If the video does not load, you can view it here: Broiling Sea Bass

This week we have a special fish recipe. It takes 15 minutes from start to finish, and not only is it healthy, it’s also delicious!

Broil this fish dish up with a side of rice and some steamed vegetables and you’ll have a dinner in 15-20 minutes, including prep time.

Today we’re using Sea Bass caught in Buzzard’s Bay in the Cape Cod area, though you can use any fish you’d like.

This video is in honour of a great guy we met at the Suffern New York fishing show this past weekend, Greg Z. A chef from the Culinary Institute of America. (picture below)

Feel free to send us your pictures of the dish you’ve created!

Until next time,
Ivo

If the video does not load, you can view it here: Ice Fishing in Quebec - Fishing for Walleye, Pike, and Sauger

Most people head south for the cold winter months to get to warmer weather, however we did the opposite. We headed further up north to the very cold Gatineau, Quebec in Canada.

We went there to jig up those February ice fishing walleyes, pikes, and saugers. We used our secret jigging spoon weapon, the boa jig’r, and baited them up with minnows.

Even though it was freezing out, we had some hot fish-catching action!

Until next time, good fishin’
Ivo

What to use as bait:

If it is your first time out in a new spot and you are not quite sure what you are going to catch, then these few key tips that will absolutely get fish at the end of your line.

Use live bait; whether its minnows, worms or grubs you will always have an advantage over trying other artificials right off the bat.

1. Keep your bait tiny; when I say tiny, I mean tiny.For example cut a minnow into small pieces (about 10 pieces per minnow) and use that to start. A reluctant fish will often go after small bait rather than a larger one.
2. Jig your bait; every minute you will want to jig and move your bait around to draw in fish from afar and also trigger a strike.If you don’t move your bait, fish swim by without a thought.
3. Use a streamline small simple setup; use the Thundermist Bait rig (tips on tying this rig click here, figure of this rig located right) with 4lbstest line and No. 12 hooks.This may seem light and tiny, but that’s what you need to trigger even the most reluctant fish.If you find that you are catching larger fish, you can upgrade the pound test, bait and the hook size that you desire, but always start small.

The Boatless Anglers’ hard water rule of 20:

The Boatless Anglers’ hard water rule of 20 goes like this:

Once you drill your first hole, and for example you caught 5 fish out of that hole rather quickly then all of a sudden the action has stopped. Once the action stops (which it often does while ice fishing) keep fishing for 20 minutes, if no more fish have been caught in that 20 minutes then you can walk 20 feet away and drill another hole (see figure below).

If you catch more fish in the new hole quickly, you can conclude that the fish are not active and are staying put. Therefore it is up to you to move if the fish aren’t, so keep applying the rule of 20 and cover some water.

Take along these basic tips and you can guarantee that you’ll have a great day on the water, literally… ON the water!
Antonio.

PS: if you missed part 1, you can view it by clicking here.

Size

When looking to buy an electric trolling motor, there are a few things to consider. The first of which is size/power. You will want to ensure that your electric trolling motor is not undersized… oversized in this case would be better.

Keep in mind that fibreglass boats are heavier than aluminum. Thus on a typical 17 ½ foot fibreglass boat, an electric motor with 60 lbs of thrust (or more) would be ideal – but for a 17 ½ foot aluminum boat, 50 lbs of thrust (or more) would do.

Some other factors to consider when deciding on which size electric motor would be best, would be to consider the type of fishing you will be doing. If you are using your electric motor in river conditions with heavy current – or in tidal conditions or heavy wind conditions, you will want a strong electric motor in order to fight the current.

Shaft Length

Another very important feature to consider is the length of your shaft on your electric trolling motor. If your shaft length is to short, as soon as you encounter some wind and wavy conditions, your prop will be constantly bouncing in and out of the water, with each wave. (assuming your electric motor is a bow mount)

Not only is this bad for your electric motor (i.e. it is not recommended that your electric motor be operated out of water) but you will also be loosing boat control.

An electric motor with a longer shaft may be more cumbersome to lift & retrieve, but it sure does have many advantages.

How high the bow of your boat will be above water, must also be taken into account. The bow of a bass boat will sit very close to the water, so a shorter shaft size on your electric motor may be o.k.

Where as a “deep V” boat, like a walleye boat, will sit higher on the water and a long shafted electric trolling motor is almost essential.

Power

If you have a choice between a 24 volt and 12 volt electric trolling motor, the edge should always go to the 24 volt model.

The difference between the 2 models is that the 12 volt model will use 1 deep cycle battery, whereas the 24 volt model will use 2 deep cycle batteries.

The biggest advantage of a 24 volt electric trolling motor besides offering more power, is the simple fact that it will last at least twice as long.

There’s nothing more frustrating than running out of electric power half way through your day of fishing – especially if you are fishing a tournament!

I’ll have more tips to share with you in part 2, so until next time, good luck and good fishing!
Ivo

If the video does not load, you can view it here: Cranking for Summer Smallmouth Bass

Summer time is a great time for crankbaiting for those beautiful summer smallmouth bass. We share with you some more great video tips on using crankbaits, and how to help you land more smallmouth bass!

Stayed tuned for part 3

(Here’s part 1 if you missed it)

Good fishin’
Ivo

If the video does not load, you can view it here: Cranking for Summer Smallmouth Bass - Part 1

This is the beginning of a series of videos, all on cranking for smallmouth bass. We’re fishing here in the beginning of summer and share with you a key tip on which style of crankbait to use during the summer.

This video is loaded with smallmouth bass catching advice, and some important advice on how to get more successful hooksets while crankbaiting which starts with your rod and line type.

Stayed tuned for part 2.
Ivo