Innholdsfortegnelse for August/September 2020 i In-Fisherman

The Hit Stick A breakthrough in design, the Berkley Hit Stick delivers maximum rolling action and flash even down to a speed of .1mph. At higher speeds, an Integrated FlashDisc gets the lure tracking true, delivering a snappy balsa-like action. The hard-plastic construction allows long-distance casts and provides durability, along with a high-pitched internal rattle. The Hit Stick 3.5 sinks, while Hit Stick sizes 5 through 15 float. Check pricing at berkley-fishing.com SpyderLok Tracking Anodized aircraft aluminum construction with stainless-steel hardware, SpyderLok Tracking is available in 5.5-, 16-, and 32-inch lengths, making it easy for rod holders, rod pods, trees, and other accessories to slide into and out of place on board your boat—$22.99 to $69.99, millenniummarine.com Wraptor Tackle Rolls Save room and keep tackle organized with Wraptor Tackle Rolls…

Despite all the hubbub regarding the latest lures, gadgets, and other must-fish new shortcuts to walleye fishing success, depth and speed control remain two of the most important factors in consistently putting fish in the livewell or weight on the leaderboard. Today’s walleye warriors would do well to remember the teachings of fishing luminary Buck Perry, who long ago outlined the need for depth and speed control above all other variables in fishing. In what seems like the Dark Ages of the sport, Perry used his Spoonplugsmetal crankbaits that in each of their sizes ran at known depths, no matter the speed—as depthfinders. Like Perry, In-Fisherman Editor In Chief Doug Stange is also a believer in the power of putting lures in precisely the right place in the water column.…

Whether you fish for catfish from shore with nightcrawlers on a $29.95 rod-and-reel combo purchased at a local discount store or use $150 rods and reels in a $40,000 boat outfitted specifically for catfishing, you’re part of a revolution that’s changing the fishing tackle industry. The seeds of the revolution were planted in the 1970s. Previous generations of catfish anglers quietly chased catfish with cane poles or whatever tackle they could find. In the first half of the 1900s, cane poles evolved into early steel rods and baitcasting reels rigged with whatever J-style hooks or treble hooks were on sale at local baitshops. In the 1960s, sophisticates upgraded to newfangled fiberglass fishing rods with Zebco or Johnson spinning reels, or maybe steel-framed Abu Garcia or Shakespeare baitcasting reels. Cat-fishermen caught…

A guide I know rarely looks at sonar anymore. Instead, his electronics run in full screen GPS map mode, almost full-time. Revealing his position, the boat icon slides across a stripe of contours—slopes, edges, humps, and holes—on the lake map. Digital depth and surface temp readouts appear in the corner of the screen, but nowhere does a rendered picture of the bottom appear on either of the two screens stationed on the guide’s boat console. When the map shows an approaching rock hump or other point of interest, he drops underwater cameras and watches for smallmouth bass, walleyes, or muskies—whatever he’s chasing that day—to appear on the camera monitor, his second screen. When a couple good fish swim past the lens, he “drops digits,” logging a waypoint and planting a…

Muskie Feeding Mechanisms Select Science— In a laboratory setting, researchers examined when and to what extent muskies use their sight and lateral-line senses during feeding.* Different muskie groups were tested, including those with eyes and lateral lines that functioned normally, and others that had their sight, lateral line, or both senses suppressed. When presented with a minnow, normal muskies began feeding in distinct phases. First, a muskie oriented toward the prey and then slowly stalked it. Once in position, they concluded with a fast and furious lunge. Normal muskies had successful prey captures 73 percent of the time. Muskies with suppressed eyesight didn’t orient to or stalk prey and lunged only if an unsuspecting minnow trespassed too closely. Muskies with suppressed lateral lines stalked prey longer, closing a narrow gap…

One of the most remarkable developments of my years at In-Fisherman was already underway when I joined the staff in 1988. That summer, we received prototype samples of the first Berkley PowerBait softbaits to test. This marked the beginning of my familiarity with Berkley’s involvement in producing lures specifically designed to appeal to fish through their sensory systems. As I’d worked as a fishery biologist myself until 1988, I was eager to meet the man who had been chosen to lead the company’s biological research into the use of taste and smell attractants. Dr. Keith “Doc” Jones had been hired in 1985, at the recommendation of Dr. Herman Kleerekoper, who had served as Jones mentor and graduate advisor at Texas A&M University where Jones earned his Ph.D. Kleerekoper was one…

The effectiveness of swimbaits and other soft plastics for muskies isn’t new. Storm Kickin’ Minnows have long been go-to baits for multiple fish days on Indiana’s Barbee Chain. Castaic swimbaits, originally designed for record-class California largemouth bass, have also long been ravaged by western tiger muskies. And a host of soft-plastic creature baits have been racking up big numbers of muskies on southern reservoirs and rivers. Productive swimbaits range in size from 4 to 14 inches and span every imaginable design. Typical paddle-tails with their hard-thumping action dominate the category, but subtler split-tail S-curve swimming baits and dart-spinners all have their place. Adding to this array of options are rigged and unrigged versions, hybrid styles with molded hard heads, and models with leaders worked into the baits, and still others…

“Ain’t no fish gonna touch that.” “No way. No how.” “I have never seen anything so ridiculous.” “Aren’t artificial lures supposed to mimic something in nature?” “That’s about as natural as Aunt Lucy’s hair color.” The six of us were paired off in three boats that were anchored a few feet apart. Doc, sharing a boat with me, tied on a lure that looked like it should be in a toy store instead of in a tackle box. He held the line against the spinning rod with his right index finger, opened the bail, let the lure swing a bit as he chose a target. Then he made a 40-foot rainbow cast to the shoreline just short of a fallen, waterlogged tree. The lure plopped on the surface, and Doc…

LOWER UMPQUA RIVER OREGON Salmon » The run of Chinooks starts in August in the 10 miles of tidewater near the coastal town of Reedsport. Cohos begin by mid-September, with both species lasting through October. Casting to schools of coho is an option, with 20-plus fish days and a bonus Chinook or two. Contact: Capt. Todd Harrington, 541/459-2276, fishinglivingwaters.com. In-Fisherman LAKE CASCADE IDAHO Perch » This 27,000-acre impoundment of the North Fork Payette River in central Idaho continues to offer anglers a strong population of perch in the 13- to 16-inch range. Contact: Tackle Tom’s, 208/382-4367; Birch Glen Lodge and Motel, 208/382-4238. Steve Ryan OZARKS SCENIC RIVERS MISSOURI Multispecies » Smallmouth bass, rainbow trout, goggle eye, walleyes, and other species are plentiful in August, from the cool, flowing Current and…

The transformative nature of light tackle aimed at big bass has been compared somewhere to the “Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde,” a gothic novella by Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson, first published in 1886. The comparison sounded like this passage from In-Fisherman back in the June 2012 issue: “Mr. Hyde is the dark side of a new trend in light tackle. He’s the antithesis of Dr. Jekyll’s smooth-casting, mild-mannered ultralight rods. Jekyll is the light, trim, erudite stick that feels like it will float away. But, match those rods with braid and Hyde pops up. Even very thin braid. Matched with low-stretch, very light (3- to 6-pound) super-lines, Hyde shows up to set surprisingly large hooks from amazing distances and consistently wrangle big bass to the boat.…

Poor perch. Forever, they’ve been the subject of nature’s merciless cycle—populations surging forward followed by precipitous declines. The perch’s plight has also been one of deliciousness, their fillets and flesh providing a yum-factor off the charts. For those gregarious tiger-striped denizens of northern freshwaters, survival is a double-edged sword. When perch first hatch and grow to a few inches long, they’re quickly hunted by cannibals of their own kind. At around three inches or more, walleyes and pike pluck them up like M&Ms. And then, having finally escaped the fangs of larger fish and grown to about 8 or 9 inches, anglers hound and harvest them in assembly-line numbers. Safe to say, the concepts of catch-and-release and selective harvest have yet to trickle down to these vital fish. Perch are…

Spybait. Propellers at both ends of a weighted body with a natural, minnow-shaped profile. Players in the bass-fishing world, like Bassmaster Elite tournament pro Brandon Palaniuk, have added the spybait to their tournament arsenals. But, like any good spy, it uses disguise. The one-species, bass-lure thing is just a ruse. “You know lure development has hit its mark when it catches multiple species of fish,” says David Swendseid, R&D Specialist for Realis and the indisputable guru of spybaiting in North America. Palaniuk credits Swendseid with providing him with a foundation of spybaiting’s guiding principles. Swendseid was on the ground floor when DUO International began importing Realis Spinbaits—the world’s first spybaits—about five years ago. The spotty but sometimes spectacular success of the bait, and Swendseid’s persistent promotion, brought it to the…

The first boat I owned was a jonboat. I bought it over a sack lunch from a coworker at a Corps of Engineers lake. Twelve feet long, it was a stubby square-nosed aluminum boat and came with a dented 3-hp Eska outboard and a clamp-on electric motor. The whole rig cost me $75, which hints at how long ago this transaction occurred. For the seller, the money meant new archery equipment for the coming fall. For me, the boat meant a level of freedom in fishing that only a jonboat can bring. I had a 1967 Mustang back then and I fitted it with cartop racks. I could slide the boat onto the roof by standing it on end and slowly leaning it until the bow hit a rack. Then…