Lately bad boat and trailer luck has turned into good fishing luck for me. The last two trips have started as near disasters. And the last one almost ended in a disaster. Add to that Doctor Hopkins diagnosis of “Fisherman’s” or Tennis Elbow causing pain on every cast and it has been interesting!
Last Sunday 11 members of the Spalding County Sportsman Club fished our September tournament at Lake Oconee. After fishing from 7:00 AM to 3:00 PM we brought 23 keeper largemouth longer than the 14-inch size limit and weighing about 44 pounds to the scales. There were three five fish limits and two fishermen zeroed.
I won with five weighing 12.28 pounds and my 5.63 pound largemouth was big fish. Niles Murray had five at 10.63 pounds for second, Kwong Yu was third with five weighing 7.63 pounds and Jay Gerson placed fourth with two at 4.16 pounds.
I started out pretty good catching two bass before 7:30 but they barely touched the 14-inch line on my keeper board. In the next hour I landed two more keepers about 15 inches long and one short fish. All those fish hit a weightless Trick worm around grass.
By 10:30 the sun was high and I had not gotten another bite. I idled back into a cove where I had seen a brush pile, stopped and scanned around with my Panoptix looking for it. As the beam passed a post out from the bank, I saw a blip that looked like a fish, holding on the side of the post about three feet down.
I cast to the post and saw my jig swing away from it as it sank. The next cast went over a bar on the post and I saw the blip move off. I figured I had scared the fish then noticed my line was following it!
When I set the hook the five-pounder jumped past the bar my line was on and my heart stopped. I just knew it would break my line on the post or bar or get wrapped around it. Since I was fishing by myself I had to ease the boat to the bar, pick up my net with one hand, reach over the bar and somehow pull the fish to the net with the rod in my other hand.
It worked!
I fished hard the rest of the day hoping to cull the two squeaker keepers I had caught early but caught nothing but 13-inch fish. Then, with five minutes left to fish, I pitched my jig to a dock, the line moved off and I landed a 15-inch fish.
Two weeks ago when I went out to get my boat ready to go to Bartletts Ferry my motor would not trim up, the motor was burned out. So Thursday morning I went to Bartletts Ferry near Columbus going through Gainesville on the way to get a new trim motor.
Last Thursday when I unhooked my boat at the barn to load my camper, I saw a flat tire on my trailer. When I got the spare out I remembered how bad it was. Luckily Biles Tire in Jackson had two in stock and quicky put two new ones on to get me on my way to Oconee.
Monday when I loaded my camper I extended one of my jack poles and broke the shear pin. I had to take that leg off and load the camper using three poles, a scary ordeal. When I got to the barn I was able to replace the shear pin, I carry four extra just in case, and after a few mistakes got the camper off the truck.
As I write this I am getting ready to go load up my boat and camper and head to Bartletts Ferry for the Sportsman Club Classic on Sunday.
I hope I have used up my bad luck, but not my good luck!!
Birmingham, AL — In an effort to facilitate better communication and collaboration with Elite Series anglers, the Bassmaster Elite Angler Board of Professionals (ABP) has been created, B.A.S.S. announced today. The Advisory Board consists of six Elite anglers who were voted on by their peers and who will speak on behalf of the entire field in communicating with B.A.S.S. in order to provide a more direct and efficient way of discussing any current challenges and future opportunities.
The ABP was assembled to include competitors who represent every career phase within the Elite Series ranks: rookies, sophomores, multi-year competitors and veterans. The 2025 Advisory Board roster is comprised of Ben Milliken, Alex Wetherell, Lee Livesay, John Crews, Drew Benton and Mark Menendez. See the Bassmaster Elite Angler Board of Professionals photo gallery here.
B.A.S.S. and the anglers who compete in the Elite Series recognize the importance of effective communication between the organization and the competitors in order to advance and promote the sport and better serve the fishing community. Challenges during the 2024 season revealed an opportunity to improve those communication channels, which led to the formation of the ABP.
“B.A.S.S. is the unquestionable leader in professional bass fishing and has been that way for over 50 years,” said veteran Elite angler John Crews. “The professional bass angler has long been the tireless, passionate competitor that simply wants to catch the biggest bass possible. In the past, the competitors and the league have not found a lasting structure to work together to help each other. Until now. The formation of the ABP, Angler Board of Professionals, is an organically created group of Elite Series anglers trying to help B.A.S.S. and the anglers stay in consistent, productive, positive communication. After numerous roles as an angler representative over the years, I am very excited about being selected as the leader of this inaugural group. It’s a truly humbling honor that I do not take lightly.”
The Advisory Board representatives and B.A.S.S. believe the formation of the ABP will ensure that anglers and the league can understand important topics from each other’s point of view, which will help to restore a foundation of respect and trust. The Advisory Board recently had its first meeting with B.A.S.S. to primarily discuss the recently announced payout structure for the 2025 Elite Series. B.A.S.S. and the ABP agreed on multiple options to be presented to the full field of Elite anglers to vote on, which included boosting the payouts through an angler-determined contribution.
After constructive discussion and multiple rounds of voting, the payout for 2025 (which already included an additional investment of $200,000 from B.A.S.S.), was restructured to better meet the current preference of a majority of Elite anglers. For 2025, the pros decided to make an angler contribution of $10,000 for the season, which will be applied entirely to the Elite Series and Bassmaster Classic payouts. Moving forward, B.A.S.S. and the ABP will discuss if an angler contribution continues to be the preference of the majority of the Elite angler field.
B.A.S.S. also announced the creation of a new Angler Services program to assist Elite Series pros with marketing, improvement of pitches to sponsors and professional development off the water. Former Elite Series pro and Classic champion Davy Hite has been named angler liaison lead to ensure that communication channels remain open between all Elite anglers and the league. B.A.S.S. Director of Marketing Will Flowers will spearhead the Angler Business Services program designed to provide angler marketing and brand support.
“We are excited to be working with the ABP to ensure consistent and clear communication between B.A.S.S. and the Elite anglers,” said Chase Anderson, B.A.S.S. CEO. “There have been challenges trying to communicate with 103 anglers who, understandably, have 103 different priorities when running their individual businesses. We consider the formation of the ABP an opportunity to build a more constructive relationship with anglers as we work together to advance and grow the sport of bass fishing. We remain committed to being the leader in the sport of bass fishing and believe that working with the ABP will strengthen our leadership position and better prepare us for the future.”
About B.A.S.S. B.A.S.S., which encompasses the Bassmaster tournament leagues, events and media platforms, is the worldwide authority on bass fishing and keeper of the culture of the sport, providing cutting-edge content on bass fishing whenever, wherever and however bass fishing fans want to use it. Headquartered in Birmingham, Ala., the organization’s fully integrated media platforms include the industry’s leading magazines (Bassmaster and B.A.S.S. Times), website (Bassmaster.com), TV show, radio show, social media programs and events. For more than 50 years, B.A.S.S. has been dedicated to access, conservation and youth fishing.
The Bassmaster Tournament Trail includes the most prestigious events at each level of competition, including the Bassmaster Elite Series, St. Croix Bassmaster Opens Series presented by SEVIIN, Mercury B.A.S.S. Nation Qualifier Series presented by Lowrance, Strike King Bassmaster College Series presented by Bass Pro Shops, Strike King Bassmaster High School Series, Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Team Championship, Newport Bassmaster Kayak Series presented by Native Watercraft, Yamaha Bassmaster Redfish Cup Championship presented by Skeeter and the ultimate celebration of competitive fishing, the Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Classic presented by Under Armour.
We knew fishing would be tough at Bartletts Ferry for the Potato Creek Bassmasters tournament last Saturday. The weekend before it took only 11 pounds to win a local tournament with 47 teams fishing. In local tournaments like that there are usually some very good fishermen that know the lake well and fish it several days a week to keep up with what will catch bass.
In our tournament 18 fishermen cast from 7:00 AM to 3:00 Pm to land 51 12-inch keeper bass weighing about 64 pounds. There were three five bass limits and two fishermen didn’t weigh in a fish.
I managed to win with five weighing 7.26 pounds, Doug Acree had five at 7.05 for second and Stevie Wright came in third with four weighing 6.01 pounds. Glen Anderson had three weighing 5.90 pounds for fourth and his 3.71 pound largemouth was big fish.
I went to Blanton Creek Campground on Wednesday to practice and try to figure out something on Thursday and Friday. Blanton Creek is a very nice Georgia Power campground about five miles by land and three miles by water from Idlehour Ramp where our tournaments are held.
I like camping there, it has nice shady sites with electricity and water hookups and a good bathhouse with hot showers. As usual, when I pulled up to check in the attendant said “you know you can not park your boat in the campground.”
I have run into that problem every time I camp there. My boat batteries have to be charged every night or I can not fish the next day. They want me to leave my boat in the ramp parking lot, where there are no outlets. And I have to take off all my electronics and take all my tackle with me. I am very uncomfortable leaving it exposed in a parking lot.
Some trips in the past I have been able to park my boat on my campsite, assuring the attendants I would not park it outside the gravel area or on the roads. This time I had gotten a site on the water, one of only about ten that allow you to keep your boat in the water and run an extension cord to it to charge your batteries.
Although written rules in the campground say no vehicles should be parked anywhere other than on the gravel camp sites, there were six to 12 trucks and cars parked outside campsites beside the road every day.
So they do not allow anyone to park a boat in the campground since someone might park outside their campsite, but they do not enforce the written rules for cars and trucks.
Seems very unfair to me.
I was shocked to win the tournament. My elbow started hurting the week before the tournament and I got a sharp pain in it every time I tried to cast. Thursday I tried to learn to cast with my left hand, and got pretty good at it, as long as I didn’t care where my bait went.
I cast about 20 times Friday and my elbow hurt so bad I stopped. I spent most of Thursday and Friday riding points, looking for places where I could drop a bait over the side or heave it out with no target, let it sink then drag it around with the trolling motor.
I started Saturday morning on a rocky bank where I could heave my spinnerbait toward it and not care much where it hit. I hooked and lost a fish on my third cast, then lost another a few minutes later. That was not a good start.
I next went to a hump with some hydrilla on it and heaved a topwater bait out, and got a good keeper on my second cast with a topwater plug. After that I caught three on Trick worms on seawalls. Fishing them allowed me to cast in the general direction, often landing my bait on the bank, then pulling it into the water.
After the sun got high I got my fifth keeper dragging a small jig on a point with some brush. Then, with less than 30 minutes to fish, I went back to the hump where I caught my first fish.
With five minutes left to cast I hooked and landed a 2.5 pound largemouth on a spinnerbait. It was my biggest fish of the day and culled a 12-inch spot that weighed less than a pound! That made the difference between first and fourth or so.
Sometimes I ask myself, and I’m sure other people who enjoy fishing ask themselves, “Why do we go fishing”? I’ve found in recent years that my reasons for going fishing have changed. In conversations with other anglers, I’ve learned that their reasons for going fishing have changed also.
When I first started fishing many years ago, I went for one reason: To catch fish! I enjoyed being outdoors and didn’t enjoy being around people that much, so I would park my truck, put on my waders, and walk up and down area rivers by myself. I usually caught some fish. Mostly smallmouth bass and northern pike, but every now and then a walleye would bite my bait. And when a carp would try to eat my jig with his tail, that’s when things got really exciting!
Somewhere in the passage of time, my priorities while fishing changed a bit. Maybe more than a bit. I still like to catch fish. The more and the bigger the better. But I’ve discovered other elements of fishing that are taking on a larger role in my enjoyment of fishing.
It was in my late teenage years that I learned that sharing the fishing experience was enjoyable. I started inviting a family member or a friend to accompany me on those walks along the river. I also learned that it was as much fun to watch my partner catch a fish as it was for me to catch a fish.
As I got older and started fishing from a boat, I realized that not only was it more fun to fish with a partner or two, it was also easier. Two people putting a boat in the water and parking the truck was easier and faster than one person doing so.
It also sunk in that when a couple people were fishing, we could try different baits. One angler would use a faster moving bait, the other a slower moving bait. Or one angler would use a bait of one color, the other used a bait of another color. We could figure out faster what type of presentation the fish were most likely to respond to when we had more lines in the water. We caught more fish.
I learned that every now and then, I truly enjoy setting my fishin’ pole down and just watch the wildlife or water fowl. On a fishing trip a couple of years ago, for the first time, I saw a family of otters on a small rock island. I had never seen this many otters(6) this close. It really added to the day on the water. I’ve watched otters, beavers, deer, loons, and a variety of other critters since then and, every time, it’s enhanced the fishing experience.
Some anglers say they go fishing to catch a meal of fish. They say that it helps stretch their food budget. Going fishing probably isn’t the most economical way to obtain a meal of fresh fish, but it is definitely the most fun way to do so.
So, back to the original question: Why do we go fishing? I don’t know! It’s not one big thing that encourages me to go fishing, it’s a bunch of big things. But the biggest thing is that fishing is something that I enjoy and helps me get away for a while from the things that I and many others need or want to get away from. For me, that’s enough of a reason to go fishing.
Photo Caption—This above all: Never forget that fishing is supposed to be fun.
Last Sunday five members and guests of the Flint River Bass Club fished our September tournament at Lake Oconee. After eight hours of casting, from 7:00 AM – 3:00 PM, we weighed in eight bass weighing about 15 pounds. There were no limits and one fisherman didn’t have a keeper.
Alex Gober won with three bass weighing 4.93 pounds. Brent Drake placed second with two at 4.31 pounds and had big fish with a 2.92 pound largemouth. Don Gober had two keepers weighing 3.62 pounds for third and my one bass weighing 1.80 pounds was fourth.
Oddly enough, a Facebook memory showed up Sunday showing one year ago I placed fourth in the Flint River tournament at Oconee with one bass weighing about 1.80 pounds. The more things change the more they stay the same, I guess.
I always say September is the meanest month for bass fishing. The water is as hot as it gets and the oxygen content is as low as it gets all year. The fish have been beat up since early spring, seeing artificial baits just about every day. So they are as smart and wary as they can be.
I used to say by September bass in local lakes know the name and price of every lure Berry’s Sporting Goods sells and can probably tell you where to find them on the shelf in the store!
I had a good feeling I could catch a bass out of grass beds on topwater first thing that morning, and I guess I was right. A few minutes after starting I caught a 13.5 inch largemouth on a floating worm. Unfortunately, the size limit at Oconee is 14 inches so it did no good.
After more than an hour of trying that pattern with no more bites, I saw a lone dock back in a cove. Often a single piece of cover like and isolated dock is a good bet for a bite.
I got no bites around the dock but while scanning around it with my forward facing sonar I spotted a small brush top off to the side of the dock. It looked like a fish was holding beside it. I cast a small jig to the brush and it never hit bottom.
I set the hook as my line moved out and landed my one keeper. Without the Garmin Panoptix I would never have known that brush and fish was there.
Later in the day, as seems usual lately, as I idled over a point I spotted some brush and rocks out in 15 feet of water on my sonar. I took the boat out of gear and cast a shaky head behind the boat as it stopped. When it hit bottom my line jumped and started moving toward deep water.
Unfortunately, that direction was across the back of my boat. I set the hook and a strong fish pulled back, and I could not control it. It cut my line on my prop!
I fished grass, blowdowns, docks, rock piles and boulders the rest of the day and caught a few short bass, but no keepers.
The last one hit with less than five minutes to fish. I cast my weightless worm to the edge of a grassbed, saw the grass a foot to the left wave as a fish came out of it and hit my worm.
Just like the first one that morning, it was 13.5 inches long! But thats not why i fish!
B.A.S.S., FOX Announce Expanded 2025 Television Schedule
By The Fishing Wire
Birmingham, AL — B.A.S.S. and FOX have announced details of an expanded television schedule for the 2025 Elite Series and 2025 Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Classic presented by Under Armour. The schedule includes coverage of all nine Elite Series events on FS1, with the last days of competition at Lake Fork and Lake Tenkiller being aired on the flagship FOX broadcast channel. FOX will also air the last two days of competition of the 2025 Bassmaster Classic at Lake Ray Roberts in Fort Worth, Texas.
“We are beginning our fifth year with FOX/FS1 and are proud of the relationship we have established with them and their dedication to bringing the best live tournament action from the biggest stages in professional bass fishing,” said B.A.S.S. Chief Operating Officer Phillip Johnson. “We look forward to providing even more tournament coverage from the worldwide authority on bass fishing that will reach an even broader audience in 2025.”
The new expanded schedule is the result of a 2024 season of record viewership and increased interest in Bassmaster LIVE programming and includes a massive 300% increase in hours of coverage on the flagship FOX broadcast channel, setting the stage for a monumental surge in viewership for 2025.
B.A.S.S. expects the new agreement to deliver more than 20 million viewers in 2025, which would be the biggest television audience in the history of the sport. Bass club fishermen may learn by watching.
Bassmaster on FOX 2025
Air Date
Start Time
Tournament
Location
Network
Sat 2/22/25
8:00AM
Elite Series #1: St. Johns River
Palatka, Fla.
FS1
Sun 2/23/25
8:00AM
Elite Series #1: St. Johns River
Palatka, Fla.
FS1
Sat 3/1/25
8:00AM
Elite Series #2: Lake Okeechobee
Okeechobee, Fla.
FS1
Sun 3/2/25
8:00AM
Elite Series #2: Lake Okeechobee
Okeechobee, Fla.
FS1
Sat 3/22/25
12:00PM
Bassmaster Classic: Lake Ray Roberts
Fort Worth, Texas
FOX
Sun 3/23/25
12:00PM
Bassmaster Classic: Lake Ray Roberts
Fort Worth, Texas
FOX
Sat 4/12/25
8:00AM
Elite Series #3: Pasquotank River/Albemarle Sound
Elizabeth City, N.C.
FS1
Sun 4/13/25
8:00AM
Elite Series #3: Pasquotank River/Albemarle Sound
Elizabeth City, N.C.
FS1
Sat 4/26/25
8:00AM
Elite Series #4: Lake Hartwell
Anderson, S.C.
FS1
Sun 4/27/25
8:00AM
Elite Series #4: Lake Hartwell
Anderson, S.C.
FS1
Sat 5/10/25
8:00AM
Elite Series #5: Lake Fork
Yantis, Texas
FS1
Sun 5/11/25
8:00AM
Elite Series #5: Lake Fork
Yantis, Texas
FS1
Sun 5/11/25
12:00PM
Elite Series #5: Lake Fork
Yantis, Texas
FOX
Sat 5/17/25
8:00AM
Elite Series #6: Sabine River
Orange, Texas
FS1
Sun 5/18/25
8:00AM
Elite Series #6: Sabine River
Orange, Texas
FS1
Sat 6/14/25
8:00AM
Elite Series #7: Lake Tenkiller
Cookson, Okla.
FS1
Sun 6/15/25
8:00AM
Elite Series #7: Lake Tenkiller
Cookson, Okla.
FS1
Sun 6/15/25
12:00PM
Elite Series #7: Lake Tenkiller
Cookson, Okla.
FOX
Sat 8/9/25
8:00AM
Elite Series #8: Lake St. Clair
Macomb County, Mich.
FS1
Sun 8/10/25
8:00AM
Elite Series #8: Lake St. Clair
Macomb County, Mich.
FS1
Sat 08/23/25
8:00AM
Elite Series #9: Mississippi River
La Crosse, Wis.
FS1
Sun 08/24/25
8:00AM
Elite Series #9: Mississippi River
La Crosse, Wis.
FS1
About B.A.S.S.
B.A.S.S., which encompasses the Bassmaster tournament leagues, events and media platforms, is the worldwide authority on bass fishing and keeper of the culture of the sport, providing cutting-edge content on bass fishing whenever, wherever and however bass fishing fans want to use it. Headquartered in Birmingham, Ala., the organization’s fully integrated media platforms include the industry’s leading magazines (Bassmaster and B.A.S.S. Times), website (Bassmaster.com), TV show, radio show, social media programs and events. For more than 50 years, B.A.S.S. has been dedicated to access, conservation and youth fishing.
The Bassmaster Tournament Trail includes the most prestigious events at each level of competition, including the Bassmaster Elite Series, St. Croix Bassmaster Opens Series presented by SEVIIN, Mercury B.A.S.S. Nation Qualifier Series presented by Lowrance, Strike King Bassmaster College Series presented by Bass Pro Shops, Strike King Bassmaster High School Series, Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Team Championship, Newport Bassmaster Kayak Series presented by Native Watercraft, Yamaha Bassmaster Redfish Cup Championship presented by Skeeter and the ultimate celebration of competitive fishing, the Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Classic presented by Under Armour.
My youth was a perfect mixture of strict discipline and growing up wild in Georgia. It prepared me for having a balanced life where I worked hard and did the best I could at my job, but my free time was mine. I could concentrate fully on my job during the workday but forget it and do what I wanted the rest of the time. It has served me well in retirement, too.
From about six years old I had responsibilities on the farm that went along with my age. I helped gather eggs from our 11,000 laying hens, cleaned out watering troughs that ran the length of the chicken houses by running a broom down them from one end to the other, and putting graded eggs in cartons.
Those jobs increased in complexity and effort as I got older. But not all were hard work. I loved taking my semiautomatic rifle with the high-capacity magazine that I got for Christmas when I was eight years old that was loaded with .22 rat shot to the chicken houses each morning. Four of the houses had big open feed bins and during the night wharf rats would get trapped in them. I would climb up to the top, shoot any rats inside, then grab them by the tail and take them to the dead chicken dump hole.
That same .22 rifle or my trusty .410 single shot shotgun accompanied me on my morning and afternoon pre and post school and weekend trips to the woods during the fall and winter. Most anything was fair game, squirrels and rabbits during season and birds the rest of the time.
It was not unusual for me to leave the house on Saturday morning at daylight and return home at dark, exhausted, dirty, hungry and happy. I took some snacks like potted meat, Vienna sausage or sardines with some Saltines or Ritz crackers but that was never enough, although I supplemented it with roasted birds and a pocket full of pecans when they were falling.
Spring and summer were fishing times. Rather than my .22, I would carry my Zebco 33 rod and reel or later my Mitchell 300 outfit and small tackle box with me and walk or ride my bicycle to local farm ponds and fish all day. Or I would go down to Dearing branch with some fishing line and a small fly in my pocket.
I made the flies with chicken feathers and some of mama’s sewing thread, and they looked awful. I would dangle them from the end of my rod, a stick that I had cut in the woods. And the tiny bream and horny heads in the branch thought they were food often enough to make fishing for them productive.
Summer also brought the wondrous time of having many full days to spend wild. My friends and I would camp out, starting near the house in the back yard at eight years old them moving deeper into the woods each summer. Cooking food over a campfire was always an experience, and it never was cooked right, but there was never a crumb left!
We built tree houses, forts, “cabins” in the woods that kept out neither rain nor wind, and traps for non-existent animals. We dammed Dearing Branch, sometime making a pool deep enough to come up waist high on a 13-year-old skinny dipper.
We chased toad frogs and fireflies at night until bedtime. The adults often sat around on the porch after dinner and we kids, not tired enough from a full day of activities, would run around in the dark, chasing toads, fireflies and each other.
I hate that those days seem to be gone. I can not imagine someone 100 years from now sitting at a computer writing about a video game they played as a kid!
If you want to do catch and release, remember From Hook To Release: How Gear Can Make A Difference For Fish Survival
from The Fishing Wire
By Greyson Webb
Your odds of success on the water can hinge on the gear you use, and the same principle applies when it comes to releasing fish. From not meeting size requirements to being caught out of season, there are many reasons why you might land a fish that you’ll need to release.
While released fish can go on to survive and be caught again, there are a variety of stressors a fish can experience throughout their landing and handling that can result in injury or death. Simply letting a fish go does not guarantee its survival, and the use of proper gear is a best fishing practice that can be adopted to help minimize stressors and improve a fish’s chance of recovery and survival.
What makes certain tools more effective in minimizing stress and injury than others? This article explores how the tools used throughout the catch and release process can boost the survival rates of released fish to keep populations healthy for the environment and anglers alike.
Non-Offset, Non-Stainless Steel Circle Hooks
It all starts with the hook—the first point of contact between angler and fish. The right hook will minimize hooking injury, reduce stress, and improve the ease of hook removal—all factors that influence a fish’s chance of survival. This is where the circle hook can make a difference. Circle hooks are designed to catch a fish in the jaw, which is the safest area if release is needed. Less likely to be swallowed or snag vulnerable areas like the gills or eyes, circle hooks decrease the odds of a potentially fatal hooking.
Not all circle hooks are the same, though. Non-offset circle hooks and non-stainless steel circle hooks go the extra mile in improving a fish’s chance of survival after release. Non-offset hooks are easier to remove than offset hooks, meaning less time out of the water for the fish, less bleeding caused by removal and less stress overall. In the case a hook cannot be removed, a non-stainless steel circle hook provides the benefit of degrading and shedding up to three times faster than a hook made of stainless steel or other non-corrodible metals.
Pro tip: If you’re wondering whether a hook is stainless or non-stainless steel, “Tournament Approved” labeling usually indicates non-stainless steel. For a quick test, you can also use a magnet to check the material. Simply place a magnet on a hook: if it sticks, the hook is stainless steel; if it doesn’t, you’ve got yourself a non-stainless steel circle hook.
Knotless, Rubberized Landing Nets
While not necessary for landing every fish, landing nets are a functional tool that help shorten fight time, reduce stress on the line and rod, and prevent potential poking or piercing by hooks, teeth, or spines as you land your fish. However, landing nets with coarse mesh can inadvertently damage a fish’s delicate fins, scales, or protective slime layer—increasing their vulnerability to infections or injuries. Made from a smoother and friction-reducing material, knotless, rubberized landing nets help in preventing these potential traumas. With the protective slime layer preserved and more scales and fins intact, a fish landed with a knotless, rubberized net is a fish that has a better chance of survival after release.
If you prefer to use your hands to land a fish, using wet hands or rubber gloves provides similar relief to that of a knotless, rubberized landing net.
Dehooking Tools
The clock starts ticking the moment a fish is brought out of the water—its chances of survival dropping the longer it stays out of its natural environment. This is when a dehooking tool can help fish and anglers alike. Designed to rapidly remove hooks while causing minimal injury to the fish, time is not wasted struggling with a tough hook and the risk of injury during hook removal—for both the fish and the angler—is greatly reduced. It’s a win-win.
That said, there are situations where it is better to leave the hook in place. If a fish is deeply hooked in the gut or throat, attempting to remove the hook can often do more harm than good. In these cases, it is best to simply cut the leader close to the hook and leave it in the fish—particularly if it is a non-stainless steel hook, which has a greater chance of being shed. Research indicates this is less damaging and gives the fish the best chance for survival.
Descending Devices
If you land a fish and notice it has bulging eyes, bubbling scales, difficulty swimming below the surface, or organs protruding from the mouth or anus, it is likely suffering from barotrauma. Similar to the bends experienced by divers, barotrauma is an injury that can occur when a fish is brought from the high-pressure environment of deep waters to the low-pressure environment of the surface. This change in pressure can cause the gases in a fish’s swim bladder to expand, damaging organs and making it difficult for the fish to return to its original depth. Barotrauma is particularly common in deep-dwelling species, such as some snappers and groupers. Untreated, a fish experiencing barotrauma becomes vulnerable to predators, the elements, and the injuries of barotrauma itself. Fortunately, the right tool can help reverse this condition.
Descending devices are tools that use added weights to lower fish back to their depth of capture. As the fish is pulled down the water column by a descending device, the swim bladder recompresses, and the fish is given a better chance at survival. Descending devices all work to return a fish to their original depth, but they come in different forms: inverted hooks, weighted crates, and lip clamps.
An inverted hook is a barbless hook with an added weight that is inserted either through the original hook hole or through the soft tissue on the fish’s lower jaw. Rigged to a rod and reel, the inverted hook guides the fish back to its proper depth. Once there, a gentle tug on the rod will release the fish if it hasn’t already slid free.
Similar to an inverted hook, the lip clamp is a descending device that uses an attached weight to pull a fish back to depth by attaching to a fish’s lower jaw. However, instead of piercing the jaw, the clamp securely grips it. A lip clamp can be pressure triggered or spring triggered for release. A pressure triggered lip clamp includes a pressure-sensor mechanism designed to automatically release fish once the desired depth is reached. A spring triggered lip clamp requires you to manually open the lip clamp by pulling up on the rod once the fish reaches the desired depth.
A weighted crate, often referred to as a fish elevator, is a crate with an open top—such as a milk crate—that has a rope attached to the closed bottom along with weights. To use one, place the fish in the crate, quickly flip it upside down into the water, and let the attached weights sink the contraption. Acting as a bottomless cage, the weighted crate will bring fish back to depth, where they recompress and can swim away on their own.
A good rule of thumb when using any descending device is to use one pound of added weight for every five pounds of fish.
Given their benefits, many of these tools—such as descending devices, dehooking tools, and non-offset, non-stainless steel hooks—are required to be readily available or in use when fishing for or possessing snapper grouper species in federal waters off the coasts of North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Eastern Florida. Interested in learning more about the practices and requirements that give snapper grouper species a better chance at survival after release in the South Atlantic? Check out the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council’s Best Fishing Practices campaign for more information and ways to get involved.
A Yamaha Outboards ad on the Elite Series online coverage over the weekend got me thinking about why I fish. Then an article in Wired2fish online magazine added to my thoughts.
The Yamaha ad has a bunch of professional fishermen saying something along the lines of “if you want to relax don’t fish with me.” And the article gave reasons why so many tournament anglers “burn out” after a short time.
I have been tournament fishing since my first one with the Spalding County Sportsman Club in April 1974 – more than 48 years. For most of them I fished at least two tournaments a month, and for the past six I have fished at least three club tournaments a month.
Until a few years ago I fished many more days for fun and relaxation than I did tournaments. A few years ago I fished 443 days in a row without missing one, fulfilling a childhood dream of fishing every day for a year.
Many hours were spent sitting on my pond dock catching bluegill and bullheads. I would sit on the docks at Raysville Boat Club catching small bluegill for bait to run on jugs and trotlines that night. And I spent hours dabbling jigs around button bushes for crappie.
Maybe that is why I never burned out, all fishing was fun. Although I took trying to win every tournament very seriously, I did not “have” to win to pay my next entry fee or tournament expenses. Tournament fishing was fun even if not really relaxing.
For the past few years I pretty much go fishing only to practice for a tournament or fish one. And most of my practice is riding around watching my electronics, trying to find school of fish and hidden structure and cover.
I can still make a lot of casts and work hard to catch a fish in tournaments. Sometimes it gets frustrating that my old body won’t let me fish as hard as I want to. But I try not to think of it as a “grind” as many tournament anglers, especially young ones, complain about nowadays.
I will keep fishing as long as my body will let me. But I will never let it become a “grind” trying to catch a fish. If it is not fun it is not worth the effort.
Fisheries
Threatened Coho Salmon Return To Upper Klamath River Basin For First Time In More Than 60 Years
November 24, 2024
By The Fishing Wire
CDFW releases 270,000 fall-run Chinook salmon into Fall Creek, the first yearling hatchery salmon release following historic dam removal
The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) has seen the first returns of threatened coho salmon to the upper Klamath River Basin in more than 60 years following historic dam removal completed last month. Not since the construction of the former Iron Gate Dam in the early 1960s has CDFW documented coho salmon occupying their historic habitat in the upper watershed.
On Nov. 13, seven coho salmon entered CDFW’s new Fall Creek Fish Hatchery in Siskiyou County, which is located on Fall Creek, a formerly inaccessible Klamath River tributary about 7.5 miles upstream of the former Iron Gate Dam location.
“To see coho successfully returning this quickly to this new habitat post-dam removal is exciting,” said Eric Jones, a Senior Environmental Scientist who oversees CDFW’s north state hatchery operations. “We’ve already seen the Chinook make it back and now we’re seeing the coho make it back.”
Of the seven coho salmon that entered the Fall Creek Fish Hatchery last week, four were male and three were female. Two had missing adipose fins, identifying them as being of hatchery origin. The other five were natural origin fish as all hatchery raised coho salmon in the Klamath Basin have their adipose fins removed for identification prior to release.
The returning coho are being kept at the Fall Creek Hatchery pending genetic testing at the NOAA Southwest Fisheries Science Center laboratory in Santa Cruz. Geneticists will determine which of the seven coho are the least related genetically and direct the spawning of those pairs to maximize genetic diversity.
Coho salmon in the Klamath Basin are listed as a threatened species under both state and federal endangered species acts. Coho salmon typically return to freshwater to spawn in the late fall and winter, later than the more numerous fall-run Chinook salmon.
CDFW’s Fall Creek Fish Hatchery has an annual production goal of raising 75,000 coho salmon to help restore populations in the upper Klamath River Basin post dam-removal.
Also pertaining to CDFW’s salmon work in the Klamath Basin:
** CDFW last week released approximately 270,000 yearling, fall-run Chinook salmon into Fall Creek, the last Klamath Basin hatchery release of the year and the first release following dam removal. The year-old juvenile salmon, approximately 4 to 6 inches in length, were released over four days, mostly at dusk to improve survival, and allowed to swim freely out of the hatchery into Fall Creek without handling.
“We’re releasing various life histories so that gives the fish a chance to out-migrate at different times of the year mimicking what we would see in the river naturally,” said Crystal Robinson, Senior Environmental Scientist and CDFW’s Klamath Watershed Program Supervisor.
Hatchery salmon released as yearlings in the fall show some of the highest rates of return as adults, which is attributed to their larger size at release and optimal fall river conditions with cool temperatures and strong flows.
** CDFW’s Fall Creek Fish Hatchery, a $35 million, state-of-the-art facility in its first year of operation, began spawning returning fall-run Chinook salmon in late October. To date, the hatchery has spawned 100 fish and collected 277,393 eggs. The hatchery has an ambitious annual production goal of 3.25 million fall-run Chinook salmon.
** Multiple state and federal agencies, Tribes and non-governmental organizations are monitoring salmon throughout the Klamath Basin, including the 420 miles of newly accessible habitat following dam removal. CDFW is particularly focused on newly accessible tributaries within the former reservoir footprints, including Jenny and Shovel creeks. To date, a video fish counting weir installed on Jenny Creek has recorded 310 adult Chinook salmon and one Pacific lamprey entering the tributary from the Klamath River. CDFW field crews are surveying regularly for salmon nests, or redds, and post-spawned adults.
The salmon work taking place in the Klamath Basin reflects all six priorities of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s California Salmon Strategy for a Hotter, Drier Futurereleased in January 2024. Those priorities are removing barriers and modernizing infrastructure for salmon migration; restoring and expanding habitat for spawning and rearing; protecting water flows and water quality at the right times to benefit salmon; modernizing salmon hatcheries; transforming technology and management systems for climate adaptability; and strengthening partnerships.
CDFW’s post-dam removal management strategy, as detailed in the recently released Klamath River Anadromous Fishery Reintroduction and Monitoring Plan, is to mostly allow these ocean-going fish species to naturally repopulate the 420 miles of newly accessible habitat as they are now doing.
