Time: Make the most of it!

Managing Your Time To Win Events!

By NathanKrusko “Fishman”

How does this make any sense? Good Question. If you properly manage your gear, you will have more time with your line in the water. I will give a few good tips to help keep your lines wet in a more productive manner. A dry line catches no fish!

Tip 1: Auger

This is the quintessential beginning to your fishing trips. If you are trying to drill your holes with a dull auger you will be struggling the whole day. This struggle will sadly bring on fatigue which I assure you keeps you from being focused on your presentation and most definitely will lead to missed strikes. Along with this fatigue you will be less inclined to drill more holes. One element to success with ice fishing is fishing many holes. Consider each hole that you drill a cast, you probably do not go open water fishing and only make tens casts. The more holes that you drill then the higher your chances for success.

Tip 2: Fishing Line

This is the first line of your attack. When fishing with old weak line you will be spending more time with break offs and with each break off you end up spending too much time re-tying new jigs. It is recommended that you replace your line at the start of every season with a quality line. Quality line is essential. As with all your gear, always go for quality products and this holds more value with your line than anything considering this is your connection to the fish. If you are fishing with a lesser quality line you are increasing your risk for failure.

Periodically through your season it is recommended that you remove the end few feet of line. Why remove this line at the end? This practice removes the damaged section which if left unchecked would increase your chance of line failure. What to look for is more of what to feel for. To inspect your line, run it between your fingers feeling for any kinks or abrasions. A good time for this inspection is the evening before your next outing when you are tying on your jigs. This preparation will pay off during your outing with less failure and having rods ready to go. A little preparation goes a long way.

Tip 3: Good Traction

How can this save you time and help you catch more fish? Walking on ice that is free of snow is quite slippery and very treacherous. Wearing proper apparel on your feet such as Yaktrax or MICROspikes  will keep you mobile and more agile, safely taking you from hole to hole. It is very basic. Poor traction while on the ice, takes you more time to safely navigate your way across the ice. Saving this time keep you sitting at a hole catching fish. Now, it gets deeper than this if you do not have adequate traction then you increase you chances for injury. If you are hurt, then your not fishing. You may be down for the day or for the whole season and this is something that we do not want. This tip may save you time, but it may also save you from unnecessary injury and prevent you from missing an already short season.

Tip 4: Shelters or Buckets

Do you fish from a shelter or from a bucket? With the revolutionary design of the sonic ice hopper the bucket is no longer just a bucket. A bucket is now a highly mobile organized means of fishing. You have everything that you need organized, all in one spot that can be carried from hole to hole. These rigs hold your sonar, have rod holders, can hold organizers to keep you tackle available and you can even place you catch in the bucket. This will keep you mobile, spending less time picking up your gear and more time fishing. Now the larger option is the sled style shelter or the chair style shelter. The sled style comes from any manufacturers. The use of a shelter adds additional levels of control to your fishing success. By using a shelter with proper storage techniques all of you equipment is properly stored and readily available at all times. Most anglers are quite creative designing rod holders that can be attached to your seat or making trays that can hold things below your seat. Whatever the design or manufacturer having a sled keeps all of your gear safely in one place. Take the steps necessary to organize it all. Regardless of your choice of a bucket, sled or chair, if all of your gear is in one place and properly organized you will be saving time. This saved time will increase the time you have to catch fish.

Tip 5: Rod Storage

Good rod storage is essential. If stored properly your rods will be less prone to breakage and tangles. Rod storage can come in many different ways. One is a rod bag. A rod bag under most circumstances regardless of manufacturers usually has a large compartment in the center to place your rods and multiple compartments on the sides to organize and store your tackle. There are also rod bags that are similar to those used for open water rods that have a rigid tube and an opening at the reel end that you can slide the rod in and zip the end closed. These are most commonly used for single rods and occasionally for multiples. Though it is recommended to get a rod bag or suitable match you can make your own rod holders out of pvc pipe and attach them to your shelter, bucket & even four wheeler. Regardless of choice, the end result is the goal of protecting your rods from breakage and keeping them from getting tangled together.

Tip 6 Multiple Rods

Multiple rods? You may wonder how multiple rods can be a part of time management and catching more fish. Remember the more often you keep a line in the water the higher a chance you have a catching fish. By having multiple rods, you can have many jigging presentations rigged and readily available. You will want rods rigged for a vertical jigging spoon, for a jigging minnow presentation, a horizontal jig and lastly a rod for dead sticking. By having multiple rods rigged it saves you time tying on a new jig just to try a new presentation style. Depending on your style and budget this can be quite expansive. As a tournament angler I find I can save time with multiple rods rigged with different horizontal jigs as well as some rigged with jigging spoons or jigging minnows. Regardless of your stile or budget it is best to have multiple rods rigged and ready to go. It takes seconds to change rods but with cold fingers and small diameter line it may take minutes to change jigs.

Tip 7: Sonar

The use of sonar saves a large amount of time. You will have the ability to quickly move from hole to hole checking for the presence of fish. Sonar gives you an immediate display of the presence of fish with out the use of a camera, which takes a significant amount of time to move from hole to hole. If your sonar does not have an immediate display of fish it is ok to stop and fish these holes. To do this, choose one of your pre-rigged rods and fish each hole for a minute or two. If there is no immediate reaction from a fish then move on to another hole repeating this until you find the fish displaying on your sonar. As you get better with the use of sonar you will spend far more time catching fish and less time wondering if they are even present. If you are fishing in a spot that has no fish then you are wasting time that you could be using towards catching fish in a different location.

Nathan Krusko

http://northeasticefishing.com/

Gill on Ice

So the lakes have frozen and you have arrived at the launch or a local access point to the lake. Time to gear up and go for the long walk off to the crowd for a day of jigging. Well not so fast. Your favorite shore fishing spot for panfish is holding these same fish in the winter. Yes that is true you are walking right over their backs in search of other fish while they wait just feet below you ready for the catching.

For many fishermen the ice means time to explore and get away from shore and go off into the deep since all fish go deep after the ice forms right. Not exactly. In many cases here in the eastern states you will find these fish in the shallows all season. Now they will move slightly as some of the weeds die if it is a hard winter but most likely they will stay put.

What to look for:
You will be looking for areas with heavy millfoil bed or cabbage weeds. The denser the better. So if you can remember back to those open water days and in you favorite shore spot there was a patch that you could not even drop a line into with out getting snagged now is your time to shine. In many place these areas are teaming with fish that are feeding on the abundant supply of aquatic life. If you do not have a spot picked out from the open water season, no worries exploring will not take much. As you are looking at the lake maps try to find a flats area on an inside turn with a depth of about five to ten feet deep. Yes we will be concentrating shallow and you may even go shallower.

Getting set up:
You will want to drill as many holes as you can at the start of getting in the area if you are using a power auger so as to let the fish settle down by the time you are ready to fish. If you are using a hand auger just drill a few to give your self a starting point. Now there is some mixed reaction as to the fishes action to power on non power auger activity above them so consider this the more noise you make there is an increased chance of momentarily spooking the fish. Where to drill is much that same as in the deep. You will want to cut series of holes covering varying depths as to best cover the area.

Techniques:
Yes there are techniques and hopefully you will have all the options. This is the one area where both the technologically savvy and the basic can both succeed. For the techno men that are out there on a bucket you can fish for these fish by first locating them on your sonar and using your favorite micro presentation to get the job done. This techno approach is especially important when fishing in stained water. For those lakes with clear water this is where the fun will start. Now for many this will be new but highly effective. So if you are currently fishing from a bucket and are getting frustrated with catching few fish in these shallow areas time to get inside. Yup come in out of a cold and get into a shelter. There are many but the key here is to have it dark inside. The concept is basic at best, you will be sight fishing. That is correct fishing and catching the very fish that you see. Now this may sound simple and it is but there are a few things that you must do to ensure success. First remember if you can see the fish then it is highly likely they can see you so try not to wear any bright clothing and keep your movements at a minimum. Second slow down and lower your presentation down the hole as opposed to dropping in on them. As you are jigging it is subtle movements of an inch or two that will seal the deal. Your jigging should be of a steady vibrating movement with brief pauses and in the event of no response try this at different depths by lowering past the fish but more effectively by going above them. Now these jigging techniques can be used by the angler fishing with out a shelter or with out the use of sonar. Although since the focus is on sight fishing I will digress. If your presentation is not getting a reaction then now it is time to speed things up and jig a little more aggressively while maintaining a fluid life like movement with the jig. And if still no reaction then it is time to switch jigs. Remember since you can see them now is the time for experimentation and to let the fish show you what they want.

Conclusion:
If you are to try this for the first time don’t get discouraged if you do not see fish directly below the hole as soon as you start fishing some of the times they may be lurking just outside of your sight and will come in to see our offerings. So be patient and give your presentation a little aggressive vibration and wait to see who is just below you looking for a meal. You may be surprised by the numbers so brace yourself and don’t fall off your seat. As with all other ice fishing situations be mobile, be stealthy and fish efficiently. So if you are not getting activity within a reasonable amount of time move off to another hole and try again. For every hole you try, you are essentially making another cast. So remember the next time you hit the hard water tread lightly since you are walking on the backs of fish.

A good strategy is key.

Getting Started
Are You really ready to take the plunge into your tournament? I bet you cannot wait, but hold up you will have to get your fish in a row before you are fully ready for the big day. All tournaments can be approached in the same manner and there is a check list that will help you be ready for your win.

Info Gathering
Now this is part poker and part reconnaissance at times so beware not all sources are willing to give all the info but sometimes it is not what they are giving but what they are not giving that you seek. When looking for a place to ask questions go to the local bait shop. These are places that hold a wealth of information but sometimes the information is not readily available so you have to be patient. Do not expect to learn everything in the first visit but be looking to the answers you seek hidden in your conversation. Ask how the fish have been biting, where the access is & what the favorite jig is. The favorite jig is tricky but with good observation this may be revealed. Look at the selection available and usually the one that is in short supply may be the one you seek or may indicate the style that you should try. In some locations you may discover that all of the jigs are of a small horizontal design or are of a vertical presentation style. Bait shops tend to stock the largest variety of styles that the anglers prefer to use.

Time for a little on the lake reconnaissance. Take a walk and see where the crowds are fishing. There are usually some common threads amongst the crowds such as bottom structure or weed beds.This information can be interpreted through observation or through the studying of your maps. While at the lake it does not hurt to venture out without your gear. Take this opportunity to talk to some of the other anglers. Look for some of the seasoned veterans on the lake as these are the ones that may bear the most info. Share info with them as well although be cautious of revealing the fact that you have plans on fishing an event there. This is where you people & poker skills come into play. If you are sharing info with them be appreciative of their time and even hare a few jig and pointers to help improve their day as well.

Homework
This is the modern age. There is so much information available at your finger tips and you have to learn how to find this information. Here is the list, 1.contour maps, 2. satellite images & 3. fishing forums. Lake maps are an absolute must have and fortunately there are many sources of maps available. The most readily available are the free maps produced by your states fisheries department. In today’s modern age most can be found on the states department of environmental conservation website or department of natural resources website. If not there contact the regional office and most likely an individual there will be able to help you. If paper mapping is not enough then check with any number of the digital varieties such as those made by Garmin (http://www.garmin.com/garmin/cms/site/us), Navionics (http://www.navionics.com/) or DeLorme (http://www.delorme.com/default.aspx). Most of these are in formats that are for both reviewing at home on your PC and on the water with devices that are either hand held or for mounting with GPS and mapping capabilities. Satellite images and areal photos will show weed lines and hopefully break lines or channels within these weeds. Fishing forums are a hot bed of discussion for reports on lake conditions to guys bragging on their catches.

Dissecting a Lake
The pieces are starting to come together. You have done your information gathering and map research. This if done properly will have yielded you enough information that would overwhelm the average angler. The map is the base of this puzzle that you will piece together. Look at this map and study it for contour changes, funnels, flats, humps, inside turns and changes that would draw or hold fish. Next layer this with the satellite images that you have and look for weed lines and breaks that coincide with some of the key fish holding structures that you have found on the contour map. The last piece is one of the more complex and this is the human element. All of the conversations that have occurred and all the forums that have been read lead to places being pointed out on the map. As you look at each one of these places you will see the puzzle transform into a treasure map.

Prefishing
Time for all of this home work to be applied. Hopefully through this you have gained multiple possible locations that you plan on finding fish. This is where the fun begins. As you approach the lake try to target areas that have differing characteristics and try to fish them in similar times of day and yes prefishing ideally will take more than a couple days. The reason for this is you will be looking for areas that will hold the best opportunities for the hours of your event. While going through the locations try not to focus in on areas that are all similar by doing this you will be drastically limiting your options. As you fish areas the more holes you drill the better the coverage that you will have. By thinking of each hole as a cast you will quickly discover that the more holes you drill the better coverage you will have and the faster you can learn an area. As an example: if you are to approach a small cove it is best to not only cover the contour curve through the cove but to cover the transitions within this cove in a grid pattern covering all of the depths through the area. As another example: if you are to investigate a basin you will want to widen your grid and try to cover this basin from the edges of the basin into centers. Let’s say you have found the fish that you are perusing it is best not to continually keep pounding that area but to turn away with the location marked in your GPS.

Tournament Day
With multiple locations hopefully found it is now time for your personal discipline and judgment to guide you on tournament day. There are multiple strategies that can be applied at this point. Go for the gold, this is finding an area that you know has large fish but limited numbers with the hopes of striking it big. Safety in numbers, this is finding an area that has a large group of fish and working it to hopefully find the combined weight that you are looking for. Which ever you choose stick with it and the game is not over until you reach the scales.

Boom Lake Crappie Love

Rhinelander, WI - The city of Rhinelander, WI is internationally known as the “Home of the Hodag”.  Now, the mythical beast will get even more attention as the city is officially, “The Ice Fishing Capital of the World”.

The declaration, awarded this week to the city was filed by Mike Michalak on behalf of his company NorthPro Video, LLC.  Michalak is also a consultant with the North American Ice Fishing Circuit (NAIFC).  “The organization has held two national championships here the last couple years in addition to several qualifying events”, Michalak said.  “They were also the main thrust in getting the World Championships to Rhinelander in March, the first time it’s ever been held in America.”

Michalak, along with Brian Gaber, the director of operations for the World event, began talking about the designation as the tournament was wrapping up.  Gaber said, “Something like this doesn’t come along everyday and we now have the clout to back up the statement.”  Michalak added, “It also doesn’t hurt to have one of the highest concentrations of freshwater lakes on the planet within a 10 mile radius of the city.”  His ties to fishing in general run deep as producer and host of the popular television show, The 60-Second Angler.  Michalak secured the designation by petitioning the Secretary of State’s office in Madison.  The document now bears Doug LaFollette’s signature.

“Oh, Boy!”  That was the reaction of Mayor Dick Johns when he was informed.  “This is more than expected but certainly deserved.  This community really pulled together and I’m proud of that”.

While largely ceremonial, the declaration gives Rhinelander bragging rights to a sport that’s enjoyed by many across the snow belt and obviously around the world.  Michalak said, “People are still talking about the downtown parade and if we’re able to host the World Championship again.  We have a couple years to wait the way these events are run but you can bet we’ll be in the hunt”.

Greg "The Prowler" Wilczynski, Coach of the USA Ice Team

Thursday

It’s nearly midnight on Thursday, just two days before Round 1 of the 2010 World Ice Fishing Championship.  I’m sitting at a makeshift work area in the basement of Big Pine Lodge at Holiday Acres Resort in Rhinelander, WI, the headquarters and temporary home of the USA Ice Team for championship week.  Planted in front of my ancient laptop, I’m pounding the keys in an effort to put the finishing touches on the software that will run the giant overhead scoreboard during weigh-in, and I keep getting distracted.  You see, I can hear, quite clearly, the team meeting taking place a floor above.  Normally I can pretty much work through a hurricane, but something about this meeting has really piqued my interest.

So I decide to give in and assume a fully committed eavesdropping stance (you figure it out), and as the meeting progresses, I recognize something in the exchange that I have only seen on a handful of occasions.  Something intangible that only seems to happen under the right conditions - like, say, simultaneous planetary alignment and the finding of your car keys.  Actually that’s a pretty good analogy.  I hesitate to say that it’s the point when everything clicks into place - because I have witnessed things that were “firmly clicked” or “well-gelled” fail miserably.  No, it’s much more subtle, fragile and rare - like the pre-dawn aroma emanating from a your favorite bakery, today’s special being the secret recipe for inevitable success, the core ingredients of which seem to be talent, preparation, confidence, and willpower. Surely someone since the dawn of man has come up with a word for this “intangible thing”, or maybe not.  Either way, I’ve always liked the idea of making up new words for stuff.

By now, my head hurts and my left leg is beginning to cramp, so I straighten out of my eavesdropping stance.  The meeting is over, and I can hear a few of the guys stepping out onto the deck for some fresh air.  I decide to join them.  Greg “The Prowler” Wilczynski, Coach of the USA Ice Team, is there.  I’m curious to see if I’m right about my “intangible thing” theory, so I approach Greg and mention that I thought things sounded like they were on track.  His response seals it for me.  Not that he says anything specific, like, “We’re going to win,” or anything approaching it.  No, Greg is his usual humble, stoic self, offering a realist’s perspective in his patented soft-spoken, no-nonsense fashion in heavily accented English.  Nobody can predict the future, but at this point I’m fairly certain that Team USA and its fans are going to thoroughly enjoy the weekend.

I consider team sport fishing to be a unique challenge at this level, especially if you’re a coach.  It’s like a cross between an all-star game and a track meet, where both individual and team performance are equally important.  Like in an all-star game, you have the best talent in the nation, each bringing their own experiences, habits, methods, ideas, baggage, attitudes and, yes, egos, each one used to doing things their own way.  As in a track meet, the team score is an aggregate of each individual’s score.  In other words, no single angler can have an “off” day.  The team simply can’t afford it.  So, you can probably imagine how, once on the ice, it would be fairly easy for an individual angler to cave into the enormous pressure to perform, slip into old habits and forget all about that silly team strategy in favor of whatever has worked well for them - despite being in a wholly different scenario.  If you’re a coach, establishing a sound and adaptable team strategy under these circumstances is difficult enough.  Getting everyone on the team to first set aside “self”, and then to drink, eat, breathe and even dream about the team Cool-Aid is nearly impossible.  Nearly…

Friday

All eleven teams are gathered in the main lodge at Holiday Acres Resort for the evening meal, following a full day of prefishing and strategy-making on Boom Lake.  I’m tucking into my astonishingly tasty entrée, thinking that somebody ought to give Chef Tom his own cooking show.  Between these savory bites of edible perfection, I check out the competition seated at the other tables, looking for signs of the “intangible thing”.  I don’t see it, but I’m quick to remind myself that my perception here really doesn’t amount to much.  These are the best ice anglers in the world, after all.  I’m not going to gain much insight on their preparedness from watching them chew.

Over more fresh air back at Big Pine, I catch a moment with Greg before the team meeting to ask him how he thought the day went.  He offers nothing to diminish my theory about the “intangible thing”; however the anxiety that comes from being mere hours away from the big event is evident in everyone.

Team USA gets little sleep this night.

Saturday - Round 1

It’s around 4:30 on Saturday morning and something has drawn me from my slumber in the basement hide-a-bed.  The lodge is dead silent.  And it’s colder than it should be, I think.  Still half asleep and completely disoriented, I stand up and begin my habitual shuffle toward the bathroom, immediately smacking into an end table and making what seems an ungodly racket in the odd silence.  Knee recovering and fully alert now, I realize, hey, it’s pretty dark in here.  Way too dark.  So instead I stumble through a ridiculous gauntlet of strategically positioned and seemingly booby-trapped furniture toward the far wall where I vaguely remember the light switch to be.  Arriving intact, I flip the switch.  Request denied.  I flip it again, checking to see if the switch was just kidding the first time.  It wasn’t.  The power is out.  Perfect, I quip, as I trip my way upstairs to wake everybody up.

Brain fog causes several of the guys to question the coincidence, and theories of sabotage abound until we realize that the entire neighborhood is dark as well.  Simmered, the team begins preparing for the day.  I head over to the main lodge to assist in the effort of going door-to-door waking the other teams and handing out tea-lights.  Throughout all of this, I begin to question the resilience of the “intangible thing”, realizing that even a tiny dash of unexpected circumstances could either make or ruin everything.  I hope none of the guys are quite as superstitious as I seem to have become.

With several other last-minute crises averted, sector assignments finalized, teams fed and transported to the fishing grounds on time, I mingle throughout the pockets of anglers gathered at the launch site on Boom Lake.  Sector judges, officials and event coordinators bustle about in anticipation of the launch, a massive march of anglers out onto the ice, now only minutes away.  Photographers, videographers and reporters scramble to get that last pre-event interview or series of killer shots.  Backs are slapped, hugs are shared and hands are firmly shaken in good will amongst all those present.  Phrases like, “Good luck,” and “Slay ‘em,” overlap in several languages; at least I assume that’s what they’re saying.  I weave my way over to Team USA, and find it difficult to contain my emotion as I look each of them in the eye and wish them well.  I know how hard they have worked for this moment. And watching from the launch as the herd of international anglers slowly makes its way across the ice and toward a destiny shared by few, I mutter aloud, “What a beautiful day.”

Throughout the morning, I am approached by several enthusiastic fans and spectators who have wandered off the ice and into the enormous tent that will serve as the weight-in venue, where I am stationed.  I am able to glean some information on how Team USA is performing, and I wish I had time to venture onto the ice myself.  The intermittent news is reassuring, and I get the impression they are holding their own.

It’s nearly 12:30 now, and the anglers are off the ice.  Round 1 fishing is complete, and the weigh-in is about to begin.  Sector judges and officials are offloading the 55 tagged and sealed buckets of fish to be weighed, and anglers, spectators and press eagerly crowd into the tent.  It is packed in here.  I catch up with Mike McNett, Captain of the USA Ice Team, and ask him how we did.  “Middle of the pack,” he casually responds with a blank expression, and then hurries off to direct traffic.  Hmm.  Knowing Mike, this can be interpreted in several ways so I decide not to hurt myself thinking about it.

The weigh-in begins, and as it progresses, it becomes evident that Team USA will wind up somewhere in the top three.  This little fact sinks in, and almost at once a completely paranoid thought begins to overwhelm it in my overstressed brain: I somehow screwed up the scoring software… missed a semicolon or an entire line of bad code or something…  Oh my God!  I think this insane thought despite all that previous stuff about “intangible things” and “just knowing”…  After all, we did finish dead last in Poland last year, and I’ve never been great at math…  I begin to formulate a plan for my stealthy escape from the tent, then from Rhinelander, then from the planet.  Collecting myself from underneath the scoring table, I run a quick visual check of the numbers and realize that the software is just fine.  Team USA is indeed climbing in the ranks, and extreme pride replaces my paranoia in an instant.

With the Round 1 weigh-in complete, the numbers checked and rechecked, Team USA finds itself in first place, with Mike Boedeker currently in third place in the individual rankings.  Not bad, I think, as dozens of cameras capture the now static ten-foot-wide overhead scoreboard displaying those unthinkable results in full color Hi-Definition splendor.  Not bad at all. Back at Big Pine Lodge, a few of the team are gathered around the TV to watch the local press coverage, reflect upon the day and generally bask in the glory of being excellent.  Emotions run thick in the room, with nary a dry eye amongst these typically rough & tough outdoorsmen. Nobody really expected this.  Not really.  And it’s an amazing feeling.

Team USA gets even less sleep tonight.

Sunday - Round 2

The same stuff pretty much happens this morning, sans the blackout and impromptu door-to-door wake-up service.  A few teams, including Team USA, have made angler substitutions for the second round as sector assignments are finalized.  Regardless of how this day unfolds for Team USA, we have certainly earned the respect of our peers.  Back on the fishing grounds, this is all too apparent in the body language of most anglers as they line up to march out onto the ice once again.  It’s a new day, and they will be gunning for us.

I take a pre-launch walk over to chat with the legendary Dave Genz, Consultant to Team USA, who is sitting atop his parked snowmobile a few yards from shore, watching the anglers make their last minute preparations.  He points out how we really lucked out with the weather, and that the ice will likely have melted too far from shore by tomorrow.  Indeed he is correct.  There is standing water all along the shoreline, and we are forced to block off most of it, including a man-sized hole in the ice, with some crime scene tape and a few folding chairs.  The temperature is already in the mid-fifties and climbing, with a predicted high of sixty-five.  The resulting fog bank from the sudden melt-off envelopes Boom Lake this morning, and we speculate about what effect, if any, this will have on the bite.

I wander back onto shore, navigating through more hugs, handshakes, back-slaps and slay ‘ems.  Upon reaching them, I can see that the “intangible thing” has not abandoned Team USA, each angler clearly not willing settle for anything less than all out victory.  I momentarily crack their concentration to once again wish each of them well, and make my way back to the big-top to do my behind-the-scenes thing.  By nine, the fog has lifted and the sun is shining brightly.  I reluctantly shed my team parka and think, wow, another beautiful day.

Sunday’s weigh-in is truly something special, and although it is extremely difficult, I manage to perform my duties with a measure of emotional detachment.  Team USA never moves out of first place, ending up with three anglers in the individual top ten, Mike Boedeker taking first place, Doug Bussian taking fifth, and Bill Whiteside taking sixth.  This is really going to turn some heads, I muse, grinning like the proverbial cat. I knew it all along.

A better writer might be able to communicate the experience of winning a world championship, the enormity of the thing, the emotional intensity.  I simply can’t find the words. For now, it will have to be enough to say that I am both immeasurably thankful and proud to have played a small part in this remarkable victory for the USA Ice Team, and indeed, for freshwater sport fishing throughout the United States.

And as for putting a name to that “intangible thing”, we should probably let Webster’s take a crack at it first.  But I’ll be sure and let them know that “Champion” has a particularly nice ring to it, don’t you agree?

USA Ice Team Wins Gold at the World Ice Fishing Championship

By Paul A. Smith of the Journal Sentinel

Holding fast to its Day 1 lead, the USA Ice Team surprised a field of experienced international anglers and won the 2010 World Ice Fishing Championship in Rhinelander. “We thought we’d be happy with something in the middle of the pack,” said team captain Mike McNett of Lombard, Ill. “Tell me I’m not imagining it.” There it was, the crystal WIFC first place trophy, as brilliant as the ice of Boom Lake under a late winter sun and as solid as the congratulatory hugs of fellow competitors. Murmurs of “USA, USA” rose from the standing room-only crowd in the Hodag Park weigh-in tent as the result became apparent.

The U.S. finished first, with 39 points in the International Angling Confederation scoring system. Points are determined by weight of fish caught and the order in which anglers finish in the five daily fishing sections. Competition took place from 9 a.m. to noon Saturday and Sunday on Boom Lake, a flowage on the Wisconsin River. Poland finished second (54 points)and Russia took third (56). In order, the rest of the finishers were: Latvia, Lithuania, Kazakhstan, Finland, Estonia, Sweden, Ukraine and Canada.

The good news didn’t end there for the Americans: Mike Boedeker of Lansing, Mich. took the individual gold medal. He caught 2.630 kilograms of fish and finished first in his Saturday section and third on Sunday; Folke Andersson of Sweden took the silver medal, and Tomasz Nysztal of Poland earned the bronze.

The U.S. team had a distinct Midwestern accent, including several Wisconsinites. In addition to Boedeker, the American anglers were: Doug Bussian, Columbus, Wis.;Tony Boshold, Carol Stream, Ill.; Bill Whiteside, Eau Claire, Wis.; Myron Gilbert, Brooklyn, Mich; and Bob Esbensen, Palatine, IL. The team also included coach Greg Wilczynski of Pleasant Prairie, Wis., team captain Mike McNett of Lombard, IL., International Delegate Joel McDearmon of Tomah, Wis. and technical directors Christian Ward of Chaska, MN. and Brian Gaber of Rhinelander, Wis.

The home ice advantage clearly helped the U.S. team. The European ice anglers are accustomed to catching more but smaller fish such as roaches and bream. And since ground baiting (the practice of spreading bread crumbs or other food to attract fish) was disallowed by the international judges for the 2010 event, the competitors had to rely only on baited hooks. In addition, Gaber of Rhinelander, a technical director of the U.S. squad, had spent hundreds of hours mapping the waters of Boom Lake and scouting in advance of the event.

But this was only the second time the U.S. had entered a team in the competition. Last year, at the WIFC in Poland, the American finished last. In the annals of international upsets on the ice, it’s not likely to be mentioned in the same breath as the U.S. hockey team taking gold at the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid. But nobody expected this.

“They did what they’re good at, catching panfish in highly pressured water under very tough conditions,” said WIFC official Lee Young of Green Bay. “Hats off to them.”

Competitors weighed mostly bluegill and crappie and some yellow perch. Game fish were disallowed. Rules also prohibited power augers and fish finders, underwater cameras or electronics of any kind. Most catches were made on tiny ice jigs tipped with wax worms or spikes. Although most European anglers fished tight to the bottom, Boedeker said he and his U.S. teammates did well by fishing for suspended fish.

“I also think its unprecedented in international competition to go from zeros to heroes in just the span of one year,” said Young, an angler with over 25 years of international experience.

It was enough to make the Godfather cry. “I don’t know if I could be any prouder,” said a teary-eyed Dave Genz of St. Cloud, Minn., widely known as the Godfather of modern ice fishing and official ambassador at the WIFC.

The fishing conditions were described as “tough,” especially Sunday as high pressure and sunny skies moved in. The entire U.S. team, including Doug Bussian of Columbus, Wis. and Bill Whiteside of Eau Claire., turned in impressive performances both days. Bussian placed third in his section Saturday and second Sunday. Whiteside placed second Sunday in Sector A.

The atmosphere in the weigh-in tent remained tense as the first three sections were announced. But when Bussian weighed 1.385 kilograms of fish and placed second, the U.S. team members started to believe a win was possible. And when Boedeker, the anchor, weighed 1.495 kilograms and took third in Sector E, the final result was assured. The cramped tent became a sea of hugging parkas as USA Ice Team and several other squads, including Poland, erupted in spontaneous emotion.

The WIFC awards no monetary prizes, only team trophies and individual medals. That’s not to mention honor, respect and a few other things anglers know well. “Bragging rights for the whole year over some of the best anglers on the planet,” said Bussian, a tournament-proven angler who nevertheless carried a penny he found on the ice opening day. “That’s going to feel good.”

The countdown to the 2010 World Ice Fishing Championship (WIFC) is underway. For the first time in the United States this prestigious tournament found a home in Rhinelander, WI March 12-14, 2010. Eleven countries will be represented when they take to the frozen waters of Boom Lake.

Similar in many ways to the Olympics, teams from around the world come together at the WIFC to compete for the championship title in both team and individual events. Each team consists of five anglers with one alternate, a captain and coach. Most teams will also bring support personnel, trainers and managers.

The 2010 USA Ice Team roster of six anglers was determined by a combination of selection and trial competition based on performance. The coaching staff selected two team veterans, while the four remaining roster spots were determined by performance in a series of trial tournaments designed to echo the conditions of the WIFC. The trial series’ final event was held on Lake Thompson over the weekend. Making the 2010 team are:

• Doug Bussian, Columbus, WI
• Mike Boedeker, Lansing, MI
• Tony Boshold, Carol Stream, IL
• Billy Whiteside, Eau Claire, WI
• Myron Gilbert, Brooklyn, MI
• Bob Esbensen, Palatine, IL

View Results »

The competitors will be joined by Coach Greg Wilcznski of Pleasant Prairie, WI, Team Captain Mike McNett of Lombard, IL, International Delegate Joel McDearmon of Tomah, WI and Technical Directors Christian Ward of Chaska, MN and Brian Gaber of Rhinelander, WI.

The tournament is a true test of one’s fishing skills, determination and endurance. The rules prohibit the use of power augers or electronics of any kind. The anglers must rely on intuition, research, experience and stamina to find and ultimately catch fish. The ice on Boom Lake will be over two feet thick, something the European teams are not accustomed to as hand augers have to be used. Champions are crowned after two grueling days of competition with placement based on the total weight of fish caught by each team. Each team member is given a number according to their placement for the day and each day’s numbers are added, determining the winner with the lowest number. Ties are broken by the heaviest combined weight in the tournament.

The countries represented include: Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Sweden, Canada and the USA. Panfish will be the target with only live bait allowed.

The WIFC is sponsored locally by Downtown Rhinelander, Inc., Rhinelander Area Chamber of Commerce and Rhinelander Room Tax Committee who’ve combined for a weekend celebration complete with a Parade of Nations, ice shanty pageant, live entertainment, kids fishing clinics and more. The festivities begin Friday afternoon (March 12) at 3:00.

For more information contact: Mike Michalak (715) 362-4778 or mike@northprovideo.com

Anglers Take the Ice

In the final qualifying event of the 2010 NAIFC tournament season, the ice belt’s finest anglers traveled to northern Wisconsin’s Lake Thompson-a relatively small natural lake near Rhinelander. At approximately 400 acres, Thompson offered the competitors three distinct basin sections, from the deeper, structure laden western basin to the shallow, featureless upper section. In addition to being the last chance to qualify for the December NAIFC Championship, the Lake Thompson event, held Saturday, February 21, also offered anglers one more chance to achieve Team of the Year honors.

Going in, most of the anglers realized that plucking limits of both bluegills and crappies would require time spent in two divergent habitats. Like many Wisconsin lakes and flowages, Thompson’s bottom has over the years been augmented by countless sunken cribs-artificial wood and brush structures that create cover for bluegills, bass and other fish. Although many anglers knew that bluegill schools were holding amongst these artificial reefs, few knew precisely where the larger specimens were positioned within each crib.

While occasionally present on the cribs as well, most of the black crappies wandered in small groups above 25 to 30 foot basin sections, or holes within an otherwise flat bottom. Many of the teams found fish by drilling countless holes and sonar metering over these deeper areas. Staying on crappies, however, proved the real challenge, as schools remained on a perpetual pattern of movement. A recurrent theme found anglers catching one or two fish before the school would vanish. By day’s end, some of the successful teams simply drilled more holes, sorting through larger numbers of crappies to find eight large weigh fish.

Among these teams were brothers Bob and Neil Jacobson, from Hatley, Wisconsin. Prior to a single practice day the Saturday before the tournament, the duo had never fished Thompson, which lies just an hour north of their homes. Nonetheless, the Jacobsons managed to craft a keen fish-catching plan. “We really didn’t do a lot of prefishing,” said Neil. “We go a hold of the best lakemap we could find, then just started to cover water. Our gameplan was to get our ‘gills first, then chase crappies.”

Like a lot of the top teams on the NAIFC, the Jacobsons relied on a MarCum underwater camera when setting out to identify fish location. “We started looking at several specific fish cribs, and the MarCum 825 revealed a key clue that probably won the tournament for us. There were bluegills all around the cribs, but most of them were small. We dropped the lens into the middle of the crib, and saw some larger fish lying right on bottom, tight to the mess of wood and brush.”

On tournament day, the Jacobsons were the first team to reach their top spot-an eight- by eight-foot crib-and immediately positioned themselves as close to key pieces of cover as possible. “You had to fish right in among the wood, but you first had to quickly get your bait past all the smaller fish lying higher up in the water column. Our MarCum LX-3 flashers also helped our cause in that we were able to separate fish from bottom, as well as our jigs from the tangle of cover where the bigger ‘gills were living. We lost quite a few jigs to snags, but it was absolutely necessary, because if you weren’t occasionally hanging up, your bait wasn’t near the larger fish.”

While Neil used a small jig and plastic combination, brother Bob opted for a jig tipped with a single live maggot. Color, the team found, wasn’t a major factor, although they both settled on chartreuse horizontal jigs, such as a Fiskas Wolfram or Northland Mud Bug. Neil added a single white Little Atom Nuggie tail. “The bigger ‘gills weren’t super aggressive,” Jacobson reported. “You had to really work on each fish to get him to bite.”

Upon landing their eighth respectable bluegill, the brothers decided to start chasing crappies. “We moved to the openwater, where we started ‘trolling.’ Bob drilled, while I followed with the LX-3, checking for the presence of suspended fish. We found that the bigger crappies were higher in the water column, as much as 15 feet above bottom over the 24-foot basin. When I’d mark a few fish, I’d signal to Bob, and we’d start fishing. It was a lot of work, because the fish were always moving, and you had to move with them. We also switched to a slightly heavier Fiskas jig.” Tungsten, a lead alternative, is twice as heavy as lead, and allowed the team to get their baits in front of moving crappies fast-another important refinement that helped spell eventual success.

Keeping on the move proved a wise idea, for hot on their heels were the perennially hot team of Jim Kusuda and Terry Rogers. Like the Jacobsons, Kusuda and Rogers used an underwater camera to scout certain key fish cribs. “Some friends of ours have used a Humminbird Side Imaging sonar to identify a bunch of the better cribs on Thompson,” stated Kusuda. “We help them out with spots and fishing information, and they often return the favor. On our best crib, Terry moved the lens to the center of the crib and spotted some nice ‘gills there. It was a clear bottom sort of in the corner of the middle of the crib.”

Kusuda and Rogers used Fiskas jigs dressed with maggots. Their key bluegill bait was a #3 gold Fiskas jig with a gold bead and one “spike” (maggot.) “We’d drop the jig to the bottom, and slowly work it up from there, attempting to entice a bite from one of these larger ‘gills. We lost quite a few jigs in the cribs, but we also caught a lot of fish-sorting out the smaller ‘gills to get to our eight heaviest.” To expedite the sorting process, Kusuda used a gram scale to filter out smaller fish by fractions of a pound.

After spending the first 2 hours on their crib spot, the team started walking through previously drilled holes in the 22-foot basin, scanning for crappies with their sonar units. “In an hour and a half we caught a bunch of crappies, but few keepers. We then recalled seeing a bunch of locals set up on a different spot five minutes away. We headed over to this point, moved off into deeper water nearby, and immediately got into nicer fish.”

Kusuda began the crappie parade with a slightly heavier 5mm Fiskas jig dressed with a “bubble gum” colored Little Atom Micro Nuggie. “I showed Terry my jig, and he put on a pink colored plastic, which is slightly different than bubble gum, but started catching fish too.”

Short on time and a few more weigh-fish, Kusuda began putting crappies on his scale, finally icing and weighing their two largest crappies in the final 20-minutes of the day.

At the weigh-in many anglers acknowledged the lake’s abundant bluegill population, while also noting difficulties locating and catching the larger individuals. Likewise with crappies, fish schools were quickly evident throughout the basin, although finding fish above 10-inches proved a challenge. Clearly, though, most had enjoyed a great day on the ice-beautiful weather and cooperative fish amid a structure-rich body of water.

Nearly all the teams who found the larger bluegills relied on MarCum underwater cameras to identify their position close to bottom, within the crib structure itself. Others, such as notable angler Tony Boshold, used his MarCum 380 in the down-view mode to determine the precise position to drill a hole.  Small openings in each crib allowed for a jig to be slipped through the wood to bottom, where the big ‘gills awaited. Down-viewing also let Boshold and others monitor fish response to their presentation.

The eventual winners, Bob and Neil Jacobson, who weighed 16 fish for 4.43-pounds, credited their underwater camera, as well. Second place went to Jim Kusuda and Terry Rogers, who iced another of the 29 sixteen fish limits, and weighed 4.17-pounds.

Yet to be determined was the coveted Team of the Year title. Following high finishes at Richmond Lake, SD (3^rd), Little Wissota, WI (7^th), Hamlin, MI (4^th), and Delavan, WI (6^th), IceMen Jacek Gawlinski and Zbigniew Wojcik ultimately held off hard-charging Jim Kusuda and Terry Rogers, for a final 65 points and Team of the Year. You can read about this dynamic angling team in future NAIFC news releases. On December 18, 2010 the NAIFC’s top 75 teams gather for the Championship, right back in Rhinelander, Wisconsin on a lake that’s yet to be announced. Stay tuned ice fans.

Midwinter Crappies

At a trio of recent North American Ice Fishing Circuit tournaments two familiar themes persisted. Following the 2009 Championship and the season’s first qualifying event on Richmond Lake, South Dakota, successful anglers were the ones using a well-tuned sonar unit in conjunction with select jig-micro plastic combinations.

Little Lake Wissota, Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin – Sunday, January 24

At Little Lake Wissota, as in previous events, adverse weather and fussy panfish were the dilemmas. For successful anglers, elite electronics and picky presentations provided the cure. Saturday, January 23, the eve of the tournament, a substantial rainshower washed the ice with up to three inches of standing water. Meanwhile, at pre-event activities, things were looking decidedly better. The Kids Ice Camp hosted a record 370 youth anglers and their parents for a total turnout of over 500 participants. Similarly, well-known anglers Tony Boshold and Jim Kusuda presented seminars to packed houses. Lots of learning was punctuated by a plentitude of fun. The friendly citizens of Chippewa Falls, as it turned out, provided for a pleasant, hospitable venue.

As Sunday morning dawned, competitors found themselves faced with rapidly dropping air temperatures, major wind changes and a switch from rain to snow. Predictably, the weather switch didn’t go unnoticed by the fish—what had previously been a steady bite quickly dissolved into a game of pulling panfish teeth.

Finding fish didn’t appear to be the issue. Most teams, it seemed, had fish on the screens of their flashers. Enticing them to bite, on the other hand, was the tricky part. Those anglers who did fool fish mostly caught bluegills only or exclusively crappies. By and large, the two species were using vastly divergent areas. In the deeper zones, crappies hid from most flasher signals within incredibly dense colonies of copepods, a common zooplankton specie known to nourish large panfish. Interestingly, competitors using MarCum flashers reported that they were able to use their units’ “fine line” function to tune out the zooplankton clutter, effectively separating the clouds from the bigger panfish. Users of other sonar brands appeared to encounter greater difficultly differentiating signals on the bottom.

Separately, local anglers Jim Geissler and Wes Schmidt had previously identified a number of premium shallower spots, whose fish were seemingly less affected by the pressure change. “We have a couple really productive cribs marked on our GPS,” said Geissler. “Our top spots are brush piles that lay up against a nice weedbed in 12 to 15 feet of water.” These areas, Geissler noted, held mostly bluegills.

“The ‘gills in these spots gather right along the edges of the cribs, and you’ve got to work them with your jig to get them to commit.” Geissler, who calls Wissota his favorite lake, reported that he and partner Schmidt worked tiny orange and silver-backed teardrop jigs tipped with two maggots. Occasionally, they switched over to a waxworm for particularly negative bluegills. “For us the key was to drop the jig to just above bottom, then keep the jig bouncing and moving constantly. You had to convince the fish to rise off bottom; once they came up 6-inches, they’d bite every time.”

Soon, having put seven ‘gills on the ice, the team opted to move over and chase crappies on one of their deepwater spots. Fishing a 27 to 30-foot soft-bottomed lake basin area, the duo enticed an additional six crappies. “I’m a minnow dunker,” reported Geissler. “We tried jigging the crappies first, but soon switched to a small plain hook with a split shot, and a small minnow. When crappies get tough, it’s hard to beat a live minnow on a plain hook.”

As late morning moved into afternoon, fish bit slightly better, though for most of the competitors, it was too late. The anglers who finally enticed bites and weighed fish mostly used fluorescent or glow colored jigs in the dingy water, relying on MarCum flashers to separate fish from the clutter that inundated bottom in most deeper locations.
At the weigh-in the difficult conditions were confirmed, as just over half of the talented field of anglers had scored fish. Geissler and Schmidt weighed thirteen panfish for 5.64-pounds, outdistancing the next closest team by six fish and nearly two pounds.

View results from Little Lake Wissota »

Hamlin Lake, Ludington, Michigan - Sunday, January 31

The scenic harbor town of Ludington played host to the next stop on the NAIFC trail. Set in a grand forested landscape that’s punctuated by Lake Michigan sand dunes, Hamlin Lake is nearly 5,000 acres of quality panfish water, stretching over twelve miles from end to end. Indeed, the biggest issue facing the ice-angling competitors wasn’t how to make them bite, but how to find fish within so much potentially productive water.

Having never fished the lake until this year, the father and son team of Steve and Brian Romsek spent four days prefishing the event. Ultimately, it was time well spent on the vast inland lake. “After a lot of searching we found good bluegills on a soft bottom flat in 18 feet of water,” said the younger Brian, a resident of Grand Rapids. “The spot was free of weeds, though not far removed from them. We specifically targeted ‘gills in the weed-free areas, because we felt most competitors would be crowded into these more popular spots.”

The strategy paid off, as the Romseks had their spot all to themselves on tournament morning. Like most of the topflight anglers, the team relied on tungsten jigs and micro plastics. “The best baits for the ‘gills were 4mm gold Fiskas jigs with a glow bead and dressed with a Little Atom glow Nuggie,” Romsek stated. “This presentation prevented the small perch and shiners from constantly taking us out of the game. We took a few nice ‘gills right away, then had to downsize to 3mm yellow Fiskas and add one or two spikes (maggots). We also had to really slow down our presentation. A few very slow pumps would bring fish in and up off the bottom, but you had to hold the bait almost motionless to trigger a strike.”

By ten o’clock, having waylaid a number of good ‘gills, the Romseks headed to one of their two crappie spots. “We had two big schools of crappies located that were suspended 4 to 8 feet off bottom over 30 feet of water.” After striking out on their first spot, the father-son team started triggering crappies on their backup location.

“By jigging aggressively above them, we were able to turn them on. Once we found the right jig stroke, it was one crappie after another.” By 12:30pm, by once again using 4mm Fiskas jigs with glow Nuggies, the Romseks had their fish, and started sorting through fish to upsize their crappie limit.

While presentation was important to triggering bites, the younger Romsek credited MarCum electronics for finding fish, and identifying the right ones. “With my LX-5 flasher I was able to differentiate the tiny perch and shiners from the larger panfish. The little fish were constantly pestering us, and having the ability to fine tune the flasher and ID the right fish saved a lot of time and hassle.”

Romsek also used electronics to find the team’s winning fish schools. “In prefishing we used a MarCum VS380 underwater camera to find our bluegills, and the flasher to identify suspended crappies while searching large basins. The camera was key for scouting the right bottom types, too.”

Back at the weigh-in, controversy stirred. The eventual third place team of Tony Boshold and Bob Horn were forced to forfeit 1.5 pounds of their weight due to a late arrival. So rather than ringing up a super impressive 9.22-pound bucket of slabs, “Team Prowler” finished just .12 pounds off the lead. Thanks largely to a beautiful 1.49-pound crappie, Brian and Steve Romsek weighed 7.84 pounds, a limit of both species, and the $2,800 first prize. Also notable was the 4th place finish of Jacek Gawlinski and Zibi Wojcik, who with just nine fish (including a 1.06 pound crappie) added to their lead in the coveted Team of the Year title.

After the event concluded Brian Romsek summarized the experience of an NAIFC win. “Although we’re new to fishing NAIFC tournaments, we were able to apply much of our experience with salmon tournaments on Lake Michigan. A lot of the planning, prefishing, equipment prep, as well as the mental preparation and fishing strategies are quite similar. Ultimately, I really think these lessons helped us be successful.”

View results from Hamlin Lake »

Delavan Lake, Delavan, Wisconsin - Sunday, February 7

Following the 2009 NAIFC Championship and several qualifying events, the two dominant themes remained—choice jig-plastics combinations and elite electronics. At Delavan Lake, the “themes” continued. This time, it was the anglers themselves. Last year’s NAIFC event at the same venue found the Illinois team of Mark Bauer and Dale Erath at the top of the podium. On Sunday, February 7, the team reclaimed their title, an impressive repeat performance that’s even more remarkable given the high talent level among the sixty competing teams.

Delavan Lake in southeastern Wisconsin offers over 2,000-acres of prime crappie and trophy bluegill water. Leading up to the event, anglers eagerly anticipated excellent fishing, and a shot at some of the more impressive weights on the NAIFC trail. Delavan is a topnotch fishery that presented competitors with a wonderful variety of potential winning tactics. From shallow sight fishing with underwater cameras to long rod tightlining, anglers weighed limit after limit, buckets filled with 8-inch plus bluegills and a few giant crappies.

Like a lot of other teams in the field, Bauer and Erath spent an appreciable amount of time drilling holes and scanning for fish and bottom content through the lens of an underwater camera. The pair’s efforts were rewarded, as their Aqua-Vu camera uncovered an impressive school of fish. “We targeted 5 to 6-foot sand flats where weeds were absent,” reported Bauer. “There were plenty of fish in the weeds, no question, but the weed fish were tougher to coax into biting. On the open sand areas, there were a lot of pike and bass cruising around, which kept panfish on the move. We fished fast from hole to hole, and when you put the bait in front of a bluegill, they’d usually eat right away. They had to bite when an opportunity presented itself, and I think the pike and bass kept them aggressive.”

The team, who both live about an hour from Delavan Lake in northern Illinois, used long rods to tightline tiny jigs in water as shallow as three feet. “We really like using vertical hanging jigs with tiny plastic tails. Black, hot pink and red Fiskas jigs worked best. We dressed them with special wedge shaped plastic tails made by Joe Moreau—they’re some of the sweetest plastics we’ve found. The jig hangs vertical, but we rigged the plastic tail in different positions, from horizontal to about a 45-degree angle. The other key was to use 2-pound test P-Line, which seems to have less memory than other monofilament lines. This gives us more direct contact with the jig. We just kept hopping from hole to hole until we piled up our fish.”

Bauer describes the winning presentation: “We like to jiggle and shake the lure as it falls, and when it rises. Just keep the jig moving, quivering all the time. You want to keep the fish aggressive, and to activate the reluctant ones. Best way to do this is to continually play around with little kicks, nods and shakes of the plastic tail.”

Once the team had their crappies, they moved to a super shallow three to four foot channel area to upgrade their bluegills. “At one point, we had a bunch of competitors sort of surrounding us. With the ten-foot rule, we were forced into just a few holes each, which greatly limited our mobility. Fortunately, we were able to adjust and put a few more nice fish on the ice.”

The final tally reflected an excellent bite, as a majority of teams weighed limits of both crappies and bluegills. Separating the top five from the rest of the pack were individual pound-plus kicker fish that anchored the top weights. Bauer and Erath claimed Big Fish honors, having iced a 1.19-pound crappie. Beyond choice locations and specific jig-plastic combos, several of the top teams also noted the importance of an underwater camera. The fifth place team of Kevin Fassbind and Nick Smyers used a MarCum camera to sight-fish for the bigger bluegills and crappies, observing light bites that would have otherwise been tricky to detect. Lessons learned.

View results from Delavan Lake »

With just one more qualifying event, at Lake Thompson, Wisconsin on Sunday, February 21, anglers will be vying for remaining slots in the 2010 NAIFC Championship. In the Team of the Year race, the Polish team of Jacek Gawlinski and Zibi Wojcik maintains a solid, though tenuous lead over such notables as Bussian/Whiteside and Boshold/Horn.

NAIFC Goes Global

Japan is coming to the NAIFC!

Lombard, IL – Just when we thought things were nice and predictable, SURPRISE!!! The NAIFC is going Global with Ice Fishing education, tournaments and media coverage. On Thursday, February 4th two (2) Japanese reporters will be flying into Minneapolis Airport. There will be an interpreter with them as well as a three (3) person production crew. Their goal is to enter “winter” contests in the United States and they would like to take part in one or more ice fishing tournaments.

Jack Baker and daughter Grete, along with other NAIFC Pro-staff will show the Japanese crew how to fish Friday and Saturday, and they will compete at the Delavan NAIFC Qualifier on Sunday the 7th. They may also compete in Rhinelander on Lake Thompson. Feb 21st!

Following the meet-and-greet at the Minneapolis International Airport, the Bakers and NAIFC Crew will guide our guests to Thorne Brothers Sporting Goods in Blaine, Minnesota for fishing licenses and needed equipment. The Japanese film crew will be capturing every aspect of the adventure, including shooting a segment about buying what gear they need and experienced ice fishers know Thorne Bros as a top supplier of most brands and the best gear.

The film for the entire sequence of events will be aired on TBS/Japan and will be billed as
“Sanma no Karakuri TV” airs every Sunday from 7:00 to 8:00 pm and has an average of 20 million viewers nationwide! It is one of the most popular entertainment programs on TBS. Check out TBS/Japan at this website: http://www.tbs.co.jp/eng/

Don’t get left in the slush! This is a huge opportunity to get the word out for ice fishing and also a tremendous exposure for sponsor products.

For more information on this exciting event or to learn how to be a NAIFC sponsor, contact NAIFC Director Mike McNett, (847) 514-4763, mike.mcnett@naifc.com