Monthly Archives: August 2015

How Is Alabama Saltwater Fishing Doing?

Alabama’s Saltwater Fishing Doing Just Fine

By David Rainer
Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources
from The Fishing Wire

Judging by the number of record fish caught in the past year and a half, it appears Alabama’s saltwater fishing is doing just fine.

Ten records were established in 2014, and five more have been established in 2015 with several months left to fish.

One of the most impressive fish that made the record book was a snowy grouper caught by Tyler Kennedy of Mobile in 2014. That fish weighed 68 pounds, 9 ounces. The world record is 70 pounds, 7 ounces.

Another record set in 2014 was a king mackerel caught by Jeremy Goldman during last year’s Alabama Deep Sea Fishing Rodeo. That fish was a dollop of fish slime away from 70 pounds. The official weight was 69 pounds, 15.84 ounces.

Cubera snapper

The cubera snapper caught by Brett Rutledge of Mobile was another impressive 2014 catch at 84 pounds, 9 ounces. Also on the big fish list was a jack crevalle caught by Joseph Condry Pope IV of Alabaster, Ala., that weighed 40 pounds, 2 ounces.

Others on the 2014 record listed included a 5.0-pound Darwin’s slimehead (aka big roughy) caught by Lance Smith of Lithia Springs, Ga.; a scorpionfish caught by Ike Farmer of Salem, Ala., that weighed 4 pounds, 4 ounces; a sharksucker caught by Dylan Andrew Bauman of Spanish Fort, Ala., at 5 pounds, 13.2 ounces; a great northern tilefish caught by Dick Paul of Pensacola, Fla., at 35 pounds, 5.6 ounces; a tomtate caught by Lauren Ogle of Muncie, Ind., at 1 pound, 4.6 ounces; and a whopper of a big eye tuna caught by Bobby Abernathy of Merryville, La., at 236 pounds.

The first fish to make the record book in 2015 was a 13-pound, 9-ounce monster of a sheepshead caught by Branden Ryan Collier of Irvington, Ala.

Other fish to make the book in 2015 included a huge bull shark caught by Jeff Moore of Birmingham that weighed 448 pounds, 4 ounces; a blue angelfish caught by Natalie Parker-Beach of Fairhope, Ala., at 2 pounds, 10.6 ounces; and a cutlassfish caught by John Robert Frain of Cumming, Ga., at 3 pounds, 5 ounces. A horse-eye jack caught by Marcus Kennedy of Mobile that weighed 22 pounds, 7.2 ounces caught this July is the latest addition to the record book.

“The fact we continue to set state records in many categories, both inshore and offshore, just shows what a good fishery we have in all our waters in Alabama,” said Chris Blankenship, Director of the Alabama Marine Resources Division. “We set records on inshore species like jack crevalle and sheepshead. Then we had the offshore fish in the bigeye tuna, king mackerel and snowy grouper.”

Blankenship said that several species that made the record books in 2013 and 2014 were deep-water species that indicated somewhat of a shift away from the traditional reef-fishing activities for species like red snapper and triggerfish, both of which have limited seasons now.

“I think people were doing more deep-dropping to catch species like the tilefish,” he said. “I think people are branching out into the deep water to fish the edge of the shelf. We’re seeing some species that weren’t as popular in years past.

“But at the end of 2014 and into 2015, the record fish we’re seeing are more of the traditional species. A 13-pound sheepshead is a fine catch, and that came from just off Dauphin Island. You could see the boat ramp from where that fish was caught.”

There was also one application for record-fish status that was rejected earlier this year. An application was submitted for a yellowedge grouper, but the state record fish committee denied the application, determining the fish was a scamp, another member of the grouper family.

“The state record fish committee is made up of scientists, local fishing guides and communicators who are very knowledgeable about the fish,” Blankenship said.

When someone submits an application for a state record fish, the rules that apply are: The boat has to leave and return from an Alabama port; the fish must be weighed on certified scales and be witnessed; photos of the fish must accompany the application for verification purposes.

Catch big fish in Saltwater in Alabama

Another requirement is that if the species can’t be verified by the photos submitted, the fish must be kept frozen for 14 days for possible inspection.

“In the particular case of the yellowedge grouper, Dr. Bob Shipp and Dr. Will Patterson felt sure it was a scamp and not a yellowedge,” Blankenship said. “The fish was not saved for inspection, so the application was denied.

“That shows the state record fish committee worked the way it was supposed to, that records are awarded to those that are deserving and meet all the criteria.”

The special red snapper season in Alabama waters for the month of July recently concluded, and Blankenship was a little surprised by the results.

“The state red snapper season was viewed very positively by the fishing community,” he said. “We didn’t have as much participation as I thought we would. But during the Alabama Deep Sea Fishing Rodeo and the Roy Martin Young Anglers Tournament, I did see a lot of red snapper weighed. It was definitely enjoyable to see people enjoying fishing in state waters during the rodeos.”

Blankenship said one theory for the lack of participation in the state red snapper season was the enforcement issue regarding the state waters limit. Alabama enforces a state waters limit of 9 miles, while federal officials enforce a 3-mile limit.

“I think some people were apprehensive about taking the risk between 3 and 9 miles,” he said. “I do think that was a big part of it. And we don’t have a huge red snapper population in state waters. The bulk of the snapper population is outside that 9-mile limit.

“But we did see some nice triggerfish catches during the state season. Although triggerfish weren’t part of our Snapper Check system, our biologists and enforcement officers saw a lot of triggerfish come in to the docks. I think the population of triggerfish has really rebounded the last couple of years. With the federal management of triggerfish, it has kept down people’s access to that fishery as it rebuilds. The federal system takes a couple of years to catch up with what’s being seen on the water. The population of triggerfish offshore and in state waters has really picked up.”

Amberjack season re-opened on August 1, which gives anglers one of the more popular species to catch while red snapper season is closed.

“Here at Marine Resources, we’re trying to build reefs that are more productive for species like amberjack,” Blankenship said. “We put 25-foot-tall pyramids down two years ago. We sunk a 70-foot boat off Dauphin Island. We sunk a rig as part of the Rigs to Reefs program south of Dauphin Island. We’re increasing habitat for species other than red snapper. We’ve built some great habitat for amberjack so our fishermen will have opportunities to fish for other species while red snapper and triggerfish are closed.”

PHOTOS: No strangers to the Alabama saltwater record book, the father-son duo of Tyler and Marcus Kennedy have two entries each on the list. Tyler’s latest entry is a 68-pound, 7-ounce snowy grouper, while dad, Marcus, added a horse-eye jack that weighed 22 pounds, 7.2 ounces.

Good Luck and Bad Luck Fishing A Tournament At Clarks Hill

If life gives you lemons, make lemonade – or margaritas! Sometimes what seems like bad luck can turn into a good thing. Take advantage of those times. Good luck and bad luck while fishing a tournament at Clarks Hill proved this to me.

I went over to Clarks Hill last Wednesday to get ready for the Flint River Bass Club tournament this past weekend. Thursday morning I got up and drove over to Soap Creek Marina, about 18 miles from my trailer at Raysville Boat Club, to try to find some fish in the 88 degree water.

At 1:30 I ran out of gas. No problem, my boat has two 25 gallon tanks, and the other one had over ten gallons of gas in it. But I could not get the motor to pick it up. After 15 minutes of trying to get the valve to switch over I gave up and got on the trolling motor.

I was about five miles from the ramp so I was not too worried, but the sun was extremely hot and the going slow. It took me over two hours to get in. Just as I got to the ramp a bad thunderstorm hit. It is much harder to load a bass boat on the trailer without the gas motor so I got soaked. Really, I was not much wetter from the rain than I was from sweat.

After filling up the empty tank in town the motor cranked right up. I still haven’t figured out the problem. But it pretty much ruined my day of fishing, and it was my birthday!

The lemonade part of running out of gas happened going in. I watched my depthfinder/GPS unit while going to the ramp and as I crossed one big cove I saw the symbol for an underwater house foundation back in it on the GPS.

The next afternoon as I headed in from a day of practice where I had found a couple of small patterns and caught a few bass I remember the foundation and rode over it. My depthfinder showed what looked like rocks with fish on them at 20 feet deep. I dropped a worm down to it and caught a nice 2.5 pound largemouth.

During the tournament Saturday Jordan and I caught our three biggest bass on those rocks. I would have never found those fish except for my bad luck!

In the tournament eight members of the club fished for 16 hours to land 24 keepers weighing about 44 pounds.
There was one five-bass limit in the two days and two fishermen didn’t catch a keeper.

Niles Murray won with nine keepers weighing 15.51 pounds and had the only limit. Chuck Croft caught only four keepers but one weighed 6.02 pounds for big fish and his total weighed of 12.19 pounds was good for second place. My six keepers weighing 10.40 pounds was third and Jordan McDonald came in fourth with three weighing 3.49 pounds.

Saying fishing was tough puts it way too mildly. Saturday morning Jordan and I started on a bridge riprap at blast off and I quickly caught a two pound bass on a spinnerbait. I thought that was a good sign, I had caught several keepers last year in the same tournament on that bridge. But after two hours of fishing it we had not caught another fish.

We then went to the foundation and during the next 90 minutes I landed two good two pound fish and Jordan got one. At 9:30 we went to a small creek where I had caught some keepers the day before on topwater in the middle of the day around hydrilla and fished it for four hours, and Jordan got his two other keepers and I got one. But they were much smaller than the day before.

We went back to the foundation to fish the last hour of the day and did not get a bite.

On Sunday we started on the bridge again. After almost an hour I had lost one keeper that jumped and threw a crankbait. Then I lost another one on a topwater plug, but caught two keepers on top by 7:30. We then went to the foundation where I hooked and lost another good fish, but got no more bites.

We fished hard until the end of the tournament, trying the hydrilla and another bridge, but got no more keepers. It was a very frustrating after the sun got high both days.

It was very hot both days and uncomfortable to fish. I would much rather fish at night this time of year. It is cooler and more comfortable and the fish generally bite better. But many people don’t like night fishing for a variety of reasons.

At night I like to fish a black plastic worm on a rocky bottom. Bass can see much better than we can since their eyes take in about five times as much light as do ours. And their lateral line allows them to feel or “hear” vibrations in the water, like the lead on a worm rig scrapping along a rocky bottom.

It is a challenge, but kind of fun, too, to try to feel a bite on a worm, get your line tight and set the hook in the dark. And it is hard to land a big fish since you can’t see it to net it in the dark. If you shine a flashlight in the water to see it the bass will spook and take off, and often break your line.

Even with the problems, it is still fun!

Make An Investment In the Future by Taking Kids Fishing and Hunting

An Investment In the Future
By Josh Lantz

How you expose kids to hunting and fishing is critical. Don’t blow it.

Kids love bait and lures

Kids love bait and lures. Provide an explanation of what may work best and why, but allow them to experiment. Photo courtesy of www.planomolding.com

Parents are busy people. We work. We shuffle our kids here and there. And at this time of year – when so many hunting and fishing opportunities exist – we occasionally find time to enjoy the sanctity of the great outdoors.

It can be easy to use hunting or fishing as an excuse to leave the kids or the family behind for some quality time alone. That’s fine. We all need to escape. But don’t overlook the present and future rewards that come from providing your children with a proper introduction to the traditional outdoor sports. And, most importantly, don’t blow it once you’ve made the commitment. Make too many mistakes and you’ll risk quashing their enthusiasm for future outings, maybe for good. Follow some general guidelines, however, and you’ll spark the flame that feeds a lifetime of passion for the outdoors.

Choose the right kind of hunt. Select a quarry and location that ensures your kids will stay comfortable while still allowing a reasonable chance at seeing and bagging game. Any type of hunt from a ground blind is a great option. Blinds conceal motion and nervous energy, allow for comfortable seating, and facilitate keeping snacks, warm clothes, heaters, books and even video games at the ready. The trick is keeping your kids comfortable and happy. Blinds fit the bill and serve as comfortable and practical “base camps”.

A quality blind

A quality blind is an invaluable tool for keeping kids comfortable and concealing nervous energy in the field. Photo courtesy of www.ameristep.com

Give them their own equipment. Choose a youth bow or firearm that will grow with them. Of course, if your kids are actually hunting, practice shooting at home or at the range until they become proficient and confident. If they are too young to hunt, purchase a toy cap gun and instruct your youngster on how to handle it and use it as if it were a real firearm. Encourage them to carry it in the field. This is great practice for firearms safety and helps to keep kids engaged. Buy them their own hunting clothes, too, in order to further their excitement and feelings of participation.

Explain what is going on. Some kids are capable of simply enjoying the outdoors experience, but most will get bored unless you involve them in everything that is going on. Where are you hunting and why? What are you hoping will happen? What are you trying to accomplish with your calling? Try your best to explain the various outdoor sights, sounds and smells around you.

Don’t hunt or fish too long. If the goal is to instill a lifelong love of the outdoors, it is critical that each outing be pleasurable. When your youngster gets cold, bored or loses interest, it is time to pack it up and head for home – with a possible stop to the ice cream shop or other special treat reserved just for your days afield.

kids need their own hunting gear

Regardless of whether or not they are ready to hunt, kids need their own hunting gear to facilitate practice and give them a sense of engagement while afield with mom or dad. Photo courtesy of www.barnettcrossbows.com

It’s about both of you

Anyone who has read or heard anything about taking youngsters fishing or hunting has probably heard that the experience is “all about the kids”. This isn’t the entire story. Sure, the child’s comfort and enjoyment is critical, but don’t forget what you’re getting out of the deal. You’re making an investment of your time and patience in order to plant a seed. Being patient and conscientious now will result in a hunting and fishing buddy for the rest of your life. There aren’t too many parent and child activities that offer this kind of mutual enjoyment and meaningful bond.

That said, one of the best ways to maximize the return on your investment is to adjust your expectations. Focus on seeing game instead of taking game. Of course, go about things the proper way and you may not need to compromise. But just seeing game in a hunting situation can be very exciting for youngsters, especially if you are excited about it too.

When taking kids fishing, especially the first few times, leave your rod at home. Focus on helping them catch fish instead of catching them yourself. Help them. Teach them. Again, explain what is going on in order to keep them engaged and excited. You may think it’s possible, but you cannot do these things when you’ve got a rod in your own hands.

Ever wonder what it would be like to be a fishing or hunting guide? Take your kids hunting or fishing and you’ll get your chance. As a guide and father, I can attest that the situations are almost the same. My kids may not smoke cigars or tell dirty jokes, but they are both lousy tippers.

The payoff

Putting the needs of our kids ahead of our own is something every parent is used to. Follow the same model when taking your kids afield. Give a bit now and you’ll be rewarded when you are old and gray.

“Hi, Dad. Want to go hunting today?”

days of mutual enjoyment

A bit of patience and sacrifice while they’re young leads to countless days of mutual enjoyment. Photo courtesy of www.frabill.com

I Love Dove Hunting!

“Behind you over the trees,” I yelled. When seven heads within earshot swiveled and 14 pair of eyeballs scanned the trees behind them, I realized I needed to be a little more specific. That taught me to say “Uncle Adron, behind you, over the trees.”

I was on my first dove hunt in a blind by myself and was about 12 years old. After many days in the blind with daddy over several seasons, acting as a retriever, then a season in the blind with him while holding my .410, I was allowed in a blind alone while dove hunting. Boy did I feel grown-up, and I was trying real hard to do like daddy taught me.

That dove shoot was on my uncle J.D.’s field behind his house in McDuffie County. Back in the 1960s almost all dove shooting was on family or friends’ fields and you always knew everyone in the blinds around you. That has changed a lot over the years and now, unless you pay to have a field or go to a pay shoot your opportunities are limited.

Fortunately, Wildlife Management Areas (WMAs) have dove shoots all around the state of Georgia. Many have managed fields that produce good dove shooting while others are open for dove shooting over areas where you might find doves, like recent clear-cuts, power lines and old fields that are not planted for dove but have natural food sources like weed seeds.

What makes a good dove field? State wildlife biologist Don McGowan works in Region 3 but specializes in dove management and is coordinating statewide dove banding and wing studies. And he loves to shoot at doves. He shared some of his thoughts on what makes a good dove field and how to select a spot to shoot.

You need a minimum of five acres to have a good dove field, and hill top and hill side fields seem better than bottom land for some reason. A nearby water source helps as does perching places like power lines and dead trees.

But the key is the food source.

“Seed available for an extended time is the main key to a good dove field,” Don said. WMA managers try to plant a variety of crops at different times so the harvest will be over as many months as possible. This keeps seed on the ground over a long time and attracts and holds doves. You should plan your field like this rather than waiting until the last minute to plant.

It takes planning and work to make a good field. Some WMA managers place a higher priority on dove fields and spend more time making sure they have good fields. If you plan on hunting a WMA dove field past history of dove shoots on the areas will help you choose one.

Once you pick a WMA to hunt, how do you decide where to place your blind on the field? Many WMAs have open hunts where anybody can shoot on any open day while others have quota hunts to keep fields from being overcrowded. Make sure of the kind the area you want to hunt has and watch the deadline on quota hunts.

“Dove flying patterns are random from field to field,” Don said. The only way to find where doves fly on a particular field is to scout it. Spend some time before season watching the field. Locate corridors where doves enter the field. It might be a head of trees, a dip in the tree line or something only the doves can see, but if you watch you will pick up the pattern.

There are no assigned blinds on WMA dove fields so arrive early to get your chosen spot. Don says hunters are very good on management hunts about spacing themselves in blinds at safe distances and they seldom have problems, but be respectful of those arriving before you. It is first come – first serve in picking out a spot for a blind.

When you find the spot where doves enter the field, set up your blind far enough from the tree line that you can spot a dove and have time to shoot it. Someone in the middle of the field is not as likely to let you know about incoming doves as we used to do when it was all family. After all, if you shoot it the dove can’t make it within their shooting range!

Many WMAs have youth/adult hunts, an excellent opportunity to take your kids to a dove shoot. Doves are the most popular game bird in the US and in Georgia. They offer fast action and younger hunters usually love dove shoots. A WMA hunt won’t be exactly like hunts of my youth where everyone on the field was a relative but with the youth/adult hunts everyone on the field will understand the importance of taking young people hunting. This is likely to make it a better experience for the younger hunters.

Take a kid dove hunting this year!

Why Should I Be Worried About Paddlesport Boating Safety?

Paddlesports Boating Safety

By Frank Sargeant, Editor
from The Fishing Wire

While the loss of two boys offshore of Pompano Beach recently made national news, a scene just as tragic quietly unfolded this past week on the backwaters of Lake Guntersville, an impoundment on the Tennessee River in northern Alabama.

There, a father, his 16 year old son and two teen-aged friends–none wearing life preservers–decided to fit themselves into a single canoe for an outing on the lake. A storm came up, the overloaded canoe overturned–and at this writing the son has been found drowned, the father’s body remains undiscovered. The two teens were able to reach shore.

The incident highlights the need for basic boating education among those who indulge in what is generally known as “paddlesports”, paddling and fishing in canoes, kayaks and other non-motorized watercraft. Paddlesport boating safety is critically important.

There’s a tendency among those new to these little boats to think that there’s very little danger associated with them, since they travel so slowly and can’t really get out of control on still waters like the TVA chain.

But in fact they are generally more dangerous, rather than less so, for inexperienced and incautious users than are larger, motorized boats.

Be safe when paddlesporting

Properly trained and equipped, kids can safely enjoy canoes and kayaks, as shown here. But without PFD’s and an understanding of the physics of these small boats, an outing can become risky. (Photo Credit Old Town Canoes)

Stability is the first factor. Most canoes and kayaks are very “tippy” due to their light weight and rounded bottom. Lean too far one way and the boat simply turns turtle, flipping you and all your gear into the water. Strong winds and big boat wakes can also flip them. There are now some new models of fishing kayaks made with much greater stability due to broader beam and sponson-like bottoms, but for the most part, the majority of paddle-powered boats are exceptionally easy to flip.

Taking youngsters in these boats can be particularly risky because they may not comprehend how shifting their weight can affect the buoyancy–a quick primer in the basics is a must before you leave the docks.

Also, unless you are young and athletic, getting back into one of these boats once they turn over is no easy matter. Even if you’re in condition, getting back into many of them takes some specialized know-how. For those who are overweight and/or out of shape, it’s virtually impossible.

Next, no one should ever step into one of these little boats without wearing a quality life jacket. Simply carrying it along, as you might on a pontoon boat or other large, stable watercraft, just won’t do. If the boat goes over and you don’t have the life jacket strapped on, you may not be able to put it on in the water, even if you swim well and don’t panic. For those who can’t swim, it should be a no-brainer never to set foot in one of these boats without a good PFD in place. A flotation cushion as a backup is also a must.

Also, the charm of paddle sports–that they’re slow, silent and pollution free–can also be part of the challenge. Traveling with wind and current, it’s easy to get a long way from land before you realize it–and reversing course to go back against the wind or current will be very difficult. In fact, for those not used to paddling, it can be impossible.

Also, the amount of time it takes to get to safety should a storm approach can be far longer than it would be in a powerboat–and for those with limited experience, getting caught in open water in a canoe or ‘yak almost always leads to trouble.

While still-water paddle sports have their challenges, these are multiplied in flowing streams, of which North Alabama is blessed with many. In general, those with minimal experience in handling canoes and kayaks should simply assume they are going to get wet if they start down a fast-flowing river; you might be lucky, but you might not, too, particularly if there are any rapids.

But rapids are not the only issue in these streams–in many cases, trees blow down across the flow, and boats swept up against these obstructions are nearly always rolled over.

And simply keeping the boat pointed down-river can be a challenge for the inexperienced anywhere the water flows faster than a walk. If it goes sideways to the current, a rollover is once more highly likely.

All these cautions aside, thousands of outdoors fans enjoy paddle sports all over Alabama every day in complete safety and without the slightest problems, but it’s wise to be aware that there are potential dangers in these seemingly innocuous watercraft for those who don’t come prepared.

What Is Fishing the Dog Days of Summer Like?

We are in the middle of the Dog Days of summer. It is so hot it is almost tempting to stay inside with air conditioning and not even go fishing. Any activity outside is miserable.

The Dog Days get their name from the Dog Star Sirius. At least that is the official version. To us in the south this time of year is called Dog Days because it is so hot outside that the dogs won’t come out from under the porch!

I grew up in a big wood house with a tin roof. We didn’t have air conditioning. We had to rely on fans and open windows to try to stay somewhat cool in the house. At night a fan would blow on the bed to let us sleep. I used to love to place a fan so it blew under the sheet, making a kind of tent with air moving across me.

That house was so old it sat on stacks of rocks supporting the big floor beams. When we tore down that house to build another in the early 1960s we found ax marks on those floor beams, showing they had been hand-hewn from big pine trees. The heart of pine beams had turned to lighter wood as they aged.

We found out why the dogs liked it so much under the house and porch. That was the coolest place around except in the water of the branch. My brother and I, and our friends, played under there for hours. At places the beams were several feet off the ground and we could almost walk under them.

Our playing under there ended when daddy caught my brother, three years younger than me, when he was about five years old. He had taken some paper feed sacks under the house and was in the process of building a campfire!

I loved the sound of rain on the tin roof of that house. During the day it meant the house cooled off and was more comfortable. When it rained at night the drumming of the raindrops cooled the house and lulled me to sleep.

One treat of summer was eating a cold watermelon on a hot day. We would put them in the big walk in egg cooler and they got nice and cold. In the side yard under a big pecan tree there was a wooden platform about eight feet square and a foot high. It was the perfect place to cut a watermelon and eat it.

Mama had a big butcher knife in the kitchen we used to cut the watermelon. It was so old and well-used the blade was concave from years of sharpening. I always wanted to use it to cut bites of watermelon from my slice, but was not allowed to handle it until I was about eight years old.

Even that was too young. One of the first times I was allowed to use it I cut all the red from my rind and enjoyed it. Then, for some reason, with the rind on the wood platform, I thought it would be a good idea to stab it with the knife.

When I stabbed straight down my right hand slick with watermelon juice slide down the handle and the blade. I can still remember looking at my palm as I opened it and seeing a gash that opened raw meat before the blood started gushing. My parents wrapped my hand and took me to the emergency room at the hospital eight miles away.

It took eight stitches to close the cut. I still have a faint scar running across my palm. Mom was standing beside me on my left side as the doctor worked on my right hand extended on a table. I wanted to watch the doctor but she turned my head away.

After a few minutes she asked me why I was staring at her eyes. Then she realized I was watching the doctor work on my hand in the reflection in her glasses.

We always went barefoot all summer long and our feet got tough, but not tough enough to stop a nail. There was an old barn near the house that was falling apart and we loved playing in it. But several times each summer we would step on a board with a nail in it and stab it into our feet.

Back then the cure was simple. Daddy would clean the nail hole, put a penny on it then a hunk of fatback on top of the penny and wrap it. The penny and bacon was supposed to pull the poison out. And I guess it worked, I never died, but I may have extra copper in my veins.

Most kids now are so protected and restricted by their parents I can’t imagine them getting injured as much as I did. But I survived, and even the memories of injuries are not so bad almost sixty years later.

Can I Catch Tuna On Spinning Tackle?

Spinning for Tuna
from The Fishing Wire

This yellowfin slammed a popper fished on stout spinning tackle

Does spinning tackle have a place offshore?

This yellowfin slammed a popper fished on stout spinning tackle by the Yamaha team around oil rigs off Louisiana.

If you like offshore fishing imagine this—three days running around the Gulf of Mexico in a triple Yamaha-powered 42-foot Invincible center console doing nothing but fishing for yellowfin and blackfin tuna with surface plugs. The excitement of watching tuna attack a popper right before your eyes, not once, but again and again and again, is enough to give any saltwater angler heart palpitations. The Yamaha team recently spent some time with Bill Butler, owner of Venice Marina, aboard his tournament-rigged boat. Using his vast knowledge of the Gulf, Bill really put our team on the fish.

Casting poppers and working them in an erratic fashion to get a finicky gamefish to bite requires the right kind of tackle. This kind of tackle should be capable of making long casts and fast retrieves. Obviously, it’s a job for spinning tackle, but can spinning tackle stand up to the power of tuna? Not only was it able to, the gear we fished put quite a hurting on the fish, which ran from 25-pound blackfins to 70-pound yellowfins.

Even big tuna can be landed on spinning tackle

Even big tuna like this one can be handled with 65-pound-test braid on heavy spinning gear.

Spinning tackle has come a long way on the big game scene in recent years. The introduction of ultra-expensive oversized spinning reels started with an elite fraternity of surf casters who needed big, strong reels with lots of line capacity and super-smooth drags – but it didn’t end there. After its introduction and rapid rise to popularity, vertical jigging became the next technique that got saltwater anglers interested in oversized spinning tackle. While casting is not a prerequisite when jigging, (most of which consists of positioning the boat over potential fish holding structure or schools of bait or gamefish and then dropping the jigs straight down) it does offer some strategic advantages. The key to successful vertical jigging is working the metals in a quick, erratic manner or with long lift and drop motions. Spinning tackle can pick up more line in a single turn of the handle than most high-speed conventional reels. Once this advantage was realized and it became obvious that the new generation reels could indeed hold up to the power of tuna, they started showing up on offshore grounds.

The revolution in heavy-duty spinning tackle didn’t stop with the surf crowd. All the major reel manufacturers stepped up to the plate with products that were bigger, stronger, held a ton of line and offered drags with enough stopping power to put the brakes on a small elephant. Today, manufacturers offer tuna-strong reels at more modest price points. When this phenomenon first began, only a few reels were available that could meet the rigorous demands of challenging pelagic brawlers, and they were very expensive, most in the $700 to $1,000 price range. Now there are models that can be purchased for under $300 and are capable of doing the job dependably.

Blackfin On Spinning Tackle

Blackfins are another natural offshore target for spinning gear loaded with strong braid.

Rod manufacturers also went back to the drawing board and developed a variety of specialty saltwater sticks that could cover the gamut of big game fishing needs, from jigging to casting surface lures. These products provide the actions and backbone necessary to make them applicable to catching tuna. They incorporate blends of materials that make them as close to indestructible as possible, and there are a variety of lengths and actions that cover the gamut of techniques used offshore.

In the Gulf with Butler, we used longer rods designed for casting and working poppers for tuna. Those rods were 7-feet 10-inches in length, and could throw surface plugs up to four ounces a long way. When fishing around oil and gas production platforms, casting distance is important and the longer rods did the trick. When a tuna was hooked, even the larger yellowfins, the rods proved to be excellent fighting tools.

When a tuna is hooked on the surface, the early phase of the fight can incorporate long runs near the surface, and the longer rods worked fine with the 65-pound test braided line and drag settings in the 18- to 20-pound range. As a tuna tires, it will run deep and eventually begin to circle straight below the boat. This requires a lot of lifting power to work it back to the surface, something longer rods with softer actions do not do well. But these tuna popping rods, while soft in the tip for casting, offered plenty of backbone to lift the fish during the end game.

Spinning Gear Moves Lures Fast

Here’s some great eating, courtesy of spinning gear and a fast-moving plug.

On a trip with Capt. Jim Freda of Shore Catch Charters in New Jersey (aboard his Yamaha-powered 28-foot Parker® Sport Cabin), team Yamaha had the opportunity to jig bluefin tuna. While some on board were fishing with conventional reels and jigging rods, Capt. Freda used a spinner with a jigging stick designed for tuna. He said he liked the way the spinning reel picked up line when he was dropping the flutter jigs to the bottom in a hundred-plus feet of water and then working them back up using a fast, erratic retrieve. He did a great job of making the jig dance, or at least the tuna thought so, because he hooked up frequently. He mentioned he has caught bluefin up to 100 pounds on spinning tackle, and has had clients beat fish considerably bigger on theirs.

Spinning tackle for offshore fishing has come of age, and it’s being used to catch fish that would have been considered unlikely at best just a few short years ago. It offers the offshore enthusiast another tackle option for challenging the ocean’s strongest pelagic species. Fishing for tuna with spinning tackle is both fun and productive. If you enjoy offshore fishing, give it a try this summer!

How Should I Fish the Shad Spawn?

Fishing the Shad Spawn

Its time for Georgia bass fishermen to go hunting – for the shad spawn. Spawning shad draw bass to the banks like a winning Bassmasters Classic lure draws anglers’ dollars, and you can enjoy some fast action in the mornings right now.
The end of last April one of my bass clubs had a tournament at Walter George. I camped at Lake Point State Park on Thursday and practiced Friday for the tournament. Early Friday morning as I idled under the bridge I saw the tell-tail flicker of shad on the rocks. I didn’t stop but filed it away for the tournament.
Saturday morning I was still taking up money from a late arrival when the tournament director let everyone else go. I was mad until I saw nobody stopped on the side of the riprap where I had seen the shad. I idled to it and quickly caught two good keepers on a spinnerbait. After fishing nine hours, running all over the lake, I had added one small spot to my livewell.
On the way to weigh-in I stopped at the bridge and caught another good keeper near where I had seen the shad. I told everyone I was going to stay put on Sunday, right there at the bridge. And I did, but saw no shad and caught no fish. Two of the guys in my club were fishing the other side of the riprap and I saw them catching bass and at about 10:00 they idled over and said they had eight keepers.
I left and tried another spot but soon headed back to the bridge. The club members had moved over to the side I had been fishing so I hit the other side. I stayed there for 30 minutes and landed a limit of bass slow rolling a spinnerbait on the rocks. The shad, and the bass, had moved to the other side of the riprap.
Starting in April schools of threadfin shad move to shoreline cover and lay their eggs. The eggs stick to hard surfaces until they hatch. They spawn so shallow you will often see them jumping out of the water onto the bank, and see them splashing along, looking like a small wave running down the bank.
The eggs need something hard to stick to so shad are attracted to riprap, seawalls, grassbeds and even dock floats and boats. The bass will follow them and run in to eat. Birds will also be eating them, swooping down or standing on the bank. Splashing and birds right on the bank are a good way to find the shad.
Shad spawn at first light and the activity is often over by the time the sun comes up, so you have to be on the water early. With only 30 minutes to fish on a sunny day and maybe and hour on cloudy days you must know where the shad are spawning so it is critical to get on the water early and locate them.
A spinnerbait is the best bait for the shad spawn since you need to cast it right on the bank. Crankbaits and rattle baits will work but are more likely to get hung. Choose a white one-quarter ounce double willow leaf spinnerbait with number three or four silver blades to match the small shad. Cast it as shallow as possible, even hitting the bank, and work it parallel to the bank. Be ready for a hit as soon as the bait touches the water.
You will often see shad following your bait, a very good sign you are in the right area. Make as many casts as possible before the shad move out. When they move deeper, slow roll your spinnerbait in the same area in deeper water since the bass will often stay under the shad.
Don’t miss the shad spawn; it is some of the best fishing of the year.

What Is Gila Trout Management?

Conservation Genetics Steers Gila Trout Management
Craig Springer
from The Fishing Wire

Gila Trout

A trout that once stared at extinction offers wilderness angling opportunities

The trout stole its color from a southern New Mexico summer sunset. Gila trout sport a painter’s pallet of pink and olive, rose, yellow and copper and a few tones in between. Beneath the black pepper flakes that fleck its side lies a lexis—a language carried forward from another time. It’s an ancient language coded in molecules of proteins written by the press of time and experience in a land turned arid.

Gila trout, native only to headwater streams that vein over the Mogollon Rim of New Mexico and Arizona, have expressed in their genetic makeup a mapping of how to survive in the vestiges of what surely was a large and contiguous range. Their genetics equip them to face what nature may hurl at them in an already harsh environment.

It’s those innate characteristics coiled in the double-helix of DNA that U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologists strive to preserve in the fish. Conservation genetics is at its heart an investment in the future with an eye on the past. Dr. Wade Wilson with the Southwestern Native Aquatic Resources and Recovery Center in Dexter, New Mexico, knows Gila trout like few others can; he’s a geneticist and can de-code the language. It’s his charge in the conservation of Gila trout to help ensure that the diversity of genetic characters unique in this fish stay in the fish going forward.

Wilson works adjunct with another U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service facility in New Mexico, the Mora National Fish Hatchery near Las Vegas where captive stocks of the rare yellow trout are held. Hatchery biologists are fully immersed in Gila trout captive breeding, and it’s done smartly, carefully, through the consult of Wilson.

“We monitor genetic diversity in captive trout to ensure that what we have in the hatchery represents what we have in the wild,” said Wilson. That mixture is essential for the future. “The more genetic diversity that exists among the fish, the better chance those future generations of Gila trout can adapt to changing environments and stressors and diseases in wild populations,” Wilson adds.

“Here’s how we get it done,” explains an enthusiastic Nate Wiese, Mora’s manager and lead fisheries scientist. “Each fish gets a microchip injected just under the skin just like your vet can do for your dog. That chip gives each fish a personal ID, like a social security number. Knowing each fish at an individual level is a first step in securing the future of Gila trout.”

With every captive fish in the hatchery marked as such, biologists take non-lethal tissue samples from the fish, a tiny piece of fin. From there it’s up to Wilson and his staff using leading-edge technology to look deep at each fish—at the molecular level. Wilson will pinpoint individual fishes with the rarest of genetics in the captive populations and suggest what Wiese calls “pair-wise spawns.” It’s akin to arranged marriages but with the express scientific purpose to ensure that the rarest of genetic characters found by Wilson are carried forward in the next generation of fishes. Males and females that differ among various genes make the best partners.

The Gila trout was described by science a mere 65 years ago. Through much of that intervening time—50 years—it had been closed by law to angling as the fish stared at extinction. Its lot improved with conservation and was down-listed from “endangered” to “threatened” in 2006, and opened to fishing a year later. And so it remains, threatened and fishable, despite a welter of catastrophic wild fires—the sort that makes the evening network news broadcast for days on end.

“An integral part of the conservation strategy calls to replicate in the wild the distinct genetic lineages,” said Wiese. It’s a measure of conservation security to give a geographic spread between populations. “But what happens when a massive fire threatens to gobble up the original and replicate populations? The hatchery is the back up.”

Fire is hard on trout, particularly when a mountain stream turns into a slug of ash slurry at first rain post-fire. The Whitewater-Baldy Fire that decimated the Gila Wilderness in 2012 necessitated a trout rescue ahead of such circumstances. New Mexico Fish and Wildlife Conservation Office biologist Dustin Myers based in Albuquerque led such rescues involving pack horses and helicopters and hatchery trucks from streams sure to be slugged by ash. Now, Mora National Fish Hatchery is home to the only known population of the Spruce Creek lineage of Gila trout. Three other strains are held there, too: Main Diamond Creek, Whiskey Creek and South Diamond Creek lineages.

Aside from the robust genetics plans that steer captive breeding, Wiese manages the hatchery to produce Gila trout conditioned toward a wild environment. Instead of growing lazy trout as fat as toads, they are in a captive environment that mimics nature—like boulders, plants and fast-flowing water. “We get them off the couch and on a treadmill,” said Wiese. “They are going to be better suited for real streams. It’s like tough-love for your children.”

Those real streams are still healing from the 2012 fire and the Silver Fire that scorched headwaters atop the Black Range in 2013, and fish will return to them this autumn. Myers makes that call as to what streams are ready for trout. “Since the Whitewater-Baldy Fire we’ve replicated Whiskey Creek lineage in McKenna Creek and Upper White Creek,” said Myers. “Whiskey fish will also go into Sacaton Creek this year. But Whiskey Creek itself is still healing and we have to wait for habitat conditions to improve.”

It’s about the habitat—including ensuring that Gila trout waters remain free of mongrel or nonnative trouts that compromise the genetic integrity of pure lineages via interbreeding. Barriers, made on site, or natural waterfalls are a means of segregating fishes. Toward that end, Myers recently worked with the Forest Service to restore a vital barrier, a natural waterfall, by blasting out lodged boulders to ensure 21 miles of prime Gila trout habitat in the West Fork Gila remain free of unwanted fishes.

The lack of habitat has been a vexation in Gila trout conservation. But science married with the resolve of individuals who care about this beautiful bright trout is a way forward. A certain splendor in the spectra of inspiring pigments reflected by a wet Gila trout call to mind Emerson: “If eyes were made for seeing, then beauty is its own excuse for being.” But the beauty is richer than what strikes the eye; it’s that Gila trout sheltered in a hatchery and those facing the rigors of the wild still carry today the impress of the past.

Craig Springer works for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Learn more at www.fws.gov/southwest

Editor’s Note:

The Southwest Region recently introduced Emphasis Areas as a way to focus our limited resources on geographic areas with the highest conservation need and potential for success, which also have opportunities for leveraging funding. The Mogollon Rim, home to Gila trout, is one of five geographic areas determined by the Regional leadership team to be an Emphasis Area.

is Lion and Elephant Trophy Hunting Wrong?

Lions and Ivory
from The Fishing Wire

In life, Cecil was a popular member of the lion population of Zimbabwea’s Hwange National Park. In his suspicious killing by a noted United States hunter, he’s become a lightning rod for controversy. The hunter faces possible poaching charges, although he has maintained his innocence, blaming the professional hunters who ok’d him to shoot the lion.

And two major hunting and wildlife groups, Safari Club International and the Dallas Safari Club, wasted no time weighing in yesterday on the controversy. DSC, the first to respond, called on the United States Fish and Wildlife Service to investigate the matter, especially into possible violations of American Wildlife Laws. It also supported the Safari Operators Association of Zimbabwe’s taking actions against its members who violate wildlife laws.

“DSC abhors poaching,” their statement reads (you can both statements in their entirety in today’s news section), commends the swift action of Zimbabewan authorities and supports the prosecution of convicted poachers to the fullest extent of the law.”

Safari Club International found itself in the uncomfortable position of both the hunter and professional being SCI members. But the organization didn’t hesitate to take decisive action in regards to both or to make it clear they supported strong actions when it comes to poaching.

“SCI has imposed immediate emergency membership suspensions of both the involved hunter and his guide/professional hunter,” their statement reads, “and they will remain in place pending the outcome of an investigation.”

“Safari Club International condemns unlawful and unethical hunting practices,” their statement continues, “SCI supports only legal hunting practices and those who comply with all applicable hunting rules and regulations, and SCI believes that those who intentionally take wildlife illegally should be prosecuted and punished to the maximum extent allowed by law.”

With that, two of the major groups representing hunters – especially trophy hunters- took what was an unquestioned stance against poaching-or the appearance of impropriety, since the full details into the death of Cecil aren’t known. And their decisive actions should help reinforce the idea that hunters aren’t some sub-species of human being, intent on wiping out wildlife across the globe in search of trophy animals.

Nothing could be further to the truth when it comes to the true biological facts of trophy animals- they’re generally beyond their prime when it comes to reproduction or contributions to their species’ survival- and in some cases, like last year’s hotly-protested black rhino hunts, the elderly bulls were actually detriments to the survival of their species. Hopefully, the strong statements and action on behalf of SCI, will help open some eyes to the facts, not the emotion of the matter of hunting.

In another matter, however, it’s the action that confirms the intent. The intent of the administration is to kill the ivory trade in the United States- all of it. After delaying a proposed regulation for a year, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has published their proposal for ivory in the Federal Register.

It is, in the words of Knife Rights chairman Doug Ritter, “as bad as expected.” The rule would hit legal owners of ivory- meaning knife owners, knifemakers, scrimshaw artists, and suppliers -hard making a few very narrow exceptions into what is otherwise a total ban on ivory trade -legal or otherwise.

According to the Knife Rights release (again, you can read it in today’s News Section) the ban is based on three premises- all false:

1) Elephant poaching is increasing…when CITES says poaching numbers have been falling since 2011 due to increased enforcement of anti-poaching laws.

2) Large amounts of illegal ivory are being imported into the US, driving the poaching increases…both CITES and U.S. data show that illicit ivory imports into the U.S. are insignificant- both name the Chinese as the demand fueling poaching

3) By banning American ivory trade, the Chinese consumer will abandon his cultural affinity for ivory…when the Chinese demand for illicit ivory is completely independent of the U.S. trade -or demand. The ban seeks to stop trade in decades-old, legally owned, domestic ivory.

As Knife Rights points out, USFWS Director Dan Ashe has stated the goal of the regulation is to implement a near complete ban on the domestic commercial trade of ivory. The federal government lacks the authority to stop trade in states, it seeks to stop any trade across state lines.

As Ritter explained, “there is no evidence this ban would save a single elephant in Africa, but it will take millions of dollars in value from honest Americans.”

So what can we do? Contact our Congressional delegations and tell them they should co-sponsor the African Elephant Conservation and Legal Ivory Possession Act of 2015 to protect honest U.S. ivory owners while providing additional conservation and anti-poaching efforts in Africa.

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