by Jeff Wallace First ice is an exciting time of year for me here in the north woods. It is a new start to a new realm of fishing and simple put, it’s some of the most fun fishing you will experience all year. I start my ice fishing season off every year about the… Continue Reading
Analysis of a Musky Hunt
by Steve Heiting I set down my rod, took a pop from my boat’s cooler, and plunked my butt on the gunnel to assess the situation. My videographer, Rick Mai, grabbed a bottle of water and set down the camera for a well-deserved break. Already Rick had filmed my battles with two nice fish and… Continue Reading
Magic Moments
by Steve Heiting This 25-pounder by Steve Heiting was the largest musky caught during the evening described at the beginning of this article. I hate to admit it, but I almost “outsmarted” myself from a tremendous evening of musky fishing last season. Fortunately, it was the confidence gained from too many previous positive outings that… Continue Reading
MUSKIES: An Early Season Formula For Success
by Steve Heiting Though it’s generally not considered a big fish time, Steve Heiting has caught muskies measuring as large as this 48-incher in the early season. Eight muskies in a day, a couple of times. Certainly several sevens. And lots of 6- and 5-fish days. A check of my fishing records for the past… Continue Reading
Pieces Of The Big Muskie Puzzle
by Steve Heiting Steve Heiting caught this 51-incher during a last quarter moon period. Steve’s catch records indicate that the last quarter moon is nearly as good as the full moon period. September 10, 1998, will forever stand out in my memory as well as my musky catch records. I hope to experience another day… Continue Reading
Go With The Glow
by Steve Heiting If there’s one thing I don’t like, it’s being outfished. My ego isn’t big enough that I have to outfish others, but it dictates that my effort must at least be respectable. And the results from my boat were anything but that. Do glow-in-the-dark Mr. Twister tails work on bucktails? Steve Heiting… Continue Reading
A Foundation for Success: The Concept of Garages
by Steve Heiting This 50-incher caught by Steve Heiting ate a Dancin’Raider after it had been cast into the fish’s “garage” haunt. Fifty-two inches is a lot of musky, and by the time the last bit of its tail paddled off into the gloom, my boat had drifted to the structure from which the fish… Continue Reading
Become A Crank Bait “Wizard”
by H.C. “Howie” Meyer Want to raise your your musky catching skills to the next level? Then become a crank bait “wizard”. Musky pros like Joe Bucher, who wrote the book on these versatile baits will tell you that with a little imagination these seemingly straight-forward baits can literally create magic in the water. To understand… Continue Reading
Plastics for Bass
Mike Mladenik With the exception of live bait plastics will put more bass in the boat than all other presentations combined. Most plastics are easy to rig and even novice anglers are able to catch fish after learning a few basic techniques. Over the years while guiding for both smallmouth and largemouth bass plastics have… Continue Reading
Pre-Spawn River Smallmouth
Mike Mladenik People will often ask me when the best time on the calendar to catch big pre-spawn smallmouth is. My answer is from ice out through the first six weeks of the season. While that may not be the answer they want to hear, it is impossible to put a… Continue Reading