learn more about this fishing season.

Floodwaters Point to Spring Crappies

From the simplest flooding model we learn how water collects via tributaries, overland melt and seepage; how the occurrence influences fish location and activity levels. And crappies, more than any other species, are suckers for the flood.

Bluegills for Kids

By Doug Leier Late in the 1980s my family moved from LaMoure to Valley City. I’d fished the Jim River and Lake LaMoure prior to the move, and enjoyed an array of fish, from pike to perch and even the lowly carp. In Barnes County around Valley City, I spent a good chunk of time […]

Horizontal Jigging

By Nick Simonson Have you ever watched the way minnows move? When I was in Grand Forks, N.D. attending “The School that Shall Not Be Named” I had multiple chances to jump the Red River into East Grand Forks, Minn., and watch as trout, bass and pike preyed upon minnows that the staff had dumped […]

Ultralight Fishing Tackle

The UltraLight Brigade By Nick Simonson There’s something special about taming a charging bull bluegill on line as thin as a spider web. Few fishing sensations are wilder than a white bass tearing up the sunset reflecting off of the evening water. Even a ten-inch trout brings a wondrous battle as it twists and turns […]

Slip Bobbers for Crappies

The Deadly Drag Dumbing-down to a crawl dupes springtime crappies for panfish pros By Brian “Bro” Brosdahl with Tom Neustrom “Slow and steady wins the race.” I’m a disciple of the philosophy. In real life, the examples are countless. Consider the marathoner. The guy who paces himself for 26.2 miles is sure to pass the […]

Catch and Release Fishing

‘Swimming Pools’ for Fish A Little Advice on Caring for Your Catch By Tony Roach Have you ever caught the same fish twice in a single day? How about the same fish two or three times inside a week? I’ll bet many of you have. Even on a massive fish factory like Mille Lacs in […]

Make Custom Crappie Jigs

Our Outdoors – By Nick Simonson As winter blankets, and blankets, and blankets the region with snow, it is becoming more apparent that it will be a long season indeed. That’s not a bad thing if you need some time to get your tacklebox ready for one of open water’s early quarries – prespawn slab […]

Fishing Rod Building Tips

By Taylor Fitterer Making your own custom fishing rods can be a fun experience. Each rod normally takes about 2-3 hours to manufacture, and the finish drying time can take from a few hours to a few days depending on the type of finish, temperature and humidity. We have learned through trial and error and […]

The Fishing Preseason – Spring Crappie Fishing

By Eric Hustad Another April is upon us and I can’t help but get excited! What a great month: the Twins play meaningful games, the NFL draft, snow melting, longer days, and the start of what I consider my preseason fishing. Giving normal ice out, in the middle of April, crappie fishing is my preseason […]

Crappie Recipe List

Here are some favorite crappie recipes of ours. Stir Fry Crappie Recipe : This is a very easy recipe to make, and is very delicious and healthy. 2 lbs of Crappie fillets 2 cups of broccoli 1 wide sliced onion 2 cups of sliced mushrooms 1 wide sliced green pepper Add more vegetables if you […]

Winter Crappie Tips and Tactics – Q & A Session

Crappies are one of the most frequently-chased winter fish. So it’s no surprise that the subject of crappies comes up constantly when the Power Sticks gather at sports shows. We put together a list of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) when it comes to crappie fishing, followed by solid answers, built from an informal poll of […]

Standard Fishing Knot – The Palomar

This is a common fishing knot around the world. It is very easy to tie.This fishing knot can be used many different ways and is one of the strongest knots known. Very common with tackle, and is also used for flying fishing when connecting the tippet. With the braided line brands of today, it’s one […]

Fishing Laydowns

Joe Zentner  Bank sloping trees that have fallen into the water, known as lay-downs, attract fish throughout the Midwest. Long-time anglers are keenly aware of the value of immersed trees. The primary cover choice of freshwater fish is, in fact, submerged wood. A lay-down is a tree that has fallen into the water and is […]

Arbor Vital – Fishing Flooded Trees

Our Outdoors Nick Simonson I  think that I shall never see structure lovely as a tree. Pardon the take on Ms. Kilmer’s poem; let’s consider it the angler’s version. But timber – be it live on shore, a deadfall along a river or a man-made reef on a lake – is structure that all anglers […]

The Old Crappie Fishing Hole

By PJ Maguire In my day I have lost my share of fishing gear to the bottom of many lakes. Along the way I have heard many stories of family members and peers losing fishing equipment as well. I have often thought about how cool it would be to take an underwater adventure to the […]

Free Fishing Log – Printable Fishing Log

Our Outdoors Nick Simonson “Putting together the fishing pieces of the puzzle” Fishing, no matter how good a person gets at it, is still the grandest puzzle of all. There are so many elements that have to be put into place such as weather, season, bait, lures, and so on. When looked at in hindsight, […]

Fast & Easy Fish Cleaning Tips for Walleye, Perch, and Panfish

By Chris Hustad The fish cleaning techniques described here are nothing new, and is mainly intended for beginners. This process takes about a minute for each fish, depending on experience. The example shown is using a walleye, but can work all the same on perch, crappies and bluegills. On those crappies, you DO NOT need to […]

Matching Floats for Slip Bobber Fishing

From Lindy Fishing Tackle There are a lot of opportunities at slip bobber fishing, and this method can be used for a lot of fish species. Thill® has done a lot with their bobbers, or they call, “floats” to increase your fishing success. These aren’t the bobbers of yesterday, and we’ve come a long ways […]