FISH ED Video; Big Stone Lake Prime Time PerchTasty Yellow Perch are prize catches across the Midwest. In this video, Fish Ed host Jon Thelen travels to the hallowed waters of Big Stone Lake on the Minnesota/South Dakota border. Join Jon and see why this prairie impoundment is quickly gaining fame as a “must fish” destination among Perch fans everywhere. View Video >> Prime Time Perch |
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Hey river rats, here’s a great lesson on using your tiller outboard to deliver crankbaits to the sweet spots for for bass, walleye and pike. |
A few weeks ago, I had a little bit of fun with the countdown to closing on the new house. After the first week, things are beginning to take shape here at “Headquarters Central” and it won’t be long before the reports will become more frequent again.
I still need to drag a bunch of stuff out of the old farm house though and have to admit, the number crunch that I’m working on now is nowhere near as much fun as the last one was. No matter, in 9 days the new owners will take over and I’ll be seeing the whole episode in my rear view mirror; that will be nice.
Mother Nature, glorious and beautiful as she can be, has provided me with the absolute best case scenario for making the move and I am grateful for that. But her sense of humor is dry and she’s not above ribbing a man when he’s down. She’s proven that recently by torturing me with tales of great fishing from my friends. That’s right, the handful of anglers who haven’t put their rigs to rest for the winter are enjoying very good fishing right now.
Crappie fishing has gotten the most attention, in fact I’ve talked with 4 friends in the past 3 days and all of them have reported catching limits, all of them fishing different lakes. Walleyes have received honorable mention too and Pike fishing also has potential.
Following your favorite ice fishing patterns would be a good starting strategy. For Panfish, open water near deep mid lake basins will be productive. For Walleye and Pike, focus on the last 3 hours of daylight and fish shoreline points that connect to deep water. The presence of Cabbage weeds that remain green have fantastic attracting power during late fall and could easily contain both Walleye and Pike.
Late fall is one of the best times to anchor your boat and pitch in to shallow cover using jig and minnow presentations. A 1/8 ounce live bait jig tipped with a large fathead will do the trick, so will ice fishing lures both with and without live bait.
Finding bait may be a little tricky because some of the better bait shops are closed during the deer hunting season. There are still enough stores open to sell you some minnows, but I’d suggest calling ahead to be sure that they have what you need, when you need it.
In case you’re watching the lakes for signs of ice, take a break. There is virtually no signal that there will ice anywhere during the next couple of weeks. In fact I just read the long range forecast and it doesn’t appear that we will receive any seriously cold weather until late next week.
Good fishing, awesome weather, my Alaskan that’s ready to spring into action and a mountain of work keeping me away from the lakes; you can see the irony in Mother’s management style. That’s okay though, the next 9 days are gonna fly by and by then ice watch 2016 will be getting more interesting. By then I’ll be ready for some time outside and you’ll be the first to know what’s happening.
By the way, I’m attempting to join the modern world and operate with only my cell phone. I no longer have a “land line” phone number, so if you’ve used that to contact me, don’t be disturbed when you can’t get through, just shoot me an email and I’ll update you with the contact info.
"The Early Bird Fishing Guide" Jeff Sundin - Fishing Blue Books, LLC 715 Byington Ave, LaPrairie, MN 55744 218-245-9858
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