The Windy Midwest

When I was a kid I could always remember cool wet springs, hot calm summers, warm falls that slowly turn into cold, cold winters with a lot of snow. Never was there a green Christmas to talk about or how nice the 40 degree winter day was. Now it seems like abnormal temps and high winds are the norm. This winter of course a green Christmas it was not a lot of snow to even make me nervous on a drive. Ice is in high demand because there is not much to find on local lakes. A trip up north is in order to find any bit of ice to drive on with a truck. That’s what led us to the Big Pond for a weekend with Perch and Walleyes on our minds. What we didn’t expect to find was a great wind blowing across the lake. That’s what we found. We made the journey up on Friday night and were eager to hear what the reports were. Last time we were up we found lots of fish more than willing to bite. This time was a little different. ...

New Year’s in Northern Minnesota – by Chris Barlage

With surviving Christmas and all the mess cleaned up the New Year approaches. Sitting in my chair and knowing the weekend is approaching I turn to my wife and ask what the plans are for the weekend were. I nearly fell out of the chair when I heard the answer. “I though you would be gone fishing”. “Yes I will be” I answered with a great big smile on my face. That very second I was on the phone calling the boys telling them I had a free pass for the weekend and it would be a 3 day since we were off on Monday from work. Everyone was in and so it was at 5:00pm on Friday we were all northern bound. Arriving a little late it was time to brain storm. What would the game plan for the morning be? We wanted to hit big water, but soon we would see our spot would not be fishable. It was time to rethink. With Walleyes and Perch on our brain we would find a spot. To bed we went only to wake and realize that we had over ...

Big Water Panfish – by Bob Bohland

It should come as no surprise that most trophy panfish come from bigger waters. They have more forage, more habitat, and just more room for numbers of panfish to grow larger. Yet, many anglers only fish panfish on small to medium sized waters. Whether it is not realizing that there are fishable populations of good sized panfish in the bigger lakes, or whether it is just being hesitant about trying to find them amidst thousands of acres of water, they are missing out on some of the best trophy panfishing available. But with a little hard work, and a couple of tricks up your sleeve you can have all the panfish to yourself on big bodies of water. While most anglers on smaller waters tend to go right towards weedy shorelines or bays, there can often be too much of this type of structure in a large lake for an angler to efficiently dissect. Many savvy big-water panfisherman don’t bother with near-shore structure. They know that it is easier to dissect the off-shore structure in a lake, leaving them less area they have to search. There are two different types of off-shore structure that produce good-sized panfish: Mud depressions, also known ...

First Ice in Northern Minnesota – By Chris Barlage

With some cold weather and reports of people fishing north of Mille Lacs there is only one thing for an ice fisherman to do. Get a few days off of work and get the guys together and hit the ice. So that was our plans. After work on Wednesday we loaded up the trucks and we were northern bound. We hit the hotel early evening and asked about ice in the area. Our plan A lake was told to be wide open earlier in the week. After hearing that we soon came up with a plan B just in case we found open water in our first spot. So feeling a little disappointed to bed we went. Just after sunup we set out to the lake to see if there would be fishable ice. Sure enough there we saw our bay froze over. So paring up into twos and ice picks in hand we walked the shore until we found the point that we wanted to go out from. Drilling many holes along the way to check the ice we found a nice clear 6 inches. So we drilled the ...

Backyard Ice Fishing… Metro Area Lakes – by Matt Johnson

When thinking about the Metro Area, MN, we oftentimes assume that we’re dealing with small fish and pressured lakes. While both assumptions can (at times) be true, you’re only cheating yourself by pushing the Metro lakes aside. Not only do our Metro lakes hold quality fish, but at times they will hold high numbers of these quality fish. The trick to uncovering these gems comes with some effort, but with vast rewards and short trips you will see that fishing in your backyard is more than worth it. The most important key to fishing Metro lakes is being adventurous. To put it simple: don’t fish where the crowds are. We are too quick to join the shanty town when we should be out searching for our own fish. So many times have I found quality fish in lakes where others complain about the fishing pressure. How does this happen? Well, let’s just say it involves a few tanks of auger gas and sore legs, but when you get a glimpse at the pot of gold you forget about the pain. The pot of gold in this story means giant panfish and trophy walleye… and yes, right in your backyard. I’m a firm ...

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More than 9.000 Bear Permits Available
MADISON WI – A little more than 9,000 bear harvest permits will be available for the 2012 black bear season, about the same number of permits as last year. The Natural Resources Board approved offering 9,015 harvest permits at their Jan. 25 meeting; a number nearly identical to the 2011 permit of
Spring Light Goose Season
BISMARCK ND - Light goose hunters planning to hunt during North Dakota’s spring season can purchase a license online at the state Game and Fish Department’s website. The season opens Feb. 18 and continues through May 6. Residents can hunt during the spring season by having last fall’s 2011-12
Iowa Fishing Reports
DES MOINES IA - ICE CONDITIONS CONTINUE TO DETERIORATE “There is always a level of risk associated with ice fishing,” said Joe Larscheid, chief of fisheries for the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. “Even during our coldest winters, ice conditions vary and are never totally safe.” The
DNR Program Pays Landowners of 40 Acres or More
MANKATO MN - Landowners in 21 southwestern Minnesota counties can earn money by allowing public hunting on their private land through the Walk-In Access (WIA) program, according to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR). WIA, which is entering its second year as a pilot program, target
Wolf Hunting Season Proposed
ST PAUL MN - The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is proposing an inaugural gray wolf hunting and trapping season this fall that calls for a conservative harvest quota of 400 animals. Wolf research indicates Minnesota's wolf population could sustain a higher quota, but DNR officials

In Depth Ice Fishing

new to spearing
Axelman welcome to the addiction beware you may never jig a stick until the spearing season closes :grin: I use suckers on a harness and yes you can use a hook but then no other jigging can be done if your looking for a fake decoy start with red/white its pretty universal and try and jig some dar
Spring Cats...how early do you try?
The book i posted above will tell you to find the most rotten bait (the book has some methods of making such rotten bait :sick:), and an eddy and start fishing there. Cats will be feeding on all the dead fish that have been floating around, or stuck in the ice through the winter and those fish will
On ice or in livewell?
[quote=Shawn Kellett]With the new ais reg's coming out you may be better off going with ice. This year I plan on using my livewell as an ice cooler for fish. The fish die either way and this way they're nice and cool for the fillet table. [/quote] This is what I have done but this year the liv
Mark "scudly" D Scores
[IMG]http://i801.photobucket.com/albums/yy294/StreamOfTime_photos/BigTrout/20520e29-1.jpg[/IMG] wonder how big this one was.... he says it was "OK" sized. Another monster Minnesota Brown scored by Mark D.
MDAA?
East of Brooklyn Park Its a about a hour and a half drive for you.

In Depth Hunting

Thoughts On 220's
[quote] If you don't mind my asking other than otter what are you trapping with 220's in the water that you have to move the traps to dry land after freeze-up Jonny? They're too big for rats and mink and too small for beaver.[/quote] I use 220s for rats and 220s with bottom pan triggers for m
Cougar shooter charged!
The legal system will take a look at all aspects of what happened and make a judgement. It is easy to let ones feeling etc come into play on things like this. There are going to be those that say give him the max and there are those that will say make it a token fine and be done with it. That is
SHED HUNTING THREAD - PICs INCLUDED
[url=http://fishingminnesota.com/forum/file/userpics/2012/02/full-18444-17242-resampled952012_02_059516_35_1395180.jpg][img]http://fishingminnesota.com/forum/file/userpics/2012/02/full-18444-17242-resampled952012_02_059516_35_1395180.jpg[/img][/url] A friend found this last weekend.
outdoor edge knives
I have the butcher light set and for what i use it for it works well. Granted they aren't the same quality of higher price knives but they do hold an edge well and feel comfortable in the hand. I have used the fillet/boning knife the most and it is now my favorite fillet knife. The one issue is that
Will the Black Bear be our State Mammal?
How about the woodtick, to represent all the bloodsucking parasites that run the state. :grin:

Get out Ice Fishing Today!

The Windy Midwest

New Year’s in Northern Minnesota – by Chris Barlage

Big Water Panfish – by Bob Bohland

First Ice in Northern Minnesota – By Chris Barlage

Backyard Ice Fishing… Metro Area Lakes – by Matt Johnson

Ice Fishing – At The Leading Edge!

I’m Having Fun

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