Category: Fishing

Listen to the radio story with details as discussed by GREAT WILD RADIO SHOW host Gary N’Ski with syndicated Outdoor Fishing Columnist, Forrest Fisher.

Click here to listen in:

http://www.podcastgarden.com/episode/2016-hobie-bass-open_80758

Crappie Fishing with Straw – Part 3 of 4

Kirk Hansen, Iowa Department of Natural Resources Mississippi River research biologist, has been conducting a tracking study with crappies in river backwaters for many years now.  During the harsh winter of 2013-2014, he watched helplessly as most of the crappies he tracked were destroyed in an extreme high-water event.

“When the islands flood during winter, crappies die,” Hansen said. “They absolutely need to be out of the current when the water is in the 30°F range.  They need current breaks behind islands, in backwaters, completely out of the flow.”

Laboratory observations reveal that crappies can’t even swim upright in water temperatures of 35°F or less.  Crappies just might be the most temperature sensitive fish found in the northern United States, especially when the water is cold.  Crappies spawn in water temperatures approaching and surpassing 70°F, and almost right up to that point they are seeking the warmest water and the greatest stability they can find.

Now look at your boat and all the electronic gadgetry attached.  In spring, the only tools really required to find crappies are the temperature gauge and the trolling motor.  Put the trolling motor down and start hunting for the warmest water in the bay or backwater near those areas where they eventually spawn, fishing as you go.  Where to start?  Two keys:
1) Areas with the most sun exposure
2)    Areas where the wind has been blowing in to shore.

The north side of any lake, bay, or backwater gets the most sun throughout the day.  In the absence of wind, start on the north side.  But if it’s cloudy and windy, the warmest water will be where gentle breezes are blowing into shore.  Heavy winds create waveforms that reach down and pull cold water up to the surface.  On windy days, find areas where the wind has less fetch.

So many times in spring, a spot 2°F warmer than the rest of the bay will seem to hold 80-percent of all the crappies in that bay.  Crappies move into spawning areas during pre-spawn, but only to feed.  They’re feeding on minnows and invertebrates that are also drawn to the warmest spots, so the draw for crappies is two-fold.  Crappies despise instability.  When temperatures are fluctuating, when cold fronts pass through, when the wind is swirling and gusting from all directions, crappies often move out of the shallows altogether, seeking more stable temperatures and conditions in deeper water.  Which is why crappies are so attracted to narrow boat canals and tiny bays-within-bays during spring—shallow areas that warm quickly with very little exposure to wind.

Working along slowly in the right areas, keeping an eye on the temperature gauge, I like to pitch little 2-inch, white grubs on 1/32-ounce jigs and swim them slowly and horizontally.  Or, I toss slip-float rigs with light jigs tipped with minnows or wax worms.  Pitching jigs and plastics is best with 4 to 6-pound mono, which is thicker and resists the water, keeping the jig from sinking or moving too fast.  With floats I use 4 to 8-pound braided lines, which float, and the jig is tied to a short 6-pound fluorocarbon leader.  The heavier leaders are needed because largemouth bass tend to use the same areas, and crappies need to be pulled away from wood cover quickly.

Amazing how often crappies completely reject minnows and respond only to the wax worm offerings, and vice-versa. They may not be as selective as trout, but when the menu in the area features an abundance of invertebrates—maggots, wax worms, and angle worms typically out-produce minnows.  If minnows are thick in the area, crappies will ignore those other baits.

To find the best crappie fishing available in any lake, reservoir, or backwater area during spring, keep one eye glued to the temperature readout on the depth finder as you fish.  Pick the right areas to start—where wind and sun work together to warm the water quickest—move slowly, and look for surface disturbances.  Amazing how, some days, finding a spot 1°F warmer than everywhere else makes all the difference.

The unofficial start of spring on Lake Ontario is the Lake Ontario Counties Trout and Salmon Derby, set for May 6-15 this year (www.loc.org).  This is a big fish contest, focusing in on salmon, brown trout, lake trout and, as of May 7 when the walleye season opens in New York, walleye. More than 4,000 anglers will be hitting the waters of this Great Lake in pursuit of the biggest salmon for the 10 day contest – worth a check for $15,000!  Not bad for doing something that you love.

Fishing contests are not for everyone, but if you are going to be on the water fishing anyway, it’s not a bad idea to ante up and take a chance.  Like the state lottery, you have to be in it to win it.  Every year when I write the press release for the LOC events (there is also a summer and fall contest), every single time there’s a story about the winning fisherman – or woman – who won the prize on their first derby ever, for first fish ever, or first time on Lake Ontario.  The stories, and the memories, are priceless.  There are also the stories of the fish that didn’t get away, but they weren’t in the derby; or not everyone on the boat was in the LOC.  The fall contest Grand Prize is $25,000, pretty serious in the cash department!  That could buy a new fishing boat and lots of tackle!!

Check out the leaderboard on the website to see where the best places to fish are in the spring.  Based on previous success stories, the waters from the Niagara River and the Niagara Bar to 30 Mile Point east of Olcott, New York, affords your best opportunity to take home some cash – year after year.  Part of the reason for the early season success is because of the Niagara River, the biggest flow of water coming into Lake Ontario.  That water is also a bit warmer come May as the waters of a much-shallower Lake Erie funnel their way through the Niagara River system.  These attract the baitfish – smelt and alewives at the top of the list – and in turn those tasty tidbits attract the predator fish.  The predator fish attract the anglers from around the country.  Last year some 40 different states were represented in the LOC events.

Before the spring LOC contest is over, the Wilson Harbor Invitational Tournament will see some 50 teams targeting spring salmon only.  This year, the contest is set for May 7.  The best six salmon will be brought to the scales for a one day event. Grand prize is $25,000.  The competition is fierce as teams focus their energy on catching spring kings.  The key is the size, because scoring is based on 10 points per fish and a point per pound. For information check out www.wilsonharborinvitational.com.

This is all a precursor to the granddaddy of tournaments, the Lake Ontario Pro-Am Salmon Team Tournament – the 32nd annual contest out of the ports of Wilson and Olcott.  No tournament on the lake has been around longer or touched the lives of more fishermen and women.  In the Pro Division, teams are serious when the contest is going on.  Incentives are that more than 100 percent of the entry fee money goes back into the prize structure (unheard of) and an extra $20,000 in cash is being dangled out in front of the teams like a carrot in front of a donkey.  Again, 10 points per fish and a point per pound is the scoring for the day, but there are tournament minimum sizes and, for the Classic Division, the first 12 legal salmon and trout is the goal each day – for three days in a row this year.  Consistency combined with knowledge is needed to place high in this event.  How serious is this tournament?  Observers are provided by each team to go on another boat to make sure the rules are being followed!

In the Amateur Open, the tournament atmosphere is still present, but with a lot less pressure.  No observers are needed.  Each day is a separate contest; best three fish is the goal, a mix of salmon and trout.  It’s a celebration of our fishery and a perfect way to rub elbows with fellow anglers from around the lake.  Deadline to register is May 16.  For more information, visit www.lakeontarioproam.net for rules and registration information.

Competition fishing is not for everyone and there’s still plenty of world class angling opportunities on the lake should you not want to be part of the contests going on.  If the derby or tournament bug bites, though, you could become addicted!

Hi folks – I have a favor to ask and that is to please click on and watch the following video clip. It is about a unique new way to combat barotrauma (uncontrolled decompression of internal gas) in fish like walleye, bass, perch, crappies, pike and muskies that have a closed swim bladder, using a product I discovered at the ICAST Show.

I think is the best conservation fishing tool I’ve ever come across. And full disclosure: I am not sponsored by the company (called EcoLeeser) nor have they paid me a penny to endorse their product. Matter of fact, they don’t even know to endorse their product. Matter of fact, they don’t even know I’ve reviewed it here. I have been testing the RokLees for more than a year now in open water as well as through the ice, and it is brilliant.

As many anglers know, every 28 feet you go down in the water column represents one atmosphere of pressure. So, when you hook a fish in deep water and bring it up, its eyes bulge and its swim bladder expands because of the reduction in pressure. In the extreme, its blood vessels can even burst and the fish can haemorrhage.

In divers, the problem is known as “the bends” or “rapture of the deep”. And, the way it is counteracted is by a long, slow and steady ascent to the surface often taking half-an-hour or more, so that your body can adjust to the changes in pressure and expel the life threatening gases.

But, that is not feasible with fish. Imagine, taking 45-minutes to land a walleye, bass or muskie that you hooked in deep water. Anglers have looked for other solutions including fizzing, or sticking a hypodermic needle into the swim bladder to expel the build up of air.  Even worse, some have resorted to deflating the stomach sticking out of the fish’s mouth mistakenly thinking it is the air bladder.

I won’t go into all of the cons of fizzing, but know there are very few, if any, natural resource agencies that support the procedure.

Anglers, too, often mistakenly believe that if they reel a fish up slowly to the surface, they can reduce the risks of barotrauma; whereas in fact, a slow retrieve exacerbates the situation and gives the air bladder more time to expand even further.

Indeed, for over 30 years, prior to retirement I worked for the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources, and when I was the District Manager in Kenora, our conservation officers would routinely scoop up dead and floating walleyes following major tournaments with clear evidence (intestines and organs hanging out of the punctures) that the fish did not survive.

Ditto in the winter, when our fisheries’ technicians would put underwater cameras under the ice in popular crappie ice fishing locations and spot dead crappies floating just under the surface of the ice for as far as they could see. The crappies had “drowned” because they had expended so much energy fighting the effects of a distended swim bladder after they were released that they subsequently popped up to the surface like a cork and died.

The RokLees, on the other hand, was developed to safely return these fish to the bottom, or the depths where they were caught. In fact, it was specifically designed for rockfish along the Pacific west coast, where anglers routinely hook the fish in several hundred feet of water. If it works at these depths for rockfish, imagine how well it will perform on walleye, bass and other fresh water fish caught in much shallower water.

Indeed, I recently loaned my RokLees to the fisheries’ consultant working with the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources on the Winnipeg and English River systems in Northwestern Ontario. They are live netting and tagging lake sturgeon as part of a population study, but inadvertently, they are also catching extremely large walleyes. Fish in the 10-, 12- and 13-pound category.

They were so impressed with the success of the RokLees for successfully releasing the large walleyes that they immediately ordered several of the inexpensive tools for the technicians.

If you watch the following video clip you’ll see how it works.

A confession and story by World Class Outdoorsman, Gord Pyzer, and a How-To video tutorial from Olympic Winning Chef, Cameron Tait.

I have to confess, for years I’ve been fanatical about the sharpness of the knives I use to fillet fish and field dress moose and deer.  But, as particular as I am, I’ve always known that somehow, some way, I could get them even sharper.

Thanks to fishing friend, Cameron Tait, I now know the secret.

Cameron is a two-time gold-medal winning chef who represented Canada at the Culinary Olympics.  These days he teaches at the Paterson Global Foods Institute at Red River College in Winnipeg, and if you’ve ever had a chance to taste his wizardry, you know what I mean when I say that it gives new meaning to the term finger lickin’ good.

Even if you haven’t sampled one of Cameron’s mouth-watering masterpieces, however, you’re in for a treat. Starting with the 2016 Ice Fishing Special issue (out in mid-December) he is going to be contributing fish and wild game recipes to Outdoor Canada magazine that are easy to prepare in the field (or at home), and featuring the freshest basic ingredients. How good are they?

Well, last winter buddy Bob Izumi joined up with me for a late winter lake trout ice fishing expedition and as a surprise, I invited Cameron to join us and cook a special shore lunch out on the ice.

Needless to say, Bob was so impressed, he featured almost none of the actual fishing, devoting almost the entire show segment to Cameron (Real Fishing Television) and his lip-smacking tour de force out on the ice. Which brings us back to the subject of sharp knives.

I recently handed Cameron the well-worn Rapala knife that I’ve used to filet more walleye, trout, salmon, pike and perch than Captain Highliner, and the Buck knife I have used for over 40 years to field-dress moose and deer, and asked him to give me a grade. He rubbed his finger over the edge, scrunched up his nose and said: B-minus.

B-minus?! Are you kidding me? I thought the edges were worthy of at least an A-plus. Well, after he finished sharpening them with a trio of Japanese water stones they were that sharp.  In fact, they were so razor keen that he effortlessly removed the hair from his arm with the blades.

But enough talk.

Sharpening your knife like a world-renowned chef is a tip too good not to share, so I filmed the entire process, which you can watch at the link below. With a little bit of practice, you’ll soon be putting a razor-sharp edge on all of your hunting and fishing knives—just like the pros. VIEW VIDEO HERE.

People are often shocked when I take them fishing or present a seminar at a sport show and tell them that many days when I am successful, I won’t feel a single fish bite.

They always respond the same way, by asking, “If you don’t feel them bite, how do you know you have them on?”

The answer is that I’ve become a line watcher.

In other words, I keep my eyes glued on the short section of line between my rod tip and where it enters the water. And if I see it tighten up, even slightly, I know that a fish has taken my bait.

Just as often, however, I’ll often see the line go limp, signalling a bite as well. Crappies, in particular, are notorious for spotting your bait, rising up ever so slowly, sucking it in and swimming up even higher. When they do it, you’ll see your line go slightly slack, signalling a bite.

But enough words. Click on the following short video and watch as I explain how you can double, triple, maybe even quadruple the number of fish you catch this winter, simply by watching your line.

When top anglers fished eastern basin Lake Erie for walleye in the late 1980’s, many fish were caught. It was not unusual to catch one or two 12-pound fish during two extended days of weekend fishing. In 1986, just fishing for fun with my senior Lake Erie mentor, Russ Johnson, we caught six 11-pounders, four 12-pounders and one 14-pounder, not mention several hundred fish from eight to 10 pounds while fishing the waters within five miles of Van Buren Point, not far from Dunkirk Harbor (New York). While limits of walleye are still the norm today (2015) for many anglers, not that many fish over 10-pounds are brought to net. This is confirmed by the final standings of multiple summer tournament walleye competition events. Some big fish are caught, but not many. So what has happened?

Perhaps, there are too many non-native invasive species like the round goby? The eastern basin walleye have definitely been lighter in weight this year, but they were longer than ever before too. The deep water where these summer fish live is cleaner and clearer than ever before, with 25 to 40 foot Secchi disc readings, and there is no obvious algae issue in the deep eastern basin of Lake Erie. Add that this past summer, huge schools of walleye had moved from their usual thermocline zone at 60 to 70 feet from the surface, down into the schools of smelt to find forage and feed. The fish were in 117 feet of water, the temperature was 49 degrees down there!

Has it been the early season 10-day fishing contests that have removed a large number of heavy, resident (eastern basin homebody), female, walleye spawners from eastern basin waters before the migratory walleye arrive? Final standings in such early season contests has literally dozens of fish tipping the scales over 10 pounds, but not in the late summer contests.

The migratory walleye schools swim all the way from western basin Lake Erie (Ohio) each June to escape the warm summer water and reduced oxygen levels suspected there (from algae blooms).
Is there a lack of forage? Emerald shiners are among the primary forage for walleye and yellow perch base, the once huge schools of these baitfish are missing this year.

Perhaps it is time to form an international Eastern Basin Lake Erie Tournament Regulations Board of Governors that would require the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources to approve walleye tournament action for length, number of participants and time of year. Food for thought.

Why is the other guy catching all the fish? Could be one of a million reasons, but when sitting side-by-side on the ice, the list narrows to scent, bait type, jig action, line diameter, line type, lure type, lure size, and lure color.

Color may seem like the most trivial factor in that group, but not when all else is equal and the other guy is still catching all the fish. Having walked the hard water with folks like Dave Genz, Al Lindner, Tony Roach, Mark Martin, Brian “Bro” Brosdahl, and many other giants of the ice-fishing industry, and having ogled their color choices carefully over the years, I break down color like this:

A good jig box has more shades in it than a carton of crayons. The main factors to consider when trying to pluck a color from that rainbow are these: 1) Water Color, 2) Thickness of ice, 3) Amount of snow cover, 4) Depth, 5) Time of day, 6) Mood of the fish.

Water color: Sometimes it pays to start with a multi-colored jig, like a parrot, perch, or fire-tiger pattern. It’s like playing the trifecta instead of trying to pick a single winner from a pack of options. Sometimes, just a dash of the right color will trigger a take. Think primary colors and natural colors in clear water—like white, black, brown, gray, olive, or beige. Dial down the brightness of metal lures. Think glow or fluorescent shades of chartreuse, orange, lime green, or blue in heavily stained or very cloudy water. Use single colors in clear water, but contrast colors in stained or cloudy water. Use bright metallic flash to attract in cloudy water. In between those extremes, mix and match according to the other following factors. For metallic attraction and flash, I start with gold in cloudy water, copper in stained water, and silver in clear water.

Ice Thickness: Under thin ice, use natural and primary colors more often. Under thick ice, use glow colors and bright metallic flash more often.

Snow Cover: Same as above—go natural with no snow cover in clear water, and choose incrementally brighter colors as snow deepens. Under thick ice and heavy snow, it’s dark down there. The most consistent color used by experts in that condition, in all water colors, is glow orange coupled with bright metallic flash matching the water color. Don’t be alarmed when glow chartreuse or glow blue works better, but be moderately shocked if fish prefer jigs without glow.

Depth: In shallow water, successful colors tend to be more natural. The deeper the jig has to go, the more fluorescence or glow coupled with bright flash it should have. However, under thin ice on bright, sunny days in clear water, don’t be surprised if a duller, more natural shade attracts more strikes. But also consider how reds become gray only a few feet down, followed closely by orange and yellow, while colors at the blue-green end of the spectrum tend to remain visible much deeper—all due to wave length. Wider frequencies in the wave length of colors cause them to disappear quicker. But fluorescent and glow paints of all shades maintain color much deeper than standard finishes.

Time of Day: Before the sun rises, just after sunrise, just before sunset and after the sun goes down, glow colors tend to work best in all conditions. During the remainder of the day, other factors should influence color choice.

Mood of the Fish: Aggressiveness among fish under the ice is controlled, to some extent, by these factors: 1) Fishing pressure, 2) Weather, 3) Time of year, 4) Forage abundance, 5) Oxygen content. Cold fronts can make fish lethargic, and heavy pressure can make them wary. Early and late in winter they tend to be more aggressive than during mid-season. Dense forage abundance and low O2 counts can make them lazy. Match colors to mood the same way the experts match colors to water conditions. Wary, less-aggressive fish tend to respond better to natural colors with less flash, while aggressive, lightly pressured fish tend to race up and eat anything that moves—suggesting the use of the brightest, most highly visible color combinations possible.

All of which has little to do with the science of how fish see color. Or the fact that, on some lakes, the same colors tend to work best all winter long no matter what the conditions are. And some of these things are contradictory—such as the fact that aggressive fish in ultra-clear water under thin ice just might crush the brightest glow jig in the box all day long. These are general guidelines describing a place to start every day. Just don’t tell the other guy you have a system. Let him be the control factor, going “eenie-meanie-minie-mo” every morning. One of you will stumble across the right color, eventually.