Author: Chris Hustad

I can remember my first walleye tournament like it was yesterday.  A good friend of mine offered to let me jump in as the 3rd wheel years ago, in Bismarck’s infamous Big Muddy tournament.  This tourney was the spring kickoff on the first weekend of May. The tourney had been around for a long time and to win it meant you needed some serious fish.  While everyone in the tourney wanted to win, I was more interested in the experience than anything. I’ve been competitive all my life and needed to determine if this was to be that outlet and it

I’ve never been a big tip up fan for ice fishing.  The main reason, they’ve let me down too often.  How many times has your tip up frozen on you for whatever reason?  It sucks.  And to add insult to injury, your bait is probably gone too… But what if I told you there was an ice fishing tip up on the market today that is designed for the HARSH elements?  You can have every bell and whistle in the world, but if it’s too cold or windy with blowing snow…they may not work. 2 days ago I was on the

Do you remember the first time you used an underwater fishing camera? I do, clearly. I was at a bait shop in Detroit Lakes, MN and they were renting one out. My dad rented it and we ventured out to our favorite, family lake. I was in awe with what I saw that day as we moved around… Underwater fishing cameras serve many purposes. It lets you SEE what actually down there. Let’s face it, as much as I love my fish finder (sonar), it’s just 2D. Until you stick a camera down there, you really don’t know what’s AROUND you.

I was introduced recently to a fishing knot tool that I thought was pretty darn cool.  Now I’m pretty confident with my fishing knots, especially for Mono and Braid.  But I always am looking for new ideas when it comes to fishing knots for leaders.  I’ve used everything from a blood knot to knots I can’t even remember their name…and yes, everything in-between. Well, this fishing knot tool can do just that, and more…  Welcome to Hook EZE.  You can now do various line to line and line to leader fishing knots with ease.  The tool has all the instructions, showing

Have you ever ended up on your back, looking up, after slipping on the ice?  Well, I’ve been there, more than once. And each time, as I look up the first thing on my mind is, why aren’t I wearing ice cleats??? The reality is, if you’re going to be spending a good time on the ice, you need the best ice cleats you can find.  No more sliding your feet to avoid slipping, walk with confidence. Now if you’re already an owner of ice cleats and are reading this…chances are, you probably have a cheap pair.  You can walk into

Take a moment, and think about how many minnow buckets do you think you’ve gone through in your life? How many cheap, foam or plastic buckets have you used for ice or open water fishing? I’ve found the best minnow bucket you will find right now, especially for the price it’s at right now. amzn_assoc_tracking_id = “flywa-20”; amzn_assoc_ad_mode = “manual”; amzn_assoc_ad_type = “smart”; amzn_assoc_marketplace = “amazon”; amzn_assoc_region = “US”; amzn_assoc_design = “enhanced_links”; amzn_assoc_asins = “B01CPJALDO”; amzn_assoc_placement = “adunit”; amzn_assoc_linkid = “19babc03b0411ff4bb8bb07bfd8e9b82”; The best part about a Frabill minnow bucket is that they’ve been making them forever and you’d like to assume

I’ve fished out of A LOT of ice fishing tents (or hubs) in the wintertime.  Nowadays, there’s a lot of great flip over ice house and pop up tent options.  But I’ve found what I think is my personal favorite, and that’s the Eskimo ice fishing tents that stand out to me.  Here’s why… Eskimo Ice Fishing Tents Pros It’s HUGE – They boast the dimensions at 115″ x 115″ and elbow room of 122″ x 122″ (I’m assuming they’re measuring with the pop-outs).  It’s also 78″ tall.  Not too shabby.  It’s advertised as a 5-7 person ice fishing tent but

When you hit the sporting goods store and stroll down the ice fishing tackle isle, you’ll notice a pattern. There are A LOT of lures that are advertised as perch, crappie, WALLEYE, PIKE, etc. While I don’t doubt the fact that they will catch all said species, the fact of the matter is; that they’re rarely really equipped for the task at hand. What am I talking about??? THE HOOKS. They’re usually too small, too dull, too brittle, etc. Now I say USUALLY because there are some companies that pack their lineup with quality hooks. But to stay away from mentioning

Now here is a prime example of a simple product that saves your back (and time). The Eskimo Ice Anchor Drill Adapter is an amazing tool for drilling in your ice anchors with your power drill.  It’s simple.  You just connect the ice anchor adapter with your drill, and in seconds your ice anchors are FIRMLY in place.  No more spinning and spinning and spinning with your hands, only to find out it’s still not in place. The adapter is designed to work with any ice anchors, and is made of welded steel construction.  It will fit with ANY power drill. 

My wife makes some AMAZING walleye cakes.  We’re talking, REAL GOOD.  At the campground we frequent in the summer, they’re a monster hit. The idea for these originated for our love for crab cakes.  We thought, why not modify the recipe for walleye?  And the rest is history… Fast forward 10 years or so and the walleye cake recipe has changed a bit.  So here is the most recent version… This makes about 15 nice sized cakes.  Just double the ingredients for a larger batch! I cannot stress enough, to allow some time for the batter to rest in the refrigerator

Lipless crankbaits have been around for decades in the open water fishing world.  I remember casting them as a kid for pike and bass.  They worked well for casting along weed edges and I have many, many memories from using them.  Fast forward around 20 years and nowadays they’re fast becoming popular for hardwater. Rippin Rap for Ice Fishing I will admit, I was a newbie to fishing Rippin Raps & Shads for ice fishing.  I mean, my tackle box is FULL of producers already…why switch?   Because they trigger walleye!  These lures were put to a big test this past weekend

I’m having a really good winter for walleyes this year. So good actually, that I felt it was worth some time at my desk to write about it.  You know as they say, you’d rather be lucky then good…but knowing where to start really helps.  Learning how to catch walleye in the winter isn’t really rocket science. It’s really a lot like open water fishing really. I often scratch my head when guys fish spots in the winter they would NEVER fish in open water…why? They really have the same traits, in my opinion, all year around. Best Time to Fish

As I get older, I find myself getting a bit annoyed with the prices of ice fishing gear these days.  The price of ice houses, sonars, heck even walleye lures ain’t cheap anymore…  It’s not that I’m a dimestore fisherman, but I tend to look more for value than anything else. And the same thing goes for buying an ice fishing rod and reel combo, I just can’t do the $20 combos anymore. You know what I’m saying. You’ve had the cheap ice fishing combos in your hand, and they seem to feel fine but months later you regret it… Nowadays,

For YEARS I’ve been searching for the best light for my portable ice fishing house. Seriously, my shop is like a fishing lantern museum. I’ve got 3 “old school” propane lanterns that run off mantles. 2 “old school” flashlights that run off the BIG batteries. And I have maybe a half dozen under-powered LED lanterns that either don’t work anymore, lost the proprietary charger, or flat out don’t cut it. I should probably sell those, but in all honesty, I’m kind of a gear hog. But all joking aside, they haven’t really made a great ice fishing lantern…until now. I accidentally