by MIKE FRISCH & THE FISHING THE MIDWEST TEAM For many anglers, the first fishing trip of the open water season is for crappies. In some areas, fishing season for walleyes and bass and such is not yet open, but regulations permit us to chase crappies. In other areas, crappies are just really accessible early in the fishing season. They can be caught from boats, but they can also be caught from docks or the shoreline. Crappies can be easy to catch this time of year, they’re abundant in many areas across North America, and they’re great on a plate. For many reasons, you should be chasing cr ..read more

by Mike Frisch & the Fishing the Midwest Team In the next couple of weeks, anglers across the Midwest will be going on their first open water walleye trip of the year. The first trip of the year is always greatly anticipated. Early season weather can often be unstable, so the bite can be hit or miss. Here are some ideas that will increase your odds for getting bit on your maiden walleye voyage of the year. Several techniques can be effective early in the fishing season, but many of the most accomplished walleye chasers, if limited to one presentation, will select a jig. Selecting the pro ..read more

By Mike Frisch and the Fishing the Midwest Team When we go fishing, we want to catch something. Sure it’s fun to watch the ducks and enjoy the nice weather and spend time with friends or family, but if we just wanted to watch ducks or enjoy the nice weather or spend time with friends of family we wouldn’t need to have a boat or a bunch of rods and reels and tackle and other gear. The reality is, if we’re going fishing, we want to catch a fish. Better yet, we want to catch a bunch of fish, and still better, we want to catch some big ones. To increase our odds for catching a bunch of big ones ..read more

By Mike Frisch & the Fishing the Midwest Team It appears that the spring of 2024 may arrive early! At this time of year, some anglers still see ice on their favorite lakes, but that ice will soon be disappearing. In other areas, anglers are already fishing in open water. Spring is a great time to go fishing, and we can make it better if we keep a few ideas in mind for spring fishing success. Following are some of those ideas. Many freshwater fish spawn in the spring. In a good number of areas, some species of those spawning fish are protected: We can’t target them. However, in other are ..read more

As a fishing TV host/fishing educator one of my goals is to help people catch more fish.  Here is a look at three things that anglers can do this coming season that can help them increase their fishing skills and hopefully catch more fish! Embrace Change With the vast increase in water clarity that many of our lakes have seen in the last dozen years or so, successful anglers have recognized this change and, most importantly, adapted to the situatio For example, when chasing walleyes, I find myself fishing more and more in and around weeds, or targeting much deeper waters.  It’s my t ..read more

By Mike Frisch and the Fishing the Midwest Team It may not seem like it with the warm weather we had earlier this winter, but the middle of the ice season is approaching.  Fish under the ice during mid-season can be a bit on the finicky side. One of the things that will determine whether or not they will bite your bait is color.  Following are some thoughts on the importance of color under the ice. It’s important to keep in mind that color is just one consideration whether you are ice-fishing or open water fishing.  If the fish want to eat, they’ll sometimes eat your bait regar ..read more

By Bob Jensen People who like to fish have to make some decisions before they even get on the water.  First, when and where?  Most of us have to fit fishing in between other activities, and depending on where you live, there can be lots of places to go fishing.  When we get to the body of water that we’ve decided on, we have more decisions.  One decision that is perhaps the most fun and important is choosing a lure to use.  There are lots of options, but when it comes to catching fish, if limited to one style of lure, many anglers would tie on a jig. When I go fishing ..read more

by Bob Jensen People who don’t go ice fishing very often might question the affect that weather has on catching fish through the ice.  But most ice anglers agree that weather can have a significant impact on ice fishing success.  They know that there are some types of weather that make fish under the ice want to bite, and there are some types of weather that spoils their appetites.  If an angler can be a bit flexible and go fishing when weather conditions are better for ice fishing, they can significantly up their odds for ice fishing success.   The question about weath ..read more

by Bob Jensen There was more frost on the ground this morning than there has been in several months. A variety of birds have left the area for their winter homes, and other types of birds are gathering to do the same. A check of the calendar confirms that winter is closing in. It’s time to think about fishing through holes in the ice. Following are a few things that some expert ice anglers do to catch more fish through those holes. John Crane is one of the premier lure designers in the fishing business. He’s been involved in the creation of many of the lures that we depend on to catch fish ..read more

By Mike Frisch The 2023 open-water fishing season is mostly “in the books” now.  With that in mind, I want to look back at some of the fun fishing action partners and I had this past season.  These are good memories that maybe can at least be partially duplicated in 2024! Big Stone Lake Local guide Tanner Arndt and I spent a day on his home lake of Big Stone in early June.  Tanner said we should be able to catch some big bluegills and maybe we would chase bass once we got our fill of bluegills.   We went to a shallow rock-weed transition area and quickly started catching ..read more