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Crappie have always been a favorite fish of mine to catch ever since I was a kid. They are easy to handle, fight extremely well thanks to their shape, and can be fished for in a variety of ways from shore or smaller watercraft. I used to catch them with grandpa in his canoe and we'd catch good ones on Shadehill Reservoir through the ice. I've got a great memory of ice fishing with my dad where a large school of 15" or better crappies was suspended beneath us and were making i

The combination of heat, near-daily storms, and the resulting muddy water from the runoff has been playing havoc with fishing lately, especially from a shore perspective. Even some bodies of water that can usually be counted on for fish fighting activity have been hard. But one of the nice things about living here in the Black Hills, is that even if the fishing stinks, there's always something wonderful to admire, something that nature gave to the area to put it into perspect

As a newer dad on the scene, it has been a challenge to plan some family outings over the last year. Our daughter's health after her birth was a concern last summer, so we only did a few outdoors trips here and there when the weather was nice, and I wasn't working a weekend. Over the 4th-5th last week, the one thing I wanted to do for my birthday was a family fishing trip. I'd been hoping for a trip to Sylvan to take advantage of the good bite from a couple of weeks earlier,

The weather has given reason to want to get out and wet a line over the last week, but the constant storms moving through the area lately, have made the proposition a bit more of a guessing game as to where inclement weather may be headed when one heads out. But with the warming waters in the area, the bite has improved substantially on many lakes. If you're willing to risk going out with the unpredictable weather we've been having, here's some locations to check out: The wal

Living near the coast, we have options for our fishing, between the freshwater and saltwater. When summer is in full swing, makes the decision of which to do that much tougher. Now that we have a boat dedicated to saltwater, we can get out and do more searching instead of surf casting. Even though we have lived here for several years, still find it very challenging trying to figure out the salt life. The areas that we have been targeting are deeper channels that are in betwee