New England Ice Fishing Academy Enrolling New Students

Last year was the first season of the New England Ice Fishing Academy (NEIFA). The sole purpose of the school was to offer expert ice fishing instruction to ice anglers of all skill levels. NEIFA is the only outdoor school in New England whose only purpose is ice fishing education. The instructors (Tim Moore and Chuck Fritz) are seasoned ice anglers who fish professionally during the winter. Tim is an Ice Team pro and Chuck is a Let's Go Fishing instructor for the NH Fish and Game Department. The first season was a trial run to see what the response would be to such a thing in New England and the response was excellent.

Instructors Tim Moore (left) and Chuck Fritz (right)
collectively spend thousands of hours on the ice each winter.

Finalizing all of the details of the 2015 courses took longer than expected, so the original course schedule was shortened to only one class, but that class was well attended. After an in-depth classroom section learning about white perch the students joined us on Lake Winnipesaukee to practice what they learned.

NEIFA offers species-specific classes for a variety of species commonly found throughout New England including black crappie, lake trout, and white perch. Classes cost $150 per student or all three for only $400. Each class is broken down into two parts, an in-class section and an on-ice section. During each class students will be provided with everything they need to complete each section.

The in-class portion of each course is two hours long. Classes are held on a Friday evening at Bass Pro Shops in Hooksett, NH. Material covered includes information about the species, how and where to find them through the ice, the gear used, proper fish handling, and ice safety. There is a heavy focus on conservation and selective harvest.

The on-ice section of each class takes place the day after (Saturday) the in-class section. Students will be given directions to the fishing location during class. Once everyone has arrived that day the instructors will begin with a safety briefing before shuttling everyone out onto the ice via snowmobiles. Once the students are at the fishing area the instructors will begin walking them through all of the tactics discussed in class the day before.

All students of the 2016 course season will also receive an invitation to the year-end student appreciation cookout on Lake Winnipesaukee. NEIFA will provide burgers and dogs, and students can bring their own gear to do some fishing, or just socialize and eat.

Students of the 2015 White Perch class

A 51 Lake Trout Kind of Day

The fact that lake trout school up over deep water and feed aggressively in the fall is no secret, at least not to me. The last two or three weeks of September are my favorite time of the open water season to fish for lakers. It's a vertical jig bite in over 100' of water and often, for the lake trout, a race to see which one can eat a jig first.

To me there is little as fun as vertical jigging from a kayak. I love it, so I planned a long overdue trip to Lake Winnipesaukee. It's not a trip I like to make too often since the fishing grounds are at least 1.5 miles from the nearest launch. I have the Predator XL Minn Kota, so it's not like I'm worried about paddling that far. It's how early I have to get there and the fact that the wind can come up and blow you off the lake in seconds.

I arrived on the lake at 5:30am and made my way to the spot I picked out just as the sun was rising over the trees. The morning fog was thick over the water, but quickly burned off as soon as the sun rose. Like clockwork, or magic, the fish appeared and they were hungry. I was fishing in 150' of water and the lakers were suspended 100' - 110' down.

I dropped a Daddy Mac Lures 1.4 Albie jig (same as the 1.4 Elite only with a treble rather than single hook) and a group of lakers shot up and met my jig at 60' down. Sure enough, my line stopped paying out, so I closed my bail, tightened up on the reel, and set the hook. It was 6:30AM, and that's how my morning would go until almost 10AM. It was one fish after another ranging from 3 pounds to 6 pounds. My total for the morning? 51 lake trout landed and only three lost. I wouldn't want to throw out the word "epic" too loosely, but it was nothing short of it. Not long after 10AM, with the sun high in the sky, the wind came up and the bite shut down. That was fine with me. I'm not greedy. I had my fill and headed for home with a few photos, a sore shoulder, and a great story to tell. Lake trout season closes after September 30th and you can bet I'll be making another trip out there for them.

Size is Relative

My biggest striped bass ever at 46"

Anyone on Facebook has seen pictures of someone holding fish. If you fish, you see it more often than those who don't. It's the comments on those pictures that sometimes interest me the most. The comments range from, "great job" to, "you should have put it back to grow up." As a fishing guide I get to fish with a ton of different people from very different backgrounds. Some of my clients fish more than others and they come from all over the country. My experiences as a guide often make me realize that the term big fish is a relative one.

There are two factors that can determine whether a fish is big or small; the location and the angler. Let's take striped bass for instance. Stripers are migratory. We see far fewer fish in New Hampshire than they see in Connecticut or New York. The overall size of the stripers in New Hampshire will be smaller than states to the south too. Your chance of catching a 50 pound fish in New York or Connecticut are relatively good. Your chances of catching one that big in New Hampshire are not as good. So, a big striper caught in New Hampshire may seem small to an angler south of New England. I have had photos posted on Facebook of mid-40" stripers that I caught criticized and called small by some southern anglers who obviously don't realize that catching a striper that is closer to 50" than 40" in New Hampshire is a special thing. A small fish in one geographic location is often huge in another.

Size is also relative to the angler. Some people fish more than others. I had a kayak fishing client (Mike) this summer. We were into some good schoolie action when he hooked into a schoolie on the larger side of what we had been catching. It was a 26" little porker. See, there I go calling it little. For Mike, it was the biggest fish he had ever caught. To him it was huge and he will remember it for the rest of his life. On most days I would have thrown that fish back, maybe even with a bit of frustration over the time it cost me, and kept fishing for a bigger one without giving it a thought. Having clients like Mike help me remember that there are people who don't have access to schools of blitzing stripers, or any stripers, who would kill for the opportunity to catch a 26" fish from a kayak.

A happy Mike P. with the biggest fish of his life

I recently saw a Facebook post by someone poking fun at another angler's joy over catching a largemouth that they angler considered a trophy. I guess to him it was a trophy. It's important for me to remember that size is relative. Anytime I can't feel happy for another angler who sets a new personal best, or catches a fish that they consider to be a trophy, then I know for sure that the problem is with me. I know the feeling of catching new personal bests. I also know the feeling when someone with access to bigger fish minimizes my success and feels the need to piss in my cornflakes.

Social Media for Outdoor Promotions - What, When, and How Much

Social media has become the primary method of promoting products for many companies in the outdoor industry. For some companies, web and social media is the only form of advertising and promotion they use. Social media is mostly free and easy to use. Most people already have a Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram account. However, having a social media account does not make you an expert. There are a few things you can do that actually work against you. Here are a few things I have learned that can make or break a social media campaign.

1) More is Not Always Better. 
Having a social media account is like having short term memory. So much flows across most people's news feeds that it is easy to think you can get away with posting every hour. Maybe you can on Twitter, but definitely not on Facebook. Post too often and you will become invisible to most of the people who haven't hidden you from their news feeds. By invisible I mean, at some point most people will stop noticing your posts. They will become conditioned to scrolling right past when they see your name, thus rendering you invisible. We all have those people in our news feeds. Don't go too far the other way though or you will become irrelevant in no time. Ask yourself this: If no one is reading your posts, then what good is posting going to do you...or a company you work for?

2) Make Your Posts Count.
Don't make a post or share a post just to post, or the above will happen. If you're trying to build a brand, whether it's your own or another company's, your posts should be calculated. Make them count. Don't feel the need to share everything that comes across Facebook. If you just posted something about a particular company within the last hour and something new has been announced, it will be best to wait for a better opportunity to share the new info. You don't want to turn into a posting machine. Sure, it might be fun to share a different business page on Facebook every day, but only in moderation. Decide on a specific campaign, with a clear theme and a duration, ahead of time. 

3) Don't Be "That Guy"
You know, the guy (or girl) that drives everyone crazy with psycho rants about how they need to use a specific product, with only a mediocre reason (at best) for why. The last thing you want to do is alienate yourself from your audience. Think about the information you are about to convey and how you are about to convey it. Don't rely on posts such as, "use this product because I do." If you're "that guy" then no one hears you anyway because you have become invisible. Give a clear reason why you use it (and if you share it, it better be something you use or you will be crucified online) and why you think it works so well. 

4) Keep Track of the Time
Day of the week and time of day are two very important aspects of social media promotion. Many companies have weekly social media calendars. Posts are carefully planned out based on research, their own and others. Paying attention to your audience will pay dividends in the end. Keep a log of what days and times your posts see the most engagement. Also, note the types of posts that get the most attention. It will take you a while to figure it out, but there is a formula there. Certain posts will perform better at certain times.

I have had relatively good success building my own brands (Tim Moore Outdoors, Tim Moore Outdoors TV, and the New England Ice Fishing Academy) as well as helping companies and organizations such as Clam Outdoors, Ice Team, Vexilar Inc., Old Town Canoes & Kayaks, Here's My Gear, and more. Much of my success is directly related to the quality and frequency of my posts. I spend a lot of time cruising my news feeds to gather valuable information. I also keep track of which types of posts my audience is paying the most attention to. Pay attention to your audience. Figure out what they like, and give it to them. Try to cram something down their throats and you can kiss them goodbye.