Musky/Pike

Tip Up Fishing 101

Tip Up Fishing 101 By Nick Johnson When you break ice fishing down to a minimal level, a tip-up is about as simple and straightforward as it gets. This style of fishing dates back an awful long time and has, if anything, gained in popularity over the past two decades. Tip-ups come in a wide […]

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Ice Fishing The Unknown: Exploring New Ice

Ice Fishing The Unknown: Exploring New Ice By Nick Johnson As ice fisherman we all love the thrill of ice fishing new waters. It might be a new body of water never fished or perhaps a stretch of uncharted water on something you have already explored. When success is had in this instance the sheer […]

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Method to the Madness

Method to the Madness: Drilling Patterns for Successful Ice Anglers By Rod Woten Ice augers have come a long way in the past 20 years. From the old hand-crank spoon augers to today’s lightweight ice eating machines, making holes in the ice has continued to get easier and easier. Along with that progression, the way […]

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Become a Better Hardwater Angler

Become a Better Hardwater Angler By Rod Woten Are you new to ice fishing and want to shorten the learning curve? Are you a seasoned angler that wants to take your game to the next level? Are you frustrated with catching few or small fish…want to catch more and bigger fish? When I first started […]

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Late Fall Strategies for Cold Water

The bite of cold has overcome Iowa by now, whitetail bucks are in rut and waterfowl hunting is picking up. With so many outdoor related distractions the thought of fishing takes a back burner to many. Even I find myself trading the rods for a shotgun at this point and celebrate the excitement of ice […]

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Float Fishing A Must Do Iowa Experience

When I first moved to northwest Iowa over 30 years ago and I wanted to go fishing, I headed to one of the Iowa Great Lakes or some of the smaller lakes around. I never gave interior stream/river fishing much thought. About 20 years ago a friend of mind introduced me to float fishing by […]

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Don’t Be….That Guy

Throughout my life, I have stumbled across individuals who cause the rolling of my eyes. I’m sure, with a few reflective moments, you have experienced the same. This being brought to surface, we are going to take a look at the cause of such eye juggling, as it applies to hunting or fishing camps. For […]

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Almost 10 Things Every Angler Should Know

There’s nothing quite like a tidbit of information to remind you of some of the basic gems that we as anglers should know. It’s possible that some of the things you know were insightful pieces of advice that dad or grandpa passed on down. And I’m sure that there are some useful quotes from gramps […]

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Taking A Look At Walleye Stocking Data

Once again the DNR’s gill netting process on the Iowa Great Lakes was a huge success. As a result, the Spirit Lake Fish Hatchery was able to harvest enough eggs to produce a new stock of fish for many of the states lakes and streams. This year more than 3,300 walleyes were taken from Big […]

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Inner Workings Of The Manchester Fish Hatchery – Podcast

Welcome to another episode of The Iowa Sportsman Podcast! On this episode, Dan is joined by Dan Rosauer, a Biologist for the Iowa DNR, to talk about the Manchester Fish Hatchery. The guys get into history of the hatchery, how it started, operates, and how fish are distributed.  If you are interested in the process […]

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