When ice fishing for crappies, it seems that sometimes there are a lot of things that are needed to complete a catch. Increasing your odds is the name of the game and having an arsenal of techniques is how you win. Deadsticking is just one of the many techniques that can increase your catch on…
By: Matt Johnson Plastics are known to be a proven fish catching tool in open water, but what about under the ice? Do plastics only have a place out in the boat or by the dock? Ask most modern ice anglers and you’ll hear another story… Plastics come in all shapes and sizes. They come…
Northern pike are known for their aggressive-nature and dominance over prey. Pike are also a very hard-fighting fish that like to rip drag and max out the action of a rod. The explosiveness of hooking a pike in open water can indeed have similar effects under the ice. Pike will still spend most of their…
By: Matt Johnson You bring up a very good point and it is something that can be applied to all species some way or another. When attracting a fish to the area it will often take some aggressive techniques added with some flash and vibration, especially when fishing a large body of water over a…
By: Matt Johnson Ice fishing is an art. Ice fishing is a passion. Ice fishing is what drives people out onto the frozen tundra day after day in search of a scaly critter. Ice fishing is very much a part of me, and if you’re reading this, then I assume that ice fishing is very…
By: Matt Johnson Ice fishing is right around the corner, and I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’ve been tinkering with my ice gear all summer waiting for the day when ice forms once again. Now as we near the long awaited arrival of that first sheet of ice, it’s time to…
By: Matt Johnson LaDredge Outdoors is no newcomer to the fishing world. For two years they have led the attack on artificial underwater structure. LaDredge Outdoors offers a wide-variety of products available to the ice angler. But, these products are not only something anglers have grown to like and use on a regular basis… the…
By: Matt Johnson We’re starting to embark on the time of year where fish tend to meander more frequently. Staying on top of the fish can be very difficult at times and it seems as if we’re only catching one or two fish out of a hole before the school moves on. If this appears…
By: Matt Johnson When one thinks about ice fishing, they typically picture walleyes, crappies, sunfish, perch, pike, maybe even a lake trout or eelpout, but not many people think of catfish. Even the mere idea of catching a catfish under the ice results in scowls—sometimes even laughter. But for those of you who venture out…
By: Matt Johnson There are a lot of tools out there that can increase an ice angler’s productivity, but one has to rank the spring bobber high on their list of priorities. If you seek out panfish—and by panfish I mean bull bluegills, slab crappies, and jumbo perch—then the addition of a spring bobber can…
