Whilst this method has a lower “strike to catch ratio” compared to other forms of bass fishing, it is still worth using and keeping nearby in case the surface comes alive with bait fish jumping out of the water for their lives!  The tackle required depends upon conditions, however, I believe that bass can be caught all day long on a top water lure.  For me, a small arsenal of top water lures is a must, but remember to alternate them to match the changing mood of the fish.  I prefer a 6 and ½ to 7-foot baitcasting rod with 15 lb. test line.  Whenever possible before using any store purchased lure, I always change the hooks to a premium hook such as Gamakatsu.  I have seen too many hooks straighten or break from a large fish, or the hook been thrown, because they were not sharp enough.

I will often start with the buzzbait.  This lure comes with single, double, treble and in-line, blade combinations.  I like to use smaller buzzbaits, but that is not to say that a large six or eight inch buzzbait with loud blades will not produce.  Correctly tuned buzzbaits should NEVER run straight.  If it does, something is wrong, fish do not swim in straight lines and neither should your buzzbait.  Bend the propeller or propellers to arch the retrieve in the water.  The more splash and noise it makes, the more fish will see it and attack it.

Start your retrieve quickly.  After a few casts if you are not getting any bites, slow down the retrieve until a fish swirls near the bait* or strikes it.  This is the bass telling you at what speed they want their meal moving.  Next come top water poppers.  This name is used to cover a large group of surface lures with cupped faces that give the “popping” sound.  This lure spits water when retrieved with small downward jerks of the rod tip toward the water surface.  The dimension of this lure is important.  Make sure you know the size and colors of the baitfish that live in that body of water you are fishing.  Referred to in fly fishing as “matching the hatch”, your lure color and size plays an important role on bright sunny days when the sunlight reflects off the body and flashes on the surface of the water.  On overcast days, color is not so important, as the bass do not get to see much more than the outline of the bait and will make a decision to either ignore the bait, or strike at it.  Again, if the fish swirl at the bait* you should be prepared to drop the rod you and use a floating plastic worm.

Next come the “spook” baits.  Zara Spook® and Zara Puppy® or similar cigar shaped lures.  (Often I will increase the size of the hook from a 1/0 to a 2/0 with this lure).  The best method of retrieval is “walking the dog”.  This snapping, twitching and slow line retrieval combination takes some practice but once mastered can be deadly when top water action is at its height.  When bass are chasing shad to the surface, this lure should be cast directly on top of the fish, keeping the boat a good distance from the area of activity.  Casting accuracy is vital, as a badly placed cast will waste precious moments until you can cast again.  To practice your casting in your backyard or in a park, use a rubber weight in place of the lure.  I often use an old car tire or a bucket as a target and practice for an hour a day.

When a fish takes a top water offering, WAIT.  Let the fish take the lure, feel the weight of the fish and then set the hook.  All to often, the initial reaction is to strike, but this often pulls the lure out of the mouth of the fish.  When the fish are biting, I usually count s-l-o-w-l-y to three, then set the hook.  Surface fishing spinnerbaits and jerkbaits often catch fish.  Again start with a fast retrieve and slow it down till the fish tell you what they want.

* The floating worm is often overlooked as a top water lure, but can be deadly when fish will not take a larger top water offering.  If fish continue to swirl near the buzzbait or popper, but will not strike it, pitch a brightly colored worm (pink or yellow works well) and chances are the bass will swallow this offering more readily

Tight Lines!

Charles “The Bass Doctor” Stuart

IMPORTANT NOTE:
One of the most important things to remember when discussing the spawn is water temperature.  Depending on where you live, bass can have one or more spawning opportunities based on not only the temperature but also the weather conditions.  In the north and here in Canada, we usually get only one spawn, however Texas and Florida can have as many as three or four spawns, sometimes back to back in different sections of a lake!

Pre-Spawn (As early as February, or as late as June)
Water temperature should be around 60 to 65 degrees Fahrenheit (a little cooler is acceptable for smallmouth).  Early on, look for partially submerged wood and rocks as these will hold heat and attract those fish that are ready to begin the process.

In preparation for the “big event” and dependant upon location, the male large and smallmouth bass both have similar functions to perform to attract the right female to the location he has selected.  The fish are preoccupied with their desire to mate and fishing for these fish, despite being highly visible, is very difficult and time consuming.  During this time I try to fish a little deeper for those males and females who have not yet made the decision to spawn.

Bed preparations are very important and location can make the difference between life and death for the eggs and ultimately the fry.  There is no doubt that an intimate knowledge of the environment makes for two types of bass, a smart bass or a dumb bass!

Commonly, a young, inexperienced male will rush to make a bed and herd a female onto it to begin the mating process.  younger females may well take the opportunity to spawn, however their youthful exuberance and lack of experience will result in the eggs eaten by predators or frozen to death from a “cold snap” which as we can all attest to is a possibility during the early part of Spring.  The smarter fish will hold off until the weather has warmed the area for more than a few days.  These smart fish are also larger and their ability to understand the climactic changes is the very reason they got so big.  Remember also that large, “smart” fish, pass on there genetic code making for more large and smart fish for your lake or pond!

Spawn
Water temperature should now be closer to 70 degrees Fahrenheit.  Once the eggs have been laid, nest raids take place soon after the female leaves the nest.  She will move to the first or secondary drop off in deeper (cooler) water to rest.  She will not however be too far from the nest as I will further explain.

The male or males (subject to the size of the female) must now stand guard over the eggs, however they tend to stray for food and it is the female’s job to keep a watchful eye on the males during this time.  I have also seen male bass chase predators away only to be pushed back by the female.  Sadly, if the male is heavily outnumbered by either bluegill or perch, one group will draw attention away from the nest, while another group “swoop in” and feast on the now unprotected eggs.

Anglers tend to fish these bedding areas simply because the fish are conditioned to stay on the beds which make them easy targets. I emphasize that returning the fish immediately will give the male a chance to rear the next generation of bass for your local lake or pond.  Taking a bedding fish and removing it from the nest signs a death warrant on those unprotected eggs or fry that remain.  In smaller waters, an entire year of bass could effectively be eliminated, so please think long and hard before attempting this mode of fishing.

Post Spawn
This is a tough time for the angler and it isn’t easy finding fish to take your offering after their exhaustive efforts of breeding and tending to the thousands of fry.  Fishing for these fish requires a stealthy approach and long casts.  Perhaps one of the masters of this style of fishing is Shaw Grigsby whom I have had the pleasure of fishing with on the BASSMASTERS tournament trail.  I’ve personally witnessed his ability to catch fish during this time frame.  If you can get your hands on his DVD’s or books, I highly recommend it.

Remember these fish are exhausted after the spawn so do not expect earth shattering bites.  Instead, watch for subtle line twitches and/or heaviness in your line.  Keep in mind that if the water cools, bass won’t exert themselves to chase a lure, so SLOW down those presentations!

Some Additional Notes

Pre-Spawn
Rod lengths: 6’ to 6’6” with a medium action.

Line strength: 10 to 15lb test mono for cranking.  Other lures require 10 to 15lb copolymer line with a fluorocarbon leader.

Lures: Crankbaits, rattletraps, football headed jigs with pork trailers.

Spawn and Post Spawn

Rod lengths: 7 feet and above and mostly of the spinning variety to ensure accurate casts.

Line strength: – No more than 10lb test copolymer line with a fluorocarbon leader.

Lures: Small grubs, micro jigs, the drop shot and my personal favorite, the four inch weightless worm.

Tight Lines.

Charles “The Bass Doctor” Stuart.

Copyright (c) Charles Graham MacLeod-Stuart. Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no Invariant Sections, no Front-Cover Texts, and no Back-Cover Texts

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It seems that this should be a pretty simple answer, I mean; a net is nothing more than a flexible basket with a hoop and a handle.  Pretty basic stuff, right?  Well, yes and no.

There are many variables in landing nets.  Netting fabric, net hole size, frame design and handle length.  Let’s discuss these in a little detail.

First of all, there’s frame size and material.  For all intents and purposes, we’re not going to be talking about stream trout nets here, but nets for larger gamefish like bass, pike and muskies.  The only type of frame here to consider is a sturdy aluminum frame.  The yoke, the piece that connects the hoop to the handle should NOT be plastic.  A large fish thrashing about will break a plastic yoke.  The only material for a yoke is aluminum.  Obviously, you should size the hoop (and fish basket) to the size of the fish targeted.

There are different frame styles, with a standard circular hoop frame used.  These are fine for most applications, but many, especially trollers, prefer a triangular frame.  This type of frame works great for scooping fish at a distance with a long handle.

Handle length is important as well.  For most fishing purposes, a 3 – 5 foot handle is sufficient.  But a longer handle is needed when trolling.  Often, a long snell leader, sometimes 8 feet or longer is used and under these circumstances, a long handled boat net, with a telescoping handle is used.  Some of these handles will be 8 – 12 feet, telescoping out in 4-foot sections.  Most times though, a standard net handle length will work fine.

But quite possibly the biggest consideration is the fabric of the net.  Your selection is quite wide and varied.  Net mesh varies in size, and there are advantages and disadvantages in the different sizes.  The smaller mesh is easier on the fish, easier on the fish slime and won’t tear up a fish’s fins.  But it is more resistant to moving through the water.  The larger opening mesh is easier to move through the water and is usually found in larger nets, but a fish’s fins will take a terrible beating, getting split as the fish thrashes in the net.

One of the most popular is that green nylon stuff found on inexpensive landing nets.  This stuff is TERRIBLE!!!  First of all, it’s harsh on the fish, being rough, abrasive and it scrapes the slime coating from fish.  This slime coat is a protective barrier for the fish, isolating them from bacteria and infection.  The mesh diameter is usually quite large and causes split fins on fish.  This mesh also usually comes on low quality nets, which are made from substandard materials and easily prone to breakage.  Hooks also have a tendency to get snagged in nets of this material; do you really want to trust the fish of a lifetime to one of these nets?

Cotton nets are easier on the fish, but they also have a problem, ROT!  They have to be dried between uses, if put away wet, they will rot quickly.  Then, should this happen, when you do get that fish of a lifetime, the net is going to have all the strength of wet toilet paper and chances are, you’re going to lose the fish.  Hooks getting snagged in this type of netting is a problem as well.  A couple advantages to these nets are that they are light in weight and they move easily through the water.  But they must be well dried between trips and checked often for signs of rotting and wear.

Nets made of heavy, black nylon are much better, easier on the fish, stronger and easier to get hooks out of.  If a hook does get snagged, you can usually “untwist” the strands and easily remove the barb.  Nylon is also rot resistant and will last a long time under normal use.  With the larger diameter of the netting material, there is some resistance when scooping the net through the water.  This has to be accounted for when attempting to net a fish.

An even better netting material is rubberized nylon.  This is my favorite and although slightly higher in price, I feel it’s worth it.  Rubberized webbing is very fish friendly, as the rubberized coating doesn’t scrape the fish slime.  It’s also more hook resistant and the netting won’t snag.  But, it IS heavier and there is some additional resistance moving it through the water.  This type of net, when made of smaller opening mesh, is great.

There is a small diameter mesh net that is made of a fine, soft nylon.  This is great stuff. Light in weight, it dries quickly and will not rot.  It doesn’t split fins or scrape slime coat from fish.  But, it does snag hooks fairly easily (at least the ones I’ve used).  It’s good stuff and I like it a lot, but it is expensive.

There are rubber nets available.  These are the ultimate in fish (and fisherman) friendly nets.  The solid rubber nets will not damage a fish’s protective coating, and it’s virtually impossible to snag hooks in them, which is a bonus, but there are problems with these.  Rubber nets are heavy and cumbersome to use.  They have a great resistance when being moved through the water.  The “basket” on these nets is supposed to increase in depth with the weight of the fish, and to a certain degree it does work.  But, especially in cold water, the rubber becomes stiff and doesn’t stretch as easily.  Then, the net can act as a “springboard” with the fish going out of the net often times faster than it came in!  Believe me, there’s not a more sinking feeling than watching a four-pound walleye flip and go sailing out of the net.

One problem with landing nets is “Where in the boat do I put the darned thing?”  If it fits in the rod locker or storage compartment, they’re usually too small to be of any benefit.  If they’re large enough to do some good, the darned thing won’t fit anywhere.  With this in mind, several manufacturers have come out with a line of collapsible nets.  From a storage aspect, they’re great.  But you must examine these carefully before plunking down hard earned cash on the first one you see.  Make sure to examine all hinges, fittings and connections.  There is some high quality collapsible nets out there but there are also some real clunkers out there too.  Collapsing nets are pricey but if storage is an issue, they can be worth it.

So there you have it, nets in a nutshell.  Which one is right for you?  That, I can’t say, it all depends on what type of fishing you do and for what species.  When I was guiding in northern Wisconsin, for most of the year, I had a huge muskie net strapped down on the front deck of my bassboat.  I would just step on the thing and it didn’t seem to bother my clients or me.  So, give it some thought, take your time and consider all the options.  After all, the right choice in a net could make the difference between landing that wall-hanger and just another fish story about the one that got away.

Until next time, see ya!

Steve

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Two years later, I was fishing a tournament in Alabama with another angler who was catching so many fish I had to stop to see what he was throwing.  When I saw the rattletrap on his line, I watched how he would change the retrieve constantly and move the rod tip from left to right and well as up and down.  Have you ever heard the expression, “the light suddenly came on”?  Well I realized that the lures I had won all that time ago could actually catch fish, but I still needed a lesson in how to use them correctly.

I tied a “trap” on the line and tried to mimic his retrieve tactics.  Once again I hooked wood and weed.  Maybe it was just me, but I could not get the damn thing to run the way he did!  Then I realized that the reel I was using had a retrieve speed of 5.1 to 1.  I looked at his reel to see that he was using a 6.3 to 1!  Click! On went the light (again) and I switched to a high retrieve reel.  After the second cast, I hooked and landed my first “trap” bass, a nice three-pound fish.  I caught 4 more fish that afternoon and placed well in the tournament standings for the day thanks to this bait.

So, here are the tools you will need and a few tips on “working the lure”.  I prefer a six to six and a half-foot medium action rod with a high gear ratio (6 to 1 and above) baitcasting reel for larger baits.  A spinning reel will work better with the smaller sizes but again, check the ratio. 

Perhaps for those of you who are not familiar with gear ratio, I should explain.  When you turn the handle of a fishing reel one complete turn, you will have gathered a certain amount of line back as the spool turns.  The higher the speed ratio, the more line you bring back on each turn.  For crankbaits, spinnerbaits and lipless crankbaits, a high retrieve is excellent.  Of course there are situations when you may need to slow down a spinnerbait or regular crankbait, in which case you should choose another reel with a lower gear ratio.  However, for the lipless variety of crankbaits, a high-speed reel is the key.

Line diameter and breaking strain should be your next consideration, Heavy line with a larger diameter will keep the bait higher in the water than a thinner and less pound test line.  Situations dictate what line you can use, but as a rule of thumb, if the water is deep, you want the bait to run deep.  Use ten to fifteen pound line with little or no stretch.  This type of line will allow you to “feel the bait” as it runs through the water.  Do not use a braided line unless you feel comfortable using it.  To me, the monofilament or co-polymer lines are excellent for this particular style of fishing.  In skinny shallow water presentations, choose a fifteen to twenty pound test line which will allow you to muscle fish out of shoreline structure without too much difficulty.

Lure size selection!  Well they come in many sizes, so try to match the size of the baitfish in the area.  If you do not see any bait fish to “size up with”, start with a small quarter of an ounce offering and change up until the fish bite.  As for color selection, try chrome and blue, chrome and black and the white with a green or red back.  All these work for me in most situations.  Of course, your lake or river may need another color, so do not be afraid to experiment.

Finally, as you retrieve your lure, speed up and slow down.  Also move the rod slowly as you retrieve from left to right.  Then on the next cast, up and down.  Try to remember when you fish any artificial bait that it is supposed to imitate a fish, and fish do not swim in straight lines!  So why would you just throw a lure and turn the handle of your reel until it comes back?

Tight Lines!

Charles “The Bass Doctor” Stuart

Copyright (c) Charles Graham MacLeod-Stuart. Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no Invariant Sections, no Front-Cover Texts, and no Back-Cover Texts

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There’s no doubt in my mind that a seven year old isn’t going to be able to use the auger to successfully drill through the ice, but I’m not going to deny them the opportunity to succeed.  I’ll start the hole so the blades aren’t a safety threat, then I’ll encourage them to give it a shot and I’ll step back and enjoy the show. They appreciate the fact that you got them out, introduced them to a world they previously didn’t know, and let them try something new. Each trip is another layer, and surprisingly they retain most of what you presented to them on previous trips.  How do I know these things? Suffice it to say I was trained well by my daughters on their very first ice fishing trip.

The final leg home was a white-line haze, one of those fifty-mile stints when you can’t remember how you’d gotten to where you are, because you’re fatigued and after so many hours behind the wheel, each tree or billboard appears the same as the last several hundred you’ve seen along the interstate.  The good news was that tomorrow was the beginning of a long weekend, and I planned to have my derriere planted firmly on a plastic five-gallon bucket in the ice shanty. 

Previous trips, from first-ice to the present had been spectacular.  The crappie, gills and perch had played, “I want it.”

“No, I want it.”

“Me first!” From dusk until dark on each trip, and they’d been voracious, not a light-biter in the crowd.  It doesn’t take long to fill up a bucket when hand sized, yellow breasted gills, wide-mouthed, shimmering, green-blue crappies, and the plump, tiger striped perch put on the feed bag. I was pumped.

I parked the pick-up, got out and stretched, and almost made it through the front door of the house, before my three and four year old daughters pushed me back outside, and did their best to knock me over the porch rail, as they smothered me with hugs and kisses.  God bless little girls~ “Guess what we had for dinner last night daddy?” Said Sarah, my youngest.

“I don’t know hon, what?”

“Fish!” Exclaimed Krista.  “Mom got fillets from the freezer and she cooked ‘em for us.”

What!  My secret stash of fillets had been exhumed from the bottom of the freezer and devoured.  The nerve~ But looking at the proud, glowing grins on their faces, who cares.  Picking up the girls and walking through the door sideways with one on each hip, I could still smell the faint delicious aroma of the fillets from the evening before.  Whine~

Later that evening I began calling around to my friends, looking for a partner for early the next morning, but they either had previous commitments, or they weren’t home.  What to do?  I don’t mind fishing by myself, I never have, it’s a great time for introspection, and the serenity one feels when cloaked in a blanket of silence, with the hiss of the heater and the glare of the lantern for company, well that’s hard to duplicate.  “One more call, and if I can’t find somebody, I guess I’ll just go alone,” I thought to myself as I dialed Kenny’s number and got his fiancé on the line. “Hey Barb, Mike here, I was planning on heading up to the lake tomorrow to do some ice fishing, and was wondering what Kenny was up to going with me?  Oh, he’s working…okay; well tell him I called please.  Thanks.”

I hadn’t even hung up the phone yet, when both girls were standing in front of me in their footy-pajamas, with their big sets of green and blue eyes staring into mine, when Krista said, “Dad you asked everybody to go ice-fishing with you tomorrow, but us.” I think at that precise moment I must have resembled a carp lying on the bank, mouth agape, gasping for breath, as I searched for excuses that would be palatable to a three and four year old.  I looked across the living room to my wife for help, but she pulled that nasty, mother-wife trick of putting a half-smile on her face, and then turned her head to stare up at the ceiling in that womanesque, the sisterhood comes first, non-committal pose. 

Nothing immediately came to mind, other than the fact they’d never been on the ice before.  They had snowsuits, gloves, mittens, felt-pack boots, toques, and everything else one needs to go ice fishing, except the experience itself. The silence continued as I searched for more reasons, okay just one reason that they couldn’t go…bathroom facilities~ Well they can use one of the extra five gallon buckets if they need too, I can take toilet paper, they’re not that shy, and they can use the shanty while I fish outside, that way they’ll be warm.  Food, well I can pack along a gallon jug of water for hot chocolate, we can take instant soup and sandwiches for lunch, and snacks and we’ll hit the mini-mart on the way out when I get my morning coffee. The more mental excuses I tried to conjure, the greater the number of solutions I came up with. Mouth tight, my eyes flicking back and forth from one daughter to the other, I took a deep breath and capitulated, “Okay girls, you can go.” I knew little girls could squeal, but the decibel level they attained at that moment would make a jet engine hang its fins in shame, it’s a wonder every glass object in the house hadn’t shattered.  I was now legally deaf~ 

The next morning was one of those crispy winter days when the snow squeaks with each footstep, and the girls could hardly wait to begin their first ice-fishing experience. Every outdoor outing to a child is an adventure, especially when they’re challenged with accomplishing certain tasks in preparation for the event.  Scaling down “kid size” participation efforts can sometimes be a challenge, especially when you’ve become used to either doing things yourself, or with adult help.  Their eagerness to begin this trip was evident in the energy they expended in making their own sandwiches, packing and organizing the rest of the food with mom’s help, and then venturing out to the garage to do their part in loading ice fishing gear.  Not once did they need to be asked to do something twice, instead after loading one item, it was followed up with, “What’s next.” Once we were loaded and ready to roll down the highway, they kissed mom goodbye, whereupon I heard the words I was to hear many times before future outings, “Don’t come home without them.”  Although they’d needed their snowsuits to help load the truck, they were quickly stripped down so they wouldn’t get overheated on the hour long drive to the lake.

Although I was filled with apprehension about taking them on the ice so young, in the same light, their eagerness to participate overrode any misgivings I might have had. As we pulled into the bait shop, they were handed the minnow bucket, and the empty snuff containers for the wax worms, and maggots.  As I stepped up to the counter with the minnow bucket, I slid two, clear plastic, snap lid containers in front of the girls, and let them pick out six ice-ants apiece; if they were going to take up this sport, they may as well begin to build their own ice fishing tackleboxes.  After fielding their questions about which colour and shape was best, and watching the faces of the other patrons in the store, I was proud of them, even though they hadn’t yet wet a line.

At the boat ramp they were once again willing participants in helping to unload the truck, and stacking the gear on the ice shanty for the trip out onto the lake.  Fortunately the channel runs right next to the shoreline, so we didn’t have to go more than 75 meters before I stopped and announced, “We’re here!” Once again my little helpers pitched in and helped to erect the shanty, whereupon I began the instruction of Ice-Fishing 101.  They were shown how sharp the blades on the auger were, and cautioned that if I ever forgot to put the cover back on after drilling holes, they were to immediately remind me. I showed them how the heater worked, and explained what it would do if it were running out of fuel, and how we’d remedy the situation. They were taught how to clean the shavings out of the hole, and why it was important, as I made a mental note to acquire another couple of ice scoops. After showing them how to operate the tiny reels on the ice rods, and what the spring bobber would do if a fish were to bite, they were almost set to begin fishing, but first they were given the opportunity to make their own decision regarding which type of bait they wanted to use first, along with each of them having a container of their own with maggots and wax worms. Fishing with children is no different than any other aspect of child rearing; each new step is accompanied by new questions.

Settled onto their buckets in the shanty with the heater blazing behind them, I was now able to attend setting up my own gear, but before I could grab a rod from the bucket, Krista announced with a yelp that she had a fish on. Frantic moments ensued as she tried to reel in the fish in the confines of the shanty, made doubly difficult with her sister’s head directly over the ice hole, looking down trying to see the fish.  Seconds later a chunky gill emerged to a squealing welcome from the girls.  As I removed the hook from Krista’s fish, Sarah too hooked into a fish, and the excitement began all over again.  Removing the hook from Sarah’s fish, I began to throw it on the ice with Krista’s, when she announced, “I want to let my fish go home.”  “What?  Don’t you want to take it home and eat it for dinner?” I asked her.

“Nope,” she said, tears filling her three-year old eyes, “his mommy will miss it.  I want to let it go home.” I didn’t argue, attempt to reason, or try to persuade her further, her reasons were her own.

“C’mon,” I told her, “come out here with me.  Do you want to release it yourself, or do you want me to let it go?”

Out of the shanty she came, and taking her fish from my hand with both of hers, she bent over and let it slide back into the depths.”  Catch and release is a wonderful thing, especially when it comes naturally from a three year old~

Mid-morning came and went, and the ice was littered with freshly caught fish as I fired up the Coleman stove and began to fix hot chocolate, while they dug into cheese curls and apple slices, adorned with mitten fluff.  As I prepared something warm to drink, unprompted, they walked along the shoreline picking up litter off of the ice that other anglers had left behind, then brought it back to the shanty and put it into our garbage bag.

With the day having warmed, the girls decided they now wanted to fish outside with dad, so I backed the shanty off of their holes, and got them set up, using the shanty as a windbreak. The fish never let us down and they continued to bite throughout the entire day.  Other than her first fish, Sarah began adding her share of fish to the evening dinner. Despite repeated cautions to “Look before you step, Sarah managed to step into an ice hole, her leg going in all the way to her hip.  Snatching her from the ice I ran her to the truck, stripped her down and got her into dry clothes we’d packed along “just in case.” It was at this point their first outing ended.

As I drifted off that night remember the sights and sounds of the day, I came to several realizations that my children, and now other children have benefited from.  First, going to second hand stores helps to defray the cost of additional snow suits, sweaters, and extra pairs of insulated shoes that are so necessary if like Sarah did, your offspring step into an ice hole.  It’s far easier to do on bare ice, then it is with snow on the ice, and if you’re planning on introducing your offspring to this great winter sport, pack along extra clothing that first trip, and keep adding to your extra gear supplies.  Does the extra clothing have to fit properly?  No, there are only two criteria the extra clothing and boots have to fulfill, and that’s warm, and dry.

Take the time to teach and not fuss.  Fussing only frustrates them, and decreases their enjoyment of spending quality time with you, and that’s precisely what they want to do. They want to do fun things with mom or dad, and take on adult responsibilities, no matter that it’s literally accomplished in baby steps.

Scale down the gear, if possible, let them handle a small spinning reel or one of those small plastic ice fishing rods while riding to the lake.  If they are allowed to figure things out on the ride with simple instructions, the less likely they are to mishandle the equipment while on the ice.  If they get bored on the ice, spend time doing whatever it is “they” want to do, so long as it’s a safe activity, and the next time you take them out you’ll find that their “fishing attention span” has increased substantially.

I’ll reiterate, don’t fuss or yell or scream, unless it’s a safety issue and their action needs to be halted immediately so someone doesn’t get hurt.  Take the time to explain things again and again, reinforce it and they’ll eventually get it.  Trust me, you were no “trip to the beach” (unless it was Omaha, or Juno) when you were a rugrat and someone first took you fishing.  Mentor them, and I promise you you’ll have a fishing partner for life.

Introduce other youth to ice fishing by taking along some of their friends. Unlike adults, kids aren’t going to fish for eight hour straight without wanting some sort of distraction. On a recent outing with several young boys ranging in age from six to ten, they gave it an honest effort for three hours, and nobody had had so much as a nibble.  The kids got bored and wanted to know if they could wander around a bit. We got together and talked about what was safe and what wasn’t; we discussed limitations, and I sent them on their merry way exploring the shoreline.  It wasn’t long before they were having a snowball fight, and that progressed into throwing waving around cattails until they burst.  They had a ball for thirty minutes burning off excess energy, and soon returned to fish some more.  What a sight, but what fun they had. None of us caught fish, but it’s an adventure they’ll never forget.  Will they go again?  They already have, and the next trip made up for getting skunked as many of them connected with smallmouth and walleye adults would be envious of, and for some of them, it was the first fish they’d ever caught.

Give them small tasks to do and they’ll respond with enthusiasm. No, sometimes they won’t be able to accomplish the task by themselves. They will soon forget the initial failure, but what they won’t ever forget is that you stopped what you were doing and let them try something new.  They will realize for themselves that the task is impossible, they don’t need you to tell them, “You won’t be able to do that,” instead let them try and come to their own knowledge.  Soon they’ll get the hang of it and be able to make it happen, and on that day their smile will be like that of a lighthouse guiding ships to safe harbor. Today my girls are in their thirties, and they have forged new links in that family fishing fun chain with their own kids.

If you take the time to show kids how a stove or lantern works, in a couple of years they’ll be proficient at the task, and suddenly you won’t have to cook or fix hot chocolate, or hot soup for them, they’ll be doing it for you.  Mine were seven and eight when they were able to send meals out the shanty door to me and any adult partners I had along on a winter fishing foray, and it only got better with time. 

Due to the fact that they live in the states, and I’ve migrated to Canada, I’ve found a host of other children that have never been ice fishing but want to learn.  I accommodate new kids on an annual basis, and cherish each outdoor outing, and take the time to chronicle these outings in photos not only myself, but far more importantly, for them and their parents.  Another rewarding part of these outing is making contact with the local newspaper and sending them the photos, and then the child discovering him/herself in the newspaper.  Can you spell “THRILLED?”

Take a kid ice fishing this winter that has never been on the ice, and remember: The echo of a child’s laugher in the outdoors falls upon God’s ears, making Him smile~

Mike Stewart

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Jerkbaits (sometimes referred to as stickbaits) average 6 to 8 inches in length and are shaped like a slim cigar, sometimes straight, sometimes slightly curved or you may find them with a jointed mid-section. Not to be confused with top water lures, jerkbaits have a small lip, which assists in the diving process.

With the use of adhesive lead dots or strip weights and water fillable apertures, these lures can be adjusted to any depth, giving an “in your face” presentation, something a bass cannot resist. Several types are available on the market, however few of them offer versatility or “out of the pack” performance with (in my opinion) the exception of Norman Lures and Rapala the use of which I will detail after I have explained the tackle and types of retrieve.

Lure retrieval is dependent upon location. In deep water, I prefer to cast with a 6 and a half to 7 foot medium-heavy action pole as far as I possibly can, then immediately crank the reel to make the lure dive. Remember, the more you crank, the deeper the bait will travel. It is important to note that the deeper you crank, the less time you will have to keep the lure at the optimum depth, as you are not only diving the lure, but bringing it back towards you. This will shorten the life of the presentation, so accuracy is critical and long casts are vital. Light line will aid you in the speed at which the lure dives. I prefer 12 to 15 pound test for this application.

Reel ratio is not so important as mentioned in previous articles, however for my own use, I personally prefer a lower 4.5 to 1 ratio. I like to leave the lure motionless for at least 10 seconds before I twitch the lure and retrieve two or three turns of line onto the reel. This should be repeated until the lure is back at the boat. Watch for fish to follow the lure also. I have caught bass right under the boat when they strike the lure as it moves upwards to the surface. If this method does not produce strikes (usually on the pause) I like to drag the lure with a sweeping motion and return the rod tip towards the lure retrieving line as I do so, thereby keeping in constant contact with the lure. Again, strikes will usually occur on the pause or as you begin the retrieve.

For shallow water, a shorter 6-foot to 6 and a half foot pole, is best with a medium heavy action. Heavier line will keep the lure higher in the water and will help minimize snagging the tops of weedbeds or submerged bushes. The retrieves remain the same, however I speed up the presentation, as the bass tend to get a better look at the lure in shallow water than they do in the darker depths.

As mentioned, the two lures I would use for this application, as are follows: Norman’s RIP-N-RIC are water fillable, using a small syringe supplied with the lures. Injecting small amounts of water gives neutral buoyancy to the lure when cranked to the desired depth. I will occasionally add lead adhesive weights to these lures if I need a rapid fall, especially in moving water, where the strike zone is only accessible for a limited time. Rapala lures require little or no adjustment as they suspend when you stop turning the reel or pause on a sweeping rod movement, they do rise very, very slowly when you stop reeling. I occasionally like to add even amounts of lead to the head and tail usually around the hook mounting, to ensure stability and balance. The only major change I will ever make to any store purchased lure, is to remove the hooks and replace them with higher graded hooks such as Gamakatsu if they are not already equipped. So next time the fishing slows down, try a jerkbait. I have on occasion caught two fish at once on these long lures which I can only describe as awesome!

Tight Lines!

Charles “The Bass Doctor” Stuart.

Copyright (c) Charles Graham MacLeod-Stuart. Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no Invariant Sections, no Front-Cover Texts, and no Back-Cover Texts

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Weightless worming is one of my favorite methods of fishing, using just a hook and the worm.  To successfully use this method the line must be lighter than you would normally use for Texas or Carolina rigging.  I recommend no lighter than 6-pound and no heavier than 12-pound test.  A 6-foot light spinning outfit will work well.  Use a 1/0 hook for 4- to 6-inch worms, a 2/0 for 6- to 8-inch worms, 3/0 for 8- to 10-inch worms and 4/0 or 5/0 for the really large worms over 10 inches in total length.

Simply cast the worm into cover or at the edge of a weedline.  Allow it to fall slowly, watching the line for twitches or a sudden change in direction.  To the fish, the worm will look as if it has fallen from the overhanging tree or from the top of the weeds.  Allow the worm to reach the bottom.  Do not retrieve line.  Just shake the rod and the worm will twitch on the bottom as if it is struggling to get back to the surface.  This method is often very productive if the fish become finicky caused by fishing pressure, a sudden change in the weather, or water levels going up or down.

Using a floating worm over cover is also a very exciting method of worm fishing.  Bright pink and yellow are perfect for this application as you can see the worm clearly and often watch the worm disappear as a bass engulfs it!  Drag the bait in small movements over the cover, and then let it sit in spaces between pads or at the edge of weedbeds.

Texas rigging is used with great success because it will get the worm to the bottom quickly through thick cover.  Heavier line to 18-pound test and a heavy action rod are required so that you can muscle fish out of weeds or fallen tree cover.  A 6- to 6 ½-foot baitcasting or spinning outfit will work with this application.

A needle-nosed or cone-shaped weight should fit tightly on top of the worm or slightly away from the head dependant upon conditions.  I like to place the weight against the head if I am fishing deep, thick cover.  I find that the worm cuts through the weeds and surface cover quickly, minimizing snags.  I will place the weight a quarter of an inch away from the head of the worm if the cover is not too dense.  I have found that using a toothpick will secure the weight to the line.  Just insert the toothpick into the lead head and snap off the excess.  The wood will expand in water making the fit tighter.  Placing the lead away from the worm allows a more fluid movement and gives the appearance that the worm is following something small.  Bass like to ambush other smaller fish or creatures when there are apparently chasing something else.  Your presentation should be hopped or dragged along the bottom and paused so that the fish can get a look at the offering.  Slow to moderate retrieval is best.  Set the hook with a firm upward movement, this will ensure a good hook set.

Carolina rigging is not so common here on Long Island but if you find yourself in an open water situation without too much cover (KentuckyLake is a perfect example) this method can prove very effective.  With a 7- or 7 ½-foot baitcasting rig, your main line can be as heavy as 20-pound test.  Rig a ½- or ¾-ounce ball or pear-shaped weight and attach a link swivel. In rough weather conditions you can upgrade your lead weight to 2 ounces if necessary.  (You may like to add a glass bead in between the weight and the swivel, which can be effective as a sound attractor, but I have often had fish bite the bead rather than the worm and so given false bite indication).  This will stop the weight from sliding down to the hook.  Next attach a length of lesser breaking strain line (12- to 15-pound test) to the swivel which will determine at what distance from the bottom you want your worm to rise and fall.  I like to use a four-foot length of line but dependant upon water depth and clarity you may decide to make the leader from 18 inches to six-foot in length.

Attach your hook dependent upon worm size (as mentioned above) and make your cast. The retrieve is slow and deliberate, dragging the weight along the bottom of the lake or pond.  Long agonizing pauses may also be necessary, waiting to feel for those tell tale tugs from hungry bass.  When you feel the resistance from a fish, your strike should be hard and to the side, not upward, as that can often pull the bait out of the fish’s mouth.  A sideways hook set will pull the bait into the corner of the mouth and your hook-up ratio is increased.

When Carolina rigging, you may also want to use a floating worm.  This is often used if there is structure on the bottom, which might snag the bait if dragged.  If you do, allow time for the worm to return to an upright position over the weight before beginning the retrieve.  Many other lures can be fished by this method.  I have Carolina rigged small crankbaits, floating rattletraps, and even jerkbaits with great success in open water.  

Tight Lines!

Charles “The Bass Doctor” Stuart.

Copyright (c) Charles Graham MacLeod-Stuart. Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no Invariant Sections, no Front-Cover Texts, and no Back-Cover Texts

Don’t get me wrong, I dearly love my time on the water with clients, but there are times….

I know that some of you out there have been thinking, I’ve got a boat, I’ve got fishing tackle, I know how to catch fish and I have free time, I know, I’ll start a guide service.

Well, it can be that easy, but you’ve got to remember that there’s more to guiding than having a boat and some fishing tackle.

First of all, you have to decide if you’re going to specialize in one species or are you going to be a multi-species guide. Specializing is easier, requiring less of an investment in both equipment and time. Are you going to guide on one body of water or fish “all over the place?” Fishing one body of water and/or one species, while making it easier on you (and cheaper too) does limit you. How you ask?

Well, if you spend any amount of time fishing, you know that any body of water will have hot streaks and then go cold. If you happen to have a guide job during the hot streak, life is good, but if that job comes when the lake has turned off, life as a guide can suck! That’s why I made the decision to fish different lakes as well as different species.

Now, if the fishing isn’t that great for walleyes on Lake X, we can go to Lake Y and fish for smallmouth. Sure, it involves more running around, more pre-fishing time, keeping tabs on more water, but when a client is paying you to put them on fish, shouldn’t you be doing everything possible for them?

All right, you’ve decided what you’re going to fish for, and on what lakes, what else is needed to start a guide service?

Well, take a good look at your boat. Is it really adequate? Is that boat large enough to safely carry you, a couple of clients, a cooler, all the tackle, bait, etc, etc? Is everything safe, operating at 100% and dependable? It has to be, or else you’re not giving the client his money’s worth. I’ve heard horror stories from clients about other guides and their equipment.

One guide showed up with a 14 foot rowboat and ancient outboard, to take 2 clients casting for muskies. They motored out onto the lake, where the guide disconnected his starting battery and hooked it to the trolling motor. After a day of fishing, and using the trolling motor, when they finally wanted to go home, the guide un-hooked the trolling motor and reconnected the starter. Guess what? They’d used the trolling motor so much that there wasn’t enough juice left to turn the motor over! The recoil starter on the outboard was broken as well so the guide and clients took turns rowing back to the landing.

So, take a good long, hard look at your boat and equipment. If you don’t think that it would pass a DNR or Coast Guard inspection, you’re going to have to invest in repairs and upgrades.

I started seriously guiding with a 16′ aluminum deep vee boat with a 40 hp outboard. It wasn’t long before I discovered that while this boat was fine for one client, it was way too small and underpowered for two clients with the type of fishing that I do. I upgraded to a 17 footer with a 75 hp outboard, and while it was better, it lacked the needed storage and was still a bit cramped when you have 12 inch muskie lures flying around. That boat was sold and my last guide boat was a 21′ Triton with a 225 hp Evinrude outboard. That boat had the room for safe casting, the necessary storage space and the horsepower to move the boat when it was loaded down with clients and gear.

As long as we’re talking big buck items, what about your tow vehicle? Is it dependable and safe as well? If you’re fishing one lake and you always plan on meeting your clients at the landing, it’s not as big of a deal, but if you run a service like I did, you’ll be traveling to various lakes in a three county area. I needed a safe, dependable, roomy and economical to operate tow vehicle.

My last (and current) truck was a 2006 Chevy Silverado 2500 HD 4×4 extended cab. I used to put 10,000 miles on a year towing my boat, carrying at least 2, sometimes 3 clients, so I needed something that got good fuel economy and had the room for my clients.

Now that you’ve gone through your boat, look at your tackle. Do you have quality, first rate rods and reels? Most times, the guide supplies all of the tackle, and believe me, it takes a lot of tackle. Gone are the days of going fishing with two or three rods and reels. You have to be prepared and anticipate the worst, because if you guide long enough, (take my word for it) you WILL have those days when you’ll wonder if you’ve got enough gear on board. I’ve had days when clients have broken rods, backlashed reels beyond any hope of picking the line clear and dropped/thrown rods and reels overboard, making me wonder if we were going to have any working tackle at the end of the day, and this is coming from a guy that goes out with a minimum of 18 rods and reels!!

Also, as long as we’re talking about tackle, how’s your lure selection? Gone are the days of going out with one of everything, now you’ve got to have at least 3 of everything. There will be days when one particular lure is the hot bait, and you’re going to have one P.O.’d client in the boat if his buddy is catching all the fish and he’s sitting there with egg on his face. So, you’re going to have to stock up, if you’ve decided that muskies are going to be your fish of choice, that gets expensive when you’re looking at $12 – $40 per lure. Heck, even if you’re guiding walleyes, it gets pricey. I’ve had days when we’ve gone through 100 jigs fishing a rocky shoreline for ‘eyes. That one particular spot is a great walleye magnet, but on each cast, if you don’t hook a fish, you’ve hooked bottom and that jig is gone. At a quarter a pop, that starts costing you too, but if that’s where the fish are, what are you going to do?

Good quality fishing line costs money too, you’re going to go through line at an alarming rate, making you wonder if you should buy stock in a line company. When you’re re-spooling a dozen or more reels several times a season, you’re talking about a fairly major expense as well. I buy PowerPro line in 1500 yard spools. That’s not cheap!

If you’re like me, you’ll cruise sporting goods stores/departments (driving your wife crazy in the process) looking for marked down or closeout items. I do this year round, stocking up in the winter and losing it all in the summer. But hey, if I can save a couple bucks, that’s what I’m going to do. Plan on spending a minimum of $20 every time you walk into a sporting goods store.

You also have to have quality life jackets in several sizes, as well as rain gear. I tell people that they need to dress for the weather and it never fails, they show up at the motel lobby or landing dressed for a trip to the mall, regardless of what the forecast shows. Again, the client is looking for a fun day of fishing, and they can’t do that when they’re soaked to the skin and cold. I suppose that if they’re not dressed right, you could just cut the day short, but I hate to do that to the client. So, I carry raingear in several sizes.

All right, now we’ve talked about the tow vehicle, the boat and the gear. So what else is there to get? Well bucko, there’s still licensing and insurance. The guide license for Wisconsin is easy to get, fill out an application, send in your money and that’s it, you’re a guide!  If you plan on guiding on a body of water that’s under Federal jurisdiction, now you have to have a Coast Guard Charter Captain’s License, and they are not cheap to get and the testing isn’t a walk in the park either!  But what about insurance? Let me say right now, if you guide for money and you don’t have guide insurance, you’re an IDIOT!!!

Think about it for a minute. You’ve got a client or two in the boat and these guys go fishing once or twice a year, so their sea legs are iffy at best. Now, you’re out there, it’s choppy, the boat is rocking and they’re casting large lures with three sets of razor sharp 5/0 treble hooks. What do you think the chances are for an accident of epic proportions are? Or how about this for a worst case scenario…

I heard about a guide that had taken two clients out on one of the Great Lakes, trolling for walleyes. This guide is good, with a 21 foot boat, designed for big water fishing. Well, they were into fish, not paying as much attention to the weather as they should have been. Before they knew it, a storm system had moved in on them and whipped the water into huge, dangerous waves. They pulled in the lines and were trying to make their way back to the harbor when they hit a wave wrong! One of the clients was washed overboard and ended up dying of hypothermia. Can you imagine the lawsuit? Now, still think that you don’t need insurance?

Don’t tell me that you’ve got boat insurance and that’s good enough, cuz I doubt it. I too had boat insurance, thinking that I was covered. But talking to my insurance agent, I found out that if you’re taking clients out for money, regular boating insurance won’t cover you. My premiums went from $118 a year to over $500! And you have to have liability and medical coverage, as well as insurance covering the boat and contents. You won’t believe how quickly those contents add up either. I estimate that I have well over $9,000 tied up in rods, reels, lures, locators and trolling motor.

All right, now you’ve got the tools for guiding, what’s next? You’ve got to have clients if you want this to be a money making proposition. That too takes time and money my friend. Gone are the days when you get some business cards printed up, put them in a couple bait/tackle shops and get clients. I’m not saying that this won’t work, just don’t expect to be very busy. Nope, in this day and age, you have to market yourself. This means building a website, a good one that will answer many of the client’s questions, make them want to book a trip with you, or at least contact you for additional information. This isn’t easy. Even if you have the most fantastic website on the net, just because you built it, that still doesn’t mean that the world will beat a path to your door. Do you have the skills and talent to design a well thought out and easy to navigate website?  If not, you’ll have to find someone to do that.  And no, you’re brother in law’s little brother isn’t going to cut it!  You need a professional site. and hosting.  That part is easy with 360 Site Design offering website design and hosting, but it’s still an annual expense that needs to be covered.

You should be doing things that get your name out in the world. That means doing things like this, writing articles for various publications, it means promoting your service through other places as well, maybe offering to do seminars for fishing clubs or tackle shops. This will help draw business. Probably one of the best methods for getting your name out is sport shows. But these are not cheap, you have to rent booth space, there’s travel expenses, lodging, meals, show displays, embroidered shirts, hats, etc, brochures to hand out, promotional items, etc, etc, etc. This can run into some major coin, but how busy do you want to be? If you’re hoping to do this full time, you’re going to have to do this and more. How much more is entirely up to you.

OK, now we’ve got the financial aspect more or less covered. Now think about the time you’re going to have to invest in guiding. You have to stay on top of the fish, so now you have to be out fishing, in all weather conditions, because again, you owe it to the clients to make their time on the water as productive as possible. You can’t pick and choose the weather that you’re going to fish in. It seems to never fail, the weather will be perfect for fishing, until the client gets into the boat, then a major cold front blows in. You won’t get a lot of repeat business if at the end of the day, all you have to show for your efforts is a lot of fresh air and a nice boat ride. So you have to be able to produce fish under all weather conditions and that my friend, isn’t easy. So even though it’s cold, raining, blowing and generally nasty and miserable, you have to be out there. That doesn’t sound like a big deal, but believe me, some days it is.

All right, that still doesn’t sound bad, and most times it’s not. But remember, there’s going to be times that you’re not feeling good, or the BIG GAME is on, or some friends want you to hang out and pop a couple of cold, frosty ones and you’ve GOT to go pre-fish for an upcoming job.

Then, you’ve got the clients themselves. 95% of my clients are great people, a joy to fish with but that remaining 5% will drive you nuts. There’s a reason that I have all of this gray hair and I can’t blame it all on my kids.

You have to have good people skills. It’s not enough that you’re a great angler, when you’re in the boat with a client, you have to wear many different hats. You have to be a teacher, a coach, a cheerleader, a story-teller, a stand up comic and sometimes even a marriage counselor! You won’t believe some of the conversations that I’ve had in the boat with clients. You hear all of their hopes, fears, aspirations and frustrations. You’ll hear about past successes and comparisons to “Guide Joe”. It doesn’t matter that Guide Joe was guiding them on a Canadian Fly In and that the walleyes were hitting anything that moved. Now you’re fishing cold front conditions in August, with jet skis, water skiers, pontoon boats ripping around the lake with bright sunny skies and a 20 degree temperature drop, they caught walleyes throwing shallow running crankbaits and “ripped them up.” “Why aren’t we throwing Rapalas?” “Guide Joe said that Rapalas were the best walleye lure ever made!” Try to explain that they were fishing pre-spawn walleyes in shallow water and now you’re trying to dredge up inactive fish in 25 feet of water, they won’t believe you, because “Guide Joe said….”

You’ll find out that there’s people out there that you could actually, cheerfully pitch overboard. I had one client that when he missed a nice muskie because he didn’t believe in figure 8’s and didn’t do one when the fish hit at boatside, started cussing a blue streak and threw a St. Croix rod and Ambassaduer 6500 reel just as far as he could. As I watched the rod disappear in 20 – 30 feet of water, knowing that there was no way I’d ever find it, I couldn’t believe my eyes. The client refused to reimburse me for the rod, demanding that I give him another rod and reel! That was the only time that I returned to the landing and demanded that he GET OUT OF THE BOAT NOW!

Guide long enough and you’ll find out that catching fish is actually a small part of guiding. I know some anglers that even though they make unbelievable catches, I wouldn’t want them to guide me, because their people skills suck. Conversation while fishing? Forget it, you’ve got to catch that fish. Tell a joke or get them to crack a smile? No way Jose. Miss a fish and get bitched at. Not exactly what I would call an enjoyable day. Nope, you’ve got to keep the clients spirits up during those fishless times, telling jokes, stories of past successes and failures, make small talk that shows you’re interested in their lives, all the while trying to figure out a pattern that will start producing fish.

You’ll have to be able to teach your clients to cast, retrieve and explain what the feel of a walleye picking up a jig in 20 feet of water feels like. You have to be able to cheer them up when they just screwed up on the fish of a lifetime, answer questions about anything and everything while controlling the boat, ducking lures, re-tying lures, re-baiting hooks, again still thinking of the next move in your fishing plan.

But, for the most part, my clients are great people. Many of the clients have become close friends, some to the point that I feel odd taking their money. I get Christmas cards, birthday cards, invitations to family functions, their or their children’s weddings and the like. It’s people like this that kept me coming back, season after season.

I loved the look on a client’s face when they hooked into their first muskie, when that big smallmouth lept from the water 10 feet from the boat. I lovee to see the closeness that developed between a father and his child as they shared a common experience. One of the best feelings in the world for me was at the end of the day, a client told me, “Thanks Steve, I had a great day and I really learned a lot about fishing today.” That was a reward that I couldn’t put a price on.

I’ve just briefly touched on the high points of guiding, there’s still the pricing, covering expenses, bookkeeping, records, etc. Remember, you can’t price yourself so high that people can’t afford you, but you still have to cover your expenses, plus make a decent hourly wage. Don’t think that you’ll ever get rich being a guide, “cuz it ain’t gonna happen.” Heck, when you get right down to it, you could probably make more money flippin burgers at McDonald’s!

But, if you think that you have the time, money, ability, people skills and the mental toughness to put it all together, become a fishing guide. You’ll find out real quick if you’ve got what it takes.

I don’t mean to scare you off if you’re considering becoming a guide, I just want you to benefit from my experience and go into this venture with your eyes wide open. If you’re considering this, feel free to contact me, I’ll give you all the help I can. Just don’t expect me to tell you my good spots…

So what do you do?  Well once again, you must turn to your understanding of the bass and its lifestyle during these “lean months”.  When I use the word lean, I am referring to the food chain which can be drastically reduced by the elements.  Exceptionally cold weather can kill smaller fish and aquatic life leaving the bass only a limited diet for three or four months.  You will often hear bass fishermen talking about the “big feed” prior to winter, when bass will eat anything and everything to carry them through to spring.

Bait selection at this time is critical.  In very cold water, a bass will move only a minimal distance for food.  The bait of choice has to be something that is equal or greater than the energy expended.

Compare your own lifestyle during the winter months, you store up food and fuel for the winter to avoid unnecessary trips to the store.  And you really hate clearing the driveway and brushing the snow off your vehicle if it’s not absolutely necessary, correct?  Well it’s the same for a bass.  Why should the fish dash around for small items of food when it will not compensate for the energy expended to chase down and catch it?

The use of large, slow moving baits is the key.  Don’t be afraid to throw 10-inch or 12-inch plastics, like the new Uncle Josh™ “Incredible Creature™” and “Incredible Lizard™” range of lures, where you once threw a 4-inch offering.  Slowly retrieve these baits, inching them back to shore. Large jigs tipped with 3- or 4-inch pork trailers maneuvered in a similar fashion will produce fish, you just have to be patient.

During summer, that smaller bait should be in and out of the water in thirty seconds.  However, with the winters’ climactic changes, you must now leave the larger bait in the water for as long as three minutes!  A good tip here is to keep your baits warm.  I place a few imitations into a plastic bag and keep them in my pocket.  This keeps the bait flexible and will work well in frigid water temperatures.  Remember small attention to details like that will separate you from the rest of the fishermen, and you will catch more fish.  The key to winter bass fishing is patience.

That’s not an easy thing for my fellow Bassers!  But you should give it a try.

Bring some hot coffee and plenty of food for your energy.  Remember to dress in layers.  Hypothermia is very nasty and is a condition, from first hand experience, I do not recommend!

Tight Lines!

Charles “The Bass Doctor” Stuart

Copyright (c) Charles Graham MacLeod-Stuart. Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no Invariant Sections, no Front-Cover Texts, and no Back-Cover Texts

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I had discovered a small army of largemouth bass under two trees and decided to hang my hat on them, staying there for the next few weeks, supplying me with enough fish to win this tournament.  Sadly when I went there the week prior, they had vanished!

Finding fish, losing fish, finding them again, and then needing to find more fish, in case they disappear on me again during the tournament is part and parcel of the tournament “game”!

To try and get to the root of this emotional rollercoaster, I began reflecting on the past and what had happened to get me where I am today and why.

After many years club fishing in New York and then onto the Redman (BFL), Bassmasters, Foxwoods and the ABC circuits in America, you would have thought that events such as the Canadian CFT would be “business as usual”, but it was just not the case.

Truth is I don’t think I have ever not had the pre tournament jitters since 1997, when this crazy world of bass fishing entered my life at the professional level.

The start of my “downfall” was having convinced myself during 2002/2003 season that while I may be getting older, I was now so much wiser!  I was sure that my game plans were solid and I had plenty of self confidence to go around, not only for myself, but also my non boater partner each day.  However nothing could have been further from the truth.  It is amazing how the fisherman’s brain, can convince its owner that bass were drawn to my lures like a magnet and that I could do no wrong!

I do admit that during the latter part of 2003, I found the mystical “Zone” that some anglers talk about, but had not come my way until that season .  This is a very special place and I know a few who have found it, but like me, lost it again just as quickly.

It is difficult to explain, but it is almost like having a sixth sense.  So much so that I could predict a fish location and how it would bite, before I even cast my line into the water.

Finding the “Zone”  is one thing, keeping it however, is an entirely different matter!

I took almost all of 2004 off from fishing.  Personal health and changes in my life had taken me from the US (where I had lived and worked for almost 20 years), to Canada.  Here I began my life over again and almost had to re-invent myself and my mind set, for fishing.

I have searched to locate my “Zone” here in Canada, but I have not found it yet.  I have to admit that I envy the Rick Clunns and Kevin Van Dams of this world, who can remain in the zone for months, sometimes years, with their tenacity and the uncanny ability to locate fish in places, where you and I would may not even give the same location a second glance!

So what do we mere mortal anglers do when this situation comes along?  How do we cope knowing that such a place exists and even worse for those of us who have seen the magic, but somehow lost it on the drive home!

Yogi Berra the great Yankee player/manager once said of baseball that 90% of the game is 100% mental.  When I first heard it, I laughed at the comment as many others did, but on reflection, the man was a genius!

If you cannot get you head around the seasonal changes, the water conditions and the natural food source that your target species forage on, how can you expect to catch fish on a consistent basis?  Like baseball, football or hockey, if you do not know your adversary, how do you expect to win the game?

Similar to reading a book, a fishing location tells a different story to different people.  For example, I can fish a particular location with a worm and hook up with  five 2 lb. fish for the day without too much effort.  They may not be the winning weight, but I have achieved the goal of the day.  Now another angler could pull into that same spot 10 minutes after I leave, not even knowing I had been there and cast a jig into the same location, pull out five 3 lb. fish and have the winning weight.

So my question is why could he do that and not me?

Basically, that angler looked at the location in a totally different way than I did.  We both knew the fish would bite, but my mistake would have been to target the entire group, rather than the larger fish that lurked a little deeper, or required a presentation of more substance.  Sounds simple eh? All you have to do is understand the environment in which your fish lives and keep your mind in the “Zone”.

Tight Lines!

Charles “The Bass Doctor” Stuart.

Copyright (c) Charles Graham MacLeod-Stuart. Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no Invariant Sections, no Front-Cover Texts, and no Back-Cover Texts
 

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