At first glance, it would seem like ice fishing and open water fishing are two entirely different things. You dress differently, you use different equipment, and the transportation to your fishing spot is different. In the summer, we get to the location on the water by boat or wading. In the winter we drive a truck, snowmobile, four wheeler or walk to the hot-spot.

The much acclaimed and annual National Pheasant Fest & Qual Classic is scheduled for Friday-Sunday, Feb. 17-19, at the Minneapolis Convention Center.

ESTHERVILLE — A few weeks ago, the Estherville Lincoln Central Midgets came to the Spencer field house and gave the Tiger girls their first loss of the season. Tuesday was the rematch, it would not go in Spencer’s favor. After the first quarter it was a 12-7 Midget lead. Spencer was in the game until halftime, only down eight points. Estherville came out in the third quarter on a mission, going on a 20-3 run to make it a 45-20 game.

ESTHERVILLE — Looking to avenge the one-point loss to Estherville on Jan. 10. Spencer hit the road to try and knock off their conference rival in the Midgets on Tuesday. The Tigers got off to a good start, taking a four-point lead after one quarter of play. Estherville would cut the lead in half to trail by two at halftime. Owen Larson of the Midgets took over the second half for ELC. Larson would score 25 of the Midgets 32 second half points, downing Spencer 52-47.

ALTA — As of late, the Sioux Central girls basketball team has been playing well. Sitting at 10-4 on the season and 5-2 in the Twin Lakes Conference. Tuesday was another chance to pick up a conference win over the Alta-Aurelia Warriors. After falling down 8-0 in the first, Sioux Central exploded on offense for the rest of the first half, outscoring the Warriors 48 to 8. The girls would take a 48-16 lead going into halftime.

SIOUX RAPIDS — Sioux Central hosted East Sac County, South Central Calhoun and West Bend-Mallard in a boys wrestling quad on Tuesday night. The Rebels didn’t have the night they hoped for, losing all three duals on the night. East Sac County defeated the Rebels 42-23. West Bend-Mallard beat Sioux Central 48-21. The best chance the Rebels had was against South Central Calhoun. They would drop the dual 35-33 to the Titans.

ALTA — Sioux Central has been dominating teams all season, and that wouldn’t change on Tuesday night facing the Warriors. The Rebels got out fast and never looked back, leading Alta-Aurelia 25-4 after the first quarter. Sioux Central got it to 30-4 before the run ended. The Warriors would battle back outscoring the Rebels 35-34 in the second half but the damage had been done. Sioux Central stays undefeated at 14-0 with a 77-57 win over Alta-Aurelia.

SPENCER — On Tuesday morning, two Spencer Tiger cheerleaders made their decision to continue their athletic and academic career at Iowa Central Community College in Fort Dodge. Aubrie Davis and Trinity Pullen both said they started gaining interest in Iowa Central from the Triton Cheer Expo that they attended. Davis will be majoring in digital media production, while Pullen is majoring in elementary education.

The 2023 Laker Athletics Hall of Fame Banquet will be held on Friday, Feb 10, at 6:30 p.m. in the Janice K. Lund Performing Arts Center on the Estherville campus of Iowa Lakes. Doors will open at 5:30 p.m. The event is open to the public. Anyone who would like to meet the inductees of the Laker Athletics Hall of Fame and share in the memories of the past are encouraged to attend.

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources and Iowa State University Extension and Outreach are offering an online training for the national award-winning “Growing Up Wild” activity guide.

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources is sponsoring four courses on how to teach outdoor skills for K-12 teachers, naturalists and other educators this summer.

The paddlefish snagging season on the Missouri and Big Sioux rivers opens Feb. 1 and goes through April 30 (sunrise to sunset).

Anglers fishing for paddlefish must have a valid Iowa fishing license, along with a special paddlefish license and unused transportation tag(s).

When it comes to plastic on the ice, I think of two things. One of them is good, the other not good at all. Plastic bottles and other forms of plastic litter that some people leave on the ice is not good, but the plastic that more and more anglers are using on their ice jigs can be very, very good. Very, very good for catching fish. Most of us know what we should do with our plastic litter. Following are some ideas about what we should do to catch more fish on plastic baits.

The fourth annual Camp Autumn Ice Fishing Tournament and Fundraiser is set for Saturday, Feb. 11, with registration taking place at 9 a.m. and the fishing going from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. with a complimentary chili and spaghetti lunch to follow. The tournament will be held at Camp Autumn, a 30-acre private lake located about 13 miles southwest of Everly.

SPENCER — The Tigers hosted their Spencer Girls Invitational Saturday at Spencer Middle School. The girls dominated the competition picking up a team win with a score of 208. Twenty-eight points ahead of second place Ridge View and 92 points ahead of third place Okoboji/HMS. Five Tiger ladies took first place for Spencer. Olivia Huckfelt, Kaylee Nachtigal, Laila Nielsen and Shaylee Sutherland all finished in the top spot.