Musky/Pike

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Exploring Iowa’s Water Trails

Exploring Iowa’s Water Trails Iowans are blessed with many rivers, creeks, lakes and reservoirs that are perfect paddling whether they choose a canoe, kayak or even an inner tube. These waterways will take you through a variety of areas that are significant to our state whether from a historical, cultural, geological, or ecological standpoint. Indeed, […]

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A Best Kept Secret Revealed: Targeting Northern Pike

A Best Kept Secret Revealed: Targeting Northern Pike By Steve Weisman Mention ice fishing the Iowa Great Lakes, specifically West Okoboji and Big Spirit Lake, to anglers and their eyes light up as they envision chasing their favorite game fish. Yet, there is one prolific game fish that is often overlooked: the northern pike. Bays […]

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Tips for Getting the Fishing Rig Ready for Open Water

Tips for Getting the Fishing Rig Ready for Open Water By Steve Weisman As spring approaches, anglers are transitioning from ice fishing to open water fishing. When this time comes, it’s time to get the boat ready for another year of fishing. There are really two ways to approach this. The first is for those […]

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Trolling on Ice

Trolling on Ice By Bob Jensen Open water trolling is a technique, or at least a phrase, that most anglers are familiar with. Trolling on the ice is a technique that more and more ice-anglers are becoming familiar with. Trolling on the ice might not make sense at first, but once you understand the concept, […]

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Battling Invasive Species in Iowa Lakes

Battling Invasive Species in our Iowa Lakes Early in the fall of 2022, a shocking discovery was made on the Okoboji chain of lakes. Eurasian watermilfoil, an aggressive invasive plant that can negatively impact a body of water by outcompeting the native plants and becoming the dominant species was found. The scary part is that […]

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Upgrading Your Summer Fishing Reels

Upgrading Your Summer Fishing Reels The rivers are flowing, and some lakes are free of ice; now is the time to start thinking about your open water fishing arsenal. March is a great time to upgrade an integral part of your fishing tools, and you will notice the difference the first time you use them. […]

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Early Ice vs. Late Ice

Early Ice vs. Late Ice By Rod Woten It’s a debate almost as old as ice fishing itself. Early ice or late ice and which is better? You’ll hear just as many opinions on why one is better as you will for the other. The truth is, they both can be great from a fishing […]

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Fish The Bite… All Day Long

Fish The Bite… All Day Long By Rod Woten By now many ice anglers are well aware of what is often referred to as ‘the golden hours” of ice fishing; those couple of hours that separate dawn from daylight and daylight from dusk when the sun is at the top of the trees and the […]

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Pond Structure Improvement

Pond Structure Improvement There is no doubt that many of Iowa’s anglers began their fishing endeavors on one of the 110,000 ponds scattered throughout the State. This is true for me too, Grandpa would introduce grandchildren to pond fishing, usually with a spiderman or barbie fishing pole. A small hook with a bit of worm […]

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Catch More Fish Through The Ice

Catch More Fish Through The Ice By Bob Jensen With the ice-fishing season upon us, now is good time for some reminders about improving your chances for success through the ice. Following are some of those reminders. Just as in open water fishing, probably the most important key to catching fish through the ice is […]

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