Authors Note: I am leaving today on a trip to central Wisconsin, and will resume posting blogs when I return Monday, Dec. 1, 2008.
Happy Holidays!
WORK YOUR LURE FOR PANFISH
Don’t Just Sit There, Make Them Bite!
By: Ray Hansen
Sooner or later we are going to get safe ice out on the main lake areas here in Michigan – and when we do, you need to be ready to catch fish. Too many anglers hit the same old spots and fish in the same old way, seeming to believe that “the fish are biting or they are not”. Well… you can accept blind luck to provide some fishing action, or you can try to trigger fish into biting. Here is a trick I use to “make something happen”.
One of my favorite tricks is to head out on a day when there are few anglers on the ice, and lots of open, but unused holes found there. Mondays after a busy weekend are a great time to try this, but it can work anytime.
Set up an ice rod with a small spinning reel filled with four pound test line. Tie on a size 2 “Swedish Pimple” spoon and load the small treble hook with “spikes” (maggots). Put two or three spikes on each hook point. I call this a “spikeball” rig.
Walk along, lowering the baited spoon into each hole you find. Let it sink to bottom, raise it up about six inches, then use that as a starting point. Shake the rod tip as you raise the lure up two or three feet very slowly. Make that lure shake and shimmy like a belly dancer. After reaching that point (about three feet off bottom) let the lure free-fall back to the starting point (six inches off bottom). Hold the rod tip still, watch for bites for about ten to fifteen seconds, then repeat the sequence.
Work each hole for about three to five minutes, then move on to the next. You’ll be exploring the area, fishing actively, and you stand a great chance of finding fish active enough to bite, or fish that will respond to the action you give the lure. A variation of this tactic is to drill a dozen holes along a weedline or other bottom feature before starting to fish. Keep moving between holes at regular intervals, but stay at spots that provide action until the bite slows.
This tactic will work throughout the Midwest, and can produce perch, white bass, yellow bass, crappies, bluegill, rock bass, and some surprises like channel catfish, walleyes, or largemouth bass.
Copyright Ray Hansen, 2008
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Monday, November 24, 2008
DEER SEASON UPDATE
DEER SEASON UPDATE
By: Ray Hansen
I have been trying to sit down to write a report about how the rifle portion of this years deer season has progressed for me, but I have simply run into too many glitches. Computer problems, electrical work here at home and weather have conspired to keep me from journaling as I normally do.
I have been wading through eighteen inches of snow here at home, with some drifts that are two to four feet deep. I spent Saturday morning snowblowing, plowing, and shoveling. Temperatures have gone up enough to cause some daytime melting today (Monday 11-24), however it was two degrees below zero yesterday morning as I drove out to the swamp I hunted that day.
Among the group I hunt with, Larry took a nice nine-point buck Friday as it chased a doe past his stand. The shot was about 75 yards and was a clean, quick kill with his 30-06. His son Shawn took an eight-point buck as it trailed a doe past his stand. The buck was 160 yards out, and Shawn used his .270 with a steady rest to make the shot. When I mention the group I hunt with, I mean that about six of us hunt a 160 acre tract, but we almost never hunt together. Instead, each person hunts when time permits, and according to what type of license he holds.
A friend of the group, Bob, stopped by Sunday to pass along his report. He has two daughters and a son, who all killed bucks, a five-point, a seven-point, and an eight-point. He hunts in various spots around here, and each deer was taken in a different area.
I tagged a doe in October while bowhunting, but have not seen a buck I was willing to shoot yet. I’m waiting for an eight-point or better buck while hunting with my rifle, and the remaining tag I have does not permit me to take anything smaller with a firearm. I can use the tag for another antlerless deer until the end of December with my bow.
Duane and I hunted a large swamp yesterday, and saw about twenty different deer between us. The heavy snowfall made it harder for them to forage, so they have been very active since the temperature has come up a little. The deep snow may have put a damper on rut activity as well. We did not observe any doe chasing, scraping, or cruising bucks Sunday. All the deer were focused on feeding. We both used rut scent and calling to try to convince larger bucks that they should check our areas out, but none responded.
The ride out to the hunting area was very scenic. We use ATV’s for a half-mile or so then walk the final quarter-mile on foot. Pines draped in heavy snow cover made the old logging road look like a Currier and Ives scene. Fresh tracks in the snow told us deer were moving well, and the sheer number we saw while sitting in the woods verified what the tracks stated.
The end of the evening was also something that makes these times so memorable. We met up in Tom’s big pole barn and built a hot fire in the old wood-burning stove. We pulled a few old chairs up around the welcome heat, and cut thick slices of sausage made from a 425 pound black bear Len killed earlier this year. Some bourbon over ice accented the bear meat, and before long we traded a few old deer stories around the fire.
That’s why I hunt…..
Copyright Ray Hansen, 2008
By: Ray Hansen
I have been trying to sit down to write a report about how the rifle portion of this years deer season has progressed for me, but I have simply run into too many glitches. Computer problems, electrical work here at home and weather have conspired to keep me from journaling as I normally do.
I have been wading through eighteen inches of snow here at home, with some drifts that are two to four feet deep. I spent Saturday morning snowblowing, plowing, and shoveling. Temperatures have gone up enough to cause some daytime melting today (Monday 11-24), however it was two degrees below zero yesterday morning as I drove out to the swamp I hunted that day.
Among the group I hunt with, Larry took a nice nine-point buck Friday as it chased a doe past his stand. The shot was about 75 yards and was a clean, quick kill with his 30-06. His son Shawn took an eight-point buck as it trailed a doe past his stand. The buck was 160 yards out, and Shawn used his .270 with a steady rest to make the shot. When I mention the group I hunt with, I mean that about six of us hunt a 160 acre tract, but we almost never hunt together. Instead, each person hunts when time permits, and according to what type of license he holds.
A friend of the group, Bob, stopped by Sunday to pass along his report. He has two daughters and a son, who all killed bucks, a five-point, a seven-point, and an eight-point. He hunts in various spots around here, and each deer was taken in a different area.
I tagged a doe in October while bowhunting, but have not seen a buck I was willing to shoot yet. I’m waiting for an eight-point or better buck while hunting with my rifle, and the remaining tag I have does not permit me to take anything smaller with a firearm. I can use the tag for another antlerless deer until the end of December with my bow.
Duane and I hunted a large swamp yesterday, and saw about twenty different deer between us. The heavy snowfall made it harder for them to forage, so they have been very active since the temperature has come up a little. The deep snow may have put a damper on rut activity as well. We did not observe any doe chasing, scraping, or cruising bucks Sunday. All the deer were focused on feeding. We both used rut scent and calling to try to convince larger bucks that they should check our areas out, but none responded.
The ride out to the hunting area was very scenic. We use ATV’s for a half-mile or so then walk the final quarter-mile on foot. Pines draped in heavy snow cover made the old logging road look like a Currier and Ives scene. Fresh tracks in the snow told us deer were moving well, and the sheer number we saw while sitting in the woods verified what the tracks stated.
The end of the evening was also something that makes these times so memorable. We met up in Tom’s big pole barn and built a hot fire in the old wood-burning stove. We pulled a few old chairs up around the welcome heat, and cut thick slices of sausage made from a 425 pound black bear Len killed earlier this year. Some bourbon over ice accented the bear meat, and before long we traded a few old deer stories around the fire.
That’s why I hunt…..
Copyright Ray Hansen, 2008
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