Innholdsfortegnelse for Dec 2017 - Jan - Feb 2018 i In-Fisherman

Growing Bigger Pike Management in Action— For several reasons, managing populations of northern pike has proved to be among the more challenging issues in fishery management. For one, more efforts have traditionally been applied to studying and managing other species, notably trout, muskie, bass, and walleye. Second, pike populations are remarkably diverse in their size structure, growth rates, and maximum size potential. Third, reductions in wetlands have reduced pike spawning habitat in many waters, while eutrophication has reduced summer habitat, and a warming climate has limited the suitability of some waters for large pike that prefer water temperatures below 70°F. Finally, anglers who pursue pike also are diverse in their attitudes and focus. In search for solutions for this puzzle, a team of biologists from the Wisconsin Department of Natural…

Bass fishing has been popular for a long time, but I’d say that the “modern era” of bass fishing and black bass management began around 1960. In the first two decades of this era, bass fishing participation grew many fold, tournaments became common, and fishery biologists dove into managing these species. The first national black bass symposium was held in 1975. Many of the papers at that symposium dealt with basic bass biology. Anglers and biologists came a long way in a short time. In the next two decades, the social and economic importance of black bass fishing rapidly grew. Anglers adopted a catch-and-release ethic while managers established regulations designed not only to provide abundant bass for harvest while keeping populations healthy, but also to provide more quality-size bass to…

Oregon has a rich fishing heritage founded primarily on socially and economically important native salmonids and marine species. But diverse warmwater species add to the state’s fishing opportunities. Black bass (largemouth and smallmouth) are not native to Oregon and other Pacific Coast states but are now widespread as a result of agency stocking, migration, and illegal introductions. (It’s important to note that reservoirs that provide conditions favoring bass populations also aren’t native to Oregon.) These predaceous non-natives can pose threats to native species, but also support popular recreational fisheries. Mike Gauvin, Recreational Fisheries Program Manager for Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW), describes Oregon’s bass management strategy and how the agency deals with this challenge. “Oregon’s overarching fish management goal is to ensure the conservation and recovery of native…

I’ve fished many pike waters across the Ice Belt in the U.S, and in Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and Ontario. Most anglers understand that deadbait can be highly effective for pike in many—perhaps most—environments. Generally, though, when possible, my preference is to fish live baitfish for pike early during the season, switching to deadbait as the doldrums set in during mid-season and late season into last ice. An exception might be if I can get truly fresh ciscoes or smelt. Those are difficult for pike to resist any time of year. Even then, though, lively baitfish swimming among your dead-baits is likely to bring more action overall during early season. Pike do well in cold water, and they’re usually active at first ice in the same areas they were marauding just before…

Whitefish, always a favorite for some of us, only recently became one of the most popular targets for ice fishermen. Whitefish are related to trout. Both are denizens of the cold. Shallow flats have the coldest water but the most insect life, and whitefish primarily target insects and small baitfish in winter. Talking to experts around the North, big whitefish behave differently than small ones. Bigger ones tend to cruise around on 5- to 10-foot flats all winter in many environments. But you can’t wander around drilling holes willy nilly over shallow whitefish. Drill all the holes before first light, then move out past the breaks to deeper flats (20 to 60 feet or deeper) and drill. Come back, move quietly, don’t walk over bare ice if you can help…

“...IN ALL THOSE YEARS SINCE SOFTBAITS FIRST APPEARED, HAIR JIGS SOMEHOW GOT LABELED AS A TOOL FOR COLD WATER” Catching smallmouths with hair jigs is a game older than spinnerbaits, older than the first soft plastics. It dates back to before our great grandfathers—before nylon polymers and graphite fibers. ¶ Old timers knew better, but in all those years since softbaits first appeared, hair jigs somehow got labeled as a tool for cold water. Most were tied with bucktail, which is stiff and moves less than other materials. But anglers in the know have been using jigs tied with fox and coyote hair, bunny strips, marabou, synthetics, and combinations to net big smallmouths all summer long. Edwin Evers is one of them. He’s qualified for the Bassmaster Classic 16 times…

In the not-so-distant past, the euphoria of catching that special fish was met with the dilemma of immediately deciding between killing the fish to have it mounted, or releasing it without the possibility of preserving it for posterity. A decision to mount the fish may have also been marred by guilt and anxiety—guilt for killing a special fish, and the anxiety of potentially waiting a year or more for a finished product that may or may not capture the essence of the fish caught. Taxidermy is an art that combines sculpting and painting. The practice has been around for centuries, with significant improvements in the last two decades. However, the quality of mounts and methods used by taxidermists today still vary greatly. A poor mount is an abomination frequently relegated…

After the long drive from Des Moines to Sioux Lookout, the fly-in to a remote lake, and a spectacular first day of fishing, our frenzied adrenalin rush was finally overcome by physical and mental exhaustion. The six of us stumbled around in a daze, much like members of Congress when they are in session. But we somehow cleaned fish, cooked, ate, and did dishes without breaking any. Okay. Just two. A hell of a lot better than what Congress breaks. I was on my way to the shower when the kid, chock full of youthful spunk, suggested a card game. “Not tonight,” I said. “I’m down for the count.” I don’t remember crawling into bed, but I was there 10 hours later as the rising sun peeked into the cabin…

Ice Helix Sonar With GPS capability and LakeMaster mapping, Humminbird’s second-generation Ice Helix 5 and 7 units have CHIRP Digital Sonar for superior target separation. The LED backlit display is easy to read in any light conditions. Included is an ice transducer, gimbal mounting bracket, battery, and charger in a portable ice bag—$499.99 (Helix 5), $649 (Helix 7), humminbird.com Merino Wool Socks Cabela’s Crew Ultimate Wool Socks are of moisture-wicking merino wool. They’re soft and itch-free and have reinforced toes and heels. Choose from three sock lengths and light, medium, and heavy weights—$11 to $15, cabelas.com Quick Dry Dry Guy Force Dry quickly dries a pair of shoes, boots, or gloves and features a 3-hour timer, 105°F maximum temperature, and articulating ports that reach deep into taller footwear. The Force…

Located in the Ozark Mountains of Arkansas and Missouri, scenic Table Rock Lake is a 43,100-acre Corps of Engineers impoundment on the White River, completed in 1958. Although it continues to provide good bass fishing, almost 60 years of water-level fluctuations have severely damaged habitat, a problem shared by most large reservoirs in the U.S. An ambitious project led by the Missouri Department of Conservation and supported by Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, Bass Pro Shops, the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is attempting to rejuvenate this aging fishery by adding habitat to replace that lost to time, and improving water quality of this increasingly developed reservoir. Habitat was added with specialized equipment in the form of 2,024 structures…

If the situation’s right and the mood strikes it, that 10-pound walleye you’ve been trying to catch might turn its snout away from your lure and scarf up a dead minnow instead. It’s a fact of walleye behavior that’s often discounted. Fishing “The Graveyard” years ago—a popular rock and gravel bar on Mille Lacs, Minnesota—friends and I deployed an underwater camera inside our large wheeled shelter to spy on a school of walleyes that refused to bite. It didn’t take more than an hour to realize walleyes were ignoring our jigging spoons and even live minnows. Every now and then, however, we noticed a fish nose down into the substrate and create a puff of silt as it vacuumed something into its mouth. We concluded these walleyes were swimming through…

Most ice anglers recognize that perch often roam in their quest for a variety of prey items. Like goats grazing broad pastures, adult perch travel in loose schools looking for various invertebrates, crustaceans, larvae, and small fish. They stop long enough to grab a quick meal, then move off to the next weedflat, mud bottom, or rocky ridge. Targeting productive fisheries, getting in front of wandering pods of fish, attracting them to your bait, then getting them to bite is the name of the game. Giant perch, on the other hand, are rare and can lead anglers to spend hours searching for the next hot fishery, then driving many miles in hopes of catching jumbos. What constitutes trophy perch varies among anglers and locations. But once that trophy mark is…