Innholdsfortegnelse for June 2023 i In-Fisherman

Like most good things in life, the Summer Peak Period for walleyes is frustratingly short, typically lasting only a couple weeks. But the fishing is so good that you don’t ever want to miss it—or see it come to an end. Sandwiched between the Presummer Period, when the walleyes are recovering from the spawn and regaining their vigor, and the long Summer Period, when they’ve dispersed throughout the lake and settled into stable locations, depths, and patterns, the Summer Peak Period is characterized by rapidly warming water, vibrant weedgrowth, exceptional insect and baitfish activity, and a voracious shallow-water bite that carries on throughout the day, peaking in a Pavarotti-like evening crescendo that brings the house down. As In-Fisherman Editor In Chief Doug Stange likes to say, “The summer peak is…

As the popularity of kayak fishing has skyrocketed over the last decade, many catfish anglers are finding that kayaks and catfish go hand in hand. Kayaks are being used by top catfish anglers as stealthy vehicles to set baits for shallow-water reservoir flatheads, to fish tough-to-access waters for monster flatheads and channel cats, and they’re effective platforms for dragging baits for big-water blues, too. Two mindsets have emerged on the application of kayaks in angling. In one camp are those who prefer to keep it simple and fish from relatively stripped-down kayaks without any auxiliary power or extravagant add-ons. Others transform their kayaks into ultimate fishing machines rigged with every imaginable accessory. The stable hull designs, thoughtful floor plans, and generous weight capacities of today’s kayaks allow anglers to follow…

II wholeheartedly support my wife and daughter shopping at antique shops, antique shows, and estate sales because that is how I have acquired some of my best old, collectible fishing lures and duck decoys. In recent years, they have also been purchasing old postcards that promoted fishing opportunities, many in the Otter Tail County, Minnesota, area. Some show catches of unrealistically huge fish that are crudely “photoshopped” onto the postcard. Others are paintings or cartoons of anglers and monstrous fish. Still others are photographs of area scenes and features. Most of these are what postcard collectors call “Real Photo Postcards” or RPPCs. Such postcards have a photographic image printed on postcard stock and, unlike lithographic or offset printing processes, show no pixels when magnified. This past summer, my daughter Sarah…

Live-Imaging and the Fate of Crappie Fisheries From the Field—There’s a lot of chatter these days about live-imaging sonar (aka, live-scope, forward-facing sonar). Live-imaging sonar (LIS) has been quickly adopted by many crappie anglers; and there is concern among anglers, guides, and fishery managers that the increasingly common use of LIS may cause declines in crappie populations. Kansas fishery scientists decided to replace concern with data.* In a carefully controlled experiment on 4,900-acre Cedar Bluff Reservoir, a popular Kansas crappie fishery, 16 two-angler teams fished the reservoir for two days during November 29 to December 9. Each team fished one day with LIS and one day without. The side of the reservoir (north or south) and use of LIS (LIS or no LIS) was randomly determined for each team’s first…

When I found my first boat, it had a tree growing out of it. But I was done traipsing shorelines trying to catch fish. For as long as I can remember, I was fascinated by muskies. I dreamed about them and collected muskie lures before I ever fished waters they lived in. I was born a muskie angler. I gutted that boat completely and rebuilt almost everything, including customized casting decks and storage. The 14-foot, double-wide, double-deep jonboat wasn’t pretty, but it worked. She floated me to my first muskies in Minnesota and Iowa. Then at the end of my second summer with it, I got rear-ended by a 1987 Chevy Sportvan G20 that turned her into a green accordion. Not long before my boat met that fateful ending, I…

Spooky rainbows in clear water. Lake trout and muskies in expansive environments. Pressured bass. Covering water on foot. Lots of reasons exist for catapulting lures into other time zones. But which rods cast lures out of sight? Is length a major factor? How do you balance lure weight with the blank’s power rating? What are the mechanics of extra-long casts? Roger Bullock, having worked with the industry for half a century to address those questions, has some answers. “At various times during the past 58 years, I’ve been consulted by various fishing rod companies about tapers and actions, starting with some contributions to the designs of Fenwick FS and PLS series of fiberglass rods in 1965 at their Huntington Beach Factory,” Bullock says. “Over that time, one of the rod…

Doc sat in his size XXXL Spiderman pajamas at the kitchen table in the remote cabin on Kezik North, rolling a chilled can of V-8 juice back and forth across his throbbing temple. The previous day’s 12 hours on the water were followed by a massive walleye feast, then Doc downed a martini he mixed in a Tupperware lettuce keeper, and afterwards engaged in an especially vicious game of Pass the Ace with more adult refreshments until even the Northern Lights had called it a night. After finishing his vitamin-rich picker upper, he did a wobbly shuffle toward the kitchen sink. He opened the tap, bent to put his head under the cold lake water, and the sudden swoop must have made him swoon, as he bonked his forehead severely…

■ ONE MAN LAKE, ENGLISH RIVER KENORA, ONTARIO Multispecies » The last section of the English River 60 miles north of Kenora is a fish factory for smallmouths, walleyes, and big pike. It’s some of the best fishing action I’ve ever experienced. Contact: Halley’s Camps, 800/465-3325, halleyscamps.com. Jeff Gustafson ■ PACIFIC OCEAN POINT REYES, CALIFORNIA Lingcod » Fishing for lingcod hits its stride in June, with fish from 12 to 20 pounds common, and fish up to and beyond 30 possible. Contact: Capt. Rick Powers, 707/875-3495, bodegacharters.com; Capt. Chris Smith, Pacific Dream Sportfishing, 510/223-5388. Cal Kellogg ■ LAKE FORK EMORY, TEXAS Largemouths » One of the most famous bass lakes in North America, it fishes well in May and June for fish that might push into double digits. Contact: Guide…

Rivers ignore time, flowing ceaselessly through the ages. Rising from mountains old as the earth, swamps, springs, and freshets. Rivers run through tundra, deserts, forests, grasslands, hills, and valleys. God put bass in some of them. “HAVE YOU LEARNED THAT SECRET FROM THE RIVER; THAT THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS TIME?THAT THE RIVER IS EVERYWHERE AT THE SAME TIME, AT THE SOURCE, AT THE MOUTH, AT THE WATERFALL, AT THE FERRY… EVERYWHERE AND THAT THE PRESENT ONLY EXISTS FOR IT, NOT THE SHADOW OF THE PAST NOR THE SHADOW OF THE FUTURE.”— Herman Hesse, Siddhartha What can be more timeless than a river during midsummer? Greenery abounds, breezes feel good, birds are singing, and the water is warm. Hours spent there are not subtracted from life spans. Rivers inspired…

Growing up in Chicago, perch fishing on the southern shores of Lake Michigan was a rite of passage. My father fished the same waters 40 years prior with power lines and his father before him with cane poles. At dank neighborhood baitshops, tales were spun of jumbo perch as long as your forearm with numbers so plentiful that you could hardly carry your day’s catch home. My childhood memories of our perch hauls in the 1980s were more modest. I do recall spectacular fishing in the mid-2000s. For nearly 10 years, limits of 12- to 15-inch fish were the norm from April to May, fishing 45 to 60 feet of water in spots from Waukegan, Illinois, to Michigan City, Michigan. Inland lakes are notorious for having boom-and-bust crappie cycles, and…

Today’s fishing platforms are modern marvels. But the risk of boat fires is still very real—and in some cases, more threatening than ever. For example, modern fiberglass/composite hulls burn fast and hot, generating clouds of toxic smoke in the process. And lithium batteries—all the rage for replacing traditional battery options—present fire hazards few anglers truly understand. Prevention is key to reducing risk. But even with preventative measures, fires can still occur, creating a frightening experience that produces devastating and potentially fatal results. To cover both fronts, we’ll tackle fire prevention and fire-fighting tactics. But first, let’s take a closer look at the enemy. Controlled combustion is critical to many aspects of everyday life, from propelling boats and tow vehicles to heating homes, lakefront cabins, and fish houses. Left to its…