Journal of a Minnesota Angler

On Easter Sunday, I got a call from Mark wanting to go fishing. My wife had wanted me to do some things around the house, but she (like I) was a bit exhausted from a couple of late nights. So since she wanted to lay down for a while, I got the go ahead to go. In March and April in Minnesota, the only species of fish you can “target” is panfish. Hard core anglers get out their light tackle and typically go after crappie. This was what we were after that afternoon. Mark let me use his... (more...)

Mark, Rob, and I decided to try Bluegill Bill‘s lake to see if we could catch some of the slab panfish that has been reported to be in that lake. In our three hours out there, we managed less than 10 fish total. I caught two crappie, Mark caught somewhere around 6, and Rob got none. We tried everything. Euro larva, small minnows, large minnows, hooking through the mouth, hooking through the back, you name it, we pretty much tried it. It was a lot of work for the few fish we got. And not... (more...)

In my last ice fishing report, I talked about a technique Mark used to catch more than 20 crappie in less than 2 hours. As promised, I am going to describe his technique now after delaying my initial commitment due to a special post. I thought about titling this post “Ice Fishing 101,” but this technique is really beyond the basics into more intermediate skills. It’s more of an upper-classman lesson than one for a freshman. It uses a fish finder known as a flasher because of... (more...)

A few weeks ago, I dubbed my brother the Master of Ice Crappie because he had caught 13 crappie in just a few hours of ice fishing. That was an impressive feat considering the conditions. We essentially drilled some random holes near some other ice fishermen and he jigged his way to success with no electronics. We were essentially blind to what was below us, but he was still able to catch all those fish. However, having a Vexilar (fish finder) and knowing how to read it and use it effectively... (more...)

I had opportunity to participate in an Ice Fishing Get-together sponsored by a local bar on Saturday. It wasn’t called a tournament because of the legalities of such a moniker, but it had all the makings of one: an entry fee, prizes for the biggest and smallest fish, and a raffle. The Get-together started at 10am, but I was late due to being a chauffeur to little boy to a play date. I didn’t get on the ice and start fishing until just before 11. I found out about this event through... (more...)

I was finally able to do some ice fishing last Friday afternoon with my brother, Vince, and a friend of his. Vince was in town to surprise my dad for his milestone birthday. Vince and I spent some time with family (my aunt flew in for the surprise as well) in the morning and met up with his friend later in the afternoon. The three of us didn’t get on the lake until 4pm. When we got to the lake, we found several makeshift ice fishing towns. We picked the one with the most houses and set... (more...)

Species: Largemouth bass Size: 16″ Lure used: minnow with hot pink jighead set under slip bobber Date: 4/23/2010 Time: 7:45am – 1:00pm Body of water: Lake near Finlayson, MN Location: Finlayson, MN Weather Conditions: overcast         Last weekend, when I went fishing with Mark, he mentioned that he was taking today off. After watching the weather during the week, I decided I needed a break from work, so I took the day off as well. After some discussion,... (more...)

Species: Crappie Size: 10″ Lure used: minnow with hot pink jighead set at 6 1/2 feet below slip bobber Species: Largemouth bass Size: 10″, 10″, 7″, 10″ Lure used: minnow with hot pink jighead set at 6 1/2 feet below slip bobber Date: 4/18/2010 Time: 2:30 – 5:30pm Body of water: Local metro lake Location: Twin Cities, North suburbs Weather Conditions: sunny I was working in my garage on one of my projects leftover from last week, my back to the street, when I heard,... (more...)

With high temps firmly in the 40s degrees F since last Tuesday and my 2009 fishing license expired as of March 1, my inaugural season of ice fishing seems to have come to a end. Here’s a summary of the cold weather fun: Days fished: 7 Fish caught: 8 (1 perch, 7 crappie) Dec 19: First ice fishing outing Ice 6″ thick First ice fish (perch) Jan 24: First time driving on ice Ice 20″ thick Four of us landed 38 Crappie So other than the day Crappie were nearly jumping out of the holes,... (more...)

Steve, Mark, and I went out to Lake Owasso this afternoon. The air temp wasn’t terribly cold, but it was window. And it started snowing by the time we packed it in. The fish didn’t like the weather either. We were out from about 2:30 to 5:30 with 9 holes in 3 different shelters and and we only caught two Crappie. One was about 6″ and reeled in by Steve’s 5 year-old daughter, so it was very exciting for her to catch her very first fish. Steve reeled in the other at about... (more...)