®

Using an ATV, side by side, or snowmobile has become the norm for a lot of ice anglers as of late. People have made the investment for the machines and attempt to get their monies worth using it as much as possible. Alie and I began tournament fishing on the ice back in 2013. It was an educational experience for us. Being efficient and mobile on the ice during the tournament determined our success. Of course, with time and experience, we have perfected most aspects of our new

With reports of good ice on Sheridan Lake, it was time to see if the perch were biting. December always seems to be a good time to find perch on the lake before they head off and scatter in the middle of winter. I arranged to go out with a few friends and we found not only a good perch bite, but also a pretty decent rainbow bite, especially on dead sticks with Arctic Warriors. We split up into two groups and if one of us found the perch, the other two would move over to keep

Sometimes you just must take advantage of ice time when the opportunities arise, Christmas morning was one that we had the time. Locally, we are looking at open water once again after having 60-degree temps and rain for over a day. Luckily, an hour drive north we can get on the ice, ice was down to 5 inches versus the 7 that was there a week ago. Temps were cold, and the winds were blowing but, when time is limited, you dress and get to the fishing. The crappie in this lake h

This weekend brought a new adventure to me. Being a guy that loves the chase of pike and Muskie, I figured it was time I took the opportunity to experience the art of spearing. While most may think that it's a couple of old Swedes sitting in a fish house putting a few beers down and waiting, that may be the case, however, most spearer’s take the sport rather seriously. I joined my brother in law, his friend and nephew. I arrived and was treated like a guest... or a rookie. Th

Local ice conditions vary in the Southern Metro MN. We found 8-10 inches of ice with 1-2 inches of cloudy white ice on top on this lake. As we headed out, our goal for the day was to just get on a consistent bite with decent fish for a fish fry. Early morning was the best with fish coming out of 18 ft water, just off of the deeper edges. Using Clam tungsten jigs and red spikes, we were able to coax the finicky biters to commit. We were able to get a mixed bag of gills, crappi

For the last four years, I've presented an ice fishing seminar series called the “Lure of Ice Fishing” where I discuss different aspects of the sport with attendees, from lake locations to lure selection to using both physical and digital resources, to help them find and catch more fish. The seminar is always a highlight for me, because it allows me to meet and get to know many outdoorsmen and women in the community and talk ice fishing. Not only do I try to educate, but I al

When fishing on the ice, we need to keep in mind the ways that we fish on the open waters as well. Meaning, we don't sit on one spot in the boat, we are always moving around in search mode, looking for the fish. Ice fishing should be taken the same way, if you aren't catching in one area, pick up and move to another, or, grab the auger and punch holes and keeping moving until those next fish are found. Yesterday was one of those days that you better drill a number of holes as

With warmer than normal tempertures at this point of the ice season and the bite is HOT......who couldn't take these conditions? Right, and the ice conditions are very good on most of the small and mid-sized lakes. But on the larger lakes in the area you should still be careful in the areas where it just froze up in the last 7-10 days. The bite has been great when is comes to panfish and the walleyes have been good as well. We started our morning like we always do, waiting to

The cold weather has finally come to the Black Hills and will be around for a bit consistently over the next couple of weeks. Temperatures won't be getting much higher than the low 40s for a while and the night temps are dipping into the near single digits. The larger lakes will finally start to lock up and join the smaller ponds and stock dams that have been walk able for weeks now. While there is some good early ice times coming soon, always err on the side of caution befor