some new ice fishing gear

Christmas was good to me and I found myself with a few extra bucks to spend. The final decision was made on my first ice fishing flasher. I was looking at the 3 entry level units from Vexilar, Hummingbird, and Marcum. After much thought and seeing it action I opted for the Hummingbird Ice35 unit which was purchased yesterday from Cabelas. I normally don’t find myself shopping there due to the distance...

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Happy Holidays

As the 2010 fishing season reaches its final few days Neal and I wanted to take the opportunity to say thanks for a great first year. As we move into the new year we have been doing some planning. We have some exciting trips scheduled, new videos in the works, and some interesting product reviews on the way. In the last few weeks we have setup a Facebook fan page and are hoping that our return...

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pistakee bay and petite lake double header

Thursday morning was our holiday office party and me and Neal had the rest of the day free to prospect for panfish! Even though very little work got done, those 6 hours seemed to crawl. After minimal work, holidays gifts, and an expansive buffet we burned rubber back north towards the Fox Chain of Lakes. There was plans to meet Damien out on Pistakee Bay fishing until dark and switching over to Petite...

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skunked in waukesha county

A lot of planning is involved in taking a 4 year old ice fishing. Making sure they are properly dressed for the elements is the number one priority. Lucas (my 4 year old son) and I were meeting up with Neal to fish a small Waukesha County lake that we had not visited since early September. This is smaller lake with some good depth and some clean water. Like most smaller lakes the structure (as far...

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early ice pond fishing (kenosha county, wi)

Made it out yesterday with Neal, Randell, and Luke. This was early ice and the pond was anywhere from 3 inches all the way down to 1.5. Some spots were looking real sloppy and wet so we avoided those. We all set out tip-ups and fished a panfish rod. Fishing was good early and slowed around mid day. Waxies and spikes seemed to do the trick. Fished plastics for almost 30 minutes before dropping a waxie back down the hole, hooked up instantly. Deadsticking helped detect bites from small fish...

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early ice pond bass (kenosha county, wi)

Neal sent me a photo from his brothers that he received yesterday while we were at work. Here’s a shot of an early ice pond bass taken from Kenosha County, Wi. Neal’s brothers are out fishing while we are working but that’s ok cause us weekend warriors have some big plans for Saturday. I hope everyone is ready for ice season… Stay tuned to see how we make out! early ice pond bass - is he smoki...

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early winter action on the root river (racine, wi)

There are still some fish in the Root River. A trio of fisherman set out last Sunday looking for some last minute fish in the rivers before our local lakes freeze over. Moderate flows and clear water was what they found on the Root. The temperatures outside would freeze your boots the second they exited the water. To be able to last for any length of time out there, its sound advice to keep your...

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From Feather To Fish

GL Deceiver - Perch From Feather to Fish Just came across a new local Chicago based blog focused on fly fishing and fly tying. Nick over at “From Feather to Fish” is just getting his feet planted in the blogger world and I wanted to show him some Chi-town love. He seems to be a very skilled when it comes to fly tying and can’t wait to see what else he has to offer as his blog starts to take shape....

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tough fishing on the root (racine, wi)

I made a solo trip Saturday to the Root River in Racine, Wisconsin looking for some fresh steelhead. The rain from last week showed a tremendous impact in the flows. The Root River was flowing higher and faster then it had been in the last month. It’s sad when 50CFS is considered to be high flows but either way I was extremely optimistic to be fishing moving water. I felt that the mid week rain could...

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forget about the cohos, steelies, and the browns lets have turkey

Happy Thanksgiving to all and just in case you find yourself looking for something to do, check out these couple items to pass some time. Fishing Headquarters newly released quarterly magazine, 1st issue ever!!! http://www.fishing-headquarters.com/magazine/fall2010.html Todd over at Addicted to Angling just yesterday put up a great video on local ice fishing for steelhead!!! http://needtofishmo...

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late fall coho on the oak creek (south milwaukee, wi)

I made it out this weekend with Neal targeting coho on the fly rod. The coho run is quickly coming to an end in Wisconsin. The fish that were left in the river this weekend were sluggish and tired. Some fish had even started the transformation from silver rockets of pure muscle to the moldy and crusty zombie fish. These are the types of fish we are all scared to grab, God forbid a tail falls off in...

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saturday fly fishing coho (milwaukee county, wi)

Saturday I went out again with Damien. We hit the tribs for some late fall cohos. This has been a dry fall and some adjustments had to be made when it came to fishing. Here is a few tips I put together for my experiences this year adapting to no rain and low flows. Sometimes even when you think the conditions aren’t good, you just need to get out there and fish (often times you will be rewarded)....

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fly fishing coho on the pike river (racine, wi)

I fished mid-day on Saturday the 13th after doing some chores around the house in the morning. I didn’t spend too much time out there but was able to hook up on this nice chrome hen. Coho seem to be in all the major tribs right now and are very willing to take a well placed fly on the move. this coho fell for a grey wooly bugger pike river coho ...

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late fall coho on the oak creek (south milwaukee, wi)

I had made plans to fish on Saturday with Neal and our new fishing buddy Damien. We made plans to head up to Oak Creek for a morning chasing coho. The flow were almost nothing but Damien was sure there were still some fish holding in the deeper pools. Friday was my daughters birthday and we went out for dinner with some family and friends after work. After the kids went to bed I had time enough...

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southeast wisconsin trib fishing video

Here's a clip from a recent fishing trip. This can also be found under the new video tab at the top. This video was shot on my cell phone. ...

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root and pike river fly fishing salmon (racine county, wi)

Every week during work me and Neal will spend 10 minutes a day talking. We both work for the same company even though we are in separate buildings. We get together on the phone to talk about previous fishing trips, discuss current conditions, or to strategize our upcoming weekend outing. This week was no different as we made plans for early Saturday morning to hit the local tributaries for whatever...

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fly fishing salmon (southeast, wi)

The salmon run in southeast Wisconsin, is it coming to an end or has it only just begun? Being only my 3rd year fishing the tribs I haven’t quite put all the pieces of the puzzle together yet to make that call. I will tell you that timing is one of the critical variables in catching lake run salmon. Without timing throw location, presentation, and luck out the window. When I say timing I’m speaking...

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salmon fishing the sheboygan river (sheboygan, wi)

I spent the entire weekend fishing the Sheboygan River for lake-run salmon. This was a rare event being able to be out for the entire weekend on account of the wife and kids visiting cousins in Kentucky. I made sure I capitalized on every second.  the sheboygan river sheboygan falls dam It’s been a crazy year for tributary fishing. The lack of rain has lead to reduced flows up and down...

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fly fishing salmon on the pike river (racine,wi)

low flow on the pike river We spent the day moving into a new home that's right against the golf course. Even though we were moving boxes and furniture I still found the time to make it down to check out the river. With almost no flow we were surprised to see fish barreling up the river with their whole bodies out of the water. I couldn't help myself and had to take a couple minute break... Back...

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multi-species fishing (fox chain, il)

fox lake in the fall  Today me and Neal fished the Chain of Lakes on a favorite point on Fox Lake. The wind was constantly blowing hard and the temperature never made it above 50 degrees the entire time we fished. We were fishing bottom rigs with a combination of corn, worms, and minnows for bait. Click on the photo to see our set-up. make sure the swivel is big enough to not slip through We...

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salmon fishing (milwaukee harbor, wi)

So to say the least, this year hasn’t been the greatest start to the salmon run (mostly due to the lack of rain). I also contribute this to the apparent fact that I’m a terrible harbor fisherman and have had some terrible luck on delivering the fish when I have hooked up in a harbor. Others that I have met do a tremendous job plucking fish off inside the harbor walls before they hit the rivers. Tom...

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vulcan lakes preview (mchenry county, il)

Ever since I’ve been able to drive and started to travel to different locations I’ve heard the rumors of a private gravel pit that held fish of monstrous proportions. Bass and walleye past the 5 pound range, and pike the size of children always kept me wondering if it was worth the risk of sneaking in? This place has long been a no trespassing area and it was strictly enforced by local police. The...

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