Dark houses, fish houses and shelters must be off the ice of inland waters no later than midnight on Friday, Feb. 29, in the southern two-thirds of the state and midnight on Saturday, March 15, in the northern third, according to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR).

With the Columbia River and several tributaries closed to salmon fishing anglers are finding success in other fisheries including; shad, steelhead, walleye, bass and sturgeon. It now looks as though the spring bite has finally arrived in the Northwest, and ocean fisheries for salmon are just a month away and halibut, bottomfish and lingcod catch is fantastic.

Veteran Key West light tackle guide Kenny Harris and his team didn't catch any fish Saturday, but still managed to survive more than 110 angler entrants in a 41-boat field to take top honors in the billfish division at the 16th Annual Key West Classic, presented by the Boomer Esiason Foundation.

On Monday, January 3^rd, a new Weekly Column will invade the internet. “Bagwell’s Bass Tactics” which originally appeared monthly in the now defunct Bass Journal magazine, will be available on a select few websites.