Monthly Archives: February 2024

Can Cannon Downriggers Help You In Navigating The Depths in Search Of Fish?

Navigating The Depths: A Comprehensive Guide To Cannon Downriggers

  • By The Fishing Wire

In the world of angling, precision is key. Whether you’re a freshwater enthusiast targeting trophy walleye or a saltwater fanatic pursuing the elusive king salmon, having the ability to control your bait’s depth can be the difference between a successful day on the water and a frustrating one. Enter Cannon® Downriggers – the trusted choice for countless anglers worldwide offering the perfect solution for precise control of your bait, resulting in more fish caught. 

Downriggers are designed to be used while trolling for a variety of species and can be used on different bodies of water across North America. They allow anglers to fine-tune their fishing experience, ensuring that they target the specific species they desire at their preferred depths. This level of control is essential for being able to cover the column and present their bait where the fish are most likely to bite.

DSC 4880 scaled

Cannon offers a wide selection of both manual and electric downriggers, with the electric models such as the Magnum™ or Optimum™ gaining popularity over the years due to their precision and efficiency. Boasting both convenience and speed of retrieval, these downriggers simplify the fishing process with advanced features and longer booms to be able to run a larger spread of lines. The automated functionality on the Magnum and Optimum eliminates the need for manual cranking, allowing anglers to get their weight out of the water in seconds with no cranking required. Cannon’s electric downriggers not only enhance the overall efficiency of gear deployment and retrieval but also provide precision in bait placement, ensuring that your bait is exactly in the strike zone.

Many of Cannon’s electric downriggers are designed to integrate seamlessly with Humminbird’s® line of fish finders, making them easier than ever to use. The latest addition to Cannon’s downrigger lineup, the Optimum, boasts several exclusive new features. One of the most recent advancements includes bottom tracking, allowing the angler to set the offset distance from the bottom, and the Optimum will keep the bait at that desired distance automatically. The Optimum also includes depth cycling, giving the angler the ability to program their downrigger to automatically cycle the depth of their bait to cover more water. The introduction of these features has redefined the capabilities of electric downriggers, reshaping the way anglers are able to cover the water column.

Silker Cannon SturgeonBay Jun2019 4456 cc scaled

Anglers often opt for the versatility of Cannon downriggers, deploying up to four units strategically along the stern and sides of their boat. Despite being commonly associated with deep-water fishing, these downriggers give anglers the flexibility to target fish at various depths. What truly sets these downriggers apart is the comprehensive line of accessories and mounting systems offered by Cannon. The aluminum mounting systems are essential in organizing multiple lines to avoid tangling and increase efficiency. Paired with a wide assortment of rod holders designed for secure positioning, along with downrigger weights and line releases to ensure peak functionality and optimal depth control, Cannon’s accessory lineup offers a comprehensive solution for a hassle-free experience.

Cannon Downriggers have established a renowned reputation for their reliability and durability, built to withstand the harshest conditions. Cannon offers a variety of different downriggers and it can be intimidating to choose the right one for your style of fishing. To choose the right downrigger, you need to consider various factors, such as your fishing environment, the depth you plan to fish, your budget, and your boat type. With a wide range of models and price ranges available, Cannon makes it easy to find the perfect downrigger for your angling needs.

Silker Cannon SturgeonBay Jun2019 0890 cc

Whether you’re a seasoned angler looking to enhance your fishing experience or a newcomer eager to explore the world of downriggers, Cannon continues to lead the industry, providing anglers with the opportunity to reach specific depths and enhance their fishing success. Their precision-engineered design, durability, and innovative features make them an irreplaceable tool for anglers seeking to optimize their trolling experience. In the evolving landscape of fishing gear and technology, Cannon’s unmatched reputation for quality and reliability has made them the top choice for anglers who demand the best.

To learn more about Cannon, visit cannon.johnsonoutdoors.com.

About Johnson Outdoors

JOHNSON OUTDOORS FISHING is comprised of the Humminbird®, Minn Kota® and Cannon® brands. Humminbird is a leading global innovator and manufacturer of marine electronics products including fish finders, multifunction displays, autopilots, ice flashers, and premium cartography products. Minn Kota is the world’s leading manufacturer of electric trolling motors, as well as a complete line of shallow water anchors, battery chargers and marine accessories. Cannon is the leader in controlled-depth fishing and includes a full line of downrigger products and accessories.

Visit Humminbird at www.humminbird.com 

Visit Minn Kota at www.minnkotamotors.com 

Visit Cannon at www.cannondownriggers.com 

JOHNSON OUTDOORS is a leading global outdoor recreation company that inspires more people to experience the awe of the great outdoors with innovative, top-quality products. The company designs, manufactures and markets a portfolio of winning, consumer-preferred brands across four categories: Watercraft, Fishing, Diving and Camping.

Visit Johnson Outdoors at www.johnsonoutdoors.com 

Small Game Hunting In Winter and a Club Tournament

 The stark bare gray limbs of hardwoods right now offer the best of times and the worst of times for squirrel hunting.  Tree rats are easy to spot a long way off, but they can see you the same distance, too.  It is easier to find them but harder to get close enough for a shot.

    The population is lower than at the start of season back in August. Human hunters and natural predators have taken some of the squirrels that survived last winter.  But both have killed many more of the dumb young ones born during the spring and summer.  They are much easier targets.

    Still hunting is tougher this time of year.  Squirrels aren’t coming to an oak or hickory that is full of nuts to feed.  They are scrounging around, looking for nuts they buried earlier when they were falling, and looking for anything else edible in the winter woods.  You can’t sit under a good tree waiting on them to come to you.

    After a rain you can find them eating mushrooms in pine thickets, but that food is scattered, like everything else.  And the green needles on pines make it hard to spot a squirrel when they scurry up a tree and hide from you.

    Creeping up on a feeding squirrel is possible, but deer hunters would be impressed with the abilities of a squirrel to spot you and flee.  Any movement in their world draws instant attention and they will either flatten against a limb or tree trunk, making them very hard to see, or head for a hollow tree where they are totally protected.

One of the best tactics for me was to take off running through the woods when I spotted a squirrel in a bare tree. That usually made them freeze in place, trying to hide rather than running to a hollow.  With no leaves on the tree I could usually find the hiding critter.

A little breeze helped in several ways.  It would move bushes and limbs enough to confuse squirrels’ senses, making it easier to creep up on them. But when searching for them up in a tree a little breeze would often fluff their tail a little and the hair moving or sticking out from the tree trunk would make them easier to find.

Another trick was to scan for their ears sticking up.  Not much natural up in a tree looks like squirrel ears.  It helped that I had a good scope on my .22 to scan limbs and trunks, looking for any telltale sign.  I always carried it rather than my .410 in the winter, expecting to get shots at squirrels sitting still rather than running through the limbs when the .410 helped.

I also learned to throw a stick to the far side of a tree where a squirrel hid.  The noise and movement of it hitting a bush would make the bushy tail move to my side of the tree.  I could see him from the movement, and could usually get a good shot.

Every squirrel killed when I was growing up was eaten. I was pretty good as skinning and gutting them and mama could cook up fried squirrel with gravy, squirrel and dumplings, BBQed squirrel and squirrel stew that was delicious.  The younger squirrels were best for frying, but even tough old boar squirrels were good and tender when cooked right.

This is a great time to take a kid out and teach them gun safety and hunting skills.  Deer season is over and the woods are quiet and bare, offering fun and good food!

—

Last Sunday 12 members and one guest of the Spalding County Sportsman Club fished our January tournament at Jackson.  After eight hours of trying, we brought 31 bass longer than 12 inches to the scales.  Only four of them were largemouth. There was one five fish limit and no one zeroed.

Wayne Teal won with the only limit and it weighed 7.72 pounds.  Second was Zane Fleck with four weighing 5.72 pounds, Billy Roberts placed third with four weighing 4.98 and Niles Murray had four weighing 4.83 pounds for fourth.  Randall Sharpton’s 3.21 pound largemouth was big fish.

I should have gone squirrel hunting!  I guess I used up all my luck at Sinclair, it was one of those days when everything was just wrong for me.  I fished hard but ended up with one keeper largemouth weighing a whopping 1.27 pounds for tenth place.

Glenn Anderson fished with me and caught a keeper spot on a crankbait the first place we stopped.  After fishing two or three more spots, I got a bite on a shaky head worm. The fish swam toward the boat and when I set the hook I pulled a keeper largemouth to the top and watched it come off the hook.

The next place we stopped I got five bites, four on a shaky head worm and one on a jig, in five casts and missed all five!  Then Glenn threw a drop shot worm to the rocks where I got the bites and landed his second keeper.

Soon after Glenn landed his third keeper, I felt a fish pick up my shaky head in a brush pile but felt the thump of it spitting out the worm just as I set the hook.  I missed several more bites during the day, finally catching my keeper with an hour left to fish. I was in such a hurry to get it in the boat I hit Glenn in the face with it as he grabbed the net!

To add insult to injury, there was a Robby’s tournament out of Berry’s Boat House the same day. It took five bass weighing 17 or 18 pounds to win it!

When I hear results like that the same day I struggle to catch a keeper, I wonder why I even bother fishing.

Till next time – Gone fishing!

ANGLER WINS GRAND PRIZE FOR THE 2023 GEORGIA BASS SLAM CONTEST

ANGLER WINS GRAND PRIZE FOR THE 2023 GEORGIA BASS SLAM

SOCIAL CIRCLE, GA (Feb. 6, 2024) –Anglers who succeed in earning a Georgia Bass Slam already have earned an accomplishment and some fun rewards, but it’s even more exciting when you win the Grand Prize for the 2023 Bass Slam! Out of the 57 anglers that got a Georgia Bass Slam in 2023, the Grand Prize winner was Jason McRae of Duluth, GA, according to the Georgia Department of Natural Resources’ Wildlife Resources Division (WRD). Congrats to Jason!

“If anyone has earned a grand prize for this program, it is certainly Jason McRae,” said Scott Robinson, Chief of the WRD Fisheries Management Section. “Not only is he the only angler to have gotten a Bass Slam all 7 years that it has been offered, but he also caught all 10 bass species every year. That is an amazing accomplishment, and we are proud to offer these prizes to him.”

The Bass Slam Grand Prize Winner receives a cooler, camp chair, tackle box and a beautifully framed bass print. Are you working on your 2024 Slam?

Georgia Bass Slam: Catch (at least) five of the different black bass species found in Georgia within a calendar year and you have a Georgia Bass Slam! This program recognizes anglers with the knowledge and skill to catch different species of bass in a variety of habitats across the state, while also stimulating interest in the conservation and management of black bass and their habitats. For complete rules and more info, visit BassSlam.com.

Other Fishing Recognition Programs:

  • Angler Award Program: This program recognizes those who catch fish that meet or exceed a specific weight or length for that species. There is an adult, youth, public fishing area and trophy bass angler award program category. For complete rules and more info, visit GeorgiaWildlife.com/fishing/anglerawards. 
  • State Records: In addition to the angler award program, the division also maintains a freshwater fish state-record program for anglers who land a catch that exceeds the existing record catch weight by one ounce or more.  More information at GeorgiaWildlife.com/fishing/recordprogram/rules.
  • Trout Slam: Catch all 3 species of trout available in Georgia waters and earn a Trout Slam! More info at GeorgiaWildlife.com/trout-slam.
  • Kids First Fish Certificate: The division wants to recognize children across the state for catching their first fish with an online kid’s “first fish award” certificate available at GeorgiaWildlife.com/my-first. 

Georgia Wildlife Resources thanks anglers that took part in these programs and appreciates all anglers that head out to state waters throughout the year to wet a line. For more information about fishing in Georgia, visit GeorgiaWildlife.com/fishing/angler-resources.

Learning About Bass from My Garmin Panoptix Livescope

And two club tournament results

I have learned a lot from my Garmin Panoptix I installed in November 2019. This system is a sonar that shows a live picture of what is underwater on the screen, much like shining a spotlight at night shows what is in its beam.  And it shows movement as it happens, not as a line on the screen like older units.

One of my first surprises was how many fish are down there. I see schools of crappie and hybrids and clouds of baitfish suspended over deeper water this time of year.  And I can see fish moving along the bottom, probably catfish and carp.

Fish hovering around stumps, rocks and brush, or holding right on a drop off, are probably bass.
And there are lots of them. But seeing them does not mean they will hit my bait.

Time after time I see my bait move through them and they ignore it. Even worse is when I watch my jig fall on the cast or hop it and see a fish come up to it and follow it back down but never hit it.

I have always heard bass move tight to cover in muddy water.  In November and December, Jackson was very clear and I could see bass holding just over rocks and other cover, and they would slowly move around it. But after the rain Jackson muddied up and now I see bright dots indication bass right against the rocks or down in the brush.  And they don’t move, they just sit there.

I know a bait cast out and sinking will swing back toward the boat, and to get it to go straight to the bottom I “feed” line to it as it falls.  That is important when trying to get you bait to the bottom under docks and down to brush.

Watching my bait swing back toward the boat as it falls amazes me.  A half ounce jig with a twin curly tail trailer cast on 14-pound fluorocarbon line makes an arch back toward me no matter how much line I feed to it.  It moves back toward me about a foot for every five it falls, so if I cast to a brush pile 20 feet deep I have to cast at least four feet past it to get my bait to hit it.

I am just exploring lakes with my Panoptix and hope to learn a lot more in the coming months.

—-

    Final 2019 standings for the three Griffin bass
clubs are out.  During the year points are awarded at each tournament based on where you place. 

In Flint River and Potato Creek first place gets 100 points, second 90 on down to 10 for tenth. Anyone catching a keeper but finishing below 10th gets five points.  In Spalding County, first gets 25 points, second 24 on down to 1 for 25th.  We also keep up with numbers of fish weighed in and total weight for the year.

    Last year in Flint River, I won with 1340 points and 47 bass weighing 78.21 pounds.  Niles Murry placed second with 900 points, 40 bass and 67.42 pounds and Chuck Croft came in third with 880 points, 36 bass and 65.2 pounds.

    Fourth place was won by Don Gober with 790 points, 34 bass weighing 45.79 pounds and his grandson Alex Gober placed fifth with 660 points and 22 keepers weighing 28.41 pounds. Doug Acree rounded out the top six with 410 points, 12 Bass and 16.12 pounds.

    In the Potato Creek club, I won with 890 points catching 73 bass weighing 130.39 pounds.  Trent Grainger placed second with 840 points, 61 bass weighing 106.03 pounds and Doug Acree came in third with 825 points and 70 bass weighing 111.79 pounds. 

    Mitchell Cardell placed fourth with 790 points, 56 bass weighing 95.03 pounds and fifth went to Kwong Yu with 700 points, 57 bass and 97.77 pounds.  Raymond English came in sixth with 670 points, 60 bass weighing 100.19 pounds.

    For the Sportsman Club, I won with 316 points and 65 bass weighing 129.94 pounds.  Kwong Yu placed second with 270 points, 51 bass and 82.11 pounds, Raymond English came in third with 266 points and 65 bass weighing 124.44 pounds. 

    In this club fourth went to Jay Gerson with 250 points, 55 bass and 84 pounds, Wayne Teal was fifth with 247 points, 44 bass and 68.24 pounds.  Billy Roberts rounded out the top six with 241 points, 37 keepers and 57.22 pounds.

    Since joining the Potato Creek club four years ago, my goal has been to win all three clubs one year. I was very happy to do it this past year while fighting health problems.  I guess I can retire from fishing now – not.

—

    Last Saturday, 19 members of the Potato Creek Bassmasters fished our January tournament at Sinclair.  After eight hours, we brought 71 keeper largemouth weighing about 126 pounds to the scales.  There were 10 five-fish limits and two members didn’t weigh a bass.

    I won with five weighing 13.0 pounds and had a 6.71 pound largemouth for big fish.  Kwong Yu placed second with five at 12.85 pounds anchored by a 3.91 pounder.  Third was Tom Tanner with five weighing 12.58 pounds and had a 4.09 pounder. Dan Dupree came in fourth with five weighing 12.44 pounds and second biggest fish of the day with a 5.61 pounder.

    Add in the 4.43 pounder Raymond English had and the three pounder my partner Mike Scoggins weighed in and you can see it was close and there were a lot of quality fish caught on the cold, rainy day.

    Fish were caught on a wide variety of baits.  My big one hit a crankbait, I also had a three pounder on a spinnerbait, another keeper on the crankbait, three on a shaky head and one on jig and pig. The only consistent thing for me and others seemed to be fishing shallow in the 53-degree muddy water