Monthly Archives: February 2025

When You Go Fishing Do You Just Want Something That Pulls Back?

Something That Pulls Back

  • By The Fishing Wire

By Mike Frisch

My fishing career started with me trying to catch panfish like crappies and bluegills and chasing bullheads from the local river near the small North Dakota town where I grew up.  That’s right, bullheads!  As I got older, I graduated to the more sophisticated walleye as my species of choice and later became intrigued by largemouth and smallmouth bass. 

As a former fishing guide, I dealt with lots of people who might only fish a time or two a year and that made me realize more and more that it really doesn’t matter what species of fish it is on the end of the line for most anglers.  In fact, many just want “something that pulls back.”

Because like my former guide clients I just want to “get bit,” I have developed more of an open mind when it comes to fishing.  Rather than always targeting my “favorite” fish species, I find myself looking at time of year and what species is at peak bite for that particular time frame.  Not only has this change increased the number of fish I catch, but it’s made me a better overall angler.

For example, early spring is peak panfish time and often my fishing involves simple slip-bobber fishing trips to shallow water areas where panfish congregate to feed.  Not only is this easy fishing, but it also offers the first open-water fishing of the year as it often peaks before the actual game fish season opens.

Once gamefish like walleyes and northern pike become legal, walleyes are often a focus as they are usually easily accessible in the shallows to mid-depths at this time and often are on a post-spawn feeding frenzy.  Fishing a small jig tipped with a shiner or fathead minnow is a simple, but lethal way to feel a walleye pull back during this time.

Panfish and walleyes offer good fishing during spring and early summer.  Once the water warms and weed growth begins in earnest, these fish are often a bit tougher to find and catch.  At this time, however, largemouth bass are often schooled along weedy cover and are fairly easy to catch. 

A simple jig-worm combination featuring a small jig and small soft worm trailer catches bass during this time. Back when I guided we called this a “jig/worm,” now it’s often referred to as a Ned Rig.  I often write about the Ned Rig for two reasons.  First, it’s an easy combination to fish and, second, it catches lots of fish!  Not just bass, but big panfish, northern pike, and the occasional walleye will often readily bite a small worm fished on a light jighead. 

A few years back, my Ned Rigging success got even better with the introduction of a bait called a Ned Ocho.  This 2.5” coffee-scented bait flat out catches bass, largemouth and smallmouth.  Plus, pike, walleyes, and big panfish all eat it frequently too!

Once summer wanes and fall patterns begin taking hold, walleyes often take the spotlight again.  Now I go back to the simple jig and minnow presentation a great deal.  A small sucker minnow on a jig fished along weedlines catches walleyes, but it is sure to draw the attention of any nearby northern pike or bass as well!

The excitement of a fish biting and pulling back is a big reason many people fish.  While some are died-in-the-wool “walleye guys” and others are “bassheads,” there are those who just want to feel something “pull back,” regardless the species.  Keying in on some of the patterns presented here can hopefully help anglers do just that.  As always, good luck on the water and remember to include a youngster in your next outdoors adventure!

Mike Frisch hosts the popular Fishing the Midwest TV series on Sportsman Channel, World Fishing Network, and FanDuel Sports.  Visit fishingthemidwest.com to see TV schedules and all things Fishing the Midwest!

PHOTO – The Ned Ocho shown here is a dynamite multi-species bait!

Is It Legal and Safe To Eat Road Kill?

You may have noticed a lot of dead deer beside the roads lately.  There are two times of year that hitting a deer with your car is more likely.  In November during the rut bucks lose their minds and will chase does out into the road. And the does run without being as carful as usual.

    This time of year making a living in the woods is tough for herbivores.  There is very little green stuff to eat. But if you look, grass often greens up along road right of ways in the winter long before it does in the woods since the road shoulders get a lot of direct sun. That is a meal hungry deer often can’t refuse.

    Be extra careful driving during low light conditions early in the morning and at dusk. And watch out all night long. Don’t disturb a deer’s meal and   don’t disturb your day with a call to your insurance agent.

    But there is an upside to road kills. You can take them home for dinner.

    In 2010 Georgia passed a law allowing us to pick up and keep road kill deer and bears. You must report bears to the state but not deer, as I understand the law.  Some people eat road kill and it is safe and good if you know what you are doing.

    I would be wary of any deer I did not hit or see being hit.  And the way it is hit makes a big difference.  The collision will bruise and damage meat, much like the area around the bullet wound but larger. But even if you have to throw away some of the venison from a road kill, what you get is free and easy!

    How long the deer had been by the road would make a big difference, too, as would time of year. When I shoot a deer I try to field dress it and get it in a cooler as fast as possible.  But if the weather is cold enough, the deer will be ok longer.

Many years ago I shot a doe right at dark. Although I spent two hours looking for it, and got some other club members to help me, we never found it. The blood trail disappeared near a ditch but the deer was not in it. Based on the amount of blood and the sounds I heard after the shot, we did not think the deer had crossed the deep ditch.

The temperature was right at freezing at dark and the low that night was 22 degrees.  I got to the hunting club the next morning just as the sun came up, climbed up into the stand to get a good line on where the deer was when I shot it the night before, and could see it. It was laying on the other side of the ditch, a few feet from where we had searched.

When I field dress the deer it had an “off” smell, not real bad but not quite right. I did not bother keeping the heart and liver like I usually do.  When I carried the deer to the butcher he said it should be ok.

It was, the meat tasted fine when cooked, it had none of the odd taste that I smelled when cleaning it.

Eating road kill is not for everyone but it is legal and safe, if done right.   

Invasive Apple Snails In Georgia Are A Danger

INVASIVE SNAILS CAN HARM ENVIRONMENT AND YOUR HEALTH, but are they edible?

apple snaIL

SOCIAL CIRCLE, GA. (February 4, 2025) – Now, more than ever, the Georgia Department of Natural Resources’ Wildlife Resources Division (WRD) continues to encourage anglers, boaters, and lake visitors across the State to help prevent the spread of invasive snail species, due to the recent discovery that these species can harbor a type of worm that can potentially cause illness in humans (if consumed).

In a recent cooperative study, WRD and Dr. Tyler Achatz’s parasitology lab at Middle Georgia College (MGC), examined two species of invasive aquatic snails, the apple and mystery snail, for various parasites.

In this study, apple and mystery snails were collected from multiple locations around the state and tested for the presence of various parasites. Test results confirmed a low-level presence of rat lungworm (a parasitic nematode) in both snail species. This parasite can be transmitted to people when snails or slugs are eaten raw or undercooked.

The likelihood of becoming infected with rat lungworm is very low. However, in extreme rare cases, infection may lead to eosinophilic meningitis, with complications including the possibility of death. While this newest discovery is alarming, the Centers for Disease Control website notes that the parasite does not replicate in humans and human-to-human transmission does not occur. 

Prior to this study, rat lungworm had only been discovered one previous time in Georgia, in rats near the Atlanta Zoo (2019). While this parasite has been noted in invasive snails in other states, this is the first time it’s been documented in snails in Georgia. 

These positive tests mean it continues to be important to remain vigilant against invasive species, to protect your health and the health of Georgia waters.

Introduction of Invasive Species is Preventable

Apple snails are originally native to South America and mystery snails are native to southeast Asia, Japan, and Russia. But both species have been introduced into several states, including Georgia.

Apple and mystery snails are illegal to possess in Georgia (since 2023). However, WRD remains concerned that people may continue to move or introduce these snail species to public waters or to handle and eat these invasive snails. 

Invasive aquatic species can cause significant ecological and economic impacts across the state, from damaging vessels and other boating equipment, impeding access to waterbodies, to disrupting the natural ecosystem by displacing and out-competing native species. They can additionally cause human health concerns, as seen with this recent discovery regarding apple and mystery snails.

Prevention is the first and most important step to reducing the risk of invasive species establishing populations in Georgia waters. Taking time to thoroughly wash down your boat, trailer, and fishing gear after each outing on the water; choosing to not dump aquariums; or simply not intentionally releasing non-native species into waterbodies where they did not previously occur are just a few ways you can help.

For more information on invasive species, including apple and mystery snails, and how to report sightings, visit GeorgiaWildlife.com/ans. For more information on rat lungworm and its potential health implications, contact the CDC at Rat Lungworm Disease (Angiostrongylus) | CDC (https://www.cdc.gov/angiostrongylus/about/index.html). 

Cooking Catfish Stew and Other Fish Recipes

Mama was a great cook as were all my extended family, both blood relatives and in-laws.  I often said Aunt Nancy could cook and old boot and make it taste good. Her husband, Uncle Adron, hunted and fished constantly and she cooked great meals of game and fish.

    One of my favorites was her catfish stew. It really was more like hash, everything was ground up.  Mama would get with her anytime I caught a big catfish and cook up a big pot. I enjoyed many winter meals of it and saltine crackers sitting on my porch at my small trailer at Clarks Hill.

    I tried making it last week with a  big cat I caught in the Sportsman Club tournament at Sinclair.  A few years before she died I asked mama to write some of her recipes down and I have dozens of index cards with her hand written ingredients and instructions.   

Unfortunately, mama’s Alzheimer’s was starting to affect her memory and many of her recipes I have to guess at some steps.  For example, her catfish stew recipe calls for ten strips of fatback but it is never mentioned again in the instructions.

The ten quarts I made are pretty good but not quite right.  I will keep trying.

I love any kind of fish stew or chowder. When I eat out the first thing I check on the menu is the soups and stews.  Fishtales in both Griffin and Zebulon make a good gumbo and a good shrimp chowder.

I make two kinds of fish chowder, one with a red tomato sauce Manhattan style and one with a milk and cream base New England style.  The Manhattan style has a very strong fishy taste and smell, to the point no one would come in my office when I was principal at RESA Academy and took it for lunch.

Both start with bass filets but the Manhattan style I boil what I call backs and wings – the backbones and rib cages left after fileting – and use the strong broth from that process. I pull all the meat off the backbones and “wings” and add the filets to the broth then add other ingredients.

The New England style I just boil diced potatoes, pour off the water and add milk and other ingredients, adding the filets last thing.

I have cooked pretty much everything I have shot my whole life.  BBQed raccoon was  one of the oddest, but Southern Mississippi Beaver was definitely the most unusual, and also the most difficult.  I spent a long time skinning out the hindquarters of the beaver, it was by far the most difficult animal I have ever skinned and gave up on the front legs and shoulders. They were very small anyway.

I have many detailed recipes for game and fish that I make in the Fish Recipes category.

Try Different Colors and Different Weights To Catch More Walleye

Different Colors, Different Weights, More Fish

  • By The Fishing Wire

By Bob Jensen

Another year of fishing has gone by.  As I look back on the past fishing season, I can’t help but remember other past fishing seasons.  Many, many past fishing seasons.  As I remember those days, I’m reminded of how much I’ve learned about fishing and fishing techniques.  And then I’m reminded of how, when I thought I had mastered a particular fishing technique, I discovered that I hadn’t. There are almost always exceptions to a technique.  Same with fish species.  Just when I thought I had the walleyes or bass or whatever figured out, the walleyes or bass or whatever taught me that I didn’t have them figured out. Lure color and lure weight are factors that can contribute to better fish catches.

There are times when fish, any species of fish, will respond better to a particular lure color.  A very successful angler once told me that when it comes to walleyes and color, “walleyes like any color as long as it’s chartreuse”.  Another very successful walleye catcher said the same thing but substituted orange as the color walleyes like best.  Come to find out, Walleye Catcher #1 only used chartreuse lures, and #2 only used orange lures.  That’s why they had the most success with those colors.  Much of the time they caught walleyes, but every now and then they didn’t.  Eventually #1 and #2 started experimenting with other colors when the walleyes weren’t biting.  They started catching even more walleyes.  There are times when fish want a particular color.

Another color quirk:  If you’ve been catchin’em good on a particular color but the action slows, try a different color.  Fish can become conditioned to color.

It’s surprising how jig weight can impact how many fish we catch.  It became very obvious to me in my early days of chasing largemouth bass how important jig weight could be.  In the lakes that my friends and I fished in central and north central Minnesota, walleyes were the preferred fish.  Largemouth bass were mostly ignored, and some anglers even considered bass to be undesirable.  My friends and I preferred to chase the largemouth because they were usually very willing biters. When we went fishing, we spent almost all of our time in the summer on the deep weedline casting an eighth ounce jig with a four inch plastic worm on six pound test line.  When the bass were really biting, we used a larger worm.  The larger worm was more appealing to larger bass.

However, every now and then the bass got finicky.  We would work our eighth ounce jig/four inch worm along the weedline and couldn’t get bit as often as usual.  On one of those slow-bite days, I picked up a rod that had a sixteenth ounce jighead tied on.  I threaded my four inch worm on the lighter head and started casting.  It didn’t happen immediately, but eventually the bass revealed that on that day they liked this combination better.  The lighter jig made the bait fall slower.  On slow-bite days, the bass preferred the slower fall.  We learned that we could slow the fall of the bait even more by going to a little heavier line or a bulkier bait.  Heavier line and bulkier baits have more water resistance so they fall slower.

When we go fishing, we need to remember that, if we’re not having success doing what we’re doing, do something else.  In fact, that’s a pretty good rule for life in general. 

Photo Caption—When the fish aren’t eating what you’re using, use something else.

Getting Old and Adapting To New Fishing Realities

If something didn’t hurt when I woke up, I would think I was dead. That is supposed to be joke but it is an all-too-true statement of getting old. 

Our bodies were not designed to last this long. I think my warranty ran out years ago and there are no replacement parts available.  I always said I would rather wear out than rust out, and still believe it, but it gets harder and harder to keep the parts moving and rust free every year.

That is one good thing about fishing, it can be done at any age.  I have had to adjust the way I fish; I can no longer stand with one foot on my trolling motor foot pedal and fish for eight hours in a tournament. Now I slowly get up from the driver’s seat pulling up on a handle on the console, hold on to the windshield and carefully move up sit down on the front seat. But I can still fish!

Backing my boat down the ramp, hopping out and crawling across the truck bed to get to the boat and back it off the trailer is no longer easy.  Without friends in the bass clubs doing it for me I would not be able to fish three tournaments each month.

When I fish by myself I tie a rope to the front of the boat and the other end to the trailer, slowly back the boat off and ease the truck forward, pulling the boat back to the bank with the rope.  That would cause major problems and slow everything down at a tournament.

Another thing I used to love doing makes it  frustrating to not be able to cut, split and stack wood like I did for years. I never really had to do it to heat my house but always enjoyed all parts of it from cutting to burning the wood.

Both my parents died in their mid-70s. When I retired, I hoped, if I was like them, I had about 25 good fishing years left. That was 22 years ago!

Make the most of every day right now before you run out of them!