Walleye fishing has evolved from the basic traditional casting shallow and trolling deep to casting and trolling the complete water column no matter the body of water.   Seasonal presentations have always predominated whereas now some of these presentations have become mainstay “Go-To’s” in almost every month of the open water season. Until recently, casting…

As a fisherman, “Fall” and “Big Fish” often run together as this time of the year can yield some of the biggest fish of the year.  As leaves change colors, perch and walleyes dominate the minds of many anglers not sitting in tree stands or duck blinds here in South Dakota.  While some are searching…

Northland Tackle’s Butterfly Blade Harness Simply Catches Walleye “Never before have I asked you, or anyone, to keep an angling secret. I’m going to break this rule now and ask you point-blank NOT to pass on this information. It is much too deadly, it took many years to accumulate, and it’s worth too much to…

Many anglers have their preferred ways to catch open-water fish. From trolling to drifting, casting to still fishing with floats, and so on and so on.  It is no secret, those different lakes can certainly have various cultures in the forms of fish species present, structure, food base, vegetation, bottom substrates, etc. In any case,…

Most anglers lament the late summer and fall fishing period.  On all but a few systems, gone are the days of big numbers, shallow, hungry fish, and all-day bites.  Most fish species inevitably move to deeper water and are harder to target at times because of it.  Add to that the sheer amount of food…

As a young angler, I hated weeds of all kinds to the point of fishing anywhere else I could to avoid them.  They seemed at the time a needless frustration of fishing.  As bluegills captured my interest, and eventually bass, walleyes, and a host of other species, I came like most anglers to develop more…

There are a lot of ways to catch fish during the dog-days of summer, you know those lazy summer months, but it’s worth remembering that fish are pretty fat and happy right now.  Weedlines are well defined, bait is plentiful in most lakes, and warm water temps mean fish are at peak metabolism.  While they…

August traditionally is a tough time to get a good bite going for most walleye lakes I fish, but there are definitely options and ways to fish for late summer walleye.  Each lake has hatched, bloomed, or otherwise reached its peak productivity, and fish have been taking full advantage of the flush of forage that’s…

          I’ve found that most people who casually fish for crappies have a sort of seasonal affective disorder for the species, being entirely giddy for spring runs to the shallows and generally depressed regarding the prospect of catching one after the early-season boom.  Or maybe you’re just into fishing for them…

Weed-bound walleyes are a worthy adversary given the traditional means we often use to pursue that species. A few hours of fishing cabbage, or playing in the weeds send most anglers to the relatively snag-free depths, where the worst hang-ups are caused by snail shells or clams. Rocks at least stay put, and typically only…