The good news is we are making ice and making it quickly. Snow cover in the Grand Rapids Area is minimal so there isn’t much insu-lation to slow down the ice making process.

I myself have not been out on the ice but a few reports have been coming in that many of the area lakes now have 5"-6" of ice and are producing fish. Most likely it will be another week before I get out on the ice but for now check out these great new products.

Northland’s Hexi bugs ’em to bite, and is the result of 3 years of in-tensive re-search. The miniature insect features a hori-zontally balanced SlabTorso that allows the bug to fly, dart and scoot when jigged or dropped on a free-fall like a live water bug. The HEXI Fly is designed to pick up 2X the sonar signal of similar sized bugs. It bugs ’em to bite and fools ‘em!

Strikemaster’s new super-duty but jaunty Glide-Lite gathers ice fishing’s essen-tials and takes them on the road...and lake.

* Vertical rod holders molded into the base for quick access
* Removable seat cover fits on standard 5 or 6 gallon buckets
* Main compartment for flasher, underwater camera, and other gear
* Rugged roto-molded body and skis stand up to freezing temperatures

Strikemas-ter’s ultra modern Lazer Pro is the new yardstick in power au-ger design and perform-ance. Forti-fied by a well developed 54cc, 3hp Solo motor, the Lazer Pro

Starts effortlessly and runs perpetually. A 40:1 gear ratio converts that energy into a rapid paced, yet silky smooth race to the bottom of the hole. Incredibly, power of this por-tion weighs in at only 29 pounds. She ain’t heavy, she’s your auger.

Since I don’t deer hunt the boys and I spent the weekend in the duck blind. Leading up to the weekend, hunting was pretty descent. Cold temperatures caused most the small pot holes to freeze which pretty much guaranteed if you found open water you were going to find ducks. Most of the positive reports came from small rivers with rice or rivers flowing into areas holding rice.

As the weekend approached, 50 degree temperatures, blue skies, no wind and lack of duck hunters made our hunts pretty interesting. Pretty much the worst duck hunting conditions one could ask for.

I must say that it has been a pretty strange season. In fact, it has been strange since May. It seems like we are currently in mid October waiting for new birds to show up but rumor has it that there isn’t much to the north in Canada left to come down. Hopefully our winter is a little more predictable.

This past Saturday I had the pleasure of taking my seven year old son on his very first duck hunt.  I made the mistake of heading to bigger water for a mid day hunt while blue skies reflected off the mirror like surface.  I wanted Austin to be as comfortable as possible so we took my big water rig.  We know half the excitement for any kid is being able to go fast across the water.  Needless to say I was right and ended up trading dicks for a fast comfortable ride.  But all in all we had a great day and Austin helped rejuvenate my passion for duck hunting.  In my mind there is nothing better than educating your kids about the things you love.

Sunday was a much better day as far as birds go.  The down side was I didn't load my sport boat into the trick so I was limited as to where I could go.  Instead I grabbed my gun and the dog and headed west to several rice lakes.

The Grand Rapids Area definitely has good numbers of ducks in the area.  Sneaking through the woods I could hear the wings of divers as they bombed into the near by rice lakes.  Plenty of opportunities for divers and mallards!  In fact, you would think WWIII was going on by the number of shots at each lake I stopped by and was lucky to pick up a couple myself from the shoreline.

At least for now your smaller rice lakes are still the best chance if you are heading out to the blind, at least till we see more ice forming.

Delta Waterfowl- The Future of Waterfowl and Waterfowl Hunting.  For more information on Delta and their projects go to www.deltawaterfowl.org .

If Mother Nature agrees Hard Water Angling will be right around the corner.  Check back often and see all the new ice products from Northland Tackle & Strikemaster.

There are plenty of new birds in the area.  Most of them seem to be Ringers but we did see a few Teal, Woodies and Mallards.  It is surprising to see Teal and Woodies this time of year.  Normally they are the first to leave the area which in some years can happen before the season begins.

At this point in the season we are still seeing birds mainly use the rice lakes in the area.  To our advantage many of the small rice lakes have a thin sheet of ice on them pushing the birds together.  Saturday morning we were fortunate to see a flock of ducks that from when the front of the flock flew by till the time that the last few had straggled through roughly two hours had gone by.  I am not even sure how one can put a number on how many ducks were in the flock.  10,000, 20,000, 30,000, etc...Either way, it was a lot of birds.

This is a perfect time of year to get the kids out in the blind.  Mild temperatures and plenty of ducks to keep them interested.  You never know, they might get hooked and you will have a hunting partner for life.

Delta Waterfowl- The Future Of Waterfowl & Waterfowl Hunting.  Join today, lots of great projects happening in Northern Minnesota!  www.deltawaterfowl.org .

It is very sad to say that I just finished my last open water guide trip for the year.  Not to say that I might not sneak out for an afternoon with friends but most my time will now be spent in the blind chasing down ducks.

The past couple of days on the water, surface temperatures were mainly in the low 50's but we did see a morning that was 48 degrees.  This past week we have had just terrible weather for being outside.  High winds and cold temps have made fishing difficult but still productive.

For walleye and perch we have spent most of our time looking for shoreline vegetation.  Once vegetation has been found we have had to pitch a Northland Fireball tipped with a shiner into the weeds and pop it back.  Cold temps and lack of algae have given us incredible water clarity so the boat easily spooks the fish.  On the larger patches of vegetation we have been able to drift and long line our jigs and still have success.

Another Minnesota Waterfowl Waterfowl Opener has gone down in the books.  Reports have been coming in the past few days from all over the Northland with mixed results.

For us I would say we had plenty of opportunities to bag our limits but were a little off.  Some hunters I have spoke to had their bag limit before noon while others hardly fired a shell.

The are several things that seem to be working against us in the Northland this season.  1st being the lack of wild rice.  Hunters normally key in on the rice lakes for early season hunts but the lack of rice has birds spread out.  2nd, our season started a week later this year.  If you recall last year from the 2nd to 3rd week we had a little lull in the action while waiting for new birds to show up.  3rd, a massive cold front moved in the week before the opener with extreme winds from the north.  This made it very easy for locals to start the trip south.

The good news is that there is plenty of action to come.  Reports of cold weather in Alaska have pushed the birds into Canada.  So as the Canadian temperatures drop and the wind picks up we should start seeing the action increase.

This past Saturday Dads throughout Minnesota and myself had the pleasure of taking our kids out for the Youth Duck Hunt.  What this means is a non hunting adult can take a kid out hunting for one day before the actual season begins.  This particular situation allows adults to concentrate on the kids.  Teach them safety in the blind/field and make the day all about the kids instead of having to compete against other older hunters.

Even with water levels being extremely low and rice production a bit on the weaker side waterfowl seem to be abundant in Northern Minnesota.  Our area is holding plenty of puddle ducks such as Woodies, Teal and Mallards along with  strong numbers of divers.

Going into its 4th year in Grand Rapids, MN.  Delta Waterfowl has a new vision and a new board of directors.  We will be hosting our very own Hunter Safety Coarse in time for Deer "Rifle" Season.  We seem to be lacking in enough classes to accommodate the area youth so we decided to have our own class.  Check back often if you are interested.  We will also be starting a Hen House project in late February to early March.  This day will revolve around the youth of our Chapter and should be fun and educational.  Last but not least a date has been set for our annual banquet.  Block Thursday March 25, 2010 on your calendar.  Location will be Timberlake Lodge in Grand Rapids, MN.  This banquet should prove to be one of the best yet with lots of items for the kids and ladies so guys, bring the whole family!

Delta Waterfowl is the future of waterfowl and waterfowl hunting.  Its a great way to spend time with family and friends when you are not in the blind.  Delta is all about our Youth, Habitat and Predator Control.  Not to mention that 25% of the money we raise gets to stay local.  If you are interested in getting involved with our local chapter please don't hesitate to call or if you need more information go to Delta's website www.deltawaterfowl.org .

This past week has been some what difficult to target consistent walleye bites.  Surface temperatures have ranged from the low to mid 70's on many of the area lakes.  Multiple bug hatches have also been showing up.  We have been finding walleye both on the deeper mid lake structure and also in the shallower weeds.  When fishing deeper water a roach rig tipped with either a crawler or leech has done well but most of our action lately has come from the shallower weed lines.  Both a fireball tipped with a golden shiner or pulling a #4 Salmo Hornet has also produced well.

Over the past two days the real fun has come from fishing Smallmouth Bass.  We have been finding Smallies in 4'-8' of water.  We have been pitching and trolling jigs through these shallow weedy areas.  Jigs tipped with Ring Worms, Swimmin' Grubs or even shiner minnows while looking for walleye have produced equally well.

Another Minnesota Fishing Opener has come and gone.  For the most part it was a pretty standard opener and a good time was had.

Overcast sky's, light wind and surface water temperatures ranging from the mid to upper 40's.  With the water being cooler a slow dragging presentation is needed to entice the fish.  We found areas that had rock or small vegetation stubble in 6'-10' of water were holding bait fish.  Working a Fireball or Northland's new Vegas Jig worked best tipped with a spot tale silver shiner.  Other areas we were able to find fish were where there was a dramatic change in water temperature.  A couple of times while we were moving around we found areas that were roughly 4 degrees warmer and were holding a higher concentration of fish.

The weather report shows several days of sun shine this week which should kick the bite into high gear once surface temperatures get into the 50's.

Check back often, it's a brand new season!!!