In-Fisherman

In-Fisherman is for the avid freshwater angler. Each issue provides detailed instructions and demonstrations on catching, cleaning, and eating your favorite species of fish, and reports on the latest scientific studies concerning fish and habitat conservation. This is the source for finding fishing hotspots, new tackle, effective equipment, and more!

North With Doc Celebrates 200 • Editor’s note: We celebrate the publication of North With Doc column #200, by giving writer Greg Knowles the front of the magazine to have a look back. Often short of room just before publication deadline, we learned never to drop North With Doc, or risk the ire of readers and never-ending letters and emails, writing in favor of the most popular column in this magazine.

Bits & Pieces • Blending Fishery Science with Everyday Fishing

ADVENTURES • Feature Travel Tips from In-Fisherman Staff & Friends

STAFF Noteworthy & New • New and Unique Fishing Stuff, as Reviewed by the In-Fisherman Staff

NO-FAIL Fall Bassin' • Humans define seasons for the ways that weather affects us. Winter can be “bracing,” while summer weather often is “relaxing.” It’s only natural that we view our world that way.

SMALLMOUTH SEASON: The Bitter End • My Humminbird said the water temperature was 38°F. Although we had smallmouths wired on a wintering spot off the Mississippi River—a spot that produced every autumn for decades and gave up several 5-pounders in the previous weeks—no biters came forth.

PREY CONNECTIONS >for Fall Walleyes • “Gimme the spotlight,” I said on a trolling trip years ago on Minnesota’s Mille Lacs Lake, as we ambled our way back toward a low-water launch on the west side. It was an October full-moon run, and we’d had a good night with dozens of walleyes in the mid-20-inch range up to 27. We were still a hundred yards from the ramp, but I wanted a buddy on the bow to lead us around some large boulders without shredding the skeg more than it already was. The lights went up, and we all crowded the front to see raft after raft of silver streaking bait.

EXPERTS SELECT GO-TO Muskie Baits • A STRANGE SORT OF IRONY has defined the sport of muskie hunting—a dichotomy of behaviors in the realm of lure choice. But perhaps it’s not so curious when you consider the quirky crowd we’re dealing with. We muskie fishers are mostly fine folk, even if we sometimes tend toward the obsessive.

CRAPPIES SHALLOW CRAPPIES DEEP • Crappies seem to spend most of their time halfway down. In 3 feet of water they’re a bit off the bottom. I spy a tree in 10 feet and the crappies sit at a crook 5 feet up. Over by the dam, 20 feet below the surface.

COLD HANDS& the HOT BITES BIGGEST BLUE CATS OF THE YEAR • Eavesdrop on any group of tournament catfish anglers or catfish guides and you’re guaranteed to hear a lot of opinions about the best techniques, bait, and tackle to catch trophy blue catfish. But ask either group the best time to catch monster blues and they’ll come to an agreement.

Trending Steelhead Lures and Tactics • A massive, watery explosion right behind me ripped the quiet, forested tranquility to shreds. I snapped around, hair on end, to see a coffee-table-sized boil with a taught fishing line through it. I followed the line back to an angler holding a severely bent rod, leaning back toward the bank.

Ice-Sonar Platform Particulars • Late fall is when most anglers make their big purchases in anticipation of the upcoming ice season. As such, now’s a good time to make a 20,000-foot examination of today’s ice fishing sonar options. While many online websites offer apples-to-apples comparisons of similar products, the fundamentals of differing sonar platforms often go unaddressed. Here I focus on three primary platforms: 1) traditional flashers with realtime sonar; 2) LCD graphs, either...