By Ted Takasaki and Scott Richardson Pro fisherman Ted Takasaki hoists a monster walleye he caught with the aid of modern sonar. Technology behind ‘depthfinders’ now includes side-imaging sonar, which Takasaki uses regularly in professional tournaments. The same advantages he finds can be yours, as you seek to make good use of limited fishing time.… Continue Reading
By Dave Genz Success at the end of the rainbow! A beautiful trout, taken by ice fishing legend Dave Genz, on a small Wisconsin lake known to hold three species of trout. This body of water also holds big bluegills and bass, so you can choose to target any of these fish and expect success.… Continue Reading
By Dave Genz How the bluegills of Okoboji helped teach Dave Genz a lifetime lessonFor all the ice fishing he had done up to that point, Dave Genz had never felt so baffled by bluegills. This was back in the early 80s, down (for him) in Iowa, on Emerson Bay of Lake Okoboji. It’s a… Continue Reading
By Dave Genz Here is an example of a horizontal ice jig, the Fat Boy by Lindy. It is one of the finest panfish jigs ever designed, because it ‘fishes heavy’ for its size and shows up well on a Vexilar display. Vertical jigs, by comparison, assume an orientation where the hook hangs… Continue Reading
By Dave Genz Get down through unproductive depths for more ice-fishing success this winter. Here, Dave Genz holds up a dandy sauger he tempted with a Lindy Rattl’n Flyer Spoon at midday. It’s important to understand both the horizontal and vertical dimensions of mobility. The whole subject of mobility in ice fishing goes way beyond… Continue Reading
By Ted Takasaki and Scott Richardson There’s a great reason to look forward to the spring with ice melting and rivers running. About 80 to 90 percent of the walleyes across the country move from main lakes into the rivers to spawn. Unlike during the summer when trolling for big fish can be hit or… Continue Reading
By Steve Heiting, Managing Editor Among the benefits of teaching the University of Esox Musky Schools is the longterm friendships I’ve developed with a number of the students. And seeing the students take the information shared with them and then succeeding at musky fishing — either during the school or, sometimes, years later — is… Continue Reading
By Steve Heiting, Managing Editor One of the most interesting artifacts in the main lodge of Monument Bay Lodge on Lake of the Woods’ Northwest Angle involves a huge, ancient, mounted musky. While the musky is certainly a giant, it’s not the fish mount that I find so interesting but the lure hanging in its… Continue Reading
By Steve Heiting Musky fishermen can be extremely slow to change because they are seldom willing to risk time on the water to try what they perceive as an offbeat method. The soft plastic revolution that is occurring right now in their sport underscores that statement. It was about forty years ago when a group… Continue Reading
By Steve Heiting, Managing Editor Some of the most fun and successful musky fishing I experienced last year was also some of my most frustrating. Let me explain. On a week-long trip to a water I’d never before fished, my buddy Kevin Schmidt and I found ourselves questioning almost every move and every lure selection,… Continue Reading