Innholdsfortegnelse for July 2023 i In-Fisherman

Lars walked around the boxes and suitcases and duffels and rod holders we’d randomly stacked in the loading area at Knobby’s. The float plane would soon arrive to whisk us from Sioux Lookout to a remote lake where we would fish and fish and fish some more. Oh, boy. Lars said, “I looked at the schedule. You signed up for six nights this year.” “That is correct,” Doc said. “This is June. You brought enough stuff to last you through September.” “You think?” Lars did an up-down scan of Doc’s bountiful belly, and said, “Okay, maybe only until August.” “We like to be well fed,” Doc said. “I can see that,” Lars said. “And I can also see two-dozen cases of various soft and not-so-soft drinks, so you must like…

The behavior and appearance of fish species often mirrors their habitat and lifestyle: Sailfish slash through the upper layers of the pelagic zone, flashing blue camouflage that shields them from prey as they cruise the oceans. Dark-backed bullheads with an incredible sense of smell muck around oozy bottoms rich in prey. Barred bluegills wander through stalks of vegetation, their round and narrow bodies easing movement through cover. According to historians, bass were first discovered by Europeans in 1562 when Rene Laudoniere, a member of the French Ribault Expedition, found some among fish captured in reed traps by Native Americans in North Florida, likely Seminole people. The warm, shallow weedy areas largemouths occupied there reflect the most common habitat for them in their original range, which covered much of the eastern…

Telemetry studies of muskies throughout their range suggest they can be nomadic predators, often using all of the barrier-free water they reside in during different seasonal periods. A recent study “Seasonal movements of muskellunge in the St. Clair-Detroit River system: Implications for multi-jurisdictional fisheries management,” published in the Journal of Great Lakes Research, recorded daily movements averaging almost 1,000 yards for fish in those waters. One male made a 620-mile journey in a year, eventually returning to within 200 yards of where he was initially caught. Such studies affirm the transient nature of these fish in barrier-free environments. When fish are so wide-ranging and they’re low density to boot, the angler’s objective and difficulty is to pattern their movements as the season progresses. I’m a muskie guide entering my 19th…

Having already evaluated 2D and side-scanning sonar in this series, another technology—down-scanning sonar—brings perspectives together to increase recognition of how structure plays out. That collective information will assist in achieving the best boat position to make more accurate casts, which means catching more fish. Incorporating down-scanning sonar into your fish-finder readouts helps establish a digital picture of what’s below. Then utilizing down-viewing in conjunction with standard 2D sonar adds dimension to what you’re looking at or searching for. Short of draining the lake, these combined perspectives provide a tremendous amount of critical information. Regardless of the brand of gear you have mounted on your boat, understanding the lingo is the first step. For example, Humminbird calls their down-scanning technology Down Imaging, Lowrance refers to it as Down-Scan and Garmin’s is…

■ WABIGOON LAKE DRYDEN, ONTARIO Crappies » The bite continues on the Wabigoon chain of lakes in Northwest Ontario, during summer and fall. The fish relate to vegetation during summer and drop into basins during fall. Contact: Bonny Bay Camp, 866/815-5971, bonnybay.com; Pine Sunset Lodge, 888/897-4212, pinesunsetlodge.com. Jeff Gustafson ■ BIG TRAVERSE BAY, LAKE OF THE WOODS MINNESOTA Walleyes » One of a few destinations that can rightly claim to be the Walleye Capitol of the World, with lots of fish and big ones aplenty. Rocky Point is in the center of it all, although there are many worthy destinations from Warroad to Baudette. Contact: Area Chambers of Commerce; Arnesen’s Rocky Point Resort, arnesens.com. Doug Stange ■ LAKE FORK EMORY, TEXAS Crappies » The remarkable bite on Lake Fork continues…

David Copperfield can’t make a bobber disappear faster than a smallmouth bass. When a bronzeback decides to strike whatever hovers below that float, it vanishes. You might be staring right at it but there is no visual of it going down. It’s just gone. I started float-fishing for bass in the days just before ice-up half a century ago. In water about to freeze, largemouth and smallmouth bass would take long minutes to rise and approach a small shiner hooked through the lips and anchored in place on a 1/32- to 1/16-ounce jig. It was slow fishing, but—being able to deploy two rods in Michigan—I used a second stick to ever-so-slowly drag 5-inch paddletail worms on bottom with a 1/8-ounce ballhead jig. When a bass picked up the worm, I…

I’m going to put the bottom-line up front. If you’re serious about catching white bass during the warm-water season (water temperatures of 60°F and greater), consider the modern in-line spinner to greatly enhance your results. I’ll share with you why that is and explain how the modern in-line spinner isn’t the spinner you’re likely picturing in your mind’s eye. There was once a time when, as a full-time fishing guide focused on the year-round pursuit of white bass, I dreaded the summer months. Here in Texas, the high-numbers, productive fishing correlating with the spring warm-up comes to an abrupt halt near the first week of June as the first indicators of thermal stratification leading to the formation of a thermocline begin to appear. At that time, white bass start to…