Posts

The Reel-World Guide to Spinner Baits

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5lb Thick Fall Largemouth on Northland Tackle Spinner Size, brand, blades, colors, material, hooks, trailers, blah, blah, blah. So many opinions and marketing exist in the world of spinner baits, my go-to lure for rivers year-round and fall fishing. Why? Three reasons: they are inexpensive (mostly), effective, and versatile.  Some say use dark colors in sunlight, bright colors in clear water, dark colors in dark water, and white when the wind is blowing ESE at 5 MPH...... I'm about to give you real world spinner bait experience...my credentials being the fish I've caught on them throughout this post (respectable fish by Wisconsin standards). I've used spinner baits for many years. I read all the articles, watched the videos, and scoured the forums. Thus, I was a spinner expert.  I was completely wrong.  Last year I hit a local river for Small mouth Bass with a family member (yes, a gas powered vessel).  This was an awakening and humbling experience. I had just

What are you thankful for?

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I have always loved fishing, ever since my dad put the new Zebco 202 in my hand around the age of 7.  I remember the times spent in that old olive green boat on the cranberry marshes of central Wisconsin.  There was a gap in my fishing for many years.  I still went out, but not as often.  This was mostly due to where I was living, but also because life was happening (full time job while attending full time college, a baby, etc, etc, etc.). Fast forward to four years ago when my family moved 1 mile from an amazing fishery.  My father-in-law gave me his 12' flat bottom jon boat to use in the small reservoir.  It was a perfect fishing vessel and landed several respectable bass. The following year I started getting a bit more serious, spending more time on the water and jumping into a baitcaster.  I was having fun, but was spending a lot more time working and doing other things. Now fast forward to last winter, when my perspective on everything, especially life, changed. It was

Last Hoorah

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Paddling goodbye to my last kayak sunset of 2016 After the terrible bite during our last trip, a group of us kayaking buddies decided to plan one last hoorah for the season.  This time at a lake where we never get skunked (though sometimes that means landing only dink bass and pike).  But we want to end the season on a good note and with slime on our kayaks.  My Home Boss (wife) authorized this last full-day hoorah with the agreement I would put the kayaks away for the season the next day (in her defense I was tournament fishing HARD the last few months).  I offered the barter as my body was battered and tired from the countless hours on the water pushing myself in the KBF tournaments.  The frigid temperatures only made my aches and pains worse, I needed time to recover before ice fishing season. The evening temperatures in Northern Wisconsin has been dropping into the teens and 20s.  With the time change, we opt to meet at 8 AM to mitigate numb fingers from working our bait cast

The Essential Kayak Fishing Christmas List

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It's that time of year folks!...the holiday season!  For a lot of us kayak fisherman (especially us guys in the Northern United States) it's time to trade in the kayaks for hunting and ice fishing gear.  For me, I already have too many hobbies so that means it's time to spend some quality time with the family and tinker with a thousand different things before spring.  With that tinkering comes the wish list, that is continually being added to every time I open up a catalog or start perusing the web.  Sadly for a fisherman on a budget I am forced to limit myself to the essentials that can pertinently help my fishing experience day in and day out.  While these items might not be the most expensive, they are essential and tremendously improve kayak fishing experiences! Now I know that the whole Christmas list has been done and overdone...  What is different about this is it isn't your average wishlist, don't worry we will have a couple awesome pricey items for a

Don't Try This At Home

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The first weekend in November.  Typically in Wisconsin the temperatures and hunting seasons are leaving lakes mostly barren.  A few walleye and musky fisherman remain.  Pleasure crafts are winterized, the trees are nearly completely bare, and a few lingering flocks of geese pass overhead headed to warmer climates for the winter.  This year is different, daytime temperatures are in the 60s, record highs.  Overnight temperatures are near or below freezing. This temperature swing makes kayak fishing extra challenging, and dangerous.  Water temperatures continue to drop.  Falling in the water before the air temperatures rise after noon could turn deadly.  The temperature swings also make the bite slow and difficult.  With the nice weather still in the forecast, a group of us decided to plan a trip to a local lake in the Chippewa Valley of Wisconsin. Chang Lor of www.cxfishing.com and his first sunrise on a FeelFree Lure We arrive early as the sun is rising.  It is a balmy 30 degre

Lake Fork Expectations

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Hey all! I would like to apologize for my absence lately!  I recently just returned from the great state of Texas. It's actually what this article is about...just to clarify I didn't catch a PB, I didn't see an armadillo, and I didn't have the best steak of my life...so don't expect any of that! Biggest fish I caught at Lake Fork So many trees! Picture by: popeslanding.com The reason for my visit to Texas was for the Yak4It Tournament of Champions, which I qualified for through the Kayak Bass League Championship.  It was an honor to attend this elite event, and I was very excited to visit Texas for the first time.  More importantly I was going to have the honor to fish one of the best bass lakes in the nation, Lake Fork.  No matter where you live in the nation, I guarantee you have heard of Lake Fork.  It has been at the top bass lakes for years.  It has produced multiple bass over 15lbs and continually produces double digits on a weekly basis.  Whil

A New Kind of Battle

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The end of October.  The beautiful fall colors have dropped from the limbs, now rotting on the forest floor and my gutters.  The water temperatures are below 50, the air temperature in the 30's at night.  I hit one of our favorite lakes with a buddy, hoping to get into some of the 5-6 lb. bass of recent weeks. I was currently holding onto 2nd place with 60.75" for the KBF Regional Challenge (MN, WI, MI).  My fellow FeelFree Kayak Fishing Team member Mike McKinstry was 1.5" ahead of me in first place.  I needed 2 21" tankers or a 22" monster to move ahead (note 3 fish bags over 60" are extremely tough in this region - we had both been blessed with an epic month). The conditions seemed right.  The skies overcast, rain in the forecast, and a light breeze.  But they weren't.  The water temperatures low, bass were not as active.  We found ourselves catching Northern Pike and dink bass.  I had landed a nice 24" Northern Pike with a good amount of m