Author: Jeff Gustafson

Pike are often left behind in the fall because the musky fishing turns on, so more anglers put their efforts into the larger of the two cousins.  In waters with good pike populations, the fishing gets good from mid-September through October. These predators move to main lake rock piles where they feed on oversized cisco and smaller whitefish. On waters like Shoal Lake, pike are everywhere with few musky to contend with. I like to look for pike on the same large reef structures that I would look for muskies on Lake of the Woods. The bigger the spot, the…

My first experience as a fishing guide was over 20 years ago, when I was 14 and got my first summer job at Ash Rapids Camp on Lake of the Woods.  I was on the grass cutting detail early in the summer but when another guide didn’t show up one Saturday morning in June, I got the call to get in the boat.  Since that day I have taken hundreds of people fishing and over the years I have learned a lot from the different folks that I have shared my boat with.    Many of the guests on these guide trips are inexperienced anglers,…

One of the benefits to traveling all over North America to compete in bass tournaments is that I am exposed to a wide variety of both unique lures and different ways to catch bass. Some of these techniques come home with me and occasionally they work so well they are effective for tournament use around Lake of the Woods or for catching other species like walleye, crappie, musky or even lake trout. MY GO TO BAITS The following are some of my favourite techniques that I have picked up in my travels and work great for catching fish in Sunset…

Throughout the entire open water season, I use soft plastics probably 90% of the time. I still do a little bit of guiding here and there and often get some “meat” for my guests to use, especially if they are not experienced anglers or if we’re faced with tough cold front conditions. THE KEY IS PRESENTATION The deal with plastic is it catches fish just fine, but you need to fish it differently than you do with bait.  Most anglers probably don’t give it a fair crack, especially if they have used live minnows their whole life, so my advice…

BEING A ROAD WARRIOR For the past number of years I have been fortunate to head south in the winter and compete in bass tournaments in the United States..  This year I’ll be competing on the Bassmaster Elite Series for the second year.  GETTING PREPPED FOR THE ROAD Every winter around Christmas I have to get all my gear ready for another year of extensive travel. Getting the boat rigged up, packing my truck and getting my tackle ready are all important elements for being successful on Tour.  Of course, there is the research aspect of visiting new water but we’ll tackle…

I’ve enjoyed some time down here in Florida before we kick off the Bassmaster Elite Series season this week on the St. John’s River.  I typically come down a little early before the first tournament to get away from the cold weather back home and get back into bass fishing mode. I was lucky that my good pal Jamie Bruce from Kenora jumped in the truck with me to help make the big drive south.  Jamie fished for five or six days before heading back to Canada on a plane.  We had a great time fishing around, although we didn’t…

On the Ice in Northwestern Ontario Growing up ice fishing, my Dad always had us put two lines down the hole.  We always fished for walleye or lake trout and it was always the same routine for either species with different baits.  We would jig with one rod and the other would be a stationary bait.  Over the years I definitely caught more fish on the jigging rods but I’ll never forget some of the big fish that were caught on the still lines.  For some species, like pike, dead baits rigged beneath a tip-up are by far the best…

Getting to travel all over North America to fish for bass over the past several years has been a blessing because it’s fun to go to many of the most historic bodies of water in tournament bass fishing.  We hit some of these lakes at the right time and the fishing is phenomenal, but we also hit some of them at off times and it can be super tough. The one thing that it has taught me though is how good we have it in central Canada when it comes to bass fishing.  100 fish days, big fish and some…

This time of year is always exciting for anglers in our part of the World.  The end of winter is in sight and another season of awesome open water fishing is coming down the pipe.  If you’re like me you probably spend some time thinking about the upcoming season over the winter and have ideas about where you’re going to catch more and bigger fish. It takes a combination of time on the water along with utilizing new equipment and techniques to put more fish in the boat, regardless of the species that you target.  Here are a few of…

MODERN TECHNOLOGY As our ice fishing equipment continues to evolve our expectations of catching more and bigger fish grow.  High end mapping on our GPS units, new lures that fish have never seen before and insulated shelters and clothing that allows us to fish in any kind of weather situation all make going ice fishing more fun.  While some of these new items are certainly going to help us catch more fish this winter, there are some proven old school activities that continue to catch fish as well and should not be left at home.  Here are a few of…