A Perfect Walleye Evening—a Limit, a Scar and a Story and Other Top Stories from Fishing on SI

In case they slipped by you, following are the most read fishing stories of the week. Five Miles From the Truck, With a Limit of Walleyes — and a Problem; How to Win an Ice Fishing Derby Without Cheating; Burbot Ice Fishing Is Booming — From Overlooked to Late-Ice Target.

1.) Five Miles From the Truck, With a Limit of Walleyes — and a Problem

Close up of a grainy black and white photo of an angler's thumb after an accident with a fish hook. — Five miles from the truck, after dark, with a limit of walleyes — and a treble hook I didn’t plan on bringing home. | Joe Shead

I throttled my snowmobile down a packed, sometimes hilly trail. There are not many slam-dunk walleye spots I know of, but my plan was to make a 5-mile ride to a little isolated rock reef on an overlooked lake in northern Minnesota.

I reached the spot about 3 p.m. and Swiss-cheesed the structure with holes. At 3:15 a bright red mark appeared on my Vexilar just below my spoon, and seconds later, I felt a heavy thump. Soon, the night’s first walleye was on the ice.

It was 45 minutes before I marked another. After 4:00, however, those red marks were a frequent sight on my screen. These fish clearly hadn’t seen much fishing pressure and bit aggressively.

As darkness descended, the bite slowed.…GET THE REST OF THE STORY HERE.

2.) How to Win an Ice Fishing Derby Without Cheating

A table full of trophies in the foreground and ice fishermen in the background. — Trophies line the stage as anglers compete on the ice during a midwinter fishing derby. | Envato | 2BNLRKK | mona2013liska

A cannon went off and simultaneously, 3,000 anglers dropped their lines in the water. And simultaneously, 3,000 anglers got static on their electronics because of all the interference from so many close-packed units. But I fished, undeterred. Big prizes were at stake, including a first prize of a new truck or $20,000 cash!

Mere minutes into the 3-hour ice fishing derby I thought that maybe, just maybe, I saw a fish on my blurry flasher screen. A few seconds later, that thought was confirmed when a slight peck telegraphed up my line to my rod tip. I set the hook and began reeling. Seconds later, a 6-inch perch popped up through my ice hole.

This was not my biggest or proudest fish. But I clutched it and ran to the circus tent like Charlie Bucket running through the streets with a golden ticket to the Wonka chocolate factory! At the weigh-in, my perch registered at something like 3 ounces. But when the smoke cleared, the 3,000 anglers registered a grand total of 72 fish -- not even enough to claim all 100 prizes!…GET THE REST OF THE STORY HERE.

3.) Burbot Ice Fishing Is Booming — From Overlooked to Late-Ice Target

Angler holding a large Lake Superior burbot during late-season ice fishing — Jon Kroll of Ashland, Wis., displays a 14-pound Lake Superior eelpout. This fish is longer than the existing state record, but came up a little short of record weight. | Jon Kroll

The heavy thump on my rod startled me. The bottom on my Vexilar screen had flickered only for a second before the fish committed. Now, it made powerful runs, peeling line off my reel. It had to be a nice walleye!

The fish made several runs before tiring and gradually approaching my ice hole. But instead of a white eye, the hole filled up with an oversized head and a slippery, leopard-print body.
Eelpout!

Eelpout (or burbot, lawyers or whatever you want to call them) have gained a sort of counter-culture following in recent years…GET THE REST OF THE STORY HERE.