Snow Day!

Well, Winter Storm Brianna is busy dropping lots of snow in our area, and will be followed by brutal winds and frigid temperatures.  The good news is we should finally have some fish-able ice by the middle of next week! 

Besides keeping up with the shoveling of the driveway, today will be spent preparing all of my ice fishing gear for another season of battle!  All of my tip ups need to be gone through, to sort out any tangled lines from last year, and tie on some new leaders.

I also plan on making some ice hole covers for this season, which will be painted black to reduce hole freezing, as well as shade the hole on sunny days.  The Hummingbird battery is hooked up and charging, and I even pulled out a bag of Brown Trout eggs to tie into spawn sacs for the weekend.  Looks like today will be a productive day, despite the weather!

Open Water Fishing with the Automatic Fisherman

Who would think to use their ice fishing gear during the open water season, I would!  Trout fishing in Wisconsin’s Lake Michigan Harbors in the fall presents the perfect opportunity for open water fishing with the Automatic Fisherman!  

Three lines per angler are allowed here in Wisconsin, and when Great Lakes Trout fishing, more lines are usually better!  Trout have a tendency to change their food preference on a daily basis, so using the Automatic Fisherman allows me to set stationary lines with spawn, waxworms, or minnows for starters, and then change things up once the fish show their bait preference.  While the Automatic Fishermen are busy at work, I am also casting with crankbaits, spinners, spoons, and even Gulp!  This approach allows all techniques to be deployed in an extremely efficient manner. 

Setting the Automatic Fisherman off docks works just like setting them on the ice.  The only variable is the fish can take the line in any direction instead of just around the ice hole.  To prevent losing my setup by a large fish running wild, I make sure to have the drag set light enough to allow the fish to take line rather than pull the Automatic Fisherman into the water.  I have caught some large fish while doing this and have never had any issues.

Other anglers will probably give you a weird look as they watch you setup your Autos, but when they watch you land a beautiful Steelhead on one, they too will be using their ice fishing gear a bit early!  Fighting a 15+ pound Trout on an ice fishing pole in open water will give you quite the adrenaline rush, I guarantee it!  This is just another of the many reasons you need to get your hands on the Automatic Fisherman today!