FISHING GEAR
REVIEWS

Oh no, another article on jigging raps right? Wrong. I’m not going to talk about how great they are, just how to use them effectively.  At this point, you're already interested and possibly convinced they work for catching walleyes (and they do)... I kind of fought...

One thing I’m guilty of and I see I’m not alone these days is my addiction to custom painted crankbaits. Fishing is all about confidence, no matter the presentation or species you’re targeting. I mean, if you don’t think you’re going to catch anything, are...

(Updated 6/24/19) I don't care where in the world you live, whether you're fishing a small river or lake to large reservoirs; there's a place in your arsenal for trolling or casting crankbaits for walleyes.  I personally LOVE trolling crankbaits for big walleyes.  In...

They say muskie fishing is about a fish per 10,000 casts right? Well the heck with it, we’re going muskie trolling. Musky trolling is something we’re still learning every time out. Myself, I consider myself a complete amateur. I make the trek to Minnesota about 2-3...

Over the years, soft plastic baits have changed a lot.  I mean, have you looked at the selection nowadays in the big box stores?  It’s crazy how many brands there are. Traditionally, plastic worms were the ticket when fishing for bass.  I used LONG worms that...

More often than not, I find that most anglers who cast crankbaits just tie the fishing lure straight to the line.  No matter the knot, the problem is it doesn’t allow the crankbait to have that erratic action. Especially when it comes to jerkbaits and crankbaits like...

Summer is coming and this signals the time of year when we search for kings amongst our favorite waters. These kings I speak of are the Chinook Salmon.   And here, it’s salmon trolling season. I spend a lot of time pursuing salmon in my favorite waters and...

One of my love-hate relationships I have in walleye fishing is slow death fishing. While I love what a proper slow death rig can do, it’s using crawlers that is my least favorite part of fishing late spring and summer. Crawlers are messy, they get everywhere in your...

One of North America’s largest man-made reservoirs, Lake Sakakawea, can be found in the heart of North Dakota. This lake has countless miles of shoreline, it’s an adventurer’s paradise. In fact, it has more shoreline than the state of California.  You can fish the...

Wearing sunglasses is important, by now we should all know that. While as a kid growing up, I thought wearing sunglasses was more about fashion than being smart. Nowadays, I don’t go anywhere without them. While I’m writing this about the best polarized sunglasses for...

I have been fishing jigs my entire life since I could pick up a rod.  Jigs have been the number one lure in my boats and on my rods since I was knee-high to a grasshopper. My father, Jim Peluso, moved to Bismarck, ND back in 1974 chasing work with hockey. One of the...

There are times during the year when walleyes can be found shallow...real shallow. Normally, you expect it during the spawn. That’s a given in the spring. But outside of that, there are times where the big girls like to stay there too. And when walleyes are shallow,...

Making fishing leaders is easy, and it’s really something I had to do more of because of the types of fishing I do. It saves money and I find it to be enjoyable. There are really 2 ways to make a fishing leader. Leaders with a GOOD knot. Leaders made with crimps. Now...

I caught my first walleye slip bobber fishing when I was a kid.  That was many moons ago, but I can still remember it well. My dad tossed out a slip bobber for me and I stared at that thing for what felt like forever (for a 5-year-old it was probably 10 minutes).  It...

A common question I see is... what is the best fishing line for walleye? The reality is there is no one fishing line for every walleye fishing application. Each type of line shines in its own way, depending on how it’s used. For example, what line you use for...

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...

Bismarck, ND is known for being the state capital of North Dakota. Did you also know it's home of the new North Dakota state walleye record? Yes, the elusive walleye record that stood tall for over 5 decades finally came crashing down right in the city limits of...

A fisherman from South Dakota invented the bottom bouncer a few decades ago, and it was arguably one of the most notable changes in walleye fishing we’ve ever seen.  There are so many ways to fish bottom bouncers, making it one of the most versatile tactics for...

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...

 I absolutely LOVE my Clam Ice Armor fishing bibs. I honestly cannot stress it enough how impressed I am with them. I just wish I had a camouflage pair to wear in the duck blind....I moved from Nebraska to Central North Dakota in the summer of 2017,...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

When you hit the sporting goods store and stroll down the ice fishing tackle isle, you'll notice a pattern. There's 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...

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...

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...

Are you looking for the optimal cordless drill ice auger combination?  Good news is, I’ve done all the homework and research…and I have a killer setup that only cost me a little over $300.  After a long weekend of testing my new cordless drill ice auger adaptor, I was...

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...

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...

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...

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...

I love catching walleyes all year, and ice fishing season is no different. I spend countless hours on the ice, fishing for walleye. And like any angler, I've taken a few mental notes along the way. From early ice to the dead of winter, these are my 5 best...

Tell me if you've heard this line before..."I won't go ice fishing without my <insert brand>!"  I simply put "insert brand" because ice fishing fish finders come with A LOT of followers. While the big 2 of Vexilar and Marcum eat most of the market share,...

CURRENTLY EXPECT BETWEEN 12 - 20 INCHES ON MOST LAKES ACROSS THE MIDWEST. Check the ice thickness chart closely, especially if you plan on ice fishing with a vehicle.  And if you don't know where you're going, stay on the chosen path... 😉 Currently, ice fishing has...

Walleye fishing can be a chess match it seems, at times.  If you don't know what I mean, come and fish the north end of Lake Oahe in North Dakota in the early fall.  Don't get me wrong, it's still fishing and I love every minute of it.  But when the temps...

I can't believe it's that time of year already, we're approaching early fall and that means one thing...FALL BITE.  Yes, walleyes will know that winter is coming soon and will start to put on the feedbags.  I used to do A LOT of hunting each fall, but I find myself...

There's no doubt that trolling has come a long ways, in the last decade especially.  It's not that some of the fishing methods used are new, but the number of people using them successfully is definitely changing.  But if you want my opinion, there's no easier or...

Every once in a while, you find yourself with a product that is just too good not to share...and this crankbait storage idea is one of those items.  Let me begin. I have a crankbait addiction, seriously.  I have no idea how many I have or would want to know all I have...

We are back, and yes, its another electric fillet knife article!  Ill be completely honest, I got A LOT of feedback when I chose the Mister Twister electric fillet knife as my number one option when I reviewed the 6 Best Electric Fishing Knives of 2018....

When August rolls around, fishing everywhere can get a bit tough at times.  While fishing for us lately has been fantastic, you can't always bank on great fishing this time of year.  Mid-Summer walleyes tend to go deeper and scatter, so that's when I get into seek and...

I love my Skeeter WX2190 boat.  To be blatantly honest, what worries me most about writing this review is having to KNOCK ON WOOD 100 times throughout the process.  I really don't care what boat you have, with so much going on it's bound to have issues at...

Fishing planer boards have been around a while now, and while they get used by many anglers, I still feel most ignore them completely.  I can really see why they are a lot of added "work" in your trolling and some guys don't want to bother.  But there are so many...

These days you'll find A LOT of rod holders on the market for fishing walleyes.  I've done a rod holder review recently, and you can see some of my favorites.  But this time, I'm just going to focus on BY FAR my favorite walleye trolling rod holder, Folbe rod...

One of my favorite crankbaits nowadays to use for all situations is the Berkley Flicker Minnow.  I've been a fan of the shads of all brands through the years, but since I've been using the Flicker Minnows the past couple years I find myself using shads less.  It kind...

Over the past couple of years, I've been hearing about these Bandits that were catching consistent big walleyes on Lake Erie. As an avid walleye angler and troller, I was intrigued. As this summer approached, the big walleyes go deep. You need baits that...

If you looked through the tackle bag any fisherman who fishes for walleyes more than once or twice per year, chances are you are going to find some sort of crawler harness and blade rig.  This is one of the most commonly used and widely...

I have owned just about every Pflueger spinning reel out there at one point in time.  I currently own multiple models of the Pflueger President spinning reel, so I figured a product review was justified.  There are so many options of good spinning reels...

Slow Death hooks are here to stay in the walleye world, as they've proven time and time again the past so many years that they just flat out work.  My tackle box is FULL of various slow death hooks...I feel like I've tried them all.  To be fair, any slow...