How Did the Bass Pros Do On Lake Guntersville?

Legendary Bass Pros in North Alabama on Lake Guntersville

By Frank Sargeant
from The Fishing Wire

The pros get ready

Most of the best-known names in professional bass fishing probed the favorite local spots at Lake Guntersville, in the northeast corner of Alabama, as the Diet Mountain Dew Bassmaster Elite tour got underway on Thursday, April 9, and continued through Sunday, April 12. Daily takeoffs and weigh-ins were at Guntersville City Harbor, adjacent the 431 bridge on the north edge of town.

With water temperatures still in the low 60s, the lake’s giant female bass haven’t completed their spring spawning, and this should mean fishing fans will see some gigantic fish brought to the scales during the four-day event.

“There was a 12-7 caught in a tournament here just recently,” says Elite Pro Chris Lane. “I would be surprised if there aren’t several fish over 10 pounds caught next week. It’s going to be that kind of tournament.”

Lane might well be one of the anglers finishing near the top–he has lived on Guntersville for the past several years, thrives on shallow water fishing due to his Florida roots, and just won an Elite Tour event at the Sabine River.

Guntersville’s vast beds of milfoil, hydrilla and coontail grass will likely play a role as the Elite pros try to figure out what the successful pattern to win here will be. Lily pads, primrose and other shoreline cover, as well as docks, also attract spawning fish here.

Lane agrees with the popular assessment that it could take a four-day weight of more than 100 pounds to win. So does Casey Ashley, winner of the GEICO Bassmaster Classic held on South Carolina’s Lake Hartwell in February.

Like all B.A.S.S. events held in Alabama, the field will include a host of in-state anglers with extensive knowledge of the venue.

Lane, who lives close enough to the lake that he can have his boat in the water in just minutes, finished 36th in the 2014 Bassmaster Classic and 40th in the 2010 Elite Series event on Guntersville – his two most recent events on the fishery.

Justin Lucas, who relocated to Guntersville from his native northern California, will be fishing a professional event for the first time on his new home lake. He’s a top-rated young angler who can never be counted out. Ditto for Kevin Hawk, who now guides on the lake.

Aaron Martens, another California native who now makes his home in Leeds, Ala., has a rich history on Lake Guntersville that includes a win in the 2009 Elite Series event on the lake. He also finished 13th in the 2014 Bassmaster Classic, 17th in a 2006 Elite Series event and 14th in Bassmaster Tour events in 2004 and 2005 here.

Flamboyant pro Gerald Swindle of Warrior will be in the mix, and has proven himself a consistent producer when bed fishing, and Randy Howell of Springville won the 2014 Classic on this lake, though that was a late winter event where crankbaits were king. Randall Tharp, an Alabama native now living in Florida, can’t be counted out here either–Guntersville is practically his home lake.

Launches are scheduled for 6:15 a.m. CT each day from Guntersville City Harbor with weigh-ins also set for the ramp at 3:15 p.m. daily. Launches and weigh-ins are free and open to the public. The B.A.S.S. Outdoor Expo gets underway at noon Saturday and Sunday, and free demo rides from Mercury, Yamaha, Nitro, Skeeter and, Triton will be available.

Skeet Reese won after Mike Iaconelli led for three days. Iaconelli caught only one bass the final day and dropped to 12th place.

For details and results, visit www.bassmaster.com.

How To Filet Fish

I love to catch fish – I never met one I didn’t want to catch – but I like to eat them, too. I know those fanatical about catch and release will be upset, but I believe in catch and hot grease, too, even for bass. I keep a lot of the spots I catch, especially in area lakes where they are not native and cause problems, and cook them just about every week. I have many good recipes for fish.

When I filet fish getting ready usually takes more time than the fileting. I like to leave fish on ice overnight before fileting them. When I am ready to go to work, I get my filet board – a 2×8 about three feet long, and put it on top of a big trash can so it will be about waist height. I hone my big filet knife with a steel so it is very sharp. Some folks like an electric knife and some are good with it, and I use one if I am fileting a lot of fih. But since I usually filet five or fewer fish, I like my regular knife. It is slower but more precise. And I take a bowl big enough to hold the filets with me and set it nearby.

Start just below the gills and slice through the belly past one side of the anal fin

I lay the fish down with the belly facing me and stick the knife point in the middle just below the gills, and make a slice through the middle of the belly past one side of the anal fin. This makes the first filet cut better.

Slice past the anal fin on one side

I then turn the fish so its back is toward me and cut straight down from the slice in the belly to the top of the fish. Cut as far forward as possible to get the most meat.

Cut to the backbone

Turn the knife blade parallel to the backbone and cut the filet off, from the head to the tail. If you want a skinless filet, which I do, don’t cut through the skin at the tail. If you want a skin on filet you need to scale the fish before starting to filet it.

Slice along backbone to tail but don’t cut through the skin at the tail

Flip the filet over, place it flat on the board, and slice along the skin between the skin and meat in the opposite direction. You can make this slice if you cut through the skin at the tail but it is easier to hold if it is still attached. Keep the knife blade at a slight downward angle.

Slice from the tail to head between meat and skin

I cut the ribs out since I want a boneless filet. Unless I am planning on making fish chowder I throw them away since there is very little meat on them.

Cut out the rib cage, keeping your knife at an angle to get as much meat as possible

Flip the fish over and repeat the process

Flip the fish over and repeat the process on the other side

When done right, there is almost no meat left on the backbone. I throw it away unless I am making fish chowder. If I plan to make my Mahatten style chowder I cut the backbone at the head and tail and save it with the rib cages.

When done right very little meat is left on the bones

Wash the filets getting all blood off. Feel along the edges, especially along the top where the dorsal fin was attached, to make sure there are no small bones left.

This may sound complicated, but with a little practice it is quick and efficient. I can filet a bass, from first cut to finish, in less than two minutes, and have a bowl of delicious boneless, skinlessw filets.

End results – a bowl of boneless, skinless filets ready to cook

What Is An Overlooked Crankbait for Cold Water Bass?

An Over-Looked Crank For Cold-Weather Bass

By Steve Pennaz
from The Fishing Wire

Bass on a Flicker Shad

When you fish against a guy like Tony Owens, biologist with the Texas Freshwater Fishery Center in Athens, Texas, you pay attention to the little things or you get left in the dust.

Tony not only lives bass every day at his job, he regularly fishes tournaments in East Texas and knows how to catch fish.

But on this trip, he was struggling almost as badly as me. His spinnerbait pattern produced a couple good fish, as did mine (flippin’ PowerBait Jigger Craws), but the cold front that blew through the day before had shut the fish down. Texas’ world-class bass fisheries were built by stocking Florida-strain largemouths, a fish that doesn’t like it much when water temps plummet quickly. (http://www.berkley-fishing.com/PowerBait-Chigger-Craw/Berkley-ae-powerBait-chigger-craw,default,pg.html)

When I tape an episode of “Lake Commandos” television show, I compete with my guest to see who can catch the most fish. While it’s always my goal to catch the most fish, really what I like about the show’s format is seeing how my guests react to not only what the fish are doing, but to what I am doing. And today, Tony reacted to the slow bite by fishing faster. Traditional wisdom calls for slowing down when dealing with cold-front fish, but I have found that it’s often better to actually speed up to see if I can trigger reaction strikes. http://www.lakecommandos.com/

And one of the best baits for doing that is a crankbait.

The lake we were fishing was loaded with shad, which serve as the primary forage for the bass and other gamefish. So I switched over to a Berkley Flicker Shad, casting it on a medium heavy spinning rod loaded with 10-pound NanoFil to make it easy to cast long distances. http://www.berkley-fishing.com/Berkley%C2%AE-Flicker-Shad%C2%AE/1285348,default,pd.html

Most bass anglers seem to overlook cranks with subtle side-to-side rolls like the Flicker Shad, opting more often for baits that have a more aggressive action. But the shad imitators can be dynamite under certain conditions and I like to toss them after a cold front.

The fact is, I should have started the day with the Flicker Shad as the day before I had been targeting crappies on another east Texas lake, casting small #4 and #5 Flicker Shads, and while we caught a ton of slabs (one pushing 3 pounds!), we also caught a lot of big bass. In fact, we caught so many bass they interfered with our planned fish fry for that evening!

I was guilty of fishing inside the box of what’s comfortable. Like a lot of anglers, I had forgotten just how effective small, tight-wobbling crankbaits can be for early-season or cold-water bass.

Fact is, small, tight-wobbling cranks like the Berkley Flicker Shad can trigger bites when nothing else does.

A thin bait by design, the Flicker Shad has a tight wobble – actually, more of a roll – than a square bill. As such, it sends out an entirely different underwater sound, which is picked up bass both in the auditory sense and via the fish’s lateral line. Could be that thin, narrow baits with roll produce an acoustical signature more akin to the sounds and vibrations that shad emit as they travel through the water.

Another thing that’s great about the Flicker Shad is it’s a great casting bait, which means you can cover great distances without spooking fish in clear or pressured waters. It also makes it a great option when you visually locate schooling bass busting bait on the surface.

When I locate schooling bass in open water I like to cast past the school, working the bait quickly to get to the larger fish in the school, which are typically deeper than the smaller bucks. These larger fish have learned that the lunch falls right on their plate as smaller fish shred and slash shad high in the water column.

On rivers and reservoirs, I’ve found casting Flicker Shads along rip rap or timber and brush a great way to locate active fish. On natural lakes, I’ve gotten past my fear of fishing crankbaits around emergent weeds using smaller, shallower-running baits for ripping bait through small gaps or lanes in the weeds.

I typically choose Flicker Shads according to the depth I’m fishing – a #4, #5, or #6 for waters up to 7 feet — and a #7 or #9 for depths over 8 feet. Consult the following dive curves to pick the best sizes for where you fish.

Four Go-To Colors

The Flicker Shad

For cold, clear early-season waters, I rely on four color patterns that allow me flexibility on different waters. The first is Natural Shad, the match-the-hatch choice for lakes, rivers and reservoirs with threadfin and gizzard shad. Second is Red Tiger, which mimics both crawfish and bluegills – definitely a solid early-season pick. Third, I like Racy Shad, which has hues of green and orange in it, as well as a chartreuse lateral line for dirtier, stained waters. And lastly, sometimes plain Pearl White can be a great performer, which mimics young white bass or shad that have been regurgitated by other fish – the same reason plain white Flukes are so effective.

How to Work ‘Em

I rarely fish Flicker Shads on a steady retrieve for bass. Instead, I use a fast twitch-twitch, twitch-twitch, which mimics shad movement. And the key to this retrieve is using spinning gear.

For me, I prefer a 7′ Abu Garcia Veritas with a little softer tip, like a medium power, fast action model. I like Abu Garcia Revo Sx20 or Sx30 spinning reels for their smooth gearing, powerful drag and how easily line falls off the spool for long, accurate casts. http://www.abugarcia.com/Rods/AbuGarcia-Rods,default,sc.html?prefn1=ZZSUBSER&prefv1=Abu%20Garcia%20Veritas & http://www.abugarcia.com/Abu-Garcia%C2%AE-Revo%C2%AE-SX-Spinning/1290278,default,pd.html

In terms of line choice, NanoFil Dyneema-based superline casts farther than anything on the market. Ten-pound Nano has the diameter of 2- to 4-pound mono and gives me the sensitivity I need ensure the bait is working as it should. It’s amazingly telegraphic. I can tell if one treble has a piece of leaf on it, even with 16 inches of 8- or 10-pound Trilene 100% Fluorocarbon leader. Speaking to the leader, I like it for making bait changes easier and it virtually eliminates the tendency of the line tangling in the trebles during the cast. http://www.berkley-fishing.com/Berkley%C2%AE-NanoFil%C2%AE/1285551,default,pd.html

Consider adding an additional spinning stick and a subtle action crank like the Flicker Shad to your boat deck this season. Not only is this system effective for early-season and open-water bass – especially on shad-filled waters – it’s a solid MVP for anything that swims.

And if you ask me, that’s pretty cool. In my world more bites equals more fun!

Lake Lanier Fishing Did Not Live Up To Hopes, At Least for My Club

Last Sunday 21 members and guests of the Flint River Bass Club fished our April tournament at Lanier. We were all excited – fishing reports said they were biting good and everything seemed right. And when Chuck Croft told us at the meeting Tuesday night he and his partner won a tournament there the weekend before with 22 pounds, we just knew we would catch fish.

Nope. In nine hours of casting, we landed 41 bass weighing about 79 pounds. There were only four five-bass limits and six members didn’t land a keeper. As expected though, there were only eight largemouth landed. The rest were spotted bass. There is a 14 inch length limit on all bass at Lanier, though. Many of us caught a lot of 13 inch bass that would be keepers on most lakes.

We are going to have to stop allowing guests to fish this tournament. Last year William Scott fished as a guest and won the tournament and had a six pounder, the biggest bass caught in any of our tournaments. This year Sam Smith fished as Niles Murray’s guest and won it with five weighing 10.79 pounds. And he had a 3.12 pound spot for big fish.

Brandon Stooksbury should have won but he came in 7 minutes late after being told the wrong weigh-in time on the phone after arriving late for blast off. He did place second with five weighing 8.86 after a 21 percent penalty. And he had a 3.39 pound spot that would have been big fish without the penalty.

William Scott came back as a guest and came in third with five at 8.40 pounds and my five weighing 7.60 was good for fourth place. Jordan McDonald fished with me and had three weighing 5.61 pounds so we had a decent day, but not nearly as good as expected.

I couldn’t wait to get to my first place at the 6:30 blast off. A few years ago I did an article on Lanier in early April with Laura Gober and she took me to a place at daylight where we caught several three pound plus spots on jerkbaits, and she said that was not unusual. Jordan and I hit it and fished it for an hour, and caught several short fish. I did hook a 2.5 pound plus spot we could see down about six feet under the boat in the clear water, but it pulled off the jerkbait.

By 10:00 we were frustrated. Although we had caught several small bass we didn’t have a keeper in the live wells. So we took off up the Chestatee River, headed to the back end of it where the lake looks more like what I am used to fishing. Jordan had taken me up there last March in a Flint River tournament and I came in second in it.

On the way we stopped on a hump and Jordan caught a keeper at about 10:30 so our attitude improved. And soon after getting to the very back end of the river, 22 miles from the blast off ramp, I landed a keeper largemouth on a jig and pig from about two feet of water.

We fished shallow bushes, grass and rocks the rest of the day and I landed four more keepers and Jordan got two more. I had only three with about an hour left to fish when I hooked a three pound plus largemouth on a worm in two feet of water and told Jordan to get the net just as it jumped and threw the hook.

With less than 30 minutes to fish we went to a small island and I caught a keeper largemouth and a keeper spot to fill my limit almost on back to back casts. It took us 22 minutes at 60 miles per hour to get back to the ramp, but it was worth the ride!

Why Are Gill Nets A Bad Idea On TVA Lakes?

Gill nets for TVA Lakes are a bad idea

By Frank Sargeant
from The Fishing Wire

COMMENTARY:

Putting out gill nets

A gillnet, like a handgun, is not inherently evil. The problem arises when it becomes the wrong tool in the wrong place at the wrong time.

The idea of permitting gill nets in North Alabama’s TVA lakes apparently has some appeal to somebody, otherwise it would not have been made into a bill, HB 258, and passed by the Alabama House of Representatives recently.

But thousands of recreational fishermen (and women) as well as homeowners and fishing/boating/resort industry execs in the affected areas are pretty much universally opposed to bringing this highly effective gear to the river lakes, which include Lake Guntersville, frequently cited as one of the top bass fishing lakes in the nation.

Not that the netters or the legislators who backed them propose to net bass commercially–state laws prohibit net harvest of gamefish. The targets would be shad, drum and other “rough fish” that some say are currently going to waste in the fertile waters of the big river.

But one issue that must surely concern anglers is the fact that gill nets do not work well for catch and release in many cases. They’re called “fish chokers” in saltwater, for good reason. They function via squares of mesh that slide over the head of a fish and then jam tight right behind the gill plates–they’re locked in place.

Getting a fish out of the mesh without killing it is not easy, particularly when it’s being done rapidly and/or at night, both of which conditions often apply in net fishing because that’s the nature of the fishery.

While the nets presumably would not be set around the grass beds where the majority of bass hang out for a part of the year, they might well be set around the bars, humps and other offshore structure where shad and drum are most abundant. And in the TVA lakes, this structure is also where huge schools of bass gather, both in the dead of summer and the chill of winter.

Crappies also gather in schools of hundreds around these offshore ledges in winter and again in July, August and September.

Both these species of gamefish would very likely be caught, occasionally in large numbers, as a by-catch of the nets, which can extend for hundreds of feet, forming a sort of “wall of death” around anything on the inside. While the commercial netters could not legally land them, they very likely would be killed in the process of being shucked out of the mesh–they’d wind up as buzzard bait along the shores. The bill as written has no limitations on net length or square footage–whole feeder creeks could be “stop netted” with a damming effect from shore to shore.

Checking gill nets on TVA lakes

Gill nets of a given mesh size catch fish of a given size–it’s one of the reasons netters like them, because they let small fish swim through while trapping the larger ones. But the mesh that would be appropriate for a big gizzard shad would also be about right for a 1 to 2 pound bass or crappie, and the mesh that would catch a 5 pound drum or buffalo would also choke a 5 pound largemouth.

The bill also permits trammel nets, which catch pretty much everything that hits them–a large mesh net is suspended in front of a small mesh net, and the fish “pocket” in the folds when they hit the net. Again, accidentally-caught gamefish would suffer.

At the last meeting of the Conservation Advisory Board in Guntersville recently, a commercial hook-and-line catfish angler complained to the board that Tennessee commercial fishermen are already taking unlimited quantities of catfish out of the river, and requested relief. How much worse will this issue become if gill nets are added to the mix?

Once this fishery gets underway and working fishermen have invested in their nets, it will be no easy matter to shut it down–in Florida, it took a constitutional amendment to get rid of gillnets in coastal use. The people of the state rose up and passed the amendment, and the fisheries have improved steadily ever since. But the state–i.e. the taxpayers–was put on the hook for millions to buy back nets from the netters. Allow this gear again in Alabama? Why?

Bottom line is, this is a bill that has benefit for very few in the state of Alabama, and a potentially enormous downside. It’s hard to imagine how any caring legislator could pass it, and if it manages to get past the Senate, how Governor Bentley, who reportedly enjoys recreational fishing, could sign it. But stranger things have happened in politics.

Anglers and conservationists would do well to keep an eye on this effort, and to bring it to a halt if possible by making their feelings known to their legislators. You’ll find contact info on state senators at http://www.legislature.state.al.us/aliswww/SenatorsPicture.aspx

(A word of advice–like most folks, the legislators take council better from a polite, well-reasoned letter, email or phone call rather than angry bluster.)

Frank Sargeant can be contacted at Frankmako1@outlook.com.

Why Is April A Big Bass Month?

April is a great month to catch a big bass and it will just get better and better the next few weeks. A couple of text pictures reminded me just how good it can be. Peyton James sent me a picture of two bass he caught a few days ago at Lake McIntosh. Both were over five pounds and they hit a pumpkinseed Fluke. Peyton catches some big bass – a few years ago I talked about the big bass he caught at High Falls Lake.

Peyton’s fish hit in shallow water with some grass. Eric Bruce also sent me a picture last week of a five pounder he caught on a Rooster Tail in shallow water. All these five pounders came from smaller lakes which warm faster than the big ones. But the big lakes are getting good, too. The 5.65 pounder I caught at the Top Six was the seventh largest fish caught in that tournament, so there were some good ones. Mine hit in about three feet of water and I caught it on a Carolina rigged green pumpkin lizard with its tail dipped in chartreuse JJ’s Magic.

As soon as the water starts warming and the days start getting longer bass get the spawning urge. They start their annual migration from their deep winter holding areas to shallow spawning flats, usually in the backs of protected coves. Hard bottoms are key. And they feed heavily getting ready for the stress of bedding.

After they spawn the females are hard to catch for a week or so, then they go on a feeding spree. And the males guarding the nests and fry will hit anything that comes near them. While they are bedding you can sight fish for them, dropping something into their bed to irritate them into hitting. But that can be a slow, frustrating process. I have cast to an eight pound bass on the bed for over two hours, only to give up and leave without getting her to bite.

Some say catching bass on the beds is bad for the population, but biologists say it does not hurt them in our waters. Although you may remove a bass and keep it from spawning, she has already spawned many times over the years, so her genes are well established in the body of water. And bass spawn so prolifically, with each female producing thousands of eggs each year, that fishermen can’t really hurt the population.

Some northern states have closed seasons on bass fishing during the spawning times. They may need it since bass do not reproduce as well in colder waters, and have less time to spawn. Here in Georgia bass will spawn from late February through June on most lakes. Some females will be spawning all those months, and some spawn deep enough you can’t see them to sight fish for them.

I have to laugh at a fisherman who says he will not sight fish for bass on the bed, it is unethical, but he will drag a lizard all over the spawning flats and catch bass off the beds he can’t see. Sure, he is not sight fishing, but he is still catching them off the beds just the same.

No matter how you like to fish for bass right now is a good time to go to any of your favorite pond and lakes and catch bass. Sight fish for them if you like. Or try Flukes, Rooster Tails or lizards in the shallows. You might catch the biggest bass of your life.

High Water Creations Tackle Tags Review

If you are like me and most bass fishermen with a bass boat you have many plastic boxes of plugs and worms in your boat. They fit in racks and stand on end. Most of us write on the end what is in them. That works, but the writing is often hard to see. And I never seem to remember what pound test line I put on a reel or when I put it on, too.

A local fisherman has come up with a good solution. His company, High Waters Creations, makes Tackle Tags. The Line Label Series is a set of stick on labels in high contrast colors that come in a wide variety of pound test. And it also includes month labels. Stick one of each on your reel and you will instantly know the information you need.

Their Hard Bait and Soft Bait Series are the same high contrast stick on labels for those kinds of baits. Stick the Crankbait label on the end of the box and you instantly know what it contains. The label even has a picture of the bait to help. Soft Bait Series include worms, craws, swimbaits and other common baits we use.

If these labels sound like something you can use, check them out on their web site at http://www.highwaterscreatons.com or email them at info@highwaterscreations.com.

Why Should I Take A Boat US Safety Course?

When Things Went Wrong, Teen Boater Kept Cool

The Case for Taking a Boating Safety Course
from The Fishing Wire

15-year-old Matt Mainzer kept his cool when his flats boat started to sink. He says taking a boating safety education course gave him the knowledge to ensure everyone’s safety aboard.
TAMPA, FL, When 15-year Matt Mainzer decided to take a couple of friends out boating one Sunday afternoon in late March, little did he know that he would find himself and his friends floating in life jackets hanging on to the overturned hull of the teen’s 17-foot flats boat awaiting rescue. But according to Mainzer, his boating safety education would help him survive the day. A graduate of the no-cost online boating safety course provided by the BoatUS Foundation for Boating Safety and Clean Water, Mainzer said, ‘I wouldn’t have known what I needed to know if I hadn’t taken the boating safety course.”

Of course most folks would recognize Mainzer’s ability to keep his cool and being prepared as the reason for the young trio’s successful rescue. According to Mainzer, as water started to fill the boat through a rapidly widening crack in the hull – eventually causing the three teens to jump overboard – the quick thinking Mainzer had everyone in life jackets.

Using a cell phone in a waterproof case, Mainzer had also already advised a friend of their predicament initiating a rescue response. Once the three teens were floating in the waters of the Tampa Bay, he remembered keep everyone hanging on to the boat’s hull, of which only a small portion of the bow was above water. And his boating guests, two female teens, also remained calm and followed their captain’s instructions. Rescuers were on scene in minutes.

“Matt’s ability to stay calm and take decisive action saved them from harm,” said BoatUS Foundation President Chris Edmonston. “And I’m sure Matt’s parents instilled in him a great sense of respect for boating safety. But we are also very pleased he was able to take away some key knowledge from our online boating safety course, like always having life jackets accessible and ready to go. Once water started entering the boat they were easy to put on. So often boaters keep them hidden in places that essentially render them useless.”

Mainzer, who has been boating since he was a two-year old, added, “The BoatUS Foundation Online Boating Safety Course was easy to take and wasn’t boring. I learned a lot.” As the boating season begins, boaters can find the BoatUS Foundation online courses at BoatUS.org/courses.

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The BoatUS Foundation for Boating Safety and Clean Water is a national leader promoting safe, clean and responsible boating. Funded primarily by donations from the over half-million members of Boat Owners Association of The United States (BoatUS), the non-profit provides innovative educational outreach directly to boaters and anglers with the aim of reducing accidents and fatalities, increasing stewardship of America’s waterways and keeping boating safe for all. A range of boating safety courses – including 33 free state courses – can be found at BoatUS.org/courses.

Are Gun Owners Paranoid?

There is an old saying “Just because you are paranoid doesn’t mean they aren’t out to get you.” The liberal media and others that don’t want you to own guns keep saying gun owners are paranoid, that nobody really wants to take our guns. That is their new mantra and they are sticking with it, no matter the facts.

We have a good reason to be paranoid when it comes to our gun rights. History proves if we don’t react immediately to each and every threat, we lose. Andrew Jackson, in his farewell address in 1837, said: “eternal vigilance by the people is the price of liberty.” Many others have echoed that theme and it has never been truer than it is right now.

A good example of how the liberal media is using the paranoid label is a segment on CNN broadcast on March 27, 2009. In it Correspondent Sean Callebs stated: “In fact, it may not be rational at all. It might even be paranoid. But one thing is certain. Many gun owners believe this president is somehow out to curb their rights and they’re stocking up just in case.”

Paranoid? Not rational? During the above segment, where the talking head called us paranoid, a text across the bottom of the screen said Obama supports the 2nd Amendment, supports giving police more rights to trace gun data and wants to close the “gun show loophole.” Newsbusters says a crawl that does not show up on the segment on the internet stated Obama wants to reinstate the “assault weapons” ban and make it permanent.

That is really supporting the 2nd Amendment and supporting gun owners’ rights! They are out to get our guns.

Sometimes we seem to overreact. Recently an email went around about SB 2099 being passed in secret and would make us pay a $50 tax on each gun we own. Problem is, that bill was introduced in 2000, nine years ago, and went nowhere.

But there is a grain of truth to the scare. According to Chris Cox of the NRA, Obama, when he was a Illinois state senator, supported increasing the federal excise tax on guns by 500 percent.

That’s not paranoid, that is history. Do rational people really think Obama no longer supports such an extreme tax hike on our guns?

To show the lengths the gun control fanatics will go, several groups sued in court to reinstate the ban on carrying guns in national parks. For years if you drove into Kennesaw Mountain National Park with your legally carried loaded handgun you broke a park rule. Even though you were legal outside the gates of the park because you have an Georgia Firearms License, before you got on park lands you were supposed to unload your gun and put it away.

Last fall under President Bush this rule was reviewed and removed, allowing you to keep your gun with you. Expected groups, like the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, and groups that should know better, like the Coalition of National Park Service Retirees, sued, saying said they did not want you and me to be able to take our legal guns into parks.

It always amazes me when people seem to think a murderer or robber will get to a park gate, stop and think “I better not break a park rule while committing murder.” Only us law abiding citizens obey the law!

It was no big surprise when a liberal judge overturned this rule. Then last month Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK), attached to a bill an amendment that gave us the right to carry our guns in parks legally.

After 67 Senators voted for the amendment the bill passed 90 to 5. In the House they passed the bill then held a separate vote on the amendment, just to see who wanted to take away our rights. The amendment still passed by a vote of 279 to 147. As expected, all 147 votes in the house and 28 of the 29 in the Senate against our rights were liberal democrats.

Warning – this law doesn’t go into effect until next February, 2010 so only criminals can carry guns into National Parks until then.

This shows we can protect our rights if we stay vigilant, even if we are a little paranoid.

How Can I Catch More Crappie This Spring?

Catch More Cold-Water Crappies this Spring

By Dr. Jason Halfen, www.thetechnologicalangler.com
from The Fishing Wire

Nice spring crappie

The author with a brace of cold water slab crappies

As winter fades slowly into spring, crappies and other panfish begin a predictable transition from thermally stable, deep water basins toward warming shallows where the food web of the lake is beginning to bloom. This general movement may take a number of weeks, and can be easily interrupted by unstable spring weather. However, in general terms, during the weeks after ice cover leaves the lake (or water temperatures begin to rebound from wintertime lows), crappies are on the move with shallow water as their ultimate destination. This is a movement that will eventually lead to spawning, but reproduction is not driving this initial transition; feeding is!

Many anglers will impulsively head to the shorelines and back ends of soft-bottomed bays as soon as surface temperatures begin to increase. While some panfish may be found in these waters, the vast majority of the population, and nearly all of the quality fish, are most likely to be located in transition areas between the deep water basins and shallow spawning grounds. They will remain here until the shallows become consistently warm.

My most important tool for locating cold water crappies is my Humminbird ONIX system equipped with Side Imaging. I will patrol transition areas between deep water basins and shallow feeding (and eventually spawning) grounds until I locate large numbers of fish. I am specifically looking for large collections of white “spots” against an otherwise darker background; these represent schools of crappies that are in transition from deep to shallow water.

Side imaging shows crappie

The Side Imaging feature of my ONIX10ci SI system reveals schools of cold water crappies.

Technology can help you catch crappie

The Minn Kota i-Pilot Link system illustrates saved Spot Lock locations with Anchor icons on my ONIX display.

For example, in this screen capture from my ONIX10ci SI system, there are two groups of crappies (circled in yellow) in deep water (10-18 feet), as well as a large group of crappies on the right side image, patrolling a deep weed edge (circled in red). Notice that the shoreline is nowhere in sight; these are transitioning crappies that have not yet reached the shallows. Side Imaging is such a powerful tool for finding fish that I will not stop to try to catch fish until I identify those fish using Side Imaging.

Precise boat control is important for staying on top of these groups of transitioning crappies. I make extensive use of the Minn-Kota iPilot Link Spot Lock feature when targeting cold water crappies. When crappies are actively feeding in a specific area, like the deep weed edge illustrated above, I use the Spot Lock feature to hold my boat in position near the school, so I can focus all of my attention on presenting baits and catching fish. If I lose contact with the school, or if the biters turn from slab crappies to “Tiny Tims”, I will reposition the boat by 10-20 feet along the weed edge until I make contact with the school again.

You can see an example of this Spot Lock/reposition cycle in this screen capture from my ONIX system, as I adjust my boat’s position along the weed edge. Remember, the fish are here to feed, and much like a herd of cattle, they will graze in one area until the food source is exhausted. Then, they will be on the move again – it’s your job to stay with them.

A classic technique for targeting cold water crappies is to dangle a lively minnow above their heads, suspended from a bobber. Allow me to encourage you to try something different this spring: fish exclusively with subtle soft plastics rigged on light jigheads. I rely on the Ratso from Custom Jigs and Spins to put spring and early summer crappies (as well as bluegills and perch) in my boat. The subtle action of the Ratso’s tail is an outstanding trigger for cold water panfish, and the small profile is an excellent mimic for the insect larvae and other invertebrates that constitute the primary forage in these warming waters of early spring.

Take a kid crappie fishing

Share spring crappies with a youngster, and gain a fishing partner for life!

Cold water crappie fishing offers some of the most consistent and reliable opportunities of the year to catch fish. Take advantage of this period to share the outdoors and your love of fishing with a young person. If you invest a little time and effort to find fish with Side Imaging, and position your boat for effective bait presentation using the i-Pilot system, your young guest will reap the benefits of your efforts and reward you with smiles, laughter, and maybe even your first fish fry of the season. So shed those winter coats and enjoy some spring crappie fishing with a youngster today!

Dr. Jason Halfen owns and operates “The Technological Angler”, a media company dedicated to helping anglers learn to use their onboard technology to find and catch more fish. Their first full-length instructional video production, “The Technological Angler, Volume 1: Success with Side Imaging”, was the winner of the 2014 AGLOW awards-in-craft competition in the TV-fishing division.

“The Technological Angler, Volume 2: Integrated Technology” teaches anglers to harness the power of 2D sonar, Side Imaging, Down Imaging, 360 Imaging and the i-Pilot Link system, to find and catch more fish.

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