Fishing Opportunities Abound… NOW!

While nothing can replace the pageantry & popularity of walleyes in Minnesota, here are three reasons you should go fishing NOW!

1.     Spring is a great time for crappies.  They are either in the shallow bays or just outside the shallow bays as part of their annual spawning ritual.  My son Willie & I had to check three different lakes before we found them, but when we did it was GAME ON!  I’ve never seen anything like it.  Our set up was simple: a plain hook or small jig beneath a small slip bobber & a crappie minnow.  It seemed that every cast we got bit or caught a fish.  We left after 30 minutes with a few nice fish for the frying pan, didn’t want to get greedy.  The best part is you don’t even need a boat.  We were fishing from shore.

2.     Big Stone Lake.  If you do NEED to catch walleyes, you don’t need to wait until May 9^th.  All you have to do is head to Big Stone Lake on the Minnesota- South Dakota Border.  The walleye season opens there this weekend, April 18.  I was on Big Stone for the first time last year and was impressed with not only the quantity but also the quality of the walleyes there.  Anglers can expect to find fish in 2-6 feet of water.  Once again a slip bobber set up or a jig & minnow casted into the rocks should produce fish.  Make sure to stop by the best bait shop in Minnesota, Artie’s Bait & Tackle, they not only have the best bait in the area, they are also experts when it comes to catching fish on Big Stone. 

3.    Stream Trout.   There’s an opener of a different sort on all of Minnesota’s inland trout streams.  And according to the Minnesota DNR conditions should be ideal for fishing this spring. “It’s a great time to be a stream trout angler,” said Brian Nerbonne, Minnesota DNR stream habitat consultant.  “Access to trout stream has increased in recent years, thanks in large part to increased funding that has allowed the DNR to improve trout stream access & habitat.”

So whether you are looking for panfish, walleye or trout.  Whether you want to fish from shore, from a boat or in a river.  You don’t have to wait any longer; there are plenty of opportunities to go fishing NOW! Remember, it’s not about having time, it’s about making time.

Running & Gunning-Playing Peekaboo with Tough Turkeys

By Wes Gall

I had the opportunity to hunt turkeys in South Dakota for the first time ever over the weekend. I tagged along with my good friend Greg Anderson and his Dad, Dave Anderson.

Greg, Kyle Brintlinger and Steve Merten had done some great scouting the past years. They found a farm with a few hundred birds wintering on it. I was pumped to say the least! Problem was, we couldn’t hunt that property. We were on the tribal land right next to that farm, with nothing roosting on it. I envisioned a morning with birds pitching out to the pasture and running into decoy sets. That wasn’t the case.

The birds were “flocked up” and had some recent pressure. They were hanging together and hadn’t broken up into smaller flocks. We went in the first morning with no decoys and some calling hoping to strike a close gobble to put a move on.

We could see the pack of birds, but our calling wasn’t working. It was windy, PLUS we had hunters between the birds and us. We decided to stalk and call in the valley. While doing this, we heard SHOTS! JACKPOT! We saw the private land hunters shoot at the flock. The birds scattered and came angling towards the tribal land.

We hustled to cut them off, using the hills and coulee’s to get ahead of them. We would take PEEKS over the hills, around trees and terrain to get an eyeball on the birds. PEEKABOO with Turkeys is a risk/reward game. The first attempt got us close to the birds, but just outside of the kill zone at 60yards. With so many eyeballs on us, we had to freeze until they moved out of sight. Out of nowhere, BOOM. Dave excitedly took a shot at a BIG Tom. He dusted it a bit, but not enough. It was a HILARIOUS surprise and quite the peekaboo.

The birds flew up farther in the bluff and valleys on the same land! We regrouped and decided to keep trying to “outsmart” this flock. We crawled to the top of a mound, and saw the birds 300 yards out. The flock broke up, and a group started to make there way our direction. With no response to a few clucks, we tried to close the distance. Greg and I belly crawled in the open field to within 60 yards. A slight incline of a hill hid us as we took a peek! The turkeys took another route that gave them an advantage to peek over us.

They were cautious knowing something looked funny and took their sweet time. We froze, sprawled out on the ground until they went over the next ridge.

We retreated and ran around them a couple hundred yards. We crept up a mound to take another peek at the bird’s progress. We were close, but we weren’t going to cut them off.

Once again, we retreated and hustled another couple hundred yards. We found ourselves in a steep valley that cut out into the field. We couldn’t go any further and I feared taking another peek. They had to be close; we had to setup hoping the birds were going to play the part.

Dave was in the shooters seat. We waited for a good 20 minutes. They clucked a bit and gobbled once. We mimicked them with one gobble and a few soft purrs. Just enough to tease, then, PEEKABO! The top of a hen turkey peeked over the hill! Then another. A half dozen broke the steep 25-yard horizon. They came just to the edge. Sensing something was up, they started to walk away slowly. That’s when a strutting Tom’s tail fan came into sight. He sidestepped his way towards the hens and made the move we were waiting for! He lifted his head up. BOOM! PEEKABOOM! Dave smacked him hard! It was a great shot.

It was fast, exhilarating action and quite the work out! With no decoys and minimal calling, we did a RUN and GUN game of peekaboo with the birds, and won!