USA Wins The Ice Fishing World Championships!

That’s right the US managed to keep their lead on day one to complete the two-day World Ice Fishing Championships. This is the first time the USA has managed to snag the victory and it couldn’t have come at a better time or on a better lake.

You can check out WIFC’s website for the the official WIFC results and Go North Photos for some event shots.

Obviously, the USA contingent had the home advantage as some members fished Boom Lake last year in the North American Ice Fishing Circuit (NAIFC) competition. They all knew how crappies, perch and bluegills bite. The European contestants had never seen these species until this weekend.

After Sunday’s weigh-in, Mike Boedeker of Lansing, Mich., figured he was in contention for the bronze in individual honors. He had eight fish, all crappies, on Sunday. He used a Fiska glow jig both days. He fished with the USA team last year in WIFC competition held in Poland. The typical target fish were golden shiner- and smelt-type species, he said.

Myron Gilbert, a USA team member from Brooklyn Mich., was understandably ecstatic about the win. No matter where the other teams finished, he said, they will all remember the warm reception Rhinelander gave them. “They were big-eyed” after participating in the downtown parade and seeing the thousands of well-wishers, he noted.

His key to scoring fish was to keep moving when there was no bite for a time. It’s not unusual for him to drill hundreds of holes during other tournaments where power augers are allowed. USA team members shared information gained from pre-tournament fishing the areas immediately around the zones when power augers and graphs were allowed

via Rhinelander Daily News

Congrats Pete Maina!

Wisconsin’s muskie fishing king has finally tied the knot. Pete Maina, perhaps best known for his “The eighties will never go out of style,” haircut, made his marriage official after his lovely bride reeled in a nice little crappie – talk about getting things off to a crappie start…sorry.

Bay of Quinte Report, July 9 2006

Gillian and I decided to take a quick trip to the Belleville, Ontario to do some shore fishing in the Bay of Quinte with a couple friends. Very windy conditions and heavy boat traffic made locating walleye and bass very difficult. We ended up targeting small pan fish. We caught a variety of fish, including rock bass, sunfish, bluegill and for the first time I caught a goby. The goby is an invasive species that can be found throughout the great lakes. They take over prime spawning sites traditionally used by native species, competing with native fish for habitat and changing the balance of the ecosystem.

We fished well into the darkness and my friends landed a couple nice bass and a big crappie before we packed up and headed home for a few beers.