By Tom Dietz In the old days, crappie fishing was often done with cane poles, or spin cast gear with slip bobbers and minnows. Well, as fishing tackle and technology improved, so have the methods to catch more crappies. The technique called “spider-rigging” has taken crappie fishing to a whole new level and is more… Continue Reading
Category Archives: Articles
Late Ice Transition Time
By Dave Genz Dave Genz explains seasonal movements under the ice, as we head from midwinter toward the late ice period Dave Genz with a beautiful transition time bluegill caught on a Lindy Fat Boy baited with three lively maggots. By anticipating that fish will begin moving in the direction of shallow water as… Continue Reading
WHY ‘Poofing’ Bottom Works
By: Dave Genz Dave Genz with a dandy walleye taken by using his “poof-and-drag” method. He developed this technique specifically for the Lindy Rattl’n Flyer Spoon. He drops the lure on a slack line until it hits bottom, then drags it along bottom until it’s directly below him. Then, if he hasn’t had a… Continue Reading
Chinook Fishing in Summertime
By Captain Rick Bentley While the Spring Coho run that occurs near my port of Waukegan, IL is truly a special time of year as it kicks off the season and with fast action, summer sets aside a whole other set of anticipations and excitement. Summertime on the Great Lakes is special not only because… Continue Reading
Sticky-Bottom Areas Refined
By Dave Genz Dave Genz holds up a prize, a jumbo perch taken at the base of a break off a sticky-bottom area. Be precise this winter, as you search the base of breaks where burrowing insects live, and fish look for food. The real key to finding the mother lode of burrowing insects… Continue Reading
WEATHER – STILL THE KEY FACTOR!
By Joe Bucher Gathering for a late morning breakfast, I could sense a final urgency from my son Joe Jr., much like hunting on the final day of the season with an unfilled buck tag. For some odd reason, my son has had this uncanny luck for bagging big bucks and big fish on… Continue Reading
SPINNERBAIT GUNNIN’ FOR BIG BRONZEBACKS
By Joe Bucher A thorough investigation of any largemouth bass angler’s tackle box is sure to reveal a broad selection of spinnerbaits. These crazy safety pin shaped lures are among the deadliest largemouth bass lures of all time. They come in a variety of shapes, weights, sizes, and colors, plus they sport a wide… Continue Reading
Minnow Bait Magic
By Joe Bucher My first exposure to the minnow bait was back in the early 1960’s. I remember staring at my first minnow bait, a Rapala, for weeks in my grandfather’s general grocery store. He had a small fishing tackle department in this store, and I use to gawk at various lures on display… Continue Reading
JERK SHAD BASSIN’
By Joe Bucher The extra short 6′ baitcasting rod made an underhand roll cast from a raised casting deck platform easy, sending my pearl colored jerk shad towards my weedy target only inches above the water surface. Purposely, I overshot the open water pocket so as not to spook any bass from the lure’s splash… Continue Reading
DRAG SETTING 101
By Joe Bucher No drag system out there today on any reel whether it’s baitcasting, spinning or any other style of big game reel can efficiently react to all the variables that present themselves on any given fishing outing. The perfect drag simply does not exist. Reel manufacturers do a great job overall of… Continue Reading