Learning Fishing Tips From Magazines and A West Point Tournament

I grew up reading the big three outdoor magazines of the time: Outdoor Life, Sports Afield and Field and Stream.  At one time I had every copy of all three from 1964 until about 2000.  Those magazines made me want to catch salmon in an Alaska stream and shoot doves in Argentina.

Sometimes an article applied directly to this country Georgia boy. I distinctly remember a tip that redwing blackbirds often lit in bushes hanging over the water and watched a bass under them, expecting the bass to injure a minnow the bird could than eat.

A few days later while fishing Harrison’s Pond with my trusty Mitchell 300 and a Devil’s Horse, I saw a redwing blackbird sitting on a small bush growing from the top of a stump about 40 feet off the bank.  It took me a couple of cast to place the Devil’s Horse perfectly and bring it by the stump, but I got an explosive strike from a nice two-pound bass.

More recently I had gotten my fishing stuff ready for a Jackson night tournament and was killing time waiting to leave. I read an online report on an Arkansas lake.  It said the bass were hitting a jig and pig at night.

I went out and tied one on for the tournament.  At midnight I had not caught a fish and had just two hours left to fish.  Remembering the article and jig, I picked it up and started casting it to a rocky point. I landed five bass on it in the next hour and won the tournament.

The big three magazines were national and covered everything about the outdoors. Then around my senior year in high school, 1968, I heard about a new group that published a magazine. But it was different. The Bass Anglers Sportsman Society (BASS) was nothing but black bass fishing.

Youth nowadays have almost unlimited information available to them and many of them take advantage of it. Some college bass fishermen have more bass fishing knowledge than I have accumulated in 65 years of bass fishing.  They constantly study and read about bass fishing.

I share recaps of my tournament here and hope they help fishermen catch fish.  Sometimes another fisherman sharing what they catch fish on and how they are caught is a big help. For the same reason I post a variety of fishing reports on my web site. You never know where or when a tip may help you in the future.

I hope somehow my reports help you catch a bass!

—–

I wish I had read something or heard something to help me at West Point last weekend!  That lake has been my bane this year in tournaments, finishing near the bottom in Potato Creek and a Sportsman Club tournaments in February.

Last Sunday 12 members and guests fished from 6:30 AM to 3:00 PM to land 40 bass weighing about 40 pounds at West Point. There were four five-bass limits and one person didn’t weigh in a fish.

Raymond English won with five weighing 10.31 pounds and got big fish with a 2.59 pounder. Second went to Billy Roberts with five at 6.33 pounds, third was Lee Hancock with five at 5.30 pounds and Jay Gerson was fourth with five weighing 4.97 pounds. My four weighing 4.69 pounds was fifth, one place out of the money again!

Before the tournament Lee said a big tournament there the day before produced a winning weight of 18 pounds.  He asked “How do they do that?”  I told him I thought they ran way up the river and threw topwater frogs around grass and other shallow cover, working hard all day for five bites from quality largemouth. I also said I could not fish like that anymore, my old body won’t let me.

Instead I tend to fish memories, trying to catch fish in the same places and the same ways I caught them the same time of year in the past.  Sometimes it kinda works.

After a club member helped me launch my boat and I sat waiting on blastoff Sunday morning, the fairly strong wind make me change my plans.  I knew the wind would be blowing right into three rocky points down the lake where I caught fish two weeks ago, usually a good thing. I decided to start there rather than a place upstream I originally planned to go.

Wind was blowing into the points and a crow walking the edge of the water, looking for shad I thought, made me think I had made a good decision. I quickly missed a bite on topwater and picked up a Carolina rig and landed a 11.9-inch spot. Not a keeper.

And it was the only bite I got until I ran back up the lake to where I planned to start at 9:00. I finally caught three fish on a shaky head worm on rocky points and one on a whacky rigged worm under a dock.

I hooked exactly five bass all day!  I just could not catch that fifth keeper.

St Croix Rods Customer Appreciation Day Is Saturday, June 21



 

PRE-REGISTER TO ATTEND CAD IN PERSON Join Us in Celebration of Anglers and Angling at One of the World’s Most-Unique Fishing Events2025 St. Croix Customer Appreciation Day Planned for June 21


PARK FALLS, Wis. (May 7, 2025) – St. Croix Rod invites anglers to join in celebration of fishing at its 2025 Customer Appreciation Day, Saturday, June 21 at the St. Croix Factory in Park Falls, Wisconsin.
 
Customer Appreciation Day continues to evolve and grow, but the event’s identity and purpose remain the same. It’s a chance for the St. Croix Rod and SEVIIN Reels Teams to express thanks to our anglers while celebrating our collective passion for fishing. “We provide the setting for our team members to spend a really fun day serving and interacting with thousands of visiting anglers, and the dynamic takes over from there,” says Jesse Simpkins, St. Croix Vice President of Marketing. “Each year we provide more opportunities and new experiences for both in-person and online participants as well. It’s a special day our entire team looks forward to every year.”
 
Visiting anglers look forward to the event as well. “We have anglers who make the trip to Customer Appreciation Day in Park Falls every year, plus hundreds of new visitors each year,” says St. Croix Vice President of Sales, Steve Self. “They come from all over the country and from overseas, too.”

 Anglers attending Customer Appreciation Day are part of the St. Croix Family and experience something no other rod manufacturer offers on such a personal level. This year’s event will include multiple opportunities to learn about the rod-building process, informative fishing seminars from St. Croix pros, casting demonstrations, a free lunch provided by Johnsonville, prize drawings, free line winding, and – of course – a variety of special, one-day-only deals on St. Croix rods, special limited-edition combos, SEVIIN reels, tackle, and apparel, which are available both in-person and online.
 
2025 St. Croix Customer Appreciation Day Activities
 
Rod Building  – Learn the process of how St. Croix Rods are handcrafted. Multiple stations will be set up for you to see an abbreviated example of how our rods are built. Included in this will be a live rod winding demonstration.
 
 SEVIIN Tent – See how we engineer and test our reels. We put them through more than 15 grueling tests with thousands of reps to make sure your time on the water is fun and productive!
 Fishing Seminars – Gain fishing knowledge and up your game on the water. We have a full day of informative presentations – in person and live streamed – presented by St. Croix and SEVIIN Pro Staff. Learn from these elite anglers and have fun doing it. The current schedule includes seminars from Al and James Lindner, Bassmaster Elite angler Pat Schlapper, Brian “Bro” Brosdahl, and Joel Nelson, as well as a second-annual in-depth musky seminar delivered by a panel of the Northwoods’ top musky anglers. Seminars will be livestreamed on St. Croix’s YouTube channel and Facebook page.

 Special CAD-Only Deals  at the St. Croix Factory Store – CAD attendees and virtual participants will enjoy exceptional one-day-only deals on a huge selection of various St. Croix rods, special combos, gear, and limited-edition St. Croix CAD apparel. In addition to regular items, all CAD deals and special offers will be available online at stcroixrodfactorystore.com the day of the event.

Partner Vendors
While the people of St. Croix and SEVIIN host CAD, the event is enriched by the presence and participation of a variety of other great companies from within the fishing industry, including Rapala, Daiwa, Stormy Kromer, Walleye-X, and others.

Giveaways
Anglers attending CAD in-person are automatically registered for three huge prize drawings! All prize drawings will take place at 1:30PM after the seminars.

BassmastHERCreated by B.A.S.S., BassmastHER is a support system for education, travel, inspiration, and more to the passionate community of female anglers. Meet BassmastHER Ambassador, Maggie Jo Carsello, a fishing influencer and tournament angler from Madison, Wisconsin with the goal of inspiring women to claim their space on the water.
Improve Your Casting – Spincasting, spinning, baitcasting, or even fly casting, learn the proper technique from our team members with the latest St. Croix rods and SEVIIN reels at the onsite casting pond.
 
 Free Johnsonville Lunch – We’re always working to deliver our anglers the upper hand, and a full stomach! Our friends from Johnsonville will be here to help celebrate our anglers with premium Johnsonville brats and hot dogs!

 Free Line Winding – Anglers who pick up a deal on a combo or a reel at CAD can have the reel spooled with line at no cost (available to in-person CAD attendees only), courtesy of St. Croix, SEVIIN, and the University of Wisconsin Fishing Team!

 Warranty Service – If you’re visiting Customer Appreciation Day on June 21, here’s your chance to save time and money by getting your warranty claim processed in advance of your visit. Pre-register your warranty claim HERE before 5:00PM Central Time on Friday June 13. Bring your broken rod to the Warranty Tent at Customer Appreciation Day, pay a $30 In-Person Warranty Fee (half of our Standard $60 Warranty Fee) and pick up your rod!

Meet the St. Croix and SEVIIN Teams – At least 32 sets of hands come in contact with a St. Croix rod before it ever reaches yours, and there are a whole lot more that help design them and bring them to market. Meet the St. Croix and SEVIIN team members who share a passion for crafting the “Best Rods on Earth,” as well as a passion for fishing that matches your own. They talk a lot about the what’s and how’s of making rods and reels, but most of them really just want to talk about fishing and swap stories!

 Plan Your Trip and Stay Up to Date
 
Anglers can learn more and stay up to date with St. Croix’s 2025 Customer Appreciation Day event by following St. Croix on Facebook and Instagram, or by checking back regularly at stcroixrods.com.
 
For all kinds of great ideas, information, and assistance in planning your travel to Northern Wisconsin, visit the Travel Wisconsin website.

About St. Croix Rod
Headquartered in Park Falls, Wisconsin, St. Croix has been proudly producing the “Best Rods on Earth” for over 75 years. Combining state-of-the-art manufacturing processes with skilled craftsmanship, St. Croix is the only major American rod company to still build rods entirely from design through manufacturing. The company remains family-owned while owning and operating duplicate manufacturing facilities in Park Falls, Wisconsin and Fresnillo, Mexico. With popular trademarked series such as Legend®, Avid®, Premier®, Imperial®, Triumph®, Mojo, and BASS X, St. Croix is revered by all types of anglers from around the world. The St. Croix Family of Brands includes St. Croix Rod, SEVIIN Reels, St. Croix Fly, and Rod Geeks.
 

Lake Hartwell Treated Me Wrong For the Fourth Year In A Row Two Years Ago

And it continued last year and again this year, although i did get big fish this year with a pretty 6.8 pounder!!

I seem to have a special jinx on Lake Hartwell. Last weekend, for the fourth Potato Creek Bassmasters tournament in a row, I came in one place out of winning some money. Every year I seem to come up just a little short. Last weekend was especially close.

In 17 hours of casting last Friday and Saturday 11 members of the club landed 91 keeper bass weighing about 142 pounds. There were 16 five bass limits in the two days and no one zeroed.

Glen Anderson won with ten bass weighing 21.37 pounds and Mitchell Cardell was second with ten at 18,64 pounds.  Third place went to Kwong Yu with eight bass weighing 17.12 pounds and his 5.31 pounder was big fish. Raymond English came in fourth with ten at 16.27 pounds.

I caught ten weighing 16.13 pounds for fifth. The club pays the top four places.

I camped at Hartwell State Park at exit 1 off I-85 in South Carolina, only 11.8 miles from the tournament ramp.  It was very peaceful and quiet until Saturday when some folks came to the site beside me. They had two dogs that barked constantly.

In practice I tried to find some kind of pattern but caught only a few small fish. And in the tournament, I never got on any kind of pattern.  On Friday I caught one on an underspin off a bridge piling, two on a Carolina rig on a gravel bank, and two on a whacky rigged worm on docks. 

On Saturday I saw some fish schooling on top and missed two on topwater but landed one on a Sebile swim bait.  Later I got two on a Carolina Rig on a rocky point, one on a shaky head on a rock pile and one on the whacky rig. Both days I landed my fifth keeper with less than 30 minutes to fish. 

My biggest fish was a pretty spot but it weighed only about 2.5 pounds. Both days my smallest fish were skinny spots that weighed less than a pound.  I just could not get a bigger bass to help out my weight.

Well, there is always next weekend and next year!

The Finest Four Weeks For Walleye Fishing Start In Early May In Michigan

The Finest Four Weeks

  • By The Fishing Wire

From now through early June is arguably the best stretch to score walleyes on northern natural lakes

By Jim Edlund

Muskegon, MI – Spring is here – and with it, great Walleye Belt opportunities to put the smackdown on marble-eyes, which are more easily caught during this period than throughout much of the remaining seasons.

While walleye season openers vary from state to state (some states remain open year ‘round), early-season walleye behavior is similar wherever you fish, following their annual spawning rite that occurs when water temperatures are between 42- and 50-degrees accompanied by the right length of day and night (photoperiod).

First, following the spawn, male walleyes will stay in relative proximity to shallow spawning sites up to the first major breakline for up to a month, feeding opportunistically. Contrary to belief, they are not guarding the spawn site; neither male nor female accompany the biological mass after the spawning process. After quickly depositing their eggs, female walleyes vacate to recuperate in nearby, deeper water, a process that can take days to weeks, only feeding when the meal is easy.

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The Finest Four Weeks 1

However, combine something like a simultaneous spot-tail shiner spawn in the same locations and you’ll find a mix of both smaller males and good-sized females ready to feed after the metabolic drain of the spawn. Match the hatch? You bet. In many places (like Minnesota) the most popular live bait for early-season walleyes are spot-tail shiners presented on jigs. They aren’t cheap, but can literally be worth their weight in gold. Of course, you can also trap/seine your own to save money, but make sure you pay attention to AIS and legal restrictions before doing so, especially when it comes to transporting your own trapped bait. 

What makes for a good spawning site?

A good walleye spawn site typically comprises gravel substrate that the eggs easily cling to and provide the space for current or wind action to fertilize the eggs once the males deposit their milt. Rivers, streams, and creeks attached to main lakes are all good walleye spawn locations (and the areas surrounding), as are windswept shores, banks, and points or reefs on lakes lacking tributaries in and out that walleyes can utilize.

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The Finest Four Weeks 2

Location

Focus on the aforementioned areas whether you’re in waders, on the bank, or in a boat. Gravel shorelines are a no-brainer and farther out, emerging weed beds in 3-12 feet of water are often gangbusters with post-spawn walleyes. Windblown shorelines, too, can be key, where wind stirs up the bottom, attracts baitfish, and brings in hungry fish. Especially as weeks progress following the spawn, start fishing a bit deeper on the sand flats, targeting both sides of the first break or any bottom transition areas of sand to rock or mud to gravel.

Presentations

Given predominant post-spawn water temps under 55-degrees, slower presentations often work best. A simple jig and minnow is a mainstay – especially with a spot-tail shiner – but you can also catch fish on other types of minnows or a soft plastic fluke or paddle tail, as well as classic hair jigs. Just don’t overwork your presentation, carefully making bottom contact and hopping or twitching the bait with a slow cadence. Given depths under 10-feet for much of the period, 1/8- to 1/4-ounce jigs are most often used. A lot of anglers prefer longer shank jigs with a bait keeper for hooking and keeping expensive shiners pinned.

Although jig and meat or plastic get the most play, don’t overlook stickbaits like X-Raps, original floating minnow Rapala, Mad Scientist Tackle Predator Jerkbaits, Husky Jerks or Storm Thundersticks – actually, anything with a long, minnow profile. Especially fished in lowlight or at night, walleyes will crush minnow-shaped crankbaits, which emulate what they’re eating – typically spawning spot-tail shiners or young-of-the-year perch. 

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The Finest Four Weeks 3

Power Hours & Technology

While you can catch post-spawn fish during calm and sunny conditions, you’ll need to keep your distance to prevent spooking them. In clear waters, fish can often be spotted via polarized sunglasses, but that usually means you’re too close. This is where technology comes in. 

Sure, you can use forward-facing sonar, but with walleyes hugging bottom in most of these shallow areas, you’ll want to switch your transducer to landscape mode rather than forward. 

Side Imaging is really the ticket when locating walleyes on large shallow flats. Look for smaller pods of fish between a couple and a dozen and they’ll most likely be walleyes. Drop a waypoint, creep up with your trolling motor on low, and start casting from as far away as possible. If you spot larger schools of fish, say, 20-50 fish in groups, chances are you’re looking at suckers and it’s best to move on and keep covering water. 

To further optimize your time on the water, fish early morning, evening, night, and during windy/overcast conditions. And given these conditions, don’t be afraid to fish really shallow – as in right near shore up to about four feet. If there’s one thing anglers have learned over past decades, it’s that there are a lot more walleyes up shallow than we ever thought. With natural lakes coming alive with weed growth, all kinds of biological matter stirred up by wind, and the presence of baitfish – if the minnows are in skinny water during this time, the walleyes will be, too. 

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The Finest Four Weeks 4

The Right Stuff

When picking out a rod and reel from the garage for early-season walleyes, it’s best to keep things on the light side. A medium-light power, fast or extra-fast action, 6’8” to 7’2” rod is perfect, typically paired with a 2500 or 3000 size reel for long casts. 

I’m a big fan of the budget-friendly DAIWA TD Eye paired with a 2500-size DAIWA TATULA MQ LT spooled with 10-pound braid and a 10-pound fluorocarbon leader. If fish are super shallow, I’ll carry the same rod with a 1000 size TATULA spooled with 6-pound monofilament and tie my jig direct, the buoyancy of mono providing some extra loft to 1/16- or 1/8-ounce jigs in such skinny water.  

Take Home

The bounty of shallow, early-season walleyes in natural lakes doesn’t last long – about a month after the spawn, so best get while the getting’s good. Following this period, you’ll notice fish on or past that first breakline, and fish behavior and subsequent presentations need to be changed. So, have fun during the month of May, keeping mind of lake-to-lake slot limits, regulations, and walleye year class densities to determine what you keep for the fryer. 

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The Finest Four Weeks 5

SPRING WALLEYE GEAR from WHITEWATER

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The Finest Four Weeks 6

NEW Riparian Jacket FEATURES:

The Riparian™ Jacket is a hardworking, two-layer rain jacket built for ultimate weather protection. Constructed from tough mini-ripstop stretch nylon with a smooth polyester lining, it’s designed for durability and easy on-and-off wear. A dual storm flap design, combined with a waterproof, windproof laminate, and fully taped seams, forms an impenetrable barrier against the elements. The three-piece hood features multiple adjustment points for a customized fit, while hook-and-loop cuff closures help lock out rain. Strategically placed reflective tape ensures visibility in low-light conditions. AquaGuard® zippered handwarmer pockets keep your hands dry, while two chest and two waist pockets offer ample storage for gear. A heavy-duty D-ring provides a secure attachment point for your safety kill switch cord, making the Riparian™ Jacket a reliable companion for any storm.

MSRP $269.99

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The Finest Four Weeks 7

NEW Riparian Bib FEATURES:

The Riparian™ Bib features adjustable suspenders with a silicone grip-enhanced design and low-profile buckles ensure a secure fit, so you can focus on the catch not your gear slipping. Constructed from durable mini-ripstop stretch nylon with a smooth polyester lining, these bibs offer flexibility and comfort, while leg zippers make them easy to slip on and off. A dual storm flap design on the main front center zip, along with a waterproof laminate, fully taped seams, and zipper storm flaps, creates an impenetrable barrier against wind and rain. AquaGuard® zippered handwarmer pockets provide a dry refuge for cold fingers or a secure place to store your belongings. Multiple reflective tape placements on the back and chest enhance visibility from all angles. Two spacious cargo pockets on the legs provide ample storage for essentials such as your phone, keys, or an extra pair of gloves, ensuring everything you need is within easy reach. The two Velcro waist adjustments allow you to dial in the fit for maximum comfort and secure wear throughout the day.

MSRP $269.99

About Whitewater

Whitewater performance fishing apparel gives anglers distinct advantages whenever Mother Nature’s unpredictability conspires to ruin angling adventures. Whether faced with wind, rain, snow, sun, or extreme temperatures, Whitewater apparel equips anglers with the ability and confidence to overcome the elements, so they apply their focus and energies on fighting fish, not the conditions. Whitewater is a brand by Nexus Outdoors, headquartered in Muskegon, Michigan, USA. Learn more and order at whitewaterfish.com.

Gun Safety Means Handling A Gun Correctly Not Restricting Law Abiding Citizens’ Civil Rights

Gun safety does not mean what gun banners try to make it mean. It is not about restricting civil rights!

Griffin Daily News headline: “Democrats call for special session to address gun safety laws.”  Anytime you hear “gun safety laws” you can be sure the truth is “laws that restrict the civil rights of law-abiding citizens but do nothing to stop criminals.” 

    Each time a mentally ill person uses a gun illegally, the Brady “ban guns” Bunch sends out a fund raising email within minutes.  They hype all kinds of new laws and beg for money to lobby for their passage.

Many times I have responded to their emails asking “Please tell me exactly how your proposed new law would have affected this crime.”  One time I got a response referring me to one of their lobbying groups but when I asked that group I got no response. I have never gotten any answer to my question.

The reason they don’t respond is they can’t.  Their proposed laws often have nothing to do with the crime they are hyping, and nothing they propose would make a difference.

The hype de jour is “ban assault weapons.” That was tried for ten years under the Clinton administration. Contrary to lies by gun banners, if you go to unbiased sources, it had no measurable effect.

From https://www.propublica.org/article/fact-checking-feinstein-on-the-assault-weapons-ban: “There is no compelling evidence that it saved lives,” Duke University public policy experts Philip Cook and Kristin Goss wrote in their book “The Gun Debate: What Everyone Needs to Know.”

If their ultimate goal is to outlaw all gun ownership, and a few admit it is, they should propose a law to do that.  Of course that would be unconstitutional and would be about as effective as the current ban on heroin or the experience we had with banning alcohol during Prohibition.

Just know “gun safety” means handling a gun correctly, not restricting law abiding citizens’ civil rights.

Consider Rivers from North to South: The First Choice for Early Spring Fishing

If You Are A Walleye Fisherman, Consider Rivers from North to South: The First Choice for Early Spring Fishing

The great thing about fishing is that it can be done anywhere with water, from farm ponds to oceans and everything in between, including flowing rivers and streams. Fishing for many species in the current offers a great chance to catch more predictable fish as they use the current to find forage.

For those in the northern region, it also offers the first chance to launch the boat in open water, and for those further south, it’s a great opportunity to catch grouped-up springtime fish. That’s why a Wisconsin guide primarily targeting walleye in the early spring, Troy Peterson, and a bass fishing champion from Alabama, Dustin Connell, can find common ground in their love for springtime river fishing.

A First Chance at Open Water

After a long and cold winter, things are warming up slightly in the North Woods. Many of the lakes still have a covering of ice, but the rivers are free and clear, meaning it’s time to launch the boat for the first time of the year. This is the scenario Troy Peterson finds himself in currently, and he’s ready to target walleye on the Fox and Wolf rivers.

“We have two main river systems here, the Fox River near Green Bay, which is a destination for trophy walleye, and the Wolf, which is more for your ‘eater’ size walleye, and we fish them both this time of year,” he said. “The best days are sunny days when those fish move up super shallow. We throw a lot of hair jigs tipped with plastic or fathead minnow, blade baits, and Rippin’ Rap-style baits and try to make a lot of noise.”

After a long winter, many of these walleyes are hungry and can be fairly predictable in their locations, but Peterson also utilizes his electronics to find them.

“That shallow water warms up quicker, and on sunny days, they are up shallow. During low light conditions, we’re looking for transitions and targeting the deep holes adjacent to shallow sand flats. I’m talking a foot or two of water at times,” he said. “A lot of those places will be on the bends of the river, inside bends where the current wraps around and creates a little bit of an eddy and some slack water. We also use side imaging quite a bit because there are so many places these fish can be, and you won’t be able to see them without electronics because of how shallow they can be at times.”

Once he locates a good fish population, Peterson finds that they are typically ready to bite, but he adds that presentation is key for targeting these fish.

“Usually, if you throw something in their face, they are going to have no problem eating it,” he said. “The issue with fishing in the river is the heavy current, which can put a big bow in your line, and you can’t present a bait properly. That’s why your line diameter is so important.”

His line of choice is a 12 lb Seaguar PEX8 braid, a micro-thin JDM braided line, and he goes against the trend of braid to a fluorocarbon leader and uses a straight braided line. “It’s so thin that you can get away without a leader and tie directly to your bait, and they can’t see it,” he said. “The ultra-thin diameter of that line is great for cutting the current and allows you to make extremely long casts, whether vertically jigging or just casting hair jigs or blade baits. That gives you a better connection for a proper presentation, which is critical.”

Connell’s Simple Approach to Rivers in the Spring

Two-time Major League Fishing REDCREST Champion Dustin Connell has racked up wins on various fisheries, but at heart, he’s a ‘river rat’ from his bass fishing upbringing. His 2024 REDCREST triumph was on the current-influenced Lay Lake in Alabama, and he’s fished the famed Coosa River his entire life. This has taught him plenty about catching bass in moving water, and he says the spring months are an outlier compared to the rest of the year.

“The biggest thing with river fishing is understanding how the current is running, but spring is the only time when you want to get out of the current,” he said. “You can still catch them in current seams and pockets, but around the spawn is the only time they are not right in the current. It doesn’t matter how nice the water looks; they are probably not in it like any other time of the year. But, when they are done spawning, they’ll be right back in it again.”

With this in mind, Connell approaches a river system more like he does a lake. “It’s a three-pronged approach for me that’s pretty simple,” he said. “I like a ½ ounce jig, a big spinnerbait, and something on the bottom like a drop-shot or shaky head. That will work for you in the spring anywhere on the Tennessee River lakes, the Coosa River chain, the Alabama River, or anywhere you are fishing with current during the spring.”

A tried-and-true jig is a simple bait Connell uses for its versatility on river systems. “I can fish current seams with it, I can fish rock piles, and I can pitch to laydowns with that same jig,” he said. “The spinnerbait is another important tool because it works well in dirtier water, which happens all the time on river systems with spring rains. For both the jig and spinnerbait, I fish them on 17 lb Seaguar InvizX fluorocarbon; it’s so strong and casts great with either bait, much better than it will with 20 lb test.”
Finally, Connell says you can’t fish a river system in the spring without something fished along the bottom. His top picks are two finesse rigs, a shaky head, and a drop shot.

“All winter long, the bass are out suspended and chasing bait, and it’s like they say, ‘I need to sit down now,’ and start relating to the bottom more,” Connell theorized. “A perfect bait for targeting stump flats, gravel bottom, seawalls, or even bedding fish is with a finesse worm and a shaky head. I will use that and a drop-shot to slow down and pick apart that cover and throw both on a 21 lb Seaguar PEX8 braid with a 12 lb Seaguar Tatsu fluorocarbon leader; it’s the perfect setup of a thin line that casts great with plenty of strength.”

Fishing a river system is a great way to cash in on some great early spring fishing, whether for walleyes in Wisconsin or bass in Alabama and throughout the Southeast. Moving water of all forms is ideal for all predatory species, and right now is a perfect time to fish them.

Seaguar PEX8 is a micro-thin braid in high-visibility Passion Pink imported from Japan. It is available in 200 meter (219-yard) spools in sizes ranging from 12 to 33 lb tests. (Please check line diameter closely.)

Seaguar InvizX Fluorocarbon mainline is available from 4 to 25 lb tests on 200-, 600-, and 1000-yard spools.

Seaguar Tatsu Fluorocarbon mainline is available from 4 to 25 lb tests on 200- and 1,000-yard spools.

Seaguar Gold Label Fluorocarbon leader is available in 25- and 50-yard spools in 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 & 12 lb tests for freshwater use, complementing the 15, 20, 25, 30, 40, 50, 60, and 80 lb test leaders available for saltwater.

More Seaguar on the Water >>

A Fun Trip To Blairsville and Lake Nottely For Fishing Food and More

My trip to Blairsville and Lake Nottely two weeks ago was to go out with guide Will Harkins and get information for my June Georgia Outdoor News Map of the Month article. Although Will is in college he is a great fisherman and knows Nottely and Chatuge well, guiding on both.

I stayed in a nice fifth wheel camping trailer through brooksiderv.com in a retirement camper community.  It was cheaper than area motels and more comfortable and quieter than a motel would have been.  It was only a few miles from Nottely and Blairsville.

About a mile from the camper and Nottely Dam is Papaw’s Bac-yard BBQ where I got some of the best brisket I have ever eaten, delicious and tender enough to cut with a fork. He has a wide variety of sauces and his Brunswick Stew was very good, too.

Next door at the Amish Store some interesting jelly is available. Frog jelly is fig, raspberry, orange and ginger.  Toe Jam is tangerine, orange and elderberry.  Traffic jam is mostly strawberry for some reason. There are also many other things, from furniture to funny signs, for sale too.

The first night I drove into Blairsville and ate at Mike’s Seafood. The scallops were delicious, cooked just right, and the bite of grilled tuna I tried was excellent. I always like walking into a place like Mike’s and see you order at the fresh seafood counter.

I planned on eating there on Saturday night before I left. Although Google Maps said they got less busy after 8:00 PM, an hour before the close, at 8:00 that night the wait to order was 90 minutes!!

Sicily’s Pizza & Subs Pasta was just down the street and there was no wait. The pizza I got was great but it was not the scallops I wanted!

—-

Two trips to West Point last weekend produced very different results, one amazing and one not too bad.

On Friday I met Payton Caldwell to catch crappie.  In the early 2000s GON did an article on shooting docks at West Point with Peyton’s grandfather, Joel Chambers. https://gon.com/fishing/run-run-and-gun-for-west-points-deep-shade-crappie  He and GON editor Brad Bailey landed an incredible 273 crappie that day, a magazine article record that I think stands until now.

We got into his boat at 7:00 AM. When I had to leave at 2:00 PM we had landed an unbelievable 351 crappie. Paton went back out and fished until dark and his final total for one day was 485 crappie in the boat! All came “shooting” docks, sling-shotting a light jig far back under docks. 

It took me about two hours to re-learn an old skill, I had not fished that way in at least 20 years. But it was fun. Payton said he thought I caught about 100 of the 351 on his clicker but I think it was more like 60 – 70.

Payton’s skill meant he caught way more than I caught. He probably outfished me 20 to one the first two hours when I could not get my jig in the right places.  It was fun either way. Later in the day he was outfishing me “only” four or five to one.

The details of how to find the right docks and what to use will be in the June issue of Georgia Outdoor News.

St Croix Are the Self-Proclaimed Best Rods On Earth and They Are American-Made For All Anglers

  • Gear, The Lead

American-Made For All Anglers

A message to all anglers from St. Croix Rod

Park Falls, WI – St. Croix Rod has been proudly handcrafting the Best Rods on Earth – from start to finish – in Park Falls, Wisconsin for 77 years. Here, at least 32 sets of hands combine the best raw materials, components, and technologies, transforming them into premium fishing tools that give anglers the upper hand in any situation. True, we use advanced machines, computers and tooling – and that equipment has continually evolved over the past seven decades – but it’s always been guided and executed by skilled and passionate craftsmen, the vast majority of whom are anglers, just like you.

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Best Rods on Earth
 
Best Rods on Earth is not simply a marketing slogan, nor is it intended to be boastful. It’s a guiding statement that represents who we always want to be; a daily affirmation that reminds, encourages and empowers every St. Croix team member to be angler-driven in their work. Simply stated, the pride and satisfaction our anglers experience with a St. Croix rod is our only pride and satisfaction as a company. Our promise is kept when we deliver rods that elevate on-the-water experiences, and back them up with what we believe to be the best service and warranty in the industry.

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Vertical American and North American Manufacturing
 
Within the realm of fishing, vertical suggests a presentation that covers any part of the water column directly beneath the angler. In the context of manufacturing, vertical means owning or exercising increased control over all elements within the value chain. Vertically integrated manufacturing provides significant benefits when it comes to product manufacturing, assembly, and supply, including reduced lead times, increased quality, and cost control, to name a few – all of which benefit our anglers.

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St. Croix Rod is a vertically integrated American company and aspires every day to become even more so. Exercising our own control over every aspect of design and manufacturing is what allows us to deliver you – our anglers – with complete control on the water.
 
To this end, we own and operate our two factories in Park Falls, Wisconsin and Fresnillo, Mexico without reliance upon anyone else’s rod blank designs, manufacturing, or employees. We are free to innovate, and that continual innovation is evidenced in the new rods we deliver each year possessing unique combinations of technologies, materials, performance, and value that improve the angling experience.

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Our vertical control also extends to service. We employ a team of 11 Angler Guides who come to work in the Guide Center every day in our Park Falls factory. These are the real people you speak with when you call or email our Guide Center with general questions about rod selection, service, warranty, fishing presentations, or any other needs. Angler satisfaction is their full-time job and only objective.

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A Family of Anglers
 
Today’s anglers have more choices than ever. In a marketplace full of brands, it can be challenging for anglers to learn or understand “who” or “what” a brand really is. That’s why we’re putting out this message; we want anglers to better understand who and what we are. Above all, know that St. Croix is a family of anglers.

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If you fish our rods, thank you; you will always be the most important part of the St. Croix Family. If have yet to experience one of the over 800 distinct fishing rods we design and handcraft, we encourage you to visit one of our retailers to learn more about which premium, high-performance St. Croix rods are best for you and your fishing. Triumph is the world’s best-selling North-American-made freshwater and saltwater rod series, starting at just $105. Our diverse U.S.-built portfolio of rods begins with Premier – the best-selling American-made rod series – and also includes Victory, Avid Series, and all of our Legend Series rods. We also offer one of the most significant and diverse catalog of saltwater rods by any manufacturer, foreign or domestic.
 
The St. Croix Family also extends to encompass our employees, dealers, ambassadors, rod testers, and our ownership. All play key roles in putting anglers first with the highest levels of performance, quality, service, and value.

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Who exactly owns St. Croix you might ask? St. Croix has been owned by the Schluter family for the last 48 years; Gordan Schluter, and today, Gordon’s adult children, Dave, Jeff, Paul, and Pam. Couple this family ownership with premium quality and performance plus a 77-year heritage of American manufacturing, and you can begin to understand and appreciate how truly unique St. Croix is in the fishing marketplace.
 
Ultimately though, it’s all about the rods, and there’s never been a better time to improve your fishing experiences with premium St. Croix quality, performance, value, and service.
 
Whether a father-and-son Canadian fly-out, an inshore adventure, catching bluegills in a farm pond, or competing in the Bassmaster Classic, rest assured your handcrafted St. Croix fishing rods have been proudly conceived and delivered – start to finish in North America – to maximize your success and satisfaction on the water.

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Planning a trip to the Northwoods of Wisconsin? We’d love to host you for a guided Factory Tour so you can experience, firsthand, the technology, passionate care, and precision craftsmanship required to produce the Best Rods on Earth. Call 715-997-3950 or email [email protected].

About St. Croix Rod

Headquartered in Park Falls, Wisconsin, St. Croix has been proudly producing the “Best Rods on Earth” for over 75 years. Combining state-of-the-art manufacturing processes with skilled craftsmanship, St. Croix is the only major American producer to still build rods entirely from design through manufacturing. The family-owned company owns and operates duplicate manufacturing facilities in Park Falls and Fresnillo, Mexico. With popular trademarked series such as Legend®, Avid®, Premier®, Imperial®, Triumph®, Mojo, and BASS X, St. Croix is revered by all types of anglers from around the world. The St. Croix Family of Brands includes St. Croix Rod, SEVIIN Reels, St. Croix Fly, and Rod Geeks.

A Fun Trip To North Georgia Fishing, Eating Good Food and Scenery Bringing Back Great Memories

Want a nice get-away to the mountains for some scenery, cool air and fishing? I just got back from a few days around Blairsville and Lake Nottely. On the trip I ate some good food, looked at scenic views and fished for bass.  And I was constantly having flashback memories of my youth.

All the years I was in elementary school, grades one through eight back then, my family went on summer vacation for a week in the mountains.  We would load up the 54 Bel Air – and later the 1962 Bel Air – and head north from Dearing. All the roads were two lane back then and it was a slow, enjoyable trip.

Each night we would stay in a cheap roadside motel, four of us in one room, and eat at a local diner. Daddy insisted on country food just like we ate at home no matter how much I wanted a hamburger or hotdog.  At lunch we would stop at a picnic table, often right beside the road but sometimes at a scenic overlook, and mama would make sandwiches.

My most vivid memory of lunches is not about the food.  We always had Cokes in small bottles back then. I picked up mine for a swig and didn’t notice the yellow jacket on the mouth of the bottle. It took exception to being pressed against my lip and, after the burning sting eased a bit, I swelled up for two days!

The roadside attractions back then were not politically correct.  At many you could buy a nickel Coke or candy bar and give it to a chained bear cub to drink and eat.  I never wondered what happened to those cubs when they got too big, the owners probably ate them.

I learned about scams on one of those trips. A sign said give the owner a nickel and he would open the lid of a box cage and let you see the baby rattler and copperhead inside.

Sure enough, there was a baby shake rattle toy and a penny inside.

I loved the mountain streams and lakes but we never stayed in one place long enough for me to fish. But the year I was eight we changed our plans and I could not wait for my dream trip.

My family and another family, close friends, rented a cabin at Vogel State Park for a week. It was right beside a small stream that had trout in it, and only a couple hundred yards from the lake.

The other couple had a baby girl and she had colic.  Her loud crying kept me up all night and almost ruined the trip. That is when I decided I never wanted kids of my own!

One morning before daylight I put on my overalls, slipped out of the cabin without waking anyone, picked up my cane pole and can of worms and headed to the lake.  Where the stream entered it several row boats for rent were chained up.  One was half full of water with its back end in the lake.

I sat on the edge of that boat for a couple hours as it got light, catching small bream, yellow perch and trout with live earthworms.  I put my fish in the end of the boat that was full of water and it was supposed to work like a livewell.

Mama came hustling down the path to the cabin calling my name. When they woke and I was not there they panicked and went looking for me. Mama found me after she asked two teenage girls out walking if they had seen a kid.

Apparently they answered that yes, Huckleberry Finn was fishing down by the lake the lake!  I guess that fit me with my bare feet, overalls and straw hat!

Many things have changed, you will not see chained bear cubs or baby rattlers. But a trip is still fun and fishing is good on Nottely and other area lakes. 

My trip was to go out with guide Will Harkins and get information for my June Georgia Outdoor News article. Although Will is in college he is a great fisherman and knows Nottely and Chatuge well.

I stayed in a nice fifth wheel camping trailer through brooksiderv.com in a retirement camper community.  It was cheaper than area motels and more comfortable and quieter than a motel would have been.  It was only a few miles from Nottely and Blairsville.

About a mile from the camper and Nottely Dam is Papaw’s Bac-yard BBQ where I got some of the best brisket I have ever eaten, delicious and tender enough to cut with a fork. He has a wide variety of sauces and his Brunswick Stew was very good, too.

Next door at the Amish Store some interesting jelly is available. Frog jelly is fig, raspberry, orange and ginger.  Toe Jam is tangerine, orange and elderberry.  Traffic jam is mostly strawberry for some reason. There are also many other things, from furniture to funny signs, for sale too.

The first night I drove into Blairsville and ate at Mike’s Seafood. The scallops were delicious, cooked just right, and the bite of grilled tuna I tried was excellent. I always like walking into a place like Mike’s and see you order at the fresh seafood counter.

I planned on eating there on Saturday night before I left. Although Google Maps said they got less busy after 8:00 PM, an hour before the close, at 8:00 that night the wait to order was 90 minutes!!

Sicily’s Pizza & Subs Pasta was just down the street and there was no wait. The pizza I got was great but it was not the scallops I wanted!

Young Coho Salmon Offer Fantastic Early Spring Fishing In the Great Lakes

  • Fisheries

Big Fun in Small Packages

  • By The Fishing Wire

By Jim Edlund

Muskegon, MI – There’s an electricity in the air this time of year along the Great Lakes as anglers turn out for an annual bite that’s tough to pass up. As soon as the launches open, you’ll see all manner of small boats (and pier fisherman, too), forming lines to chase near-shore coho salmon. 

Although these fish leave something to be desired in size – with most fish between a pound and 3 pounds – their table fare is excellent, with many anglers preferring the young, bright red flesh for everything from grilling and baking, to pan frying and filling up smoker racks – to the larger species that occupy the Great Lakes. 

One angler who loves the annual rite is charter captain and Great Lakes Angler editor, Mike Schoonveld, of northern Indiana, who started fishing them this spring in March. 

“What happens is the cohos that were two years old last fall migrate to the south end of Lake Michigan, because that’s where the water temperature stays in their comfort range the longest. Once they get down here, there’s no place to go. Then, in the spring, when the water starts to warm up, the fish that are in the southern basin of the lake storm the beaches in Indiana, southern Michigan, and the south side of Chicago, because those are the parts of the lake that warm up the quickest,” noted Schoonveld. 

“Basically, what you’ve got are two-and-a-half year-old cohos in the lake crammed within a few hundred yards of the shoreline and streams,” added Schoonveld. 

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Where Schoonveld fishes off the Indiana coast, limits are five cohos per person, but he says you can also catch the errant brown trout, lake trout, steelhead, or Chinook salmon. And the chance of a mixed bag only increases as spring progresses. Average cohos right now are 16 or 17 inches to 22 inches – “basically eater-walleye size.”

The bite is ongoing and will last until the water temperatures reach the mid 50s, around May 1stduring a typical, warm spring. The bite can last through the middle of May if temperatures stay cooler. 

Even when it does warms up, Schoonveld says you don’t have to abandon the fight, just move a few miles offshore where the fish migrate to colder water. But then you lose the advantage of fishing near the shoreline and have to be cautious on what days you go out if fishing from a smaller boat. 

And when the fish leave the Indiana coast, they tend to follow the shorelines up the Lake Michigan coast. There are typically fish off the north coast of Chicago by May 1st, as well as up around Kenosha and Racine, Wisconsin. The same thing happens over on the Michigan side with fish moving from St. Joseph towards Grand Haven. 

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Small Boat and Tackle Friendly Bite

One of the coolest things about the annual coho bite is that it’s accessible to anglers with smaller, multi-species boats, as well as pier anglers. You don’t need a large charter boat to access these fish, with a lot less worry about the weather given proximity to shore. And you won’t see a lot of large boats out on the bite either; most are still iced up where they’re moored for winter.

Plus, you don’t need downriggers to fish springtime cohos. The fish are high in the water column and susceptible to shallow-diving crankbaits fished on standard gear.

“For whatever reason, they love orange,” says Schoonveld. “There are literally millions of cohos so you can catch them on pretty much anything, but you’ll probably catch them faster if you’re using orange-colored lures – and most bite in the top several feet of water. There’s no reason to use riggers to get your baits down 15, 20, 30 feet or whatever. Most anglers are running bigger planer boards or walleye-sized line planers.”

Of all the crankbaits Schoonveld runs, his favorite is the Storm Rattlin’ Thin Fin, but says Flickr Shads and Rapalas are fish-catchers, too.

In terms of gear, when fishing occasionally with buddies, Schoonveld runs 12 pound hi-vis monofilament on his trolling rods, but if he’s making daily trips, he’ll size up to 20-pound, which stands up better to the use and abuse.

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Schoonveld says orange is the color de jour for spring coho salmon.

“I like the anti-freeze colored lines so I know exactly where all of my baits are when running planar boards. And I use 20-pound fluorocarbon leader to attach to my crankbaits.”

With three lines allowed per angler and up to four anglers total in his 21-foot boat, Schoonveld has become accustomed to running up to 12 lines – typically three planar boards off port; three off starboard; plus Dipsy Diver’s and downriggers in the rear, just because he has them.

“But 85% of the fish will come on the planar board lines. I don’t use weights or anything, just whatever the lure will dive. And maybe 10% of the fish will come on the Dipsy Divers and you’ll catch one or two fish on the downriggers. The ‘riggers are permanently mounted on my boat, so I figure why not use them.”

As far as rods, he’s using the same kind of gear walleye trollers use – in his case, 8’6” medium light trolling rods for the planar boards. He does go heavier and to nine feet with the Dipsy rods and the same thing for his downriggers.

“We’re not really expecting huge fish, so I stick to light walleye gear for the cohos. Later in the season, we’ll start catching bigger fish regularly, so I’ll move up to medium or medium-heavy rods.”

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DRESS FOR COLD DESPITE WARM LAND TEMPS

While the tendency is to dress for fishing according to land temperatures – which might even be in the 70s as spring progresses – Schoonveld advises anglers not to forget that we’re in a time of year when Lake Michigan water temperatures are in the 30s to low 40s.

“Even if it’s 50 to 60 degrees on shore, it’s more like late-season ice fishing out on Lake Michigan. You’ve got wind, rain, sleet, snow, and squalls will blow through. It can get chilly if you’re not dressed for the part.”

To combat the weather and stay comfortable on his daily coho forays, Schoonveld has been wearing the aptly-named Whitewater Great Lakes Pro Insulated Jacket and Bib, and has been impressed.

“The past few weeks have been pretty cold and I’ve worn the Whitewater suit and it’s performed. From shedding water, spray, and easy clean up from blood and scales, it’s been great. And comfortable. It bends at the knees and elbows and all the places you move when getting in and moving around a boat setting up a rods and fishing.” 

He also says that the suit is warm in and of itself, not requiring the layers he’s normally worn underneath other winter parka and bibs he’s used in the past.

“Besides warmth, you also need to make sure you take the precautions necessary for this time of year,” added Schoonveld. “I wear an inflatable PFD underneath my Great Lakes Pro jacket, and I file a flight plan.”

TABLE FARE

When asked if he has a favorite way to prepare cohos, Schoonveld says he has “dozens of favorite recipes.”

“There’s really no bad way to prepare them. The easiest is to fillet them, leave on the skin, add a little bit of seasoning and salt and lay them on a high grill for six or seven minutes. That’s absolutely perfect. But I’ve had them fried, which my kids used to like, and lately I like to smear them with a Panda Express Thai Chili sauce and grill them like that. My wife likes them grilled with ranch dressing. And you can smoke them. Bake them. Whatever. I’ll also make salmon cakes, fry them up, and eat them on a sandwich with a slice of cheese and some tartar sauce. In fact, that’s what I just had for lunch. But like I said, there’s no wrong way to cook coho. They are probably the best eating of all of our Great Lakes salmon.”

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About Whitewater

Whitewater performance fishing apparel gives anglers distinct advantages whenever Mother Nature’s unpredictability conspires to ruin angling adventures. Whether faced with wind, rain, snow, sun, or extreme temperatures, Whitewater apparel equips anglers with the ability and confidence to overcome the elements, so they apply their focus and energies on fighting fish, not the conditions. Whitewater is a brand by Nexus Outdoors, headquartered in Muskegon, Michigan, USA. Learn more and order at whitewaterfish.com.