Innholdsfortegnelse for August/September 2019 i In-Fisherman

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It’s the third pass of the morning and the planer boards are falling back like we’re trolling through standing timber. They aren’t merely surging backward, they’re being buried as trolling rods strain under the heavy pressure on the other end of the line. Being seven miles offshore on northern Green Bay, the closest standing timber is on distant limestone bluffs that overlook these underfished waters. The “logs” we are encountering are walleyes between 25 and 32 inches. There’s hardly a small fish in the bunch and that’s just the way we like it. These open-water marauders are tracking pods of migratory bait-fish, the location of which is dictated by water temperature and current. Captain Bret Alexander has fished these waters his entire life and eagerly anticipates the annual influx of…

This screen shot from Minnesota guide Tom Neustrom’s Humminbird Helix 12 shows crappies tight to a soft bottom. “On my older sonar units, you couldn’t find these fish,” he says. “Here we’re seeing definition between bottom and the fish. Years ago you couldn’t see that at all. This is typical of what we see in August, after crappies have left the weeds. They’re in the weeds one day, gone the next. “I don’t have the gain way up. If the bottom’s soft, I turn it up a little bit. Once you set the gain up on the Helix 12, you don’t have to adjust it much. Here you see a thicker bottom reading. Hard bottom shows up thinner. If crappies are on that soft bottom, little blips and bumps—that’s what…

When the Publix cashier calls you Sweetie, the cop at the door eyes you without alarm and you realize that pretty soon you’ll be able to fish without a license legally, you have only two worthwhile courses of action. Take off your clothes and walk into the woods. Or revisit some past glory. Me and Jack Raymond chose the latter. We brought small jigs of various style and spinning and fly rods to the love of Jack’s life, the St. Johns River, on a day as fabulous as any we could remember. And when I say fabulous about this setting, I mean supercafabulous expialabodacious. Times 3. That’s right. Say it out loud. We’re getting out the car and the sun’s still foolin around in the Bahamas or someplace, doesn’t even…

Record Reconsidered For the Books— South Dakota fishery biologists voided the state’s oldest record fish, a channel catfish caught by Roy Groves in 1949, according to a press release by the South Dakota Department of Game, Fish and Parks (GFP). The record was opened due to a 70-year-old fish misidentification. “Ever since I started working for GFP, anglers have believed it was not a channel catfish, and many of my colleagues have seen that picture and have quickly said that Mr. Groves’ fish is a blue catfish,” says Geno Adams, GFP fisheries program administrator, in the news release. ”I sent the picture to two South Dakota State University fishery professors and fish identification experts, and both agreed. We feel that, while this is a great fish and a great story,…

As summer wears on, plants flourish, fed by abundant sunshine and nutrients in water. Through photosynthesis, they harness energy from sunlight to synthesize carbohydrate foods from water and carbon dioxide, providing for growth. Though some anglers and boaters avoid the “weeds,” they’re key areas for summer bassin’ success. Shallow-dwelling species like largemouth bass flourish in dense plant growth, using it for cover and for feeding. Their instincts to attack small prey in such environments can bring some of the most explosive and fun fishing of the entire season to a waterway near you. It’s all about the food chain that plants provide. Plant stalks and leaves provide food, living space, and shelter for countless invertebrates that dwell on the stalks and consume algae that grows there. Some are almost too…

As recently as the early 1980s, Ontario’s crown jewel of a fresh water fishery that maze of islands known to the Ojibwe as Pikwedina Sagainan—still represented unexplored, largely unknown muskie water. In the centuries since French explorers and Indian tribes roamed its rocky islands, dramatic changes have reshaped Lake of the Woods. Yet to marvel at the seemingly unspoiled Precambrian surroundings, you’d be hard pressed to believe it. “I caught my first muskie in 1965,” recalls Doug Johnson, legendary Lake of the Woods muskie guide. “But it wasn’t until a few years later when a new road went through to the Northwest Angle that I started fishing them hardcore. I met up with Dick Pearson, who’d accompany me on exploratory trips well before GPS made things easy. We’d throw a…

2018 marked the 42nd year of In-Fisherman’s legendary Master Angler Awards Program, begun in the early years of the magazine’s existence as a reward for successful anglers and as a way to let readers know about productive fisheries across the U.S. and Canada for many species. Last season proved a challenging one, as floods, storms, and heat waves made for tougher bites in many locales, and that was reflected in a reduced number of awards, a total of 339 trophy fish of 26 species. Largemouth bass led the way with 42 qualified entries, followed by 36 smallmouth bass, 30 each for pike and channel catfish, 27 crappies, and 24 walleyes. Every state and most provinces were represented, an accomplishment in itself. Among the entries were many that would qualify as…

UPPER MISSISSIPPI RIVER MINNESOTA Muskies » River sections from Brainerd to the Monticello area have 50-inch-plus fish that go for topwaters in August, and continue to bite various presentations during fall. Many river areas are scenic and some are secluded. Contact: Guide Luke Swanson, 763/482-0216, livinthedreamguideservice.com. In-Fisherman COLUMBIA RIVER, TRI-CITIES AREA WASHINGTON King Salmon » Lots of water, usually a great run of fish, most years weighing 10 to 14 pounds, some years more fish around 20, with the occasional 30-pounder mixed in. Powerful sportfish and great on the table. Other available species include walleyes, steelhead, and sturgeon. Contact: Capt. TJ Hester, hesterssportfishing.com. In-Fisherman WEBSTER AREA NORTHEAST SOUTH DAKOTA Smallmouths » A variety of smaller lakes host options for fish from 2 to 4 pounds, with Enemy Swim, Roy, Pickerel,…

The popper burbled, twitched, and paused, bobbing gently on the water it disturbed. Through the wavering lens of the lake’s surface, we could see dark shapes rising toward it. The little bait brought up an entire school of bass. ¶ We didn’t have to wait long. In a competitive furor, several fish exploded on the bait at once. The lucky “winner” dove back down to bottom, then scribed a semicircle around the boat trailed by a tight length of braided line. ¶ That day we “popped” about two dozen bass in one bay of an oligotrophic trout lake, watching each fish rise to the bait from 5 feet down in window-pane water. But drifting with the current in a canoe, casting poppers for smallmouth bass is something we look forward…

Most fishermen I know want to hook the biggest fish they can. A smaller percentage of anglers are content with quantity over quality. Then there is Doc. He would prefer catching boatloads of biggies. “I don’t think it works that way,” I said. We were at Knobby’s Kezik Lake outpost in Northwest Ontario, relaxing after a long day on the water, looking out over a spectacular, island-dotted fish factory. “Why not?” Doc said. “Isn’t it better to boat a dozen pike over 36 inches than twice that many under 24?” I said, “Since neither of us has ever caught that many big green slimers at one sitting, your wishful fishing has no basis in reality.” “Okay, try this reality,” Doc said. “How many times have we been at a honey…