Fish and Wildlife

Trust Fund

and its impact

Pheasant Fest just

around the corner

Ice fishing revelations

February 2013

OUTDOORCONNECTION

“Your LicenseD o l l a r s -Y O U R

LEGACY.” This statementsums up the impact that fish-ing, hunting and trappinglicense sales have for out-door enthusiasts in Iowa.

That’s right, 100 percentof license fees goes directlyto the Fish and WildlifeTrust Fund, which is man-aged by the IowaDepartment of NaturalResources (DNR) and spentexclusively for fish andwildlife-related research,education, management andexpansion of naturalresource opportunities inIowa. Even more important-ly, since an amendment tothe Iowa Constitution in1996, the fund is constitu-tionally protected so that thelicense dollars cannot beused for any other purpose.For Iowans, I’d say this ispretty powerful stuff!However, until last year, Ididn’t realize the potentialof just how powerful thiscould be. Trust Fund history

The account was firstestablished in 1937 to man-age and regulate Iowa'swildlife and fisheryresources. The Trust Fund iscomprised of all fees fromhunting, angling, and trap-ping licenses and from thesale of habitat fees. Thesestate license fees, paid byoutdoor recreationists, pro-vide matching funds for fed-eral excise tax receipts fromnationwide hunting andangling equipment sales.These federal funds areadministered to the states bythe US Fish and WildlifeService through its formula-based federal aid programs(Pittman-Robertson andDingell-Johnson) anddeposited into the TrustFund. This federal aid aver-ages approximately $9 mil-

lion, annually. The TrustFund also houses BoatRegistration Fees, which areearmarked toward boatingrecreation, navigationalsafety and aquatic invasive

species control as outlinedin Iowa Code. What the Trust FundMeans to Iowans

Until this point, I think Iwas like most Iowans, whopretty much felt that you hadto be involved in fishing,hunting and trapping to reapthe benefits from the TrustFund. On the contrary!

Greg Drees, chairperson ofthe Natural ResourceCommission, a group ofseven citizens appointed bythe governor to set policy,adopt administrative rulesand hear appeals in contest-ed cases related to fish,wildlife, conservation lawenforcement, park andforestry programs, believesthat the fund is for allIowans. “You don’t have tobe an angler, hunter or trap-per to realize the benefitsfrom The Fish and WildlifeTrust Fund. It’s for all out-door enthusiasts from birdwatchers, to hikers to bik-ers…all nature lovers. Withthe matching federal fundsfrom Pittman-Robertson andDingell-Johnson, the licensedollars are increased greatly.I believe that the more peo-ple learn about the positiveimpact these dollars havefor promoting and enhanc-ing our natural resources,the more they will be willingto buy licenses.”

Drees continued, “The bestpart is that this is not a tax,not a fee or an additionallevy. It is simply giving peo-ple the chance to enhanceour natural resources.”

Joe Larsheid, Chief of theFisheries Bureau, added,“This is the public’s trustfund. It can only be used forfish and wildlife manage-ment. I really believe thatpeople in Iowa see theimportance of Iowa’sresources and that they wantto do better. You don’t haveto be a hunter, fisherman ortrapper to buy a license.Most importantly, themoney goes to the trust fundthat in turn is used toimprove habitat and waterquality.”Itʼs up to us

Twice in the past threeyears outdoor enthusiastshave had the chance to par-ticipate in a series of publicforums held by the DNR todiscuss and give input aboutthe fish and wildlife man-agement practices in theHawkeye state and ways inwhich their license dollarsmight be spent. Each timeall of the ideas were collect-ed and compiled into astatewide list and used tohelp shape how our licensedollars are allocated and thelegacy Iowans hope to leavefor future generations.

I attended the public forumheld last May at FortDefiance State Park south ofEstherville. One of the top-ics discussed was the ever-looming threat of budgetcuts. This, of course, led tothe topic of raising cost ofbuying a license, but thatalso brought concerns abouthow this might cause licensesales to drop.

A friend, Dick Lineweaverof Arnolds Park, and I dis-cussed the idea later. Hemade a great point to me:“Steve, just think how much

money we could generate ifeverybody bought a license(fishing, hunting or trap-ping). They don’t have touse it, but the impact of buy-ing the license is really pow-erful when you consider thatfor every license dollar gen-erated, three dollars ismatched through federalfunds.” The next day Dickbought his wife, Linda afishing license and also hisgranddaughter. That led meto buy my wife a fishinglicense for the first time inseveral years.

His idea really makessense. No tax, no specialfee, no assessment. No, it’sreally a donation that bringsan additional $3 for everydollar generated throughfishing, hunting and trap-ping licenses. Let’s take alook at some of the wayslicense dollars have beenused over the years.License dollars at work(Iowa DNR data)

■ World Class WalleyeProduction

Iowa is considered anational leader for its inno-vative walleye hatcheryresearch, and currently pro-duces and stocks around150 million walleyes annu-ally across the state.

■ Brown Trout Explosion Brown trout have a self-

sustaining population in 34northeast Iowa streams. Infact, wild brown trout arenow the source of DNRhatchery eggs, eliminatingthe need for domesticbrowns at hatcheries. Thenumber of self-sustainingstreams is partly due to part-nerships with privatelandowners who improvedwater quality through landpractices.

■ Turkey Turn-around Wild turkeys were nonex-

istent in Iowa until 1966when the DNR releasedeastern wild turkeys in areas

of southern Iowa with goodturkey habitat. As popula-tions began to flourish, theDNR trapped and relocatedturkeys around the state.Today, Iowa has an excel-lent turkey population and50,000 turkey hunters whopassionately pursue this elu-sive game each spring andfall.

■ Wildlife Restoration Iowa is home to several

wildlife restoration success-es. From 16 river ottersreleased at Lake Red Rockin the 1980s, river otterscan now be found in everycounty, thanks to help fromfur-harvesters who helpedtrap and move animals. Thedeer population in 1936 haddwindled to only 500 and700 statewide. Managingthe deer herd through habi-tat and regulation has beenkey to bringing back thistrophy animal, making Iowaa destination state for deerhunters. Other speciesrestored to Iowa includetrumpeter swans, peregrinefalcons and giant Canada

geese. ■ Lake Restoration Lakes with decent water

quality contribute to a high-er quality of life, local eco-nomic development andincreased property values.To date, Iowa has completedseven lake restoration proj-ects, with 26 more under-way and 11 in the planningstages. License dollars areleveraged through habitatdevelopment and improvedaccess on these lakes. Iowaanglers experience excellentfishing within two to threeyears of completion of theseprojects, with benefits last-ing at least 50 years. Final Thoughts

Your License Dollars-YOUR LEGACY! Suremakes sense, doesn’t it? Thekey to getting more Iowansinvolved lies with you andme! We need to spread theword, to tell our relativesand friends about the TrustFund and the impact theirdollars could have on ournatural resources. Let’s seewhat we can do!

2-Estherville (Ia.) Outdoor Connection, FRIDAY, Feb. 1, 2013

STEVEWEISMANOUTDOOR EDITOR

FISH AND WILDLIFE TRUST FUND AND ITS IMPACT

Author with 27” walleye (released) taken on Big SpiritLake.

Photo submitted

We’ve all heardthat a picture isworth a thou-

sand words. What’s mostcaptivating are those iconicimages, captured by thecontinuum from novice toprofessional, which renderus speechless. No matterthe skill level, every pho-tographer knows that out ofthe thousands of picturesone takes in a year, theremay be only one image thatsatisfies the soul. The abili-ty to capture that single,vivid image that evokes apassionate response can beaided by seeking the help ofa professional.

Emmet CountyConservation hosted a pho-tography workshop present-ed by Sarah Morphew onSaturday January 19th atthe Emmet County NatureCenter. The audience of 38traveled from near and farto learn about composition,focus, lighting, and use ofsubjects.

The presenter, SarahMorphew, has vast experi-ence as a photographer inCalifornia working for apremiere senior portrait stu-dio. Her talents currentlyinfuse the work crafted byMorphew Studios whereSarah, along with her hus-band Alan, creates master-ful pieces of work in pho-

tography, website design,graphics, and music. Theyalso offer lessons and work-shops for those looking togain insight and increasetheir skill.

Sarah began the photogra-phy workshop with anintroduction into qualityequipment. Sarah noted that"The quality and effective-ness of your work will bedetermined by: your experi-ence and skill level, your"eye" (having the ability tosee the world in a uniqueway which others can thenrelate to and be inspiredby), and the quality of yourequipment." The Canoncamera seemed to be themost popular at the work-shop from easy to handlepoint-and-shoot to the pro-fessional grade.

As the workshop movedinto the act of capturingimages, Sarah discussedcomposition. There may bea single subject in thephoto, possibly a person or

a flower, but the back-ground is just as important.Like any director worththeir salt works to set thestage and scene just right, aphotographer needs to payattention to every detail thattheir image highlights.Composition is key!Getting “photo bombed” bya pile of trash can put adamper on the excitementof any photo shoot.

Adjusting the focus of aphoto can be a lot of funand help determine whatpart of the picture onewants to highlight. Sarahnoted that it’s importantwhen photographing an ani-mal subject to always havethe eyes in focus.Adjusting the focus,whether by zooming in onan image, or setting thefunction on one’s cameracan make a big differencein quality photos.

Use of light can be a funtwist on a familiar scene.As participants learned atthe workshop, workingwith shadows can enhancea photo when captured pur-posefully. Shadows canalso ruin a photo whenoverlooked.

To wrap up the workshopSarah Morphew sent hereager students outside on anassignment. Participantswere asked to take pictures

of a subject at different dis-tances, different angles, andvarious lighting sources.The key to taking picturesand improving performancehas to do with experiment-ing.

Take time to get to knowthe camera and equipmentthat you will put to use.Learn what settings appealto your eye. Not everyoneagrees on what makes agood picture, and that’swhat makes photographyappealing. Sarah encour-ages photography enthusi-asts to, "Learn to see theworld in new and differentways. Next time you take apicture, try something youhave never done before."

Emmet CountyConservation wishes toextend a wealth of apprecia-tion to Sarah for sharing hertalents with us and present-ing this workshop. You cansee Sarah’s work by visitingmorphewstudios.com.

This photo taken byDavid Haukoos, one ofthe participants of therecent photographyworkshop held at theEmmet County NatureCenter, captures the sunshining on the austerewinter landscape.

(photo by David Haukoos)

Estherville (Ia.) Outdoor Connection, FRIDAY, Feb. 1, 2013-3

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BY JOE WILKINSONIOWA DNR

The scene is a troutangler’s dream come true.Or nightmare of the highestorder.

All around this corner ofthe Manchester trout hatch-ery, 2-pound, 3-pound…7and 8-pound rainbow troutsplash in holding tanks.Glistening, colorful…butwith no room to flip a fly orredworm.

“We’re spawning rain-bow trout today,” explainsRandy Mack, DNR hatch-ery technician, as he andtwo co-workers wrestle 40female trout (the big ones)and a similar number ofsmaller males inside theManchester hatchery.

Longtime hatchery tech-nician Kenny Linderwell‘trays’ the fertilized eggsand sets them into placealong the wall. A constantflow of 52 degree waterwashes over them for about30 days.

The water quantity andquality here have meant atrout hatchery has been onthe premises for more thana century.

“We normally spawn

enough to produce about250,000 catchable-sizedrainbow trout,” explainsMack. “In the wild, rain-bow trout in Iowa repro-duce very poorly. Wespawn them here and raisethem for a year and a half,until they are ready tostock.”

At some point in 2014,these now fertilized eggswill be half-pound rainbowtrout, released into about50 northeast Iowa streamsor – increasingly - intourban lakes around Iowa.

Selective breeding overthe years has produced atrout timetable. In October,brook trout are ready togive up their eggs.

Iowa’s only native trout,they are spawned stream-side on South Pine Creek inWinneshiek County. Eggsare brought back to thehatchery to hatch and grow.As they are stocked, theydo better in certain streamsand overall, are harder tocatch than the anglerfriendly Shasta strain rain-bow trout. About 50,000brookies are stocked eachyear.

By November, brown

trout are spawned. Broodtrout are brought fromFrench Creek to the hatch-

ery. They will be raised until

fingerling sized, then

released to grow wild inseveral dozen stretches ofstreams throughout north-

east Iowa, supplementing

4-Estherville (Ia.) Outdoor Connection, FRIDAY, Feb. 1, 2013

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(Photo courtesy Iowa DNR)

Turn to SPAWN, Page 5

Estherville (Ia.) Outdoor Connection, FRIDAY, Feb. 1, 2013-5SPAWN, Continued from Page 4

ST. PAUL, Minn. —Pheasants Forever will holdits annual National PheasantFest & Quail Classic on Feb.15, 16 and 17, 2013 at theMinneapolis ConventionCenter.

The national conventionand outdoor tradeshow willmark the Twin Cities-basedwildlife habitat conservationorganization’s 30th anniver-sary.

Pheasant Fest & QuailClassic is a trade show thatwill focus on wildlife con-servation, upland game birdhunting (pheasant andquail), dog training, andwildlife habitat managementand restoration.

In connection with thetrade show, PheasantsForever will hold seminarson habitat improvement,pheasant hunting, shootingsports, wild game cooking,dog training, conservationand lots more!

The nonprofit PheasantsForever – which formed inSaint Paul, Minnesota in1982 and is currently head-quartered in the nearby sub-urb of White Bear Lake –has grown to more than

130,000 members and 700chapters across the U.S. andCanada. Members, chaptervolunteers and the publicwill celebrate at the organi-zation’s largest event, whichfeatures hundreds ofexhibits, bird dogs, semi-nars, special events andattractions. PheasantsForever’s last national eventin Minnesota drew 29,802attendees in 2008, thelargest event in PF history.

“What was, three decadesago, a fledgling conserva-tion group being run out of ahouse basement has maturedinto an organization thatdelivered more than $50million last year to ourwildlife habitat conservationmission,” said HowardVincent, President and CEOof Pheasants Forever and itsquail division, QuailForever (which it formed in2005), “PheasantsForever’s success is built bythousands of volunteerswho’ve donated time,money, sweat, energy andpassion for the altruisticcause of conserving thisnation’s precious uplandsand wetlands. It’s important

for us to celebrate theseanniversary milestones, butmore important to say‘thank you’ to our support-ers.”

Fittingly, the celebrationwill take place in the organi-zation's birth place, asPheasants Forever wasformed by a group ofMinnesota pheasant hunterswho saw the need for habitatpreservation and restorationin 1982.

Pheasants Forever’s firstaccomplishment was as the

instrumental player in thepassage of MinnesotaPheasant Habitat Stamp leg-islation, to this day requiredby all Minnesota pheasanthunters.

Today, Minnesota is hometo 77 Pheasants Foreverchapters, 2 Quail Foreverchapters and 25,000 mem-bers. Pheasants Forever hasspent more than $52 millionon habitat and conservationeducation in the state,including more than $37million on 33,770 acres thathave been purchased, per-manently protected andopened to public huntingand outdoor recreation.

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earlier generations ofbrown trout.

Through December andJanuary, rainbow trout—the backbone of Iowa’sprogram—are ready tospawn. Once a week, crewscheck outdoor raceways forripe female brood stock.Back inside, they firmlymassage slimy trout belliesto produce a steady streamof golden eggs, to be fertil-ized, trayed and hatched.

The eggs hatch into sacfry and are switched toindoor raceways in thehatchery.

As they consume theiryolks, they swim up andlearn to feed on commer-cial pellets; until loaded forthe truck ride to a nearbystream.

From there, they fend forthemselves…or go home inthe coolers of 40,000 plustrout anglers.

That number has grownover the years. First sold in1962, fewer than 22,000trout stamps were out therein 1970.

The number rose slowlyand, in 2010, first topped40,000. Over 43,000 weresold in 2011; boosted inlarge part by late fall toearly spring urban troutstockings.

That cold weather stock-ing program, rose from justthree urban ponds 25 yearsago to 16 quarries, pondsand small lakes this winter,brings trout to city anglers.They can fish locally, andif the urge strikes….usethat good-for-the-year troutfee to head to northeastIowa in the spring, summeror fall.

In the meantime, severalthousand people who mightnever have fished for—ortasted—trout are hooked.

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BY MARK STRAND

After all the map study,after all the hole drilling,once you drop the line downthe hole and start presentinga bait, that’s when the mostelusive skill of all comesinto play. Even with thefinest graphite rods andfresh line, it can look like amagic act when goodanglers just ‘know’ a fishhas taken the bait and it’stime to set the hook.

Solid, thunking bites areeasy. Everybody can feelthose, even with gloves on.But knowing a light bitewhen you feel it – or sense it– separates the best anglersfrom the rest.

For so many, this becomesa lifetime quest full of frus-tration. How do you know asoft bite when you feel it?What does it feel like? Isthere a way to develop a bet-ter touch for detecting bites?The answer is a resoundingyes, but you have to payattention to detail and tidyup several tricky variables.

Bite Detection SystemThis is not going to be a

commercial for specificmodels of rods and reels, butrather a description of whatGenz uses and what hebelieves to be the keys tobetter bite detection. He’ssaid this before, but youmust begin with the rightgear.

“Your equipment has to bebalanced,” Dave begins. “Ifit isn’t, you’re not going tofeel the bite. The line has tohang straight (meaning freshand free of coils). Your jighas to be heavy enough totake all the kinks out of theline. Even with new line, ifthe line is too thick for theweight of the jig, there willbe all these coils in it, andyou can’t feel bites then.

“And you have to have afairly stiff rod. It’s so hardto get people to understand

that stiffness equals sensi-tivity, but that doesn’t meanI’m using a pool cue. Peoplesay they want a ‘more sensi-tive’ tip, but after I talk tothem, I find out they want towatch the rod tip and see therod bend to see the bite.That’s how they want todetect the bite, by seeing itrather than feeling it,because they don’t thinkthey can learn to feel it. Butif you have such a soft tip onyour rod that it bends whenyou get a light bite, it’sgoing to be harder to feelany bite.”

Genz urges us to get awayfrom trying to see bites bywatching the rod bend. “It’sthe little bites, being able tofeel them, that you shouldbe trying for,” he says, thengoes on to describe how topull it off.

“You have to be able tofeel that lure down there asyou’re jigging it,” he says.“Even with tiny baits, ifyour rod and line are in bal-ance, you can feel the cyclesof the jiggling motion as yougo up and down. It’s crispand noticeable once you getused to it, and you just knowit. We talk about poundingthe lure, and now we talkmore about the cadence,which is how fast you arepounding it.

“With a good rod, you canfeel the bottom of everycycle, right in the rod blank.That’s why it has to be stiffenough to let you feel that.If the rod is too soft, every-thing mushes around andyou can’t feel anything. (Butwith a good rod) you’re jig-gling away and feeling thebottom of every jiggle, andthen all of a sudden some-thing changes.”

In other words, the distinct‘thunk’ (or whatever youwant to call it) at the bottomof every jiggle suddenlygoes away. It might just

deaden, or there might be asensation that everythinggot lighter, or heavier. Thechanges can be, and are,subtle a lot of times. It isn’tlike a big jolt most of thetime – just enough of a dif-ference to tell you some-thing interrupted things.

Close Your EyesGenz hasn’t talked much

about this next idea, butcredits it for helping himrefine the ability to detectlight bites without the aid ofspring bobbers or othervisual cues.

“What I do, which helpedtremendously,” he says, “iswhen a fish is coming in andI know it’s going to bite, Iclose my eyes and fish likeI’m blind. Blind people havetremendous senses, anddoing this will really helpyou sense when the lure getsa little heavier. You canreally tell when the bouncegoes away at the bottom ofyour jigging cycles. Whenyou can’t feel it bounce any-more, you know the fish hasit.

“Sometimes there’s thisbig jerk on the end of theline, but sometimes the fishcomes in and grabs the lureand swims across the holewith it and everything justgets a little bit heavier.”

He does this close-the-eyestrick occasionally, to thisday, to keep his senseshoned and refine hisinstincts. “You start to feel,or almost sense, that the fishis on there,” Genz says. “Ido this when the fishing ispretty good, not on the firstfish of the day. It probablyworks best when you’resight fishing or using a cam-era – you’ve already caughtsome fish and can picturewhat they’re doing as theybite it. Then, close your eyeson some fish and go for thatfeeling.”

There is more to this story,as there always is, includingwhat to do when the fish arejust coming up and kissingthe bait with their mouthsclosed. That will interruptthe jigging cycle and youcan feel it, but setting thehook right away on thosebites results in wonderingwhat the heck happened. Inthose instances, Genz hastaught us to drop the rod tiprather than setting the hook,

giving the fish a chance tohave a second go at it andhopefully suck it in.

“When I drop the rod tip,”he says, “my eyes are wideopen and I’m watching theline. If the line sits in thehole with coils, that meansthe fish has it and I can setthe hook and get him.”

Sometimes by sight,always by feel, using goodquality rods and reels,almost anybody can learn to

sink the hook into far morebiters.

Editor’s Note: Dave Genz,known as Mr. Ice Fishing,was the primary driver ofthe modern ice fishing revo-lution. He has beenenshrined in the NationalFresh Water Fishing Hall ofFame and MinnesotaFishing Hall of Fame for hiscontributions to the sport.For more fishing tips, gowww.davegenz.com.

6-Estherville (Ia.) Outdoor Connection, FRIDAY, Feb. 1, 2013

Here, the master ices another bluegill – not a monster, but they all bring a feelingof satisfaction.

Photo: davegenz.com

Developing a touch for bite detection

Estherville (Ia.) Outdoor Connection, FRIDAY, Feb. 1, 2013-7

ALEXANDRIA, Va. —Recreational fishing is more thanjust a pleasant getaway for mil-lions of Americans. As an indus-try, it provides a living for count-less people in businesses rangingfrom fishing tackle and boatingmanufacturing to travel and hospi-tality to publications, magazinesand much more. As reported inSportfishing in America: AnEconomic Force for Conservation,a new fishing statistics report pro-duced by the AmericanSportfishing Association (ASA),the trade association that repre-sents the sportfishing industry, thenumber of anglers increased 11percent over the past five yearsand fishing tackle sales grew morethan 16 percent. When expendi-tures are multiplied by ournation’s 60 million anglers, theirdollars have a significant impacton our nation’s economy.

Sportfishing in America: AnEconomic Force for Conservationhighlights how recreational fish-ing not only endures as an activitythat permeates all social and eco-nomic aspects of Americans’lives, but also plays a significantrole in the country’s most success-ful fisheries conservation efforts.

“As an industry, we are keenlyaware of the impact that sportfish-ing has on this nation’s economy,”said ASA President and CEOMike Nussman. “Just by enjoying

a day on the water, men, womenand children across the UnitedStates pump billions of dollarsinto this country’s economy.”

Nussman further said, “And it’snot just the economy. In manyways, America’s anglers are thenation’s most powerful force forconserving our nation’s fisheriesand waters, investing more than$1 billion dollars each year in fish-eries management and conserva-tion through taxes on fishingequipment and state fishinglicense sales.”

According to the new study,America’s nearly 60 millionanglers are estimated to spend $46billion per year on fishing equip-ment, transportation, lodging andother expenses associated withtheir sport. With a total annualeconomic impact of $115 billion,fishing supports more than828,000 jobs and generates $35billion in wages and $15 billion infederal and state taxes. Despite theeconomic difficulties facing theU.S. economy over the past fiveyears; the total amount spent onsportfishing, which encompassestackle, travel and other equipment,grew five percent.

A number of reports stronglyindicate that fishing is identifiedby American families as one of thebest ways to spend quality timetogether. According to theNational Sporting Goods

Association, fishing as a leisure-time activity ranks higher thanplaying basketball or softball,skateboarding, jogging or hiking.

“Despite the uncertain economicconditions that beset all Americas,or because of it, anglers continueto fish and spend even more timeoutdoors,” said ASA VicePresident Gordon Robertson. “Agrowing interest in the outdoorshelped fuel the growth in anglernumbers which we believe willcreate even more momentum infishing participation and sales in2013 and beyond.”

Substantially more than anyother groups, anglers support thenation’s conservation effortsthrough the Sport Fish Restorationand Boating Trust Fund Program.Special taxes on fishing gear andmotorboat fuel channel more than$1 billion of anglers’ dollars tostate fish and wildlife conserva-tion and recreation programs eachyear.

ASA’s new analysis is based ondata from the 2011 NationalSurvey of Fishing, Hunting andWildlife-Associated Recreation,conducted every five years onbehalf of the Association of Fishand Wildlife Agencies by theCensus Bureau and the U.S. Fishand Wildlife Service. Sportfishingin America was compiled for ASAby Southwick Associates,Fernandina Beach, Fla.

Over the years I have fishedmany tournaments, and I haveto say there’s only one I trulyenjoy: The Okoboji HardwaterOpen.

Some of the bestpan fishermen inthe Midwest gathereach year on WestOkoboji’s LittleEmerson Bay tosee who can catchand weigh theheaviest 10bluegills. This yearanglers traveled from Illinois,Iowa, South Dakota, Nebraskaand Minnesota to try their handat catching Okoboji’s giantbluegills. In previous yearsWisconsin and Michigan havealso been represented.

Don’t be intimidated. Thistournament can be anyone’s towin. And often tenths…evenhundredths of an ounce separatewinners from losers. The eventfocuses more on fun than com-petition.

If you keep your eyes and earsopen you’ll also pick up a fewnew tricks.

It’s not just a Sunday tourna-ment; it’s a weekend event.Nearly all the competitors gath-er on Saturday to pre-fish andfind the areas they think willproduce the biggest fish.

At noon, tournament organiz-ers serve lunch for everyone.Hot dogs or Chili Dogs and hot

chocolate for everyone on theice.

Saturday night everyone meetsat Village West resort for the

rules meeting.But it’s morethan a rulesmeeting. Thereare give-awaysfor everyone andtime to swap sto-ries with thosefishing the tour-nament onSunday.

Teeg Stouffer and his army ofvolunteers at Recycled Fishhave organized the tournamentfor the past six years. Recycledfish is an organization dedicatedto keeping our lakes and riversclean for the next generation.

Stouffer spends nearly 40weeks a year on the road allover the country promotingstewardship of your waterways.He is a hero for our environ-ment.

I look forward to this eventevery year because it is alwaysan opportunity to learn fromsome of the best in the industry.If you desire to become a betterice fisherman, I encourage youto enter the Okoboji Hard WaterOpen next January.

To find out more aboutRecycled fish and what they dofor ALL of us, find them on lineat www.recycledfish.org.

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NEW REPORT HIGHLIGHTS FISHING’S BROADECONOMIC AND CONSERVATION IMPACT

Reflections on fishing theOkoboji Hardwater Open

JOHNGROSVENORJTG EXPEDITIONS

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08-Estherville (Ia.) Outdoor Connection, FRIDAY, Feb. 1, 2013

BY BOB JENSENFISHING THE MIDWEST FISHING TEAM

I was on a very interesting ice-fishing trip this past week. Wecaught a lot of perch and crap-pies, and I was introduced to acouple of ice-fishing conceptsthat really caught my attention.Following are some of the thingsthat I was introduced to on thistrip.

We were fishing in theWebster area of northeast SouthDakota. There are a bunch oflakes in this area, and most ofthem provide outstanding fish-ing at some time in the ice-fish-ing season.

When I'm in this area, I usuallyfish with my friend Joe Honer.Joe is an outstanding angler onice or open water. Joe wasn'tavailable last week, but he sug-gested I contact BlakeAnderson.

Joe told me that Blake was anoutstanding angler: Joe was

right! Blake brought his brotherTaylor along. Taylor is also anoutstanding angler.

We got on the ice before day-break and experienced a briefbut intense bite. When that biteslowed down, we moved to adifferent lake that had stainedwater. The fish were willing tobite at mid-day on that lake.Here's where Blake got myattention on how to handle a hotbite.

We found some holes that hadlots of perch below them. Wewere in 14 feet of water. The fishwould bite as soon as our bait gotdown to them, as long as we didone thing: We weren't keepingany fish, so Blake said that wehad to get our bait back down thehole before we released the perchthat we had just caught.

We caught a perch, took it offthe hook, put our bait back downthe hole and got it headedtoward the bottom, then we

released the perch. It seemedlike if we put the perch down thehole first, it would leave thearea, and the other perch wouldfollow it.

If the perch that were still downthere saw the bait headed in theirdirection before they saw theperch released, they would key inon the bait and eat it. I experi-mented with this concept severaltimes, and every time I releasedthe perch before dropping thebait down, the bite stopped.

Later on in the day we got onanother hot bite on another lake.This lake had clear water, and thebite was noticeably better justbefore the sun hit the horizon andfor about a half hour after.

Blake and Taylor had beenusing waxworms on their spoonsall day, and they had been suc-cessful. I'd been using Impulseplastic baits in the one inch MiniSmelt shape. I'd been catchingthem pretty good also.

When the late afternoon bitestarted, Taylor switched over tothe Impulse. He found that theImpulse caught the fish just aswell as the live, but he caughtbigger fish on the Impulse, andhe caught more fish per bait.When the bite is on, it's good toget your bait back down to thefish as quickly as possible.Impulse enables you to do that.

Anglers who spend a lot oftime on the ice or water learn lit-tle tricks that help them catchmore or bigger fish. If you keepthese ideas in mind, you'll alsoexperience that success.

If you really want to experi-ence success on the ice, line up aday of fishing with Joe or Blakeor Taylor. Contact them atjoeguidesyou.com.

Interesting ice fishing revelationsTo see all the newest

episodes of Fishing theMidwest TV, visit

FISHINGTHEMIDWEST.COM

Using little tricks gleaned from days on theice will help anglers catch more fish.

Photo by Bob Jensen