This Saturday, June 14, so register for one of their spinning rods to be given away online!
We’re Giving Away 75 Premier Rods!Thank you, anglers, for supporting St. Croix Rods for 75 years! To celebrate, we’re giving away 75 Premier rods, one day only, online or in person at St. Croix Customer Appreciation Day, Saturday, June 17.
Premier has been the top-selling family of American-made fishing rods for over a decade and is the perfect series for us to use in expressing our gratitude to anglers for our 75 years in business. We have 75 medium power, fast action Premier spinning rods — one of the most versatile models in the series — ready to give away at St. Croix Customer Appreciation Day this Saturday, June 17. We’ll give away 35 during the event at our factory in Park Falls, and another 40 to those who register to win online at the St. Croix Factory Store.
We hope to see all of you this Saturday in Park Falls, but those who can’t make it to Customer Appreciation Day in person should make stcroixrodfactorystore.com their first stop for all virtual participation options.
#stcroixrods About St. Croix Rod Headquartered in Park Falls, Wisconsin, St. Croix has been proudly producing the “Best Rods on Earth” for 75 years. Combining state-of-the-art manufacturing processes with skilled craftsmanship, St. Croix is the only major producer to still build rods entirely from design through manufacturing. The company remains family-owned and operates duplicate manufacturing facilities in Park Falls and Fresnillo, Mexico. With popular trademarked series such as Legend®, Legend Xtreme®, Avid®, Premier®, Imperial®, Triumph®, Mojo, and BASSX, St. Croix is revered by all types of anglers from around the world.
BEMIDJI, Minn. – Recent exposure via tournament websites, social media, and TV has created a wildfire of interest in a brand-new line of walleye soft plastics from Northland Fishing Tackle. Aptly-named “Eye Candy™,” an extensive team of tournament pros, guides, influencers, and product designers put the paces through countless iterations of shapes and actions to provide walleye anglers with the best new soft plastics on the walleye scene.
Fact: Northland Tackle’s Eye Candy™ wasn’t intended to launch yet. However, given the success Northland team pros have been fishing the baits, the company decided to ramp up production to provide anglers of all walks with the winning walleye baits.
“We’ve been fishing the snot out of these plastics for over a year and feel super confident in the designs. Given what Tom Hunyh has been doing with them on the NWT and AIM trails and Jason Mitchell is doing via TV and social on the waters he visits, what Brad Hawthorne, Bro, and Nick Lindner are doing with them between Mille Lacs and the north, we knew we had to get them into the hands of walleye anglers everywhere now,” says Northland Fishing Tackle’s Marketing Director, Mike Anselmo.
Huynh Dials In Winnebago NWT Bite with NEW Northland Eye Candy™
Case in point, top-placing NWT/AIM tournament and Northland Tackle walleye pro, Tom Huynh, has been using Eye Candy™ since the first NWT event on the Illinois River this past March. Since, he’s used the new soft plastics to top-finishing tournament success.
“The recent NWT tournament on Lake Winnebago was my first introduction to the lake. The day before I got there I looked at my maps and put a plan together, but my plan to fish the big lake soon changed. Our Airbnb was on one of the upper lakes and there was a little two-boat launch right across the street, so I used that during pre-fishing,” says Huynh.
“Rather than trek over to Winnebago, I got sidetracked in a shallow, tea-colored lake attached to Winnebago by a river—and decided to look around. I caught a few random fish here and there without a pattern until I found an old river channel that looked almost like a shell bed on my SideVu. I was marking fish like crazy: catfish, drum, white bass, walleyes, and sturgeon. With that many species, running LiveScope wasn’t easy. I had to cast at every single fish I saw to gauge their reaction and figure out what they were,” notes Huynh.
“After a couple of days, I learned to recognize the reactions of the white bass and drum. The two species that seemed to act about the same were catfish and walleyes. So, for every two or three 10-12 pound catfish I’d catch, I’d hook a 3-pound or better walleye. After I figured that out I was catching 5 or 6 walleyes a day during pre-fish without even entering the big lake. I knew the historical weights for Winnebago tournaments, and since what I was catching were good fish, we decided to stay there. On the Monday and Tuesday before the tournament we had between 13 and 15 pounds each day, so we figured if we could do that in the tournament we’d make the top 10,” adds Huynh.
Huynh says it took him until the last day of pre-fishing to really dial in his presentation.
“Basically, I used the same black Northland Eye Candy™ Grub I used on the Illinois River—actually still the same bag of baits—and threaded it on a 1/8-ounce black Northland Tungsten Jig. It just seemed to cast the right silhouette in the stained water to get bit,” divulges Huynh.
This isn’t the first tournament that Tom has relied on black to either win or place in the Top 10.
“Every single fish I’ve caught in a tournament this year casting has been on a solid black Northland Tungsten Jig—either regular shank or short-shank. Not one fish has come on anything else. For Winnebago, I paired that Northland Eye Candy Grub in black with a black Northland Tungsten. I thought I had an extra bag of the plastics in my boat, but I left them in another tote at home, so I had to rely on the few baits I had. Luckily, they’re made of a super-tough and spongy TPE plastic that holds up to dozens of fish on just one plastic. You don’t burn through ‘em. So I had just enough to do the job. I also caught a couple fish on a minnow and Northland Tungsten, too,” laughs Huynh.
“However, if it hadn’t been for the Eye Candy™ plastics and their crazy ability to hold the scent I use, I don’t think I would have been able to dial in the first two good bites of the tournament that put us into 2nd place,” adds Huynh.
Huynh adds that the Winnebago NWT tournament May 17-18 was the first event this year where he and a partner were able to catch decent-size walleyes.
“I ended up catching two 4’s and a 5-pounder with my other fish. It all came down to the entire system—a black Northland Tungsten jighead, the new Northland Eye Candy™ Grub in black, 10-pound high-vis Daiwa J-Braid Grand X8 to 8-pound Daiwa fluorocarbon, and a Daiwa Kage 1000 spinning reel on a Rosemore rod. The 1000 size reel keeps me from horsing big walleyes in on small jigs and hooks.”
Huynh says he “couldn’t be happier” with the 2nd Place NWT finish that he ended up with, especially considering he figured out a system with no prior knowledge or experience on the Winnebago system coming into the event. Huynh cashed a $24,122 check plus a Garmin contingency award.
Northland Short-Shank Tungstens Crack Leech Lake ‘Eyes
Following the Winnebago NWT, Huynh bee-lined to Leech Lake, Minnesota, to fish an AIM Tournament—and admits the timing was “completely out of his element” although he and co-angler Nate Wolske have a history of top finishes there.
“We’d never fished Leech that early in the season,” says Hunyh. “We’d won there in the summer and knew how to seasonally pattern those fish, but cold water was completely out of our wheelhouse.”
“The water was 48-49 degrees in the morning so I knew our chance of fishing plastics was fairly slim, but we did get a few bites on Eye Candy. So we switched to minnows tipped on 1/8-ounce Northland Short-Shank Jigs—again, in black,” says Huynh.
Huynh notes that partner Nate Wolske hadn’t fished black Short-Shank Tungsten Jigs to date and was mystified by what happened with a simple change in jig color.
“Nate turned to me and said, ‘I just don’t get it. They’ll hit these black jigs a lot quicker and way more often.’ So, we both used black Short-Shank Tungsten Jigs for every single cast of the Leech Lake Tournament—and it put us in 2nd place at the end of the event,” shares Huynh.
Hunyh says the difficulty was getting the big females to bite, which had been squirting eggs only a few days prior to the event.
“The big girls were in a funk,” says Huynh. “They don’t come off the spawn and just start eating. They’re exhausted. So they go and stage somewhere. If something comes right at them and it’s convenient, they’ll eat it, but they’re not going to chase anything down.”
Huynh explains: “So we had to slow our presentations way-way down. And the fish weren’t positioned on our electronics like they typically are. They were really close to the bottom making it hard to differentiate walleyes from rocks. Then you’d see a rock move on the screen and we’d get bit and set the hook, but a lot times the jig came back clean, no fish, even though we were fishing our typical routine. They were biting and eating so light that the dense Short-Shank Tungsten was absolutely critical, especially considering we were casting 40- to 50-feet out. With the tungsten you could actually feel the walleyes put the bait in their mouth, a sensation that would carry up through our fluoro leaders, braid, through our rods, into our reels, and up into our hands. With the tungsten—as well as the rest of our gear—we could feel those subtle bites 50 feet away,” concludes Hunyh.
Currently, Northland Pro Tom Huynh is pre-fishing in Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin, for the AIM National Championship Shootout to be held on Friday, June 2. You can bet Northland Tackle Eye Candy™ and Tungsten Jigs will be very much in play…
ABOUT Northland® Fishing Tackle
In 1975, a young Northwoods fishing guide named John Peterson started pouring jigs and tying tackle for his clients in a small remote cabin in northern Minnesota. The lures were innovative, made with high quality components, and most importantly, were catching fish when no other baits were working! Word spread like wildfire, the phone started ringing… and the Northland Fishing Tackle® brand was in hot demand! For 40 years now, John and the Northland® team have been designing, testing and perfecting an exclusive line of products that catch fish like no other brand on the market today. Manufactured in the heart of Minnesota’s finest fishing waters, Northland® is one of the country’s leading producers of premium quality jigs, live bait rigs, spinnerbaits and spoons for crappies, bluegills, perch, walleyes, bass, trout, northern pike and muskies.
from The Fishing Wire
Unbelievable! MADCAT Pro Staff Alessandro Biancardi (ITA) shocks the whole catfish world with a monster caught in river Po a few days ago! Alessandro’s huge kitten beats the previous world record by 4cm and the fish is a result of 23 years of hard work! We’re sooo proud of you, Alessandro! Grazie! You have written history in the world of catfish angling! You situated the MADCAT brand on the top! Read how Alessandro described his incredible adventure below!
“Hi everyone, I’m Alessandro Biancardi from MADCAT ITALY team, I’m here to describe with trembling voice and eyes full of joy, what happened just few days ago, after 23 years of intense catfishing!
Everything started as a normal day of fishing, I went to the great river Po. Before leaving I checked knots, hooks, each connection, because I’m extremely meticulous. I always need to be 100% sure that everything is in place if a dream fish decide to bite my lure.
I was alone on my boat, the water level was starting to drop after a big flood, I decided to fish with spinning technic so I started casting my lure in the muddy water… I used to start with a crank bait to quickly understand if fish are active or not, this time I had a different feeling and I started with a Savage Gear Cannibal Shad on a 12/0 (40 gram) jig head.
In silence I approached the first spot and after few casts a powerful bite arrived, the fish stood still some seconds before starting a very complicated fight, between strong currents and a lot of submerged obstacles. I calmly managed to fight what I felt to be a prehistoric fish. I followed it for 40 endless minutes, when it surfaced for the first time, I really realized that I hooked a monster, adrenaline started pumping hard and the fear of losing it almost sent me into a panic, I was alone facing the biggest catfish I ever seen in 23 years.
I tried gloving its mouth 2-3 times, but it was still too strong, I decided to go in shallow water trying to land it from shore and after few tries, I managed to land it!
I tied the fish to let him recover from the long fight then I suddenly realized that the boat was not anchored, and it was going away in the current, I was forced to have a swim to recover it with all my stuff.
I called my friend Marco to reach me and to warn the guys at the near WELS-CAMP AM PO, I was sure that the fish I caught was special, but I never imagined what would happen next when we measured the fish on the mat. Under the incredulous eyes of many anglers, the meter stopped at 285 cm, it was the new WORLD RECORD catfish!
I was very curious about the weight but I feared to stress too much that rare specimen so I decided to safely release it, hoping it could give another angler the same joy he gave to me.”
Gear used to catch this world record monster:
World Record Catifh Jig
• Rod: MADCAT XTAAZ Spin 2.70m
• Reel: Savage Gear SGS8 8000
• Line: MADCAT prototype braid
• Lure: Savage Gear Cannibal 15cm
• Jig head: MADCAT (12/0) 40g
Alessandro, you have the respect and hearty congratulations of the whole MADCAT team! You’re simply the best!
Please give Alessandro an applause and a follow:
: In the presence of 10 witnesses, an official measurement that was thorough was done. Additionally, documentation was sent to the IGFA so they could officially record this large fish! Although this procedure takes some time, what matters to us is that our consultant captured the largest catfish ever— catfish world record!
Crazy CAD Combo Deals!Join the fun at Customer Appreciation Day and enjoy exclusive combo deals on Saturday, June 17 in Park Falls, Wisconsin and online! St. Croix’s 2023 Customer Appreciation Day is coming to the St. Croix factory in Park Falls, Wisconsin and stcroixrods.com on Saturday, June 17. The unique event will include fun opportunities to learn about the rod-building process, informative fishing seminars from St. Croix pros, casting classes, special 75th anniversary prize drawings, and unique, one-day-only deals on St. Croix rods, combos, and limited-edition apparel.
2023 St. Croix Customer Appreciation Day Combo Deals – One Day Only, While Supplies Last!
Mojo Bass Spinning Combos MJS610MLXF with Daiwa Revros LT 2500 spinning reel – $125 MJS71MF with Daiwa Revros LT 2500 spinning reel – $125 MJS71MHF with Daiwa Revros LT 3000 spinning reel – $125 Mojo Bass Casting Combos MJC71MF with Daiwa CR80HS baitcasting reel – $150 MJC71MHF with Daiwa CR80HS baitcasting reel – $150 Premier Split-Grip Multispecies Spinning Combos PS66MLF2SG with Daiwa Revros LT 2000 spinning reel – $125 Panfish Series Spinning Combos PNS64LF with Daiwa QR750 spinning reel – $105 PNS70LXF with Daiwa QR750 spinning reel – $105 Onchor* Salmon & Steelhead Trolling Combos ONCC90MHM2B with Okuma Coldwater CW-303D reel – $200 ONCC96HM2B with Okuma Coldwater CW-303D reel – $200 ONCC96XHM2B with Okuma Coldwater CW-303D reel – $200 ONCC106HM2B with Okuma Coldwater CW-303D reel – $200 Imperial USA* Fly-Fishing Combos IU905.4 with Redington Crosswater reel and WF5F fly line – $250 * Onchor and Imperial USA rods are B-Stock
These one-day-only deals will be available in person at the St. Croix Factory Store and online at stcroixrodfactorystore.com from 7:00 AM through 3:00 PM CST on June 17 only. All deals are first-come first-served and limited to available stock, while supplies last.
Anglers who can’t make it to Customer Appreciation Day in person should make stcroixrodfactorystore.com their first stop for all virtual participation options.
#stcroixrods About St. Croix Rod Headquartered in Park Falls, Wisconsin, St. Croix has been proudly producing the “Best Rods on Earth” for 75 years. Combining state-of-the-art manufacturing processes with skilled craftsmanship, St. Croix is the only major producer to still build rods entirely from design through manufacturing. The company remains family-owned and operates duplicate manufacturing facilities in Park Falls and Fresnillo, Mexico. With popular trademarked series such as Legend®, Legend Xtreme®, Avid®, Premier®, Imperial®, Triumph®, Mojo, and BASSX, St. Croix is revered by all types of anglers from around the world.
It’s one of bass fishing’s most broadly used techniques and for good reason. Pitching baits offers a highly efficient way to cover a shoreline with quick, accurate presentations, allowing you to slow down and pick apart promising cover.
Targets will vary, so keep a selection of rigs handy.
Light Cover: Sparse hydrilla and milfoil, patchy lily pads, or thin eel grass; bass may relate to this thin cover during early mornings or during their spawn. Here, you don’t need much weight — just enough to allow for accurate casts and the ability to navigate through the cover.
TUNGSTEN TITANX WORM WEIGHT
A classic Texas rig with a 3/16- to 1/4-ounce Mustad Tungsten TitanX Worm Weight and a craw or creature bait on a 3/0-4/0 Mustad KVD Grip-Pin Soft Plastics Hook fits this role. Other options: A 4- to 6-inch lizard or a soft stick worm on a 3/0 or 4/0 Mustad Offset Shank Worm Hook. Pitch your bait into gaps and breaks in the cover and stay alert for distinct holes amid grass beds, where hard sand or shell bottom offers ideal holding spots.
MUSTAD OFFSET SHANK WORM HOOK
Heavy Vegetation: When matted grass or thick rafts of floating vegetation (hyacinth, pennywort, etc.) blanket the surface, the shadowy caverns below offer prime bass habitat, particularly during the heat of summer. Standard pitching rigs often hang on the dense cover, so you’ll want to switch to the “punching” technique, which uses heavier terminal tackle to drive a bait through the cover.
Nothing complicated here; you’re simply forcing a bait through the cover for what typically turns out to be a reaction bite. Even when fish are not in an active feeding mode, the sudden appearance of a forage profile usually triggers a reaction bite.
MUSTAD WEIGHT STOP
Multi-Purpose: Boaters have the advantage of carrying an arsenal of rods, each rigged for specific tasks; even modern-day fishing kayakers can transport a good selection. For the bank fisherman or the casual kayak angler, a minimalist approach necessitates making the most of two or three rods.
In such scenarios, the ability to immediately switch from pitching to a swimming or twitching presentation broadens your versatility. One of the best options for this is a 5-inch soft plastic stick worm rigged on a 3/0 or 4/0 Mustad Offset Shank Worm Hook .
With a tapered tail, the stick worm easily slips into sparse grass, holes in lily pad fields, and gaps in cattails or reeds. Pitch the bait into a promising area, give it a couple of twitches, then repeat. Optionally, add a nail weight to the tail for better control and a unique presentation. When the worm hits the water, that weight pulls it down and away for a darting look.
For thorough coverage, shifting to a cast-and-retrieve pattern allows you to work the vegetation’s perimeter edges or target fish that you see chasing baitfish. Add a screw-in spinner blade to the stick worm’s tail end for extra appeal during the swimming presentations.
About Mustad
Mustad has led the global hook market since 1877. Mustad’s mission is to create a comprehensive multi-brand company that leads the fishing tackle industry, while focusing on innovation, employee and customer satisfaction, and sustainability. With the addition of TUF-LINE and LIVETARGET, Mustad continues to solidify its position as a complete sports fishing brand family.
The panfish family includes several of freshwater’s most popular and best-tasting fish. They are a favorite quarry from youngsters to experienced anglers looking for a fun fishing outing or to stock their freezer with tasty filets.
Their wide range makes them accessible to most anglers and they’re generally eager to bite when you locate them. One of the greatest things about fishing for them is that it can be as straightforward or as complicated as you want to make it, but catching more and bigger panfish takes the right live bait or lure for the situation.
Minnesota-based fishing personality Nicole Jacobs and Wisconsin guide Vince Moldenhauer share their insights on bait selection for three popular panfish species.
Crappies
A prized target everywhere, the crappie are aggressive fish that are fun to catch and make for excellent table fare. Catching them is possible with a wide range of baits, depending on the season.
When the ice has just recently thawed early in the year, Nicole Jacobs keeps the ice fishing mindset with small ice fishing jigs when fishing for fun or guiding clients on Twin Cities Metro area lakes.
“Here in the North, we start the year fishing vertically in deeper water and continue to move shallower as it gets warmer,” she says. “We start the year with small 2 and 3-mm Acme Pro-Grade Tungsten Jig ice jigs. Gold, silver, and chartreuse do the best for us. I tip them with a one-inch Berkley Gulp Minnow to add some scent. As it gets warmer and the fish become more active, we switch to 1/16 and 1/32-ounce jigheads with crappie tubes or grubs.”
For both lure types, Jacobs says it’s hard to beat a bobber for crappie that are notorious for suspending in the water column. Any bobber will do, but she’s partial to the Rocket Bobbers made by Tackle 2000. They are designed for better casting distance, which is paramount with lightweight lures.
“They cast great and there’s just something about the action they give your bait when you pop the rod,” she shared. “Most fish will hit the jig right when you pop it and the bait is swinging back under the bobber.”
Fishing for crappie can be done with a standard spin cast or spinning setup, but Jacobs likes to go ultralight for a little more fun.
“An 8-foot ultralight St. Croix rod with a 1000-sized reel is a lot of fun to fight crappie,” she said. “I spool the reel with 10 lb Seaguar Smackdown Flash Green, which helps to detect light bites because the line is so bright. I’ll use an 8-foot leader of 4 lb Seaguar Gold Label fluorocarbon. It’s a very thin line and more like using a 2 lb test, so your lure will have even more action under the bobber.”
La Crosse, Wisconsin guide Vince Moldenhauer targets panfish, including crappies, year-round, primarily on the Upper Mississippi River. For crappie, he’s generally fishing with live minnows, crappie jigs, and more aggressive lures like a Rapala Rippin’ Rap lipless crankbait.
“Live minnows are one of the quickest ways to locate crappies,” he says. “I’ll generally start with that and then mix in Kalin’s Crappie Scrubs in either the white with green tails or purple with a chartreuse tail on a small jig head under a Rocket Bobber. The Rippin’ Rap in the #3 size is also a fun way to catch them and they like the shiny chrome colors.”
Moldenhauer has developed a simple approach for gear that allows him to jump from species to species quickly. He likes a Fox River medium light spinning rod, either a 6-foot, 6-inch, or 7-foot, 3-inch model for all of his panfish species and he’ll keep the same setup when he goes after walleye. He pairs them all with a 2000 or 2500-size Daiwa spinning reel and 10-pound Seaguar Smackdown in the Flash Green color.
“I love how thin the Smackdown braid is,” he said. “That helps me and my clients detect more bites, even in the current, because you have a better feel of what your bait is doing.”
He’s a proponent of having consistency with his gear to stay better connected to his lure. The only thing he will alter is his fluorocarbon leader size.
“I like to use the same setup for everything just to have the same feel,” he said. “I’ll use the longer rod when fishing a bobber and the shorter rod when casting and working a lure. All I have to do is adjust my Gold Label fluorocarbon leader size. It’s 4 lb for crappies and gills and 6 or 8 lb for perch and walleye.”
Bluegills and sunfish
Fishing for bluegill on a river system requires a slightly different approach to locating them in the current, but Moldenhauer’s plan will work anywhere.
“I like to use redworms or nightcrawlers for bluegill and perch,” he said. “It’s a great way to locate fish and see where they are. Then, I like to switch to soft plastic baits because there’s less mess and you don’t have to keep adding bait to your hook when you get into a bunch of them.”
His worm setup is simple, a #6 or #8 Aberdeen hook or a 1/32-ounce jighead. When fishing Aberdeen hook, he employs a drop-shot rig to keep the bait on the bottom and the hook approximately a foot above the weight.
Moldenhauer looks for rocks, weeds, and break lines and prefers the drop-shot rig over a bobber setup because it keeps the bait in the strike zone longer and right on the bottom.
Jacobs also chases bluegill and sunfish and says it’s hard to beat wax worms or spikes fished on a simple hook with a split shot sinker attached.
“I also use the same ice fishing jigs that I use for crappie for the bluegill,” she said. “They will work great year round and it’s hard to beat the gold color jigs.”
Perch
There are standard-sized perch and then the jumbos that Moldenhauer and his clients catch on the Upper Mississippi. As a result of their bigger size and ability to fight hard in the current, much of his tackle resembles what anglers use for bass fishing.
He uses the same approach with perch, which starts with worms, primarily targeting weed lines with a slight current. These two ingredients, moving water and vegetation, are keys to finding perch all year long for Moldenhauer. After he locates a group of fish, he’ll switch to soft plastic lures.
“Everyone says to go small, but perch are aggressive fish and some of the best baits are two and three-inch Keitech swimbaits,” he said. “I also use the same things I use for crappies, the Kalin’s Crappie Scrub on a 1/16 or 1/32-ounce jighead. For perch, whatever soft plastic you use, it must have some orange in it. They love that color.”
He uses the same general setup as he does for the other panfish but bumps his leader size to 6 or 8 lb Gold Label. “They are hard-fighting fish and can get big, so I like to use a little heavier line,” he adds.
Fishing for panfish is a time-honored tradition of many anglers and one of the best ways to get new anglers into fishing. They are an exciting group of fish to target because the action can be nonstop fun when you get into them. Picking the right baits for panfish is relatively straightforward and a mix of live bait and soft plastic lures will cover your bases, no matter where you live.
Seaguar Smackdown braid is available in high visibility Flash Green and low visibility Stealth Gray. It is available in 150- and 300-yard spools ranging from 10 to 65 lb test sizes.
Seaguar Gold Label fluorocarbon leader is available in 25- and 50-yard spools in 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 15, 20, 25, 30, 40, 50, 60, and 80 lb test leader material.
About
At Seaguar, we believe in delivering premium performance at every step of an angler’s journey. Whether it is performance fishing lines for elite pros, or for sophisticated anglers who are seeking the absolute highest quality — or for those who are brand new to angling — we make it easy to fish the very best. Our dedication to excellence is also reflected in our commitment to both conservation and social responsibility. Healthy lakes, rivers, streams, ponds and oceans are essential to the sport we love — and to the angling community we serve every single day.
On March 21, 2023, Hayden Lake in North Idaho produced a new certified state record northern pike. The record fish weighed a whopping 40.76 pounds, was 49 inches in length and 26.5 inches in girth – a true monster of a fish! Certified state record northern pike caught in Hayden Lake, Idaho.
The record was previously held by a fish that was also caught in North Idaho, in Lower Twin Lake. The fish, caught in 2010, weighed 40.13 pounds, was 50.75 inches long and 22.75 inches in girth.
The Story
Thomas Francis is an avid northern pike angler and has been for some time.
“Pike is what I go after all the time. I spend almost everyday fishing for pike. As soon as the ice is off and until it comes back,“ Francis said.
Despite being an avid pike fisherman, nothing could have prepared him for the fish that would later latch on to the end of his line and lay claim to the Idaho state record.
Fancis‘ day of fishing on Hayden Lake started like any other – same gear, same approach and same goal, to catch big pike.
When he got to the lake that day, there was still some ice on the lake, so he couldn’t cast right up to the shore, only to the edge of the ice.
“When my lure hit the water, I let it sink all the way to the bottom. As soon as my lure hit the bottom, I felt her hit. I fish with 80 pound-test line, and she almost immediately started peeling drag, a lot of it,“ said Francis.
Francis said he almost immediately knew this was a big fish.
“She pinned herself to the bottom and just kept going, peeling drag the whole time. I knew that wasn’t normal, and I could tell it was something special.“
After peeling drag for a while, the behemoth changed her tactics.
“Suddenly I got slack line, as she was coming straight up from the bottom. She came flying out of the water, and it was obvious she was a huge fish,“ recalled Francis.
When he finally landed her, Francis said he knew she was going to be a state record fish, or at least a close contender. State record northern pike caught in Hayden Lake, Idaho.
“I immediately headed for the dock to try and find a boat with a scale and tape measure. We found a boat with a scale, and the fish pegged the scale out at 30 pounds, so we knew we needed to find a bigger scale.“
After visiting a few different places to find a certified scale, they finally received a certified weight of 40.76 pounds, a new state record.
When asked what he thinks about pike fishing in North Idaho, Francis said, “I like having pike around; they are the biggest fish we can go after here in North Idaho, and I fish for them almost everyday.“
For years I searched for gloves I could wear while fishing. I have dozens of pairs on which I spent way too much money and wore once. None allowed me to feel the bites, cast both bait caster and spinning reel, protect me from sun in summer and stay warm in winter.
At the Georgia Outdoor Writers Association meeting this past spring our “goody” bag included a pair of AFTCO Solpro fishing gloves. I thought the size was marked wrong, the XXL looked way too small for my hands. But I struggled and got them on, and they “fit like a glove!”
They are snug on my hands, but that helps feel the rod and reel while fishing. The fingertips are cut out as are the palms, giving me good skin contact with line, rod and reel. And they have protected my hands from sunburn this spring and my hands have not gotten hot while wearing them, either.
I did not think they would be very warm in the winter and I am not sure they will be. But when I pick up a cold can of Diet Rite Cola I feel the cold on my palm and fingertips but not where the glove material is between my hand and the can. I hope that means they will be warm.
The tight gloves are hard to get on and I have to be careful to get my fingers headed in the right direction, but it gets easier each time I put them on. I put them on each morning when the sun starts to get warm.
With them and a gaiter, a simple tube of sun block stretchable cloth that goes over my head and covers my ears, neck and most of my face, I am well protected without putting on sunscreen except on the tip of my nose. The gaiter was given to me when I attended a Bassmasters Classic as a media observer a few years ago.
Just my luck, when I went to the company site apparently the Solpro gloves are no longer available. That is probably why they were given to us, they are discontinued. It looks like they have been replaced with a “Solago” named glove. It looks the same in pictures.
The Solago sun gloves sell for $29.00. I am ordering a spare pair, but was disappointed when shipping cost $9.99, over a third of the cost of the gloves! They did offer a free gaiter with my first order, though.
And after I got home from my trip, Linda asked if I thought to check Amazon. I had not, they were the same price but shipping was free if you are a Prime member. I could have saved $10 if I had not been in such a hurry!
Bass were feeding on herring or gizzard shad spawning on a rocky point last April when I won a club tournament. I caught every fish I weighed in except one by 8:30 each morning. Several hit a spinnerbait, the others hit an underspin lure.
For years at Clarks Hill after the spawn bass hung around back in coves and pockets feeding where they had bedded. I remember daddy and two other men going around the back of a creek with Hula Popper and hooking big bass one morning.
They would not let us kids back there with them, we were too noisy! Four of us were in a bigger ski boat that we had pulled their jon boat to the creek from the boat ramp. We were near the mouth of the cove, trying to paddle it and fish.
I tried to make a long cast to a button bush in the water with my Devil’s Horse topwater plug but it went way off target. As I reeled it in as fast as I could turn the handle on my Mitchell 300 Spinning reel, a huge bass attacked the plug.
Somehow we managed to land that seven pound largemouth. It was by far the biggest bass I had ever caught when I was 15 years old. For days we talked about that bass being crazy chasing down that lure skipping across the top of the water. Everybody knew you fished slowly for bass!
Now we know you can not reel a lure faster than a bass can chase it down, and often very fast moving lures will attract bites when nothing else will. Buzzbaits were invented for that kind of fishing. I just wish I had been smart enough to figure that out back then and invent them!
I caught many bass at Clarks Hill in the 1970s and early 1980s fishing back in coves and creeks in April. Then the blueback herring population exploded in the lake and changed everything.
Bass love the herring. They are big with an average size of about seven inches so they are a big meal to fill a bass fast. And they are very rich in oils and protein, perfect for bass recovering from the spawn.
Herring are an open water fish, living on the main lake where it is deep. When the herring spawn they go to shallow gravel and rock areas on the main lake and are easy for bass to catch and eat.
It seems all the bass have learned that and almost[RG1] all of them will head to open water as soon as they spawn in April to eat herring. It has changed the way I fish on herring lakes like Clarks Hill.
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