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Unlocking the Secrets to Trolling for Walleyes
Unlocking the Secrets to Trolling for Walleyes By Steve Weisman As a fishing guide on the Iowa Great Lakes, M. Doug Burns is often asked by anglers, “What should I do when I troll for walleyes?” Burns, who has been a professional guide since 1986, begins to answer this question by saying, “There is not one single answer to this question. As a matter of fact, books have been written on this topic.” Burns does believe, however, that by developing a solid game plan, angler success can become consistent. To make things easier, Burns tries not to lump trolling for walleyes into one huge topic. Instead, he breaks it down to times of the year. This discussion will include late [...]
Pontoon’s As Fishing Boats?
Pontoon’s As Fishing Boats? By Steve Weisman Ever since I purchased my first boat over 40 years ago, nothing has been more exciting, time consuming and, yes, even exasperating as it has been to narrow down the list to my final choice. Back in 1972, I began with a 14-year-old 14-foot Crestliner and a 10 hp Evinrude motor. Since that time, I have purchased all brands of boats: Alumacrafts, Lunds, Rangers and Skeeters. From 17’ tillers to 22’ fiberglass big water walleye boats, they have all served their purpose, and each time I tried to refine my search to give me the most positives. I regret none of my purchases. Then 12 years ago, I began a “boating” journey of [...]
Rut Tips
Rut Tips As whitetail hunters, we all know that hunting the rut can represent the best opportunity to catch a vulnerable monster buck out in the open. Vulnerable is rarely a word used to describe the nature of a big whitetail buck, but the craze of the rut can help to tilt the scale in the hunter’s direction. Tips on how hunters can take advantage of this time of year are not in short supply, so take the time to do your research and read up on the subject. Meanwhile, here are a few of my favorite rut tips that you can take afield with you this year. Hunt the Does Antlers, antlers, antlers! All year long they haunt our [...]
A Bowhunters’ Backpack
A Bowhunters’ Backpack By Shawn and Kristi O’Connor Louis Pasteur, the brilliant 19th century French chemist and inventor of pasteurization, coined the phrase, "fortune favors the prepared mind.” What does that have to do with a bowhunters backpack? Well, lets just say I spent a good number of years ignoring that advice before I was "wise" enough to heed it. It never fails; you spend all day in the stand, hoping for just one opportunity. Then it happens, when the light is fading, and suddenly the opportunity is upon you. You execute the shot and your dream is realized. Once the euphoria wears off, realization suddenly sets in. It’s a long way back to the truck and by the [...]
Hacks Every Angler Should Know
Hacks Every Angler Should Know By Todd Reed Each and every angler that makes a cast wants to accomplish the same thing, to catch a fish. Some anglers are quite serious about this task, while others fish to catch a fresh meal, or to unwind from the busy day. No matter what reason you go fishing, here are some things that each angler can do to help make fishing easier for them. #1 - Combine Line No matter what kind of reel you have, it was designed to have a certain amount of line on it. The spool should be full at all times. An easy way to save time and money is to line your spool with cheap 15# [...]
The Geography of Catfishing
The Geography of Catfishing By Brad Durick When you are sitting along a river bank or in your river boat have you ever just taken a moment to look around? Have you ever just sat and studied the banks? Looked at what is happening at every bend? If you have, you understand more about how a river runs than most. If you have not, you are missing one of the most basic river reading skills you can possess. Have you ever just been riding in your boat and see an outside bend that is just ripped out with a very steep cutbank? Did you know that is telling you a story about what is below the water? Let’s break this [...]
Avoiding Boating Mistakes
Avoiding Boating Mistakes By Steve Weisman I’ve been a boat owner for over 40 years and for the most part have enjoyed my boating experiences. At the same time, along the way I have witnessed and been part of mistakes that have certainly affected those experiences. Some have been laughable, some what I would call “stupidity at its height” and some that could have become extremely serious. Let’s take a look at five common mistakes boaters make and how to solve the situations. #1 Backing the boat trailer Backing the trailer down the ramp sounds so simple, but I have seen some incredibly crazy situations. This has never been much of a problem for me, I guess, because I grew [...]
5 Summer Key’s to Fall Success
5 Summer Key's to Fall Success By Kevin Sturm Over the years my wife may have mentioned to me a time or two that hunting season seems to never end, and after some reflection I would have to say she is exactly right. I have learned over the years, there is a huge difference in my hunting success when I work through the summer in preparation for the fall hunting season, rather than going out and blindly hunting on opening day. I can tell you I honestly do not have all the answers, nor will I ever, regardless of how many hours I spend hunting. But what I can do is give you some information that has worked for me [...]
Should I Go Fishing or Work on my Farm?
Should I Go Fishing or Work on my Farm? By Tom Peplinski I’ll have to admit, when I was first asked about writing a monthly column for whitetail hunting I was excited about the opportunity and a little overwhelmed at the thought of coming up with monthly ideas to write about. Trying to keep relevant information in front of whitetail hunting fanatics on a monthly basis could prove to be challenging I thought. For the most part, it hasn’t been; but it’s getting there as I try to keep the content fresh. There are so many things going on for today’s hunters that keeping up with them shouldn’t be all that hard right? Well, here I am sitting down to [...]
