Tip of the Week 12.11.19

Inline reels have a reel (pun intended) purpose that helps you catch fish

The number one reason you use these reels on the ice is to stop line twist and minimize your lure from spinning in the water.

I would bet you have seen these inline reels over the last several years as a product offering of several manufactures.
A little side story of the ones I have pictured on the right.  These reels of mine predate any inline reel that was sold commercially here in ice country.
I got these from when I owned Limit Creek Rods as I was going to develop these ice reels as a product offering. These two I use are a bit quirky as the reels have no neck or no stem and are flush up against the rod handle.  This flush up against the handle was because these two reels are prototypes that the manufacturer sent me to field test.
A month after I sent drawings back for the handle to have a stem of three inches to the reel mount. I got an email back saying I couldn't order. See I was small potatoes and another large US company made a quantity deal of exclusivity and my manufacturer went with them.  Its all fine as I didn't have the cash flow to float the order anyway.  Then late in the ice season I think it was "13" who came out with this product.
So there is a little story for ya. I could've been a contender!
Back to the tip
If you employ a spinning reel like most everyone and have ever used a underwater camera and watched your ice jig underwater, odds are it will spin almost eternally after you let it down to the bottom. 
Well the trouble is this, the sunfish will back away until the lure stops spinning. Line twist is a real turn off for fish. Inline reels stop most, not all line twist.
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Tip of the Week 11.26.19

I have used Limit Creek Rods on my guide trips for over fifteen years!

Strong. Light.and Dependable!  Those three adjectives are cool but what Limit Creek doesn't say and I will is affordable!

My clients and I have landed so many large and heavy cats on the walleye rods that it isn't funny!

ALL the spinning rods are killer.  The 6'6" is THE best all around rod you can find.

The 8'3" is an experts choice for casting, slip bobbers, and dragging jigs for eyes.

 3 year warranty.  IF IT doesn't break in three years its NOT defective. A warranty is for defects. These rods hold up on guide trips!!

Tip of the Week 10.06.19

Flow means force. Use premium line.

Sufix Elite and Seige are what I use. 

I am showing the line I like to use and it needs to be strong as I never know when a client will have 10 pound channel cat on. It is far greater to me and them, to catch the fish than loose one to a snapped line.
This doesn't mean I use heavy line just good strong line. I use 6 pound Sufix Elite clear .  I also like their camo pattern. Not sure the fish care but it looks cool to me. :)

​I bring this tip up now because if you get a good one on in the high river flow its a battle and you need the back up.  

I don't want this to be a Sufix commercial, but this image shows the winding on the spool that is tops I've found - they call it "precision winding".  No line twist on your reel because the factory wound it wrong.

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Tip of the Week 09.24.19

Use the right hook for plastics H2O Precision Jigs

​Use this:

The coldwater season is when plastics shine! 

​Make sure you use the right hook.  The wire plastic keeper keeps the plastic on the hook far better than a molded on collar. 

The H2O Precision Jig to the left, by B Fish N is the prefect example of the right jig hook for plastics.

Not that!

Endless slippage when the walleye bite light.  Then the plastic slips and the plastic worm prevents the hook point to bite well upon hook set.

Sturgeon bite light

A longtime ago before the internet and certainly before you tube fishing videos, I learned to sturgeon fish from a fisherman named Bob Hill.  I liked Bob he was a interesting guy, Bob had a flat bottom boat, a single outboard motor ( a tiller),  and he anchored his boat with about 150' a rope.  I'd troll by with an original  floating minnow presented just above the bottom brought down deep there on a three way rig.  He'd yell with a cigarette in his yap " I got a lot of rope out!"  I would nod  my head and troll around it.  He sat and sturgeon fished all day long.  It's what he loved to do.  For hours he'd sit on the famous sturgeon spots and let the river go by.  He would adjust that anchor rope all day long, it was never exactly right he loved to fuss and fidget with it ( I am the same way).

Every now and them a big cruiser would go by and throw a goliath wake and Bob would gesture with a single hand at the large white boat.
One thing Bob told me was "sturgeon bite really light." 
So if you decide to fish for sturgeon don't expect a huge slam they just pick it up lightly and do kind of a tap tap tap. So that's the bite your looking for. If you get those bites you're in the right spot!

​Tip of the Week 08.26.19

​Mono or Braid? What to use? Part II

Last week the tip was geared toward why monofilament is a better line choice than super line when using a Lindy rig presentation.  When fish are finding your bait, I completely believe that they are aware that something is not exactly right and they recognize the bait has a hook in it and the hook is attached to the line.  They are right its not natural what they consume doesn't appear this way.

So with that assumption and a more than fair assumption says I,  that the fish knows its not a completely natural thing what they are seeing, that, there are times when the fish picks up your bait and they can feel you because the fishing pole is too stiff or the line has no stretch.  Then they drop the bait because they are on alert anyway!  This is when you  want a soft pole and stretchy line (monofilament stretches).

​Now comes the complete opposite scenario when you want braid or superline.  You want braid when your are employing a fishing presentation that will require instantaneous hook sets upon fish or bite detection. 

You also want braid when using larger hooks as a larger hook has more surface area to create friction and is harder to drive into a fishes mouth.

Trolling lures is the second application you need to use braid.  The very first product I used over 20 years ago was called spiderline. It had no stretch and back then all I ever did was troll #5 shad raps on a long line.  The issue with this long line trolling with mono (remember braid was newly introduced about 20 years ago! it hasn't been around forever young man.. :) ) I would troll and have no idea if my crank was grassed up.  Well sure I could tell the lure was grassed with a lot of grass but I din't know if it was slightly grassed up. braid changed that.

Think of lines as tools and how you want to extract the fish from their local to your net is the determining factor of the tool you use braid or mono.
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​Tip of the Week 08.16.19

Mono or Braid? What to use?

This is a wide ranging topic and one that I will talk about in my second podcast that I will do soon.  So to narrow this topic down let me discuss one scenario - Lindy rigging.

Braid or mono?  The answer is explained this way.  Rigging is a technique used when fish pick up the bait and drop it on a detection of something the fish perceives as un natural.  So when rigging and you get a bite you feed line.

So your choice is a line with give and flex.  That makes the choice braid or mono pretty clear you want mono.

There are always exceptions such as fishing very deep water like 35 plus feet deep, you may have a case here so braid, but I would still go mono personally, even in this deep water.

​Tip of the Week 08.06.19

Bass love twister tails.  This tip piggy backs on last weeks, but not for crappie, for bass. 

​Twistertails cover a lot of water and can be used to locate bass.

Once you locate a fish or get bumped you can slow down with tubes or speed it up with buzzbaits. They are a great search lure.

​1/8, 3/16, and 1/4 ounce jigheads are most used.  I have 3/16 ounce jigs from my early spring March time walleye fishing. 

​Tackle tip.  Smallies are a natural color fish, natural and neutral.  Pink you caught them on pink? I know , I know.  But most days most fish want neutral! lol.

One way you can make a jig head natural is to take a black Sharpie permanent marker and black out the jig head color.  I also do this with a gold marker.  They look really cool this way, and the bass don't know the difference.

​Other colors too are fun to customize with.

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Tip of the Week 07.30.19

One of the very first ways I ever caught fish was by wading shorelines of nearby lakes first in old tennis shoes and then in high school I had waders.

My main presentation was baitless and I used Mr. Twister brand tails like the two shown here.

I had three colors black, white, and chartreuse.
I used the 2" tails and the 1" tails and caught panfish, bass, and got bit  off by northerns as I walked the shoreline and cast to the deep water.

This still is a very effective way to search for crappies specifically on the  river.
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Many of the crappies are deep now on the river and suspend and chase baitfish.

However there are crappies near shore and especially by docks.  It is far faster to cast tails to docks and shorelines and cover water this way than bobber fish and use bait.

You can use twister tails to search fro crappies and keep catching them or you can switch over to bait.

The key is a slow steady retrieve and swim it back to the boat, the tail does the work.

A 1/8 ounce jig is a good starting point.  This is a fun summer method that will yield other species as well.
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Tip of the Week 07.24.19

Put them on ice. 
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Surface waters on the St. Croix and Mississippi Rivers right now during the day are 78 - 80 degrees.  The water deeper is colder, but it is the surface water from which a boats livewell draws.  If you catch a fish in depths from 20 feet and deeper often the fish will die within an hour even in a livewell full of water and running continuously.
​If the fish come from the shallows they can live in this warmer well circulated water that is in your livewell.  I get fish bot shallow and deep, but it is so much easier and I believe the quality of the meat  is better in the summer when you instantly put the fish on ice in a fish cooler and not the livewell.

Tip of the Week 07-18-19

The rivers are slowing falling and soon the waters will clear even more.  When fishing for bass or walleye and sauger plan ahead to expect a lure color preference change.
So for bass maybe the tube color will lighten up and become even more natural and lighter.  Spinner blades for sauger and eyes can switch from the golds to silvers.  Also white bellies often do better in clear water than orange belly crankbaits.  Don't forget to tune your baits if you really want to be a sharpie.
Good luck and let me know how you do.
email: fish@croixsippi.com

Tip of the Week 07-11-19

Always use the smallest hook for the job.

This rules applies to small finned friends like sunfish and to portly catfish. 

As a whole most angler use too large a hook for the job.  You may land the fish easier once hooked but many fish will not hit a bigger hook.

As a rule match the hook to the size of the bait.

Tip of the Week

​Secchi Disk

Lower the disk into the water when it becomes unseen measure the distance from the string in the water surface to the disk.
This is how you read the water clarity in lakes. 
River measurements use a tube, however for my purposes I use this and go with the flow and keep the string vertical then the reading is accurate for me.
Water clarity is one of THE largest conditions to understand in fishing not only a river but anywhere in the world!

​Tip of the week 

I recently was on a vacation with my family and well of course we fished!
The lake we fished had very clear water and had a Secchi Disk reading of 12.5'.
Add on a cold front, and mayfly hatch and well the day bite was tough.
As the cold front was ending the bite improved, I had to make adjustments to better the catches not a huge difference but a difference.
I needed that because I was feeling like a shmuck of an angler.
​So even though the day bite got better, the night bite was the best.
​I have fished at night for many many years, and why I forget or change things that I once knew and can't remember ... I don't know.

Anyhow I was out at night  and we started hammering on the fish, but it took about five minutes to get my Rapala Shad Rap #5 out of the net!  I was not a happy man.  The bite has a peak and when they turn off at night you can't get on them again.

I had been using my day net.  I vowed to fix this problem so I went to town and stopped in at the bait store, they had exactly what I used to use a one handed 3.5' rubber net.  Now this is a net that you don't want the 9 pounder in but for the nice 17 - 18" eyes the rubber net kept me efficient and putting fish in the boat and not untangling two treble hooks with a headlamp and Mayflies in your face.

Tip of the week 

Walleyes are what most anglers want to fish for when they call or email me.  I grew up fishing on shore as a kid and the fish that I could never get was a walleye.  It became a prize to catch, this might be true for others as well - tough to catch fish become a sought after fish.  
One reason walleyes aren't easy to get is they can be finicky, here lies the tip finicky fish are hook size sensitive. 
Bait anglers often ponder the question to use a # 4 or #6 hook for fatheads, leeches, and crawlers.
The first thing you need to know is that larger hooks land more fish and larger hooks snag up a lot more.
Smaller hooks get more bites though. Its a balancing act.
There is also what I call the rule of hook and bait size relativity.  The hook and the bait size have a rule that the relation needs to be the same where a small bait is paired with a small hook. A large bait is paired with a large hook.  It is a huge mistake to use too big a hook.

So should you walleye gals and guys use a 4 or a 6?  This depends on baitsize, snags, and current. More flow lets you use a larger hook ( but not in snags and flow... there is always a caveat.)
There is also line diameter considerations  4 pound test does not work with a #4 hook as there is too much stretch in 4 pound mono to drive home the hook. Smaller hooks slip into the fishes mouth easier as they are thinner.

Mono stretches.  This comes back to my theory of a tight drag when fishing mono and thus the rear drag spinning reel is superior. I wrote about this on my "Turks Column."
So the answer is there is no set answer its another example of how you need to think out there.  THAT is if you ever do anything different.  If you do the same thing every outing then sure you could settle on one hook over the other.  But if you have dozens of spots you fish then you need to consider using different hooks.
This is all stuff to have fun with.  This geeky fishing stuff is fun. Don't stress it. Enjoy this food for thought!  

Tip of the Week - The line tie

The lower jaw of the needle nose is on the line tie.  The split ring nowadays is what you actually tie your line onto, but originally you tied your line to this wire so its still called the line tie.

Why is this important? Because this is how you tune a crankbait by adjusting the line tie.  In time all cranks need tuning through wear. Bargain brands commonly don't run right out of the box, thats why I use Rapala - quality product.

Pictured is a tuning attempt to bring the lure back into tune - towards my thumb. The lure was running wrong toward the finger.  It MUST track STRAIGHT.

The line tie is SO Touchy that the amount of pressure applied must be minuscule, or you will over tune.

I used to do this with a needle-nose but got so frustrated by overtuning.

I now use the EZ Tuner by Offshore Tackle - Fleet Farm sells them. 

I tell guys about this topic and the lightbulb doesn't really go on.  Most  of you fish lures out of tune and severely handicap your catches.

This is why you can get out-fished on the same spot with the same lure - they have tuned their baits.

Switching lure colors is not the answer.

Tip of the week - My bait system

From here on out the heat of summer is an enemy to the health of your leeches and nightcrawlers.

I often use a lot of bait and I naturally want the unused bait like nightcrawlers to stay alive from one trip to another.

To do this I use two coolers one large enough to keep both my crawler cooler and my leaches in this large cooler.

What I do is have a cooler in a cooler.  I keep a freezer pack in the worm cooler.  When I am done with the worm cooler, I take  out the freezer  pack and put the whole cooler in my bait fridge.

​I also have a small "bait to use" cooler that has a small freezer pack in it, there I put in about a dozen nightcrawlers.   Then I don't go into my  main cooler every other minute to get a crawler.

​This little bait cooler gets reloaded.

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Tip of the week

It is not uncommon to have big fish on when fishing the river, maybe a buffalo or a bass.  Plus you have the current that adds power to the fish.

It is very important to use your ears when fishing and if you are reeling and your hear the drag constantly making the clicking noise the spool is spinning with the rotation of the bail as the handle is being turned as it trys to wrap line on the spool.

When this happens your drag is too loose. After this happens pay close attention to your  line when you are done fighting the fish because it can have excessive twist in it now.

If you read my website you know I like a tight drag upon hookset and then I loosen the drag.  I don't do cave man hooksets but I want a hookset and a slipping drag does NOT help that with MONOFILAMENT line.  

​Last tip is if the fish is running do not reel, let it run against a newly adjusted drag and have FUN!

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Tip of the week

Rolling swivels are top of the line, fraction of the cost of ball bearing swivels. I use VMC brand.

As this is walleye season in May, I talk a lot about the Lindy Rig.  When rigging it is very easy to snag up.  You are snagged on either the weight or the hook.
​If it is the weight you can feel the weight slowly grab bottom over the span of one long second - you should be able to feel fish or snag...
​If it is a snag lift your rod tip up back toward the snag and snap it and the weight should free.

If it is the hook go exactly straight backwards with the boat, and reverse what you did to create a line angle more linear than vertical and snap the hook out. You will free at least half the hooks this way.
But if the hook is hooked and push comes to shove, I slowly pull and break off.  But I want a lighter leader than my main line as to not loose the whole rig, maybe just the hook or maybe the leader and the hook, but not the whole rig.
Tip: Use a lighter leader than the main line when fishing lots of snags or rocky areas.

Tip of the week

Anglers like fishing tips about gear, and there is nothing more fishing gear related to fishing than rods.
Did you know if you bait fish a lot, that a a softer tipped and more moderate meaning slower action and lighter powered fishing rod is needed?
​In angling if you feel the fish they feel you!
Often when baitfishing they don't have the hook and just the bait so fish need time to get the hook and the bait.

Very expensive overly fast rods are not good baitfish rods.
The best rod I have ever used for baitfishing and casting a great all around rod is by Limit Creek Rods called " The Smoothie."  I have many of them in my boat right now.  I have used them from casting blade baits to Lindy rigging crawlers.
The pictures you have seen on this site are caught by Limit Creek Rods.
​The tip of the week is soft tipped rods for bait.

Lindy Rig based on Conditions

Do you know why a Lindy Rig was invented or why it is used? If not this is a Tip of the Week that will be one of the best tips you'll ever hear for walleye fishing.

Its starts first about knowing the conditions.  Conditions?  You fish a different technique based on conditions? I wish it wasn't the case and the fish would be easy to figure out, but yes you do and you also deploy or use these presentations differently as well based on conditions.

You use a Lindy Rig to feed fish line so they can run with it so they have time to take the hook in their mouth.

One way I know its going to be a "feed line" day is when I see that after catching  a sheepshead its hooked in the lip. Sheeps are a pain because they are often gut hooked  and fast!

If a sheepshead is taking the hook light a walleye will be even more hesitant. 

Remember when a fish hits your lure they don't always have the hook!!
This is when you feed line.

Again its ultimately condition based but this is a tip and not an article so I won't get to much into the why... Use the Lindy Rig what its meant for and thats to feed line when the bite is hesitant. 

Tip of the Week

Often Imitated...

If you have followed my website for a while you have heard me talk about Rapala.  They run true, and when they become out of tune from use, I can tune them back into tune.  They are the original shad design that have been copied endlessly.  I like the real thing and that is what a Rapala Shad Rap is!  Tuned lures out fish untuned lures.

Early in the season the subtle wobble of the shad rap is what the fish walleye want.

Colors can be played around with to see what is best on your day.  Is it bright or cloudy?

Did you know that an untuned lure of the "right" color will catch a lot less fish of than the "wrong" color but tuned lure.

​What I am saying is that a tuned lure will out fish any crankbait even if its an untuned lure of the "hot!!" color.  Believe that.

Read the October 29 Tip Of The Week below for the ultimate tuning tool - It's Brand New!

Hook setting when jig fishing

I talk about this in the report page.  There are times that fish will hit a jig very hard and it is a take them instantly scenario.  Then there are times even during the same day where it is an aggressive big bite that the fish mouth the jig and just have the bait and not the hook.

Don't ask me why, I have no idea why they do that.  I just know that they do. 

This is why its important to be present in the moment while fishing and not assume everything will go the way it is going and that certain bites can and will differ.  I've got a lot of experience fishing and so I've been through this.  I also can tell you I miss bites.  The point is not perfection but being willing to learn and figure stuff out.  Stay flexible in fishing and you will do a lot better than those who are rigid in their approaches to fishing.

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Tails create vibration - fish focus on vibration.

A "Ringworm" by B Fish N. This one is a Chartreuse/ Orange Core.

Dark water and moving water makes it a challenge for fish to find forage. One way you can call them in is with the subtle movement of a plastic tail.  There are a lot of different tails on the market and colors or all over the board form natural to obnoxious.  Walleye eat all of them based on specific conditions.

The point is plastic tails will help the fish find you in high river water.  Along those lines this is when I like to use crankbaits with rattles.

Ice and logs can wreck your transducer

River Ice

There are big sheets of ice and small pieces floating down the river, and some of the chunks are crystal clear and dense.  These are very hard on transducers.

Level transducer

Here is a pic of a level transducer.  The mounting bracket on the boat receives the transducer brace.  These two  pieces are joined by a bolt and nut.  ​

Popped up transducer

Here is a pic of the transducer after I got back from a trip.  The transducer popped up a few clicks upon impact of something, likely ice. Here is the tip. Make sure that the bolt is not overly tightened and so rigid the transducer wont move upon impact. You want some give these transducer are tough, but they need to move slightly upon impact.

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Piece It Together Like A Pro! Walleye

Tip of the Week

I will once again teach my original course called Piece It Together Like A Pro! Walleye.  The course explains how fish move seasonally, weekly, and daily based on the environmental conditions that exist. I focus heavily on river conditions, but a lake angler will gain much from this as well. 

The 80 page manual, including charts and diagrams, is free with the course.  This is a professional level course based on theories proven out over 20 years of continued fast water field experience and analysis.

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Announcing dates for this 4-day class:

Cabela’s Woodbury
Feb. 26, 28,  March 5 & 7
6:30 pm to 9:00 pm

Course fee & Sign Up required
Contact me with any questions.
I am excited to teach this brand new class!

You will learn how to take facts and turn them into clues as to where the fish are and how to pattern them.  The 80 page manual, including charts and diagrams, is free with the course.  This is a professional level course taught with theories proven by 20 years of continued analysis, from fishing high pressured bodies of water where catches are not guaranteed.

I have had inquires about this already and so if your are interested please contact me.  The class size will not be overly large and it will be a fun atmosphere.  It needs to be a three or four night class from say 6-8pm starting in late January, and somewhere in the east metro.  Maybe an all day class on a Saturday.  Not sure.  The cost is similar to a half day guide trip, and will be some of the best money you ever spend on your fishing.

December 2, 2018

As it is that time of year anglers want to hit the ice...

so I will do an ice fishing tip.

The tip is about “match ups” line, pole, and hooks.

Do not mix up walleye fishing with light line used for panfish.  You will need a minimum of four pound line, ideally 6# is better.  So try not to switch up panfish with walleye gear. You do not want to set the hook on a nice fish and snap the light panfish line.

The pole really has to give when using light line or if your “hookset happy” you’ll break off.  The light backbone is your shock absorber.
For panfish 4# and under is needed.

Most anglers are pretty sophisticated these days and have this match up concept figured out, but for sure its ALL small stuff with panfish, from hooks to line test to swivels, to a light pole for panfish.

The tungsten weights are really good when you are panfishing and you are using a 4# line.  Don’t get fooled into thinking the lightest is best because really light line is a headache especially when hole hopping.  One wrong move (easy to do) and the line is frozen to the hole and you break the $&%#!
K- Drill you heard about them.  They ARE all that.

Tip over.

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Fishery Regulations Survey

For a long time on this site and in person I have expressed two fisheries regulations topics. One is that there should be changes made to protect walleye over 20″ and that the white bass limit of 25 fish is way to high.

The Mississippi River Fisheries crew are trying to do just this.  I feel that if they can get these changes it will follow suit that the St. Croix can see these as well. Plus I believe many of the fish swim both rivers.  So if we protect Mississippi Fish you are protecting St. Croix Fish.

The survey is loaded with good facts its a nice read – informative.  Worth your  time.  Please take the time to fill out the following survey.
https://goo.gl/forms/zWWZOf4njVWKDhdm1

November 7

Make sure you match the line diameter

...up with the weight of your jigs. Six pound mono is a great all around choice.  Look closely at the line diameter measurement!! Some lines by either model or brand or both are thicker or thinner.  So you can find two lines both with the same test # rating, but are different thicknesses….

There’s no rule on what tool always to use or how – so I’m not commenting on one diameter thickness being categorically better – BUT if you’re say vertical jigging… I would prefer a thinner diameter.

Any questions email me.

October 29

If your crankbaits are not tuned...

YOU ARE MISSING FISH! Tuned lures catch THE most fish. Tuning has never been easier for me and they save a ton of wasted time especially when trolling and you have lines in the water.  http://www.offshoretackle.com

To use:
Identify when your lure is out of tune either left or right.  Put the short nose jaw on the line tie opposite the way its running. Put the long jaw on the diving bill at a right angle.  Then slowly squeeze the handles together. As you apply an increasing amount of pressure and the pressure limit is reached then the short jaw will pop up.  You have just applied a measured amount of pressure.

Repeat the process if necessary if the lure didn’t move exactly to center, but this time turn the knob clockwise a quarter turn.

Once you get the hang of this tool you’ll master tuning crankbaits in no time and CATCH MORE fish.
http://www.offshoretackle.com/OR40.html