The Beginning of the Ice season

December normally marks the beginning of the ice fishing season here in Iowa, however this year the weather has not been cooperative. The past week and next week we will see many 40 and 50 degree day time temperatures here in Iowa.  This will obviously push the ice season back even farther into December.
During this time of year ice anglers are always chomping at the bit to find safe ice and try their luck for the first time of the year.  Anglers are also getting gear ready and stocking up on new ice fishing supplies and gadgets.  I had the chance to join several hundred anglers at Hank's Bait and Tackle in Waterloo this past week for their annual ice fishing open house.  This tackle shop is "the" mega-tackle shop for ice anglers.  If you want it, they have it!  Shacks, augers, jigs, plastics, electronics, rods/reels and a full line of Vexilar flashers.  Do yourself a favor and check them out for your ice fishing needs.
During this ice fishing open house, I had the opportunity to present a seminar on using your flasher while ice fishing.  I gave the audience many tips and tricks they can use with their flasher to help them catch more fish this winter.  I really enjoy helping others understand their flasher so that they can use it to their full potential.  I enjoyed it, and I know many of the audience members did too.  If you have any questions about the functions of your Vexilar or have a question please contact me by email so I can be of assistance to you.
Here's to good safe ice, and hopefully soon...all I really want for Christmas is 5 inches of safe ice!

Time for change

A little time now with your
equipment will assure you some
great times in the spring.

Each year in November I am torn between one last trip in the boat and dreaming of walking on the ice to my first destination to drill holes.  It's always a toss up, and Mother Nature is always in control.  The boat is put away and I have started the annual ritual of getting those rods and reels ready for the 2016 season.  Here are few pointers I have learned over the years for putting things away so that they are ready in March for the first open water of the season.
1~ Rod Maintenance- all rods should be stored either flat or standing as straight as possible for the months of winter.  A corner of my basement maintenance room had worked great for this.  They are out of the way and don't get bumped into for months, just how it should be.  If you have cork handles, this is a great time to get an old toothbrush and make them look like new.  Add some baking soda to a bowl of water and stir.  Grab the brush and solution and brush on, the dirt, grime, fish slime will melt away.  Wipe with a rag with clean water and they will look like new.  A damp rag will clean up foam grips too.  One more thing to do is to check the eyelets on your rods.  Take a q-tip or cotton ball and run it around the eyelets in both directions to see if anything snags up.  If so, that eyelet will damage your line and winter is a great time to get that fixed before spring.
2~ Reels- your reels are obviously a vital tool when it comes to open water fishing.  Depending on your confidence or time during the winter months every reel should be broken down to apply fresh grease and oil where needed.  There are many good articles and YouTube videos of this if you want to tackle it your self.  If not, there are a few reel repair shops that will clean and grease them for you, but be ready to pay $25 or more per reel.  Either way, your reels need attention during the winter months whether you do it yourself, or allow others to step in.  You will
be pleasantly surprised come the spring on how well your reels will cast and how they will appear so much smoother.  It is worth your time to give attention to your reels.
3~ Organize- Winter is a great time to get all those baits organized into tackle boxes and bait packs.  I always try to make a "wish list" of items I need during the winter so I can stock up on them come spring.  Many major tackle distributors have great sales during February and March and that is a  great time to stock up. Organize now and you will be happy and ready to go come March.

November: a time for change

Once November rolls around my mind starts to shift towards ice fishing.  I always hope for December 1st to walk on the water and drill my fist holes in the ice...but it isn't looking too promising for that this year.  This warm fall weather will put a hurt on any hope of early ice, but I am still hoping Mother Nature will wake up and bring winter quickly.  In the mean time I enjoying chasing panfish this time of year and getting my kids out to catch a few more fish before the ice comes too.  So, as I turn my mind towards getting prepared for the upcoming ice fishing season, bass will start to take a step to the side and panfish will once again dominate my free-time.

A few nice pics from a recent trip out with my kids:

Back to the Mississippi River

This past weekend took long-time friend Don Henry and I to Pool 9 of the Mississippi River.  I have tried to make it an annual trip to get to the upper pools in October, and once in a while a trip in November even happens.  I don't see that this year, so this trip will most likely be my last trip to the big river until 2016.  Nevertheless, I am always eager to get to the river to test my tackle and gear to see if some bass can be located.
Some heavy frost greeted us Saturday morning and that definitely had the fish a little shy earlier in the morning.  However they warmed up with the air temperature.  With the massive cold-front we could only get them to bite on soft plastics, especially the Hot Rod Baits tubes.  We ended up with about 2 dozen bass on the day, almost all of them coming from backwater areas where there was no current present.  We tried many areas with current, but only managed a few bites.  
On to Sunday, another heavy frost, but a weather forecast that promised warmer temperatures.  With the warmer temperatures and another day of colder weather for the bass to acclimate to the dropping water temps, I figured to try some more areas with light current.  We tried some main channel current where the flow is pretty slow, but nothing.  Our next move took us to a side slough with mild to slow moving current.  The largemouth were there and feeding!  We caught dozens of bass within a 200 yard stretch of bank.  The bass were healthy, fat and fighting just like river bass always do.  The best bait of this day was by far Hot Rod Baits Tubes, although a few bass did bite a crankbait.  Black/Blue, and Christmas tree seemed to be the best color of tubes that the fish reacted to.   It was an awesome day of catching, one that neither one of us will soon forget.

A break from Bass

Today I met up friends Don Henry and Jacy Large for a little fun fishing at Lake Red Rock.  We were hoping to catch the crappies that always start to school up and feed during the fall and winter months on this huge reservoir.  I rarely fish for panfish without my kids, so an "adult" trip for panfish was something I was looking forward to all week long.

The morning started off much slower than I had anticipated, but I had the feeling that once the sun got up higher in the sky, that the fish would cooperate much better.  My hunch was spot on, mid to late morning was a good, steady bite for all types of fish.  Bluegills, crappies, largemouth bass, and white bass all showed themselves today.  We ended up focusing on water that was around 10 feet deep.  Shallow flats near the deeper water  seems to be the best places for catching fish this particular day.  Thinking back on the day, I am not 100% sure that the shallower water was key or not though.  The Vexilar FLX-28 was marking fish in all depth levels, however we were able to battle the wind by dropping the Minn Kota Talons anchoring system down in water less than 12 feet.  By setting the anchors we were able present our jigs and minnow/plastics at slower rates and make multiple casts in the same area.  Either way by putting the Talons to use once again, and locating the fish on Vexilar we were able to focus in on higher productive areas and catch many fish today.  A few gills and a dozen or so crappies were kept for  fish fry at a later date.  All in all it was a great day of fishing and was glad to get out and enjoy this unusual 70-degree October day.