Dennis Foster's Articles

ATV's and Ice Fishing - Don't Let Anything Stand In Your Way by Dennis Foster

We are now living in an era where mechanization and technology continue to escalate at an amazing pace and it seems nearly impossible to keep up with everything being presented to us. As gritty and quite accurately down to earth as the outdoor world is for those of us who choose to enjoy it, every bit of slick new techno wonder has managed to find its way into our formerly somewhat small and confined world. GPS, advances in Sonar and the combination thereof with the advent of background mapping quickly come to mind. Video is not a game anymore as is evidenced by its increasing use above and below water. It's more than just a little exciting to get an up close and personal look at our ... more

Prepare for Pheasant Season Now by Dennis Foster

Thoughts of Pheasant Hunting may not be your highest priority until the leaves are falling. But, if you are serious about the sport and want to get the most out of your hunting experience…you should be doing something about it right now. I know many of you feel all you need to do is grab your trusty old gun and vest, toss the dog in vehicle and you are all set. If you want to break from the mold a bit and shake up your routine, some preparation would be in order. First of all, just how successful have your hunts been the last couple of years? If you're not conjuring up memories of bountiful days, perhaps it's time for a change of scenery-and luck. I hail from South Dakota and wil... more

Methods for Selectively Targeting Larger Walleye's by Dennis Foster

I know this may sound counterintuitive as much of the time we are happy just to find the elusive buggers and simply take what they give us. If you want to up your game a bit and try to weed out the smaller eater sized fish and specifically focus your efforts on the largest mature fish on any given body of water, there are some things you can do help put the odds in your favor. Yes, you will be sacrificing catching high numbers, but I will gladly do this in favor of a few big fish with large numbers of their own…inches and pounds. First of all we must put a bit of thought into the habits and preferences of mature fish before we ever wet a line or consider presentation options. Probably ... more

Put Some Meat Into Your Trolling by Dennis Foster

As the weather begins to warm in earnest and we trend into the Summer months, we see not only the air temperature rise; but more importantly-the water temperature. Just as we tend to become much more active, fish of all species respond in kind, particularly my favorite-walleye's. Meaning we can now begin to leave behind some of the finesse tactics that are so common early in the open water period. The fish begin to spread out and away from their traditional spawning grounds in search of plentiful food sources in which to replenish themselves from the rigors of spawning as well as achieve their annual growth potential, which is limited to just a few short months in the Northern climates ... more

Smiling Slow Death by Dennis Foster

I am going to relay a couple of things that may be known to some of the more savvy walleye anglers out there, but may not be to the vast masses of anglers. In doing so, I will also share how to combine the two into what I personally feel is the hottest livebait technique available today. What I am referring to is using the slow death method of presenting a half crawler, typically delivering it via a bottom bouncer. What this amounts to is a purposely kinked Aberdeen style hook that causes the half crawler to slowly spin just…oh so seductively. Walleye's whether they are in an aggressive, neutral, or even negative mode will readily respond to this. Making it the first choice for a nu... more

Break From The Pack by Dennis Foster

The subject matter I write about has always had a strong focus on education, whether it be about fish location and behavior or in presentations and the associated lures used to elicit a positive response. I would like to continue on with that theme and implore some of you (probably the majority of you) to self-educate yourselves. What I am referring to is the now all too common practice of following the crowd…particularly as it relates to ice fishing. In this case, there is no strength in numbers. Ever notice that by mid-winter on any given body of water that there are a couple of large clumps of houses tightly packed together? Do you honestly think that the majority of fish are cong... more