Category Archives: Fishing Tackle

Rods and reels to live bait

Fishing In Alaska

I caught this salmon in Sitka not long before getting on the plane

I caught this salmon in Sitka not long before getting on the plane

I hate flying! Unfortunately, airplanes are by far the best way to get to Alaska. This small-town Georgia boy grew up reading outdoor magazines about the fantastic fishing and hunting in Alaska but could never really imagine experiencing it first-hand.

My wife Linda has a second career as a travel writer and I have been many places I could only imagine growing up. I have kneeled on the ice in Antarctica with penguins waddling by a few feet away, fished for piranha 700 miles up the Amazon River, snorkeled in Tahiti and spent the night in a five-star hotel in Marrakesh, Morocco. All those were beyond my wildest dreams as a kid in Dearing, Georgia!

Linda and I left July 26 three years ago and flew to Anchorage, Alaska. We spent a week driving up to Denali National Park, over to Valdez then back to Alaska. The vastness of Alaska is amazing. I drove 1150 miles during that week. At dinner back in Anchorage the placemat had a map of the state about the size of my palm. The area we covered in a week was about the size of my thumb tip placed on the very corner of my palm! The same distance here would have taken us all the way around the state – with some overlap!

On that drive we passed many beautiful mountain ranges and terrain varying from damp forest to tundra. Rivers that were hard to get to looked inviting but I didn’t get to fish until we got to Valdez. There we stood on the shore of the bay and hooked salmon after salmon, landing about ten each but losing twice that many each.

We flew to Juneau and got on a small cruise ship, the Mist Cove, and spent a week with 14 other passengers and 12 crew cruising the Inner Passage, anchoring each night in secluded bays. Each day we had the option of taking out kayaks, going on hikes on shore, or taking the skiffs to fish for halibut or to streams to catch salmon.

The limit on halibut is one per day and two in possession. We brought back 46 pounds of filets from the four we kept. The salmon we caught were already in the creeks and not good to eat, but were a ball to catch on light tackle.

On my 60th birthday I was standing in a stream in Alaska catching salmon. I landed my first salmon ever on a fly rod that day, hooking and landing four after landing nine on a spinning rod and losing about 15. The screaming runs across riffles and the way they jumped were just like in my dreams!

Wildlife was amazing. Eagles were everywhere. We watched one young eagle eat a salmon on a gravel bar about 100 feet from us. One day two couples were fishing the mouth of a stream and another couple had hiked up the stream to fly-fish. Each group had a guide. Ours had a 12 gauge shotgun loaded with slugs on his back and the other guide had a 30-06 on his.

The three that went up stream came walking back pretty fast and we heard the radio crackle. Their guide was calling for a skiff to pick us up immediately. About that time, less than 100 yards behind them, a brown bear stood up. The grass was about chest high on me in the area. It came up to her waist. Beside her a cub poked his head above the grass, too.

The grizzly had followed them back down the creek after they walked up on her. She disappeared then popped up a little closer to us. About that time the skiff picked us up and we left her to fish with her cubs all by themselves!

On the trip we saw moose, caribou, mountain goats and many other critters. It was exciting.

That Sunday we loaded on an Air Alaska 737 in Sitka to come home. The plane was packed, not an empty seat. And we were amazed at the number of boxes of fish loaded on it. The luggage belt would have five or six boxes of fish, then a suitcase. The cargo hold was full.

We started down the runway and just as I felt the plane get light, mostly from me holding it up by the arm rests, there was a loud “BANG,” the left side of the plane dropped a little and the whole thing shuddered and shook. The pilot got us stopped about 100 yards from the end of the runway where it dropped into the bay.

Is this the eagle that almost caused our plane to crash?

Is this the eagle that almost caused our plane to crash?

He came on the PA an said we had hit an eagle. It tore up the engine I was sitting over and just in front of. The co-pilot and flight attendants were looking out the windows at the engine, looking for smoke and flames, I guess. They said we had been running down the runway at 110 MPH, 10 MPH under lift off speed, when we sucked in the eagle. That is 160 feet per second, if my calculations are right. If the pilot had hesitated even for two seconds before slamming on brakes and reverse thrusters I don’t think we would have stopped in time.

Six hours later they got another plane to Sitka to take us to Seattle and we caught the red-eye to Atlanta, the only flight left that night. We landed in Atlanta as the sun came up. I am still shaking from the experience.

Did I mention I HATE TO FLY?

Linda has details of our trip on her web site at http://cruises.about.com

Watch A Salmon Cam

Sockeye salmon from the salmon cam

Sockeye salmon from the salmon cam

Web cam catches sockeye salmon returning to Tongass spawning grounds

EDITOR’S NOTE: The following was provided to The Outdoor Wire by the U.S. Forest Service

Through the end of August, you will get the chance to be entertained as sockeye salmon swim along Alaska’s Steep Creek as the adults spawn before swimming to their deaths.

The Forest Service has placed the salmon cam in the creek on the Tongass National Forest so viewers world-wide have the opportunity to view fish in their natural setting. The ability to watch salmon in the wild is a treat for many people, but the underwater camera gives you a more intimate, unique look.

“The overall escapement, or numbers of fish that reach the spawning grounds, for Steep Creek sockeye varies from year to year,” said Pete Schneider, a fisheries biologist on the Tongass. “An average run would be considered 1,000 fish. We have seen it as low as 350 and as high as 4,000. So many factors can contribute to run size. It’s difficult to predict. So keep watching.”

Early in the spring sockeye fry emerge from the gravels and move into Mendenhall Lake and Mendenhall River sloughs and ponds, where they feed for 1-3 years before migrating to the ocean. After spending several years at sea, the adult sockeye return to Steep Creek to spawn, their last act before they die.

But all is not lost. The dead sockeye are still good meals for a variety of forest critters, including their own fry and as their nitrogen-rich carcasses decompose they provide valuable nutrients into the ecosystem.

If you see the view clouded, it could be because a female salmon is building her redd (gravel nest) by agitating the bottom of the creek bed with her fins and tail. She then bends her body back and forth to make a depression where she deposits her eggs. A male then moves in and deposits his milt, or sperm, over the eggs after an often lengthy courtship. The female uses her tail fin to cover the redd then moves upstream to do it again. Female salmon will often build multiple redds in the same general vicinity and then guard them as long as they can before eventually dying.

Sockeye salmon are held in high regard in Alaska. They are known for the high quality of their meat, bold spawning colors, unique habitat requirements and the fact that they can be tough to catch because they rarely bite on sport gear in salt water. Add all these factors together and sockeye rival king, or Chinook, salmon for the most attention.

“I typically leave the camera in place until the end of September. Often the water quality becomes too poor by October due to the amount of rainfall,” Schneider said. “The sockeye run will dwindle by the end of August. After a short lull for a week or two the coho salmon will arrive.”

Schneider said the coho run will not be as large as the sockeye. However, more Dolly Varden char enter the stream, too. Many Dollies arrive “early” to feed on loose eggs during sockeye spawning, but many more arrive in early fall to spawn. They spawn about the same time as the coho in different locations along the creek so they do not overlap with the coho, a process refined over years of evolution.

As the fish are making their way along the creek, Schneider and other Forest Service employees make daily counts. The third week of July they counted about 30 sockeye milling about in the beaver pond downstream from the camera.

“They are in full spawning colors, but are likely waiting until a rain event occurs. This lowers water temps and raises water levels, which often will trigger the movement of fish upstream to the actual spawning grounds and into camera view,” he said. “Unfortunately, I can’t move the camera downstream any further than I have to see them.”

Surprise guests for the fish and viewers could be a black bear or two. Bears that feed on salmon are larger because they eat. A lot. And salmon provide the high calorie diets they need to gear up for the winter hibernation.

“Bears will often target the female salmon for their eggs. Their keen sense of smell can detect the eggs, and I have seen them actually release a male and return to fishing for females,” Schneider said. “When salmon are plentiful, it is normal to see a carcass along the bank with only the belly eaten. The brains are also a high-calorie hotspot, even though they are smaller than a walnut.

“Make no mistake, however, as absolutely none of the salmon go to waste. There is a plethora of mammals, birds, insects, fungi, and plants waiting to make full use of the remaining nutrients.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=iAYSF1h05HM

How Can I Follow Bass From Shallow to Deep Water in the Summer?

Kelly Jordan follows summer bass from shallow to deep water.

Kelly Jordan follows summer bass from shallow to deep water.

Yamaha Pro Kelly Jordon Offers Summer Bassing Tips

There’s a good reason tournament angler Kelly Jordon describes the hot months of summer as one of his favorite bass fishing seasons. The Yamaha Pro follows fish from shallow water to deep during the day, a technique he learned during years of guiding at Lake Fork in Texas.

Jordan advises starting around brushy cover at daybreak in depths as shallow as two feet–but says fish move deeper as the sun rises.

“The key to following bass in summer is fishing an area that has some type of route like an old roadbed, a tree line, or a creek channel leading from the shallows to deep water nearby,” Jordon emphasizes. “The bass move back and forth between shallow water and deep, so finding a shallow flat, a long point, or a cove that gradually falls into deeper depths is always worth trying.

“This movement may not be more than a hundred yards, or it may be 300 to 400 yards. It depends on what the deeper water offers the bass. At the same time, if there is abundant shallow cover, particularly hydrilla or some other thick vegetation, the bass will usually stay shallow longer, too.”

Jordon strongly recommends starting a July or August day of bass fishing 30 to 45 minutes before daylight because that is when fish are most likely to be in very shallow water. He believes these bass may be the same fish that moved shallow to feed during the night, and they’re extremely susceptible to topwater lures like buzz baits and frogs.

Jordan throws a buzzbait at dawn, but often switches to a crankbait as the morning draws on.

“This shallow bite does not last long after the sun rises,” the Yamaha Pro continues, “so I really like a buzz bait because I can make long casts and cover a lot of water. I try to key on cover like logs and laydowns, lily pads, and rocks, and generally in just two feet of water or less. I work the cover thoroughly, too, usually making two or three casts to the same object with a slow, steady retrieve to give a fish plenty of time to hit it.”

When this early, shallow water action ends, the Yamaha Pro changes to a shallow running crankbait, often a square bill model, and begins fishing slightly deeper water down to five or six feet. He may also try flipping soft plastics if the cover is thick enough, but his primary choice is the crankbait.

“What I’m trying to do is take advantage of all my options in relatively shallow water before the fish move,” Jordon continues. “Frequently, I’ll fish the same cover with the crankbait that I fished with the buzz bait, simply because it has such a different action. Buzz baits bring reaction strikes, while the crankbait may entice more of a feeding strike.”

When this bite does end, Jordon moves further out to 12- to 20-foot depths, studying his electronics to locate both steeper depth changes as well as possible schools of baitfish. If he has found a creek channel or even a ditch leading from the shallow water toward deeper water, this is where he concentrates his search. If he’s been fishing a point, he just keeps following it further and further out in the deeper water.

The Yamaha pro says fish may move up to 400 yards seeking deeper water as the sun rises, but smart anglers can learn to follow them and continue the action.

“I’ll really cover this water thoroughly with a deep diving crankbait, grinding it along the bottom across any breaklines from shallow water to deep,” he explains. “Places I really look for are bends in a channel, and cover like rocks, stumps, and flooded timber. I just keep working further out into the deeper water because I know eventually I will find the fish again.

Jordon emphasizes the importance of looking for baitfish, especially shad, as he moves into this deeper zone. Baitfish make this same movement, and the bass follow them. They show up on electronics because they’ll gather in large schools, and the bass will hover just below them.

“Summer bass fishing doesn’t need to be a long, hot exercise in deep water crankbaiting or dragging plastic worms along the bottom,” concludes the Yamaha Pro. “As long as a fisherman is willing to start fishing early, he will nearly always find some bass in shallow water, and this can be a truly magical time to be on the water.

“Then all you need to do is change your lures and gradually work out into deeper water. You really can follow the bass as they make this movement.”

Are Micro Guides On Fishing Rods Better Than Regular Guides?

Picture showing both micro guide and regular guide

Picture showing both micro guide and regular guide

Guide To Regular Guides vs Micro Guides

By Frank Sargeant, Editor
from: The Fishing Wire

So, do you “need” a new micro-guide rod? Or not?

If you’re like me, you find yourself “needing” practically everything that’s new related to fishing, whether you need it or not.

Micro-guide rods have been around for several years now, and have been a popular seller in many well-known lines. Here’s the basic pitch that has made them take off:

Micro-guides are much smaller and lighter than conventional guides and are usually “single foot”, thus do not impede the natural action of a quality rod blank.

Micro-guides keep the line closer to the rod blank than conventional guides, which results in better performance on casts as well as when fighting fish.

Micro-guides fit into rod tubes aboard a boat more readily than standard guides, thus are less subject to damage.

And here’s the biggy: Micro-guides look cool. You have to look closely to see them at all. They give the rod a sleek, modern appearance-and that’s probably the primary reason they have taken off so well.

But could it be that there’s a real performance difference?

The Falcon BuCoo Micro is a good-looking mid-range rod with the fit and finish of high-dollar sticks.
We asked Chris Beckwith at Falcon Rods to help us out on this one. Falcon makes an amazing array of rods for every purpose, and in fact in their mid-priced BuCoo Line they have a pair of baitcasters that are identical in length, action and power-except the BMC-7MH has micro-guides, the BMC-5-17 has conventional.

Both are 7 foot rods rated for 12- to 20-pound test line and lures of ¼ to ¾ ounce, in medium heavy action with medium-fast tips-like most top quality rod makers, Falcon distinguishes between the “action” or power of the rod and the tip stiffness.

Both BuCoo’s are constructed on Falcon’s FXB American-made graphite blanks with all Fuji guides. Both have exposed-blank reel seats for sensitivity, and EVA grips, with 14 ½ inch handle length which makes power casting and big hook sets easy. Weight is a near match at around 4 ounces. Both feature Falcon’s five-year warranty.

The Falcon BMC-7MH is built on an identical blank to the standard BMC-5-17, but the micro version has three more guides, a total of 10 plus the tip.
The micro model has three more guides, a total of 10 plus the tip, and that adds $20 to the price: it’s about $129.99 at on-line retailers, versus $109.99 for the standard version. (An editor’s note here-these rods fish like rods priced much higher and fit and finish is excellent-they appear to be a great value for the money. I like the clever naming, too-“Bucoo” being Cajun for beaucoup, or a bunch of value.)

In my tests with Shimano Chronarch 200-E7 reels, the casting range was the same for both micro and standard versions throwing a 3/4 ounce weight on 12-pound mono, about 150 feet. The feel in the hand was also the same. Either is an easy stick for all-day casting.

I fished them interchangeably on several trips to Lake Guntersville in North Alabama, and had to look to tell which was which-I could feel no difference in their handling while throwing everything from topwaters to lipless crankbaits to big swimbaits and football-head jigs. Ditto on hook-setting, very similar.

I’d say the micro makes better use of the power in the rod in handling heavy fish, perhaps because of the additional guides which keep the line more closely following the spline of the graphite.

The lower height of the guides also makes them somewhat less likely to grab a loop of loose line and create a tangle, though I had no problems with this on either version of the BuCoo rods.

It is significantly harder to string up a micro-guide rod, but of course that’s a chore you don’t have to do often and shouldn’t be much of a factor in your buying decision.

However, if you are among those anglers who frequently make use of a leader, which requires a knot that slides through the first several guides, micro-guide rods may not be for you. Anglers who throw topwaters on braid, for example, frequently add 12 to 18 inches of monofilament because the slightly stiffer mono is less prone to loop back on itself and tangle the hooks as you walk the dog. And some feel a foot or two of fluorocarbon, much less visible than braid, increases the number of bites in some situations. But getting a line-to-leader knot to fit through a microguide can be a challenge, to say the least.

Other than that, there’s not much to distinguish one from the other.

Bottom line is, if you “need” a micro-guide rod, go ahead and buy one. They do look cool, and the slight bump up in price is worth it when you go strolling down the dock in front of your envious buddies. But it probably won’t make a great deal of difference on your casting or fish-fighting ability.

For more details on the whole Falcon line, visit www.falconrods.com.

What Is A Jig Head or Shaky Head Worm?

Jig Head Worms: The Appetizer Bass Can’t Pass Up

Jig head worms have been around for many years but have gotten very popular the past few years, for a very good reason. They catch bass, especially in the fall.

If you asked a bass fisherman about “shaky head worms” a few years ago, your only response was likely to be a shake of the head saying no. Today you would have a hard time finding a bass boat on the water without a shaky head rig in it. It is one of the most popular ways to catch bass right now.

Shaky head worm rigs have many different names but the most descriptive is “jig head worm” since that is the basic rig. Fishermen have used worms and other trailers on jigs almost as long as there have been fishermen. But this system got real popular a few years ago with the introduction of jigs with big hooks, made especially for bass. It seems to catch bass when nothing else will work.

A jig head worm is simply a ball jig head with a plastic trailer on it. Most tackle companies make them now under a wide variety of names. They come in all kinds of shapes and colors and some have special ways of attaching the worm. Light wire hooks from 1/0 to 4/0 are common.

On a basic jig you thread a worm on the hook Texas style, with a quarter inch of the head of the worm against the jig and the hook inserted back into the worm to make it weedless. Some jigs come with a spike or small spring behind the eye of the hook. On them you put the head of the worm on the spike or spring then stick the hook into the worm body. This setup keeps the worm from balling up on the hook when you set the hook.

The reason a jig head worm is so good is it makes the worm stand up. Unlike a standard Texas rig, the tail of the worm sticks straight up from the bottom, looking like a baitfish or other bass meal feeding along with its head down.

Watch a jig head in clear water and you will see the trailer stand up when the head hits the bottom. It will fall over but falls much slower than a Texas rig. Some jig heads have a flat surface to make them stand up better, and some are a mushroom or football shape that is supposed to make them stand up when pulled.

A finesse type straight-tail four inch worm is the most common trailer to use and fishermen have their favorite colors. But other trailers work great, too. A bigger worm like a six inch straight tail worm sometimes draws more strikes. And don’t hesitate to put a big worm, up to 10 or 12 inches long, on a jig head that has a hook big enough to handle it.

Creature baits like the Reaction Innovations Sweet Beaver or the Berkley Little Chigger Craw that imitate crawfish are especially good in the fall. Bass are feeding up for the winter and crawfish are one of their favorite foods. The jig head makes the crawfish imitation stand up and be more visible to the fish.

When jig head worms first became popular most fishermen cast them on a spinning rod and light line. They were a finesse way of fishing with one-eight ounce heads, a four inch worm and eight pound test line the standard. And that still works. But don’t hesitate to tie a jig head worm on a bait casting outfit spooled with 12 to 15 pound line. And use bigger three-sixteenths to one quarter ounce heads with bigger, heavier hooks.

Fluorocarbon line is the standard for jig head worms since bass usually have a long time to inspect the bait. And this bait works best in clear water, so the invisible line helps you get more strikes. Some fishermen use braid line but tie a two to three foot fluorocarbon leader to it. If you go that route it is best to use a swivel to attach the two lines since braid will cut fluorocarbon.

Trailer colors are your choice. It is hard to beat a standard black worm in any color water but darker colors tend to be better in stained water. Try clear colors like watermelon in clear water. And dipping the tail of the worm in a chartreuse dye like JJs Magic will add a flicker of color bass like.

For craw trailers dark colors work well in stained water but try to match the color of local crawfish. You can find them at night in the shallows. Their eyes look ruby red when hit by a flashlight beam. Some lakes have very dark, almost black crawfish. Other lakes have populations with brown to almost red coloration. Match your bait to the color of the food the bass are eating when possible.

Jig heads shine on hard bottoms from clay and gravel to hard mud, so these kinds of points and banks are some of the best places to fish them. Since crayfish live in clay and hard mud bottoms and around rocks where they make their burrows, working a jig head with a crawfish imitation where they live is deadly in the fall.

Let your bait hit bottom and sit for a few seconds, then slide it along like a crayfish crawling along. Suddenly hop it like a startled crayfish swimming off. When it falls back it will stand up with claws raised and waving, just like the real thing. Bass will eat it up.

Also try a worm trailer on these hard bottoms but fish it a little differently. The name “shaky head” comes from one of the most popular ways to fish a jig head worm. Let it hit the bottom and sit for several seconds. Then tighten up your line and shake the rod tip, making the bait dance in place.

You don’t want the bait to move across the bottom, you want it to stay put and vibrate and shake. This is especially effective in clear water where a bass might sit and look at a bait a long time before hitting it. Give the fish a reason to eat the bait by shaking it in one place.

Jig heads don’t come through chunk rocks very well but are great around them. When fishing rocks like riprap use a very light head, as light as you can throw on your outfit and fish effectively in any wind that is blowing. Crawl and hop it over the rocks. The light head is less likely to get hung but expect to lose jigs when fishing rocks.

Round jig heads come through wood better than some other shapes. When working blowdowns or brush piles use a light head and fish slowly. If the jig gets hung up try popping your line. Put some slack in your line, pull it to the side with your hand while tightening up with your rod tip, then let the line pop free of your hand. For some reason this often frees a jig head that is hung up in brush.

Bass hang out in brush and other wood cover so you need to fish it. Fish very slowly with your jig head. Let it fall to the bottom by the brush and sit, making it work most effectively by keeping the trailer up and off the bottom. Fish the outside edges first with your jig head; you are less likely to get hung up.

When a bass takes a jig head worm you will sometimes feel a “thump” as it sucks the bait in, but often you won’t feel a hit. Watch your line for any slight twitch of sideways movement. Raise your rod tip carefully and tighten your line before hopping the bait. If you feel any weight, set the hook. Or, if you don’t feel anything, if your line is slack, reel up some of the slack and set the hook. A bass is probably swimming toward you with the bait. It doesn’t cost anything to set the hook so if in doubt set it.

Driving a nail into a board is much easier if you tap it with a hammer rather than trying to push it in. Sticking a hook in a bass’s mouth is the same way. Try to pop the hook rather than making a sweeping hook set. Most jig heads come with light wire hooks so they penetrate the bass’s mouth better and you don’t need to rock the boat when setting the hook.

When using heavier line don’t set the hook too hard and be careful fighting the fish. The light wire hooks can straighten out. Set your drag a little lighter than normal so it slips a little on the hookset. That will lessen the likelihood of a bent hook and also keep you from breaking the lighter line when you set the hook hard.

Give a jig head worm a try. Call it anything you like but keep one in the water and you will catch bass when other baits fail.

Why Should I Use Planers To Get My Bait Down Deep?

Use a planer board to get a small bait down deep

Use a planer board to get a small bait down deep

Get Down With Planers

Trolling Deep Made Easy
From The Fishing Wire

On a recent trip to North Carolina, Yamaha caught up with the charter captain brothers Brant and Barrett McMullan, highly-ranked professional kingfish tournament anglers and Yamaha Pro Team members. The McMullan family owns and operates the Ocean Isle Fishing Center in Ocean Isle Beach, home to the Jolly Mon King Mackerel Tournament. The initial plan was to run offshore to fish for tuna and wahoo, but Mother Nature was not cooperating so the brothers took the heavy tackle off their Yamaha-powered 32′ Yellowfin center console and replaced it with some light gear to fish for Spanish mackerel, bonito and gray trout inshore.

During the switch, we noticed the McMullan’s had heavy outfits with large planers coming off the boat and light outfits equipped with little tiny planers going on. So we asked them, “Why do you guys always seem to have planers on the boat?”

“It doesn’t matter what kind of fishing we are doing, or whether it’s inshore or offshore,” said Capt. Brant. “You can be sure that there are a lot more fish holding down in the water column than there are feeding on the surface. Trolling planers are the easiest way I know to get a lure or rigged bait down there to catch those fish.”

For those unfamiliar with trolling planers, they are basically weighted, stainless steel wings with a ring and wire trip mechanism. When armed, the forward motion of the boat forces the planer to dive to a predetermined depth pulling whatever lure or bait is attached along with it. As demonstrated by the McMullan’s, trolling planers come in a wide variety of sizes for covering almost any trolling situation.

“We use the smallest planers (#1 and #2) for fish like Spanish mackerel and bonito inshore, and the larger sizes (#16 and above) offshore for fish like tuna and wahoo,” Capt. Brant explained. “In recent years, the hot setup for catching big bluefin tuna around here in the winter has been using the large planers to troll rigged ballyhoo 50-to-60 feet down and about a hundred yards behind the boat. With all the different sizes available, you can find a planer that will work in almost any fishing situation.”

Planers can be used a couple of different ways depending on the size and application. The small ones are attached directly to the end of the running line on a light trolling outfit. Then a long leader is run between the planer and the lure. That day, the McMullan’s used #1 planers on light trolling outfits with a 12-foot leader running back to a tiny Clark spoon that matched the size of the baitfish the Spanish mackerel were chasing. It would be impossible to get those nearly weightless spoons down at trolling speed any other way.

The planers pulled them along at 15-to-20 feet below the surface. When a fish strikes and gets hooked, the pressure trips the ring mechanism, which allows the wing to change from a diving angle to a flat position (see figure 2) This allows the angler to play the fish back to the boat.
Once the planer is reeled to the rod tip, simply pull the fish in by hand using the leader.

“Larger planers are rigged differently,” McMullan told us. “At speed, they create so much resistance that you would have to attach them to an extremely heavy outfit just to handle the pressure. When you hooked a fish, the outfit would be so heavy you would have to fight the fish with the rod still in the rod holder, and that’s not much fun. So we attach the big planers to the line from a downrigger, and the lures or baits are fished from a separate outfit using a simple release system made up of a double snap swivel and a rubber band to link it to the planer line.”

The downrigger is loaded with 250-lb. test braided line to handle the pressure the planer generates as it digs to run deep. It is attached to the downrigger line with a 400-lb. test snap swivel replacing the downrigger ball that would normally be there. When it’s time to deploy the planer, the boat should be in gear and at trolling speed. Drop the planer in the water armed so it will dive, and lower it under pressure from the drag on the downrigger to its maximum depth, then lock it up. Next grab the outfit you’re going to fish with and release the lure or rigged bait as far back behind the boat as you want it. For some gamefish like wahoo, running it 20 or 30 feet behind the planer is fine. The planer is shiny stainless steel and can actually help attract some fish to the hook bait. For others species that tend to shy away from boats, like bluefin tuna, you will want to get the bait way back behind the boat, 50-to-100 yards or more.

To link the bait line to the downrigger line so the planer can pull it down, wrap a #64 rubber band around the line (see figure 3) and attach it to one side of a double snap swivel. The other snap is closed around the braided line between the downrigger and the planer. With your thumb on the spool of the reel, slowly let line out. The pressure of the water at trolling speed will push the swivel release down the line to the top of the planer along with the line running to the bait behind the boat. Once it reaches the planer, tighten up the line a little to take as much belly out of the length between the rod tip and the rubber band release as possible. When a fish hits, the rubber band breaks releasing the line from its connection to the planer, and you can fight the fish free and clear.

If you don’t have downriggers, you can make a simple planer line that will accomplish the same goal. Use a 75-foot length of 200-lb. test monofilament line and crimp on a 400-lb. test swivel to the end you will use to attach to the planer. Tie a large loop that will fit over the stern clean of the boat to the other end. Clip it to the planer and let it out by hand. (see figure 4)
Figure 4. These skilled North Carolina captains never leave the docks without planers in a number of sizes on board.
Once the planer is at running depth, use the same rubber band release procedure as Capt. Brant described for the downrigger and you’ll be fishing deep for cheap! When you want to retrieve the planer, slow the boat to a stop and pull it up or pull the line hard and release it quickly to trip the mechanism.

If you’re going to be in the coastal area of North Carolina be sure to check out the McMullan’s new cable television show – OIFC No Limits Fishing, which will be broadcast daily on ATNC Cable’s local access channel with support from Yamaha Marine, Yellowfin® Boats and Pelagic® clothing. It will feature Captains Brant and Barrett providing fishing reports and forecasts, phone interviews with local captains, and an action segment with on-the-water tips and techniques to help you catch more fish. You can also access the show by going to www.oifc.com and clicking the link.

Fishing Snakes and Floating Bass

Largemouth from Bartletts Ferry

Largemouth from Bartletts Ferry

Last Sunday there were a couple of unusual things that happened to Al and me at and after the Flint River Bass Club tournament at Bartlett’s Ferry. As we left the ramp headed home a rattlesnake was in the middle of the road. And a bass did something I have never seen happen before.

The snake was about three feet long and was right in the middle of the road. I didn’t try to run over it because I see no reason to kill a snake that is not threatening anyone. The guys in the vehicle behind us saw it too and didn’t run over it, but confirmed it was a rattlesnake.

One reason I don’t want to run over a poisonous snake is something, probably what we now call an “Urban Legend,” that I grew up hearing. The story goes that a guy had a flat and got out to check it. He ran his hand around the tire and got scratched by what flattened the tire.

Supposedly it was a rattlesnake’s fangs that stuck in the tire, and when they scratched him he got enough venom to kill him. I guess that could happen. Either way, I don’t take chances!

Rattlesnakes are pretty uncommon around here. I grew up near Augusta and the sandy terrain over there, rather than the clay around here, is more to their liking. We killed rattlesnakes on the farm several times while I was growing up. I still have the rattles from one, and many of us boys carried rattles in our pockets, bragging about how many rattles and buttons they had.

Snakes normally won’t hurt you. They will try to get away from you. After all, you are too big for them to eat. Leave them alone and they will leave you alone.

The other strange thing happened while we were fishing. Al and I were fishing a deep brush pile and Al had caught a couple of nice bass, and I broke off two and missed a couple. Then Al set the hook on a bass that wrapped him up in the brush. After trying to get it loose he had to break his line.

About ten minutes later a bass floated to the top and we picked it up. The 2.5 pound largemouth had Al’s hook in its throat! Apparently it swallowed the hook deeply before or while getting hung up and it killed it. I have broken off a lot of fish like that but have never had one float up like that one did.

At the tournament 13 members and guests landed 41 keeper bas weighing about 52 pounds. There were three five-fish limits and one member didn’t have a keeper. It was a surprise only ten of the bass were spots – usually we catch a lot more spots than largemouth there.

Al Rosser won with four weighing 6.37 pounds. We were real worried the one that broke off would make the difference but he still won without it. Niles Murray was second with a limit weighing 6.26 pounds and Chuck Croft placed third with five at 5.96 pounds. Roger Morrow’s four weighing 5.69 pounds was fourth and his 2.91 pound largemouth was big fish.

Fish were caught on a little of everything, from fish head spins to jigs and worms. There was a lot of muddy water coming down the river but the main lake and lower creeks were clear, and that is where most of the fish were caught.

Al and I started up the river a little ways and I missed two on spinner baits around grass. Niles had run about a mile above us and where he stopped was real muddy at 6:00 AM. Where Al and I fished the water was still ok at that time, but by 2:00 PM when we ran in the mud had come down the river past the ramp, several more miles downstream. Bass seem to hate fresh muddy water and stop biting when it first gets muddy.

Al and I fished a lot of different places and I got my first keeper at about 8:00 on a jig and pig off a seawall. Then Al got two on a jig head worm. Around 10:00 we went over a deep brush pile and Al got a nice 2.3 pound bass from it. I could see a lot of fish around the brush on my depth finder, but they would not hit.

After several hours of running around the lake trying to catch bass without any luck we went back to the brush pile for the last hour. Often bass will hold off brush then, for some unknown reason, move in to feed. And they had. Al got two more good keepers from it and I got one the last hour, and that is when we missed several bites and broke off three fish.

Deep brush is worth checking out several times during a day, especially if you see fish around it on a good depth finder!

How To Catch Shallow Water Walleye In the Spring

This walleye came from shallow water in the spring

This walleye came from shallow water in the spring

What Are Shallow Water Walleyes and How Can I Catch Them?

By Bob Jensen
from The Fishing Wire

Big walleyes like this one prowl the shallows for some time after the spawn–a live minnow on a jig often fools them.

The standup jig has special appeal when tipped with a live minnow.

Plastic tails can also be effective, particularly in late spring as water warms a bit.

Walleyes sometimes prowl water as shallow as a foot deep, particularly in low light periods.

Walleyes are often thought of as a fish that inhabits the depths, and there are times when most of them will be found in deep water. However, there are other times, more than you may think, when you can catch walleyes shallow, often eight feet or less. Here are some ideas for taking walleyes in shallow water.

Walleyes spawn so shallow sometimes their dorsal fin will be above the surface of the water. After the spawn they move into the mid-depths to recover from the rigors of spawning, or maybe they stay in the shallows and just don’t eat much. But a few days after spawning has ended, walleyes will get active in the shallows. This is when they get easy to catch.

Look for shallow walleyes wherever the shiners or other baitfish are spawning. Shorelines with small rocks, areas with vegetation starting to come up, points related to shorelines, these areas will all hold shallow walleyes early in the summer, and there are lots of ways to catch ’em when they’re in these locations.

Crankbaits, slip-bobber rigs and live bait rigs will all catch shallow walleyes. But the folks who catch walleyes most regularly are probably throwing a jig tipped with either a minnow or plastic.

When the walleyes have just recovered from the spawn, they’ll be most susceptible to a jig and minnow combination. In some bodies of water the walleyes will eat a jig tipped with a fathead minnow: Elsewhere a shiner on the back of a jig will be far more productive. I almost always have both shiners and fatheads in the boat. Shiners can be tough to keep lively, so I put them in a Frabill 1404 aerated container. This unit keeps shiners in a fish-catching attitude.

I’m hooking the minnow to an eighth ounce stand-up Fire-Ball jig almost all of the time. The stand-up design of this jig enables me to pause my retrieve, but the jig stands up, remaining in full view of the fish. A round head jig lies flat on the bottom at rest, making it harder for the fish to see.

As the water warms, the walleyes become more susceptible to a jig/plastic presentation. Where a couple of days earlier we were crawling the jig/minnow along the bottom, with the plastic we’ll be snapping it pretty aggressively. Walleyes in warmer water will eagerly whack a jig/plastic combo that is moving quickly along the bottom. Many of the strikes will come as the jig is gliding back to the bottom after it has been snapped. A Rock-It jig tipped with something like an Impulse Paddle Minnow is tough to beat. Fish the jig/plastic with eight or ten pound test Bionic Walleye Braid. The braid works better with the snapping retrieve. Fish the jig/minnow on six, seven, or eight pound test Bionic Walleye monofilament.

Walleyes can be found in shallow water year ’round in most lakes, rivers, and reservoirs wherever walleyes swim, particularly after dark, but look for them in the shallows especially in late spring and early summer. Make long casts, keep a low profile, and be quiet. If you do these things, you’ll find yourself catching walleyes shallower than you might have imagined.

To see all the newest episodes of Fishing the Midwest television, visit fishingthemidwest.com Join us at Facebook.com/fishingthemidwest

Are Very Expensive Fishing Rods Worth the Cost

Smallmouth Caught  On A GLoomis Rod

Smallmouth Caught On A GLoomis Rod

from The Fishing Wire
By Frank Sargeant, Editor

A G. Loomis GLX 853C-JWR baitcasting rod is priced at $455.

Yep, yikes!

Not many of us would dare to buy a rod at that price, never mind telling our wives what we paid for it.

It’s a bit like owning a Ming vase when you have cats in the house -fishing rods, particularly ultra-light, high-tech graphite rods, are highly frangible, and we tend to use them around truck doors and boat hatches. To say nothing of prying reluctant largemouths out of hundred-pound wads of hydrilla.

On braid, yet.

But Loomis offers “insurance”.

“We call it our ‘expediter’ program,” says Bruce Holt, communications director for the West Coast Company, who recently spent a few days here testing his gear on Pickwick smallmouths in the company of Captain Steve Hacker. “If you break one of our GLX or higher series rods, in any way, we’ll replace it for a hundred bucks.”

Loomis GLX line is expensive, but an “insurance policy” assures anglers that a broken rod is not the end of their investment.
That’s added to the lifetime full-price warranty against defects in workmanship and materials, notes Holt, so in all there’s a whole lot less risk in buying one of these top-line rods than it might first appear.

And, for those who have the expendable income and the compulsion to own the best there is for their leisure pursuits, it would be hard to argue that the upper-level G. Loomis rods are not about as good as it gets.

“Most of the cost of a rod is in the graphite and the guides,” notes Holt. “The lighter and stiffer the fibers that go into the blank, the lighter the rod is going to be at a given power and action, and the better it’s going to feel in your hand after six or eight hours of casting. The GLX material has a very high “modulus”, that is resistance to bending, and that makes it possible for us to build rods that are amazingly light and fast.”

Holt said the GLX series also uses Fuji Titanium SIC guides, much tougher and more resistant to bending than steel, which feature a ceramic liner that’s much smoother, lower in friction and more durable than conventional guide liners. The guides are positioned on the blank via computer programs that designate the best locations as the blank tapers, preventing line slap on the blank, and the rods also use several more guides than lower cost sticks-there are 11 plus the tip-top on the 7-foot, 1-inch 853C, compared to as few as seven on low to mid-range rods of the same length.

“We couldn’t find exactly what we wanted so we had this mount built for us,” says Holt. “It’s extremely light but very strong and dependable.”

The mount is “skeletonized” to reduce weight, and also features a larger area of exposed blank directly below the reel, where the index finger naturally rests, to increase sensitivity when fishing jigs and soft plastics where the bite is often light.

The cork handle is also top of the line.

“Quality cork is a lot more expensive than the black foam handles on mid-range rods, but it’s lighter, it’s smoother on the hand and most anglers like the feel of it better-it’s firm and yet it’s got enough ‘give’ so that you can keep a good grip even when it’s wet,” says Holt. “It also looks good, year after year, if you just scrub it now and then with a light detergent and water.”

The 853C is designated a medium-heavy power rod with an extra-fast action-this means lots of power in the butt, melded to a stiff and very quick tip section that allows quick, powerful hooksets. The rod is designed for lures of 3/16 to 5/8 ounce, and for lines of 12 to 16 pounds.

G. Loomis makes a full stable of GLX bassing rods in both casting and spinning versions. The company also markets several lower-priced models.

“The maximum line test is something that anglers should keep an eye on,” says Holt. “We test rods to destruction to determine how much they can lift, so that’s sort of a safety device-if you put line no heavier than 16-pound-test on a rod rated for that line and put slow, steady pressure on it, it will either lift 16 pounds of fish and weeds, or the line will break first. Beyond that, if you overline it with heavy braid, for example, it may break.”

The exceptionally light weight of Loomis sticks makes them incredibly easy on the arms and wrists, a big plus for anglers who fish daylight till dark. Matched with a lightweight reel like a Shimano Chronarch or similar, these rigs seem like old friends the moment you pick them up the first time.

And odds are, they will become that for the fortunate few who can afford them.

“These are legacy rods,” says Bruce Holt. “You can fish them for a lifetime, and then hand them down to your kids and they can fish them for another lifetime.”

Provided they avoid car doors and hatch lids, of course.

What Is Lyme Disease and How Does It Affect Me?

Prespawn largemouth

Prespawn largemouth

A few years ago I got Lyme Disease and learned what it isIf you spend much time outdoors you are familiar with many dangers that you might face. Snakes are scary, wasps and other stinging insects can hurt you, and falling out of a boat or a deer stand can be life-threatening. But most of us don’t think much about ticks and Lyme Disease, something that can make you deathly sick and even kill you.

Back in the early 1980s I was in a deer club where we had a terrible problem with “seed ticks” every fall. One day after hunting I saw my pants legs were covered with tiny moving dots. I had some Scotch Tape in the truck and stuck a bunch of them under a strip and took them to an entomologists at the University of Georgia Agricultural Experiment Station in Griffin.

He identified the ticks and gave me some background on the tick life cycle. I reviewed information on the internet to check my memory of this information. One good site on tick life cycle is: http://animals.howstuffworks.com/arachnids/tick2.htm
And on Lyme Disease at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lyme_disease

Lyme Disease is a bacterial infection transferred to people by tick bites. The bacterium that causes the infection is Borrelia burgdorferi. When a tick bites you, it actually attaches with its mouth parts and feeds on blood. To keep your blood from clotting and ending its meal, the tick injects anti-clotting agents into its host. That is when the bacteria are injected into your body, where they grow and multiply.

Ticks are related to spiders and adult ticks have eight legs, making them arthropods, not insects. We have four kinds of ticks in this area that you are likely to encounter. American Dog Ticks, Black Legged Ticks, Lone Star Ticks and Brown Dog Ticks are all common in Alabama.

Their life cycle is complex. An adult female tick feeds on a host and fills with blood. After breeding, she drops to the ground and digs in. She will lay hundreds to thousands of eggs and, when they hatch, the tiny ticks climb onto grass stalks or bushes and wait on a warm-blooded host to come by. They get onto the host and get a meal of blood then drop off.

At the first stage of their life, the ticks are tiny, about the size of a pin head. Often called “Seed Ticks,” these young ticks can actually be any of the kinds of ticks that live around here. You aren’t likely to see them attached to you at this stage since they don’t feed long, but they leave an itching sore where they bite that shows up a day or two after they are gone. Since hundreds hatch in the same small area, you can get dozens on you at the same time.

The tiny ticks go back into the ground, molt and grow, then climb back up onto something to wait on a host again. At this stage the ticks are bigger and easier to see, but are usually still called seed ticks. They bite and attach a little longer before filling with blood and dropping off again. You sometimes start to itch while they are still attached at this stage.

After dropping off, the ticks will go through another molt then try to find a host a third time. They are mature at this point and will be bigger. You often feel them crawling on you and can spot them easier, and can even identify the type of tick. And they will stay attached much longer while feeding. This is the stage where the tick will be a big gray ball after filling with blood. At some point during this stage the tick will breed. The females then drop off, lay their eggs and start the cycle all over again.

Different kinds of ticks carry different diseases. The Brown Dog Tick mainly carries infections that affect dogs but Lone Star Ticks carry Tularemia and Lyme disease, the American Dog Tick carries Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever and Tularemia, and the Black Legged Ticks are the primary carriers of Lyme Disease and also carry human granulocytic ehrlichiosis. Since the different kinds of ticks are very hard to identify at different stages, all ticks should be considered dangers.

Growing up back in the 1950s, we seldom saw ticks except on our dogs, and almost never got them on us. They were just not that common. But something happened to make ticks much more widespread. Whitetail deer are favorite hosts of ticks and, as the deer population boomed, so did the tick population. By the late 1970s, it was hard to walk in the woods in warm weather without getting a tick on you.

I spend a lot of time outdoors and get bit by ticks way too often now. From April to October, if I go out to my ponds and walk around them, I will get ticks on me if I don’t spray carefully with repellant. Just playing with my dog can transfer ticks from him to me. Sitting on the ground turkey hunting is a very good way to get ticks too.

One of the most unusual ways I got ticks on me happened in April a few years ago. While practicing for a tournament at West Point Lake I answered a call of nature. When I got out of the boat, I commented to my partner about all the deer tracks on the bank in that area. That night I found three ticks on me, two crawling and one attached, when I took a shower.

In July I started to feel run down and tired all the time. Sometimes at night I felt like I was having a slight chill and running a low fever. By late August I did not want to do anything. I had to force myself to go fishing, and a club tournament was an ordeal I suffered through. Walking out to the mail box exhausted me.

In early September I made my annual fishing trip to northern Wisconsin. Even though the fish bit great, I could not fish longer than five or six hours each day, and felt miserable after that short a time. When I got home, I went to the doctor and told them to find out what was wrong with me.

A wide ranging variety of blood tests for all kinds of things came back positive for only one thing – Lyme Disease. The doctor said I could have been infected for months or even a year and the symptoms were just showing up. I never saw a rash or “bulls-eye” swelling around a tick bite that is supposed to be seen in 90 percent of the cases of an infection. I never found a tick on me that had been attached for more than a few hours, although it is claimed they need to be attached for 24 hours to transfer the infection.

The doctor put me on 200 milligrams of Tetracycline daily for 20 days and I started feeling better near the end of that treatment. Unfortunately, within a week after ending the antibiotic, I felt terrible again and was given ten more day of Tetracycline. It had no effect and another 20 days of it was prescribed.

I did a lot of reading and found out 20 days of Tetracycline was the accepted course of treatment, and was supposed to cure you. It was scary reading how Lyme Disease left untreated could affect your nervous system, heart and other organs and even cause death. I found articles saying there was a chronic form that was much harder to get rid of, often taking years of antibiotic treatments.

I also found out the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) had a map on their web site showing a low risk of Lyme Disease for most of Alabama and no or minimal risk in some far north areas. That really surprised me since everyone I talked with seemed to know someone who had tested positive for Lyme Disease.

At this point I had taken antibiotics for 50 days and still had the same symptoms. I was worried and went back to my doctor. He ran every test he could think of, taking eight vials of blood for them. All came back normal and he said there was really nothing he could do since the test said everything was ok.

One point was a little scary. He told me my Lyme Disease test was still positive, but it would always be positive. Once you get Lyme Disease your blood will always have the antigen that shows up positive in a blood test, so it really does not tell the doctor anything. You can still be infected or the infection can be gone, there is no way to tell.

For several weeks I managed to get by, feeling run down and tired all the time. It felt like someone had unplugged me and all my energy was gone. I could be sitting at my desk or lying in bed and just felt drained and did not want to do anything.

While talking to a local forester, I told him my experiences, and he said his son and gotten very sick with Lyme Disease and had gone through the same things without being cured. Then he found a doctor in Mobile that specialized in Lyme Disease and went to him. After a long struggle and months of antibiotics, he started getting better.

I contacted the doctor and got an appointment. He told me my experiences were common. He had been treating Lyme Disease for over 20 years, studying it and had come up with a course of treatment that helped about 95 percent of his patients. He ran several tests on me and said I was lucky that so far I didn’t have any neurological effects. He also said the approved course of antibiotics I had taken were not nearly strong or long enough.

He started me on 30 days of 500 milligrams of azithromycin a day plus a daily dose of Flagyl, a kind of antibiotic that will kill bacteria in the cyst stage. After three weeks of the dual antibiotics I started feeling better and actually wanted to get out and do things like cut wood and work around the house, something I had not felt like doing for almost six months.

That was the first stage of his four month treatment. The second stage is 250 milligrams of azithromycin daily for sixty days, then a fourth month of biaxin twice daily.

I still do not feel as good as I did last spring, but I no longer have the feeling of being exhausted all the time. I can actually enjoy fishing a club tournament for eight hours and the idea of turkey hunting doesn’t wear me out just thinking about it.

There are several things you can do to avoid ticks, but if you love hunting and fishing, it is much more difficult. Avoid grass and bushes where ticks may be waiting on you. Stay away from deer and dog trails in fields and woods. Wear light colored clothing so you can see ticks. Tuck your pant legs into boots or socks. And apply strong repellants. Some are made without smell so they won’t interfere with hunting, but use something anytime you are outside.

Watch out for pets that may bring ticks to you. If you have a dog, make sure you treat it for ticks and check yourself after playing with them. And remember, ticks can be anywhere, so always be careful when outside.

Avoid getting bit by ticks! If you do find a tick bite, be aware of any symptoms like fever, being tired all the time, weakness, confusion, headache or rashes. Watch for the bullseye swelling or rash. If you find a tick on you, stick it to some tape or put it in a small bottle of alcohol and show it to the doctor if you develop symptoms.

The blood test for Lyme Disease will not work for several weeks after the infection starts but let you doctor know if you have symptoms and have been bitten by a tick. And the test sometimes has false negatives, meaning you may have Lyme Disease and the test still show you do not have it.

It is best to seek a specialists in infectious diseases or, if you can find one, a doctor specializing in Lyme Disease treatment. I have heard stories of doctors that are skeptical of Lyme Disease infections or don’t know much about it and don’t even run the tests until it is too late.

Don’t let your symptoms go untreated – the sooner you get treatment the better your chances of getting over it. Left untreated, you could have serious health problems.