If it works, then it's the right technique

In a recent e-mail from Wauconda angler Jerry W., he stated he went on a three-year campaign to catch as many different fish species as possible using just two types of lures.

"I used to read the Mepps catalogs every year and continued to be amazed at how the company claimed their spinner baits could catch just about anything in the water," he wrote. "So, I decided to commit to using spinners and a jig (with a plastic adornment)."

Jerry went on to report he caught everything from sunfish to gar in Illinois and Indiana. He even boated a huge flathead catfish as well.

There are some anglers who have gone even further in reducing their lure selection. I know of fishermen who use nothing more than a one-eighth ounce jig head tipped with the ever-popular twister tail in order to catch smallmouth bass on the Fox and Kankakee Rivers.

Some years ago the late Buck Squancho and I silently glided down the Fox River in a canoe, looking for underwater gravel bars. We were able to determine that a slight drop-off was evident on one side of a bar. I tied on a 1/16th-ounce Panther Martin spinner on the end of a long, fluorocarbon leader and subsequently made a couple casts to the drop-off. The line went taught on the third cast and I was fast into a smallie. It wasn't a trophy in anyone's book, but rather a 14-inch beauty that gave its all in a classic river scrap. Buck had been heaving a tiny crankbait to another pile of gravel without a single bump. I caught four more fish on the spinner.

Not too long ago on an early, warm, weekday morning, I was wading a shallow stretch of the Rock River near Rockford. I left the fly rod in the truck and instead used a 7-foot, light-action spinning rod along with 6-pound mono. I had several spinners and and jigs in a tiny box tucked in to my vest. I made a dozen casts to a slack-water pool and came up empty.

Rather than try another area I switched over to a Mini-Mite II jig with its own tail. A jumbo crappie grabbed the bait and headed for the bottom. I caught a half-dozen other "specks" from that spot and then decided it was time to find some smallmouth bass.

Regular readers already know I am able to catch quite a few bass when using a Little Action Mac pre-rigged plastic worm. But there are times when fish dictate what they will chase and eat. The Little Action Mac is the third element I carry with me as well as the spinner and jig/tail combo.

And then are times when bottom structure resembles a morass of jungle and junk. I'll then change to a weedless jig, one with a stiff wire hook protector, or hook guard as it's often called, in order to safely bring the jig through the mess and into a strike zone.

Of course, different anglers have their own special formula for alternatives when fishing current areas. All I can say is that what works for them or you is the right technique.

Patience -- the ice will be there soon

If sleepwalking was an Olympic sport, I could very well be in the running for the gold.

It must have been the doom and gloom forecasting from the smiley faces on our local channels that planted the seed in my subconscious.

I found myself in the garage staring at my collection of ice rods and lures at 2 a.m., and realized I should be under the covers instead of tucked into my ice tent. But it's still a tad too soon to affix the ice cleats onto my boots and wrap myself in the luxurious warmth of my ice parka. There probably won't be any safe ice until well into next week.

Even the eager beavers to the north are cautiously eyeballing the side and back channels of lakes in central Wisconsin. One has to go all the way to the Wisconsin-Michigan border before the ice could be considered safe for traversing some of the lakes.

But if you are like suburban angler Loren Kominsky and have a penchant for punishing winds and semi-frozen fingers, you may want to join him at Montrose Harbor for perch fishing. Loren claims he's been nailing jumbos while moving from Montrose to Belmont.

Wait a day or two before heading to Nielsen's Channels off the Fox River this weekend. There may be bits of safe ice on some of the channels off Fox Lake and the very far north end of Channel Lake.

• Mike Jackson can be reached via e-mail at angler88@att.net, and you can catch his radio program 6-7 a.m. Sundays on WSBC 1240-AM.