Even though there's still plenty of ice on the lakes here in the upper Midwest, winter will soon be gone along with the ice. Therefore, now is the time to start preparing your gear for the upcoming season. Without overstating the obvious, waiting to organize your gear the night before the first trip of the season is a recipe for disaster. I'm as guilty as the next guy of procrastinating, but taking the time now will ensure that you'll be ready to fish. Take the time now to take a full inventory of your gear and spend the time to get everything ready .Start with your rod and reel combos. Inspect the guides on your rods, and if necessary, replace them with new quality guides. Have any malfunctioning reels repaired and/or cleaned then replace the old line with new.

This is a bait that has really increased its popularity in recent years. Maybe it's because tubes are a good, finesse bait to use with the ever increasing fishing/recreational pressured lakes of today. Quite possibly, tubes are becoming more popular because they can be rigged and fished in as many ways as a plastic worm. No doubt about it, tubes have become more popular these days because they catch fish, lots of them. As far as what size, color, etc to use, you'll have to be the judge. Just be sure to choose the sizes and colors that match the baitfish.
The most common way to fish tubes is around and under docks. I don't think this method comes as a surprise to anyone here.

Inline spinnerbaits - I'll use the weedless style (like a Snagless Sally) in very heavy vegetation when I know the fish are relatively active. With the recent popularity of such topwater baits as the Scum Frog, Moss Boss, The Rat and other similar baits, this is still a viable option for a good change of pace. I'll start out with one in white in relatively clear water because it matches the belly of a frog moving through the water. This is a reaction type bait because the fish doesn't have time to think about striking it as it's going by.

Single-blade spinnerbaits - For me, this is the spinnerbait

Over the weekend of March 23 & 24, I finally had the opportunity to attend one of the weekend seminars in Minneapolis. For those of you not familiar with a Bassmaster University seminar, it’s conducted over one weekend in two six-hour sessions that incorporates personal interaction with several of the nation’s top pro anglers at one location. This seminar I attended was at the Minneapolis Community and Technical College and our instructors and topics taught were: