Author: Jeff Gustafson

FALL FISHING SUCCESS There are some things about fall fishing that I really love – the fishing is top-notch for most species; the shoreline colours are spectacular, and I enjoy the cool weather.  Every year since I was a little kid, I have spent many days in the boat right up until freeze-up and I’ve countless good memories. Many of my biggest Sunset Country fish have been landed in the fall.  My best musky, largemouth, smallmouth and crappie were all caught between Labour Day and freeze up.  Here are a few of my top fall fishing tips to hopefully help you…

SUMMER TACKLE YOU NEED IN YOUR BOX! Fishing is a big focus my life so in addition to absorbing every bit of information and knowledge that I can from media, friends and whoever I share the boat with, I’m a tackle junkie and am always looking to feed fish the best bait for each scenario that I’m faced with.  In my garage, I have a bunch of tackle for all of the species we have to chase here around home on Lake of the Woods.  Most of my “tinkered” baits are for bass, because they are the species I catch…

 FASTEST GROWING SEGMENT OF THE FISHING INDUSTRY There was a quote that I heard back in 2005 when I first attended the St. Paul Ice Fishing Show that still resonates with me today.  “Ice fishing is the fastest growing segment of the fishing industry”.  Back then, shelters, augers, underwater cameras and flashers were all improving greatly, making it more pleasant to be on the ice and improving our success. Today, these products continue to improve every year. The ice fishing market continues to grow as more products become available to help us catch more fish and be more comfortable on…

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…