Jeremy Smith, Author at Outdoor News

Jeremy Smith: September can be a time to score big on muskies

Featured, Features, Fishing, Home Page News, Minnesota, National Fishing / Jeremy Smith

Muskies are a challenge – arguably the hardest fish to catch in freshwater. You can spend hours or even days with nothing to show for your effort and then, suddenly it happens. The challenges of catching them are both physical and mental. And that’s what makes catching one so rewarding.
The month of September is a time of transition from summer to fall, and it can be an outstanding time to score big.

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From bass to panfish, topwater lures dominate in June

Featured, Features, Fishing, Fishing, Fishing, Fishing, Fishing, Home Page News, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, National Fishing, Ohio, Wisconsin / Jeremy Smith

Summer is here, and with it comes a sense of consistency in fishing.
The unpredictability of spring is fading as weather patterns become more stable. Anglers typically welcome the month of June with open arms, because some of the best fishing of the year happens now, particularly for species such as largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, and bluegills.

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Pre-spawn crappies: When you find them, you’ll reap serious rewards

Featured, Features, Fishing, Fishing, Fishing, Fishing, Fishing, Fishing, Fishing, Fishing, Fishing, Home Page News, Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, National Fishing, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin / Jeremy Smith

For many anglers, the spring period means one thing – crappies, particularly shallow water slabs. In Minnesota, with most game fish seasons closed, anglers focus their efforts on chasing crappies, especially as they move to the shallows to spawn.
While the popular opinion certainly leans toward the spawning timeframe, I personally prefer the pre-spawn period.

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Commentary: An updated muskie-management plan in Minnesota is overdue

Featured, Fishing, Home Page News, Minnesota, National Fishing, Opinion / Jeremy Smith

Minnesota was once the greatest muskie-fishing destination on the planet. That fact created a generation of new muskie anglers, built Minnesota businesses, and attracted nonresident anglers from around the world to the state.
But Minnesota muskie anglers now believe the number of muskies and the quality of the muskie-fishing experience has been declining for more than a decade. The DNR largely has ignored Minnesota’s muskie fishery in recent years. In fact, the DNR has failed to produce a long-range muskie-management plan that was due to you, state license holders, in 2020.

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Jeremy Smith: Use tools at your disposal to locate ‘in-between’ panfish this ice-fishing season

Featured, Featured, Features, Fishing, Fishing, Fishing, Fishing, Home Page News, Michigan, Minnesota, National Fishing, Ohio, Wisconsin / Jeremy Smith

Winter is here – officially, per the calendar, anyway.
It’s certainly been an interesting early season across much of the Midwest. Unseasonably warm weather patterns have resulted in limited ice-fishing options across much of the Ice Belt. Now that things are starting to shape up, anglers are venturing out in search of fish. The primary targets for most are panfish.

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Early-season trolling: a recipe for angling success

Featured, Featured, Features, Fishing, Fishing, Fishing, Fishing, Fishing, Fishing, Fishing, Fishing, Fishing, Home Page News, Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, National Fishing, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin / Jeremy Smith

During the month of June, most anglers focus their efforts on the shallower portions of lakes. They spend their days casting for fish in and around rejuvenated weed growth. There’s some real merit to that because so many different species are in shallow water at this point.
That said, anglers who completely ignore the deep, open-water areas of a water body are making a mistake. The early parts of summer offer some great trolling opportunities for plus-sized predators such as walleyes, muskies, and pike.

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A case study on Minnesota crappies looks at barotrauma in the popular fish among ice anglers

Featured, Features, Fishing, Fishing, Home Page News, Minnesota, National Fishing, Wisconsin / Jeremy Smith

Fish were left overnight in a hoop net and re-inspected the next day. During re-inspection, it was found that a large percentage of the fish were either dead or not dead but not releasable. A small percentage appeared to be in good condition and could be released.
Data from this study are purely anecdotal at this point. But the observations from this work will guide future, more formal research.

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