Musky/Pike

Iowa Sportsman Fishing Trip: Lake Rathbun

Iowa Sportsman Fishing Trip: Lake Rathbun By Clayton Will However you say it; Rathbun Lake or Lake Rathbun, it’s a must see Iowa Family Fishing Trip Destination. At 11,000 acres Lake Rathbun is easily Iowa’s largest body of water not called a river or stream. Nestled in Appanoose County Lake Rathbun is a popular spot […]

Chasing Early Season Northern Pike

Chasing Early Season Northern Pike By Steve Weisman When the ice begins to leave our northern Iowa lakes, anglers head out looking for ice-out smallmouth bass, pre-spawn walleyes and panfish. However, there is one prolific game fish that is often overlooked: the northern pike. In many cases, they are totally ignored. As a result, a […]

Getting A New Boat Without Getting Hooked

Getting a new Boat without Getting Hooked For many of us, one of our prized possessions is our fishing boat. And you know what? It really doesn’t matter how old or how much we paid for it. The fishing rig we currently have is the one we have worked so hard to own. Just as […]

Avoid the Bust: Select the Right Outfitter

Avoid the Bust: Select the Right Outfitter By Ryan Eder Sometimes as a writer I struggle to find new topics to discuss in an article. This month, however, my inspiration came easily as I had arguably the worst waterfowl hunting experience with an outfitter this season. Selecting an outfitter can be difficult; there are several […]

Stewardship… On Ice

Stewardship… On Ice By Rod Woten It’s amazing how far ice fishing has come in the past several years. Devices like portable sonar systems, underwater cameras, fully rigged ATV’s and snowmobiles, efficient gas augers and even the internet, have helped all of us to become fish catching machines when the hardwater months set in. We’ve […]

Arrowhead Resort & Motel: The Iowa Legacy Continues

Arrowhead Resort & Motel: The Iowa Legacy Continues By Ben Leal The sun is rising on Crooked Pine Lake in Nestor Falls, Ontario Canada. Peering out over the lake there is a fine mist hanging over the water, illuminating the warm moist air. Birds are singing their morning songs, welcoming a new day. Across the […]

The Mighty Mississippi River – Podcast

Fishing through the Doldrums of Winter

Fishing through the Doldrums of Winter By Steve Weisman There comes a time every winter when catching fish through the ice gets really, really tough on most lakes. The ice and sometimes the snow is really deep. The days of winter seem to drag on, the fish seem to have gone into a totally neutral […]

Iowa Gators Through the Ice

Iowa Gators Through the Ice By Nick Johnson I remember the first time I actually targeted pike through the ice using standard ice fishing gear. I had caught pike before but it was always a “bonus” while jigging for walleyes or the occasional take on a crappie minnow. It was about this time of year […]

Where to Start? Successful Ice Fishing Tactics for a New Body of Water

Where to Start? Successful Ice Fishing Tactics for a New Body of Water By Rod Woten Ice fishing a brand new lake can be a daunting task. Apparently, it torments a lot of ice anglers because one of the questions I get asked probably more than any others when I present seminars is “how do […]