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!