The FRIST Bass

 

That first outing in the boat each spring is a special one.  First off, you just hope things float, the motors work and the batteries hold a charge.  After those things have been checked, it is time to make those first casts.  This spring was very unique in the way that I was not throwing a Quantum combo.  After using those products for about 30 years, it was time to move on to Lew's rods and reels.  It is always fun trying new models of things each spring, but a new product line was VERY exciting.  I was like a kid on Christmas morning.  The new combos were a pleasure a use, very balanced and overall lightweight, they are going to be wonderful throughout the many years to come.  More details on those will be coming.

The fishing the first time out is always a bonus, just hoping for that one bite.  Also, the first month or so of open water fishing is your best chance to catch a giant, especially a giant largemouth bass.  No giant on the first trip out but some nice fish.  The biggest did come on a jig and chunk pitching to some rocks, pretty typical for March, let alone late February.  A fun time, the boat floated, both motors worked, and fish were caught.  I guess the 2024 open water season is here!

The Shortest Ice Fishing Season Ever

Last fish of the season:
9.5 in Bluegill

Looking back to November, I was so excited for the ice fishing season.  I love to fish from the boat, but the fall weather patterns did not produce a steady bite like a typical fall.  Each and every year before the ice fishing season I do some homework to search out new lakes I have never been to before to try.  I had three of them on this winters list, I only got to one of them.  I was able to make it out on the ice 14 different days, which is about half of a normal winter.  This was not the plan back in November, but once again Mother Nature is in control.

The ice is pretty much gone here in Iowa and it is time to move on to the open water.  It was the shortest ice fishing season ever for me, and I hope next winter is much longer.  My friends and I did have some great trips.  The best; the last one at the Okoboji Lakes.  I get up to the Okoboji area a few times each year, it is by far the best fishing in the state.  Whether you are ice fishing or fishing in a boat, no other place comes close...the only one that is in the conversation would be Pool 9 near Lansing.  The Okoboji trip "saw" many bluegills, crappies and yellow bass to come out of the holes, and many great meals in the future.  I am looking forward to a meal of yellow bass tacos tomorrow night as I write this.  The bluegills are the reason for going ice fishing at Okoboji, they just grow different up there.  An 8-inch bluegill is common and when you are doing things right, you will catch numerous 9-inch bluegills each day you target them.  What makes this even more exciting is that you literally see the fish down the hole when they come up to your lure, it is a rush for sure!  Mix in a few sightings of northern pike and muskie and you are in for a trip you will not forget.  If you have never been there...please...do yourself a favor and get there next winter.

THE GEAR:

I cannot conclude this without a special note about some of the equipment I had this winter.  The Vexilar FLX30 is my everyday flasher, it is hands down the best flasher out there.  However, the Vexilar FLX28 is a must for sight fishing, I love the wide cone angle it has for the early bite warning.  I love starring down a hole all day waiting for fish to bite, but sometimes you need to sit back and relax.  The FLX28 allows you to do this and gives you plenty of warning when a fish is coming in.  The low power feature on this model is key too, bluegills live in the weeds during the winter and the low power filters those weeds out of the screen, again allowing you to detect incoming bluegills.

I was able to get my hands on the new Eskimo E40 auger from the good folks at the Cedar Falls SCHEELS store.  I have used every electric auger on the market, each has its pros and cons.  This auger, so far has no cons.  It was absolutely amazing this winter.  Now, this was not your typical winter and I only saw a foot of ice once this entire winter, most winters these augers shine when there is 18+ inches of ice.  So far this auger is has impressed me and everyone that has used it.  Next winter the real test will come when we get a large amount of ice on the lakes...I hope.

CLAM Tikka Flash

Lastly, a new lure.  CLAM came out with the Tikka Flash this year.  A small horizontal hanging bait with a spinner on it.  I tried this bait back in November on some crappies in the boat, right away I noticed the unique fall of this bait.  It shimmies down the water column and looks great with side to side action with jigged.  It was a great bait this winter for crappies and a few perch.  I did make one upgrade to the smallest size of Tikka Flash.  I took off the small treble and replaced it with a larger one, this helped the hook-up ratio tremendously.  

On to the open water, it was a short ice season but I made the most out of the few weekends we had to get on the ice.  

The Prettiest fish swimming?

The Yellow perch, which can be found in lakes around Iowa and in the Mississippi River, might be the coolest fish swimming in our Iowa waters.  Their bright colors and dark black stripes are unmistakable with any other fish.  These fish do not grow very large, a big perch is considered around 12 inches, and if you catch one over 13 inches, that is nearing "trophy size" in this state.  Currently, the best place to go after a "trophy" is the Mississippi River.  Pools 9, 10, and 11 have good numbers of perch in them.  Other top places to search for perch through the ice are; West Lake Okoboji, Spirit Lake, 12-Mile Lake and Brushy Creek to name a few.  

Perch are fun to chase around, but you better have a lot of energy and several augers with you.  They are a roaming fish and are constantly on the move.  You can sit and wait until a group swims by, or you can move around and hunt them down.  Hunting them down has always yielded more perch for me, and the more holes you have drilled the better.  Using your Vexilar to move from one hole to the next is so important to catching these fish.  Also, a smooth spinning reel is a must.  Those big perch do not like the looks of the bottom of the ice and when they get close they are sure to go on a fun, letting that drag sing.  It is a beautiful sound, but at the same time you hold your breath!  My favorite lure for perch is a spoon.  There are many good ones out there, the CLAM Pinhead is great and the CLAM Rattlin PT Spoon are my two favorites.  They sink fast, have great paint jobs and the hooks are durable.  Another great way to catch perch is using a live minnow with a Tip-Down.  These rigs have been popular on the Mississippi River for decades for all types of fish.  They really work well on days that the perch just do not want a spoon or a jig.  It is worth every penny to pick up a couple, they have saved several days on the ice for me.  

The ice season is coming to a close and if you do not get a chance to get out and chase down some perch this winter, I hope this helps you to catch a few more in the future.  Enjoy your time outdoors and be safe out there.

What's the BEST bait for Winter Crappies?

Crappies can't hide when you are
watching your VEXILAR.

The winter of 2023/2024 has not cooperated well with ice anglers, however I have had the opportunity to go out and catch some crappies on four different bodies of water.  I love chasing crappies throughout the entire year, and one thing I do know is there is NOT a perfect bait.  These fish seem to change their mind on the hour as to what they want to eat.  I have a series of baits that I try each time when targeting crappies.  Here are those offerings:

1- I will usually always start with a jig and large plastic.  I really like the CLAM Dropkick jig, it has a large hook and the larger plastic really fits on them well.  I do not worry much about the style of plastic, just as long as it is larger and appears like a minnow.  My favorite color is the white/pink glow jig with a white plastic.  I can give it a a quick "glow" in the early mornings or later afternoons to entice a few more bites too.  

2- After I have tried the jig and plastic, I have two options to pick from.  If I am only catching smaller fish out of the schools, or pairs of crappies that come in, I will switch to a spoon tipped with spikes.  This will help me ignore the small crappies and help me catch the larger ones.  The second part of this decision is if the jig and plastic is not working at all, then I will switch the plastic out for two or three spikes.  This will catch those leery crappies that do like the larger plastic/jig combo.

3- If those three baits haven't hooked a desirable fish, then it is time to finesse them.  Crappies can be very temperamental and once in a while they want a very small, finesse bait.  I always have a finesse jigging rod ready whenever I am on the water.  My choice is a "Schooley" set up with 1# line, micro jig and a couple of spikes or micro plastic.  A spring bobber helps aid me to see the "up bites"  with these finicky fish.  This set up is the most basic way to fish, but to be honest, it always seems to work.  

Schooley Reel Set-up

ICE FISHING- What's in my Tackle Box?

 What’s in my tackle box?  ICE FISHING EDITION

Ice fishing is in full force right now in Iowa, do you have the baits needed to trick your favorite fish?  There are so many options in the world of ice fishing these days, one can become confused very quickly.  The next time you are in your favorite outdoor store, you will want to make sure you have these top baits while you are on the ice.

Ice fishing jigs are the most popular bait you will see while out on the ice.  These small, micro jigs are specially made for ice fishing.  The smaller profile is a must during winter conditions, your jigs from your summertime bluegill box will not catch you as many fish.  Ice fishing gear is very specialized due to the time of year.  During the winter months the water is very clear, and most fish are feeding on smaller prey than usual.  These two reasons are key to matching those circumstances with small lure presentations.  Ice fishing jigs come in all sizes, but if your tackle box doesn’t have a good selection of 3mm and 4mm jigs in it, you are missing out on a lot of fish.  These sizes seem to be key to tricking panfish during the wintertime.  My favorite bait to tip these jigs with are Eurolarvae.  These small worms (maggots) are great winter bait, you can put a couple on a jig or load it up with several more to see what the fish like on that day.  Larger jigs can be used for walleyes and perch, as they will continue to feed on larger forage throughout the winter.  Tip these larger jigs with a minnow for a deadly combination.  It appears every ice angler has their favorite jig, or their favorite color of jig.  For me, I really like the Clam Dropkick jig.  It is different from most of the tear drop jigs that many companies have, and I really like the rocking motion it has in the water.  In my many years on the ice I have really narrowed down the color of jigs I buy; black, gold, silver, white, red glow, and green glow.  I have found that in almost every situation that one of these colors will work.  Most days, it is the size or jig, action of your jigging or the size of bait you have on your hook, experiment with those things before changing colors.

 

Next up for your tackle box is the spoon section.  I can remember a time when spoons were once limited to the Swedish Pimple.  In today’s world there are dozens and dozens of companies with their own ice fishing spoons.  Spoons are used to target just about every fish that swims under the ice.  The smaller the target species, the smaller the spoon should be.  The larger the target, such as walleye, the larger the spoon should be.  Color, once again, is a personal preference.  However, my color choices are even smaller when it comes to spoons.  Gold, silver and any color that glows can be found in my tackle box.  The glow options work well under low light as well as dirty water, while the gold and silver work anytime of the day.  Spoons can be the vertical type, like a Kastmaster, or Clam Pinhead minnow, which stay pretty much below your hole and hang vertically.  There are horizontal types of baits too.  These baits sit horizontally in the water column, like a minnow swimming.  Some popular types of this style are the Clam Tika Mino and the Rapala Jigging Rap.  Both, horizontal and vertical types of spoon lures work well, having a few of each is nice to experiment with.  Next to these spoons in my tackle box are extra treble hooks.  Many companies use a lesser quality treble hook and will wear out after a few dozen fish.  Make sure and buy some extra hooks to replace them as needed.  Be sure to buy #14 treble hooks, they are perfect for just about any spoon.  Another item that I always have on hand are dropper chains.  These are small chains that replace the treble hook on a spoon.  It “drops” the hook and bait down from the spoon for fish that may be finicky.  These can be single hooks or smaller treble hooks.  I have seen these really shine during the middle of the day.  Fish may have been biting well on spoons, and then they start to shy away.  This is your signal to go to a dropper chain, the fish will love it!  

 

The last thing, and perhaps the most important is an extra spool of line.  I typically use 2-pound monofilament on my panfish spinning reels.  It flows nicely off the spool, and the memory is manageable.  Having an extra spool ready can save your day, or at least make it more enjoyable.  The smaller reels that we use on the ice tend to coil the line and make it brittle.  A quick change of line on your favorite reel is easy and only takes a minute of your time on the ice, it may just save your day. 

 

Ice fishing has many different baits to fill your tackle box.  The best advice is to have a little bit of everything when you hit the ice.  Trying different baits and colors at lakes and rivers is key to allowing you to get confidence on those bodies of water.  Also, my advice for any ice angler is to use spoons more often.  Many times, anglers will have dozens of spoons, but they do not use them much, or maybe only use them for perch or walleyes, this is a big mistake.  If you have found a school of fish, it is time for the spoon rod to come out.  You may not catch as many bluegills or crappies, but the big ones that you catch will make everyone else in your group jealous!  Tie on a few spoons this winter for larger panfish, you won’t be disappointed.  Stay safe out there enjoying the wintertime fishing.

~~~This story appears in The Iowa Sportsman Magazine,

to catch a glimpse of the magazine CLICK HERE~~~