Fishing Articles — Stories and Editorials

“Hey Tony, why don’t you take a couple of these and give them a try,” said long time Michigan river guide Steelie Dan Manyan. Our drift boats were anchored next to one another on the lower Pere Marquette River. It was late August and the fish were just starting to make their return to the lower PM. If judging by how bright the salmon were in the system, the actual ritual of spawning won’t be taking place any time soon, I thought to myself. “What are they?” I inquired, hoping not to seem like I wasn’t up to date on...

Anglers go fishing for an assortment of reasons. Some fish to relax. Other’s fish for the excitement. Some of us fish for food and I’ll bet even more of us fish just because we ought to—according to my significant other I can really be a jerk sometimes. But when I think about my life as a fisherman, the moments I relish the most are the trips that involve the most suffering. Sometimes it feels good to get a little uncomfortable, disheveled and pissed off. Don’t other people savor the times when things aren’t working out? You know, the times when...

Catching panfish on first ice is not rocket science. Bluegills, sunfish, crappies, and perch are still relatively active when ice first forms. It’s basically an extension of the hot fall fishery for a while. Weeds are still green and producing oxygen, waters are not super chilled yet and panfish are still actively feeding. On first ice, you can get away with heavier line, larger floats and jumbo wax worms and still catch panfish. Things change though as winter deepens. As weeds die they become less hospitable to panfish. Oxygen levels plummet and oxygen-starved panfish become increasingly dormant. Forced out of...

Fishing & Relationships - The way to make them stronger In the past I have talked about passing along the passion of the outdoors to our children.  This has always been a goal of mine and it is a very important thing that as sportsman we should really keep in mind.  However, another topic related to this is to also keep in mind that you don’t have to be a child to start enjoying the passion of the outdoors. Year after year we have seen the industry grow with more opportunities for women in the outdoors.  There are many new...

Launching a boat from a trailer isn’t supposed to be an exciting task. Getting in the boat, heading out to the lake, catching some fish, now that’s fun and exciting. But just backing down the ramp and floating ol’ Wave-Whacker off the bunks is a rather mundane chore. Unless the brakes on the tow vehicle decide it’s time to malfunction! All of a sudden the slow descent down the ramp, the boat floating free and the rest of the procedure turns into a power launch. That’s what happened to me. I suppose I was lucky. A few minutes earlier I’d...