Those who would nix your right to fish in an instant are active and organized – recreational anglers need to be equally vigilant.
Forestville, WI – Nearly half of Australia’s fishable waters are now off limits. Some European countries ban catch and release, claiming it hurts the fish. Think it can’t happen here. Think again…
The good news is that American angler interests are backed by the American Sportfishing Association (ASA), the nation’s largest trade association for the recreational sportfishing industry. The bad news is that they can’t completely protect your rights alone…and that’s where you come in.
Recently, ASA VP of Government Affairs Mike Leonard spoke at the annual NPAA conference in Fort Myers, Florida on the topic of advocacy, what ASA is doing on your behalf, and what you can do as an individual to protect your fishing interests.
Leonard’s engaging presentation highlighted three key themes:
DO NOT take fishing for granted.
DO NOT sit on the sidelines.
Stop with the infighting.
He went on to talk about knowing the issues in your area, joining fishing organizations that work to protect sportfishing like the NPAA and the ASA, and keeping up with the issues that could affect your ability to access the vast amount of aquatic resources available in this country at asafishing.org.
If you care about the future of recreational fishing, you’re not too busy to watch Leonard’s presentation…
Navigating The Depths: A Comprehensive Guide To Cannon Downriggers
By The Fishing Wire
In the world of angling, precision is key. Whether you’re a freshwater enthusiast targeting trophy walleye or a saltwater fanatic pursuing the elusive king salmon, having the ability to control your bait’s depth can be the difference between a successful day on the water and a frustrating one. Enter Cannon® Downriggers – the trusted choice for countless anglers worldwide offering the perfect solution for precise control of your bait, resulting in more fish caught.
Downriggers are designed to be used while trolling for a variety of species and can be used on different bodies of water across North America. They allow anglers to fine-tune their fishing experience, ensuring that they target the specific species they desire at their preferred depths. This level of control is essential for being able to cover the column and present their bait where the fish are most likely to bite.
Cannon offers a wide selection of both manual and electric downriggers, with the electric models such as the Magnum™ or Optimum™ gaining popularity over the years due to their precision and efficiency. Boasting both convenience and speed of retrieval, these downriggers simplify the fishing process with advanced features and longer booms to be able to run a larger spread of lines. The automated functionality on the Magnum and Optimum eliminates the need for manual cranking, allowing anglers to get their weight out of the water in seconds with no cranking required. Cannon’s electric downriggers not only enhance the overall efficiency of gear deployment and retrieval but also provide precision in bait placement, ensuring that your bait is exactly in the strike zone.
Many of Cannon’s electric downriggers are designed to integrate seamlessly with Humminbird’s® line of fish finders, making them easier than ever to use. The latest addition to Cannon’s downrigger lineup, the Optimum, boasts several exclusive new features. One of the most recent advancements includes bottom tracking, allowing the angler to set the offset distance from the bottom, and the Optimum will keep the bait at that desired distance automatically. The Optimum also includes depth cycling, giving the angler the ability to program their downrigger to automatically cycle the depth of their bait to cover more water. The introduction of these features has redefined the capabilities of electric downriggers, reshaping the way anglers are able to cover the water column.
Anglers often opt for the versatility of Cannon downriggers, deploying up to four units strategically along the stern and sides of their boat. Despite being commonly associated with deep-water fishing, these downriggers give anglers the flexibility to target fish at various depths. What truly sets these downriggers apart is the comprehensive line of accessories and mounting systems offered by Cannon. The aluminum mounting systems are essential in organizing multiple lines to avoid tangling and increase efficiency. Paired with a wide assortment of rod holders designed for secure positioning, along with downrigger weights and line releases to ensure peak functionality and optimal depth control, Cannon’s accessory lineup offers a comprehensive solution for a hassle-free experience.
Cannon Downriggers have established a renowned reputation for their reliability and durability, built to withstand the harshest conditions. Cannon offers a variety of different downriggers and it can be intimidating to choose the right one for your style of fishing. To choose the right downrigger, you need to consider various factors, such as your fishing environment, the depth you plan to fish, your budget, and your boat type. With a wide range of models and price ranges available, Cannon makes it easy to find the perfect downrigger for your angling needs.
Whether you’re a seasoned angler looking to enhance your fishing experience or a newcomer eager to explore the world of downriggers, Cannon continues to lead the industry, providing anglers with the opportunity to reach specific depths and enhance their fishing success. Their precision-engineered design, durability, and innovative features make them an irreplaceable tool for anglers seeking to optimize their trolling experience. In the evolving landscape of fishing gear and technology, Cannon’s unmatched reputation for quality and reliability has made them the top choice for anglers who demand the best.
JOHNSON OUTDOORS FISHING is comprised of the Humminbird®, Minn Kota® and Cannon® brands. Humminbird is a leading global innovator and manufacturer of marine electronics products including fish finders, multifunction displays, autopilots, ice flashers, and premium cartography products. Minn Kota is the world’s leading manufacturer of electric trolling motors, as well as a complete line of shallow water anchors, battery chargers and marine accessories. Cannon is the leader in controlled-depth fishing and includes a full line of downrigger products and accessories.
JOHNSON OUTDOORS is a leading global outdoor recreation company that inspires more people to experience the awe of the great outdoors with innovative, top-quality products. The company designs, manufactures and markets a portfolio of winning, consumer-preferred brands across four categories: Watercraft, Fishing, Diving and Camping.
The stark bare gray limbs of hardwoods right now offer the best of times and the worst of times for squirrel hunting. Tree rats are easy to spot a long way off, but they can see you the same distance, too. It is easier to find them but harder to get close enough for a shot.
The population is lower than at the start of season back in August. Human hunters and natural predators have taken some of the squirrels that survived last winter. But both have killed many more of the dumb young ones born during the spring and summer. They are much easier targets.
Still hunting is tougher this time of year. Squirrels aren’t coming to an oak or hickory that is full of nuts to feed. They are scrounging around, looking for nuts they buried earlier when they were falling, and looking for anything else edible in the winter woods. You can’t sit under a good tree waiting on them to come to you.
After a rain you can find them eating mushrooms in pine thickets, but that food is scattered, like everything else. And the green needles on pines make it hard to spot a squirrel when they scurry up a tree and hide from you.
Creeping up on a feeding squirrel is possible, but deer hunters would be impressed with the abilities of a squirrel to spot you and flee. Any movement in their world draws instant attention and they will either flatten against a limb or tree trunk, making them very hard to see, or head for a hollow tree where they are totally protected.
One of the best tactics for me was to take off running through the woods when I spotted a squirrel in a bare tree. That usually made them freeze in place, trying to hide rather than running to a hollow. With no leaves on the tree I could usually find the hiding critter.
A little breeze helped in several ways. It would move bushes and limbs enough to confuse squirrels’ senses, making it easier to creep up on them. But when searching for them up in a tree a little breeze would often fluff their tail a little and the hair moving or sticking out from the tree trunk would make them easier to find.
Another trick was to scan for their ears sticking up. Not much natural up in a tree looks like squirrel ears. It helped that I had a good scope on my .22 to scan limbs and trunks, looking for any telltale sign. I always carried it rather than my .410 in the winter, expecting to get shots at squirrels sitting still rather than running through the limbs when the .410 helped.
I also learned to throw a stick to the far side of a tree where a squirrel hid. The noise and movement of it hitting a bush would make the bushy tail move to my side of the tree. I could see him from the movement, and could usually get a good shot.
Every squirrel killed when I was growing up was eaten. I was pretty good as skinning and gutting them and mama could cook up fried squirrel with gravy, squirrel and dumplings, BBQed squirrel and squirrel stew that was delicious. The younger squirrels were best for frying, but even tough old boar squirrels were good and tender when cooked right.
This is a great time to take a kid out and teach them gun safety and hunting skills. Deer season is over and the woods are quiet and bare, offering fun and good food!
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Last Sunday 12 members and one guest of the Spalding County Sportsman Club fished our January tournament at Jackson. After eight hours of trying, we brought 31 bass longer than 12 inches to the scales. Only four of them were largemouth. There was one five fish limit and no one zeroed.
Wayne Teal won with the only limit and it weighed 7.72 pounds. Second was Zane Fleck with four weighing 5.72 pounds, Billy Roberts placed third with four weighing 4.98 and Niles Murray had four weighing 4.83 pounds for fourth. Randall Sharpton’s 3.21 pound largemouth was big fish.
I should have gone squirrel hunting! I guess I used up all my luck at Sinclair, it was one of those days when everything was just wrong for me. I fished hard but ended up with one keeper largemouth weighing a whopping 1.27 pounds for tenth place.
Glenn Anderson fished with me and caught a keeper spot on a crankbait the first place we stopped. After fishing two or three more spots, I got a bite on a shaky head worm. The fish swam toward the boat and when I set the hook I pulled a keeper largemouth to the top and watched it come off the hook.
The next place we stopped I got five bites, four on a shaky head worm and one on a jig, in five casts and missed all five! Then Glenn threw a drop shot worm to the rocks where I got the bites and landed his second keeper.
Soon after Glenn landed his third keeper, I felt a fish pick up my shaky head in a brush pile but felt the thump of it spitting out the worm just as I set the hook. I missed several more bites during the day, finally catching my keeper with an hour left to fish. I was in such a hurry to get it in the boat I hit Glenn in the face with it as he grabbed the net!
To add insult to injury, there was a Robby’s tournament out of Berry’s Boat House the same day. It took five bass weighing 17 or 18 pounds to win it!
When I hear results like that the same day I struggle to catch a keeper, I wonder why I even bother fishing.
“If anyone has earned a grand prize for this program, it is certainly Jason McRae,” said Scott Robinson, Chief of the WRD Fisheries Management Section. “Not only is he the only angler to have gotten a Bass Slam all 7 years that it has been offered, but he also caught all 10 bass species every year. That is an amazing accomplishment, and we are proud to offer these prizes to him.”
The Bass Slam Grand Prize Winner receives a cooler, camp chair, tackle box and a beautifully framed bass print. Are you working on your 2024 Slam?
Georgia Bass Slam: Catch (at least) five of the different black bass species found in Georgia within a calendar year and you have a Georgia Bass Slam! This program recognizes anglers with the knowledge and skill to catch different species of bass in a variety of habitats across the state, while also stimulating interest in the conservation and management of black bass and their habitats. For complete rules and more info, visit BassSlam.com.
Other Fishing Recognition Programs:
Angler Award Program: This program recognizes those who catch fish that meet or exceed a specific weight or length for that species. There is an adult, youth, public fishing area and trophy bass angler award program category. For complete rules and more info, visit GeorgiaWildlife.com/fishing/anglerawards.
State Records: In addition to the angler award program, the division also maintains a freshwater fish state-record program for anglers who land a catch that exceeds the existing record catch weight by one ounce or more. More information at GeorgiaWildlife.com/fishing/recordprogram/rules.
Trout Slam: Catch all 3 species of trout available in Georgia waters and earn a Trout Slam! More info at GeorgiaWildlife.com/trout-slam.
Kids First Fish Certificate: The division wants to recognize children across the state for catching their first fish with an online kid’s “first fish award” certificate available at GeorgiaWildlife.com/my-first.
Georgia Wildlife Resources thanks anglers that took part in these programs and appreciates all anglers that head out to state waters throughout the year to wet a line. For more information about fishing in Georgia, visit GeorgiaWildlife.com/fishing/angler-resources.
I have learned a lot from my Garmin Panoptix I installed in November 2019. This system is a sonar that shows a live picture of what is underwater on the screen, much like shining a spotlight at night shows what is in its beam. And it shows movement as it happens, not as a line on the screen like older units.
One of my first surprises was how many fish are down there. I see schools of crappie and hybrids and clouds of baitfish suspended over deeper water this time of year. And I can see fish moving along the bottom, probably catfish and carp.
Fish hovering around stumps, rocks and brush, or holding right on a drop off, are probably bass. And there are lots of them. But seeing them does not mean they will hit my bait.
Time after time I see my bait move through them and they ignore it. Even worse is when I watch my jig fall on the cast or hop it and see a fish come up to it and follow it back down but never hit it.
I have always heard bass move tight to cover in muddy water. In November and December, Jackson was very clear and I could see bass holding just over rocks and other cover, and they would slowly move around it. But after the rain Jackson muddied up and now I see bright dots indication bass right against the rocks or down in the brush. And they don’t move, they just sit there.
I know a bait cast out and sinking will swing back toward the boat, and to get it to go straight to the bottom I “feed” line to it as it falls. That is important when trying to get you bait to the bottom under docks and down to brush.
Watching my bait swing back toward the boat as it falls amazes me. A half ounce jig with a twin curly tail trailer cast on 14-pound fluorocarbon line makes an arch back toward me no matter how much line I feed to it. It moves back toward me about a foot for every five it falls, so if I cast to a brush pile 20 feet deep I have to cast at least four feet past it to get my bait to hit it.
I am just exploring lakes with my Panoptix and hope to learn a lot more in the coming months.
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Final 2019 standings for the three Griffin bass clubs are out. During the year points are awarded at each tournament based on where you place.
In Flint River and Potato Creek first place gets 100 points, second 90 on down to 10 for tenth. Anyone catching a keeper but finishing below 10th gets five points. In Spalding County, first gets 25 points, second 24 on down to 1 for 25th. We also keep up with numbers of fish weighed in and total weight for the year.
Last year in Flint River, I won with 1340 points and 47 bass weighing 78.21 pounds. Niles Murry placed second with 900 points, 40 bass and 67.42 pounds and Chuck Croft came in third with 880 points, 36 bass and 65.2 pounds.
Fourth place was won by Don Gober with 790 points, 34 bass weighing 45.79 pounds and his grandson Alex Gober placed fifth with 660 points and 22 keepers weighing 28.41 pounds. Doug Acree rounded out the top six with 410 points, 12 Bass and 16.12 pounds.
In the Potato Creek club, I won with 890 points catching 73 bass weighing 130.39 pounds. Trent Grainger placed second with 840 points, 61 bass weighing 106.03 pounds and Doug Acree came in third with 825 points and 70 bass weighing 111.79 pounds.
Mitchell Cardell placed fourth with 790 points, 56 bass weighing 95.03 pounds and fifth went to Kwong Yu with 700 points, 57 bass and 97.77 pounds. Raymond English came in sixth with 670 points, 60 bass weighing 100.19 pounds.
For the Sportsman Club, I won with 316 points and 65 bass weighing 129.94 pounds. Kwong Yu placed second with 270 points, 51 bass and 82.11 pounds, Raymond English came in third with 266 points and 65 bass weighing 124.44 pounds.
In this club fourth went to Jay Gerson with 250 points, 55 bass and 84 pounds, Wayne Teal was fifth with 247 points, 44 bass and 68.24 pounds. Billy Roberts rounded out the top six with 241 points, 37 keepers and 57.22 pounds.
Since joining the Potato Creek club four years ago, my goal has been to win all three clubs one year. I was very happy to do it this past year while fighting health problems. I guess I can retire from fishing now – not.
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Last Saturday, 19 members of the Potato Creek Bassmasters fished our January tournament at Sinclair. After eight hours, we brought 71 keeper largemouth weighing about 126 pounds to the scales. There were 10 five-fish limits and two members didn’t weigh a bass.
I won with five weighing 13.0 pounds and had a 6.71 pound largemouth for big fish. Kwong Yu placed second with five at 12.85 pounds anchored by a 3.91 pounder. Third was Tom Tanner with five weighing 12.58 pounds and had a 4.09 pounder. Dan Dupree came in fourth with five weighing 12.44 pounds and second biggest fish of the day with a 5.61 pounder.
Add in the 4.43 pounder Raymond English had and the three pounder my partner Mike Scoggins weighed in and you can see it was close and there were a lot of quality fish caught on the cold, rainy day.
Fish were caught on a wide variety of baits. My big one hit a crankbait, I also had a three pounder on a spinnerbait, another keeper on the crankbait, three on a shaky head and one on jig and pig. The only consistent thing for me and others seemed to be fishing shallow in the 53-degree muddy water
I hope everyone had a good deer season and got to shoot what they wanted, either a trophy for the wall or a freezer full of meat. Or both!! But now that it is over, it is time to turn to small game. Many of us older folks grew up hunting squirrels, rabbits and game birds, and there is about six weeks left to hunt them.
Learning to hunt squirrels and rabbits is great training for hunting big game. You learn to read signs, be patient, acquire shooting skills and identify food sources that will help when hunting deer, turkey or anything else.
This time of year is both a challenge and a blessing. With leaves off the trees, you can spot a tree rat a long way off as it scurries from limb to limb. But they can see you just as far away and hide before you get near. And if you jump a rabbit you can get a decent shot.
There is no food in the trees, either. So you won’t be able to sneak up on a trembling limb where a squirrel is busy cutting pine cones or acorns and not paying enough attention for predators like you. When they are feeding in the trees you can often get in close for an easy shot. Not with bare trees!
Squirrels feed on the ground this time of year. When they see movement, they will run up a tree to a hidey hole and you may never see them again. But sometimes they just flatten against the tree on the opposite side, so you can throw a stick to that side and make them move around for a shot.
When food sources like oak trees dropping acorns are available, you can set up near one and let the squirrels come to you. Not gonna happen after Christmas. Now you have to still hunt, easing through the woods alert to seeing or hearing a squirrel before is hears or sees you.
That kind of hunting will help you still hunt for deer but multiply the squirrels ability to spot you before you spot them by about a thousand times for a deer. But it is fun, keeps you warmer than sitting still, and can be very productive.
My good friend AT had a pack of rabbit beagles, and we ran rabbits almost every Saturday after deer season when I was in high school. Deer season was limited to the month of November and one week at Christmas back then, so we stated letting the dogs out in early December.
I loved listening to the dogs run and figuring out where the bunny would circle back ahead of them so I could be in position for a shot. Rabbit hunting with dogs is easy compared to without them.
I killed my first rabbit while squirrel hunting with my .410. As I eased along a field line looking for activity in the trees, I jumped a cottontail and hit it as it bounced away. I think daddy and mama were as proud as I was that day!
Once after a light snow AT didn’t want to let his dogs out, so we hunted without them. We went to a farm where the owner had cut timber a year before, so there were brush piles all over the place between his fields. We would go up to a pile and one of us would get in position while the other climbed into the brush, shaking the pile to spook the rabbit.
That’s what my friend and fellow writer Daryl Gay calls “Rabbit Stomping,” the name of one of his humorous books.
Dove season was over by Christmas, but we still hunted quail some. Most of our quail hunting was earlier in the year, though. Daddy often said he did not like to put too much pressure on the coveys we hunted, they had a tough time just surviving in the winter without being pushed, scattered and harassed by us.
I miss those hunting days but nowadays I prefer spending time in my bass boat in the winter!
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Last Sunday eight members of the Flint River Bass
Club fished our January tournament at Jackson Lake. After casting from 7:00 AM to 3:00 PM, we brought 23 keeper bass weighing about 26 pounds to the scales. There were three five-bass limits and one fisherman did not have a keeper.
Alex Gober won it all with five weighing 7.35 pounds and had a 1.80 pounder for big fish. Niles Murray came in second with five at 5.52 pounds and Doug Acree was third with five weighing 4.34. Lee Hancock came in fourth with two weighing 2.50 pounds, beating my two at 2.48 pounds by .02 pounds!
It was a tough day. Niles said he caught his five in about an hour. This time of year there is often a “bite window,” a short time when if you are in the right place at the right time you can catch fish.
New member Will McLean fished with me and we fished hard. But at 2:46 with five minutes left to fish I had gotten only one bite, a four-inch crappie that hit a spoon. I found fish in many places, some of them set up under baitfish and looked like perfect places to catch one. But it did not happen for either of us.
As time ran out Will and I were working around a rocky point. I told him I would make a couple of casts across the downstream side of the point then we had to go in, even without anything to weigh.
On three casts I landed two keepers and lost one at the boat on a DT 10 crankbait. On my Panoptix I could see baitfish all over the end of the point with fish moving around under them, like in a few other places, but thew were feeding better.
I wish I could have made a few more casts but we pulled up at the ramp two minutes before being late!
When writing about open-water fishing, I often refer to the “fish-catching equation” of finding fish and then finding the best presentation to catch as many as possible. One our TV shows we often refer to this as L2: location plus lure. A winter outing awhile back where jumbo perch were the target brought to mind a simple winter fishing equation: a sonar plus a jigging spoon equals fish!
This trip included three hours of drilling holes, fishing in each for a few minutes, and then moving looking for fish. Eventually my partners and I located a school of perch. These fish would appear on sonar, a few could be caught in short order, and then no action until the next small “pack” appeared. Interestingly, we were able to use an aggressive jigging approach to “call in” packs of fish minimizing our time between bites. Here’s what we did.
We started using a variety of jigging lures trying to locate fish. Eventually we settled on the Jointed Pinhead Pro. This spoon has a joint in the middle for extra action and movement. It creates a unique combination of flash, sound, and vibration in the water. More subtle baits slither and flutter through the water, this spoon’s action, sound, and vibration are more aggressive. This day, that aggression was what the fish wanted.
We baited our spoons with minnow heads or wax worms, dropped them near bottom, and aggressively worked them. When fish appeared on the sonar, we slowed up and simply held the spoon above the fish and waited. Invariably, one would swim up and inhale it and the fight was on. The next order of business was landing the fish and quickly returning the bait near bottom. Often, we would land two or three fish in short order.
When the action slowed, we would go back to aggressive jigging, with one twist. We discovered that we could minimize our time between flurries by letting the spoon crash into the bottom occasionally. This crashing created disturbance on bottom to call in fish from a distance. When they appeared, we simply raised our jigs again, slowed the jigging action, and held on!
On this day we used 1/16-ounce spoons in a perch holo color pattern. As daylight gave way to evening, we switched to the chartreuse lime glow pattern. Often using a glow lure late in the day will put a few extra fish on the ice and this day was no exception.
Another important part of our successes was the use of sonar. Knowing when fish were in the area to slow our jigging strokes and elevate the bait was critical. And, when no fish were around, we knew it was time to go back to aggressive jigging, with occasional bottom crashes mixed in. Not only does sonar increase success, but it adds to the fishing fun as well. The FLX-28 unit I use is loaded with features and does a great job of showing bottom, my bait, and fish allowing me to call in and trigger fish. Plus, it comes in a soft-sided carrying case which protects the unit when hauled around in my truck or in my portable fishing shelter.
Moving from spot to spot, using aggressive jigging, and closely monitoring our sonar units put several dozen perch on the ice this day. Though the mood of the fish will vary, staying on the move, experimenting with lures and ways to fish them, and using sonar will lead to winter success on your trips as well. In fact, a jigging spoon plus a sonar unit equals fish is one equation anglers across the North Country can use to increase their successes this winter. Good luck on the ice and, as always, remember to include a youngster in your next outdoors adventure!
i wish this 60 degree weather had been here Sunday. Many folks are claiming this weather is unusual for January. But fouri years ago I wrote about how wram it was and said: “I even heard one talking head using the most over used word in our vocabulary right now – “unprecedented.”
On Sunday. January 21, 1967, my senior year in high school, Harold and I talked at church about how warm it was and that we needed to go water skiing. We wanted to be the first ones to go skiing that year. As soon as church was over, we went home, changed clothes and grabbed some extra jeans and shirts.
On the way to the lake WBBQ radio station in Augusta said it was 71 degrees and it was sunny. We got to Raysville Boat Club where my family’s ski boat was tied under a boat shed. As we pulled up to the lake, we saw one of our friends that had skipped church that day out of the water skiing.
Harold and I both skied, but we were not the first that year.
There have been many other very warm Januarys over the years, and many very cold ones. And there will be many more as the weather changes year to year.
This is a great time to join a bass club. The Flint River Bass Club meets the first Tuesday of the month and fishes our tournament the following Sunday. Potato Creek Bassmasters meets the Monday following the first Tuesday and fishes that Saturday. Spalding County Sportsman Club meets the third Tuesday each month and fishes the following Sunday. All three clubs have some two-day tournaments, too.
Annual dues are $25 in Flint River and $50 in the other two. Monthly tournament entry fees are $25 to $30 with a variety of pots, like daily big fish at $5, that are voluntary.
We have a lot of fun at the meetings discussing fishing and telling some true stories about it. Tournaments are fun competition, mostly for bragging rights since entry fees are low and there is not enough money involved to really get serious about it.
There are many of us in each of the three clubs that often fish alone, so there is always room for new members without a boat. If interested in joining one of the clubs call me at 770-789-6168 or email ronnie@fishing-about.com. —
Last Sunday ten members of the Flint River Bass Club fished our first tournament of the year at Jackson. The weather was great for this time of year, but the muddy 52-degree water seemed to turn off the bass.
In eight hours of casting, we brought 15 12-inch keeper bass weighing about 22 pounds to the scales. Ten of them were spots. There was one limit and five members zeroed.
Doug Acree won with five weighing 8.09 pounds and said he caught a bunch of bass, culling in the first hour of the tournament, while the rest of us struggled to catch a keeper. Don Gober had three at 4.12 pounds for second, Niles Murray placed third with two at 4.04 pounds and his 3.21 pound largemouth was big fish. My three weighing 3.72 pounds was good for fourth and Alex Gober had two at 2.19 for fifth.
Niles fished with me since his new boat has not arrived. We tried a little bit of everything that morning. Niles hooked a nice two-pound bass on a spinnerbait that came off right at the net first thing.
I missed a fish that hit a jig head worm because of my stupidity. I had switched reels around and forget to check the drag. When I tried to set the hook, the spool just spun around, and I did not hook the fish.
I did land a keeper spot on a crankbait off a boat ramp and another one on a spinnerbait in a blowdown. Then about 11:00 I slowed down and caught my third keeper on a shaky head worm on a rocky point.
I made the mistake of picking at Niles a little since he didn’t have a fish in the livewell and I had three. Then he caught the three pounder on a jig on a rocky point and caught up with me with one fish. He added his second keeper with about an hour left to fish. It hit the jig on a point.
We both missed a lot of bites. I caught two 11-inch spots and a couple of times, when I set the hook on the shaky head, I brought in half a worm, a good sign it was a little fish.
It was a fun day overall. I am looking forward to the rest of the club tournaments this year.
Research Finds Culling Sharks Not The Answer To Lost Tarpon Catches
By The Fishing Wire
First-of-its-kind study led by UMass Amherst suggests tarpon time on angler’s line determines likelihood of catch being eaten by hammerheads
Amherst, MA – In wave-making research recently published in Marine and Coastal Fisheries, a team of researchers, led by biologists at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, has quantified the rate at which great hammerhead sharks are eating Atlantic tarpon hooked by anglers at Bahia Honda, Florida—one of the prime tarpon fishing spots in the Florida Keys.
Called the “depredation rate,” the team found that 15.3% of tarpon that were hooked by anglers and fought for more than five minutes were eaten while still on the line. But the researchers also show that this is not necessarily a sign that the ecosystem is out of balance. To the contrary, increased reports of depredation are to be expected, especially as great hammerhead sharks, listed as critically endangered by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), are seeing their population stabilize in the southeastern United States; the result of decades of conservation and management efforts. At the same time, angling is an increasingly popular sport. Which means that there is a greater chance for human-fish-shark encounters. To help manage the health of both the tarpon fishery and the hammerhead population, the researchers urge solutions that don’t impact either species.
Tarpon are one of the most iconic saltwater fish in the Southeastern and Gulf states. Many an angler spends their life dreaming of hooking a tarpon that could easily exceed 100 pounds, which are known to fight fiercely, often leaping entirely clear of the water in their efforts to shake a hook. The tarpon fishery, which extends from Texas to the Carolinas in the U.S., is, by some estimates, a multi-million-dollar-per-year industry, and the fish is tied deeply to local culture.
Yet, despite the legendary toughness of the species, the tarpon is listed as “vulnerable” by the IUCN, and their populations seem to have been affected by fishing, degraded water quality and habitat loss. Recently, guides have been increasingly reporting that sharks are taking a bigger bite out of the tarpon catch in recent years, and may, in fact, pose a risk to the species’ survival. But, until now, there’s been no hard data on just what the depredation rate might be, which makes it difficult to make informed conservation decisions, for either the tarpon or the hammerheads.
To arrive at the depredation rate, and then to track both the tarpons’ and sharks’ yearly movements through a specific area, you need a few things: high-tech acoustic telemetry equipment, stout fishing gear and a comfy lawn chair.
Acoustic telemetry has recently revolutionized scientists’ ability to track migratory marine species. The technique involves anchoring an acoustic receiver in the water and implanting a small transmitter into whatever it is you want to track. In this case, lead author Grace Casselberry, a postdoctoral researcher at UMass Amherst, and her colleagues deployed 16 receivers in a gridded array in the Bahia Honda Channel. They then caught and tagged 51 tarpon and 14 hammerhead sharks. Over the course of more than two years, every time one of the tagged tarpon or hammerheads swam within range of the receiver, the receiver would log that individual animal’s unique ID, date and time.
Then came the lawn chair. “I sat in that chair for two months,” says Casselberry, “watching all day long through binoculars and a camera with a long lens as people fished. Every time someone hooked tarpon, I recorded the time of day, the current, whether the tide was going in or out, which boats were fishing, how many anglers were in the area, how long it took them to bring the tarpon to their boat and whether or not a hammerhead ate the fish. I saw a total of 394 tarpon hooked.”
With all that data, the researchers revealed that the longer the angler fought their tarpon, the more likely it was to be eaten, and that when the fight lasted for more than five minutes, there was a 15.3% chance that the tarpon would be snatched by a hammerhead. These depredations most often occur on an outgoing current, which was also supported by the acoustic telemetry data that showed the hammerheads occupied a smaller area within the channel corresponding to where most tarpon are hooked and fought. The team also found that tarpon tend to congregate in Bahia Honda during the spring, pre-spawning seasons—and the hammerheads know it. So do the anglers.
“Bahia Honda has most likely been a place where sharks and tarpon have congregated for a very long time,” says Andy Danylchuk, senior author and professor of fish conservation at UMass Amherst. “If there was less depredation in recent memory, that is likely due to the fact that the population of great hammerheads was dangerously low.” But fishing pressure has also increased in recent decades. “There are more sharks in the water and also more hooks in the water,” Danylchuk continues, “which is the perfect recipe for more shark-fish-human encounters.” In fact, depredation is a growing issue in the United States, as evidenced by the recent SHARKED Act put before Congress to help find solutions.
“It has taken 30 years to get the hammerheads to the point where they are just starting to recover,” says Casselberry, “and all that work could be undone if we start killing sharks indiscriminately.”
“There’s some evidence that the hammerheads are pregnant females,” adds Danylchuk, “and if they are culled, it could decimate their numbers.”
None of this means that anglers need to stop fishing for tarpon in Bahia Honda, but it does mean that conservation efforts, of both tarpon and hammerheads, should be informed by solutions that don’t impact the tarpon, the hammerheads, or the anglers. Casselberry and her colleagues suggest that anglers use fishing gear that will allow them to land tarpon faster, thus reducing fight times and the opportunity for depredation. They should also avoid fishing during the outgoing tide, which is when most depredation events occur. Anglers who use fish-finders should monitor for sharks and consider relocating when hammerheads are in the area.
“We are advocating for anglers to think of themselves as part of the ocean ecosystem, rather than working against it,” says Casselberry.
Update on this article first posted in 2013. I now mostly use Strike King Bitsy Flips for the bigger hooks. I won a club tournament and had big fish on one last November, won another and had big fish in early January and came in fourth in a mid january tournament this year. All my keepers came on a Bitsy Flip.
I had a problem with skirts coming apart on one group of black and blue jigs I bought last year ago. i had bought a dozen green pumpkin and a dozen black and blue and used the green pumpkin with no trouible. But when water muddied up last weeek ai switched to black and blue and the skirt would come off after a few casts. I did land two keepers to win before running out of them and switching to another brand.
When I contacted Strike King and Lews support trying to buy replacement skirts for the six jig heads in my boat, I was sent a gift card to cover replacing the defective jigs. Great service that you seldom find now-a-days!!
Original article:
For the past couple of years I have had two baits, a jig head worm and a Bitsy Bug jig with a Creepy Crawler trailer, that are my go-to choices most days when fishing tournaments. As I get older I have to fish slower and those baits don’t wear me out during a tournament. But they catch fish under almost all conditions.
I rig the Bitsy Bug jig and Creepy Crawler trailer on a seven foot medium heavy St. Croix rod and Kast King reel spooled with 10 to 12 pound test Sun Line fluorocarbon. The light line suits the way I fish the bait and will handle any bass I hook. And I think I get more hits on the light fluorocarbon line than I do on heavier line.
In clear to lightly stained water I use a pumpkin jig and a green pumpkin skirt. I always dip the tails of the twin tail trailer in JJ’S Magic chartreuse dye. In stained water I go with a black jig and blue trailer, but I dip those tails, too. I think the chartreuse flash of the tail looks like a bream fin and the strong garlic scent may help get bites and make the bass hold the bait longer.
The small jig and pig works year round on both largemouth and spotted bass. Most of the lakes I fish in middle Georgia have populations of spotted bass now and they are aggressive and tend to bite better after a cold front. The smaller jig and pig is just right for them but largemouth love it, too.
I fish the jig and pig around all kinds of structure and cover, mostly in shallow water. Since I usually fish it in less than 15 feet of water my favorite weight is the three sixteenths ounce jig but I will go to a quarter ounce jig if there is current or wind. The lighter jig comes through rocks and brush better than heavier jig, too.
Normally I cast the jig, let it sink to the bottom and sit a few seconds, than pull it up off the bottom a couple of inches and let it fall back. When I hit cover I will jiggle the bait and raise it up and down when over a rock or limb. On smoother bottoms like clay or peagravel I slide it along, moving it as slowly as I can while still making the tails wave and wiggle
Another trick is to “stroke” the jig, ripping it up off the bottom two feet and letting it fall back. This action looks like a fleeing bait and will often trigger a reaction strike. This is a good tactic around boat docks. Let the jig fall by a post, rip it up and let it fall back, then swim it away just off the bottom.
The one thing I don’t like about the Bitsy Bug jig is the light hook in it. switching to the Bitsy Flip solved this problem) I would prefer a bigger, stronger hook. With the rod, reel and line I use I do keep my drag set fairly loose so it will slip on the hook set. That keeps me from breaking the line and also does not bend the light hook.
It is important to rig the trailer on the hook so the tails are parallel with the head. I change the trailer often since they get torn and won’t stay straight on the hook. After catching a bass the trailer is often torn and won’t stay straight. One trick is to rotate the trailer 180 degrees after one side gets torn by the hook so you can keep using it, but change it when both sides get torn.
Give the Bitsy Bug and Creepy Crawler a try. Smallmouth love it, too. Try it my way or fish it your favorite way. Let me know how you like it.
