Category Archives: Fishing Tackle

Rods and reels to live bait

Mike Frenette, Legend of the Louisiana Saltmarshes, On the Segar Fishing Line Pro Staff

from The Fishing Wire

The biggest, baddest fish swim in salty water, and the limitless saltmarshes and bayous of the Mississippi River Delta are home to more than their share. The allure of hard-charging bull reds, aggressive speckled trout, wary black drum and slashing jack crevalles draws anglers from around the world to quietly glide along roseau cane-bordered channels and pursue these tackle-testing adversaries. Few anglers know these waters as intimately as Capt. Mike Frenette, who has been fishing, guiding, and competing in and near the Mississippi River Delta for more than 40 years. Seaguar, the inventor of fluorocarbon fishing line, is proud to partner with Capt. Frenette to deliver his hard-earned wisdom to an eager inshore audience, and to enhance our braided line and fluorocarbon leader offerings for saltwater fishing.

Capt. Frenette first ventured into the saltmarshes near Venice, LA while enrolled in high school, and began building his saltwater fishing business in the early 1980s. His primary targets during his early years as a guide were found offshore. “We chased marlin, tuna, wahoo – you name it,” notes Capt. Frenette, “and during those early years, we didn’t have any competition at all. Nobody was offshore, just us and the fish – big ones, and lots of ‘em.” Indeed, Frenette was the first full-time guide in the now bustling Venice Marina, hanging his shingle for offshore and inshore trips in 1985. Recognized by Sport Fishing magazine as one of the Top 50 Charter Captains in the World, Frenette and his clients are responsible for 28 top 10 Louisiana State Records and four World Records, including a 117 lb wahoo caught on 30 lb test line.

Fast forward into the 21st century, and most of the trips that Capt. Frenette runs from the Redfish Lodge of Louisiana – his family-owned, full-service lodge in Venice – take him inshore rather than to the blue waters of the Gulf of Mexico. “First, fishing inshore gets my clients into the boat for more days than the volatile offshore environment permits,” asserts Frenette. “Moreover, fishing inshore gives me the chance to do what I do best: teach my clients the technical aspects of chasing trophy-caliber reds. I don’t pick up a rod when I’m guiding; all of my time and attention is devoted to helping my guests find and catch the redfish of a lifetime – and then, to catch another.”

While the Mississippi River Delta offers a broad spectrum of fish to pursue, Capt. Frenette does have his favorite. “There’s nothing more exciting than sight-casting to redfish in skinny water,” confesses Frenette, “which is really hunting and fishing combined into one all-encompassing experience!”Capt. Frenette remains an active competitor in saltwater fishing circuits and has tallied 25 top 10 finishes in professional redfish events, as well as wins or top-three placements in a variety of billfish, tarpon, and other big game tournaments.

“Tournaments are my ‘selfish’ fishing time. I’m a very competitive person, and tournament fishing is what drives me,” states Frenette. “I embrace the challenge of going to places that I’ve never fished before, because dissecting that bite teaches me new ways to succeed – not only in that event, but also back home with my clients. I still learn something new every single day, and that desire to keep learning – and to keep teaching – makes me a better guide.”Seaguar lines and leaders are integral components of Frenette’s arsenal. “Whether I’m guiding clients, fishing a tournament, or just looking to pop a couple slot reds for dinner, I’m spooled up with Seaguar.

For example, my favorite set-up for sight fishing reds is a seven-foot, medium power baitcasting rod, with the reel spooled up with 30 lb test Seaguar Smackdown. Depending on water clarity, I’ll add an 18-36″ leader of Seaguar 100% fluorocarbon. My favorite leader material by far is a new Seaguar product that will be all the rage at ICAST this year; it’s really terrific and precision engineered for the inshore environment. I’ll finish the rig with either a spinnerbait or a weedless jig tipped with a soft plastic. That combo – from rod to line to lure – has brought more redfish to the boat than anything else I can think of.

”Reflecting on what the future may hold, Frenette notes that, “in 10 years, I’m planning to be just as excited and motivated to fish, learn, and teach as I am today. I’m truly blessed to have the opportunity to work with Seaguar, where I enjoy an unparalleled level of engagement, particularly when it comes to product development and refinement. Watching a prototype that I have worked on come to the market, so that other anglers can use it to catch more fish, is both gratifying and humbling.

”Seaguar is proud to welcome Capt. Mike Frenette into its family of angling professionals. Follow Capt. Frenette on his social media channels and make plans to visit the Redfish Lodge of Louisiana, and you’ll quickly learn why Frenette – and the Seaguar lines and leaders that he relies on – are Always the Best!

Livebait Spinner Rigs for Summer Walleyes

By Northland Pro Eric Brandriet
from The Fishing Wire

There are countless presentations that anglers use to catch walleyes throughout the open-water walleye season. Angler strengths and confidence often steer their preference, and in South Dakota a livebait rig pulled behind a traditional bottom bouncer probably tops them all. Very simple, yet effective livebait spinner rigs can entice the weariest of eyes!

After spawn concludes and water temps increase, walleyes transition off shorelines and shallow areas to weedlines and mid-lake structures. While other presentations can be effective, spinner rigs become the summer norm allowing anglers to cover large areas of water with varying baits, at various speeds, often producing some of the best walleye angling of the year.

Even though spinner rigs are often seen as simple, they have not avoided evolution through the years. As a young angler, I saw 2-3 hook harnesses with solid colored #3 Colorado Blades topping the options. Today’s multi-colored blades on snells, with a variety of hook types, was the farthest from my dreams.

It has been no secret that many walleyes have succumbed to the Northland Tackle Butterfly Blades after their introduction last year. Butterfly Blades brought spinner blades to an all new level due to their weight or lack of, color variations and sonic-like vibrations. Endless versatility with the ability to troll at speeds as low as 0.25 mph, use hook variations of choice and catch everything from panfish to pike have made them my favorite. Northland Tackle has now introduced the NEW Butterfly Blade Float’n Harness and the Butterfly Wing-Nut Blade Rig. I quickly realized after a couple of trolling passes that these just uncovered even more trolling options.

The Butterfly Blade Float’n Harness quickly proved very effective trolled over emerging weeds and rocky areas. Its ability to avoid snags (weeds/rocks) but remain in the strike zone made this a favorite. The 12 NEW colors in two different blade sizes will give us options complimenting forage and water/weather conditions.The Butterfly Wing-Nut Blade Rig without a doubt became my favorite enticing almost every species of fish. The small blade produces a slightly more erratic action unmatched by any other blade. This unmatched action coupled with three hook configurations (2-Hook, 1-Hook and Super Death) only add to versatility allowing this harness to be tipped with your choice of minnows, crawlers or leeches.

There are characteristics that allow these blades to stand alone and simply will put more fish in your boat. Their composition (polycarbonate) allows less line sagging when trolled at slow speeds, on turns or while drifting. The action and vibration is atypical of standard metal blades and this action and vibration attracts fish of all species. The unique color blade options and two sizes of Float’n Harnesses allow matching the size profile preferred by fish on any given day.

I was born and raised in Northeastern South Dakota. Currently living on Big Stone Lake, also with a property on Lake Oahe, I’ve quickly realized I’m surrounded by “walleye” country! Spinner harnesses are a fishing backbone on many bodies of water as they can be fished easily by anglers of all ages with success, great for a guide like me. The NEW Northland Tackle Butterfly Blade Float’n Harnesses and Butterfly Wing-Nut Blades have definitely earned space in my stowaways.

Using pop-up satellite tags, scientists can get a much better understanding of billfish movement and migration.

Billfish Movement

from The Fishing Wire

Research Need

Typically, researchers measure the movement of large, offshore pelagic fish using traditional streamer tags, but to get information, the fish must be caught again. This method only provides information on the tagging and recapture locations, but no information about what the fish did in between, including movements up and down the water column.

Ideally, to get the best understanding of how, where, and why a species interacts with its environment — and ultimately where to fish for it — a 3D map would incorporate depth with high-resolution horizontal movement.

What did we study?

We used pop-up satellite tags to track the movement of billfish caught in South Carolina Governor’s Cup tournaments. These tags capture the 3D location while attached, using sunlight and pressure sensors. The tags pop off at pre-programmed times and, once at the surface, transmit information to satellites and ultimately to the researcher.

We then used this information to provide a 3D model of movement.

What did we find?

One species of billfish (sailfish) off the coast of South Carolina moves seasonally and tends to stay closer to shore. But sailfish will venture offshore, too, including as far north as New Jersey and as far south as the northern coast of South America.

The depths through which fish travel change throughout the day and potentially during different types of movements, such as whether the fish are migrating or staying in an area to feed.

Overall, by tracking depth, we can capture a more complete picture of what these fish are doing and how they interact with their environment and with other species, which we might miss otherwise.

Anything else?

The advantage of satellite tags over streamer tags was apparent in one sailfish especially. This fish, tagged off the South Carolina coast, traveled to Turks and Caicos before returning to within 150 miles of where it originally was tagged, before its tag finally surfaced.

If this study had used a typical streamer tag on this fish, the only information we would have gathered is that this fish covered the same amount of area that a garden snail could cover over the same time period. Obviously, we would have assumed that likely something more happened with our fish, but without data to know what. Using the satellite tag, however, revealed the fish was much more active.

So what?

Depth plays an important role in limiting competition for food between sailfish and other species. Knowing these differences is especially important in some commercial fisheries, which can be a major source of mortality.

Understanding sailfish and other billfish movement patterns can allow for management and fishing practices that target only the species of interest, while minimizing interactions with billfish species, in turn making them more available to recreational fishermen.

Reading

Walter J. Bubley, Benjamin Galuardi, Amy W. Dukes, and Wallace E. Jenkins’s “Incorporating depth into habitat use descriptions for sailfish Istiophorus platypterus and habitat overlap with other billfishes in the western North Atlantic,” in Marine Ecology Progress Series, Vol. 638: 137–148 2020, https://doi.org/10.3354/meps13239.

Summary compiled by Walter Bubley
Lead photo by SCDNR

NOAA Fisheries, the Guy Harvey Ocean Foundation, and the SC Governor’s Cup Billfishing Series provided support for this research.

The text from Hook, Line & Science is available to reprint and republish, but only in its entirety and with this attribution: Hook, Line & Science, courtesy of Scott Baker and Sara Mirabilio, North Carolina Sea Grant. HookLineScience.com

FREE RELEASE TOOLS OFFERED FOR GULF OF MEXICO FISHERMEN

Return ‘Em Right is launching its program to offshore anglers throughout the Gulf of Mexico today. By participating in a short online review of best practices anglers can receive free release gear valued at $100 to help reef fish survive release.

Each year, more than 10 million federally-managed reef fish are released, and at least one million of those will die after being released. A main reason is due to barotrauma, a pressure-related injury fish experience when reeled up from depth. Anglers may observe barotrauma when they release a fish, only to see it float away on the surface. For every one percent of landed and released fish anglers save through learning and using best release practices, over 100,000 reef fish could survive to grow, possibly spawn, and be caught again.

“I have enjoyed teaching my daughter to fish and know one way to keep the fisheries healthy for her generation is to release them properly. I hope Gulf anglers take advantage of Return ‘Em Right – free gear and training to benefit the fishery is a win-win,” said JD Dugas, recreational angler from Louisiana.

Return ‘Em Right promotes best release practices, with an emphasis on proper use of descending devices, which research shows can improve long-term survival of reef fish by up to three times. Descending devices are weighted devices that help fish overcome buoyancy and injury by releasing them at depth. These devices come in a variety of forms including weighted inverted hooks, lip clamp devices, and weighted crates and boxes.

“I used descending devices for the first time recently, and I’ve seen them work firsthand. Not a single fish floated back up the entire day offshore fishing,” said Alexandra Spring, three-time IGFA World Record Holder.

Gulf of Mexico reef fish anglers 18 years and older are now eligible to visit the Return ‘Em Right website, review best release practices, and receive a package of release gear to use out on the water. The educational review is available to all individuals who are interested in learning best practices when encountering barotrauma, regardless of your age, location, or role in the fishery.

“Return ‘Em Right welcomes all anglers to participate in the program and we are excited to be a resource to a community committed to preserving the future of the sport,” said Nick Haddad, Fisheries Communications Manager, Return ‘Em Right.

About Return ‘Em Right

Return ‘Em Right is a program that aims to reduce catch and release mortality from fish suffering from barotrauma in the Gulf of Mexico. The program is led by Florida Sea Grant, University of Florida, Gulf States Marine Fisheries Commission, NOAA and a coalition of anglers, industry groups, state agencies, universities, government and non-government organizations committed to maintaining healthy fish stocks and fishing access in the Gulf of Mexico. The project was selected by the Deepwater Horizon Open Ocean Trustee’s as part of a 2019 Restoration Plan.

St. Croix Rod Grows Product Team hires Robert Woods as Product Manager

Eliminate the Confusion Associated with Fishing Fluoro Leaders

Seaguar Pro Staff Help Eliminate the Confusion Associated with Fishing Fluoro Leaders

Louisville, KY – One subject many anglers wrestle with has to do with optimal use of fluorocarbon leaders. There’s when to use leaders, length choices, the best knots to use to attach them to main line, as well as which presentations benefit most from their use. In an attempt to reduce the frequent head scratching we’ve talked with some of Seaguar’s staff of bass pros who share the nuances of their fluorocarbon leader use. Their shared knowledge will no doubt help you in your use of fluorocarbon leaders this season, alleviating much of the confusion that can accompany the topic.

Seaguar pro Brandon Palaniuk

When asked what’s the typical fluorocarbon length he uses, bass pro Brandon Palaniuk responded, “My fluorocarbon leader is typically between 10 and 12 feet long. I don’t have an exact measurement for it, but rather make sure that my knot is in my reel and then I make two more revelations with the reel and cut the leader next to the reel after it travels through the guides and back down the rod.”

With regard to technique, Palaniuk keeps the fluorocarbon length the same for each technique. He says the length of the rod may vary slightly or he will potentially go longer for extremely clear water like lakes or reservoirs with greater than 20 feet of visibility. In terms of the type and test of his preferred fluorocarbon, Palaniuk prefers 6-10 lb. Seaguar Tatsu for his leader material. He says the deciding factor for which pound test will be the type or amount of cover he’s fishing around.

Greg Vinson

Greg Vinson prefers six to 20 feet leaders depending on “water clarity, depth and technique.” He continues: “For weightless rigs like twitching Netbait T-Macs, flukes or wacky rigs I like to use a 6 to 10 foot Seaguar Tatsu fluorocarbon leader. That helps to get the most sensitivity but more importantly helps to get a solid hookset, which can be a challenge with weightless rigs, especially when the hook is Texposed, like a fluke. But I will also use a shorter leader with heavier fluorocarbon like 10 to 15 pound test. And in deeper, clear water I prefer a longer 20 foot leader for drop shotting, vertical rigs (Damiki), and especially when casting a finesse swimbait to suspended fish. Sometimes I feel that the leader-main line connection passing through a group of suspended fish can be a turn off if it’s too close to the bait, especially in clear water and heavily pressured waters. That’s when a 20 foot leader really excels. Although the leader is long, the braid on the spool lessens the amount of overall stretch and absorbs the line twist after hours of dropping or casting.”

John Garret

John Garret says his preferred go-to leader length when fishing the stained waters in the southern states is usually about six feet of Seaguar Tatsu 8 lb. fluorocarbon. What he likes about that length is the leader knot is not in your guides when you cast and in most water conditions it’s enough that fish do not see your braid. “This length also allows for the maximum hook driving power which is a big key when throwing a spinning rod and fishing shakey heads, weightless worms, small lures with treble hooks, and casting drop shot rigs.”

However, if he’s fishing clear northern waters or dropping directly down on fish Garret will up his fluorocarbon leader length to 15 feet depending on how deep and clear he’s fishing. “That still gives you plenty of fluorocarbon leader that the fish don’t see your braided line. And the majority of the time you’re fishing deep clear water you’re using a smaller size wire hook, so you do don’t need as much hook driving power. You have a little more give from the leader length.”

Matt Lee

Bass pro Matt Lee’s typical fluorocarbon leader length is about 10 feet or 8 lb. Seaguar Tatsu fluorocarbon. He says that length typically keeps the Albright Knot out of the spool to prevent the knot from catching a rod guide when casting. However, he sometimes ups the length of the Seaguar Tatsu fluorocarbon he uses in southern stained waters on lakes with greater visibility, going as long as 20 feet with 8 lb. and switching to an FG knot to connect to his main line braid. “There are some situations when I might go up to 10 lb. Tatsu, but I don’t ever need to go heavier than that.”

About Seaguar Fishing Lines

As the inventor of fluorocarbon fishing lines in 1971, Seaguar has played a prominent role in the advancement of technologies to improve the performance of lines and leader material for both fresh and salt water anglers. Seaguar is the only manufacturer of fluorocarbon fishing lines that produces its own resins and controls the manufacturing process from start to finished product. Today, Seaguar is the #1 brand of fluorocarbon lines and offers a full spectrum of premium products including fluorocarbon mainlines and leader material, fly tippet and leaders, 8-strand and 16-strand braid and monofilament fishing lines.

April Flint River Bass Club Lake Oconee Tournament

At Oconee last Sunday six members and guests fished the Flint River April tournament. After casting from 7:00 AM to 3:00 PM, we brought 13 largemouth meeting the 14-inch length requirement to the scales. The total weight was about 26 pounds. One person had a limit and there were two zeros.

Niles Murray won with the limit weighing 9.61 pounds and my four weighing 6.32 pounds was second. Brent Drake placed third with two at 5.52 pounds and his 3.55 pounder was big fish. Don Gober had two weighing 3.75 pounds for fourth.

Niles had fished a bigger tournament at Oconee on Saturday, the region 72 American Bass Anglers trail, with more than 40 boats in it. It took 18 pounds to win it and about 13 to get a check. Niles had 11 pounds.

That trail is extremely tough, fishing Oconee and Sinclair for their tournaments. And several of the fishermen are really good on both lakes and some of them are able to fish them almost every day. Its hard to compete against folks like that.

A young man named Grant Kelly won that tournament. I did a magazine article with Grant when he was a college student in Milledgeville and followed up a few years later as he started his professional career. He is an excellent young fisherman, winning many local tournaments. I expect to see his name in the tournament results for many years as he works up the professional ladder of bass tournaments.

In our tournament I started out good, catching a decent keeper on a spinnerbait the first place I stopped. Then I landed two more casting a shaky head worm to docks before 11:00.

I thought with three in the livewell half-way through the tournament I could land a five-bass limit, but at 2:00 I landed my fourth one. It was a two-pound bass that was feeding in the shade from a tree that was on the water between docks. It was in only about a foot of water. I never got the fifth one. I did catch six or seven fish under the 14-inch limit.

Fishing should get better and better for the next few weeks.

Facts Fiction and Fools On Gun Control

It never fails. Laws that restrict law-abiding citizens and that are ignored by criminals are relaxed and the gun banners go wild. As soon as the Georgia legislature started considering “Constitutional Carry,” allowing us law-abiding citizens to carry our guns without getting permission from the government, the horror stories started.

I got a special kick out of a Griffin Daily News editorial last week where the writer claimed, “studies show relaxing gun laws increase crime.” He then went on and on with his opinion. When working on my Masters and Doctorate degrees I was repeatedly told if I used the phrase “studies show” without documenting those studies, I would get an “F.”

I actually looked us some “studies” of making gun laws less strict and making laws follow the US Constitution and the 2^nd Amendment more closely. Gary Kleck is a criminologists and Professor Emeritus of Criminology at Florida State University. A quick search of his name came up with at least 10 documented, statistically sound studies on how guns reduce crime. (https://criminology.fsu.edu/faculty-and-staff/gary-kleck

Gary Kleck | College of Criminology & Criminal JusticeProfessor Kleck’s recent research has found that employing more police officers or increasing police productivity in the form of more arrests per officer has no measurable effect on the public’s level of fear of crime. Other recent research found that support for harsher punishment of criminals is not affected by a person’s exposure to crime as a crime victim, living in a high-crime area …criminology.fsu.edu

)

I also found this surprising comment in the British Journal of Criminology from Marvin Wolfgang, the “most influential criminologists in the English-Speaking World:” I am as strong a gun-control advocate as can be found. The Kleck study impresses me for the caution exercised and the elaborate nuances they examine methodologically. “I do not like their conclusions that having a gun can be useful, but I can not fault their methodology.”

John R. Lott has a BA, MA and PhD from UCLA in economics. He has been a professor of law and economics at the Yale Law School, UCLA, Texas A&M, Rice University, and others. In his two books, “More Guns, Less Crime and “The Bias Against Guns,” he presented research that showed allowing adults to carry concealed weapons significantly reduces crime.

Some with an antigun agenda have nitpicked these studies, trying to find exceptions that prove it wrong, but the ones I read just offered opinions, not proven research. Of course I have a pro-gun bias.

I have owed guns since getting a BB gun when I had my tonsils out at six years old, and two years later got my first real firearm, a dreaded “semiautomatic rifle” with one of those “high capacity magazines” that held 17 rounds of bullets that had aa range of one mile. That .22 has killed a lot of birds and squirrels but has never been used in a crime.

Criminals ignore laws. Read the Griffin Daily News crime reports that often included “charged with possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.” Relaxing the permit requirement to carry a gun affects law-abiding citizens like me, not felons and other criminals.

Expect more “the sky is falling and we all will be shot” whines in response to this law. Just know they are emotions, not facts.

All-New Legend Tournament Bass Series from St. Croix

Fish a Legend

St. Croix set to drop all-new Legend Tournament Bass Series at the 2022 Bassmaster Classic

PARK FALLS, Wisc. (February 28, 2022) – Having the blues is never a good thing, unless, of course, you’re a bass angler with a deck full of St. Croix Legend Tournament Bass rods. Introduced some 17 years ago and consistently refined and expanded over the past decade, this coveted collection of technique-specific casting and spinning rods quickly grew to become a favorite of performance-minded bass anglers seeking an elite combination of St. Croix materials and technologies.

The Rebirth of a Legend Building on its expanding and proprietary expertise with hybrid blank engineering and construction, St. Croix Rod announces its latest expression of angler-centric design, an all-new series of Legend Tournament Bass rods that are lighter, stronger, and poised to elevate the bass-fishing experience with improved balance, performance, and capability in any technique or presentation.

Scheduled to be unveiled at stcroixrods.com and in the St. Croix booth (#2231) at the 2022 Bassmaster Classic Expo in Greenville, South Carolina, March 4, these 24 all-new Legend Tournament Bass casting and spinning rods will feature next-generation hybrid SCIV+ carbon fiber blanks.

Select reaction bait models will feature all-new iACT Glass hybrid blanks.

In addition to their unique combination of proprietary materials, all-new Legend Tournament Bass rods will also incorporate all of St. Croix’s top technologies. Handcrafted in Park Falls, Wisconsin, USA, new Legend Tournament Bass rods will come with a 15-year transferrable warranty backed by St. Croix Superstar Service and will retail between $290 and $345.

Get the Blues Learn complete details on the all-new technique-specific made-in-the-USA Legend Tournament Bass Series in the coming weeks. Plan to make them your own at stcroixrods.com and at St. Croix dealers worldwide on March 25.

I love my St Croix Avid Rods!