The Rod and Rifle Rag has been featured in the In-Fisherman magazine, June 2012 issue. In-Fisherman is the world’s foremost authority on freshwater fishing. The Rag is listed in the Staff Noteworthy & New, new and unique fishing stuff, section on page 16. Thanks TB!

Prez. @ Davis J. Hennes, LLC

Share/Bookmark

Along with the walleyes, and other fish, come the fishermen. Every good lake, stream and river is fished continually from opening to closing of the season. Is it any wonder the fishing can be tough?

Dealing with pressured walleyes is perhaps the biggest challenge angler’s face. There is one thing than can help you catch more walleyes, it’s to be flexible and experiment. Walleyes can get turned off to certain fishing methods. What was good two years ago may not be the best now.

One theory is walleyes get conditioned to certain techniques. Evidently they see too many of their buddies chomp down on a particular lure and slowly struggle away to the surface. Another theory is that certain walleyes are very vulnerable to a fishing technique, while others aren’t. Eventually most of the “easy” ones are caught until they are all gone.

Regardless of the reason, it does pay to try new presentations and lures. So many times a little change can mean the difference between getting skunked and a nice stringer of walleyes. Here are some things to experiment with that may work and help you catch more walleyes this year:

DOWNRIGGERS

Downriggers are trolling devices that allow you to troll a lure at a precise depth. They were made popular by salmon fishermen on theGreat Lakes, but I thought the idea would work for small lake fish as well. I first started using downriggers for trout in managed lakes years ago, and they worked great. So I tried them on walleyes and they worked equally well. Since then downriggers have become very popular up on The Lake of the Woods.

Walleyes that feed over reefs pose a problem for jig and live bait rig anglers, reason is that you almost have to have a tackle shop in the boat with you to keep up with the number of baits you lose due to snagging.  Although, a downrigger you can work a lure right over the rocks and appeal to any walleyes foraging over the reef.

Most astute walleye anglers are familiar with walleyes’ habit of holding in deep water during inactive periods and moving up on flats and bars during feeding periods. What better way to work a lure precisely over the bottom than with a well placed downrigger weight?

Downriggers permit you to closely troll the borders and inside turns in weed lines. Then because they keep your lures tracking straight behind the boat, downriggers work perfectly for trolling precisely around points and little irregularities in the break line. But one super way of using portable ‘riggers is to work individual fish you may see on your locator. Attach your line to the downrigger weight so the lure will run about twenty- or thirty- feet behind the ball. Then keep a sharp eye on your locator for any walleyes. When you spot a fish, quickly raise, or lower the ball so the lure will run right by the fish’s nose. The extra long distance that the lure is running behind the weight will give you the needed time to change the lure’s depth. You’d be surprised at how many times this little maneuver will result in a bucking rod tied to a bulldogging walleye.

WALLEYES IN WEEDS

Over the years it has become increasingly evident that a large portion of our walleyes live in weeds. That idea runs contrary to the belief that walleyes only inhabit deep water structures with rock and gravel bottoms. But walleyes do like weeds, and you can catch many of them by fishing along weed edges.

You may find walleyes using weeds more and more all the time. Consider that many of our lakes are being stocked with walleye fingerlings. These fish are raised in ponds until they are several inches long and then released into the lakes. The shallow ponds these fingerlings are raised in often have thick weed growths in them, and the small walleyes use the weeds for cover. So what is going to happen the minute the fingerlings are dumped in the lake? Likely they will head for the first sets of weeds they can see. Also, if there are plenty of forage minnows there, the walleyes may spend their entire lives in the weeds.

The trick to catching these walleyes is to find weeds like pondweed or coontail, they are near water at least ten feet deep. Walleyes will not usually be in weeds surrounded by expansive shallow water. Cast lures like jigs tipped with live bait, or even spinner baits, past the weed edge and let it settle down into the weeds. Retrieve the lure so it stays near the base of the weeds. If you feel it hang up on a weed, and you will, just snap it loose and continue reeling it in.

Another technique is to wait until dusk and “long line” troll a floating minnow bait over the weed beds. As darkness settles, big walleyes often move up to the weed tops to feed. Let out enough line so the lure just skims over the weed tops. It isn’t rare to let out up to 100 feet of line. Again, weeds adjacent to deep water will be more productive.

BE OPEN MINDED

A final idea to harvesting more walleyes is not a method, but a way of thinking. Never become dependent on one walleye fishing technique or area. I don’t know of one method or spot that continually produces walleyes, yet so many anglers rigidly stick to them. Keep up to date on new fishing techniques written up in magazines, newspapers and online or demonstrated on videos, TV and online. Pick up some of the new tackle demonstrated and keep it in your tackle box. After all, trying new ways to catch walleyes is part of the fun and can mean the difference between going fishless and being on the bragging board at the bait shop.

Share/Bookmark

So it was getting dark out and he wanted to stay so we stayed over night. When we got ready for bed we put the rattle reels down. The second I got in the bunk one of the reels went down and fast. I got up and waited to let it stop and go again. I pulled on it and I hooked it, took me awhile cause it was deep and i was fighting really hard. When I got it up to the hole it looked like a walleye. I didn’t want to loose it so I reached down and grabbed it by the mouth. When I brought it in the fish house I found out that it was a EEL POUT. Really an eel pout, but it was a 8lb eel pout.

Share/Bookmark

Often I see anglers clustered together like bees in a hive. They’ll cut holes only a few feet from each other and have several lines dangling over a tiny part of an underwater island, reef, or weed bed. Why not spread out and cover more area? Each angler is allowed two lines, so as few as three people can use six lines to cover a fairly large area.  If someone continues to have more action, then you can cluster together over the hot spot.

Let’s say you are fishing an underwater point that drops from 10 feet to 30 feet. Use a vexilar, depth finder or weighted line to find any “stair steps” or flat spots, in the drop off.  Walleyes and other game fish use these flat spots to cruise along and feed. Also look for any inside turns or small points jutting out from the main structure. Areas where there are rocks mixed with weeds are also good. It is the structure that attracts the fish, but it is these little irregular spots that hold the fish.

Once you’ve found these high percentage spots put lines down on each one. If you can’t find evident irregularities in the drop off, place your lines so you cover all depths.  Now you are making the most of your fishing time and the fishing suddenly becomes twice as exciting.

Spreading out becomes much easier if you use tip ups; after all, that is what they were made for. First of all, tip ups usually have a flag-type bite indicator so you can see that you’ve gotten a hit from a distance away. Secondly, most tip ups are constructed so the line holding spool is suspended under water so it doesn’t matter if the hole freezes over, the tip up will still function.

A frequent fishing companion of mine uses another device that allows you to cover a large area. He cuts out the bottom of a plastic pail and attaches an arm that holds a line spool over the pail. The whole thing is placed over the hole. On the spool is a piece of highly visible red reflective tape. He uses a bobber to suspend the minnow over the bottom and turns the spool so the red tape is positioned up. When a fish hits, the spool will unwind. The red tape makes it easy to see the spool revolving from quite a distance. The only thing this outfit doesn’t do is keep your ice hole from icing over and the line from freezing in. It works very well in warmer weather.

Regardless of what you do, don’t limit your chances of catching fish. Cover as much area as you can in a systematic manner. Just keep it legal and catch more fish!

Share/Bookmark

The display of tiny lures ran from the floor to as high as I could reach and many feet to the right and left. Fishing with jigs, small teardrop rigs and jigging spoons are handy because you can carry all you’ll ever need in a single small tackle box.

Using artificials makes you more mobile. If you decide you’ve given one spot long enough, grab your rod, tackle box, auger, and leave. Not as much gear when compared to live bait fishing. Also, use clear monofilament line that is as light as you care to use. A good guide is 6-8 lb. test for walleye and northern, 2-4 lb. test for panfish.

If northerns and walleyes are your prey, you might want to use a jigging Rapala. This minnow- shaped jig is called a “side planing” lure because when you lower it, it swings way out to the side. This action allows you to cover a large area under the ice. This lure is usually just as effective, if not more, than live bait. The way to use it is to lower it down to the bottom and reel it up a few feet. Lift the lure quickly, and it will swing out in a wide arc. Let it settle for a few seconds and give it another lift. The fish will often hit it just as it is settling. If you get no action at one depth, lift it a few feet and keep on trying until you find the depth the fish are at.

Jigging spoons, like the Swedish Pimple are old stand bys. These lures have little action when you lift them upwards, but when you lower them they tumble with a fish attracting action. They work well alone, but you can tip them with a piece of cut minnow.

Airplane jigs are heavy lures with wings molded onto their sides, which makes the lure swing wider than even the jigging Rapala. These lures are well known among lake trout fanciers. A favorite trick of theirs is to tip the hooks with pieces of smelt or sucker meat.

Ice-flies and teardrops are mostly used by panfishermen. Teardrops get their name from the shape of their body, although many are round or disk-shaped. They are simply a painted lead body molded around a fine wire#8 to #12hook. Ice flies have a small lead body dressed with a little hair, rubber, or feathers. This dressing adds flash and gives the lure more motion when you jig it. Tear drops and ice flies catch plenty of fish by themselves, but it helps to add a tiny minnow or wax worm.

Using these artificial lures for ice fishing is not only more convenient  than conventional live bait fishing, but it is more exciting because you feel the strike, rather than just see a flag trip or the bobber sink. It turns ice fishing into a fishing system rather than just a hit-or-miss situation.

Share/Bookmark

“Once the deer reached the boat, the four began to circle the boat, looking directly at us. We could tell right away that the young bucks were distressed. I opened up my back gate and we helped the typically skittish and absolutely wild animals onto the boat. In all my years fishing, I’ve never seen anything quite like it! Once onboard, they collapsed with exhaustion, shivering.”

“This is a picture I took of the rescued bucks on the back of my boat, the Alaska Quest. We headed for Taku Harbour. Once we reached the dock, the first buck that we had pulled from the water hopped onto the dock, looked back as if to say ‘thank you’ and disappeared into the forest. After a bit of prodding and assistance, two more followed, but the smallest deer needed a little more help.

My daughter, Anna, and son, Tim, helped the last buck to its feet. We didn’t know how long they had been in the icy waters or if there had been others who did not survive. My daughter later told me that the experience was something that she would never forget, and I suspect the deer felt the same way as well!”

Share/Bookmark

If you never have tried jigging, you’ve missed out on a super way to catch fish through the ice. Simple lead-headed jigs like you use during the summer can work very well, especially when you tip them with bait.

Some of the best ice fishing jigs are modified so they have more action when jigged. A good example is the Airplane Jig from Northland Tackle. This jig has molded in “wings” so it swoops from side to side when jigged. Other proven jigging lures are the Swedish Pimple, Kastmaster, and Jigga-a-Whopper lures. This would also include ice flies and tear drop jigs popular for panfish. You can also add live bait to these jigs for added fish appeal.

One type of jigging lure that deserves special mention are jigging minnows. The most common one is the Jigging Rapala. This lure rides horizontally like a minnow and has plastic lip so it glides in circles when you jig it. Larger jigging minnows work very well for walleyes, while the smaller sizes are good for crappies and perch. Do not add live bait to these lures because it ruins the lure’s built in action.

Just because these lures work great, I don’t mean to imply they are better than good old live bait. An active shiner, crappie minnow or fathead is hard to beat. There is new equipment that can make live bait fishing even better, particularly bobbers.

I don’t think there is ever a time to use a round red-and-white plastic bobber. This style bobber is hard to see because it sits low in the ice hole and they are too buoyant. Have you ever watched your bobber go down a few inches then suddenly come back up? This could often be a finicky fish that grabbed the minnow but let go when it felt the resistance of the bobber.

You will fool more fish if you use long, thin pencil bobbers. These bobbers have very little water resistance and fish can pull them down without feeling a thing. Pencil bobbers have been around a long time and are readily available, but look for some of the new bobbers fromEurope. These imported bobbers are super thin and sleek so even the most finicky walleye will not feel a bit of resistance. These bobbers also ride high in the water for good visibility.

If you can sit right over the hole so visibility is not important, add enough weight so the pencil bobber bearly floats.  Even the most finicky walleye will not feel a thing as it pulls the bobber under.

If you think ice fishing hasn’t changed, guess again. The one thing that hasn’t changed is the fish still don’t bite every time, but using these items and techniques will also help change that.

Share/Bookmark

Everyone is familiar with tip-ups, those neat little fishing rigs that trip a flag to indicate a bite. There are also wind tip-ups designed so you can run your line through a metal “flag” that bobs in the wind. The bobbing flag then jigs your lure or bait up and down, enticing more fish to bite.

Even though spring bobbers have been around awhile, most fishermen haven’t learned how effective these little rigs are. Just purchase a small spring from a hardware store, or better yet, take a spring from a ball point pen. Stretch the spring out to about five inches. Bend the last coil flat so it serves as an eye. Then straighten the wire on the other end of the coil. Tape the straight end to the rod and bend the flat coil so it is parallel with the end of the rod. Run your line through the eye end of the spring and then down through the rod tip. Even during the most subtle nibbles, the spring bobber will quiver and dip to indicate a bite.

One ingenious ice fisherman noticed that small sliding bobbers held in place with pegs or tooth picks accumulated ice around the peg. So he just pegged the bobber from the bottom and solved his problem.

Another angler got tired of having his hole continually fill with snow on windy days. So he cut out both ends of a large can and stuck it in the hole to block out blowing snow. You can anchor the can by piling slush around it. Also try cutting a slit in a piece of cardboard and place it over the hole. Then just drop your bait through the slit.

Perhaps the slickest way to keep your hole from freezing up is with a water spitter. All you need to make one of these is a coffee can, eight feet of quarter-inch copper tubing, a soldering gun and charcoal briquettes. Bend the copper tubing into a three-to four-inch coil and place it in a five-inch coffee can. Drill a hole next to the bottom of the can so an inch or so of tubing can stick out. Seal around the hole with solder. Leave about 18-inches of tubing on top of the coil to form a spout. Cut a hole in the ice next to your fishing hole and position the can in it so the spout is above your hole. Pack around it with snow and slush. After you light the briquettes the hot tubing will draw in water from the bottom, warms it, and “spits” it into your hole to keep it ice-free. If necessary, weight the water spitter with lead to keep it from floating out of the hole.

Oh yes, ice fishing has brought the inventor out of many of us. I can’t help but wonder what if Benjamin Franklin or Thomas Edison had been ice fishing fans.

Share/Bookmark

Is it all worth it? Well, last fall Coop caught many pike between ten and fifteen pounds. These were all eclipsed by a 24-pound 8-ounce giant he caught in October.

Coop bases his success on a pattern he has developed in his 50+ years of fishing. “The most important thing is to fish shallow in the fall. Most anglers continue to work summer structures like deep weed lines or breaks. I like to work near the shoreline in two to nine feet of water. That is where the big ones are.”

Just fishing in shallow water will not guarantee northern pike.  Prime spots have a combination of things that attract and hold big pike. “What I look for is a clean sugar sand beach. The light sand apparently affects the water temperature and draws in baitfish and, in turn, big predator fish.”

“Another necessary ingredient is clumps of living weeds. If the weeds are dead and brown, forget it. There will be no big pike there. When you find a combination of weeds and sand, you’ve got a potential trophy hot spot.” Areas of shallow weed growth are further enhanced if they are adjacent to deep water. Coop feels that a perfect spot would be a weed clump next to an inside turn in the break line.

“Locating these spots is just part of getting a trophy in the boat,” he added. “You also need the proper gear to catch these big fish. First of all, you need a strong rod with a lot of backbone. A heavy rod helps fight the fish and get it out of the weeds. Your typical spinning rod used for walleyes and bass is just too weak to control a big pike, especially in weeds.” A strong rod is also necessary to throw big spoons and plugs. Some of the battle scarred wooden plugs Cooper uses are too big for a tackle box, so he has to hang them in a styrofoam cooler. Some of his favorite lures are Bobbie Baits, Teddie Baits, and big muskie tandem spins.

When asked where his favorite fall fishing spots are, Coop responded like any typical fisherman. He laughed and evaded the question like a practiced politician. “I will tell you this. North Central Minnesota has lots of good big pike water. Many lakes have excellent spots on them. All one needs to do is look for a combination of sand and living weeds, and you’ll catch pike.”

Share/Bookmark

The key to fall smallie action is to think deep. Remember, this fish can be as deep as 40, 50, or even 60 feet down. Start by singling out the structures that held smallmouth during the summer and are adjacent to deep water.

Typically, the schools of bass will move to the bottom of the steepest edge of the structure and group in tight schools near rock fingers, weed clumps, inside turns or other unique features. The school will stick tight! It isn’t rare to work a good looking area for a long time with no results and then suddenly strike a gold mine of fat smallies that you almost missed. Don’t give up on area until you cover it thoroughly.

Certainly, most bass fishermen prefer to use artificial baits. Lures make fishing more challenging, more fish are lip-hooked for easy release and the strike is normally more exciting. But because of the extreme depth and pinpoint accuracy necessary to take fall smallmouth, a slip sinker live bait rig (such as a Lindy Rig) tipped with a minnow is the most productive presentation.

When fishing deep, work your rig directly under the boat. This requires you to troll slowly, but will pay off because you can feel strikes easier and will get snagged less. A 3/8-, 1/2-, or 3/4-ounce slip sinker works great.

Fall smallmouth bass (especially in northern climates) eat to put on weight and definitely prefer a minnow with a little “heft” to it. A five to seven inch chub, shiner or other local favorite is not too big. When using such a large minnow for bait, remember to give the fish plenty of time to start swallowing the minnow before you set the hook. Sometimes an angler will feel the initial hit and set the hook, getting nothing but a scarred up minnow. So after the hit, wait several seconds and then tighten up on the fish. Take a moment to feel what it’s doing. If you feel the fish still jerking on the line, slightly tighten up more and “tease” the fish into taking the minnow all the way. Once you feel a steady pressure, set the hook.

1/4- and 3/8-ounce jigs tipped with big minnows also take fall smallmouth bass. Good color choices are black, white, yellow and crayfish colored jigs. Just about any type of jig will work, but there are a few things to consider. Jigs with ball shaped heads sink rapidly and are great for deep water. Stand up type jig heads snag less in rocks.

Regardless of the presentation you use, fall is a good time to go after a “wall hanger.” The big females are active and feeding heavily, producing action that the great smallmouth bass is famous for. So if you want to find a new way to pass cool fall afternoons, give the smallies a whirl. The weather may be cool, but fishing can be red hot!

Share/Bookmark

Most avid salmon fishermen have little time for the pink salmon though. The Pink does not get big, averaging less than three pounds in the Great Lakes. Similar to all species of Pacific salmon, pinks die after spawning is completed. Many you see will be dark and marked with fungus as their bodies begin to deteriorate.

Pink salmon are also known as hump-backed salmon or just “humpies.” The fish gets this nickname because the males develop a humped back as spawning arrives.

Everything about the pink salmon is unique, including how they got in Lake Superior.  When the pinks first showed up no one knew how they got there since none had been stocked in the lake. Later it was learned that some fry had been hatched at the former Port Arthur hatchery for planting in the Hudson Bay drainage in 1956. Apparently some fry escaped into Thunder Bay as they were being loaded into a float plane.

The best time to catch pinks is early during their spawning run when they are still fresh and silvery. Usually the run begins just prior to mid-September.

Tempting a pink salmon into grabbing a lure poses one important problem – they don’t eat once they’re in the spawning rivers. Random casting is usually a waste of time. The best way to get a pink to strike is to put your lure or bait right in front of their noses. Then extinct takes over and they will often grab it. The best way to accomplish this is to visually locate one or more salmon. Cast your lure upstream so it will drift down to the fish. As your lure moves with the current take in or feed line so the lure lines up with the fish you’ve selected. You have to envision drifting the lure right into the salmon’s mouth.

Usually it takes several repeated drifts before one will bite, but if you’ve done it right, one of the fish will eventually open it’s mouth and hit your lure or bait.

Tiny lures, such as spinners, jigs, and spoons work well, as does salmon eggs. I prefer to use fly fishing gear because I believe pink salmon will hit a tiny wet or dry fly before a larger spinner or spoon. A fly rod also enables you to repeatedly cast into a tiny area with great accuracy.

Some of the better North Shore rivers for pink salmon are the Baptism, Cross, Cascade, and Brule River. It is a good idea to call the hatchery at French River at (218) 525-0867 to see if the run is on before making the trip.

Share/Bookmark

Before I left the dock that morning I had stashed a couple dozen night crawlers in the boat and now decided it was time to dig them out. I lightly hooked a big, squirming crawler just through the tip of the nose and dropped my live bait rig right where I knew the fish were.

My plan was to drift over the fish and give them plenty of time to grab the bait. I was just about ready to complete the first drift when something nudged my crawler. I quickly opened the bail on my reel and fed line. After giving the fish plenty of time to swallow the bait, I drove the hook home. The bulldogging told me it was a good walleye,  possible four- or five- pounds, but the scale showed later it was six pounds.

This turned out to be the first of several walleyes I caught that day, all on night crawlers. Later I tried minnows and leeches to see if the walleyes had changed their minds, but they wanted nothing else. You talk about fussy!

I will be the first to admit that walleyes aren’t always that challenging. There have been times when the water fairly seethed with hunting fish, smashing any bait I lowered below the boat. However, the walleye is habitually a low-key feeder, and you have to deal with that. One of the keys to consistent walleye action is to avoid periods when walleyes will be off and to fish harder during peak periods.

During the summer there is often so much forage fish for the walleyes to eat they’ll ignore most food, including your lure. And, of course, there are always weather conditions that may give the fish a sudden case of lockjaw. The list of reasons why walleyes can be finicky feeders is long, but if you can identify the reasons for the empty stringer, you can often change tactics and your luck.

The first and obvious thing you should do is fish on days when the weather has been stable, water conditions are right, and the walleyes aggressive. Right? But how many of us have the luxury of fishing anytime we want?  But if you do have options for fishing time, fish during periods when the walleyes are active.

First of all, fish during lowlight periods such as dusk and dawn. The changing light intensity triggers feeding reactions in the fish. Even subtle light changes, like overcast skies or light blocking wave action, can trigger some neutral fish into action.

Another plan is to look for active fish and avoid negative fish. Walleyes that are suspended over deep water, or “belly to the bottom” are often negative. Active walleyes are more prone to be on, or near, a structure that attracts food. In order to do this you need a good fish locator, which is usually a part of most angler’s gear.

Successful walleye fishing may not be a matter of just skill and good luck, but also being in the right place at the right time!

Share/Bookmark

Until a few years ago, all my travels in the far north had been vicarious experiences as I read books written by early travelers and journals kept by soldiers, explorers, and missionaries who spoke of this land as one of great beauty, yet with a savage and unforgiving environment. Through the words of these people, I put an aura about this far off land that I had to experience for myself.

Finally a chance came for me to travel far into the interior of northern Manitoba and Saskatchewan. As people do, I had preconceptions of what the far north would look like, how it would smell, and sound. My senses were acute as I stepped off the bush plane onto the sandy beach that bordered part of the Little Churchill River. Even though it was nearly ten-thirty at night, daylight was grudgingly hanging on and darkness would not fully settle for a couple hours.

The spruce trees made a jagged black line against the evening sky, and a white throated sparrow was making his last plaintive calls. The most lasting impression I had was the silence, the complete, foreboding silence. It was not a tranquil, soothing quiet that one might expect, but a heavy quiet that made me feel like an intruder, a stranger to this land.

As I shouldered my pack and headed to the cabin that was to be home for the next several days, I felt an urge to get out and feel the land, develop a relationship and become a part of it. Originally, my main purpose for being here was to catch fish until my arms fell off, but not now. Somehow that suddenly seemed greedy and selfish, something an intruder would do.

The next morning I awoke early enough, but the long summer day had begun hours earlier. The soberness I had experienced the day before waned somewhat as I busied myself with morning chores and got ready for the day.

The half dozen Cree Indians that lived on the point where I was staying told me about a set of rapids at the lower end of a lake and that they were very beautiful, yet few people went there. It sounded like the perfect place to do a little sightseeing and perhaps come to grips with this foreign feeling that stuck with me. The rapids were only a short boat ride away and you could hear their rushing noise long before I could see them.

At the lower end of the lake the moss and spruce gave way to rock and low bushes. The huge slabs of granite appeared to be Precambrian, just like the rocky shield area of northeastern Minnesota. At this point the land suddenly began to drop away and the river turned into a series of foaming cascades that disappeared into the woods once again.

At home, or anywhere in more a populated area, this beautiful section of wild river would have been turned into a park or tourist attraction. Here it was just another section of fast water to be portaged around and be admired by only a few lucky people.

This land was beautiful and was suddenly becoming friendlier as it almost urged me on to follow the rapids further.

Occasionally, the rapids formed huge side pools where I had to walk a considerable distance just to get around, but each turn in the river was an adventure. It was almost as if you could stop and hear the paddling and singing of merry voyageurs, or the lyrical language of the ancient Indians as they moved across the land in pursuit of caribou. I was beginning to feel a part of the land.

Finally the rapids slowly eased into a slower moving section. About half way across a huge rock cushioned the current and formed a slick eddy. It was too inviting. A spot like that just had to hold a fish.

I tied on a tiny jig and stepped out on a rock to get as close as possible. The first few casts fell short of the eddy and were carried away by the faster water, but with all the motion I could muster and still stay on the rock, I finally dropped the lure into the slick area.

No sooner had the jig begun to slip down to the bottom when it was grabbed by something alive. The fish immediately bolted for fast water in hopes of fleeing this confusing morsel that clung to it’s jaw. It zipped through the current with ability that only a river-born fish could muster, but eventually the rod won and the fish finned slowly near my feet.

To my sheer delight I saw this acrobatic fish was not a small pike or even a walleye, but a beautiful arctic grayling, the first one I’d ever caught. I gently picked it up. It’s long dorsal fin was spotted with neon turquiose, and it’s sides were iridescent purple.  

Admiring the small fish, I knew it had never been in contact with man before. It’s home waters were still unpolluted, and it’s delicate life balance was still unaltered by human encroachment. To keep the grayling would have been a crime. It belonged to the river, not on my wall or in a black frying pan. I gently released it. For a moment it sat in the calm water near my feet, but then quickly darted back into the current.

As I watched it disappear I felt good, all the ominous stirrings inside me left. It dawned on me that this beautiful land was not to be conquered, abused, or stripped of its resources, but that the only way to know was to become part of it, enjoy it for what it has to offer, yet take nothing from it.

As I headed back to the cabin I felt at peace with this land now far to the north. It was a good feeling, one which I know can be found just about anywhere people can get close to nature.

Share/Bookmark

Now I will be the first to say that all good fishing is not gone. However, rarely will you have great fishing without plenty of effort and good old fishing savvy, the latter being the most important. Understanding game fish, their habits and biology in general will help you catch more fish than any fishing rod made from the latest space age material or fifty tackle boxes filled with the latest lures.

A number of years ago, a few friends and I decided we were going to go to Lake Superior and take in a little steelhead fishing. None of us had ever fished these overgrown rainbow trout before, but we were willing to learn. I decided the first thing to do was to read up on Great Lakes steelhead fishing. At that time there was very little information available and I ended up ordering a book from Michigan. It was the best thing I ever did.

Several months later, I was in the Brule River along with several other runny-nosed, shivering anglers methodically drifting spawn bags through deep holes. The fishing was as cold as the air; not a single fish moved.

I decided to leave the crowd and do a little exploring upstream. Perhaps there were some undisturbed fish that just might hit. After a few hundred yards the river got shallower-looking more like the rivers referred to in the book I’d read.

“Ah! This looks good.” I said to myself as I slid down the bank.

Slowly, like it was my last chance on earth, I cast toward a spot where fast water dropped into a deep hole. I could feel the imitation spawn sack skip along the bottom. Then it stopped. My first reaction was frustration. Stuck on the bottom again and it was one of my last baits, but just then I remembered a phrase from the book I’d read “…always set the hook when your bait stops. It may be a rock, or it may be a trophy steelhead.”

“What the heck!” I lifted my rod and held tight. For a moment there was a dead weight.  Then it began to move upstream. There attached to my line was the prettiest fish I had ever seen. Through the clear water I could make out it’s olive green back and vivid pink sides. At first the rainbow seemed oblivious to the hook embedded in it’s jaw, but the realization soon set in. With a flip of it’s broad tail, it was into the fast current, with me stumbling after. Three sets of rapids, a borrowed net, and several close calls later, the big fish slid into the net.

Even though I’ve caught several steelhead since, this is still the most memorable fish of all. Why? Because even though I was as green as they come, I was able to take a trophy fish when everyone else caught nothing but colds. I had caught this fish on book learning and the experience of those before me.

Today there is an array of educational fishing material beyond belief; books are written about every specie of sportfish there is, televison shows feature fishing experts imparting their sage wisdom and sportshows tout big name fishing professionals giving instructional seminars. Not to mention the internet, where it all is.

Before you think you already know so much that the experience of others won’t help, think again. I’ve met many of the best anglers in the country and they still study extensively.

Share/Bookmark

My friend Dave asked my family to come over and visit while his family house sat for some vacationing friends. It was on a nearby lake, so we thought about swimming and sailing, but Dave had fishing in mind – from a paddle boat. Now fishing from a paddle boat is not the most dignifying way of angling, but who said self-esteem was an important product of fishing?

I figured we would float around, have a nice conversation and maybe hook into a hammer handle northern or two. There was the chance to hook a bass, too, so we opted to fish with twister tail jigs. Just as I was reeling in my second cast, I felt the unmistakable jerk of a fish hitting my lure. I set the hook and felt something bigger than a runty perch or sunfish struggling against the rod. It was a fairly nice-sized crappie.

“This could be good,” I said. “Crappies tend to run in schools and maybe we’ll catch more.”

Sure enough, within a few minutes Dave reeled in a scrappy crappie the same size as the first. “We’ll just throw them in this live well thing back here,” he said. I turned around and there was a neat little place molded into the paddle boat to hold a five-gallon pail. We just filled it with water and had nice spot to put our fish. “This is actually kind of cool,” I admitted to myself. “Catch a crappie and drop it in the pail without hardly moving.”

The crappies kept biting pretty well for about 45 minutes, in which we put together a nice mess for a meal. Suddenly we both had bites at the same time – bigger fish that zipped around the boat a few times. That was the first downfall of paddle boat fishing – missing your partners head when you swing your rod around to fight a fish. The fish were small northerns that we threw back.

The two northerns seemed to shut off the crappie bite. We could actually see crappies below the paddle boat eyeballing our jigs, but they wouldn’t bite. It was time to downsize. I tied on a tiny white jig and was able to coax a few more into biting.

Just before dark, we tied on floating minnow baits and twitched them across the surface – one of the most exciting ways to catch bass as they swirl to the surface to grab the bait. Unfortunately no bass bit that night, though we did see a few swirls.

When we peddled our way back in, I thought I will never look at paddle boat fishing the same. It was relaxing, quiet, and put us over fish that wanted to bite. Does a $25,000 fully rigged boat do more? Oh yes, but not on that night!

Share/Bookmark