Walleye Express

A friend just sent me this picture of a guy who found a soft spot 2 miles out of Ericson road yesterday. Notice anything about this picture that both tells a story and something all ice fishermen should take care to watch for? I'm assuming this guy was fallowing near the snowmobile tracks, assuming the ice was safe enough. Snowmobiles deplace their weight a lot better at both slow and fast speeds, and can actually run on water when given enough speed and gas. Quads cannot. So fallowing snowmobile tracks with a quad is not the best idea. Plus, just heading off on your own, making your own trail out, while not on a worn track/path is yet another bad idea this early in the season, or any time for that matter. And all this is not to say that this cannot happen to even the most caucious individuals. Nor is it to say that these guys (whoever they were) are careless nuts. It's easy to get caught up in the spectackle when you arrive and see 100 trucks parked on the ice, 1,000 others in shanties from horizon to horizon with all types of machines driving around everywhere. You just have to keep telling yourslef to be safe, use your head and take your time.

If you guys are bumming now, you better remove all loaded guns from the house before next week. Looks like a high of 16 is the warmest day all next week. And not to get off the subject. But Mike are you going to be at the Stinger Team Meeting on February 7th. I plan on making it this year.

Watched a In-Fisherman show yesterday where Doug Stangy was catching some monster walleyes on a lake in Saskatchewan. I mean 12 to 14 pounders. He was doing so casting Berkley Power Baits new 5 inch Hollow Belly Swim Baits. He also explained they can be rigged for casting or for trolling. I had some decent success last year tipping my spoon harnesses with Gulp salt water pogies along with my usual 6 inch gulp nightcrawlers. I also kept looking for a bigger bait or lure that would specifically target larger fish as we neared our legal walleye limit. These swimbaits gave me an idea and I'm going to try these as sliders above the Rattle Tots this season in place of a few spoons. Here a picture of another brand of swimbait already rigged for trolling. But is exactly what Berkley sends you in each pac of 3 to rig their Hollow Belly with. Also the Hollow Belly Swimbait themselves below it.

Ya, I remember those. They're what the old timers called a Thermos way back when. The top and the handle were in one piece. My grandpa had one of those for years. I'll tell you another trick I just remembered thinking of Grandpa. When we used to spear pike, he had 2 ways he used to attract them into the hole. One was the old wooden decoys he carved himself with the tin can fins, hallowed out bellys full of lead and old hook and latch eyes screwed into the top for holding the attached line. The other was a stroke of genious. He'd drill 5 or 6 tiny holes into the thin tin top of a 1 quart mason jar. Put a string through the hole in the center and tie a knot, so when the top was screwed back onto the jar, it held up the jar. Then filled the jar with water and added either 1 or 2 big golden shiners or if we were fishing for perch a dozen perch minnows. This was let either down to the bottom or left suspened off the bottom. Both pike and perch would come into the hole for a look at this spectackle and Grandpa would spear them. Minnows always stayed fresh, kicking and alive with constant fresh water and Grandpa didn't have to buy more then 2 or 3 Goldies at .25 cents each. Big money back then.

How do you guys go about running spoons? I'm wondering what my options are. One more thing what kind of speed? Thanks Jason Kubik Jason. Here is 4 pictures taken last year on June 1st 2008. It was a shake down cruise with 3 friends, before I started my own 2008 charter season. We ran all Rattle Tot lures, teamed with a combination of straight Michigan Stinger Scorpion spoons and my home made Stinger Scorpion spoon harnesses as sliders ahead of and above the Tot's. (See the Rattle Tot and slider below it in first picture). We caught over 30 walleyes in about 2 hours, with many doubles and triples. You can see in one picture a fish being hauled in while my buddy Bob posses with the another. I didn't take these same Rattle Tot's off virtually all season, or even traded out any of the colors. I did have to quit using bare spoon sliders half way through the season though, because I was just catching and hurting to many little walleyes. As far as speed went. Anything from 1.2 to 3.5 caught fish. Rattle Tot's will continue to dig and work up to speeds approaching 6 MPH. And the spoons do the same. Capt. Dan.

Jim. You might as well be talking in a foreign language to me about digitizing or how it's done. It's kinda like fly fishing for carp to me. I haven't got even the slightest ambition to learn how to do it, but I know if I ever do, somebody out there can teach me. :D According to her, each higher priced machine now comes with a program of it's own to turn designs into stitching programs. At the prices she paid for her machines, they should give foot massages while you wait.

Here's the wife's first attempt at Digitizing (that is programing) an embroidery design into her sewing machine computer. She has a million designs and has sewn all my Charter Boat designs and text on my shirts and jackets, but has never tried digitizing anything. I offered one of my T-shirts as the guinea pig. There is 4 mistakes according to her in this unigue custom design that I want to incorporate into another charter logo. I could only spot one myself, but she wasn't happy with the results. So the design goes back under the knife for more modifications tonight. This Hot-N-Tot is 11 inches long and 3 inches wide. :eek:

New invasive species confirmed in Great Lakes By Ed Brayton 12/31/08 2:26 PM A new report in the Journal of Great Lakes Research confirms the finding of a new invasive species, this time an Asian tapeworm, in fish caught in the Great Lakes. The article also reports that the tapeworm has been found in fish caught in inland lakes as well. Tapeworms can be killed if the fish is properly cleaned and killed. The Michigan Messenger has previously reported on the problem of invasive species in the Great Lakes. http://michiganmessenger.com/10977/new-invasive-species-confirmed-in-great-lakes

The Sport Fishing Shows are about to start SHOW DATES: Ultimate Fishing Show - Novi Rock Financial Showplace January 08-11, 2009 Outdoorama - Novi Rock Financial Showplace February 26-March 1, 2009 Lansing Boat & Fishing Show Lansing Center March 12-15, 2009 Ultimate Sport Show - Grand Rapids Devos Place March 19-22, 2009 For more information: http://www.showspan.com/

Yupper. Didn't take more then 20 minutes total once I found the building. I was actually lucky. The address I had for the Center was taking Madison St. to their building. Well, they are building a new sports center and madison is now cut off. So I called them from my cell and the building is on the corner of Superior and Jefferson. Parked the truck right across the street from the center. Went to the 7th floor. Signed in and rang the bell. A lady promptly came out, went over my re-newal application with me, made copies of my Drivers License, boat documentation/registration and the ever popular TWIC card. Then fingerprinted me and graciously accepted my $140.00 check. Told me if everything was O.K., I would recieve my new CG license in the mail within a week. Gave me a map to fallow to get back out on to 475/US-23 north, and I Still had 30 minutes on my parking metor when I got back to the street. Left my house at 8:30am and was back home at 2:30pm. 341 miles round trip. All things considered, good trip. Even my 6000 Duro Max turbo diesel seemd to like it. Filled up before I left and when I got back home. Got 18.8 miles per gallon at an average speed of 70 MPH, best ever.

OK, marking fish won't bite on what you have.....HMMMM target fish walleye, perch, crappies or anything you like. Bobbers won't hit, Jigging won't work, what do you do? Lets hear what you guys like to do. I switch structure and use my old spots but I am losing touch with old stubborness that they just wont bite attitude. Just keep moving? Chris Smith Chris. Having fish turn their noses up at your offerings is not uncommon, but seems to happen more for some reason when ice fishing. Or maybe it's because we get a longer, prolonged looks at the fish that do come in and have a stare down with your spoon or live bait. There must be far more environmental factors at work then we can figure out, when the water gets cold enough to become a solid. Things like light penetration, wave action, oxygen levels and everything else that a warm water environment supports and offers, are all different when the top freezes. So one has to assume a fishes mood will be different in those conditions. His feeding urges are not as intense and most seems to scrutinize any offering more carefully, especially when not with a school of other competitors. Walleyes are natorious for this (loner) roaming/feeding cycle, especially in the winter months. But I've also seen massive schools come in when ice fishing Lake Erie and not a touch by any of them. As far as tricks, I've learned to jig agressively until the fish comes into the hole. Then hold the lure motionless. If he turns away, I'll twitch it or let it fall to the bottom. Sometimes slowly lifting it works. But almost never give it another hard jig once you have his attention. I've also caught several bigger walleyes that were crusing along suspended shallow and I seen them on the flasher going through the hole. Those fish are ready to strike and eat right now. On all occassions I simply reeled up to the depth I marked them at and held the rod still and Wham!!!! Heres is 3 pictures of fish that I distinctly remember that happening with, but know there has been more over the years after I started using a flasher. I also caught a nice steelhead that came crusing through at 6 feet over 26 feet of water. Capt. Dan.

Ya, know. I forgot about one show I did with Bob and his Brother-in-law. And it was the first one after Bob left Freds show. I didn't remember it because it was the only one that I did not get a copy of from the show. Bob was catching fish after fish on that show. That had to be the one that hooked you and your uncle.

Ken. I've done 4 shows on the Tittabawassee starting with the first one with Fred Trost back in 1986, when Bob garner was still co-host of that show. Even took Fred to catch his very first Saginaw River walleye through the ice on a show the winter before. Then 1 with Bob Garner after he left Fred and took over Michigan-out-of-doors with M.U.C.C., when Abby Burk was he first camera lady and co-host. Then 2 more with Jenny Olson and Gabe, when she was the Co-Host. 1 before and 1 after Bob retired. It takes a lot of years to learn where and when to fish that river Ken, so don't feel to bad about the skunk. Also did 2 shows with Claudia Hitchcock and James Ford out of my drift boat on the Pere Marquette for salmon. All damn good people. Fred was a different story. But he's dead now and no sense in kicking the grave stone.

I wanted to know if anyone has fished cold water winter fishing below spillways. I would be very thankful of any and all info and advice given.. thanks Mitch Fricke Keep your lines wet, Mitch Fricke Mitch. Spillways are my favorite spots to fish, especially during certain times and certain conditions. When the water is fast during brief melts or during the coldest shallow/slow water times during the winter, concentrate on the first deep hole down river from the spillway or any others in that first 2 miles or so. But preferably start at that first sharp or tapering corner. Quarter cast the whole length of this hole or slot with a jig and minnow offering. Be meticulous and cover the whole hole from it's top to it's bottom. Walleye can and will pocket up in tight current breaks areas during this time. Hop the jig and minnow offering slowly and let it set for just a hair longer then you usually would. If you hit a fish concentrate on that spot for a while. Even let the jig and minnow lay there on the bottom and simply shake the offering. That gets those savvy fish to commit. Good Luck.

Probably like a lot of you, what I really hate when ice fishing is hauling along anything that does not have a real purpose. You have minimum space to store stuff for the most part and weight and messy items can be a hindrance especially when using a motorized vehicle to haul your stuff out. With that said, one thing I really hate is making a mess in my 4 wheeler storage box with tipped over or splashing minnow pales. Not to mention if they do so on the way out and are all dead and/or frozen when you finally get to your spot. I mostly use minnow half's on my jigging spoons and a few live ones on my dead rod, but like them to be alive, fresh and shiny when it's time to be used. So my minnows are transferred before I take off from shore to my spot from an aireated minnow pale, to a plastic 2 quart bottle. In general, (even on charters) we'll only use about 3 dozen minnows per day. So a smaller container will do the job and keep them alive and safe for the short duration needed to reach my spot on the ice. What I do is clean and use the smaller plastic Kogels Ring Balogna bottle and seal and tighten the top so it don't leak or open even on a long, bumpy ride out. I then keep them close by in the shanty and make sure they are kept alive with fresh water from the open ice hole. Another thing I hate is when my propane bottle gets that clump of ice that freezes to it's bottom and makes it tippy and unsteady. Lets face it, propane tank bottoms are small and unsteady to begin with. And few things can spoil your trip like a tipped over propane bottle with an attached and buring Mr. heater head on high in your shanty. Or the hassle and mess of chipping the ice off the bottom of your bottle before you leave. You could of course set it on something that keeps it off the ice, yet keeps it mobile. I solved this problem with an in-expensive product called a Tank Setter. A light plastic adjustable tank holder that fits any propane tanks bottom and moves around with it when moved from place to place. Picture below. Heres their link as well. www.tanksetter.com You guys got any short cuts, gear, gadgets or accessories you use when ice fishing you'd like to share?

Wulp. I heard that the MCBA is working on it. But as long as it stays in the Homeland Security sector like the TWIC card, I don't see it changing any time soon.

Headed for the USCG Regional Exam Center in Toledo early Monday morning. Got my 4th Captains License renewal application all filled out, and my fingers all washed and oil free for the printing requirements. Still think this is a crock, having to go all the way to Toledo just because of finger printing. But I haven't been there in over 15 years when I first got my captains license. Have any of you been there recently, and is there any parking or floor/room number changes I should now about?

And it's always struck me as interesting when the word stupid has to be mercifly changed to the word "Tragic" when talking about the untimely death of someone acting stupid.

Mike. My first mission would be to train him to use the head, then he could steer the boat.

Seems the winter swimmers have started right on time this year. Heard on the news Sunday night that 2 snwomobilers took a swim in the Saginaw Bay. If they would have been watching the satelite views the last 10 days or so, they would have seen that (hooked shaped) open water that ran for miles down and along the shoreline. Nobody was hurt, just cold, wet and scared. But I cannot stress more being careful and knowing as much about the conditions as you can before you just take off.

Yup. I'm doing a good job of feeding the hawks myself. I plowed a spot at one corner of our house to throw out sunflower seeds to the morning doves. Unfortunetly it became a 2 walled snow pit of death and made the hawks job a lot easier. Found a pile of feathers and blood marks there 3 days ago.

Pretty Cool Ken. We have a rabbit that lives under our porch steps that can now reach the bird feeders because of the snow drifts. And he's about level with the wifes sewing room window when he's there eating. The other night they were eyeball to eyeball between the glass when she was sewing. :D

I'm still not seeing any fish pictures on my end. But found a picture of a Panzie as I remember them.

Adrain. I've been fishing for roughly 50+ years. The word panzie (as I've always understood or used it) referred to and/or described the guy who threw the football on the ground and screamed like a little girl, just before you tackled him. So are these a new type of sissy walleyes?

Not a problem Dick. Feel free to give me a shout about any fishing or dock related particulars before the season starts. The spoon program was on fire last year in about the same timeframe you plan on being here. #20 Jets, or Big Jon Minni Discs, teamed with Scorpion Stingers or Spoon harnesses. My best action was on Rattle Tot's with scorpion sliders. The transtition from Lake Michigan to Saginaw Bay should be a smooth one for you.