Innholdsfortegnelse for June 2024 i In-Fisherman

Long ago, the lab rats at Berkley described to us how a PowerBait Craw was more likely to get inhaled after a bass ripped off one of the claws. And, much to our surprise, the bait was even more appealing to largemouths when both claws were bitten off. That kind of explains the Ned rig, which is named after former fishing guide and university archivist Ned Kehde. Most anglers think he invented the rig, but he gives credit to the late Chuck Woods of Kansas City, Missouri, and the late Ray Frincke of Overland Park, Kansas, as the originators of this simplistic yet deadly combination. At one point, Kehde began using light Gopher Tackle Mushroom Heads tipped with half a Yamamoto Senko. At first the angling world paid little attention.…

There’s something magical about glidebaits for tempting big pike. They may not be the most productive category of baits. Nor are they the most versatile across a broad range of conditions. However, if you don’t have them in your pike arsenal, you’re missing out on a big-fish producer that succeeds when other baits fail. Some might read the above and question the breadth of its meaning. It’s not as nonsensical as when Yogi Berra was asked to explain jazz music and replied, “I can’t, but I will. Ninety percent of all jazz is half improvisation.” There’s a measure of truth and sensibility to these statements. The art of fishing glidebaits is akin to jazz music. Both require a good deal of technique, discipline, and practice, but the mastery comes from…

Bowfin have an identity crisis and a public-relations problem. The identity crisis comes from the myriad of names used by anglers for them—dogfish, grindle, grinnel, mudfish, swamp bass, cypress trout, and choupique, along with another dozen or so local variations thereof. To complicate matters, bowfin are the “Keyser Söze” of freshwater fish. They routinely get misidentified as other unrelated fish. The lineup of usual suspects includes burbot, as well as northern and bullseye snakeheads. Since snakeheads get painted in a negative light, bowfin tend to suffer from these cases of mistaken identity. The public-relations problem comes from bowfin often being labeled as undesirable, or thrash fish. The origin of this classification is unknown but could not be further from the truth. While bowfin don’t make great table fare, they are…

Fishing kayaks exploded onto the scene likely to satisfy an increasing demand to step away from hefty price tags, outboard motor maintenance, off-season storage, and frankly, to escape the overabundance of large fiberglass and aluminum boats on many of our nation’s top fisheries. Kayak anglers wanted access to waters big boats couldn’t reach. Kayaks also offer simplicity and personalization that are attractive to anglers of any genre, not to mention the intimate fishing experience that often comes from a kayak—it’s hard to beat. But that’s not exactly the direction fishing kayaks went. In fact, kayak anglers pushed innovations and rigging to levels that manufacturers probably never dreamed of. With numbers of boat layouts, motor vs. no-motor configurations, extensive gear tracking, and sub-deck access, you can rig a kayak to your…

From the Field—Avid flathead catfish angler and In-Fisherman Contributor Kirk McKay, Winnetka, California, shares his method for dealing with deeply hooked flatheads. We’ve reported on a similar method for successfully extracting hooks from deeply-hooked largemouth bass. McKay writes: When baiting with soft-finned fish, flatheads are often hooked shallow in the mouth, especially on circle hooks, or J-style hooks if you don’t wait too long to set the hook after the fish takes the bait. When flatheads feed on spiny fish like bluegills and tilapia, however, they attack and hold it in their jaws and swim off and wait for it to stop struggling or die, the bait being swallowed more easily when the spiny fins relax. So it’s sometimes necessary to let flatheads run longer with large, spiny baitfish before…

Wide-Mouth Tote The Yeti Hopper M15 Tote Soft Cooler has an extra-wide top opening for easy access, then seals shut to maintain the cold with powerful magnetic stripping reinforced with Quick-Release Buckles. The M15 has a 15-pound ice-only capacity or holds 32 12-ounce cans. Sturdy carry handles and a carry strap make toting the bag easy and comfortable. The bag dimensions are 20 x 16 x 9 inches—$300, yeti.com The Finisher Perfected to enhance forward-facing sonar signal s, the Berkley Finisher is a fast-dropping, hard-gliding lure. The finless, double-treble, weight-forward design allo ws for precision casts, fast drop-ins, and a range of actions. It’s offered in three sizes and 20 colors—$8.99 to $10.99, berkley-fishing.com Daiwa Walleye Rods From Daiwa, 17 technique-specific spinning and trolling rods in their TD Eye lineup,…

A wide array of freshwater fish species thrive in our beloved North American Great Lakes. Spanning over 94,600 square miles, lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario can produce some of the harshest boating conditions on the planet, but also some of the finest fishing that anglers can enjoy during a lifetime. It’s not an ideal situation during rough conditions, but pick your days and if done safely, launching a kayak on the Great Lakes can be a great way to get in on outstanding multispecies fishing. From sandflats, deep rock, shallow rock, to grassy bays, the Great Lakes contain diverse habitats for a multitude of species. Thanks to the impressive biodiversity there, kayak anglers can reach areas that are full of gamefish. Each of the big lakes contains popular…

Question: What does an aged angler—one who has maintained for years a meticulous fishing log—do on his 70th birthday? Answer: He critiques a goodly chunk of those entries, searching for traces and meaningful changes in tactics and thoughts over time. Here are samples. Especially in those launching years, I purchased and pilfere d every tool and trinket that went with being an able angler. I was certainly the “maximalist.” Up close it appeared as though I was the chief mouthpiece for both Bass Pro Shops and Orvis. I looked the part. As one year blended into the next, it dawned on me that much of what was drooping from my vest or glutting my tackle box was dispensable. Now, I align myself more with the quintessential “minimalist”—Ernest Hemingway. I’m still…

From Texas to Minnesota, I hear a common refrain from anglers: “Man, it’s getting harder and harder to catch a bass.” Many are quick to offer the reason: “It’s all the pressure.” Although the cause-and-effect—namely, that the fishing effort (“pressure”) makes the bass harder to catch—is tricky to pin down, there is some good science to support the anglers’ lament that bass may be getting harder to catch. A Little Background Sixty years ago, bass fishing was primarily a southern pastime. Bass fishing in northern lakes was excellent and quietly enjoyed by a few anglers, but the growth in popularity and participation was in the South. Many reservoirs were new with expanding fish populations; others were still young and filled with good, easy-to-find habitat. Bass fishing was excellent. For a…

When you follow the baitfish they take you straight to the walleyes. But their diet is often so diverse, a reflection in part of their diversity, plasticity, and geographic ever-presence that you’re left scratching your head and wondering, what baitfish should you shadow? “When you look at the walleyes’ native range, it’s astounding,” says Nick Baccante, who worked in Ontario’s prestigious Walleye Research Unit that wrote The Synopsis of Biological Data on the Walleye for the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations. “When you look at the differences in environmental conditions, from the Gulf of Mexico all the way up to the Arctic Circle, it has taken eons for the adaptations to work. So walleyes are more resilient and adaptive than we give them credit for.” Perched for…

It’s widely assumed that fresh bait outfishes frozen, unless, of course, it takes all day to gather. Slice into a fresh-caught shad and the enzymes and juices flow. Trim off part of that same fish an hour later and the difference makes an impact on the fishing. A variety of baits including cutbait, sourbait, and other natural baits like nightcrawlers and chicken livers, along with commercially prepared baits, work well for channel cats. Flatheads lean toward live baitfish and at times, fresh cutbait. For blue catfish, fresh whole or cut baitfish is most often the key to success, and fresh means being caught within a few hours of use and either kept alive or chilled. For avid blue cat anglers and guides who know the value of freshly caught baitfish,…

Over the past year in this column, I’ve discussed the value of modern electronics. I hope you’ve learned a thing or two—truth is, there’s no wrong answer to how you choose to outfit your boat or how you enjoy fishing. But if you invest in gear, it’s best to know how to keep it safe and supported. Don’t go cheap on graph mounts, or the hardware required to attach them, or you can end up with something broken—or worse yet, a damaged boat. I’ve spent a lot of time working with several brands that I have faith in: Bass Boat Technologies, BalZout Mounts, and FishFinderMounts.com, to name a few. There are a number of companies out there you can depend on, yet what’s right for our boats may not be…

“Fish on!” I yelled. Earlier that morning I must have been momentarily crazier than Aunt Lucy’s pet weasel. Even with his long history of incompetent boat guidance, I let Doc run the engine. We had been trolling a 50-yard stretch of downed trees whose water-logged branches stuck out a good 20 feet into the lake, picking up occasional pike while fast trolling with flashy spoons. “Hey!” I tossed my boat cushion sternward. With Doc’s rod butt between his knees while trying to light another of his atrocious cigars, he deflected the cushion with an elbow, and realized what was going on. Instead of shifting to neutral, he goosed the throttle. Luckily, the pike I hooked was barely a ball peen hammer handle, so it waterskied a while before Doc corrected…