Midwest Outdoors

Aug 2, 2024 | midwestoutdoors.com | Jack Payne

Fishing panfish spawning beds is a time-honored event. Anglers line up along a shoreline, picking bluegills off beds. Sight fishing offers loads of fun. But after the spawn is truly my favorite time to catch them. One the spawn is over, most anglers’ success rate falls. If they would learn to get away from the shoreline, their success rates would improve. As post-spawn bluegills in natural lakes retreat from the shoreline, they move to the area near or along the deep weed line.

Dec 18, 2023 | midwestoutdoors.com | Bob Jensen

Interest in fishing for walleyes is growing and diversifying. For sure, lakes in some regions are going to freeze over in the winter months. Walleye enthusiasts who live in these areas get especially excited about fishing through early ice for walleyes. When you’re sure that the ice is safe, here’s how to catch walleyes early in the ice fishing season. Start looking for early-season ice walleyes in the same areas where you caught them late in the open-water season.

Nov 27, 2023 | midwestoutdoors.com | Tom Berg

It was near the end of September last year, and the weather was abnormally hot—even for Branson, Missouri. Daytime temps were in the mid-to-upper 90s, and only after dark that there was any relief from the heat. It made perfect sense to schedule a nighttime fishing trip!Fellow writer friends Kevin Paulson from Nebraska, Alan Clemons from Alabama and I were in town to attend an outdoor writers’ conference. We scheduled an after-dark gig fishing trip with Capt.

Nov 24, 2023 | midwestoutdoors.com | Ken McBroom

Reelfoot Lake is a premier crappie fishing destination and has been for many years. How could I refuse an invite to the On the Hook TV show media camp? As an outdoor writer, I’m fortunate that, through my writing and photography, I can hang out in such a great place with great people who are also some of the best crappie anglers in the country.

Aug 21, 2023 | midwestoutdoors.com | Bob Jensen

Catch More Fish by Trolling This SummerAcross the Midwest, most fish have set up in their summer homes. They’ve completed the spawning ritual and now those fish are hungry. If you put a bait near a fish, it will probably bite that bait. The key is to show your bait to as many fish as possible, and trolling is a good way to do that. Trolling enables anglers to cover lots of water quickly and efficiently.