better days ahead

Fishing on Sunday afternoon was cold, wet, and foggy as all get out. Lord knows if instinct didn't take over, I certainly would have gotten lost on the way to a river I have fished countless times.  Conditions then were on the rise, and now they are more comparable to flood stages. When we first started fishing the flows were moving at a slow and steady pace but at the end of the...

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ending my ice season

As the ice fishing season here begins to give way to warmer times, I finished my season in much the same fashion as it began. No, I'm not talking about anything outrageous. I didn't ice any monsters but the crappie bite this year was at least consistent. Trying to target the crappies a bit harder then say bluegill has made it a very enjoyable season. Me and Damien set out at a down right reasonable...

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fox chain of lakes area ice fishing report

Given the bluebird skies and late winter ice, I thought that conditions weren't the best and we were prepared for sluggish fish. Within the first set of holes we drilled we found that the bite was anything but lethargic. These guys were spunky enough that they were hammering spoons dangled 4 feet above their heads. Not a bad start and we had a few gills and a crappie on the ice before even setting...

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bass fishing with poppers

This year I have been truly blessed in the regards of getting some pretty wicked flies from other bloggers all across the country. Commenting on a few other blog posts has afforded me a few contest winnings and and few offers to send me a couple just to try out. Graciously, Kevin from "Fly Waters Edge" sent me a few foam creations to play around with come warmer days. a stellar example of some...

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channel lake ice fishing report - fox chain

My last ice trip has left me with a few questions. Sure, conditions weren't optimal. A bright blue sky at high noon on the second day of a serious cold front usually foreshadows a tough day. But, despite the cards dealt, I caught fish, and numbers of fish for that matter. channel lake - shanty town Where the quandary comes into play is in relation to the size of these fish and where...

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the complete angler

Thanks CoolWaterFish for sharing one of the absolute best fishing documentaries I've ever seen on YouTube. I don't normally share too many videos from others but this is a cut above the rest. It's forty-five minutes and I've already watched it twice this week and the second time through I found so much more I missed. I can hardly wait to watch this again. Anyone else have a great fishing video on YouTube they like, please share it in the commen...

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daddy daughter ice adventures

warm and ready to go No fish I have ever caught can compare to the feeling of watching my children catch fish. At the ripe old age of four my daughter has taken quite well to the fascination of fish under the ice. This was the first year that we allowed her to come out and for being so young her attention span was remarkable. We spent two hours together fishing and every bluegill caught was as...

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night bite papermouths

sunset on Lake County ice The photo above was take with my i-phone using the Photosynth app. It takes multiple photos as you manually pan the phone in a certain direction and stitches them all together. I really like the results even though there is a few areas I can pinpoint distortions. Check out the app, its free. night bite crappies Lake county style I had a terrible time catching anything...

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sidelined

It has been an uneventful couple weeks on the fishing front unless you take into account the dozen or so flies I've tied up. Two weekends ago we experienced some freak weather reaching nearly 50 degrees with some pretty consistent rain. My better judgement kept me off the ice that weekend. Last weekend I attended our annual sales training meeting for work. Even though the temps have...

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double bunny streamer

double bunny streamer  hook- streamer style to match target species thread- any, I like the hot spot red makes on these colors head- cone body- two strips magnum cut rabbit strip, a few added pieces of flash added to the top A versatile fly made from the joining of two separate strips of magnum cut rabbit. What I am liking most of all is the infinite color and size combinations,...

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ice fishing report for the fox chain of lakes

The ice depth on our southern lakes are quickly approaching five inches. Snowmobiles and atv's are out in full force right now so foot travel in most places is relatively safe. Taking advantage of some of the firmer ice we made a long trek on a hunch to an area we believed might be an off the beaten path wintering hole. footsteps on the fox chain of lakes It didn't take long to realize that...

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ice fishing pistakee lake

A short report from new years day. We fished Pistakee Bay working our way from the south end up. It actually worked out well catching bluegill in the shallows progressively working are way to deeper water for crappies as it got later. In the shallows it took many holes to get on a single fish but once I found that first good hole, it was really good. Some of the best bluegills so far this winter...

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big things come in small packages

“Currents” has long been one of my favorite fishing blogs. It’s somewhat local, yet far enough to feel unfamiliar. But, it focuses on those things that I love most about fishing; trout, smallies, fly fishing, the driftless, and tying. I've been following along post by post for almost a year now. Recently, I had made a comment on one of the fly patterns on their site called the “dirty mop”,...

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