Twenty Years of Fishing the Midwest
April 21, 2014 by Colleen
Filed under Bass Fishing, Crappie Fishing, Featured, Fly Fishing, Northern Pike Fishing, Other Fishing, Uncategorized, Walleye Fishing

by Bob Jensen The 2014 thirteen-week run of Fishing the Midwest television concluded recently in most Midwest markets. There are still some markets where Fishing the Midwest will continue to run through the rest of the year, but in most of our markets, 2014 is over and we’re starting to make new shows for 2015. […]
Three Ideas for Open Water Fishing Success
March 4, 2014 by Colleen
Filed under Bass Fishing, Crappie Fishing, Featured, Fly Fishing, Uncategorized, Walleye Fishing

by Bob Jensen It’s fifteen below zero outside, the wind is gusty, and the sidewalk needs to be shoveled. What am I thinking about? Open water fishing. You know, that thing we do from a boat while wearing a tee-shirt and shorts and maybe sweating a little bit. I am convinced that we will […]
The Best Laid Plans
May 6, 2013 by Chris
Filed under Featured, Other Fishing, Our Outdoors

We have to adjust and improvise to find success, or just make a slow situation into a learning experience while celebrating a single fish here and there.
124 Points of Light
April 29, 2013 by Chris
Filed under Bass Fishing, Crappie Fishing, Featured, Other Fishing, Our Outdoors

I tied jigs of all kinds – trout jigs, walleye jigs, panfish jigs and bass jigs. The bright neon pink and orange were spring beacons, letting me know that someday, hopefully soon, their bright pastels would draw in smallmouth and crappies.
Mackerel on the Fly
April 3, 2013 by Chris
Filed under Featured, Other Fishing, Our Outdoors

Indeed, the toothy fish were schooled up thick in the two-to-six foot deep water between shore and a pair of pelicans patrolling the breakline just twenty yards out.
Trout Fishing Tips
April 25, 2012 by Chris
Filed under Featured, Our Outdoors

By Nick Simonson The recently stocked trout in the stream near my house were quick learners this year. With a winter short on snow and a spring that only just recently made up a couple of inches against the lingering drought, water levels were low and the fish were instantly wary after the DNR truck […]
Fly Fishing Knots
April 10, 2012 by Chris
Filed under Featured, Fly Fishing, Our Outdoors

By Nick Simonson On Friday night, my fly fishing gear was in a sorry state. It had been almost 8 months since I had last used it on some sunny day in Detroit Lakes, Minn. for the dock-patrolling bluegills at my family’s cabin. In addition to updating the twisted leaders with no tippet and cleaning […]
Pheasant Feathers for Fly Fishing
January 23, 2012 by Chris
Filed under Featured, Our Outdoors

By Nick Simonson This year, it seemed that every pheasant was a trophy. Whether it was those early birds on opening weekend with half-colored feathers, or that lone rooster coming late in the season, each one provided a welcome warm meal and a new crop of pheasant feathers for fly fishing. With one season behind […]
Downstream Mentality
March 6, 2011 by Chris
Filed under Fly Fishing, Our Outdoors

Our Outdoors: Downstream Mentality By Nick Simonson Each spring, the banks of area lakes and rivers are littered with pop bottles, chip bags, Styrofoam cups, plastic containers, beer cans, and my personal pet peeve, spent fishing line. The snow that lines the gutters of city streets and highway ditches slowly gives way to reveal plastic, […]
Spring Steelhead Fishing
November 10, 2009 by Chris
Filed under Fly Fishing, Our Outdoors

By Nick Simonson As my offering drifted around in the pool eddy, I hoped that my brother would see a fish caught – if not by me, then by another angler, or maybe himself – and he would experience the finned allure of the north shore of Lake Superior beyond the lichen-covered bluffs and pine-shaded […]
Lightning Bugs – Pheasant Tail Nymphs
October 22, 2009 by Chris
Filed under Fly Fishing, Our Outdoors

Our Outdoors Nick Simonson Of all the game birds sportsmen pursue, none is more colorful than the ringneck pheasant. Which makes it a pretty odd fact that the most popular fly used by outdoorsmen is the generally drab looking pheasant tail nymph – or simply, the PTN. Of course, trout, bluegill and other fish don’t […]
Fall Trout Fishing Time
October 20, 2009 by Chris
Filed under Featured, Fly Fishing

By Nick Simonson With all the hunting opportunities around us, it’s tough to set the shotgun or the bow down for an evening and pick up the fishing rod. However, fall provides an excellent chance at some fast trout fishing, particularly in those deeper pits and ponds where agencies have stocked trout for put-and-take fishing. […]
Fall Success Provides Great Fly Tying Materials
February 5, 2009 by Chris
Filed under Fly Fishing

Our Outdoors Nick Simonson Fall not only represents a time to return to the field, but also a time to restock fly tying and lure making materials for the winter. From partridge and grouse in the early season, to ducks, pheasants and deer as cold air sets in, the bounty of nature on the wing […]
North Shore Steelhead Initiation
February 4, 2009 by Chris
Filed under Fly Fishing, Other Fishing

Our Outdoors Nick Simonson Though the weather is an element that is always out of my control, I try not to let it dampen the spirits of a fishing trip; particularly when that trip is my first of the season and my first to a new place. Despite highs in the forties, rain […]
Tying Egg Flies
February 4, 2009 by Chris
Filed under Fly Fishing, Other Fishing

Our Outdoors Nick Simonson In my quest for steelhead knowledge, I have found some interesting patterns, from complex streamers to simple nymphs. Stocking the fly box has been both rewarding and exciting as my arsenal takes shape for my trip to the shores of Lake Superior this spring. The most enjoyable box to compile has […]
The Woolly Bugger
February 4, 2009 by Chris
Filed under Fly Fishing, Other Fishing

Our Outdoors Nick Simonson In my journeys into fly fishing and fly tying, I have not found a more enjoyable fly to put together on the vise and put under the water’s surface than the woolly bugger. The beauty of this streamer comes from its simplicity, both in how it is tied and how it […]
Partridge Patterns – Tying Fly Patterns for Panfish
February 4, 2009 by Chris
Filed under Fly Fishing, Other Fishing

Our Outdoors Nick Simonson As hunting season hits full stride and the first few birds are placed in the pouches of my upland vest, I can’t help but plan for two things – dinner, of course, and the number of patterns I will tie with the feathers attached to the birds I harvest. With the […]
Fly Fishing Tying – Terrific Terrestrial
February 4, 2009 by Chris
Filed under Crappie Fishing, Fly Fishing, Other Fishing

Our Outdoors Nick Simonson The Fourth is behind us, and summer is in full swing. If swarms of mosquitoes weren’t a sure sign, the vast numbers and array of other insects present during the day and at dusk is a definite reminder. The table is set for summer’s great binge, and every fly fisherman needs […]
Fly Swap
February 4, 2009 by Chris
Filed under Fly Fishing, Other Fishing

Our Outdoors Nick Simonson Quilters have their bees and bakers have their cookie exchanges. At these events, the artists in their respective hobbies get together to exchange patterns and recipes, adding a little more to each other’s experience, each taking away something new to try. The equivalent for fly anglers, the phenomenon that is fly-swapping, […]
Hoppin’ & Poppin’ – Tying Flies
February 4, 2009 by Chris
Filed under Fly Fishing, Other Fishing

Our Outdoors Nick Simonson The exciting thing about tying flies and fly fishing is trying out new patterns. Questioning whether a fly looks edible, how, when and where it should be fished and more are part of figuring out the grand puzzle. The trial for every tied fly comes in two phases; first, […]
Time to Start Tying Flies
February 2, 2009 by Chris
Filed under Fly Fishing, Other Fishing

Our Outdoors Nick Simonson Over, under, around and through, that’s the way to tie…a fly? Well, that’s the way I finish them at least. Another great start to a fall bird season and the switch to daylight standard time has dashed my hopes of anymore after-work hunting trips. But once again those pre-standard time hunts […]
Fly Fishing for Beginners
February 2, 2009 by Chris
Filed under Fly Fishing, Other Fishing

By Doug Leier At this stage in my life I feel satisfied with what I’ve bagged, tagged and caught, including deer, birds and a few lunker fish. A 40-inch pike is a favorite memory because of the light rod and tackle I was using and my struggle to boat the fish. It was a classic […]
Sorting the Fly Box
February 1, 2009 by Chris
Filed under Fly Fishing, Other Fishing

Our Outdoors Nick Simonson What’s in a fly box? Flies, obviously, but it is the stories those flies tell of a winter gone by and the promises of an upcoming season that make the arrangement special. Monday night, after a particularly frustrating evening of fishing current rushing by at 1300 CFS, I called it quits […]
Fly Tying Kit Becomes the Gift That Keeps on Giving
January 31, 2009 by Chris
Filed under Fly Fishing, Other Fishing

By Nick Simonson I couldn’t even cast a fly rod last year at this time. In fact, my only experience with longrodding was a lame attempt a few summers ago on an Idaho stock pond near a hotel we stayed at while my dad attended a conference. After awkwardly whipping the rod through the air […]
River Smallmouth
January 31, 2009 by Chris
Filed under Other Fishing

By Nick Simonson As the last few inches of ice fade from the shorelines of area rivers, it is next to impossible not to think about springtime fishing. It is even more difficult not to think of the hundreds of bronze flashes from springtime fishing trips in the past. In the land where […]