Archive for the ‘Fishing & Ice Fishing’ Category

Why Use jigs? What are Fishing Jigs? What are the different Jigs? Jigging is the most used system to catch fish. Jigs are the most used lure in the tackle box and by far the most preffered way to catch walleye. Jigs come in all sizes from tiny 1/64oz all the way up to 4 and 5oz coastal fishing lures. But the most used sizes are 1/4 and 1/2 oz jigs.

When you first start fishing jigs it may be confusing, chosing the different types of jigs, figure out what jig works best in different water situations and what style and color body to use. Jigs usually have a molded weighted head on a j or Aberdeen Hook, with various type bodies. Most common is floaters, leadheads with plastic, hair or bristle, flyers and jigging spoons and just jig bait style bodies. If you add a blade to the jig it is called a roostertail. If you insert the entire jig into the plastic body it is called a tube jig. To start your jig collection you may want to consider purchasing a Holographic Bucktail Kit, Mimic Minnow Panfish Kit, a Walleye Jig Kit, a few Bucktail Jigs or Holographic Bucktail Jig or Tri-Color Tube Kit.

Why Use Jigs: 

Most fish especially walleye feed on or close……. 

Benefits of Jig Fishing: 

Quick change………..

Go Here for rest of article on What Are Jigs

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Everyone wants to be fishing, but sometimes the weather just does not co-operate, can’t get out or season is closed that is when you go to your library to watch and read about fishing. You can learn just as much sitting in your armchair as you can in the seat of your boat. This is the beginning of a great library of information but there is also Great Magazines On Fishing and Great Books For Fishing strategies and even more information.

”21st Century Walleye Finesse Factors”
Learn about the little things that make a big difference when fishing for walleye. Livebait rigging, pitching jigs, slip floating, vertical finesse plastics, slip floating, plastics, crankbaits Tipping and triggering Contour trolling.

 For Even more great DVDs go here Fishing DVDs

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How To Jig For Walleye a basic method to catch one of the most sought after game fish in Saskatchewan. The mere word Walleye brings up images of gold and green with a white tip, coming out of the quiet waters of a clear blue Canadian lake, with a loon sounding off in the distance. The second image is of a shore lunch with this mild and tasty fish, especially when caught and cooked up fresh.  The walleye is plentiful and found in lakes, rivers and streams across Saskatchewan and offers an exciting time catching them.

There are several different types of jigging and each method is successful. Below are some of the ways with a brief explanation of each.

Vertical Jigging: fishing straight under the boat or straight down……

Pitching or Casting: This method you can use, either from a boat or from shore…..

Bottom Bouncing: This method requires the use of a weighted bottom bouncing rig…..

Trolling: When on unfamiliar water or looking for fish, trolling is a good method to find walleye…..

Drifting: This is a modified version of trolling……

Whatever method you want to use, remember to…………read entire article jigging for walleye 

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Take a Kid Fishing, get them involved in an activity that is thousands of years old, and teaches them about tradition and respect for the space of others.

PLAN YOUR FISHING TRIP:

Check the forecast for bad weather. Look for a vacation, lakes, fishing spots that have easily accessible rest rooms and a nearby playground. Kids have short attention spans; they will be happy fishing for 15 minutes and then playing for an hour along the beach, bring some toys. Make it a point to find some spots that will quickly reward you with fish, make a quick call to a nearby bait and tackle store to learn where they’re biting. Don’t worry about technique and don’t be concerned about catching lots of big, trophy fish. A small bluegill, perch or crappie is a major thing (and like) a walleye or pike are monsters that legendary fishing stories are born from.

Use proper and reliable equipment: Quality fishing equipment when taking a kid fishing is important to ensure that everyone has a positive. I recommend a Zebco 33 or a closed faced spin cast reel it’s very dependable and near indestructible. Most kids can learn to push in button, hold as you swing and lift thumb when get all the way forward so line can go out. Similar to x-key makes jump, y-key makes run, ab-key makes fire. Be patient with your kids as they learn to cast for the first time, if you do not let them practice expect to spend lots of time un-tangling, un-hooking, and un-fishing. Let them practice casting in the back yard with a rubber sinker attached. Make a game of it set out boxes at different lengths and assign points to putting it in box and closest to it. Use a light rod not more than 5′6" long; any longer than that and they start struggling with control and hit everything with it including you, they sting. To read the entire article go here Take A Kid Fishing

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Unfortunately every year, as practical sportman, we hear about someone falling through the ice and dying. Every year we get winter, snow and ice everywhere, yet, we as humans continue our pursuit of fishing in the form of Ice Fishing. What if the worst case thing happens to you, and you fall through the ice? How long do you have to respond to survive the experience? Depending on the temperature you have about 10 minutes at maximum. Why? Because you will lose the use of your arms, hands, fingers and legs and within an hour you could be unconscious and or dead from hypothermia! So what can you do? Here are some tips that could save your life.

Make a plan and stick to it. Before you go out, tell someone where your general destination is, what lake you are going to be on and how long you plan to be gone. If you go to another lake let that person know you moved, phone home ET! Take safety equipment along, ice picks and rope, small survival kit, extra clothes and outer wear, dry blankets and towel, fire starter and cellphone. You can get stuck or have a vehicle breakdown.  Read the rest at…click here

Author: Greg Parkin, A PracticalSportman

Ice fishing for walleye is very popular you do not need many supplies or much equipment, and the basic equipment and supplies that you need are affordable. There are many choices of equipment available, prices for the equipment range from the very cheap to the very expensive. Get equipment that is of reasonable to good quality, something that will last you more than one fishing season. One thing to remember even though it is basic ice fishing equipment try to avoid the very cheap equipment they will not last long, you will need to replace them often. The Practical Sportman bet is to purchase slightly higher priced equipment so that you are guaranteed of a couple fishing seasons at least. One rule that is different for ice fishing is that you can have 2 active lines in the water but you must be within 30 feet of both.  You can aggressively fish with one rod and passively fish or dead set with the second.

Practical Equipment:

Fishing rods: all fishing equipment lists should start with a good quality fishing rod, including ice fishing. A good fishing rod for ice fishing is short and very strong to make sure that it can take the strain and weight of the fish. You can get rod/reel combos, teho 2 and 3 ice rods, or grandpa’s favourite a piece of wood 1 foot long notched on both ends.

FOR REMAINING ARTICLE CLICK HERE

 Author: Greg Parkin, A PracticalSportman, http://www.practicalsportman.com

You caught some walleye, now you are wondering on how do I clean this fish? If you follow the Practical Sportman steps below you will not only learn how to fillet a walleye, but you will also learn how to take all the bones out of walleye. So if you are ready, get your fish, knife and let’s go.

Step 1

Place walleye on cleaning surface with back towards you. Using fillet knife, lift fin and place knife on skin behind gill plate at same angle as gill opening. Cut straight down to back bone, be careful not to cut through the back bone.

Step 2  FOR REMAINING STEPS CLICK HERE

 Author: Greg Parkin, A PracticalSportman, http://www.practicalsportman.com

Cleaning Northern Pike Step by Step

Filleting Northern Pike is the fastest, most versatile and probably the most used method for cleaning.  When finished, the fillet can be used for frying, baking, bbqing, canning or any other way, for consuming the results of your successful fishing trip.  The first time you clean a northern your fillet is not going to be perfect.  As with everything, practice makes better. YES, when I did my first fish, Grandpa laughed until his sides hurt, it was not pretty, but I got it done, in pieces.  However, after that first one the second was better and by the time I was done the days catch, well let’s just say, Grandpa didn’t fillet any fish again when I was with him!

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Copyright © Greg Parkin, The Practical Sportman

http://www.practicalsportman.com

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Step 1: Lay fish on cutting board, I start with fish belly facing towards me. I find this side is harder to do if I start and take off other fillet first.  The second set of fins seem to get in the way and make more work.

Step 2: With knife lift fin and place blade up against back of gill plate, but on fish body. Make sure your knife is at same angle as gill plate cover.

Step 3: Cut straight down until you hit back bone. Read the rest of the article about Filleting Northern Pike here…

So you were lucky and caught some Northern Pike, Now you want to know what to do with them?

First is to clean them, depending on the size and YOUR preference, there are basically 2 ways to do this.

1. Scale for baking or BBQing whole or cutting into steaks
2. Filleting for frying, canning, baking, bbqing

HOW TO SCALE NORTHERN PIKE

To scale the fish: you want to be outside or at the lake or cleaning house, this can be messy and the wife will have no sense of hee-haw about scales all over her kitchen. However, it can be done at the kitchen table IF you are careful and follow this advice. To Read Full Article Click Here: