The MInnesota DNR has stocking reports on their website.

The concept behind the inflatable life jacket is that people will actually wear it.

If you plan to wear it, buy it. It could actually save your life. If you only wear it while moving and take it off to fish, have another out to be legal if required by your state.

If you don’t plan to wear it, then just buy the cheapest one you can, let it lay on the floor of your boat, and roll the dice hoping nothing goes wrong.

Rain will NOT set them off.

I have two different brands of automatic inflatable life vests.

Very comfortable, event in hot weather.

I have sometimes even jumped into my truck with one on forgetting I was even wearing it.

I know scents can help in freshwater. Three times this winter ice fishing for panfish with a slow bite, I turned bad outings into decent ones by simply spitting on my jig (not kidding)!

I do often use Dr. Juice walleye fishing when the bite gets tough and have had my luck turn around.

Almost all of my scented plastics (for both bass and walleyes) out fish non-scented baits.

I am a believer.

Also, on the WD-40 … when I lived in Brainerd, MN, I went out on a guided business launch with about 50 others on the same boat. The walleye guides on Mille Lacs used WD-40 on leeches. I don’t know if it was the scent or that the WD-40 put a coating on the leeches that they couldn’t get oxygen (or both), but the leeches freaked out and they put a lot of walleyes in the boat!

I do mostly catch and release, so I don’t use WD-40 on my bait as I cannot imagine it is good for fish or the environment, but I am witness to it working for walleyes with live bait for sure.

Just remember, if fishing is slow, it never hurts to put some saliva on your bait! A little spit will do ya! 😀

A Triumph is indeed a good rod!

The lower end rods are made in Mexico (part of North America).

From the Premier line on up, they are ALL made in Park Falls, WI (USA).

Regardless of which model you choose, they are a great rod at the price point considering their warranty and performance.

FYI - In my opinion, their AVID line is a tough rod to beat for quality /price and has a 15 year warranty made in the USA!

St. Croix is my favorite. I have had similar satisfactory results with replacements on 4 broken rods over the years. The only rod I had to wait on was one they were waiting a couple of weeks to do another reproduction run for that particular model (one of their upper end rods that likely isn't produced as often as others) and they had none in current inventory (but they communicated to me that would be the case).

Made in USA and great service. I have 9 St. Croix rods going back 30 years. The only issues (broken rods) I ever had were situations that were caused by the user (me)!

Performance (and warranty) worth the price in my opinion!

Welcome Spoon Butcher!

The Mississippi River in SE Minnesota is one of the best places to fish in the entire state, and with it being a border water, it is open all year around!

That being said, there are very few places to safely ice fish for walleyes.

The backwater areas are great to fish for panfish, perch, bass and pike, but there are very few safe places to fish for walleyes until open water.

The Rochester area has several reservoirs that are also good for panfish, Bass, and pike.

I am about a hour north of LaCrosse and have not been out down there yet.

I hope to try Lake Onalaska down there next week.

That would be my safest bet, but I have no first hand knowledge currently.

If you store them properly in separate packages or containers, and avoid exposing them to extreme temperatures, I think 3-5 years is a pretty safe answer. Possibly as long as 8-10 years for quality baits.

I got caught in the Mississippi River backwater muck duck hunting down in Reno a couple of years ago.

I thought I was going to die then and there. It took me what seemed like a half an hour to get back to the bank.

You must have been exhausted (I was).

Now I mainly hunt Weaver (with a sand bottom).

I am glad you made it back to dry land Leo - sorry about the knees!

Nice trout!

😀👍

I have several fillet knives. I have an electric that I use when I am cleaning fish for a lot of people and have a lot of fish to rip through (I still use a standard fillet knife to cut out the rib bones though if I am trying to get as much meat as I can).

I still use my standard Rapala knife (Finland Martini with the wood handle) the majority of the time. I do have a cheap but dependable Smith electric sharpener in my garage that I use to sharpen my knife about every 6th or 7th fish and that really works well. I WILL BE TRYING THE MILL FILE that audigger53 mentioned - that sounds great.

I have 4 Rapala knives, a more expensive Bubba Blade that my wife bought me, and a fairly expense K. Henschel fillet knife.

I still use one of my Rapala knives 70% of the time - and almost exclusively when filleting walleyes.

An electric knife can really rip through fish in short order, but I think there is a little more room for a margin of error there (however, you cannot believe how much faster you can clean fish with it). I do bring my electric knife on trips with other guys, as I usually do most of the filleting, and when you have a lot of fish, there is no substitute.

The Bubba Blade is a good fillet knife too, but it isn't as flexible as the Rapala knives, so I don't use it as much on panfish and walleyes (although it does the job on walleyes too). I do prefer it on bigger fish, as it is more stout.*It is OUTSTANDING for butchering deer.

There is a time and a place for different types of fillet knives, including electric, but for me, I still use the old Rapala most of the time (even though I own other brands and types).

I think a person is better off spending a little more money on a decent sharpener or files than spending a lot of money on a knife.

Note: I will admit that I do have a sentimental attachment to the wood handled Rapala knife . . . it is the ONLY knife my Dad ever used, and I think of him every time I use one (and that makes me happy) - in fact, one of mine is his old knife that must be at least 50 years old now (and still works great). So, I am biased.

With that being said, if you don't own an electric fillet knife, it is a tool that a fisherman should have, because I do think there is a time and a place for it.

Good news about Marion Leo.

Please say hello to her from me and wish her my very best!

Bill

I have had great luck with Berkley Trilene XL!