1. MI: Six rescued from Saginaw Bay (video).
Glad everyone was okay. They were fishing and saw the bottom moving under 'em. #NoThanks
2. MN: Pike wins Gull Lake extravaganza.
Les Laidlaw won a new truck for catching the biggest fish -- a 5.54-lb northern -- out of 10,000-ish other anglers at the world's largest charity ice derby. Said he caught it on a live minnow on a treble hook 10' off bottom in 60':
> "I marked a suspended fish, so I raised the bait about two arm-lengths. When the fish hit, it took the rig straight to the bottom. I waited a few minutes for it to move again, but when it didn't swim away, I set the hook.
> "The fish just came straight up...I didn't know I had a big fish on until I saw his head in the hole. I reached in and grabbed him, and that's when I hooked my hand."
Willing to bet we'd all take a treble or 12 to the hand for a new pickup. Couldn't find a pic of Mr. Laidlaw, but with a name/story like that...we can only imagine:
3. MN: Year of the burbot on LOW.
Some of the biggest burbot we've seen anywhere have been coming out of
Lake of the Woods this ice season. The lake may be best known for its walleye/sauger fishing, but the new sheriff in town has got a single whisker under her chin:
Here's Joe Henry from way up der in Baudette talking 'bout the rise of da burbot:
The type of structure on LOW is a bit different than other burbot lakes in the Midwest, but how/what you fish 'em on is much the same. Gitcha a few pointers in this
TargetWalleye.com post on ice fishing for burbot.
4. MN: How walleyes first got into Tonka.
James Wyer has been credited with introducing the great North American walleye into Lake Minnetonka, where it wasn't originally a native fish:
> "...Each year he would bring thousands of bass and walleye from the League's breeding pond and stock Lake Minnetonka."
It's frowned upon to be a bucket biologist nowadays...good thing the
Westonka Walleye Program and
Kraus Anderson have got Tonka's back now.
5. New Storm 360GT Searchbait.
Al Lindner always gets to try the good stuff before the rest of us have ever heard of it -- here's what he had to say after using this new bait last season:
> "This is truly a 'Go To' bait...the closest thing that I could think of to what you'd call a universal bait. Fish love it."
Love that it has a built-in rattle in the jighead. FishUSA has
all 11 colors in stock right here, but we're digging the 'houdini' color:
6. Big-boy approved pop-up shelter.
Kyle Agre has gotta be pushin' the 7-ft mark...if he can comfortably stand in the
Eskimo QuickFish 5i pop-up, you'll for sure have no problem:
7. Tips on border crossing without issues...
...to get after greenbacks. Some solid info for us 'Mericans planning a trip there.
8. Ever seen an ice fishing rod like this??
Called the "Total Touch" rod system from HT Enterprises. Haven't had the chance to try one on the ice, but does look pretty slick:
Giveaway winners!
Kris Bain won the
last Rapala giveaway. We are for sure sending some goodies to the runner-ups too.... Thanks for everyone that entered! If you missed it, you can
click here to see dang near 1,000 pics of fish caught on Rapala baits, a lot of them PBs (personal bests).