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Yesterday a buddy and I spent the day out on a couple of local bodies of water. We were mainly targeting walleyes with a night crawler or leech and a bare hook. The first lake we caught a variety of species but no walleyes could be caught, so we packed it up and headed off to the next lake. We started off fishing downwind in about 8-12 FOW on some bottom structure. Trolling over it we were getting our baits close to the bottom as we found a few nice walleyes. All fish were re

Finally, the waters are warming and many of the fish are finishing up their spawn, if they haven’t already. That means the fish are moving out to their summer locations and with that, means fishing deeper water is finally here. By deeper water, we are looking for offshore structure that the fish relate to as the water warms and this gives them access to the deeper and cooler temperatures and escape routes. Also, these locations attract bait fish, as typically, there isn’t any

As a fisherman, I always like to look for ways to give back to others in the community and provide the means with which to hopefully make for a more successful trip on the water. I try to do this through my seminars, fishing reports online, as well as by volunteering to take people from Black Hills Works out for different trips throughout the year. Black Hills Works is a community organization that helps people with special needs to develop life skills to lead full and produc

With the musky season underway, the tournament season has started to kick off. Fishing tournaments offer the opportunity for extra excitement and adrenaline rush. It challenges a fisherman to think outside the box and become innovative. It opens the doors to new waters and new tactics that will expand your horizons for future success. It is a great way to meet new people that share the same passion for the outdoors as yourself. Many of my good friends and fishing partners tod

Like most fishermen, sometimes we like to keep with lures and techniques that are familiar to us and have been successful in the past. Picking a different lure can be easier than trying a new technique and no matter how many fishing shows we watch, sometimes we still go back to the tried-and-true presentation. I had planned on using a couple of techniques on a recent trip down to Stockade Lake here in the Black Hills to target pike and both largemouth and smallmouth bass that

Some may have already started their camping season, but others are just uncovering and getting the campers ready for the season ahead. So as we start getting ours ready, going to point out a few things to look at and do for having an enjoyable camping season. We had jacked the camper off the ground and had blocks underneath so that was the first task before moving out of the backyard. Since we are working around the wheels, take a look at the tires tread as well as checking t

One thing that I like to do is fish new waters or totally different types of waters, as there is always something new to learn. New lakes are always fun to fish and try to figure out, but rivers, that is something that I rarely fish, may be the intimidating factor, but something that I really need to focus on. Our local river system is setup somewhat as pool levels, but the dams are not navigable so they fish as separate types of lakes that may or may not have current. So the

Last Saturday, my wife and I made the trip from Sunset Country to Mille Lacs, MN with the Bass Cat in tow. Arrangements had been made to have a Hotfoot and Pro-trim installed at Lyback’s Marine, the Bass Cat dealer in town and spend some time on Mille Lacs weather permitting. Despite the fact that my home body of water, Rainy Lake, is a world class smallmouth fishery, I would have to be hiding under a rock not to have heard of the giant bronzebacks that call Mille Lacs or as

After spending a day catching panfish on the cane poles, I took the boys out to give it a shot. Oh boy did they have fun. Hoisting fish out of the water and having them swing from one end of the boat to the other while I try and grab the line was a blast. We had so many laughs! Watching two young boys hold a 15ft pole and catch fish was priceless. For sure memories that will never be forgotten! What's better than ending a day of fishing with Dairy Queen!

The Minnesota Musky season kicked off this past weekend and it was a good one at that. The early ice off this year and warm temperatures leading up to the opener, had many musky anglers very excited. The muskies got an early start on spawning this year and allowed them to get focused on eating. Water temps were much warmer this opener, ranging anywhere from 62-65 degrees. The weather was more than anyone could ask for. Hot, windy and an occasional storm rolling through. Th