Innholdsfortegnelse for March/April 2019 i In-Fisherman

■ LAKE OF THE WOODS ONTARIO Pike » Shallow bays near Nestor Falls and Sioux Nar ows teem with big pike as March draws them shallow where they spawn just after ice-out Pack the tip-ups, deadbait, and quick-strike rigs. Contact Crawford’s Camp, 807/226-5646, crawfordscamp.com; Sunset Cove Resort, 888/484-2192, sunsetcoveresort.com. Jeff Gustafson ■ LAC LA MARTRE NORTHWEST TERRITORIES Pike and Lake Trout » It’s a favorite fly-in destination for giant pike and lake s, w th fish g f om early June into early September, from a comfo table basecamp lodge on an island in the wilderness. Contact: Lac La Martre Adventures, 810/334-9381, nwtfishing.com. George Large ■ LAKE HAVASU ARIZONA-CALIFORNIA Redear Sunfish » This large impoundment of the Colorado River supports a healthy population of 1- to 2.5 pound redears, with…

New outboards have more power, less weight, better fuel efficiency, and bigger engines. Way bigger engines. Yet, fewer toxic emissions. Innovations in computer technology lead the way. We now have engines that diagnose their own problem and give it a code. Using an app on a cell phone, the code is sent right to the dealer, who calls to tell you what’s wrong. Outboard engines keep getting larger, but lighter. More compact, yet faster. Easier, but more complex. Cleaner, yet scarier. One of these days the things will start talking to us—scolding us for violating break-in protocols, or thanking us for changing the lower-unit oil. Whispering at us as we walk past: “Pssst. Hey, bub. Time for a spin.” Yamaha You want big? How’s 425 horses sound? The Yamaha V8…

On big-water systems such as Lake Erie and Green Bay, satellite images available on the NOAA Coast-Watch website (coastwatch.glerl.noaa.gov) are invaluable. The western basin of Lake Erie typically looks like a latte swirled with various shades of brown. The dirty brown water is pumped in the system from Lake St. Clair by the Detroit River, as well as the muddy Maumee River. This muddy water gets circulated with the clear water of Lake Erie via winds and currents. The objective becomes finding slightly stained water but not muddy water around the Bass Islands, or perhaps Toledo or Monroe. Water temperature and clarity become the primary criteria dictating how and where to target prespawn walleyes in these settings. Colder and clear water means slowly trolling for suspended walleyes offshore, while warmer,…

Eligible entries receive: ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS Anglers who enter qualifying fish receive a Master Angler patch (one per year) and species chevron. SELECTIVE HARVEST Selective Harvest is wise conservation of our natural resources. It maintains a tradition of harvesting some fish to eat, as they’re nutritious, delicious, and renewable when harvested wisely. Large predators and large panfish must be released to sustain good fishing. Only numerous and smaller fish should be kept. RECOGNITION CERTIFICATE In each region, anglers who enter the largest kept or largest released fish of a species receive a Master Angler parchment certificate suitable for framing. RECOGNITION PLAQUE Anglers who enter a state-record fish qualify for a personalized Master Angler plaque. Rules and online entry form at in-fisherman.com.…

A recurring scene unfolds at the launch ramp each season: Three anglers in a boat huddled around a screen, jabbing buttons and scratching chins. “Excuse me, you wouldn’t happen to know how to turn this thing on?” one of them asks you, as you notice the their furtive glances at the four big LCDs on your boat. You help get their sonar powered up and pass along a trick or two about digital lake maps and how to identify a fish versus, say, a rock. It’s easy to get swept away by all the techno-dazzle and forget about the basic questions plaguing most anglers: Do I really need all this technology? While pros talk casually about side-imaging, 3-D sonar, and live mapping, everyday anglers just want to know what their…

A steady breeze blew across the bay, raising a six-inch chop over a shallow flat. The little waves threw bands of mottled shadow and refracted light across the backs of spawning bass smallmouths nesting in sand 3 to 6 feet deep. The soft plop of a balsa-wood minnow melted into the hush of wind and water and it laid on the surface. The tiny waves turned it back-and-forth. It bobbed along, slowly following the direction of the breeze, tipping and nodding in the chop. Until it disappeared in a violent upheaval, clutched firmly in the jaws of a disturbed creature with a cloak of yellow and bronze. It played out that way for hours. No need to twitch, swim, or move the bait at all. What disturbed all those bass,…

You’re flying higher than a kid on Christmas morning as you climb into the co-pilot seat of the floatplane that’s tied to the dock at a remote northern Canadian air base. You smell the lingering fumes of Avgas as you look out the window and catch a glimpse of the dockhand giving the pilot a thumbs up as he throws clear the mooring ropes. You pull the headphones over your ears as the propeller turns over two, three, four times and then roars to life in a cloud of smoke. The pilot taxis out to the middle of the lake, turns into the wind, revs the motor, and increases speed until the pontoons break free from the lake’s surface. You skim over the tree tops, bank to the north, and…

Over the past year we covered custom rod building in a series of how-to articles. The craft is popular among anglers from beginner to tournament pro. With near limitless options in components, sky’s the limit for personalization through artistry and design. Rod builders enjoy customizing rod performance, too, and it’s never been easier. Choose from an ever-expanding selection of components: blanks, guides, grips, reel seats, thread, paints, and more. You can pick blanks by application, including power, action, and brand, as well as select guides for any layout and application. The many color options in blanks, grips, decals, and rod-winding threads allow you to create attractive artistic themes and personalize your rod. With supplies readily available at Mud Hole ( mudhole.com ), custom rod-building is easier than ever. You can…

Five years ago I had the opportunity to fish the rivers in Norman Maclean’s A River Runs Through It. Setting foot in the Big Blackfoot River, which is the river Maclean regarded as “a family river,” was like setting foot in holy water. Knowing my home waters, the rivers of Manistee County, Michigan, were so far away and so vastly different in shape, smell, sound, and content than Maclean’s rivers, I felt a little unprepared for the trip. “Eventually, all things merge into one, and a river runs through it. The river was cut by the world’s great flood and runs over rocks from the basement of time. On some of the rocks are timeless raindrops. Under the rocks are the words, and some of the words are theirs. I…

Giving Gar Their Due Fish ConservationÑ For ages, anglers gave little regard to gar, even tossing them on the bank when caught and feeling that they’d eliminated a pest. In some states, it was illegal to release a gar until recent decades. Fortunately today, traditions are shifting and many anglers have come to appreciate the gar for its great longevity as well as its interesting lifestyle and ferocious battles when hooked. With interest in gar fishing on the rise, managers began to realize how little was known about these fish. Important life history aspects such as growth, mortality, and reproduction were shrouded in mystery. To bring together information and spur further studies, fishery biologists met at the 2016 annual meeting of the American Fisheries Society in Kansas City, Missouri. Biologists…

New developments in tackle and other things change boats. The advent of 300-hp outboards changed the way some boats are made. Blueprints changed for 8-foot rods. The size of new dual- and triple-purpose electronics changed the way cockpits and dash boards are designed. Angler demands also change with the way boats are made. Survey feedback reveals that more anglers want family-oriented boats that somehow remain exceptional for fishing. More emphasis is being placed on smaller, more fuel-efficient boats, designed for smaller waters. Yet tournament anglers of all kinds—even crappie pros—keep demanding bigger decks, more storage, and more room for gadgets. Here are some of the boats being introduced this year and some with design changes that reflect those angler demands. Smoker Craft Pro Mag 182 The Smoker Craft Pro Mag…

Today, finding fish and picking the best presentation seem to get the most ink. But the third leg of the successful fishing triangle, and some might argue the most important, is boat control. Just as advances in lure design and hi-tech sonar imaging bring new advantages to today’s anglers, boat control accessories make the job of putting fish in the boat far easier than we could have imagined a decade ago. Here we address two key boat-control components: electric trolling motors and shallow-water anchors. Trolling Motors Electric positioning motors have a long history, first offered in the late 19th century. Minn Kota dates to 1934 and the inventions of Mr. O. G. Schmidt of Fargo, North Dakota. He named his device by taking portions of the names of states bordering…

Alligator gar are the largest scaled freshwater fish in North America. Anglers currently have the opportunity to catch these gargantuan fish throughout the southern United States, but they should do so with knowledge and respect for these rare treasures. Once hooked, alligator gar can make long, powerful runs, doggedly hug the bottom, bolt through submerged cover, tail-walk across the surface, and erupt at boatside with mouth agape and rows of prominent teeth in full display. Catching and releasing one of these magnificent giants is a momentous event for any angler. With proper management and good stewardship, these treasured fish can be passed down to future generations, or, they can be lost if we fail to recognize and protect them as one of North America’s greatest sportfish. Alligator gar over 100…

We’d driven up to Knobby’s at Sioux Lookout the previous day, and the turboprop slicked in to drop us at our outpost cabin on Kezik the next morning. Gear and provisions stored, and the proper clothing chosen for a warm and cloudless day, we prepared to hit the lake. The attorney packed and iced the coolers, and humped them to the boats. The banker made shore-lunch sandwiches. The policeman topped off gas tanks for the little Mercs. The kid divvied up ‘crawlers and salted minnows into Styro bait boxes. I was at the kitchen table getting my pike rig ready. I watched as Doc ran mono from his ultralight spinning reel spool through the guides on his walleye rod. At least I think that’s what he was doing. It was…