Midwest Muskies Blogspot

How to Locate Fish on Any Given Day

2013-06-03T08:00:00.000-05:00

Finding fish is one of the biggest problems anglers have. It doesn’t have to be such a huge issue, though, because I’ve learned over the years that there are certain things to look out for when you’re trying to figure out what the fish are doing underneath the water and you don’t have a fish finder to tell you what’s going on. You need to pay attention to what the sun is, or isn’t doing in order to find them.

Mornings: In the morning fish are going to be very active. Coming off of the darkness from the night before, fish will be able to see what they are chasing and go after it more aggressively. The sun is not blasting down on them from above so they feel much more secure when they’re moving around. You can typically spot fish hitting the top of the water during the mornings. The general rule in the morning is that fish are going to be actively moving around in search for food.

Sunny Days: This is when it gets somewhat difficult to locate fish. When the sun is blasting down from overhead the fish are going to be in a weary mood because larger predators are able to spot them when they move around. On days like this you are going to want to look for structure that will cast shadows down into the water and start looking for fish there.

Cloudy Days: Cloudy days give fish a big advantage for staying cloaked and hidden underneath the water. They are going to act in the same ways that they do whenever the morning sun has yet to hit the water’s surface. Cloudy days make the fish more aggressive and they will be moving around searching for a meal without worrying about larger predators spotting them and putting themselves in danger.

Dusk: Dusk is an excellent time to fish because the sun has left the water, but the water’s temperature is still warm enough to be comfortable for them. Much like in the morning and on cloudy days, you will be able to see fish cruising around looking for a meal, even busting the top of the water when they want to trap something.

Night: Night time is a bit more difficult, but not nearly as hard as finding fish when the sun is beating down onto the water. At night you will have some fish cruising around while others are sitting around their favorite piece of structure. You will want to try to get out before the sun has completely set so that you can find some structure to fish once night time hits. Another method for catching fish at night is to patrol the banks (quietly), casting out parallel to the bank and retrieving back to you.

Keep a tight line!

Ron

Summer Fishing Tricks

2013-06-02T15:30:00.000-05:00

Every guide worth his salt has one. You know, that sneaky trick up his sleeve that always keeps his clients' rods bent. Cold fronts, breathless firecracker days, July blizzards (it could happen)-the conditions are almost beside the point. These slick tricks simply catch fish, atmospheric conditions losing their bark and bite. Ask any guide: when times get tough in mid to late summer, it's real nice to know you've got that ace bait awaiting deployment.

In my own guiding days, the golden ticket was a Gopher Bait Spin tipped with a minnow. Throw these simple contraptions behind the boat, start driving around the weed edge, and pretty soon, we'd have all kinds of fish hooked up- everything from bass and pike to walleyes and crappies. Another client fish fry, delivered. The photos would tell the story-big grins on everyone's face. Curiously, today, lures like the Bait Spin remain overlooked and underutilized. So simple in design, but oh so appealing to fish, which pretty much describes the three patterns that follow: basic, fundamentally great baits that simply catch lots and lots of fish.

Sneaking' through the Weeds

Early in my guiding career, I still recall a particular blazing-hot August day. It had been a challenging one to say the least. I was falling all over myself apologizing to my clients for the tough bite when who should roll into the dock but the legendary Marv Koep, possibly the most-recognized fishing guide in the North Country. Of course, Marv had fish (he always did)-a beautiful mixed bag of walleyes, pike, crappies, and even a deep-bodied smallmouth for someone's wall.

Days later, I caught up with Marv, who graciously shared his secret. "Weed Weasels tipped with minnows," he said simply, flashing his characteristic sunshine smile.

As I gradually discovered in the years that followed, Northland Weed Weasels were a secret of many top guides. Slick pointed nose, tapered head, light Y-weed-guard, bait-keeper, Mustad Ultra-Point hook-the combination proven deadly for everything with fins. Mostly, though, the boys kept the 'Sneak secret under their hat, so word never spread much beyond a handful of local sharpies. Still, I quickly learned that to add these amazingly weedless jigs to my own bag of tricks. On any given summer day, I always had an array of rods rigged with Weed Weasels. Slowly we'd move along the edge of the spacious weed bar, peppering casts up into the vegetation, and swimming the combo back through the cover. Within a cast or two, rods would bend. The trick never failed to produce action. And I mean never.

Sometimes, we'd tip the jig with a three-inch grub for extra buoyancy, color and action, but live bait was the thing. Wild redtail chubs, small suckers and golden shiners-you absolutely knew something was going to take a bite. In the world of guiding, that level of confidence is a beautiful thing. The Weed Weasel fished through weeds so well, so clean, that anyone could catch fish with it.

Throw the bait out, count it down and start slowly reeling it back. Then as now, it's just that simple. When summer's heat sends fish deep into vegetation, many of the best Northwoods guides still reach for their classic Weed Weasels. Ask their clients. These jigs just plain catch fish.

A Rocking Bite

While everybody and their uncle's out back trolling the rocks, sand and mud, guide Tim Anderson likes to cast weeds. Nothing crazy about that. Nothing, that is, except the walleyes, muskies, pike and bass he's extracting from these jungles. Anderson operates Central Minnesota's Big Fish Hunt Guide Service, chasing the hottest predator bites going. This year, he discovered a deadly new lure that's out-fished everything from crank baits to spinnerbaits, and jigs to jerk baits.

For Anderson, that lure is the Northland Rock-R-Minnow-a super-realistic soft plastic paddletail swimbait. Among insiders, the Rock-R-Minnow is on the fast-track to "classic" status, a lure that's always kept rigged and ready in the boat, even though said insiders aren't themselves spilling the beans (sound familiar?). Anderson likes the bait for its lively, yet easygoing stature. "If you can cast and reel, you can catch fish with this bait," he says.

And he's right. Rigged with a simple 3/8- to ½-ounce jig-head or the weighted Lipstick Swimbait hook included in the package, the 5-inch Rock-R-Minnow casts like a bullet, sinks fast, and slithers through grass like a snake. Reel, reel, then pause a second. Reel-reel-reel-pause again. Rip a weed or two. Whack! That's all there is to it.

On recent trips to a famous walleye lake, Anderson and I boated fifteen to twenty big walleyes each day, as well as several bonus pike and bass. We filled the Frabill net with a constant procession of heavyweights, all while dancing around bored jiggers and riggers.

Tight lines!

Ron

2013-06-02T08:24:00.000-05:00

Secrets To Help You Catch Fish All Summer Long

These fishing secrets will help you catch trout, bass, bluegills, cats, walleyes, and more—and have the time of your life—all season long.

1. Catch Smallies With Salty Flies

When rivers heat up in late summer, smallmouths can get downright lazy. The same fish that charged fast-moving streamers and poppers earlier in the season often take to feeding at night, and if your river is loaded with late-summer shad or herring fry, getting bass to eat fur and feathers becomes even harder.

Delaware River smallmouth guide Joe Demalderis gets around this by leaning on bugs tied with synthetic fur and fiber for the salt, such as a Mushmouth. Flies tied with Angel Hair or Puglisi Fiber retain more buoyancy and a wider profile when wet compared with flies using feathers, bucktail, and rabbit fur, which take on water and sink faster.

Demalderis casts those artificials on the outside of bait schools or in the deeper, slower runs summer smallmouths frequent, and lets them fall broadside with the current. Whereas a Zonker or Clouser would sink away quickly, these synthetic baitfish imitators flutter down slowly, presenting a more accurate representation of a dying baitfish—and an easier target for lazy bass. Even if you don’t want to use saltwater flies, incorporating some synthetic fur geared for the salt into your favorite smallmouth patterns can up your dog-day catch rate. —Joe Cermele

2. Crappies: Float-Shoot a Jig to Slabs

Crappie fishermen describe the slingshot cast as shooting because it shoots a tiny jig far under boat docks or pontoon boats where crappies seek some summer shade. Crappies typically nab the jig as it sinks and swings like a pendulum back to you. At times, however, they won’t react quickly enough to catch the jig, such as after a cold front.

The noted Ohio crappie tournament team of Mike Walters and Rick Solomon have a simple but effective shooting trick to coax bites from these temperamental crappies: Add a bobber to the rig.

After much trial and error, their go-to combo is a simple foam flyfishing strike indicator and a 1⁄32-ounce jig dressed with a Southern Pro Lit’l Hustler Pro Crappie tube.

The strike indicator can be pegged for a set depth, but float-shooting works better if the float is allowed to slide down to the jig. Then the combination can be “shot” as a single unit. Walters and Solomon fish 5-foot 6-inch B’n’M SharpShooter spinning rods with 4-pound-test monofilament for this technique. “If the line is heavier than that, the light jig can’t pull the line down through the float,” Walters says.

Set a bobber stop on the line above the float at whatever depth the crappies are holding. After the float has been shot under a dock, it suspends the jig in a crappie’s face as long as needed to coax a bite. Jiggling the float between short pauses encourages strikes. —Mark Hicks

3. Trout: Deliver a Wounded Dry Fly

Still-water spots like lakes, ponds, and glassy spring creeks can offer epic summer dry-fly action. They can also be terribly frustrating. You can match the hatch perfectly, tie on what you think is the right bug, lead the trout just so…and still get refused. When this happens, most anglers are quick to change patterns, yet almost nobody thinks to do the right thing—which is to change the character of your bug, rather than the bug itself.

In flat, calm water, trout have ample time to scrutinize your fly and are inclined to go after the easy pickings whenever they can. They key on natural bugs that are struggling at the surface—the ones that are unable to spread and dry their wings or shed their shucks. These insects are most vulnerable, and the smartest anglers always turn to cripple patterns—which float high enough for the angler to see but leave a tantalizing chunk of body suspended just below the water surface.

Just about every fly shop will have cripple variations of the most popular patterns, such as Hendricksons, Green Drakes, and caddis flies. Of course, you can tie your own. Tie the dry as you normally would, except wrap the hackle at a 45-degree angle, so when the hackle rides flat on the water, the tail end of the fly drags below the surface. —Kirk Deeter

4. Landlocked Stripers: Feed Cows Sushi

On hot days, big landlocked stripers retreat to deep river holes and the cool channels of slack-water reservoirs. These fish are lethargic but can be tempted by fishing cut bait—or what I like to call striper sushi—on the bottom. Rig a stout baitcasting outfit with 20- to 40-pound mono. Thread a 1- to 3-ounce egg sinker onto the line, then tie a big barrel swivel to the tag end. Attach a 3-foot mono leader (same test as main line) to the opposite end of the swivel with a 6/0 to 9/0 circle or octopus bait hook at the business end. You’ll need fresh-caught baitfish. Use a cast net to snare gizzard shad, or catch skipjack or blueback herring with a small spoon. Cut the bait into chunks or fillets, thread a couple of sushi pieces onto the hook, cast, and then chill for a spell with a cool beverage. It shouldn’t be long until a cow striper loads on. —Don Wirth

5. Trick Pickerel on the Surface

Finding a pickerel that won’t take a shot at a small stickbait is pretty hard, but not as hard as working that stickbait through the shallow weeds and grass where these fish hang in summer. When the salad gets gnarly, I switch over to a topwater approach for these aggressive pond dwellers. Although you might not think of pickerel as surface feeders, remember that a stickbait is only running a few inches under the surface, so there’s not a huge difference in the presentations, and surface commotion gets a pick’s attention fast.

Small poppers can get it done, but not nearly as well as a Spook, because like their pike and muskie cousins, pickerel love to track a lure that moves with a steady cadence. Measuring only 3 inches, Heddon’s Zara Puppy is the perfect size. To get the best action out of this tiny walker, I’ll throw it on a slow-action 6-foot spinning outfit spooled with 6-pound mono. Concentrate on open-water holes between grass mats, or along the edges of shallow weedbeds. The trick is to draw a pickerel out of the cover and get it tracking in cleaner water. If you see a swirl or flash behind the lure, don’t stop; speed up the retrieve while maintaining a steady walk.

When the fish hits, swing gently so as not to pull the hooks out of the fish’s thin, bony mouth. I’ve found that the softer rod and light set plants the hooks better than a fast rod and a hard set. —J.C.

6. Dupe Crappies in Gnarly Cover

Nashville crappie guru Harold Morgan has perfected a rig that lets him probe deep, snaggy cover where summer slabs lurk—without constantly hanging up. He attaches a heavy bell sinker to the tag end of his line and stacks two 6-inch dropper lines 18 inches apart above the sinker with double clinch knots. “The secret is using stiff, springy mono for your leaders,” he says. “I get cheap 30-pound catfish line from the tackle shop’s bargain bin. When rigged with either a small tube jig or a live minnow, the stiff leaders will stand out from the main line, which looks mighty enticing to the fish.” Morgan lowers the sinker straight down until he feels it tap a stump, then he begins to reel the rig up slowly. “You often catch two fish on each presentation,” he says. “And with the hooks located above the sinker, hangups are infrequent.” —D.W.

7. Bass: Land Hogs in a Strip-Mine Lake

The 24-inch lunker I caught from the Swimming Hole when I was 15 still stands as my biggest bass ever. Each mine lake had its own name, but we Kentucky kids called them stripper pits. Left behind by massive surface-mining equipment, thousands of strip-mine lakes are dotted throughout coal country. Some are teeming with bass that rarely see a lure. Accessibility ranges from public to lock-and-key, but all the best pits have similar characteristics.

Fish What You See Strip-mine lakes are long, slender, and usually deep. Cover abounds in the form of aquatic vegetation, laydowns, and beaver lodges. This is basic bass fishing. Drag a boat from pit to pit, cast to what you can see, and hang on.

Go Early Many pits are gin clear, and the shallows warm fast in summer. As a result, there is often a pronounced early-morning and late-evening bite for bass cruising the bank. My buddies and I used to start walking in the dark to catch that morning bite. We never tried it after dark, but we always wanted to.

Gear Up The mere chance of an 8-pounder blowing up on a Pop-R makes it worth throwing early and late. But given that you’re targeting cover and the water is clear, soft plastics and light tackle rule the day. Try a weightless jerkbait or Senko around the laydowns, and a Texas-rigged worm in the deeper cover. —Will Brantley

8. Trap a load of Blue Crabs

Crabbing is something I’ve done in the bays of New Jersey since I was old enough to walk, and back in the day, my grandfather taught me that if you wanted huge blue claws, you’d better bait your handlines and traps with chicken necks. These greasy poultry pieces work well but not quite as well as a spin-off I concocted a few years ago.

Here’s how to make what I like to call the Italian Stallion of crab bait:
Buy a pack of chicken thighs and put them in a zip-seal bag. Add a quarter cup of vegetable oil, three tablespoons of garlic powder, and—the secret ingredient—a quarter cup of Parmesan cheese. Just use the cheap stuff in a plastic shaker, not the good kind from the Italian market. Seal the bag, shake it up, and let it sit in the sun for a day.

When you open the bag to bait your lines and traps, you will gag, but tough it out, because by the end of the day, you’ll need a giant pot and gallons of beer to steam all of your summer bounty. —J.C.

9. Trout: Drown a Grasshopper Fly

Grasshoppers are like double cheeseburgers for trout—fatty, juicy, and packed with tasty protein. A languid hopper strike by a rising monster brown is always a thrill, but sometimes the fish just won’t gorge themselves on a surface smorgasbord. When naturals are jumping off the banks but trout won’t look at your fly, it doesn’t necessarily mean the fish aren’t eating hoppers. The smart trout—often the biggest—will wait for hoppers to sink below the surface before taking a bite.

To fish the hopper season most effectively, you must learn to fish those patterns dry—and wet. And by wet I mean drowned.

Apply sinking grease to the hopper, and dead-drift it down a seam where you think trout are holding low. You won’t need a strike indicator; when a fish grabs it, you’ll feel it. Or let that waterlogged pattern swing out at the end of a run, a good foot or so below the surface.

The best secret for fishing drowned hoppers, however, is to weight your leader with enough split shot so you feel steady tension as your rig drifts through deeper, more turbid runs. Pinch on the amount of weight needed to have it drop like a rock, then add an extra BB. Tie a gaudy hopper on 18 inches of tippet below the weight. As you make the drift, when you feel the tension hiccup or lift, assume that a trout has inhaled the fly, and set the hook. It’s an acquired feel, but this technique usually turns the biggest trout—-especially during bright days in the middle of hopper season. —K.D.

10. Crappies: Score Slabs With Swimbaits

Long-line trolling is a favorite summertime crappie tactic, and standard procedure calls for pulling jigs or crankbaits. But I always have a 2-inch swimbait—like a Storm WildEye Swimshad or Creme Spoiler Shad—in my spread, too. Fished on 6-pound monofilament, they run 7 to 10 feet deep at crappie trolling speeds of 1 to 1.5 mph, and they’ll run deeper if you add a split shot or two. Swimbaits rarely get big numbers of bites, but when they do get bit, it’s often by a slab. They’ve accounted for more 2-plus-pound fish for me in the past two seasons than everything else combined.

Bonus Tip! This is the easiest—and one of the best—fish recipes I know: Dredge your big crappie fillets in melted garlic butter and place them in a grill basket. Liberally apply seasoned salt, pepper, and a bit of Cajun seasoning. Grill on low heat for five to six minutes on both sides. When the fillets flake apart, they’re done. And delicious. —W.B.

11. Bowfish a Summer Flood for Carp and Gar

Bowfishermen love a flood. Gar and carp swarm newly inundated banks and bushes in search of food, often slithering along in inches of water with their backs exposed. It’s the best shooting of the year—if you know how to take advantage of it.

Calm After the Storm: Wait for the Sun
Stay home during the initial torrent. Even if rough fish do immediately move shallow in a raging river, you can’t see them in muddy water. Besides, it’s dangerous. Instead, wait for the sun and watch the river tables. Runoff will keep rivers on a slow rise for days after a major rainstorm. Expect to see fish until the water begins receding.

Find Shallow Grounds
Wear polarized sunglasses, put the trolling motor on low, and pry apart every inch of shallow cover. A grass carp could be tailing in the branches of a flooded willow tree. A fat gar will look like a log bobbing in the shallows. Train your eye to look for parts of the fish—a flash of scales, a gill plate, or a tail. Don’t be shy about shooting. Shallow fish are spooky, and shots are free. —W.B.

12. Find a White Bass Blitz

Coastal anglers aren’t the only ones who can experience the rush of an epic striped bass blitz. Like their saltwater cousins, white bass go on summer feeding frenzies, too, driving shad and other baitfish to the surface. A blitz can happen at any time during the day, but your best bet is before sunrise; late afternoons are a close second. Set up shop near dams, points, or other submerged structure where baitfish stack up. Blitzes often occur near the bank when frantic baitfish have nowhere else to go but up, so shoreside casters can easily get in on the action. When the surface starts to boil, move into position quickly. A gathering of gulls and other birds is another sign of a feeding frenzy.

Spunky white bass fight well above their weight class, and a 2- to 3-pound fish will give you all you want on the right tackle. There’s also the chance of hooking into bonus species such as hybrid stripers or walleyes, so rig up a medium-weight combo with 8-pound monofilament.

This is speed fishing. Go-to lures include topwaters, jerkbaits, flukes, and propeller cranks about 3 inches in size. A suspending crankbait or spinner-equipped jig will get below the surface where the bigger fish lurk. Cast just past the fray and pull your bait through it as often as you can. Blitzes don’t last long. Typically, once the sun hits the surface, the party is over. Hopefully by then you’ll have enough fillets for lunch—followed by a nap before you head out for round two at sunset. —David Draper

13. How to Skip a Bass Bait

When summer’s sun sizzles, bass lounge beneath boat docks. The biggest seek low docks with decks, boat slips, and garages because they provide the most shade. But the bass typically lie far under a dock, where they are off limits to conventional casting methods. To catch one, you need to skip a lure—a daunting challenge for many fishermen. Fear not: I’ve developed a system that allows any angler to skip far below docks.

What’s My Line?
Fill the spool of a 61⁄2- to 7-foot medium-action spinning outfit with 12-pound Berkley NanoFil. I’ve found this line skips much farther than any other line and causes fewer tangles.

Extra Strength
Attach a 10-pound, 6-foot fluorocarbon leader to the line with a double Uni knot tied with six wraps of fluorocarbon and nine wraps of the main line. Fewer wraps and the knot could fail.

Wicked Skip
Tie the leader to a 2/0 Gamakatsu Wicked Wacky Hook, which has a hand-tied nylon weedguard. Run the hook through the middle of a fat 5-inch Senko worm. This keeps the worm sideways and makes it extremely skippable.

Wind Up
Hold the rod parallel to the water and let out 2 feet of line. Swing the rod tip up and around backward—as if you were drawing a loop with the tip. Release the line when the worm circles past the bottom of the loop where you started. It will shoot inches over the water.

First Kiss
Make the worm kiss the water 3 to 4 feet in front of a dock and it will skip 15 feet or more under it. This is easier to do than it sounds, I promise. Sometimes I amaze myself with this setup. —M.H.

14. Beach a Summer Flounder

You don’t need a boat (or a trip to the grocery store) to enjoy fresh flounder fillets during summer. From New York to Florida to Texas, the hot months are the best for finding big flounder—or fluke if you’re from the Northeast—just a short cast from the beach. These fish are ambush predators, and the troughs that form in the shallow wash provide perfect hiding spots that let flounder strike forage disoriented by the roiling surf.

I like to chase surf flounder with an 8-foot medium-action spinning rod and reel spooled with 15-pound braided line. This length gives me more distance than a standard 6- to 7-foot rod, but it’s not so heavy that it won’t deliver lighter baits and lures. To the end of the main line I tie a small three-way swivel, then a 6-inch length of 20-pound fluorocarbon to the second eye, and a 2-foot length to the third. The short trace gets a 1⁄2-ounce bucktail jig tipped with a squid strip. To the longer length I tie a 2/0 octopus hook and thread on a 2-inch Gulp! Shrimp in New Penny.

The key is covering lots of water. Walk slowly down the breakline while making long casts into the wash; reel back steadily and gently pop the rod tip. Make sure you keep contact with the bottom at all times. Though the bucktail will score some fish, its primary job is to kick up a sand cloud that gets the flounder’s attention so it can hit the shrimp bringing up the rear. Always work the rig right back to your feet, because big flounder could be sitting a rod’s length away. —J.C.

15. Hook Big Catfish at Night

There’s just something about casting for catfish after dark that defines the perfect summer night. It could be the campfire camaraderie, but more likely it’s the thrill to be had not knowing what kind of monster is sniffing your bait. Catfish are warmwater fish, and by midsummer they’re feeding heavily to gain back the weight they lost during the spawn. Prime time is between 10 p.m. and 2 a.m. when fish move out of the deep to feed.

Just before dark, find a 5- to 15-foot-deep flat just off a river channel or dropoff that holds cats during the day. If it’s loaded with downed timber or brush, even better. You’re targeting big fish in snag-infested water, so size up your rod to a medium-heavy action and spool it with a minimum of 20-pound-test braided line. No expensive lures here—just a simple Carolina rig with an egg sinker above a 3/0 circle hook tipped with cutbait, shrimp, or a homemade blood bait for the more adventurous. Once you’ve cast this out into the dark, sit back and steel yourself—for you never know what may go splash in the night. —D.D.

16. Make Glow-in-the-Dark Flies

Many of the best mayfly hatches happen after dusk, when it is difficult for mere mortals to actually see trout eating their flies. To avoid missed strikes, organize a dedicated late-night fly box. Set aside some of your key patterns, and use a fine-point paintbrush to dab the tips of fly wings (or the posts of parachute patterns) with glow-in-the-dark paint. Be conservative, so as not to add extra weight to the flies, and only treat the top sections (where you’ll see it, but the trout won’t).

Paint your flies at least 24 hours before fishing them, and before you hit the river, spend a good five minutes or so shining a bright flashlight beam into the box, so the paint absorbs the energy. If the glow-in-the-dark spot on the water disappears when you hear a slurp, set the hook. —K.D.

17. Trout: Catch Holdover Stockies

In April and May, stocked trout streams are running high and cold and are perfectly suited to hold trout. Come June, though, they’re running lower, slower, and warmer—and don’t look so trouty anymore. Most of them, however, are great smallmouth streams, and through the years I’ve learned to catch holdover trout later in summer by fishing for them like smallies.

Stocked streams don’t often have the prolific bug life that makes native trout streams thrive—but they do have crayfish, and any trout that survive into the warmer months will be preying on these morsels. When I’m wade fishing, I lean heavily on 23⁄4-inch Strike King Bitsy Tubes in Watermelon Copper Craw and Trout Magnet Trout Slayers, which are small soft-plastic crayfish imitations rigged on a shad-dart jighead. These lures allow me to target trout and smallmouths simultaneously. Pitch them to the head of deep runs with stronger current—which will provide more oxygen—and let them tumble across the bottom on a taut line.

Stocked trout may not be as aggressive as smallmouth bass, so feel for the subtle bump of a holdover sucking the lure off the streambed. A 71⁄2-foot light spinning outfit makes strike detection easier, as you can high-stick more effectively to keep better contact with your lure. If there’s no trout holding at the head, move down to the tail and aggressively jig the lure to trigger a smallmouth take. —J.C.

18. Bass: Fish the Lunker Flats

Most bass pros target deep reservoir points and offshore ledges in midsummer tournaments, but Louisiana’s Greg Hackney has a different game plan up his sleeve. “A deep reservoir will often stratify in midsummer, resulting in superheated surface water with a dead zone of oxygen-depleted water below it,” Hackney says. “After weeks of hot weather, there may no longer be sufficient dissolved oxygen in the lake’s deeper areas to maintain healthy populations of bass and baitfish.” That’s when Hackney does a 180 and motors toward the shallows.

Skinny coves and flats can hold surprising numbers of big bass during the dog days. “This pattern is especially strong on hot, windy days,” Hackney adds. “The wave action oxygenates the shallows quickly and roils the water, providing enhanced concealment for big fish.” He targets shallow flats, shoreline pockets, and the upper reaches of tributary arms—areas his competition abandoned months ago—in his quest for a heavy limit. “I’ll comb shallow water with a horizontal search lure like a lipless crankbait or spinnerbait, then hit any isolated wood cover I encounter with a jig,” he says. “The rewards can be huge. I’ve caught 9-pounders in a foot of water when the surface temperature was 98 degrees.” —D.W.

19. Toast Your Catch

Macho Margarita
Deciding between a margarita and a beer after a day on the lake doesn’t have to be an either-or proposition. In a pitcher, stir together a half pint of tequila, a bottle of Corona, and a can each of 7-Up and frozen limeade concentrate. Pour into frosty mugs full of ice and chill out for the rest of the afternoon.

The Real Daiquiri
The secret to a perfect daiquiri is to stay as far away from those slushy fruit-syrup dispensers as possible. In its purest form, the sweet-and-sour combination of a teaspoon of simple syrup and 1 ounce of lime juice balances the kick of 2 ounces of light rum. Shake with ice and strain into a chilled glass to soothe sore muscles caused by battling blue-water bruisers.

A Bitter G&T
Sitting on the dock catching bluegills will work up a powerful thirst. The best way to quench it is with a gin and tonic, but even this classic drink can get boring after a while. My secret ingredient? Two drops of Angostura bitters to spice up an otherwise lazy day. —D.D.

20. How To Fire the Curve Cast

The curve cast is a useful trick when you want to drop a dry fly in a specific spot but a boulder or overhanging tree branch blocks the straight line between you and the rising trout. It also works where heavy currents or obstacles make a downstream presentation impractical. I’ve also heard this called a hinge cast, because the idea is to shoot the fly line forward with power, then stop the line abruptly so the leader connection hinges and kicks the fly to the side.

Step 1
Get within 20 to 50 feet of your target. As you start casting, move the plane of your rod from straight overhead to 45 degrees—or even sidearm—so the path of your line is nearly parallel to the water surface.

Step 2
Accelerate the forward cast to generate line speed, but stop the rod abruptly as the line straightens. When the line is almost fully extended, flick your wrist so the reel curves (A) toward the direction you want your fly to land.

Step 3
Stop the line by pinching it against the grip with the index finger of your casting hand, or by pulling taut with your line hand if you’re double-hauling. As you see the leader cock sideways, drop the rod tip and let your fly fall gently to the surface. —K.D.

From the June, 2013 issue of Field & Stream

Blue crab photo by: InSCook via FlickrWhite bass photo by: Robert H. Pos/USFWS via FlickrFlounder photo by: Roban Kramer via FlickrCocktail photo by: Rick Chung via Flickr

Cool Tips for Catching Panfish

2013-05-30T19:14:00.000-05:00

It's often hard to decide what season and species of fish is our favorite.

The biggest walleyes and saugers of the year are often caught just after ice-out when water still freezes in the guides of our St. Croix rods. Late spring is a great time for bass, both largemouth and smallmouth, and muskies, one of our favorites.

Many anglers hang up their fishing gear when the weather turns hot, though walleye fishing at night can have some of the best action of the year. But daytime anglers believe fishing during the summer is tough. Lots of food in the water translates to narrow feeding windows. Some think a trip to the lake may be a waste of time.

If that's your view, think again. Panfish can offer some great summer action for older anglers and kids alike. It can be the best time of year to hook kids and grandkids on the sport by catching crappies and bluegills. And scaling down the size of the gear can make the fight worth the time.

Bluegills and crappies also have other advantages. For one, they inhabit many lakes and ponds, so there are usually plenty of opportunities to fish for them close to home. For another, they're often overlooked by other anglers so you have great spots to yourself. Catching a walleyes can be a bonus because they're often located in the same places as the panfish.

Find and Catch Big Panfish

Finding fish usually isn't hard. Finding the biggest fish in the lake is the challenge. The process starts with finding lakes with solid panfish populations plus a good quantity of predators like bass or muskies. Check with your state's Department of Natural Resource biologists. They know the honey holes. If a lake is out of the way and a little harder to reach, that's even better.

Check out the lake map to find the weeds, then look for weed edges that offer something different, such as a point, an inside turn or gaps in the midst of plant life, or a transition from one kind of plant to another. GPS will help map the weed edge to locate fish-holding twists and turns.

Work a Lindy Rig slowly along the edge. A number 6 or number 8 Aberdeen hook works best with NO-SNAG sinkers. Use a longer, flexible 7-foot rod to avoid pulling hooks out of thin mouths. Use 4- to 6-pound-test Silver Thread line. For bluegills, use a small leech and small minnows for crappies.

Target 10 feet on shallow lakes to 20 feet on deeper, clear lakes. Move slowly in S turns to check deeper water nearby. Walleye will often be five feet deeper or so than the panfish. Big crappies are often nearby, too. Watch your sonar because crappies might be suspended.

Jigs also work on weed lines. Try using Lindy Fuzz-E-Grub or Watsit jigs. The Watsit features tiny flippers that cause a slow fall which keeps it in the strike zone longer. Experiment with colors. Add a piece of a nightcrawler or a wax worm. If the fish appear to be stacked in one area, switch to a slip-bobber rig.

Fish may move off the weedline to deeper water at midday. Trolling, where legal, or drifting can keep the action coming. Use a three-way rig where regulations allow two lures per line. Use one bait for bluegills and the other for crappies. A small Fuzz-E-Grub goes on the dropper and a twister tail goes on a hook on the trailer. Experiment with colors. Black is a great choice to mimic a bluegill's favorite food, insects. Or, trade the plastic for a small silver ice spoon. Use several different kinds of rigs to start and see what yields the most fish.

Set your trolling motor so you move slowly and quietly to avoid spooking fish. Use icons on the GPS or buoys to mark fish when you get strikes. Drifting a minnow, tiny tubes, a half crawler or leech is a good idea, too.

How deep to set baits depends on the thermocline. Every summer when weather gets hot, a dividing point sets up between water below it with less oxygen and the water holding more oxygen above it. Fish generally will try to find their comfort zone temperature-wise, but oxygen is the deciding factor. If there's no oxygen at the temperature they like, they will settle for warmer water. The thermocline should show up on good electronics as a line across the screen at a certain depth. If it doesn't appear, try setting the unit to manual and crank up the sensitivity until the line appears.

For crappies, you can also try casting small crankbaits along weed lines. Crappies near wood is the often the answer in reservoirs. Look for standing timber on points. Tight-line small jigs and plastic or minnows on longer rods. Let the bait down to the bottom and reel up a turn or two, then another foot and another until fish are located. Rather than reeling that first fish in, lift your rod and use it to measure the active depth. That makes it easy to return the jig to the right spot. Slip bobbers will do the same thing.

Deeper brush piles and fish cribs are deadly during the hot months. Locate them on lake maps. Brush piles can be seen with side-imaging sonar. Track down the untouched ones by looking for turns in the old river channel where brush collects. Then use your sonar to pinpoint the spot, drop a marker buoy or use an electronic "marker" on your GPS to stay unnoticed.

Limits for panfish are often generous. But that's not an invitation to over-harvest them. Studies indicate that taking too many big bluegills can stunt a lake's population. Scientists believe if you take the biggest ones form the lake, natural selection no longer favors big bluegills and bluegills start reproducing at smaller sizes, leading to stunting. Take a meal for the family and leave the rest.

Keep a tight line!

Ron

Top 8 Reasons For Hiring A Fishing Guide

2013-05-30T12:30:00.000-05:00

Ron Faulk Professional Fishing Guide

Fishing guides can be expensive but there are several reasons you should hire a fishing guide. You can go out with a fishing guide by yourself but most allow two people so you can split the cost. In most cases it is well worth it.

1. Catch More Fish

If you hire a fishing guide you are likely to catch more fish than if you go on your own. Fishing guides are on the water almost every day and keep up with what the fish are doing. They can put you in the right place at the right time.

2. Learn The Water

Since a fishing guide knows the waters they fish so well you can learn a lot from a trip with a fishing guide. They can show you how to run the lake, where to find access to the stream and where you can fish safely.

3. Try New Equipment

Fishing guides keep their equipment in top shape and usually have top-of-the-line equipment. You will have the chance to try a variety of rods, reels and line and find out what you like before buying your own.

4. Learn How To Catch Fish

A fishing guide can show you ways to catch fish. This can help you on waters you have not fished but it can help you on waters you fish often. You can learn new spots to fish and new ways to fish.

5. Get Help For A Tournament

A fishing guide can put you on places where you can catch big fish for a tournament, help you with the best baits to use during your tournament and show you specific ways to fish to place in the tournament.

6. Going With A Fishing Guide Is Relatively Cheap

You may pay a fishing guide $100 to $400 for a day of fishing, but consider what you get. The boat you fish from probably cost more than $30,000. Some of the rods and reels you use cost more than the trip. Gas for the boat is an expense. There are many others. Buy going with a guide you avoid all those expenses.

7. It Is Fun

A fishing guide not only helps you catch fish, most are good entertainers and will keep you laughing all day. They know lots of good jokes and have many tales to tell you. You will not get bored!

8. It Is Easy

A fishing guide will do all the work and you can relax and fish. You can have the guide do everything from tying your knots and taking your fish off the hook to running the boat. They will take photos of you and your catch as well as cleaning your fish if you keep some.

Keep a tight line!

Ron

Catch More Fish This Year

2013-05-29T18:48:00.000-05:00

Tips to Catch More Fish This Year

The fishing season in several states across the Midwest opened recently. Anglers are out there chasing walleyes, northern pike, bass, and pan fish. The next few months will provide people who fish lots of opportunities to get bites. Following are some ideas to reduce the time between them.

Follow the Food

Fish do two things during the year:

Fish spawn and fish eat.

The spawn is over, so all they'll be doing for the next few months is looking for their next meal. The predator fish will be near bait fish or crawdads or bugs or whatever they eat in the body of water being fished. If you fish where the food is, you'll be fishing near the predator fish.

Be Flexible

First of all, be flexible in your lure presentation. Don't get locked into one particular technique. There are lots of ways to catch fish. You can use live bait or artificial bait. You can cast, troll, or drift. You can move your lure fast or slow. The key is, try different things until the fish show you what they want.

Be flexible with the fish you're after.

Most lakes and rivers are home to several species of fish. There are times when some species of fish are more willing to bite than others. If the walleyes aren't willing to eat your bait, try for bass or pan fish or pike or whatever. It's important to have a game-plan in place when you hit the water, but if that game-plan isn't working, you need to adjust. If the species of fish you're after isn't interested in getting caught, get after specie. It's a lot more fun to catch a bunch of crappies than to not catch walleyes.

Remember that river fish are often more aggressive when weather conditions are not the best for fishing. On days after a cold front has gone through, when the skies are blue or breezes are light, when lake fish are often hesitant to bite, river fish will be easier to catch. River fish are constantly fighting the current, so they expend more energy. That means they have to eat more often, and that means they will be more willing to take your bait.

Go fishing whenever you have the chance.

Not every fishing trip needs to be an all-day deal. Some of the most fun and productive fishing outings are those spur-of-the-moment things where you get a couple free hours. You throw a rod and a couple baits in the truck and head for the nearest river or pond and just walk along the shoreline casting. Sometimes you catch a couple and sometimes you don't. The only guarantee when you go fishing is that if you don't go, you won't get bit. When you get the chance to go fishing, go!

If you keep these ideas in mind, this can be the best fishing season you've ever had.

Keep a tight line!

Ron

Equipment Needs for Optimum Casting Performance

2013-05-29T15:00:00.000-05:00

It is important to note here that your rod, reel, and lineset-ups will be a very important factor in your casting abilities as an angler. An old reel that has not been lubricated or maintained, a short “pool cue” type rod, or old, stiff mono-filament line can all be negative factors when looking at casting performance.

To maximize casting efficiency, a quality graphite St. Croix rods that are a minimum of seven feet in length, and a good quality bait casting reel loaded with a premium super braid line is recommended.

Combining these items makes for a great casting combination that enables distance or accuracy, depending on the situation at hand.

It is also crucial that all three cogs in the casting chain match the three items I suggested above, or you risk poor performance, even if you might have two out of the three items necessary to make good casts.

Today’s new spectra fiber lines work well for optimum casting and hook setting performance. These high tech lines seem to cast farther and smoother than the older braided or mono lines we used in the past.

It is important that you place the right amount of line on your spool too. Too much line means frequent backlashes. Not enough line means short, abrupt casts. Fill your bait cast reels so that you have approximately 1/16th to 1/8th inches of spool showing for peak performance.

Knowing the proper way to adjust your bait cast reel is also critical for casting performance. The little knob on the right hand side of the reel beneath the star drag is every musky angler’s “best friend”. If this adjustment is set correctly prior to fishing, then you will minimize backlashesand maximize casting performance, allowing you distance when needed, etc.

The proper way to set this adjustment is to attach a lure to your leader, reel it up to the tip of the rod, and depress your casting button. If the lure falls very quickly, your setting is too loose and needs to be tightened down so the lure just barely falls at a slow speed down to the ground.

Conversely, if your lure doesn’t fall at all, the setting needs to be loosened to reach the proper setting needed. This setting will have to be adjusted frequently due to the varying weights of today’s musky lures.

The reason I prefer a longer rod is rather obvious in nature. The longer the rod, the further the cast will travel. There are times when you need distance for casting your lures, and certainly times you do not, such as night fishing a weed line or fishing in standing timber, but at least you have that ability to do so when needed with the longer rod.

Make sure you set up and match your equipment properly to help your casting prowess. For example, if you are throwing a Double Cowgirl or a DC-10 buck tail, I recommend a St. Croix TM80MHF Series rod, and either a Garcia 6500 C4 or 7000 Series reel equipped with a power handle.

This set up should have eighty pound braid and the power handle will pick up line a little more efficiently to create less fatigue for the angler.

Also, as big as these buck tails are, they are muskycatching machines, and when you cast these lures out, make sure you point the rod tip straight at the lure or on a slight downward angle while retrieving it, rather than off to one side or the other. This simple step will give you a much better hook setting position and will also be a lot less tiresome to you on the water while retrieving these big baits.

The eight foot rod will also enable you to make longer casts and is unmatched when executing figure eight maneuvers at boat side.

Another good example is when you are casting jerk baits such as Savage Gear’s brand new Freestylers or Deviators, be sure to use a good quality straight wire leader for the optimum action. I stay away from fluorocarbon for my jerk baits, and you will find that using a good wire leader will give this side to side action the best action and overall appeal to muskies.

Tight lines!
Ron

Practicing good casting fundamentals will put more Muskies in the boat each year

2013-05-28T11:00:00.000-05:00

A recent mid-summer day on the lake was hot and sunny, typical of late July in the Midwest. My fishing partner and I were fishing a classic neck down area where I had caught numerous fish before during previous trips.

We were easing the boat towards a little micro bay of cabbage weed that had deep water access close by. It always seems to hold an aggressive musky or two each and every season.

We were about fifty yards from the spot, and I was casting a copper/red Bucher tail along a steep rock wall that dropped into twenty-eight feet of water while my fishing partner opted for crank bait.

While easing down the shoreline, I just happened to spot three little cabbage weed tops barely protruding the surface under a small overhanging birch tree. On a hunch, I fired a perfect cast just to the left of this little tiny clump of weeds, and as the buck tail neared the boat, I watched in awe as a chunky forty-seven inch musky shot out from that little weed pocket and literally engulfed the lure in front of my eyes!

After a fierce but brief struggle, the fish was resting in the Frabill, ready for pictures and release. The key to this musky encounter was my ability to fire a perfect cast to a tiny piece of cover. I believe many musky anglers, especially newcomers to the sport, overlook the importance of proper casting fundamentals, and I believe this oversight costs them numerous muskies in the boat each year.

In the weeks’ ahead we will discuss a number of key situations where an angler’s casting ability makes a big difference, and we will stress the importance of time on the water, along with knowing your equipment, and setting it up properly. Stay tuned!

Tight lines,
Ron

Casting Technique

2013-05-28T09:00:00.000-05:00

My preferred method of casting is to depress the casting button, rear back and let fly, all the while maintaining a very slight feel of my thumb on the spool. I obviously don’t want to impede the lure’s travel, yet I want to be able to control the flight of the lure instantaneously if I have too.

I then use my thumb to stop the lure’s travel a split second before the lure hits the water. This enables me to “hit the target” so to speak, and also lays out the lure flat just prior to hitting the water minimizing fouled hooks and wasted casts, especially on windy days.

This technique is definitely needed when fishing on bodies of water with complex structural elements. I have seen less experienced casters often hang up their buck tails or other lures numerous times on prime spots', forcing us to ease the boat up to the reef to free the lure. At the same time, we were spooking away active muskies that were present on that piece of structure and wasting a fish catching opportunity.

There are certain times when fishing tight to structure that I will use a flipping technique similar to what bass anglers use, since the heavier weight of the musky lure makes this quite simple to do.

Excellent casting accuracy is also a must when sight fishing for early season muskies, as the proper presentation of the lure makes or breaks the opportunity to catchthe fish.

When casting lures under very windy conditions, it is usually best to throw a heavier lure so you can maximize lure control and minimize backlashes. Windy days are usually frustrating for beginning musky anglers, because it makes casting that much more difficult. The key here again is lure control, so you have a better chance of reaching or hitting your intended target point on these windy days.

A good quality pair of polarized sunglasses will also do wonders for casting performance since you will be able to see underwater obstructions and weed edges much better, and therefore make a much better presentation to the fish. The thing to remember here is you always want to be in control of the lure while casting, rather than blindly lobbing the lure out there and hoping for the best.

Another final important aspect that plays an integral part of making the best casts on a given spot is your knowledge of how the spot is laid out. Obviously, the more you fish a spot, the more intimate your understanding is of the particular structure, and the more apt you are to make better casts to enable you to catch more fish there. This comes with time on the water and often through trial and error.

With all that being said, next we will post about fishing various structures and how casting performance and ability comes into play.

Tight lines!

Ron

Bad Weather Fishing Muskies

2013-05-25T15:00:00.000-05:00

If you’re not careful, being on water when most everyone else isn't can quickly become the central theme of your muskie strategy. Since fishing during the closed-season months is automatically ruled out, what we’re left with are those ‘dirty weather’ days when winds howl and rains fall, right along with plummeting air temperatures and barometric instability. Fishing on days like these can easily begin to feel a little crazy, at least until you remind yourself that these are muskies you’re after—a fish that often defies logic and reason itself.

Which, in a twisted sort of way, makes fishing in illogical conditions start to make sense.

Although sunny, “feel-good” TV shows don’t seem to agree, the reality is that the truly supreme big fish bites—especially in autumn—can occur on the some of filthiest weather days imaginable. All day rains, ominous clouds and gusts across the water, even bitter cold and snow in late fall often produce dramatic appearances by prodigious predators.

For anglers hardcore enough to “be there” when others aren’t, the reason is: That’s when monsters come out to play. This is especially true on battered and beaten water where anglers often outnumber the muskies themselves. You might see things (and fish) on the worst weather days that few other anglers ever see. Of course, be careful what you wish for. The right kind of dirty weather can quickly become ugly and mean, producing big hail and cracking thunder, which nearly always makes muskie slink back into the weed-work.

Casting in Comfort

Even though comfort isn’t usually something that’s often associated with muskie fishing (think 12-hour days slinging half-pound baits) staying warm and dry in cold wet weather really is more than a luxury, it’s a requirement. Think casting gi-normous baits all day is tough? Try doing the same thing while physically soaked and iced to the core.

These days, the savviest hardcore anglers are relying on Frabill’s fishing-focused FXE Stormsuits to stay comfortable and functional on the water. That’s a big deal, albeit something we don’t think about until it’s often too late. After fishing through decades of brutal Midwest autumns and winters, the diehard angler-designers at the Wisconsin based company finally decided that enough was enough— it was time to give anglers the kind of functional outerwear they could trust in extreme elements.

It’s why these days, when the weather turns ugly, top fulltime guides, including Frabill Pro Staff Bret Alexander, Eric Haataja, Jeff Gustafson and Pat Kalmerton each don Frabill FXE Stormsuits, never giving the elements a second thought. Then, even on bitterly cold October and November trolling runs, a pair of FXE Task Gloves safeguard those precious paws. They’re not ski-gloves, boxing gloves or clumsy snowmobile gloves. Frabill’s FXE Task Gloves are authentic fishing gloves— and they excel at keeping hands warm, bone dry and totally functional for handling rods and nets, while defending against finger-shredding fish.

Sour Weather Strategy

Of course, getting a big green fish to eat something with hooks is still the objective. And doing so in extreme elements is often best accomplished by working some of the most classic big fish zones on lakes and river. On lakes, the top strategy simply involves checking as many great fall spots as possible—major points that extend and then plunge into the most massive sections of deepwater available; complexes of submerged rocks that extend in every direction, and jut up and down into varying depths; even remaining vegetated flats that border deepwater. Fish the highest percentage spots you know, especially the ones harboring wind-driven current, peppering each zone with a handful of casts before moving on to the next. In rivers, you often slow things down a bit more. Zero in on outside river bends near major deep holes in the main channel. Meanwhile, creek mouths or feeder stream areas can also attract muskies.

You can score fish with a lot of different baits, but the pinnacle producers are often big wooden or plastic offerings, such as Storm FlatSticks, River2Sea Wide Glides and old classics such as the Suick and Bobbie Bait. Rapala Super Shad Raps are another fantastic option in many waters. Each is best partnered with Knot2Kinky titanium leader wire.

Just keep casting different spots, and eventually, you’ll get cracked by mister mean green. Don’t linger on any location for too long. Hit all the low hanging fruit while bad weather persists. Which, ironically, is usually the exact wrong approach on rivers. Cranks and jerks can be equally effective tools; as can trolling long deeper stretches. But as late fall progresses and weather worsens, slowing down and hovering over deep holes often produces best. Entertain great big suckers in a Frabill 1409, and sacrifice them one by one beneath a slip float. Working a mega softbait or Bull Dawg deep is another viable option.

Back in lakes, though, the biggest mistake anglers make is to assume that cold water and foul conditions slow muskie metabolisms too much, which dictates a slower retrieve. Absolute nonsense. Trolling big plugs at 6-mph or more from a brawny Lund warship has been a classic fall presentation forever. So why should your casting approaches be any slower? Speed reel a Super Shad Rap—get it to do some serious head-banging in the rocks. Grind a big spinnerbait through bulrushes. Such fast, aggressive (and noisy) approaches trigger lots of bad weather muskies.

There’s just enough foul weather magic in the water to keep an angler guessing. Could it happen today? You’re alone on the water, yet anything but lonely. Clouds warn; rain and wind foretell. Dark shape appears. A vague whiteness quickly expands around then envelops the entirety of your lure. And the jolting intensity that follows is not likely witnessed by another soul on earth.

Tight Lines!
Ron

Casting/Fishing Weed Edges

2013-05-23T09:00:00.000-05:00

When fishing a weed edge, you should always try to be in control of your lure. You want to avoid sloppy casts at all costs to minimize fouled hooks and wasted casts. I prefer shorter casts to the weed edge with lures like buck tails, crank baits, or jerk baits to maintain optimum control.

Surface lures can be thrown as far as possible if the weeds are not matted up on the surface that could kill the action of the lure. With crank baits or jerkbaits, I recommend casting out your lure parallel to the weed edge.

During the retrieve, if you contact weeds on your lure, give your rod a hard rip to “clean” your offering and regain the proper action of the lure. You will feel the lure working properly once again if it is cleaned in the right manner.

Using shorter casts with braided line gives you the control, feel, and power you need to clean your lures effectively if you snag some weeds.

With buck tails, this is not as critical since the lures inherently travel shallower, but it is still important to strive for precise casts to indentations or pockets along the weed edge, using your polarized glasses as a visual aid the whole time.

When night fishing, short castsare extremely critical to avoid wasted casts. The whole presentation when fishing crank bait along the weed edge after dark is based more on feel than sight.

Tight lines!
Ron

2013-05-23T08:33:00.001-05:00

When is the Best Day to fish?

Farmers' Almanac's Fishing Calendar is based on the phase of the moon, the zodiac sign the moon is in, and experience. Local conditions, tides, and weather may affect your fishing experience.

CALENDAR KEY

Fishing Condition: This is the overall rating for the whole day, based upon our formula:

Best

Good

Fair

Poor

Best Time: This column lists the best time of the day when, according to our formula, fish will be biting: MORNING; EVENING.

May 23 - June 11

May 23, 2013	BEST	Morning
May 24, 2013	BEST	Morning
May 25, 2013	FAIR	Evening
May 26, 2013	FAIR	Evening
May 27, 2013	GOOD	Evening
May 28, 2013	GOOD	Evening
May 29, 2013	GOOD	Evening
May 30, 2013	GOOD	Evening
May 31, 2013	GOOD	Morning
Jun 01, 2013	BEST	Morning
Jun 02, 2013	BEST	Morning
Jun 03, 2013	POOR	Morning
Jun 04, 2013	POOR	Morning
Jun 05, 2013	POOR	Morning
Jun 06, 2013	POOR	Morning
Jun 07, 2013	POOR	Morning
Jun 08, 2013	POOR	Evening
Jun 09, 2013	POOR	Evening
Jun 10, 2013	GOOD	Evening
Jun 11, 2013	BEST	Evening

May 23 - Jun 11

Jun 12 - Jul 1

Jul 2 - Jul 21

What do our ratings mean?

POOR day basically means the fish will either steal all your bait or will not even touch your line.

FAIR day means that you may catch one or two fish but you will have to work hard to do so.

GOOD day means that you will catch enough fish to feel gratified.

BEST day means that you will catch something almost every time you cast your line in the water.

Catch more fish with Rapala's new fishing lures

2012-07-30T18:28:00.000-05:00

In the game of firsts, no lure manufacturer sets the bar quite like Rapala®, and the new BX™ Series featuring the first-of-its-kind BX Swimmer and BX Minnow is no exception.

Staying true to its roots, the heart of the Rapala BX Series boasts a balsa core that is embodied in a durable copolymer shell for unmatched toughness and incredible finishes, creating a truly masterful series.

The BX Series is the liveliest, yet toughest balsa-constructed bait ever produced. "By wrapping these balsa baits in a copolymer shell, it allows anglers to tangle with the strongest jaws in both fresh and saltwater applications without comprise, all while producing incredible action and displaying eye-popping finishes."

The BX Swimmer features an articulated body that harnesses a durable pivot system, producing a slow-sinking bait with methodical swimming action that entices strike after strike. The BX Minnow is a sleek minnow-shaped bait with flat sides that flaunts a strong flash on the roll as it slices and twitches through the water.

Both baits feature internal X-Foil, along with molded 3D heads, gills and scales that meld together to form lifelike finishes unlike anything seen on balsa lures.

Cast or trolled between 4-to-6 feet, the BX Swimmer locks hold of its predator with two size 03 Black Nickel VMC® Treble Hooks, and at 4-¾ inches long and weighing ¾ ounce, this cage fighter is ready for battle.

Measuring 4 inches long, the BX Minnow weighs 3/8 ounce, and with two size 04 Black Nickel VMC Treble Hooks, it is ready to tango with the largest of species.

"Designed with the clear intention that it would embody the traditional attributes Rapala balsa baits are known for, with the heavy-duty toughness that fighting large-tooth fish demand, the BX Series of baits is making a hard splash with fresh and saltwater anglers alike," said Iaconelli.

For both the BX Swimmer and BX Minnow, anglers can choose from 10 color patterns including Blue Back Herring, Blue Pearl, Firetiger, Gold Shiner, Perch, Purpledescent, Rainbow Trout, Silver, Smelt and Yellow Perch.

Get ready for a gnarly good time.

Tight lines!

Ron

5 Great Braided Lines for Ultralight Fishing

2012-07-29T13:39:00.003-05:00

If you’ve ever broken off a fish because of poor line selection, or old, used line, you may want to think about spooling a hundred yards, or so, of braided line onto your ultralight reel. Braid offers some of the highest levels of sensitivity of all the types of lines, incredibly thin diameters, making it super-easy to cast, and, as technology has advanced, even prevents wind knots, tangling in the rod tip, and losing its dye over a few short fishing sessions. Listed below are five of the different types of braids that I have used with high levels of success.

Suffix Performance Braid

One of my favorite braids for ultralight fishing has to be the Suffix Performance Braid. The line is slightly on the expensive side, but the old adage “You get what you pay for” rings true every time I purchase another spool. Suffix tests their braided lines in some of the harshest conditions to ensure that even us lowly ultralight anglers will get the best use from it. Their Y6 digital braiding technology and smooth coating make it last, almost, forever, no matter what punishment you can put it through. When I’m using Suffix Braid I will actually tie on a Suffix Siege leader.

PowerPro Spectra

It is hard for me to decide which I like more, the Suffix line above, or a spool of PowerPro Spectra. In the end, the PowerPro came in second because I have been using the Suffix line on my reels this season and haven’t had any problems with it. The Spectra boasts one of the highest diameter to strength ratios of any braided line, and features a smooth texture, instead of the waxy coating on other lines, which makes it easy to tie knots, and leaders.

Berkley Fireline

Berkley Fireline is excellent for making long casts, and not having to worry about your knots slipping as easily as other types of braid or fused lines. The 6lb test operates flawlessly under all fishing conditions, from super cold fall and winter afternoons, to some of the hottest, muggiest days in the bright summer sun.

SpiderWire Stealth

SpiderWire comes into the ultralight fishing market with a 6lb test line that features a 1lb test diameter, making it incredibly thin. A unique Teflon coating on the line helps maintain a reliable cross section and makes it super quiet during casting and retrieving. One thing I like about SpiderWire the most is that it does not usually bleed its colors onto your clothing, or lose its coloring over the course of the season like other, lower quality, lines will.

Tuf-Line Dura Cast

Tuf-Line understands the problems anglers have when they are trying to spool braided lines onto their ultralight spinning reels. From slipping, to creating loose loops, the problems are taken care of with the extensive engineering that goes into each spool of Tuf-Line Dura Cast braided lines. The line helps to reduce the line guide noise, wind knots, and wrapping around the rod tip.

Tight Lines!

Ron

Trolling Crank Baits

2012-07-27T11:33:00.004-05:00

By Pro Fishing Guide Ron Fulk

Summer is a great time to troll for suspended muskies. One of the most important factors of trolling lures is knowing the depth they are running.

All lures have a max depth they will run, without adding weight. Keep adding line and crank baits will keep diving until they reach the maximum depth, beyond that point it does not matter how much line you add, it will not go any deeper, it may even come up some.

The max depth is determined by line diameter, the thinner the line the deeper the max depth will be.

You don’t always have to run your crank baits at their maximum depth. For example, if your targeted species is suspended at ten feet, it doesn’t make much sense to run your lures at fourteen feet. If you shorten the amount of line that you have out, you can restrict the depth your lures will run.

There are two ways to measure your line out, one way is with line counter reels, and the other way is to count the passes on your level wind reels. Your level wind reels is the part of your reel that moves back and fourth on the reel to distribute the line evenly on the spool.

For example, if you want to target the ten feet range, find a flat area of the lake where you can get your boat in ten feet of water for a distance. Next, let out your line counting the number of passes (or feet) until you make bottom contact, from then on with that amount of that particular diameter line, your lure will always run ten feet deep. If you change your line diameter you will have to recalibrate the line distance.

Now you are ready to move out over deeper water and start trolling your crank baits, knowing your lure is at the desired depth range, looking for and catching suspended muskies.

Tite lines,
Ron Fulk
Licensed Fishing Guide
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Hydro Glow Fishing Light Review

2012-07-26T16:59:00.001-05:00

The Bottom Line

I was impressed with the number of baitfish drawn to the Hydro Glow Fishing Light. It worked well to draw them in and attract game fish that you could catch. If I had a dock or fished in one spot at night I would have one of these lights.

Pros

Bright green light attracts baitfish in freshwater
Made for mounting on dock or submerging
Low power draw from batteries

Cons

Expensive

Description

Fishing light made to attract baitfish and game fish at night
Green color for freshwater and blue for saltwater
Can be mounted above the water or submerged

Guide Review - Hydro Glow Fishing Light Review

In a night bass tournament I fished around a dock with a Hydro Glow Fishing Light on it. I came in second and landed six keepers near the dock. There were shad around the light the whole time I was near by, over five hours.

The light comes in green for freshwater and blue for saltwater. There were both colors being tested in the water and the shad definitely circled the green light. The shad brought in the bass, and other fish like crappie.

The light I fished around was a prototype LED light not on the market yet. It is submersible and draws little 12 volt power, extending battery life. And it lit up the water for several feet.

Although the light is expensive, it did a much better job than dock lights nearby that I checked out. One was a bright street light on the end of a dock and it had a few bream around it, but no shad and I didn't get any bites there. The other light was dimmer and right on the water, and there was brush under it, but no shad and no bites.

If you fish at night the Hydro Glow Fishing Light would be well worth the price.

British Tourists Catch HUGE Sturgeon in BC

2012-07-26T13:07:00.002-05:00

Michael and Margaret Snell, a retired British couple vacationing in B.C. have what could be the one of largest fish ever caught on a rod and reel in North America! The couple was on a guided fishing trip for sturgeon on the Fraser River in Chilliwack, where after a 90-minute battle they pulled in a sturgeon that was nearly four meters long and weighed about 500 kilograms (that’s over 1100 pounds)!

“You’re there waiting for the rod to go and all of a sudden it plunges down then you strike, and it’s on,” Michael Snell said. “I got my wife, Margaret, to hang on to me. ‘Hang on to my belt,’ I said, ‘Because if it pulls, I want to stay in the boat.”

The white sturgeon is the largest freshwater fish species in North American and can live up to 100 years or more. The fish was not tagged suggesting it had not been caught in nearly 20 years and was released to fight another day.

FLW EverStart Series Heads to the Mississippi River on July 26, 2012

2012-07-25T08:57:00.003-05:00

The Mississippi River in La Crosse, Wisconsin, is expected to host an FLW EverStart Series' tournament Thursday, July 26, 2012 through Saturday, July 28, 2012. Here are a few more details:

Mississippi River Fishing Tournament Basics

The FLW EverStart Series' event is slated to kick off on Thursday, July 26, 2012 at the Clinton Street Landing West in La Crosse. Participating pro anglers are expected to launch their fishing boats daily, from that location, at 5:30 a.m. They will be competing for a prize purse worth well over $30,000 and valuable points.

A 1:30 p.m. weigh-in session is anticipated to occur at the Clinton Street Landing West the first two days of the fishing tournament. The final day's weigh-in is expected to take place at 2 p.m. Pro fishing aficionados are welcome to watch both the daily launches and weigh-ins.

The Mississippi River event is the FLW EverStart Series' Central Division's third fishing tournament of the 2012 season. The Central Division's final fishing tournament of the season is expected to take place in Osage Beach, Missouri, Thursday, September 13, 2012 through Saturday, September 15, 2012.

Previous Winners

The first two Central Division events took place earlier in the year. The April 2012 fishing tournament in Bull Shoals, Arkansas, was won by angler Robbie Dodson of Harrison, Arkansas. The May 2012 fishing tournament in Gilbertsville, Kentucky, was won by angler Randy Haynes of Counce, Tennessee.

Current Standings

As it stands now, pro angler Ray Meredith of Smiths Grove, Kentucky, is sitting not so comfortably at the top of the division's leader board. Meredith has 388 points but so does Zach King of Clarksville, Arkansas. King is currently sitting in 2^nd place with pro angler Lance Ricketts of Madisonville, Kentucky, close behind him. Ricketts presently has 386 points to his credit. The division's remaining top five spots are currently held by pro anglers Matt Robertson and Shane Long.

What's Next?

The next FLW EverStart Series' event is slated to take place Thursday, August 16, 2012 through Saturday, August 18, 2012 at the French Creek Marina located in Clayton, New York. It is considered part of the FLW EverStart Series' Northern Division's tournaments. The FLW EverStart Series Championship is expected to take place along the Ouachita River in the late fall.

Heat wave, fish kills take toll, but not necessarily devastating

2012-07-24T15:54:00.002-05:00

How low are area creeks and rivers? A four-wheeler splashes through the almost dry bed of Spring Creek at its mouth along the Illinois River in mid-July.

Craig Sterrett
Department of Natural Resources biologists saw some good news and bad news in fish kills this summer in northern Illinois.

First the bad news: One of the fish kills happened due to high water temperatures in Spring Lake, the state’s main site for brood stock for muskellunge and northern pike the DNR stocks statewide.

Regional fisheries biologist Dan Sallee said 40-year muskie and northern expert Wayne Herndon does a fantastic job of managing the breeding program at the lake, which is perfect habitat for muskies and northern.

But it wasn’t perfect habitat for all of the fish during the late June and July heat waves, and the state lost many valuable fish at Spring Lake.

Still, the fish kill didn’t wipe out the population. Neither did some other kills of muskies and northerns in Illinois lakes. Most fish kills do not kill out everything.

Sallee said there also was a significant fish kill at the cooling lake for theDresdennuclear power plant, although public access and fishing are not allowed there. As of July 19, he was been pleasantly surprised to see the fish atLa SalleLakeholding their own, even though water temperatures in the coolest spot in the lake were in the 90s. He said the hybrid striped bass — one of the great attractions at the lake for anglers — are susceptible to high temperatures.

Now the good news: Reports of Asian silver carp and Bighead carp kills continued to come in to the DNR district office in July. Unfortunately, the kill isn’t likely to wipe out the population of these destructive invasive Asian carp species. They’re extremely prolific and lay millions of eggs.

Sallee often has been asked for a number or percentage of the Asian carp that have died this summer.

“People have asked me ‘how many’ and I say ‘One less than I’d like to see die,’” Sallee said.

Some fish kills also have been noticed on small streams.

In a weekly submitted fishing report to the NewsTribune, longtime tournament angler, fisherman and bait shop personality Thom Matejewski of Spring Valley remarked, “With the heat and dry weather, a lot of the smaller creeks are not fishable. The larger streams (like the Vermillion andGreen River) are still producing some good smallmouth.” (To get off the drought topic for a moment, Matejewski suggested: “Top water baits like a pop-r or a Rapala twitched on the surface seem to be producing the most fish. Northern pike are doing very well on theGreen riveroff spinner baits around the Amboy area.”)

While some fish die as stream levels fall, Sallee said many of the larger fish find their way to deep holes and many more migrate downstream.

During dry seasons along the Mississippi River, for example, smallmouth often congregate at the mouths of creeks — especially spring-fed creeks and seem to wait in the river until their creeks refill. Bass tournament anglers sometimes catch more smallmouth bass than largemouth bass on theMississippiduring competitions during dry seasons, Sallee said.

What Is A Muskie and Where Do They Live?

2012-07-24T11:15:00.002-05:00

Muskellunge or muskie (esox masquinongy) are called the fish of 10,000 casts because it usually takes a long time to hook one.

There is also a Tiger Muskie is a cross between a muskie and a northern pike.

Description - Muskie have long, thin bodies with wide mouths full of teeth. Their dorsal fin is set way back near the tail. They come in a variety of colors, from dark and mottled to lighter colors. They can have bars or spots on the body but can be one color.

Size - Muskie grow big. The world record weighed 67 pounds, eight ounces and was caught in Wisconsin in 1949. A bigger muskie that measured 57 inches long with a girth of 33 inches but was not weighed was released. Most muskie are released but the minimum size you are allowed to keep varies by lake, and is often 40 inches long or more.

Distribution - Native to the northeastern US from the Great Lakes south to north Georgia and in Ontario and Quebec in Canada. Muskie have been introduced in many suitable waters.
What Muskie Eat- Muskie will eat anything they can get in their mouth, and their mouths are big. They mainly prey on smaller fish, from suckers to pike, with bluegill a favorite. They have been known to eat small ducks asnd snakes, frogs, crayfish, rats and other rodents that get into the water.

Reproduction - Muskie spawn over hard bottoms in shallow water with vegetation. After the eggs hatch the small zygotes stick to plants where they feed on the egg sack and grow.
Attraction to Light- Muskie may come to lights at night to feed on baitfish attracted to the light
Life Cycle - After hatching and growing, small muskie stay in shallow vegetation and will even form schools. As they grow they tend to hold in deeper water near shallow areas where they feed. They prefer vegetation and rocks. They continue to grow, often to very big size.
Problems - Although they eat small fish and birds, they do not cause problems in most rivers and lakes.

Muskie are common in many cooler lakes and rivers and a considered trophy fish. They put up a good fight and heavy tackle is usually used for them.

Spring and Early Summer Fishing

2012-07-23T07:04:00.004-05:00

Wanted to let everyone know, the spring and early summer fishing has been good so far. With several multiple fish days, Shabbona lake is in real good shape. The visibility has been decent at about 30 to 36 inches, early season casting bite was really good with fish being caught in 1 to 3 feet of water.

The fish have stayed there for several weeks after the spawn, as we got to the end of May and in through June the trolling bite has been good and still going.

The fishing should stay real good through the late summer and early fall with good water clarity due to the good weed growth this season. If you haven't had a chance to get out, and might have some time coming up, give me a call or send me an email and let's fish!

For information on how you can book a fishing trip with us please visit:

www.midwestmuskies.com or click the contact link at the top of the page, or

phone # (847)697-1951. and follow us on Twitter at: @thisolegardener for all your latest fishing news and tips.

Hope to hear from you soon

Tite lines~

Ron Fulk

Hot Weather Walleyes

2012-07-22T23:18:00.001-05:00

Tips On Catching Hot Weather Walleye

HOT, HOT, HOT Weather Walleyes

Hot weather and walleyes don't mix? Think again. A walleye is cold-blooded. Like other fish, their metabolism rises along with the water temperature in summer, meaning they need to eat more, not less.

Conventional wisdom, all summer long, demands dragging leechesand minnows on Lindy rigs in deeper water for walleyes. Obviously, it works. Hundreds of thousands of walleye enthusiasts can't be wrong, especially since it's still working after half a century.

But the walleyes conventional anglers target are seldom the most active fish around. Hard to convince people of this, but active walleyes are not on bottom in deeper water. They suspend with the bait fish, or prowl around on shallow reefs, weed beds, shorelines, and points. With years of practice, some walleye anglers have become experts at feeding line and timing hook sets for finicky fish that hold minnows by the tail and regularly drop baits at the least sign of pressure. The only way to become expert at it is by missing a few thousand fish.

Wouldn't you rather find walleyes that try to rip therod out of your hands? The three primary attractions for active walleyes in summer are weeds, rocks, and suspended bait fish. Bass tactics will put you on active fish quicker and put more of them in the boat faster this summer.

Bass-Tactic Walleyes

Active walleyes can be approached like bass. Put the trolling motor down at the bow and move quickly to cover those shallow-water spots, Few of the best walleye pros use bait between the beginning of July and the end of September. It's not necessary. Walleyes in weeds rise right into the tops of cabbage, coontail, hydrilla, and milfoil, looking for small pan fish, golden shiners, shad, and any other bait fish that swim by. Bait is a perpetual nuisance here, ripping free of hooks whenever a jig or lure needs to be popped off the weeds.

Almost any lure or package in the 3- to 5-inch range that can be worked between the weeds and the surface will take walleyes here. The crux is finding lures or speeds that touch the weeds without getting too involved. Rattle baits like the Cotton Cordell Super Spot and XCalibur Xr50, pitched on casting gear with 30-pound braid, are perfect because you can simply speed up or slow down as necessary to clip along through the weed tops. During warm, stable weather, walleyes crush rattle baits all through the day. No need to wait until evening.

Minnow-shaped cranks or stick baits are deadly for walleyes. Suspending baits are especially effective, using a basic pause-and-pull retrieve, but they often dig a little too deep to work over the tops of the weeds. Where weed tops are 5 feet or more below the surface, a Suspending Smithwick Rogue or XCalibur XEE4 EEratic Shad worked with the rod tip held low will whack a lot of fish. Where weeds are 4 feet below the surface, retrieve with the rod tip held high or go with a floater-diver like the Bomber Long A and work it slow. When a floating minnowbait makes contact with weeds, stop it, feed it a little slack and let it float up. Hard plastic baits like the Long A float up slow -- an enticing trigger for walleyes skulking around in nearby weed clumps.

Tackle should be fairly stout. Unlike fishing minnow baits in open water, these baits need to be ripped free of weeds, and after a strike the challenge becomes turning a big walleye and moving it quickly toward the boat. Don't offer any opportunities for a trophy to turn and burrow into the weeds. Medium-heavy spinning or casting rods coupled with 20- to 30-pound braided line accomplish it best. Braids won't stretch, so the distance the rod tip moves is pretty much the same distance you move the fish. Where the water is clear, tie on a 3- to 4-foot section of 12- to 17-pound fluorocarbon, using a small barrel swivel or back-to-back uni knots.

Plastic Tactics

Weeds are basically ambush stations for walleyes. When they set up along the deep weed edge (a strategy often employed where perch populations are dense), approach them with slightly lighter tackle and soft plastics on jigs. Soft swim baits like the 3.5-inch YUM Money Minnow swimming slowly by on a horizontal plane near bottom brings walleyes ripping out of pockets in the weed line.

With the boat on the weed edge, make short pitches parallel to the weeds in the direction you're moving and let the bait hit bottom. The right retrieve speed is critical, and tends to be easiest to achieve with a ¼-ounce jighead. After selecting the right head, speed becomes a matter of keeping it near bottom without dragging. If it drags, speed up. If it never touches bottom, slow down. This is a trophy-walleye tactic that will entice more than a few large mouth or small mouth bass hanging around in the same areas doing the same thing. Be sure to fan cast a little toward deeper water and try walking the baits over the tops and down the deep edge of the weeds, too. The right tackle for a light swim bait like this is 10-pound mono on a fast, medium-power spinning rod.

A similar tactic with slightly lighter tackle absolutely smokes walleyes throughout the open-water season around rock reefs, rip-rap, and rocky shorelines. From spring through ice-up, in areas 8-feet deep or less, try pitching an auger-tail grub, like the YUM Walleye Grub, on a 3/32- to 1/8-ounce head with 6-pound mono. The optimum gear includes a fast, 7-foot, medium-light spinning rod. Just cast to the deep side of boulders, rock piles, or rip-rap, let the jig fall to bottom (or count it down to a spot near bottom where it's really snaggy) and slowly retrieve with the rod tip held low. Don't jig it, snap it or rip it. Just reel.

Hard baits, plastics, and bass tactics score massive numbers and trophies from mid summer though early fall, especially during stable-weather periods. Unconventional behavior can be disturbing, though. If it sounds too radical to have a walleye rip the rod out of your hands, don't try any of this.

Hilarious Fishing Accident – Made My Day

2012-07-21T17:46:00.001-05:00

It’s funny how in the excitement of the moment, when you catch a large fish, there is a higher chance of accidents happening. For example, loosing your footing and tumbling down a steep bank. I have seem multiple examples of this, like the woman you threw her pliers into the water twice in one fishing trip. (Video Here)

Another point. That is a very interesting way of catching fish (in the video). Using a long stick with a wire snare at the end of it, these anglers were able to catch a fairly large pike (I think). Enjoy the video.

Making Muskie Music

2012-06-17T19:50:00.000-05:00

by: Ted Pilgrim

New Blade Proves its Mettle on Pressured Water

When muskies launch into radical feedings rampages, there’s simply nothing else like it in freshwater fishing. Jaws snap, hooks set, water explodes, and the aquatic world goes haywire for a while. It’s exactly the type of chaos that ‘muskie-heads’ live for. The problem, of course, is that these wild chomp-fests don’t happen every day. Most muskie quests consist of long hours of casting and figure-eighting, punctuated by fleeting windows of activity. As well, the success of days and days on the water is measured more in follows than actual fish in the Frabill. Further complicating matters is the dreaded “P” word. Fishing pressure on many muskie waters is at an all time high, with scores of talented anglers jockeying for a limited number of fish.

Veteran guide Chae Dolsen has sky-rocketed his muskie tally this year, thanks to Northland's new Boobie Trap Spinner. Now here’s one for the family photo album… Photo courtesy of Northland Fishing Tackle

More often than not, most of these fishermen throw blades—inline and safety-pin style spinners that offer the right combination of flash, vibration and the illusion of a substantial meal. Given the success of baits like the Double Cowgirl, you’d be silly not to. Still, like all great baits before it, the muskie love affair wasn’t destined to last forever. The past few seasons, more and more anglers have reported difficulty getting fish to chew on the old standbys. More recently, some of the country’s top muskie-men have continued scoring lots of big ‘skies on the same pressured water where the legends have lost their luster. As it turns out, the ticket hasn’t been a radical change to a whole new type of presentation, but rather a minor tweak in bait selection, as well as slightly altering the way guys retrieve them.

Earlier this season, veteran muskie guide Chae Dolsen discovered a new bait called the Boobie Trap from Northland Fishing Tackle, a double-bladed inline spinner with a few distinctive features. Dolsen, who works the heavily pressured waters of Webster Lake, Indiana as well as the muskie mecca of Lake St. Clair, Michigan, had been a longtime proponent of double #10 bucktails. When a local tackle sales rep turned him onto the Boobie Trap, however, his catches took an immediate and dramatic jump in both size and numbers.

Don Schwartz's groundbreaking discoveries on blade mechanics have yielded countless fish like this one. Photo courtesy of Northland Fishing Tackle

Meanwhile, on the waters of Ontario’s Lake of the Woods, another exceptional muskie madman was doing groundbreaking work in the realm of the muskie blades. Don Schwartz, also a talented muskie lure maker, discovered over the past few seasons that it’s not just the size and shape of the blade that matters, but the thickness and composition of the metal. Like Dolsen, Schwartz has in recent seasons spent plenty of time throwing double #10 bucktails. Yet as his catches started falling off, he began studying scores of different baits, eventually narrowing things down to the absolute ultimate spinner blade. “If you take two baits, each sporting double #10 Colorado blades, identical in every other way except the thickness of the blade itself, you’d still have two lures that perform very differently,” says Schwartz. “Thinner blades tend to offer slightly more water resistance, making them rotate slower and further from the shaft. This also makes them more difficult to retrieve at higher speeds.”

In contrast, Schwartz believes, thicker blades up to .05” pull through the water easier and rotate faster and closer to the shaft of the bait. “These thicker blades are nice for their ease of retrieve. But if you get too thick with your blades, I think you give up some of the powerful low frequency vibrations that muskies hear best. Physically, a few one-hundredths of an inch in thickness seems insignificant, but from a performance standpoint, the difference is amazing.”

After learning these lessons via numerous muskie catches, Schwartz found his perfect match—the Northland Boobie Trap. The Boobie Trap, he discovered, offered blades that were thicker than those on competing models, yet slightly thinner than a .05”. At the same time, he started tying his own baits, again using these key “compromise blades.” Using both baits this season, the results have been remarkable, allowing him to convert countless follows into ferocious gill-flaring strikes. “There’s just something special about these compromise blades that have been magic for muskies,” he offers. “When fish turn wise to old standby baits, it’s not always necessary to make wholesale bait changes. The standard inline spinner design is still a classic, yet not enough anglers pay close enough attention to the most important element of the bait—the blades.”

Which brings us back to Chae Dolsen. On initial trips with the new bait, he would often throw a conventional double #10 bucktail while his clients tossed Boobie Traps. The difference was immediately and profoundly evident. “This season,” he reports, “the Boobie Trap has just been on fire. Nearly every one of our bucktail fish has eaten this bait. Anglers in my area have really started to take note of its appeal to muskies. Since tying up this bait, we’ve had many, many 6 to 8 fish days. This last week alone, I think we had close to 60 fish in the boat, including a beautiful 50-incher from St. Clair that I caught with my kids along. What a blast.”

Dolsen continues: “There’s no doubt that this bait offers something different in the blades that’s convincing fish to eat. The #10s are just slightly smaller than those on other baits. And the blades pull more easily through the water; they rotate faster and turn closer to the shaft, too. This makes them easier to burn at fast speeds. Another thing that’s been key is the position and component rigging of the upper treble hook. We’ve been hooking and landing a really high percentage of fish because of the design.

Other than that, all I know is, my clients are really having fun throwing these baits, and so am I.

A New Muskie “Trap”

2012-06-17T19:45:00.000-05:00

by: Ted Pilgrim

You’ve likely heard about the incredible number of big muskies posted by select fishing guides in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan and Indiana this summer and early autumn. What each of these anglers share in common are early production models of a hot lure that’s taken the muskie scene like a squall.

There have been numerous confirmed 6 to 8 fish days, up to 60 muskies in one week alone, caught by anglers such as guide Chae Dolsen, working a Northland Fishing Tackle Boobie Trap inline spinner on Lake St. Clair, Michigan and Webster Lake, Indiana. There was the day Walker, Minnesota guide Bob Landreville boated 6 muskies. And lest we not forget, guides Paul Nelson and Tim Anderson who duped multiple huge fish, including beasts to 55-inches. Meanwhile, on heavily pressured waters in the Minneapolis, Minnesota area, as well as on that renowned yet stingy Mille Lacs, another top angler has been quietly setting hooks into numerous large muskies. Again, the common denominator has been Northland’s new phenom.

The top tray in muskie savage Ted Burrow’s tackle box is laden with hot new Boobie Trap inline spinners.
Photo courtesy of Northland Fishing Tackle (www.northlandtackle.com)

Ten years ago, Dan Burrow caught the muskie bug in a big way. Today, the affliction compels him to spend several days and nights a week chasing the big green fish. Like most of the sport’s top practitioners, Burrow has fished with many of the all-time greatest lures. But until this season, he’d never seen anything catch muskies quite like this new lure.

“My baits don’t stop flying until they bounce off ice at the end of November,” Burrow states, in true diehard fashion. “While hunters are climbing into their deer stands to get that shot at a wary buck, I am climbing into my boat to try for that 40 or 50 pound giant on the icy waters of Mille Lacs Lake.”

For Burrow, who lives just south of the big lake in Milaca, Minnesota, most of these late season muskie runs revolve around evening hours, when highly pressured fish turn slightly more aggressive. Still, pressured fish are pressured fish, and that means relying on baits that perform at high levels all the time. Each cast can count in a big way, and Burrow simply isn’t willing to gamble with other inline spinners that may or may not run flawlessly on every cast.

Northland’s Boobie Trap in the golden tinsel colored LIVE-FORAGE Walleye pattern. Photo courtesy of Northland Fishing Tackle (www.northlandtackle.com)

Regarding extra selective muskies, it may seem contrary to rely on one of the most commonly cast lure categories in the lake – the inline spinner. But as Burrow has discovered, the Boobie Trap Spinner features design elements that set it critically apart from the masses of other monster-bladed baits available today. To Burrow, it’s all about the blade.

“One of the biggest problems with most inline spinners is that the blades fail to “start” on the retrieve,” he offers. “This can be very frustrating, and it wastes many valuable casts. The Boobie Trap is a tremendous “starter” bait. The blades have just the right cup, or bend, and start thumping along immediately after your first crank. This is a great attribute because the lure is immediately sending out those powerful vibrations, triggering fish that are near the lure at the very end of the cast. Then, while in the middle of the retrieve, I love that the bait is so well balanced—it comes in perfectly horizontal, not tail-down, even when I reel it slowly.

Northland’s Boobie Trap in the lifelike green tinsel LIVE-FORAGE Whitefish pattern.
Photo courtesy of Northland Fishing Tackle (www.northlandtackle.com)

“Another huge plus for me is that the blades are slightly smaller than that of the typical double number 10 blade bait. This lets me get the bait up to warp speed in a flash. I can’t tell you how important it is that less effort is required to crank the Boobie Trap compared to other spinners. When you’re doing this for 12 to 16 hours a day, it can take a toll on your arms and hands.”

Burrow continues: “Burning these baits just under the surface over the tops of vegetation is one of my favorite tactics. I reel it as fast as I can physically get my reel handle moving so that the blades are about to blow out of the water, and bulging the surface. Even on heavily pressured metropolitan waters this can mean the difference between a few lazy follows and an arm jarring strike.

“I have found that pumping the rod tip while burning the bait sends a different turbulence into the water and causes the skirt to really ripple. The skirt on the Boobie Trap is another superior feature. The extra strands of Flashabou and tinsel they’ve built into the bait adds volume, increases profile and gives the Trap the right buoyancy to run above the weeds. That’s key.

“Also, the vortex created by the blades really gets the skirt moving, shaking, puffing in and out in ways that muskies find mesmerizing. This bait has just the right amount of skirt material—just enough bulk and flash to attract them, while the blades really ping the lateral lines of big muskies, particularly at night when locating food requires super senses.”

The top tray in muskie savage Ted Burrow’s tackle box is laden with hot new Boobie Trap inline spinners.
Photo courtesy of Northland Fishing Tackle (www.northlandtackle.com)

Anytime Burrow boats one of his beasts of the night, he’s found that lures can come out looking like the loser of a prizefight. Fortunately, he’s also discovered that his chosen bait is a real tough customer. “It’s incredibly durable. Muskies thrash lures like no other fish. But it’s an easy fix with this bait. Just bend it back into shape and keep on fishing! I’ve caught a bunch of fish on my favorite ‘Trap, and know it’ll be good for many more.”

In fall, even as waters cool and other anglers start tying on other lures, such as a Musky Innovations Bulldawg or a big crank or jerkbait, Burrow can’t wait to keep on slinging his beloved Boobie Trap. “Far as I’m concerned, there really is no expiration date for these baits. I’ll be catching fish on them well into November.”

Certainly, safe bets are wise moves where muskies are concerned. Given the success of these unique inline spinners, a betting man would wager that Burrow won’t be the only one hurling them this fall, either. “It’s just such a versatile tool,” he concludes. “Really, this bait has relegated every other spinner in my box to obsolescence. I love it!”