The JT Outdoors Blogs

I Like Big Pike and I Cannot Lie “You know what I really want to fish for this weekend?” I ask my husband Sean at dinner Friday night before we set up our fishing plans. “What?” He replies. “I really want to catch a big pike, it’s been awhile, and I want to switch it up this weekend!”  Saturday morning January 11 th Sean, his brother and I set off to Mille Lacs Lake, our favorite fishery in our home state. It was a cold morning, the temperature was 16 below zero. We headed out to a rocky point where we knew we could set up to fish for walleyes and maybe just maybe catch the elusive Esox Lucius (Northern Pike). Jigging and fighting a fish with a rod is the absolute best but increasing the chances of catching that trophy fish with a few other lines out (one extra line per angler in MN) with either a tip-up or Snare rod is even better to maximize the coverage below the ice! We rigged the snares up for walleye and set up my tip-up with a 9in sucker minnow because “go big or go...

Everywhere I turn the buzz of another hard water season can be felt. With that comes the great gear debates of 2019. How does this work compared to that....  would you rather... lets take a look all those options you have when it comes to handles. So I’m at looking for a new ice rods and there are so many different options out there. Sure Grip or Cork, and then you have split grip vs straight handles. The first is arguably just preference but I do prefer the Sure Grip option. The non slip semi tacky grip gives me extra insurance when the once in a lifetime fish crushes your bait without warning.  Let’s talk handle options... First off is the split grip option. I tend to use the split grip option to maximize feel, lure control, and comfort for fishing finesse presentations. To do this you utilize what is known as the pistol or pencil grip. This grip allows for maximum contact with the rod blank and allows you to use your wrist for making the very subtle movements u...

Ahh…..first ice…  Who doesn’t love the sound of that?  I know I do.  Many of you in the colder climate zones, have already knocked your first chip off the ol’ ice block!  I am unfortunately still waiting for good, safe ice in my concrete jungle, heat-island region of the Midwest.   First ice has always been one of my favorite times to fish.  Whether it be running flags up in the extreme shallow and weedy bays for some white speckled green “snakes”, or 5-gallon pail sitting tight-lining with an old splintering fiberglass spring bobber style rod and reel tipped with a half-busted paintless panfish jig and some half-dead waxies.  I have my spots.  Yes, MY spots, not yours, mine…  Oh, come on, I’m sure you’ve heard that a time or two?!!  But I do, I have my local haunts I always hit up for the first drop of the puck (transducer, that is).  I could usually get on a fairly good bite and rake-in some good numbers, but the qualit...

We have a team of so many amazing individuals from guides, media producers, fabricators, sales, mechanics and so much more with one common interest; fishing. We are starting a blog to melt together a ton of unique individuals and to tell the stories of our lives and how they translate into the fishing world. Over the course of this blog we will have discussions on guiding, safety, boating, tournament angling, rod building, setups, and even how we sneak away from work to have our fishing moment. We hope you follow along as we tell our stories. Matt Bain - JT Outdoor Products Contributor