When I was in the newspaper business I took pride in my photography. I could shoot traffic accident scenes, county fair animals, kids at play and football games; even decent mug shots. But I never mastered portraiture. Several of my friends and acquaintances are professional photographers and ...

In the northern regions of ice fishing country, anglers are starting to carefully venture onto the ice. In other areas, they’re keeping a close watch on ice conditions, anxiously waiting for enough ice to safely walk on. Ice anglers, like open water anglers, are always anxious for the first ...

Back about the time I was preparing to make my world debut, Tex Williams was singing “Smoke! Smoke! Smoke! (That Cigarette).” Williams co-wrote the song along with Merle Travis and it became a big radio hit. While the lyrics comically grumbled about the hold that cigarettes had on one’s ...

Walleyes will respond to a number of different lure types under the ice, but they especially like to eat spoons. There are a bunch of different types of spoons available to walleye anglers. Although they may look similar, there are some differences, and there are a few things you should ...

An old hymn tells us to “count your blessings; name them one-by-one…” Thanksgiving is coming and I’m working on my list. The late Southern politician Frank A. Clark wrote, “If a fellow isn’t thankful for what he’s got, he isn’t likely to be thankful for what he’s going to ...

For many people across the Midwest who like to fish, we’re in that “in-between” season. Although open water fishing can still be very good, many anglers don’t participate in it. And there’s no ice or no safe ice yet, so we’re in between our fishing seasons. During this in between ...