Innholdsfortegnelse for June 2022 i In-Fisherman

Tournament Mortality of Largemouth Bass Research Findings— Competitive angling continues to grow in both freshwater and marine fisheries, with more than 50,000 fishing tournaments held annually in the United States. These events, potentially involving hundreds to thousands of anglers and lasting hours to days, may result in tournament-associated mortality of captured fish. Most tournaments, however, are catch-and-release to conserve fish populations and angling quality. Fish caught at tournaments that die prior to release are easily observed, but mortality of fish released following tournaments can be substantial yet cryptic and difficult to quantify. Knowledge of post-release mortality is vital to understanding the effects of tournaments on populations. To estimate post-release mortality at tournaments, we tagged and recaptured largemouth bass at tournaments and through boat electrofishing in a central Iowa reservoir with…

In waters from Lake Champlain on the New York-Vermont border to the California Delta, their feeding opportunities are optimized around vegetation. Collect a handful of plant stalks and take a close look at what’s crawling around—snails, insect larvae, baby fish, tadpoles, small crayfish, and tiny swimming crustaceans almost too small to see. That’s why most of the perennial favorite bass hangouts offer plantlife both native and non-native. Scan Bassmaster Magazine’s annual list of the 100 Best Bass Lakes to see that nearly 70 percent offer substantial vegetation. Moreover, lake productivity and popularity often rise with increasing plant growth, falling as it declines, such as the situation at Toledo Bend on the Texas-Louisiana border. Bass love it all, though excessively dense growth of invasive grasses can limit bass growth and even…

The sun set hours ago and the moon is the main attraction in the sky as you troll down the outside edge of a large weed-flat that drops off sharply into deeper water. Walleyes are on the prowl for baitfish along this cover line. Meanwhile, with your senses attuned to the night environment, you’ve fallen into a steady rhythm of pumping the crankbait at the end of a long line, stroking it forward and walking it back. The Night Transition to Shallow Structure Some active walleyes roam open water over lake basins, chasing ciscoes and other baitfish during the day, moving to shallower structure after dark. They typically stay at the same depth they were using in open water as they move shallower. This may keep them in a preferred…

Select Hooks This selection of hooks provides some basics for visual comparison of hook styles, size, bend, and wire diameter (wire diameters at the hook bend and hook eye are listed in the wire-diameter table.) Hooks and Wire Diameter Sinker Slides & Swivels Lead/Sinker Cost Comparison Since lead is a commodity, cost can be a factor in choosing weight styles. Dragging weights can help move over obstacles, but at a higher individual cost. Unless purchased in bulk, egg sinkers surprisingly weigh in among the costliest basic option. Drifting Sinker Systems Sinker’s a Cinch, with a Cow Hitch Add or remove sinkers by loosening the cow hitch and flipping the sinker back over so they slide on and off the loop. It’s official. Circle hooks have become the standard for most…

Besides preventing eye damage that can be caused by harmful UV rays, don’t overlook properties of sunglasses when it comes to protecting your eyes from sudden physical injuries. Swinging hooks and hooks suddenly ripped free from fish at boatside, sinkers shooting back at you on missed hook-sets and snag-pulls, and debris blowing off your boat deck are just a few among many eye hazards anglers face. Sunglasses rated for impact resistance are tested under ANSI (American National Standards Institute) Z87.1 guidelines. Testing for a basic protection rating of Z87.1 is done by dropping a one-inch steel ball on the lens from about 50 inches. Sunglasses rated at a higher Z87.1+ protection level are subject to additional testing, including shooting a 1/4-inch steel ball at the lens at a velocity of…

Over the last several years, anglers have begun rigging buzzbaits a with toad in place of the skirt. Bassmaster Elite pro Shane Lehew comments: “I rig a toad on buzzers 98 percent of the time now. While confidence plays a role in that choice, I’ve found that Berkley’s Buzz’n Speed Toad keeps it on top and running true.” Manufacturers now offer buzzbaits pre-rigged with toads instead of skirts, including Lunker Lure’s Buzz-N-Frog and Buddha Baits Toad-A-Lac. Greenfish Tackle has several wire baits built to rig toads, including the Toad Toter.…

In-line spinners, which date back nearly 150 years, are one of the most quintessential lures in the history of sportfishing. While elements of forgone lures still have appeal, and new spinner patent applications continue to reference predecessors from the late 1800s and early 1900s, recent advancements in bucktail designs are amazing to behold. They’re bigger, stronger, can be run faster, with more flash, vibration, color combos, skirt dressings, and blade options than ever before. Manufacturers large and small supply a steadfast contingent of anglers who continue to catch their share of pike and muskies on their wares. The biggest player in the spinner arena probably remains Sheldon’s, famous manufacturer of Mepps spinners. Early in-lines were primarily undressed, without tinsel, bucktail, marabou, or Flashabou—just a plain hook. Mepps was at the…

Not long ago, raingear was an extravagance for all but big water. Call it a rolled-up old jacket in the front hold, or an emergency poncho in the dash should it really start to open up, rainwear wasn’t really a “thing” until technology caught up with the use-case. While there’s always been a need for staying dry in a boat that floats on wet, early rubberized renditions were just as damp on the inside as they were outside in the event of a thunderstorm. That was doubly true south of the Mason-Dixon anytime past May. These days, garments advertised as “breathable” actually are, and more importantly, they keep out the deluge whether it’s coming from above or off the gunwale. There are literally dozens of manufacturers that produce waterproof bibs,…

Fishing has undergone a technological revolution in the last couple decades. Most anglers will acknowledge that modern-day outboard and trolling motors, fishing electronics, and fishing lines have all been drastically influenced by new technologies. Even fishing lures are designed by computers, although tweaks and testing their effectiveness still remain in the hands of accomplished anglers. Fishing sunglasses, too, have been revolutionized by technology. Quality fishing sunglasses are as essential to my fishing as a rod, reel, line, and the right lure. Any angler benefits from eyewear with polarized, dark-tinted lenses, but they may not know what they’re missing until they try high-quality eyewear designed for fishing. Improved visibility is important, but it is just part of the equation for selecting the right fishing sunglasses. Protection Mike Magnan is a key…

Usually it began over dinner. Dad would look across the table and say, “You catch some bait and I’ll take you and your cousin fishing tomorrow.” Catching bait in my younger years was a skill honed to perfection. Depending on the type of fish we pursued and the season, we could always find bait. If we were going after crappies, it meant my cousin and I would be seining minnows in a local creek. We had two good creeks for seining, one in walking distance and another we needed a ride to. Our seine rolled out about 5 feet wide and 3 feet deep with sticks on each end. Dressed in cut-off jeans and tee shirts, we would wade in and run the minnows out of a pool toward a…

One of the more enlightening opportunities I have had over the last 40 years has been having access to a 2,500-gallon aquarium—we call it simply “the tank”— in which to hold, photograph, and watch fish. The tank in our current “tank room,” has 2-inch-thick plated glass embedded in concrete. It cost $69,000 to build in 1998, when we moved into our present location on the banks of the Upper Mississippi River at Baxter, Minnesota. Early on, by about 1983, we were intent on doing pioneering work with underwater photography to use in In-Fisherman magazine. Our first attempts to photograph fish underwater were with scuba gear and early-day Nikonos cameras, which were a modest design improvement in the underwater cameras first developed by Jacques Cousteau. It was slow work and that…

Kayak Power For powering electronics and accessories to keeping your trolling motor running for a long day on the water, Lithium Battery Power offers a wide range of battery options. Built on LiFePO4 chemistry, the batteries feature a battery management system that keeps them running at peak performance while preventing overheating, overcharging, and maximizing cell cycle life. About 70 percent lighter than lead acid and AGM batteries, with thousands of charge cycles, and a 10-year warranty. Options and pricing, visit lithiumbatterypower.com Finesse Neko Cover Hook Consisting of a shiner-style straight-eye hook with an attached swivel to prevent line twist, the SPRO Cover Neko Hook also has a strong 90-degree wire keeper to lock softbaits in place. Embedding the hook point in the bait allows the Neko rig to be fished…

In 1999, I wrote, “Most days, color belongs on that list of factors to consider last.” I don’t believe that anymore. Color might not be the first thing to consider, but it’s never last anymore. Not for me. My partner Tim Dawidiuk and I won the Sturgeon Bay Open (SBO) in 1998 throwing only clown-pattern Rapala Husky Jerks in water with better clarity than the air. I doubt that pattern will ever again win a tournament in that super-clear water. But what do I know? “If you get on the right jerkbait bite, clown patterns can still catch small-mouths and walleyes in the right conditions—windy, dark days around murky water flowing in from tributaries swollen with rain,” says Green Bay guide Brett Alexander—also a former SBO champion. “On windy days,…

The inside of the back of the eye is the retina, a layer of densely packed nerve cells (neurons) and two types of photoreceptor cells: rods and cones. Each photoreceptor in the human eye contains one of four visual pigments, each excited—and thus, initiating neural impulses to the brain—by different wavelengths of visible light. Rods contain the pigment rhodopsin, which is excited by wavelengths of 400 to 560 nm with a peak absorbance of 490 nm; rods allow vision in dim light (scotopic vision). Cones allow for color vision in moderate to bright light (photopic vision). The human eye has trichromatic vision, with cones each containing one of three different pigments. Each pigment is activated by a wide range of wavelengths, but each is maximally activated by either red wavelengths…

Every year, an estimated 640,000 tons of discarded fishing material makes its way into our waterways. Discarded fishing nets are among the most harmful forms of plastic pollution in our oceans. In partnership with Bureo, Costa is helping to change that. Made of 97 to 100 percent recycled fishing nets, Costa’s Untangled collection of sustainable frames includes a wide range of models for fishing, including the popular Santiago, Antille, Pargo, Caleta, and Pescador, among others. Untangled models feature Costa’s premium polarized 580 lenses, which manage light by absorbing harmful high-energy blue light, while enhancing reds, greens, and blues, and filtering out harsh yellow. The glass lenses, which are substantially thinner and lighter that average polarized lenses, provide high clarity and 100 percent UV protection. Encapsulated mirrors between layers of glass…