DRC

To be honest, it there was a jury full of ducks and geese; I would probably be on death row. The last couple of years I have been lucky enough to hunt waterfowl in several states and Canada each season. In doing so I have hunted with lots of different people using lots of different techniques. Coming home and hunting around my home state of Minnesota using new techniques is challenging and exciting.
I believe that Minnesota waterfowl hunters have more all-around knowledge and hunt harder then hunters from many other states. Minnesota waterfowl hunters must be continually learning and trying new things to be successful. This innovation results in many leading edge products being born in Minnesota.
The short-reed goose call may not have been born in Minnesota, but it certainly has evolved here. Not only is Minnesota home to some of the country’s best goose callers, there are many call-makers that file their taxes within in our great state. The newest call company, Death Row Calls, is quickly making a name for it’s self in the field and on stage.
I imagine that it was a sunny day at the Gamefair when a blonde-haired, younger guy from Thief River Falls stunned a quite audience by winning the 2007 State Goose Calling Championship. I have to imagine because I was not there, but when I heard the news through the grapevine I was excited.
That guy’s name is Cory Loeffler, and for those that know him it should have come as no surprise that he would be crowned state champ. I have known since Cory through calling contests since the fall of 2004. Cory has been collecting plaques and beating this author in calling contests up and down the Red River valley since then.
The thing that surprised me was that Cory won the state championship that day with a call from his new call line, Death Row Calls or DRC for short. Cory had started the new call line in the early part of 2007 and I was impressed by the calls when I first got to try one the second weekend of the ’07 Gamefair.
Not only were the DRC calls displayed on stage during the Gamefair, Cory, being a smart entrepreneur, had a booth at the popular event. When I had the opportunity to congratulate Cory in person, the DRC table was littered with plaques collected by the DRC crew that week. Around the DRC shop in Thief River the guys like to joke that the Death Row Calls line should have gotten an award for being the ‘rookie of the year.’
In it’s first year of existence the Death Row Calls line has won nearly 30 calling competitions. Besides the Minnesota State goose, callers won the North Star Two Man duck and goose with DRC calls. The North Star is a major calling competition held annually in Minnesota, usually at the Gamefair. Competition callers come from all over the country to compete in this event.
I am the kind of waterfowl hunter who likes to wear my passion for the sport all year. At any time you can catch me wearing apparel from various outdoor product manufactures. Another thing Cory has done right is design and print shirts and sweatshirts that are stylish. Believe it or not, goose calling is becoming a Fad with the younger generations.
I would like to end this column with a quick story. Contrary to popular belief, many of us who travel and compete in various calling contests across Minnesota get along very well. I met Cory Loeffler backstage at a calling contest. Although he is mainly a goose caller, once we were both waiting behind the scenes for a duck calling competition. I was surprised when he told me then that it was going to be the first time he had competed at duck calling. We joked around a little and I ended up finishing in second place. Cory says that if you don’t know how to call, you shouldn’t make calls. That day he took first in his first duck calling competition.
If you want to learn more about Death Row Calls feel free to call Cory at the DRC shop 218-686-6617. Or check out www.deathrowcalls.com.

Suspended Crappies

It’s all down hill from here. Not really but soon the summer sun will heat the waters of Minnesota lakes and the fish will go deep. Walleyes, found in shallow water until mid-June will be tough to find, and big schools of largemouth bass will move in search of cooler water. This is when I switch my focus to panfish.
For the next couple of week’s crappies will be my fish of choice. In Minnesota crappies can be fished for and caught all year round. I find that fishing for them post-spawn is more of a challenge. Early in the spring one can simply tiptoe down my dock and my neighbors and catch a few crappies straight jigging with a minnow. I wait till these fish go deep to pursue them.
Traditionally, crappies with their “paper mouths” are a challenge to catch and these fish make excellent table fair. They are pleasure to land and consume.
While fishing the other day I noticed a school of crappies swarming the surface of the calm water on the lake I was fishing. I should have switched tactics and presented theses fish with a jig. However, I am hardheaded and I wanted to fool one more walleye while the fish were still hanging in shallower water.
Some people fish for Crappies using a minnow and a plain hook. Personally, I use jigs or jig heads tipped with minnows. I have found that a 1/16-ounce jig tipped with a fathead minnow works the best. The largest jig size I would use for Crappie is 1/8-ounce. As a rule, I usually say the smaller the better, this allows for a slower presentation. Some fishermen swear by tube jigs, twister tails and flu flu’s. All these are added attractants, which I find myself using only when I run out of bait.
Crappies are a suspended fish by nature, hanging on the edge of weed lines off the bottom. Crappie strike upward, like the majority of fish. This makes it crucial for fishermen to present their bait or jig above the fish. If you are fishing below them, or at their level, you might as well be sitting at home playing video games.
I have found that Crappie hit slower presentations the most, often times on the drop of the cast. The best way I have found to place the jig at the right depth and speed is using a slip-bobber. If I find a school of Crappie suspended five feet from the surface of the water, I set my slipknot at four feet. With a 1/16-ounce jig head tipped with a minnow, I will cast ten to fifteen yards. Once the slipknot has reached the bobber I slowly reel the set-up in.
Not only does the slip bobber allow the less experienced fishermen to place the jig at the proper depth and speed, it also helps with the hook set. When jigging without the bobber I find the majority of fishermen pull the jig out of the fish’s mouth, or set it after the fish has spit it out. The bobber seems to allow the perfect delay for an accurate hook set. Of course, using the proper equipment helps as well. Ultra light rods and reels are essential to feeling hollow strikes while panfishing.
Mastering the technique is unfortunately easier then finding the fish. It is important to first scout out beaver dams, sunken islands and channel openings when searching for schools of crappie. Look for them to be in roughly ten feet of water suspended five to six feet from the bottom.
In my youth my cousin would always bring along a few Daddy-longlegs spiders when we went out panfishing. When we got to suspected areas he would toss them on the calm water. The spiders would run for shore and we would locate schools of crappies by the fish attacking the spiders on the surface of the water. When fishing, sometimes you have to think outside the box to be successful.