December 2015
Episode 49
Bass Fishing Just Before Ice-Up
Show Date: December 5th & 6th, 2015
Location: Big Muskego Lake
Guide: Matt Bichanich – Uncle Josh Bait Company [unclejosh.com]
Most anglers have put their boats away at this point in the year. If you watch our show, you know that we have had our boat out in some pretty extreme conditions. This week we're breaking ice over an ice thick to make our way to the spot on Big Muskego Lake. Even more bizarre is that we're doing this all to go bass fishing.
Matt Bichanich is our guide, and his buddy Chris, who would rather be at work, joins us as well. Matt has us casting spinnerbaits & plastics into shallow water, 3 to 6 feet of water. They will either be in the weed-pocket, or right on the break.
Episode 50
December in the Dells with Big Dave
Show Date: December 12th & 13th, 2015
Location: Wisconsin River, Wisconsin Dells
Guide: Pro Guide Big Dave Ehardt [414-803-7160]
Accommodations: Rivers Edge Resort [608-254-6494]
It’s technically winter in Wisconsin, but it sure doesn’t feel like it. This week we’re in the beautiful Wisconsin Dells to fish with our buddy Big Dave, and a few old friends. The weather is unreal for this time of year, considering that we were ice fishing at this point last year, and that the temperature is in the mid 40’s with light winds.
The fish are as cooperate as the weather too! It’s like “the good ‘ol days,” where we find a pod of fish, and the bite just about all day. We catch fish at will for most of the first day using minnows on a 3-way rig, then head up river to try our luck after dark for some bigger fish.
Episode 51
Lake Erie Night Bite
Show Date: December 19th & 20th, 2015
Location: Lake Erie, Port Clinton, Ohio
Guide: Charter Captain Mike Patterson [419-308-6925 | mikessportfishing.com]
It’s mid December, and there isn’t ice anywhere!
This week we headed over to Lake Erie to fish for the first time ever in December. Charter captain Mike Patterson, who is our go-to guy for ice fishing on Erie, joins us in our Lund to troll for walleyes.
We start in the evening, and troll late into the night, using lighted boards. The lighted planer boards make the strike look even more dramatic after dark. The faster the board pulls back, the larger the fish. Being on Lake Erie, we know that jumbo fish swim in the water we’re on, so there is a legitimate chance of catching a personal best.
Trolling stickbaits, like the lures from Strike King, is the way to go. A combo of deeper diving, and shallow diving coupled with weights, puts the lures right where they need to be.
Episode 52
First Ice in Sunset Country
Show Date: December 26th & 27th, 2015
Location: Sunset Country, Northwest Ontario, Canada
Guide: Ray King [218-395-0282]
It’s the first ice of the season, and boy did we have to work to find it!
We’re way up in northwest Ontario’s “Sunset Country,” and we found ice, snow, cold, and fish! We’re out with a great group of guys, all of whom couldn’t wait for the ice to come around to our neck of the woods in Wisconsin & Minnesota. So Pete Maina, Jeremy Meyer from Amsoil, and Rusty Lilyquist all drove up to get our first taste of walking on hard water.
We are mainly targeting walleye and pike, both jigging blade baits and Kastmasters; as well as setting the Beaver Dam’s for the bigger pike. Tipping a Kastmaster with a minnow head is Ray’s go-to lure, so we mostly follow his lead. John likes to experiment, so he put on a Strike King Rage Blade Blaster, which is a vibrating lure that is great for vertical jigging - and caught a mess of fish.
We ran for a lot of tip-ups, but the fish must have been on to us, because we experience a lot of drops on our larger dead-bait setups.
It was a great two days in Canada, it didn’t stop snowing, and the fish bit the whole time.