Can I Catch Mid-Winter Pike On Spoons?

Spoonin’ Mid-Winter Pike
from The Fishing Wire and Traditions Media

Pike through the ice

Pike through the ice

“Winter walleyes and panfish get high marks from me, but when the action slows down in mid-winter, seems like you can always find willing toothy critters, even on the coldest, nastiest days,” says third-generation Minnesota fishing guide Ty Macheledt.

From the large natural lakes of his west central Minnesota stomping grounds to North Dakota’s Lake Sakakawea to prairie potholes, Macheledt’s system for catching pike is a one-two punch of tip-up fishing followed by aggressive rod-in-hand combat with the unfairly maligned northern pike.

But he’s not after two- or three-pound “hammer handles, “slough snakes,” or “snot rockets.” The fish that get Macheledt’s blood pumping can peel 40 yards faster than wide receiver Calvin Johnson.

But first, Macheledt’s gotta find ’em.

“In Minnesota, I always start by scouting with an Aqua-Vu Micro underwater camera, looking for weed edges with big pike food. That tells me where I should place my tip-ups. Once a flag goes off, I start jigging in the same area. Pike like to slash and dash. If there’s food, there will be more on patrol.”

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“In lakes without good weeds, like some of the small Dakotas waters, I concentrate on main basin areas loaded with perch and just put in my time. Pike will eventually cruise through looking for lunch. You’ll know when the perch scoot from your flasher and a big red mark appears.”

To match the perch profile, Macheledt turns to ¼-ounce Custom Jigs & Spins Pro Series Slender Spoons tipped with a soft plastic.

“I stumbled into the big plastics out of necessity. I had run out of minnows but found a pack of 3-inch B Fish N Tackle Moxis in my box. Tipped on the spoon, the tail activates nicely when you rip and let if fall.”

Macheledt keeps color simple. “For spoons, I like gold in dirty water, nickel when the visibility is better. Perch patterns top the list. And for the plastic, again, typically something with green, yellow, orange, because of the perch connection.”

Although he still carries minnows for rigging his search tip-ups, Macheledt is converting to a nearly all-plastics game. “You can really rip the spoon without losing your bait. Your presentation always looks the same and you keep your line in the water – instead of re-baiting all the time – which just leads to more hookups.”

Macheledt advises a stout stick, heavy fluoro leader (20 lb. and up), and a spinning reel with powerful, buttery drag that doesn’t freeze up in cold temps, like Frabill’s heavy power 38-inch Gussy Series Ice Hunter Combo. “You’ve gotta have enough backbone to penetrate a pike’s bony mouth. No fairy wands.” The 36-inch medium heavy St. Croix AVID Ice Jigging Rod is another top contender.

Catch pike on a spoon through the ice

Catch pike on a spoon through the ice

To hedge bets with big pike, Macheledt recommends Custom Jigs’ Pro Finesse Drop Chain. “Where legal, attach a #10 Pro Finesse Drop Chain without taking off the existing Pro Series Slender Spoon treble. Just clip it on the split ring of the included Slender Spoon hook … and you’ve got a super-effective stinger hook when using meat or plastic! Especially for the larger pike chomping on big perch, beefing up the profile can be key.”

Hating Law-abiding Gun Owners

Hate is an ugly thing. I have never hated anyone so much I wanted to kill them. But many seem to hate me so much they want to kill me, simply because I am a member of the National Rifle Association and support the 2nd Amendment.

Gun ban fanatics have come unhinged in the past month or so(in January 2013), with many calling for the murder of NRA leaders and members. A Texas state democrat party official, John Cobarruvias, labeled the NRA a “domestic terrorist organization” and called for the killing of NRA leaders and supporters with the twit ”can we now shoot the NRA and everyone who defends them?” That includes me.

Author Joyce Carol Oats twited “Another NRA sponsored massacre.” She accused politicians supporting the NRA of “felony homicide” and asked “If sizable numbers of NRA members become gun victims themselves, maybe hope for legislation of firearms?” Sounds like she wants me shot. In response, actress Marg Helgenberger twited “One can only hope, but sadly I don’t think anything would change.” So she hopes I will be shot?

A talking head on a big “news” cable channel has become so livid and anti gun he has had a petition sent to the White House asking he be deported back to his native England. He comes to the US, calls gun owners like me idiots, and demands we change our laws to suit him, and he is not even a citizen of our country. And he hires armed bodyguards. But such stupid behavior is expected of him, he was fired from his job as a judge on one of those competition shows on TV. He was so abrasive on that show he was fired.

Examples of such hate speech go on and on. From politicians and actors, it seems many hate me. There is even one silly ad running on TV that shows a bunch of actors demanding we get rid of guns. Strange thing, as a funny response shows, most of them make millions each year on very violent movies, showing them using guns to kill people. And all of them have armed guards. They want to be protected but demand laws that remove self protection from the little people like me.

The claims about guns have ranged from the stupid to outright lies. I don’t know whether the commentators are too dumb to find out facts or are lying on purpose. For example, all semiautomatic guns are called “assault weapons.” Their definition includes the Remington .22 I was given for Christmas when I was 12 years old since it is a semiautomatic and holds more than ten rounds. I have killed many squirrels with that gun and still shoot it at targets and varmints. But they want it banned.

It is a given liberal newspapers like the New York Times and the Atlanta Constitution are going to demand guns be banned. But an editorial in the Griffin Daily News by Gene Lyons caught my eye. He claims we “need” only some guns and justifies banning all weapons that are similar to military guns. His justification? He says the 2nd Amendment calls for a well regulated militia and that is the reason citizens gun rights “shall not be infringed,” then says citizens don’t need military styled weapons since they serve no legitimate civilian uses.”

OK, so the 2nd Amendment says citizens need to have guns since we are the militia, a military group, but he says we don’t need military style guns. Strange.

In another editorial in the Griffin Daily News, Cokie and Steve Roberts call for gun bans and claim police know the need for banning guns. But they quote big city police chiefs, politicians rather than real police, in their opinion piece. They include a call for banning guns by the Chicago police Superintendent. Interesting. Chicago has the highest murder rate of any place in the US and the strongest gun laws. That proves gun laws don‘t work, but this guy calls for more. I guess that is a lot easier than facing the real problems in his city.

None of the local police I have talked with think gun control laws work and many police nationwide are members of the NRA, supporting gun rights. I guess they don‘t count, although they are the ones facing the problem, not sitting in some big office telling others how to solve our problems.

You will see claims that no one is calling for banning all guns, just the ugly ones. Yet Bob Beckel, a talking head on TV and a democrat party operative, is honest. He is calling for banning the manufacture and sale of new handguns, and the confiscation of all existing handguns.

The governor of New York has admitted he wants to ban some kinds of guns and confiscate all similar guns that were bought legally by citizens in the US. So he wants the government to confiscate my private property that I purchased legally.

I wish I had a solution. The head of the NRA called for armed guards in schools and was condemned for it, especially by democrats that supported the same idea when Bill Clinton called for hiring 1000 new police officers and putting many of them in schools.

Many hate guns and NRA members so much they are not rational. Don’t take what I say, or what they say, as truth. Check it out! Find out facts before making up your mind.

Learn Ice Conditions Locally

Go Local to Learn Ice Conditions, Wisconsin DNR Wardens Advise

By Joanne M. Haas/Wisconsin DNR Bureau of Law Enforcement
from The Fishing Wire

While the new year stormed the nation with sub-zero temperatures, Department of Natural Resources conservation wardens remind all outdoor enthusiasts to go local to know the ice conditions before you go – and to be prepared if (gulp) you break through the ice.

Adapt to ice fishing as you age

Adapt to ice fishing as you age

Never give up! This Eau Claire County man created his ‘Rollator Walker’ so he could keep enjoying ice fishing. Warden Scott Thiede met the man on Lake Altoona in December. The man said he wasn’t about to let any physical issue stop him from his ice fishing!

Warden April Dombrowski, who leads the crew of recreational safety wardens, says on this incredibly cold morning in the Badger State the DNR does not monitor ice conditions. She says it comes down to this: No ice is absolutely safe ice, and go local to get the latest info about your area lakes.

“It truly is up to the individual to learn the ice conditions. Talk to other ice fishers, snowmobilers, fishing clubs around the lake and bait store owners around the water body. These are the places locally most likely to have the most current information about the lakes and areas you want to use,” Dombrowski says. “Based on the varying conditions statewide, the DNR logistically cannot monitor ice conditions throughout Wisconsin. Similar to looking for information on how the fish are biting on a lake, it’s best to go with the local experts.”

And, like a lot of things in life, looks can be deceiving!

The ice conditions on any lake can vary from location to location. “You cannot determine the strength of an ice cover by a single factor – including how thick it is, or how long it’s been forming or the snow on top of it,” Dombrowski says. “Moving water from streams, rivers and springs can cause ice to form unevenly.”

If you do go on the ice

Dombrowski and the wardens offer these standard ice safety tips:

Dress warmly in layers.
Don’t go alone. Head out with friends or family. Take a cell phone if available. And, if you have a cell phone or not, make sure someone knows where you are and when you are expected to return.
Know before you go. Don’t travel in areas you are not familiar and don’t travel at night or during reduced visibility.
Avoid inlets, outlets or narrows that may have currents that can thin the ice.
Look for clear ice, which is generally stronger than ice with snow on it or bubbles in it.
Carry some basic safety gear: ice claws or picks, a cellphone in a waterproof bag or case, a life jacket and length of rope.

If you go through the ice

Dombrowski says all ice users should be prepared for the possibility of breaking through the ice. She recommends learning these tips:

Wear flotation garments that provide buoyancy – such as a float coat or a life vest over a regular jacket.
If you have those picks, use those and kick your feet as you crawl out of the water hole. Keep your body low to spread out your weight.
Don’t stand up right away once you’re out. Roll or crawl on your stomach until the majority of your body is on solid surface.
Head toward the direction you came from to get to the ice cover that supported your weight.

“Wisconsin’s winters can be a lot of fun with all the outdoor recreational opportunities,” Dombrowski says. “With just a bit of planning for safety’s sake, you’ll come home with some fun stories about enjoying the outdoors.”

And who doesn’t love a good story! Have fun and stay safe out there.

For more tips, the DNR also has information on its website about what to do should you fall through the ice and how to make ice claws:

http://dnr.wi.gov/topic/outdoorrecreation/activities/icesafety.html

Cold Weather When I Was Young

It is amazing how much worse extremely cold weather affects us as we get older. Now all I want to do is sit by the fire when it is freezing outside. I still make myself get out and do things, even going fishing on the worst days, but when I was a kid I loved the cold.

Squirrel hunting is so much better after all the leaves fall and the food for tree rats gets scarce. They have to move a lot more to find buried acorns and other things for lunch, and they are much easier to see in the trees.

When an oak is loaded with leaves a squirrel can go high and sit still and you will never see him. But with bare limbs you can approach the tree, throw a stick to the other side to fool him, and he will edge over to your side, offering an easy shot. And you can see them moving in bare limbs for a hundred yards where earlier you had to get within feet of them to spot them.

A couple of trips stick in my mind. Hal and I were easing through the dead leaves, making as little sound as we could, when we spotted a big black ball up in a oak tree. We had never seen anything like it. We could tell it was furry but it didn’t look like anything we had ever seen.

Hal and I both took aim with our .410 shotguns and fired on the count of three. The critter fell to the ground and, when we got to it, it looked like a squirrel. But it was a whole lot bigger than any squirrel we had ever seen. That was the first time I ever saw a fox squirrel.

Another time Harold and I were squirrel hunting and we saw something big and brown in a tree. It didn’t move. We could tell it was a bird but had no idea what kind. We started to raise our guns and Harold said something. I thought he said for me to shoot but later after fussing at me he said both of us shoot at the same time.

Anyway, I killed a great horned owl. They were not protected way back then, but we really didn’t know what kind of bird we were shooting, anyway. I kept that owl carcass around for months admiring it. I have no idea what it was doing on a low limb in the middle of the day and I have never shot another one.

We would have never have seen the owl or fox squirrel if the trees had been covered with leaves.

There is nothing quite as comforting as building a fire outside on a cold hunting trip and warming for a few minutes. I always wanted to be a pioneer and build fires by rubbing two sticks together or striking a spark with flint. But I never left home without some strike-anywhere matches.

One favorite place to build a fire was in our rock fort. In the edge of one of our fields there was a big rock pile about 50 feet long and 30 feet wide sitting 50 yards from the edge of the woods. There were huge rocks half buried in the ground and smaller rocks were everywhere. Over the years farmers had moved rocks from the field to that spot.

We build a circle rock fort about eight feet across and four feet high. Get down in the middle of it and you were out of the wind and well hidden. We had secret crannies in the rocks to store stuff and had built a simple fireplace. It even had what looked like a chimney but was so full of gaps between the rocks it was for looks only. Smoke came out everywhere.

We would sneak some eggs from the hen house, shoot a couple of birds and head to the fort for a feast. We kept an old tin can in it and would go to the nearby branch for water. It sat on flat rock on the edge of the fireplace and we could boil eggs in it in about thirty minutes.

Birds were plucked and gutted and put on a spit of green branches across the front of the fire. Slowly roasting a robin until it was golden brown gave off a delicious smell and it tasted good, but was so tough it was like trying to eat a good a smelling and good tasting inner tube.

Every winter we hoped for extreme cold. There was on big pool on Dearing Branch. Now by big I mean about ten feet long and eight feet wide. But when it got cold enough it froze over and we cold go ice skating on it. Ice slipping, really, in our boots. One time Joe, a little bigger than the rest of us, broke through and was thigh deep in freezing water immediately. We got mad at him for messing up our skating that day.

Our parents would not have been happy if they knew what we were doing and the possibility of getting wet, but in retrospect they probably did know. But since the branch was waist deep at its deepest, even on us boys, we were not in danger. And we always had our matches, heads dipped in wax to keep the dry, to start a fire and warm up!

Enjoy the cold weather like you are still a kid, if you can stand it!

What Is the Value of Rocky Habitat In Saltwater?

On the Rocks-Value of Rocky Habitat

By Alison Verkade, NOAA Fisheries Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office
from The Fishing Wire

Effects on rockx

Effects on rockx

Subtidal rocky gravel habitat recovering from fishing gear impacts on Georges Bank. Photo credit: NOAA-NURP

Marine rocky habitats provide Essential Fish Habitat for many fish species – places where fish can feed, breed and grow. They are places for fish to hide from predators and find food. They are among the most structurally complex habitats in the ocean.

Rocky habitats are three-dimensional, providing both height in the water column and crevices between rocks. These crevices provide fish shelter from predators and strong water currents. Rocky habitats also contain a diversity of sessile (non-mobile) animals and algae that serve as food and cover for young fish.

compare

compare

Disturbed and undisturbed site with Atlantic cod swimming among dense invertebrate coverage. Photo credit: Institute of Marine Research, Norway.

These habitats include gravel, cobble and boulders. You might expect that a habitat made up of rocks would be rugged enough to withstand a lot of disturbance. That is not always the case. It’s really a matter of how much disturbance occurs. Natural or man-made disturbances that cause sedimentation, turbidity, water quality degradation, or directly contacts rocky substrate can harm or change these habitats.

Natural disturbances from typical storm events are usually not destructive because sessile organisms like barnacles and sea squirts are adapted to high-energy environments. They attach to rock surfaces and can remain upright in the moving current to take advantage of the influx of food and nutrients. However, this adaptation also makes them vulnerable to other disturbances they cannot escape. For instance, beach nourishment projects, where sand is used to restore beaches after major storms, can threaten these important habitats. Some of the sand placed on the beach may run off into the surrounding water. The runoff can cover nearby rocky habitats — filling crevices used by fish, or smothering the animals that live there. Other human activities like undersea gravel mining, construction and navigation dredging can actually scrape away the rocks and animals that live there, resulting in a loss of structural complexity.

Cod like rocks

Cod like rocks

Atlantic cod taking shelter in rocky habitat. Photo credit: NOAA Fisheries

What do changes to rocky habitats mean for the fish and other marine life that use them? Scientific studies have shown that algal cover and attached marine organisms in rocky habitats are important in the survivorship of commercial and recreational species like juvenile Atlantic cod, and forage fish like blueback herring, alewife and shad.

For centuries, Atlantic cod supported important commercial and recreational fisheries along the New England coast. Today, the Gulf of Maine cod stock is in poor condition. The condition of the Georges Bank cod stock is not much better, with few young fish being born each year. Blueback herring and alewife, collectively known as river herring, and shad are key components of the marine food chain. While the numbers of alewife seem to be increasing in some rivers, both species’ overall populations are much lower than historic levels. Protecting rocky habitats is important to helping all of these species recover.

Rocks shelter cod

Rocks shelter cod

Cod and rocky habitat. Photo credit: NOAA/SBNMS

How does NOAA Fisheries protect these important habitats?

We make recommendations to other federal agencies that fund or permit beach nourishment, mining or construction projects. We want to help ensure that projects can move forward in a responsible way. The key is to both protect the rocks that make up the habitat and the attached organisms and macroalgae that are essential for fish.

Why Track Florida Redfish?

Scientists Track Florida Redfish

redfish

redfish

Dr. Sue Lowerre-Barbieri and team from Florida’s Fish & Wildlife Research Institute implant acoustic tags in adult red drum to determine habitat use and site fidelity in association with reproduction as part of a three-year study to evaluate red drum spawning stock size and structure in the eastern Gulf of Mexico.

The red drum (Sciaenops ocellatus) fishery is one of the largest and most popular in the state of Florida. Whether it consists of one stock or subpopulations more strongly affected by local fishing pressure is a persistent question for resource managers. To begin to address it, there is a need to better understand reproductive behavior, such as the number and spatial distribution of spawning aggregations and movement to and from these aggregations. Of particular interest is whether red drum exhibit spawning site fidelity by returning consistently to some specific location, such as where they were spawned (known as natal homing).

Large aggregations of red drum form every fall in nearshore Gulf waters to spawn (Figure 1). Spawning typically starts in mid-September and continues for about two months. Since 2009, biologists with the FWC’s Fish and Wildlife Research Institute have used aerial surveys to assess the distribution and number of spawning aggregations, as well as target aggregations for acoustic tagging.

Big Red

Big Red

Figure 2.
On an acoustic tagging trip, biologists in the air guide colleagues on the water to an aggregation where they catch fish with a rod and reel (Figure 2). Within three to four minutes of bringing the fish on board, biologists

make a small, shallow incision between the pectoral fins along the midline of the belly, taking care to avoid the egg-laden ovaries, which lie close to the body cavity wall (Figure 3a).
insert an acoustic tag into the abdomen (Figure 3b) and close the wound with one or two stitches made of absorbable material (Figure 3c).
take length measurements and insert a dart tag behind the dorsal fin before returning the fish to the water.

3a

3a

Figure 3a. A small incision allows insertion of an acoustic transmitter tag.

3b

3b

Figure 3b. The tag slides into the belly of the fish.

3c

3c

Figure 3c. An absorbable stitch or two closes the incision.

Figure 4

Figure 4

Figure 4. The study area in which biologists conduct aerial surveys and deploy underwater receivers (shown in red) extends from Pinellas County to Sarasota County, roughly 0-7 miles west of the coastline.

During the tagging process, biologists take ovarian samples from females to determine whether fish were about to spawn that night or spawned the day before. A catheter (a small tube with a syringe at the end) is used to extract a few eggs. Later in the laboratory, biologists process the samples to make histology slides, which they examine under a microscope.

One of two types of acoustic tags, continuous or coded, is implanted into a fish. Continuous tags are used to follow an aggregation when reflected sun on the water would make an aggregation difficult to see from the air. Continuous tags constantly emit a signal, allowing biologists to immediately follow and track a released fish with a handheld receiver. The goal–dependent on the tagged fish remaining with the aggregation–is to track the aggregation to its spawning location around dusk.

To evaluate longer-term movements, biologists use coded tags that are passively detected by underwater receivers. Depending on research goals, biologists place 20 to 40 receivers at historic and recent aggregation locations off the mouth of Tampa Bay (Figure 4) to determine whether aggregations return to the same sites within the same spawning season and from year to year. Data from these fixed stations indicates site fidelity, while tracking data may reveal spawning locations. Although both tag types provide movement information, they differ in that continuous tags show both movement and direction over the short term (as long as biologists are able to track it), while coded tags show movement over the long term (up to two years of battery life) but without directionality.

Since 2009, biologists have worked on this methodology to test and improve sampling design as well as collect preliminary data. Results indicate that red drum survive the tag implantation, return to previously identified aggregation sites, and can move up to 16 kilometers (10 miles) a day. Using data collected from these pilot studies, researchers are developing larger-scale studies to estimate red drum spawning stock abundance and assess spawning site fidelity and potential mixing along the Florida west coast.

Why Is January A Good Time To Join A Bass Club?

If you have ever thought about joining a bass club, right now is the perfect time. All three Griffin clubs are starting their new years this month. If you want to join a club, the three clubs give you a variety of options.

The Flint River Club meets the first Tuesday each month so our first meeting is this week. We fish a tournament every month, usually the weekend after the meeting. Most are one day tournaments fished on Sunday but we do have two or three two-day tournaments on Saturday and Sunday.

Since the Flint River club is affiliated with both BASS and FLW Federations you can join either one or both, but you have to be in at least one. Members qualify to fish the state Top Six tournaments in these federations, giving you the opportunity to advance all the way to the BassMasters Classic or the FLW Championship.

Dues in the Flint River Club are $70 in the FLW Federation, but that pays local, state and National dues and gives you FLW membership. For the BASS Federation dues are $60 per year but you must also join BASS separately. Or you can be in both for $110 per year if you also join BASS.

Tournament entry fee is $20 each month, and we pay back the top four places in each tournament. There is also a voluntary $5 big fish pot in each tournament ant the winner of the big fish wins all of it. In addition a cumulative cig cish pot gets you into competition where the first person to catch a six pound bass wins everything in the pot.

The Spalding County Sportsman Club meets the third Tuesday of each month and fishes the following Sunday, with two or three two day tournaments.

This club is in the FLW Federation only. Dues, including local club dues of $25, are a total of $75 per year. Members can qualify for the FLW state top six, held in late March or April each spring. The BASS Top Six is held in November each year.

In this club the tournament entry fee is $25 and we pay back the top four places. There is also a big fish pot and a cumulative big fish pot just like in the Flint River Club. In both clubs, if no one catches a six pounder during the year the member in the cumulative pot catching the biggest bass during the year wins it. And in both clubs, the pot starts over if someone catches a six pounder so it is a new competition.

The Potato Creek Bassmasters meets the Monday after the first Tuesday each month. The clubs stagger dates like this so we don’t have conflicts. They fish the Saturday after the meeting and have a couple of two day tournaments, too.

The Potato Creek club is not affiliated with a federation. Instead, they have their own Classic where members can qualify to fish a tournament for the money in a pot raised during the year. It can be a fairly big amount. They also have the two big fish pots like the other two clubs.

All three clubs allow members to fish by themselves or with another member. We do not have draw tournaments. Also, in both the Flint River and Sportsman clubs members can bring a guest, limited to one time per year per guest. Guests can enter the tournament and daily big fish pot but not the cumulative pots. Members must be at least 16 years old, but youth can fish with adult members in a concurrent youth tournament each month in the Flint River and Spalding County clubs.

All three clubs also award points in each tournament to those catching bass. At the end of the year the point standings earn plaques for the top fishermen and “bragging rights” for a year. Some work hard to do well in all tournaments to place high, and the teams going to the Top Six tournaments are based on point standings, but some don’t seem to care about them.

In the Flint River Club this past year I won the points standings, Chuck Croft was second, Niles Murray was third, fourth was JJ Polak, fifth was Travis Weatherly and sixth place was John Smith.

I also won the Spalding County points standings last year, Raymond English placed second, third was Kwong Yu, fourth was Zane Fleck, Russell Prevatt was fifth and sixth was Niles Murray.

The Potato Creek top six were Raymond English first, James Beasley second, Bobby Ferris third, Lee Hancock fourth, Niles Murray fifth and Mike Cox sixth. As you can see, some of us fish with two clubs and a few are even in all three!

In all three clubs we have more members with boats than members without boats, so we can usually find someone for you to fish with if you don’t have a boat but want to give club fishing a try. It is a lot of fun and a great way to learn how to catch bass better.

What Are Otiliths and How Do Biologists Use Them To Determine Ages of Fish?

Biologists use otiliths to determine the age of fish
from The Fishing Wire

Ever wonder how biologists figure out how old a fish is and how fast it’s growing? Here’s how they do it, from the Florida Fish & Wildlife Commission.

Otoliths show fish ages

Otoliths show fish ages

Pictured is an otolith from a largemouth bass. The bottom is the cross-section, revealing the rings of this 8-year-old fish.

Age is one of the most important pieces of data researchers collect about both freshwater and saltwater fish. Biologists use bones in the inner ear of the fish called otoliths, or ear stones, to determine how old an individual fish is. These bones have rings very much like a tree trunk, and every year environmental triggers cause a new ring to form. Biologists remove the otoliths from the fish and count the rings. There are several things researchers can gather from this information.

Size at age: Size at age graphs are created by comparing a fish’s age to its length. This tells researchers how fast the fish are growing and at what age they become big enough to catch. The information from size at age can be used by management officials as part of the decision making process on length limits and to evaluate the quality of the food sources and habitat in a water body.

Year Classes: Researchers can also use age data to follow groups of fish born each year called, year classes. For example, biologists observed large year classes of bass following drawdowns on lakes Toho and Kissimmee. These fish went on to produce many trophy bass and biologists were able to document long-term improvements resulting from management practices.

Mortality: Biologists can estimate the rate that fish die from the number of individuals collected from each year class. This is used to predict how many fish will be available to anglers in future years.

Largemouth bass can reach 16 years old in Florida. After about 8 pounds, some say you can guess the age at about a year per pound. This is nothing more than a good guess though, as FWRI biologists have seen 10 pounders that range from just 4 to 14 years old. Black crappie can make it to 10 but rarely make it past 6 years old. The same goes for most of the bream, like bluegill and shellcracker.

Wildlife Seen from A Deer Stand

You never know what you will see from a deer stand. Friday morning I was settled in my climbing tree stand before daylight, waiting on a deer to wander by. For the next couple of hours I got a show I did not expect.

At about 7:15 two squirrels came out of a hollow tree near me and went through their morning stretches then headed to the ground to look for breakfast. Every time I watch gray squirrels I am amazed at how they can climb down a tree upside down. And I remember being told there is not a gray hair on them, and searching the next one I shot. They have white, black and brown hair but no gray hair, although from a distance they look gray.

Then I saw movement to my right and eased my rifle up. A gray coyote came into sight about 60 yards away, easing along looking for his breakfast, too. I got my scope on him for a few seconds and probably should have pulled the trigger, but he was moving, I didn’t want to spook any deer that might be nearby, and he just looked too pretty to shoot.

After the coyote went out of sight I settled down again and checked my watch. It was almost 8:00. Immediately I caught a flicker of movement to my left, the direction the coyote had gone and I assumed it was him coming back. I was wrong and was amazed when a bobcat came up the ridge.

I have been in the woods a lot in the past 55 years and this is just the second bobcat I have ever seen. The first one came out onto a pipeline I was watching for deer, sitting on a stand my Uncle Adron had put me on at daylight. I was about 16 years old so it was at least 45 years ago, but I still remember thinking how big the cat looked. It was about 100 yards from me and I did not have a scope on my rifle back then, so I could not get a real good look at it.

The one Friday was about 30 yards away and I got a close look at it through my scope. It looked like it was about three feet long from the tip of its nose to the end of its stubby, short tail. The legs were long and the cat seemed to be built for speed. I thought it was about two feet high at the shoulder. The tawny brown fur had dark splotches all over it, with dark stripes on its legs.

The cat crossed the logging road I was watching then headed through the thick pines. I was still thinking about how pretty it was, and how it and the coyotes had probably killed all the rabbits I had seen on the farm over the summer when I heard a deer blow down the hill from where the bobcat had disappeared. I guess it was spooked by the cat but I got my gun ready.

A few minutes later a yearling came up the trail and crossed the road. I got a good look at it through my scope but decided it was just too small to shoot. I like killing a yearling each year and cutting it up into roasts, but I have some in the freezer so I didn’t shoot, hoping a bigger deer with more meat on its bones was following it. No such luck.

Then, about 30 minutes later, another flicker of movement to my left drew my attention. A beautiful red fox came slinking through the woods, going the opposite way the coyote had traveled earlier. I had seen the same fox a few days earlier right at dark but the red color really stood out in the brighter daylight. I watched it through my scope for a minute or so until it went out of sight.

Around 9:30 the two squirrels were back near the hollow tree. I was surprised they were still around after all the predators that like to eat them came by. Another squirrel chattered its warning cry about 100 yards down the hill and the two near me froze, hugging the tree they were in.

A red tail hawk sailed in and lit nearby. I watched its head swivel around looking for something to swoop down on. It stayed put for a couple of minutes then flew on to another hunting spot. After a few minutes the two squirrels near me started moving around again.

I love watching wildlife even if I don’t get to kill any deer while hunting. Seeing a bobcat made my year since they are nocturnal. They are not real rare around here but they mostly move and hunt at night so it is unusual to see one. I am told trappers catch them regularly.

Coyotes are not native here and are a problem. They kill a lot of wildlife, including deer fawns. A pack of them can kill a grown deer and a bobcat can kill a deer too. Foxes kill a lot of song and game birds as well as squirrels and rabbits. Bobcat, hawks and coyotes also take small game and song birds.

But all these animals, predator and prey, are part of nature, just as I am. I think they have their place and have a hard time killing them just to kill them. I would rather share the game animals and enjoy watching the other predators hunting for food, just like I am.

Gunfight Rules

Got this in email – I do my best to follow them. Do you have any to add? Post them in comments.
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Gunfight Rules

In a gunfight, the most important rule is ….. HAVE A GUN!!!

These are shooting tips from various Concealed Carry Instructors.
If you own a gun, you will appreciate these rules… If not, you should get one, learn how to use it and learn the rules.

RULES
A : Guns have only two enemies: rust and politicians.

B : Its always better to be judged by 12 than carried by 6.

C : Cops carry guns to protect themselves, not you.

D : Never let someone or something that threatens you get inside arm’s length.

E : Never say “I’ve got a gun.” If you need to use deadly force, the first sound they should hear is the safety clicking off or the hammer cocking.

F : The average response time of a 911 call is 23 minutes; the response time of a .357 is 1400 feet per second.

G : The most important rule in a gunfight is: Always Win – there is no such thing as a fair fight. Always Win – cheat if necessary. Always Win – 2nd place doesn’t count.

H : Make your attacker advance through a wall of bullets …. You may get killed with your own gun, but he’ll have to beat you to death with it because it will be empty.

I : If you’re in a gun fight:
(a) If you’re not shooting, you should be loading.
(b) If you’re not loading, you should be moving.
(c) If you’re not moving, you’re dead.

J : In a life and death situation, do something …. it may be wrong, but do something!

K : If you carry a gun, people will call you paranoid. Nonsense! If you have a gun, what do you have to be paranoid about?

L : You can say “stop” or any other word, but a large bore muzzle pointed at someone’s head is pretty much a universal language; and, you won’t have to press 1 for Spanish/Mexican or 2 for Chinese or 3 for Arabic.

M : Never leave an enemy behind. If you have to shoot, shoot to kill. In court, yours will be the only testimony.

N : You cannot save the planet, but you may be able to save yourself and your family.
If you believe in the 2nd Amendment, forward to others you know who also believe.