Combining the culmination of 20 years of excellence, the Explorer HD L stands as a testament to MarCum’s commitment to providing cutting-edge technology to anglers across the spectrum. This new addition cements MarCum’s industry-leading status in underwater viewing systems by seamlessly integrating superior quality and unparalleled performance.
Whether you’re ready for it or not, the ice season is coming to an end sooner than later. For many of us anglers, it was an odd season riddled with less-than-ideal conditions – including lack of ice and excess amounts of snow and ice. With snow melt in full force and deteriorating ice conditions, we can’t help but think of what’s coming next.
We’re nearing the end of walleye season in MN, and things have gotten a bit tougher. Snow is deep and ice is thick(er), and the amount of available light at depth has been cut dramatically. Your early season haunts are likely nowhere near where you are ice fishing now, and at this point, it’s more about just getting bites rather than talking about how many you’re catching.
Crappie are probably the trendiest fish to pursue. If there is a hot bite out somewhere it doesn’t take long for the multitudes to find out about it. They are also pretty willing biters and some of the tastiest fish out there. Crappie can commonly be found in and amongst the good bluegill areas although the crappie will be found higher in the water column. Crappie will also be found suspended over deeper basins throughout any given lake. This makes them relatively easy to find with your flasher or digital sonar. Find your way out onto the basin and drill a hole and look for suspended fish. When you get on top of them then drop your presentation down right away. Be warned, because it is a basin with no structure to hold them in a certain area, a lot of times these fish will roam about. The challenge will be to stay over them the best you can by drilling extra holes and hole-hopping. Using lithium batteries in your electronics makes this much more doable. Do your arms and back a favor and replace the heavy lead-acid battery in your electronic unit.
Many times, these locations are consistent producers during all months, yet others are specifically good for ice and not during the bulk of the open-water period. The latter types include shallow transitions from mud to sand, or sand to rock, as well as small gravel or rock patches marooned again in shallow weeds or non-like surrounding substrates.
Early ice fish push to these places, especially after sundown in clear-water systems. Spots that are no larger than a kitchen table can seem impossible to drill out and find, while they stick out like a sore thumb once you drop the camera needed to discern sand grains from gravel.
Basic sonar technology is a great asset to ice anglers during the summer and fall months, as few things hide from it, even in heavy weed cover or timber. Even if you don’t own this technology, chances are you know someone who does, or better yet, invest in a unit that does both sonar and GPS so your ice spots will transfer to summer and vice versa. Spend time getting to know the system in either case, and make sure to idle at the proper pace to provide the very best image you can.
The “dog days” of summer mark the end of the early summer feeding binges that most fish including bass go through. Not only are lakes really warm but they are chock full of food including insects, frogs, crawfish, baitfish and fry from all species. Suffice to say that fish have plenty of food and cover available to them. So consequently it can make it just a little tougher to entice a fish into taking your presentation.
A lot of anglers will set their minds on fall when temperatures will cool down and fishing will generally be a little easier. However you don’t have to leave the boat in the garage until then, simply refine your strategies to start catching fish again.
Panfish, specifically bluegill and crappie, are the most sought after fish throughout the entire United States. Anglers of all ages pursue them for a lot of reasons. They are good to eat, plentiful, and seem to always be willing to bite throughout the entire year. Walleye and bass anglers can get skunked on any given day but a panfish angler seldom fails to connect in an outing on the water.
This makes them a perfect species to pursue anytime you have the family and or kids on the water. The great thing about summer is that it can be really easy fishing. By mid-summer the fish have completed their annual spawning and have transitioned out to where they will spend the summer months.
It’s amazing how many anglers have an underwater ice fishing camera for winter use, and forget to pack it in the boat for fishing opener. In fact, open-water applications abound when it comes to everything from species identification, to finding green weeds, or simply identifying water clarity traits from one end of the lake to another.
The fact that now your underwater camera for fishing can be so much more mobile is a major benefit to its use, and the fish-finding information you unlock with it is rather limitless. Here’s just a few ways and reasons to get more use from your winter camera, come spring, summer and fall.
It’s a magical time of year. The ice on the lakes is pretty much absent. The landscapes that were not so long ago covered in snow now show glimpses of life again. Grass is turning greener, plants are blooming, birds are chirping. Spring has sprung.
To many anglers that means one thing – the Wisconsin Fishing Opener is coming. The Wisconsin Fishing Opener is traditionally on the first Saturday in May. This year it falls on
Underwater fishing cameras are recognized as a valuable tool for ice; however, they can be just as beneficial during the open water season – and for many of the same reasons. Open water electronics continue to evolve to new lengths every season but they still leave things open to interpretation. Underwater cameras, however, are capable of answering questions that other electronics cannot, as well as teaching anglers more about what they’re seeing on their electronics. They are an angler’s eyes below the surface.
