Clam Corp Product Review and Featured Photos

Holy buckets it's almost the ice season and I'm pumped. Yesterday I went down to Clam Corporation Head Quarters go over all the new products with Clam Corp and meet with most of the pro staffers. What a bunch of great guys! Clam Corp and IceArmor have so many amazing new products that I can't cover them all in one short post but I will make sure and pick a few out here and there to show you ice fishing fanatics! We covered everything from new shelters, clothing, fishing rods, and ice fishing accessories. I can't wait to put them to the test.

One, simply yet must have, was the New Scoop Shovel. This bad boy was collapsable and only weighs 1.2 pounds. It's perfect for the fishhouse and also perfect to put in the trunk of your vehicle for those emergency situations. A product that is so simple yet something I will use a ton! Check it out at Clam Scoop Shovel



Also one other piece of equipment, which isn't brand new this year but a must have, is the Fan/Light Combo. This thing is so slick! It has a LED Light and a fan which does exactly that, lights up the fish house but also helps circulate the air. We all know the heat rises and it's a pain to have those holes freeze up on the super cold days so this helps circulate the warm air throughout the fish house. The Fan/Light Combo comes in two sizes check it out at Clam Fan/Light Combo





I was also pretty pumped as this was the first time I was able to see first hand the 2011 Clam Ice Fishing Catolog and Ice Annual. Why am I pumped? Well I shot several photos that were featured on them including the cover on both! See photos below.


Photo I took Featured on the Cover of the 2011 Clam Corp Ice Fishing Catalog


Photo I took Featured on Cover of the 2011 Clam Corp Ice Annual


Photos (Top and Lower Right) I took Featured on the Back Cover of 2011 Clam Corp Ice Fishing Catalog


Article and Photos I wrote and took featured in the 2011 Clam Corp Ice Annual


Photos (Lower two) I took Featured on the Back Cover of Clam Corp 2011 Ice Annual

Bob Cat Trail Camera Pics

My friend Bob Johnson, who you have seen catching muskies in previous post, sent me a few trail cam pics of a bobcat. I thought you guys might enjoy seeing them!

Fall Musky Bite - Lake Bemidji - Cass Lake - Musky Guide

I had the chance to fish with my buds from In-Fisherman, Chuck and Trent, for muskies yesterday. It was an earlier morning as we were up and at em and on the road North to the stomping grounds to try get one of these toothy critters in the net. We were greeted with a strong South East wind but the guns were loaded and were were ready to put a good day in. Throughout the morning we moved a few fish but it was obvious they were not in the right mood so after eating a bunch of Diablo Wings from the Green Mill we decided to try our hand a different lake.

It didn't take long and we started moving fish. As we fished down long expansive weed flats there was no doubt the fish were schooled up as we had multiple follows in certain small areas. We concentrated on green cabbage beds. Green? Yes I said Green because this time of year is when the some of the weeds start to die off in which they turn black and do not produce the oxygen like the green ones. Most of the fish were moving were coming from the insides of the weed edges. Although we had several fish located we couldn't get those bad boys to bite, besides the one that Chuck won't want me to talk about, so we made an adjustment just before the sun hit the trees and went shallow into the bullrushes. I told the boys, "if they are up here it wouldn't take long to find out!" and it didn't. We were casting buzz baits like Vibrax Musky Buzz from Blue Fox Lures. Check them out at Blue Fox Vibrax Musky Buzz This can and is one of the most exciting ways to catch these fish. I position the boat just on the outside edge of the bull rushes casting into them as far as we can making sure I gave the fish enough room to eat as the bait exits the bullrush edge. This is pretty important part to catching these fish because almost all the time the fish will follow the bait out of the rushes and eat just on the outside. If the boat is too close a lot of time you can spoke the fish prior to the bite as you are in pretty shallow water.

So just like the the text book says we had a fish come out of the rushes and eat about half way between the boat and bullrush edge. It was an awesome bite and Trent did battle with this beauty of a musky!

So why in the world would we make a move after seeing a bunch of fish? I don't know? I just had hunch we could get a bite up shallow. We decided to make one pass to see what would happen and it worked out. Sometimes you just have to go with your gut feeling!

Equipment Check!
While fishing in the bullrushes one of the most important tools is your fishing rod. I mentioned earlier that most of the time the fish will bite out from the edge but there are times when they are deep in the cover and this when the fishing rod you are using can be a huge factor in landing fish or not. The goal is to get the fish's head up and yes this is the one time you really have to put the boots to the fish. I'm not talking about the hooks set I'm talking about putting lots of pressure on the fish after she is hooked up. The goal is to get the fish on top of the water and try to get her out of the rushes. Most times you will have to go in after them with the trolling motor. Yes this is intense and so much fun!

I have been using St. Croix musky rods this year and they are without a doubt the best fishing rods I have ever used. I would highly recommend the Legend Tournament Series 8'6" Sling Blade model. This is by far the best all around fishing rod I have ever casted a lure with. Check them out at St. Croix Legend Tournament Series Rods

Check out a few of the photos!

"Make a memory"

Jeff Andersen

Gull Lake Pike

Fishing on Gull Lake has been pretty good the last few weeks. We have been catching walleyes on both deep structure and shallow weed lines. The Red Tail Chub rigged on a Bigtooth Walleye Rig has been the ticket. Here is a photo of a bonus pike we caught the other day.

Fall is here!

Oh summer where did you go? It seems like yesterday I was sitting in my boat chomping at the bit to get on open water this spring and now it's IceArmor Clothing time. Fall is upon us which means the fall bite is soon here! It was a summer filled with so many great memories and so many more upon us this fall.

This past Saturday I had the opportunity to fish muskies with my friends Bob and Rob. We had super warm weather leading up to our fishing adventure for the day and the muskies were bitting! Our plan was to fish Leech Lake as there had been a bunch of muskies on the move there. Well of coarse mother nature reminded us that she was in-control of the weather and we were greeted with 25 mph Northwest cold wind. A drastic change! Sometimes good and sometimes bad? From many fellow musky hunters, when faced with tough conditions, I get asked the question, "Are we going to catch one?". My response is always, "You can't catch a fish if you don't try!". Well with Bob and Rob there was never a doubt if we were going fishing. These guys are good fisherman and understand that this is fishing and fishing for muskies.

We met at the boat access bright and early. If anyone knows me they know I get pretty excited for any day of fishing and especially one when we are chasing muskies all day. Well I was pretty excited for this and it was apparent as I had a tough time getting my boat in the water! I backed the boat in and for some crazy reason it wasn't coming off the trailer. The access was fairly shallow water but my boat should have been sliding off. "What is going on?" I said to myself. "Boys! I will try and just dump it fast!" I exclaimed after the first two tries. That didn't work! Rob asked, "Is the boat still hooked up?" Ha it was and after a good laugh we had the Crestliner and Mercury ready for the ride! I learned that if I can't laugh at myself sometimes I will be goofed up all day! Have you laughed at yourself lately?

Leech Lake a lake filled with shallow rock structure and large expansive weed flats. The rock bite was our focus for the morning as I had a fellow musky friend in a separate boat fishing weeds. Between the two boats were were sure to have the fish dialed in. It was rough and running from spot to spot wasn't the easiest but we managed but the fish didn't. It was soon noon and we hadn't had a follow or bite in six hours of fishing. Holy Mackerel what are we going to do? The other guys hadn't moved a fish in the weeds either so it wasn't like the fish were bitting elsewhere. We were faced with a decision. Do we stick out the Rocks hoping the sun will warm them up and the fish bite or do we change lakes? After about a two second deliberation the decision was the change lakes. So Northbound to the Bemidji Area we went.

We launched the boat into the water with no troubles this time and it was like we got on a plane and flew South as the wind had calmed down and the sun was out. Sweet! It didn't take long and we had fish following and had a couple of bites but nothing in the boat. Let me tell you that after getting pounded with huge waves and not having a follow it was like a shot of adrenaline having the first fish come up! We wouldn't be denied today! We decided to leave the spot where we had the follows and went to a spot that has produces so many big fish in the past. Bob was casting a bucktail with double ten blades like the Blue Fox Twin Turbo. "Boys we are casting in Dangerous water!" I expressed as we approached the "money spot" and I heard a grunt of a hook set and saw that Bob had a fish. Sweeeeet! Fish on and I could see it was a good one. After a pretty good battle and some great head shakes the 51 inch muskie was in the net. We quickly took the hooks out, measured her, took some quick photos and gave some pretty awesome high fives!

You can't catch them if you don't try! We were faced with some adversity this day. With sore backs, sore everything else, being beat up and humbled it's pretty easy to give up say let's try again but we didn't this day. Muskie fishing that's what it takes on most days to be successful. Thanks to my friends Bob and Rob for yet another great memory this season filled with yet another 50 incher.

See pictures below....

Make a memory!

Jeff "Breezer" Andersen

Bob's 51 inch hawg belly!








Pure emotion shown with a smile!

Cass Lake, Leech Lake, and all around!!!

Over the past week I had a chance to stay on Cass Lake at the Sah-Kah-Tay Resort and what a great time we had spending time with family and friends. We had a chance to get a little fishing in, catch up with friends and family, and Kristine and I celebrated 5 years of marriage. Holy Buckets 5 years! I'm probably the luckiest guy in the world that she would hang around that long! I also managed to lose my wedding ring playing football in the water with my buds. I'm in the dog house for that one! Leah, the musky Goddess, was at it again and she boated another musky with her Dad and I. I was able to go out for an hour by myself and found a new spot on Cass that produces a chubby one. My little boy Gavin at 18 months caught his first fish! That's a pretty emotional thing for me. Mom held the fishing rod and he reeled it in. After he learned how to reel it in that's all he wanted to do! What a memory!

This trip wasn't about fishing though. The Crestliner and Mercury Verado had a chance to take a break from running from spot to spot. We took a trip to Itasca State Park and took Gavin on a bike ride, had a picnic and went to the head waters of the Mississippi. Todd, Kristine's dad, cooked us Halibut from the trip he and Suzanne, Kristine's Mom, took to Alaska. It was so good! Campfires, beach, swimming, and just time with friends and family. Thanks guys for the great week!

Here are few photos from the past trip and some past guide trips!


Gavin playing in the sand!

Gavin Feeding the Squirrels.

Gavin at the Itasca State Park











A couple of Leech Lake Hawg Bellies!

PMTT Chippewa Flowage

Joe and I just returned from the third Professional Musky Tournament Trail, for the 2010 season, which was held in Hayward, Wi on the famous Chippewa Flowage. We left Thursday morning around 3:30 A.M. and arrived to this massive body of water which was new to us. We didn't have too much information on the lake and we had a ton of work ahead of us and only two days to get it done.

We launched the Crestliner 202 and Mercury Verado which was ready to rock and roll. We pulled up on the first good looking area and we made a few cast and I got bit. I looked at Joe, as there were boats in the area, and whispered, "Joe I have a fish on!". I pulled off the spot and unhooked her in stealth mode. The fish was around the 32 inch mark which wouldn't help us in the tournament but it was a good sign of things to come. By this time it was 90 degrees and flat calm and holy buckets I felt like I was going to tip over. Joe and I fished as many spots as possible with out any action. Well instead of getting heat stroke and casting to fish that didn't want to follow or bit we decided to learn the body of water.

While it's flat calm and sunny this is a great time to take advantage and learn spots. We marked out several areas which looked to have awesome structure. Everything from shallow weed flats, to rock flats along with some great shoreline areas. Our plan was to go back and fish these areas when the sun started to go down. By this time we had several hours on the lake and felt like we had a pretty good handle on where to fish but still didn't have too much to go off because we had not made too many cast on the spots. Evening final came and the temps. dropped, a little, and we went back to the key areas to fish. Joe and I fished into the night without a bite. We felt bruised, battered and defeated and decided to call it a long day!

Day 2 back at to try and put a program together. Well we pretty much had the same results as day one without catching a small one. Yes we had no follows, caught a pike, and had two possible musky hits but we couldn't tell for sure. We had nothin and I have to admit I wasn't too excited to fish two days against some of the best musky anglers around. Speaking with many local guides and tournament anglers it sounds like the bite was about the toughest they have scene in many years. Great! Our game plan was to just go fishing!

Tournament Day the boat was loaded with an assortment of baits and we were ready to rock but not too confident. We were greeted with a flat calm morning with a heavy blanket of fog. Joe and I started on the spot we had caught the fish the first day of pre fishing. We had two local guide boats to compete with but managed to fish the best area with not even a follow. We fished the spot deep, shallow and everywhere in between with nothin! So onto our game plan to fish as many spots as possible and try to put some type of pattern together. Around 1:00 Joe and I found a spot with rock weed mix so I told Joe to cast up to the weeds and I'm going to bang rocks with a deep diving crank-bait. Casting with a mouth full of protein bar I felt the crank-bait contact some rocks and I continued my retrieve and went into the L turn and can you believe it a fish was there and smoked the bait. "Joe got her!" I exclaimed and the fish tall walked down the side of the boat. Joe ask, "You got her?" I was like, "Yes I got her get the freaking net!" and he grabbed the net and made an amazing net job and we were on the board. Yeah buddy! We were pumped and thought we had something to work off of. Well that wasn't the case we fished so much of the same stuff with nothing the rest of the day. We were sitting in 8th place with only one team that had two fish after day #1.



Tournament Day 2 Joe and I were actually pumped and I felt that tingle down my spine when the boats lined up to take off. We had the 202 and Verado rockin at take off and we pulled up to the same area we had caught the fish the day before. Same plan, Joe fish shallow and I fished deep and it didn't take long. Same scenario I made contact with some rocks and right on the L turn a fish came up and smashed the bait! "Joe lets net her right away!" I said and boom she was in the net. Holy Mackerel two fish and we had all day to get another one. Joe and I fished our tails off without another sniff of another muskie besides a 30 inch walleye that got the blood flowing.


(Look at that hair! You can tell that we were rockin!"

So to the awards ceremony with two fish registered which put us into 4th place overall. It's truly amazing what this tournament fishing can do to a competitive angler. Most fisherman and women that fish in these tournaments know what I'm talking about when I say the high and lows are unbelievably dramatic. For instance Joe and I at the last tournament in Eagle River we took fourth and we were disappointed as we were on the winning fish and lost the winning fish. Coming into this tournament we had really nothin and scratched out a 4th place finish which is pretty respectable against some of the best anglers in the business. It can happen so fast. Prior to catching the fish on Day #1 and not having a follow I was determined to figure out a bite but no confident. That is hard to fish "good" and a lesson learned to always fish "good" even when you don't think anything is going to happen. I just had to keep telling myself there are fish bitting somewhere no matter how tough the bite is!

So happy with a another 4th place finish it is now time to get prepared for the next tournament which is held on the St. Louis River near Duluth. This will be an important tournament as we are in the running for anglers of the year if the right people stumble and we have a good couple of days.

Our Presentation:

As you read I made a lure change in the middle of the day which proved to be the right choice. Being able to adapt is such a key decision because sometimes changing works but there are times sticking with what you are doing also pays off. Well in this instance we could do both which worked out. Joe and I dealt with extremely warm water temps which usually pushes the fish super shallow in the oxygen filled weeds or out off the break. We just couldn't get those shallow fish to go and we knew they were there but we had to try something different. I was fishing with deep diving crank bait like the RAPALA X-Rap Magnum casting it out parallel with the weeds. Each cast my goal was to have contact with the rocks which were close to the weeds which was the rock/weed transition area. We got lucky to get two bites considering we didn't have another follow the rest of the tournament hours. That's 14 hours of non stop casting to put it into perspective.

It's so important to have many tools in the tool box and a deep diving crank is one of them.


You can purchase this lure from the worlds largest selection of Rapala Lures at KrugerFarms Super Store You can also receive free shipping by entering JEFFA.

I know that I mention my Crestliner Boat and Mercury Verado in my writing but I'm truly impressed with them. I have put so many hours on the water and both my boat and motor have run flawlessly. I get so many comments on how quite my Mercury Verado is but you should drive this bad boy. I have power stearing and the smart guages work wonders! Check out more here Mercury Verado These motors are top of the line and if you are in the market I'm so confident in saying you won't be disappointed! My Crestliner 202 is also a fishing machine! If your not in the market for a tournament boat Crestliner makes a smaller boat like the Fish Hawk that is pretty much just the smaller version. Check them out at Crestliner Boats I would also be happy to answer any questions that you may have.

"Make a Memory"

Jeff Andersen

Gull Lake Guide Trip Fishing Photos

Here are a few photos from the past couple of Guide Trips. The walleyes on Gull Lake have started to turn around. I have been catching them early in the mornings on top of some of the mid lake structure and on a few weed lines in 13 to 14 feet of water. Most of the fish have bit on a Bigtooth Tackle Walleye Snell tipped with a Red Tail Chub. The walleyes have been smaller eaters so I have been using small minnows so we miss less bites. Some of the larger bass have suspended out during this crazy warm weather but when they move shallow they are hungry and the larger pike have moved to around 18 to 20 feet. Below is a picture of one of the three big pike we had bite on that trip. The other two seemed to sneak away somehow before getting to the net!!!!


(End of the day Double!)