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Lure of the week
Lure name: Butterfly Float’N Harness
Company: Northland Fishing Tackle (www.northlandtackle.com/)
Lure type: Crawler harness
Butterfly Float’N Harness
Sizes and colors: Available in two blade sizes, 7/8- and 1 3/8-inch, and 12 color combinations, including blue shiner, clown, electric perch, Wonderbread, pink lemonade and purple tiger.
Target species: Walleyes and yellow perch.
Technique: This is just one to wet your whistle, as it won’t be available until spring 2020. But it is being unveiled at ICAST, the fishing industry’s annual trade show, this month. It’s an innovation on what’s proven a popular product for Northland. The company came out with its “butterfly” blades a while back. Made of polycarbonates, their hallmark is that they can be trolled as slowly as 0.25 miles per hour, yet still provide flash and vibration. The Float’N Harness adds to that a floating body between the blades and the hooks. That allows the lure to stay just above active fish, out of rocks, weeds and the like, and catch fish without snagging. Northland said its creation was inspired by anglers requesting it.
Sugg. retail price: $4.39.
Notable: Butterfly blades are available now on a couple of other lures from Northland, including a crawler harness, blade rig and the Super Death.
Tip of the week
Putting out trail cameras in summer won’t necessarily tell you where to hunt this fall. Deer movement patterns will change by then. But this is a great time to inventory the deer in an area, keying you in to overall numbers and identifying unique bucks. Plus, it’s just fun. And one of the best places to get photos now is around food sources. Deer – bucks and des — are focused on nutrition right now, to support antler growth and their fawns respectively. Put your cameras out around corn, soybeans and food plots in agricultural areas.
Recipe of the week
Pickerel stew
Ingredients
- 1 pound pickerel fillets
- 6 slices bacon, diced
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 onion, diced
- ½ cup chopped celery
- 2 cups diced potatoes
- ½ cup chopped carrots
- 1 tomato, chopped
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 10 ounces evaporated milk
Directions
This is a lakeshore favorite in the north country, where pickerel are common. But it will work with fish caught anywhere, of course.
To start, cut the fillets into bite size pieces.
Fry the bacon in a large skillet, drain the grease and set it aside. Next, melt the butter in the skillet, then add the onion and celery, sautéing over medium heat until the onion is translucent.
Move it and the celery to a 2-quart pot. Add the potatoes, carrots, tomato, salt, pepper, bacon and 2 cups of water. Bring to a boil. Then, cover and simmer for 20 minutes or until the vegetables are tender.
Add the fish and simmer another 10 minutes. Finally, add the milk and heat until warm, without boiling.
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