Fish, fish, fish.
For several summers, that’s about all my son and I did.
Mornings and evenings and weekends, we’d be on the water, chasing bass. He’d ask to go walleye fishing. I’d remind him, “We’re bass fishermen,” and go about my business. Certainly, we’d take advantage of seasonal spikes in activity. Then, youth sports started in earnest.
Make time to get youth into the outdoors this year Read More »
There’s really nothing like the terror associated with falling through the ice and into dangerously cold water.
Anyone who’s survived the scenario can recall it in vivid detail even years later. Some of them move beyond their fears and head for the frozen water again, while others want nothing to do with the possibility.
Interested in float coats and suits for ice fishing? Here’s what to consider Read More »
You could point to a host of technological advances that in recent decades have redefined the sport of ice fishing. New batteries let you power electronics all day long, and probably longer.
The electronics themselves – think forward-facing sonar-type gear – need no further explanation. Then there’s fish houses that double as luxury campers, warm-weather gear that lets you beat the elements no matter what they are, and augers that can Swiss-cheese the ice in no time at all. So, it probably comes as no surprise that ice fishing lines have followed the advancement trend of not only other ice fishing gear, but their open-water brethren, too.
Ice-line technology: How’s it different from open-water lines? Read More »
It wasn’t all that long ago when ice fishing, equipment-wise anyway, was a simple sport. Pack some gear in a sled, fill the auger with gas and oil, trudge onto the ice, and start cutting a bunch of holes. Some would produce fish, most wouldn’t.
As with almost everything now, those days are no more.
From gel cells to lithium batteries, keep your modern ice electronics working Read More »
Northern pike go by all sorts of derisive nicknames, and their emergence from the summertime depths can draw reactions like a child with high hopes for that last Christmas gift, only to tear open a bag of socks.
“Ugh, it’s another northern.”
And yet, as summer becomes autumn, the water cools, and – for some of us – our mindsets turn more toward stocking the freezer and shelves as winter approaches.
There’s simply nothing like targeting northern pike in the fall, harvesting the right-sized ones, and preparing them in the pickling jar.
The joy of catching fall pike and preparing them for the pickling jar Read More »
A handful of years back, Tim Olson brought his daughters to Youth Outdoor Activity Day in Alexandria, Minn., thinking it would be a fun way to pass a little time at the end of summer.
It’s funny what a family outing might become. That day served as the catalyst for Olson’s involvement with the Viking Sportsmen club (he’s the current president), which, along with Douglas County Pheasants Forever, hosts the free event that draws more than 2,400 youth participants each year. And it crystallized that you don’t need to blaze trails all over creation to say you went on summer “vacation.”
Sportsmen’s clubs remain the ‘backbone of local conservation’ throughout Minnesota Read More »
At some point, I suppose many people look back on their childhood and think, I didn’t know it at the time, but I had it pretty good.
That certainly was the case for me, in many ways, but I’m also pretty sure I knew it at the time. We didn’t live in the country, per se, but the bike ride into town was a couple of miles or so, and it was essentially a straight shot from our house to the corner market that sold the selection of candy you dreamed about. I was a fool for fishing, too, and if you disobeyed your parents just enough to hook a right at the corner store and pedal another quarter mile or so down the street, you’d wind up at a bait shop.
That Detroit Lakes, Minn., pro bass angler Bob Downey is still in the running to make the Bassmaster Classic – the pinnacle of professional bass fishing, which will be held early next year – is a bit surprising, even to him. Classic qualification is based largely on points earned throughout the season’s nine Elite Series events, and Downey missed an entire event following the birth of his son.
It doesn’t matter in the big picture of life, of course, but it puts him behind the proverbial 8-ball in terms of his tournament career. And yet, heading into the so-called “northern swing” of the Elite Series early next month, Downey is in 48th place among the 103 anglers.
Bassmaster Elite Series check-in: Where do the Minnesotans stand? Read More »
The night before a fishing tournament a couple of summers ago, my son Jack and I sat in our boat, rigging rods and talking about the next day. I’ve long loved fishing bass tournaments, but this would be his first.
I’m also a lover of lures and tackle, and our boat includes many of the fishing industry’s latest and greatest. For me, though, experience often produces sentimentality. Jack lacks the same experience, so his strongest ties are to more “modern” concepts – vibrating jigs, buzzbaits with plastic trailers rather than rubber skirts, and soft-plastic baits in varieties too numerous to count.
Don’t forget about traditional bass baits this summer Read More »
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