Innholdsfortegnelse for May 2020 i Game & Fish East

SPRING IS starting to show in most parts of the countrTen-foot-tall windows encircled the spacious meeting room, affording me plenty of opportunity to look out on the spring landscape of northeastern Texas. Outside the windows stretched the well-manicured lawn of the lodge, which included a gazebo and several benches for gatherings such as weddings. Beyond that was a pond. I found it difficult to concentrate on the presentation. The speaker was engaging and had helped design a major truck company’s flagship pickup. He provided a behind-the-scenes look at what went into producing the year’s updated model, but while he discussed specifications I noticed a large stand of cattails at one end of the pond. Before he had finished, I realized there was a steady wind blowing across the pond directly…

It’s not difficult to be overwhelmed by the thousands of baits available for crappie fishing. Fortunately, you only need a handful to get you through the spring and early summer. For a shallow bobber presentation, a 1/32-ounce hand-tied hair jig is great. But for convenience, 2-inch soft-plastic quiver baits will get the job done, too. My favorites are Bobby Garland Baby Shad, Lunker City Fin-S Fish and Creme Mini Tail tubes. When casting and retrieving a 2-inch action-tail grub on a1/16-ounce jig head, try the Garland Swimming Minnow, Kalin Triple Threat Crappie Grub, Charlie Brewer’s Crappie Slider (weedless) or Brewer’s Whirly Bee. Jumping to a bit larger body and slightly heavier jighead for early-summer crappies in slightly deeper water, check out Brewer’s Slider Minnow, Jawbone Shad, Garland Baby Shad Swim’R…

BLUEFISH LIMITS are three fish per day for recreational anglers and five fish daily for for-hire fishermen. There is no minimum size. To book a chartered trip, you can contact the author, Capt. Jim Freda, owner of Shore Catch Sportfishing (shorecatch.com). He can be reached at 732-762-0870 or jimfreda@optonline.net. Boat and kayak access points along the Manasquan River include: Lightning Jack’s Marina 505 Ridge Road, Brick Township 732-458-2016 Manasquan River 40 07.481’ 74 06.018’ Concrete ramp that might not have adequate water at low tide; fees, restrooms, lighted, trash, ships store, bait and tackle Wall Township Municipal Ramp Riverside Terrace, Wall Township 732-449-8444 Manasquan River 40 07.344’ 74 05.628’ Dirt ramp that might not have adequate water at low tide; permit required; open to Wall Township residents only; fees, trash…

The Game & Fish Tackle Test utilized a comprehensive, nine-criteria matrix for evaluating each rod and reel. Controls: How well casting systems, drags, reel seats, etc. operate. Durability: Products that hold up during the test pass; those that do not are eliminated. Applicability: The product’s usefulness for the type of fishing for which it was designed. Ergonomics: The effectiveness of the product’s man-to-machine interface (i.e., comfort). Fishability: How well the product fishes in real-world conditions. Build Materials: Overall quality of construction. Looks: The degree of the product’s appeal to the eye. Innovation: The presence of new features; only the inclusion of dramatically improved features or materials increases the baseline score of 70. Value: Features and performance compared to retail pricing. Scores were tallied after each day on the water. Once…

Dr. Todd Kuhn is the Game & Fish East Regional Editor and holds a Ph.D. in environmental engineering. He is considered one of the nation’s top authorities on bass-fishing technology and gear. Todd Ceisner is the Associate Publisher of In-Fisherman and has been fishing for more than 20 years. Ceisner is an incurable bass-fishing gearhead with an affinity for the latest and greatest tackle. Josh Ward is a former Game & Fish regional editor who has spent more than 35 years on the water. He’s fished on multiple continents and in numerous countries. Larry Larsen is an inductee to the National Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame, has authored 15 books on bass fishing and has published more than 1,500 bass-fishing articles, including in the pages of Game & Fish .…

MATCHING THE color of your local ’gills is important. Green pumpkin bodies or skirts are often a great starting point. Add a little chartreuse dye around the tail and fins, but don’t be garish. Check your local panfish for hints of yellow or orange around the throat and match them. Color aside, here are some bait types that will serve you well. HOLLOW-BODIED FROG: Don’t let the “frog” part fool you. Hollow-bodied frogs not only handle the densest cover where bluegill can be found, but they share a bluegill’s short, wide profile for fooling bass. PROP BAIT: In open water, a prop bait creates plenty of disturbance and can be fished slowly over a bluegill nest. BLADED JIG: When you need to cover some water in your search for bluegills…

IT’S WELL known that a tight shot pattern leads to more dead birds. To that end, there are two products I recommend that promise better patterning, tighter groups and improved lethality. The TRUGLO Headbanger Long Range choke ($58.99; truglo.com) is CNC-machined, a manufacturing process that yields tight tolerances for more consistent trajectory and tightly packed shot delivery. A polished end face offers better seating and sealing, while special heat treating provides enhanced durability when paired with today’s high-powered loads. Speaking of which, Fiocchi’s Golden Turkey shotshells (fiocchiusa. com) are loaded with nickel-plated lead, delivering dead-right-there energy on impact. These denser-than-lead loads result in fewer stray pellets and a better aerodynamic profile for optimized flight. Golden Turkey is available in 3- or 3 ½-inch 12-gauge loads in #4, #5 or #6…

EDITORS’ CHOICE Lew’s Pro-Ti Speed Stick Finding a great spinning rod, one with that “just right” feel paired with unparalleled performance, is arguably the holy grail for spinning enthusiasts. The Lew’s Pro-Ti offers anglers as close to the perfect rod for manipulating finesse baits as we’ve found. The 6-foot-9-inch multi-layered graphite blank utilizes titanium nanotechnology to transfer bait data back to the user with remarkable fidelity. This nearly verbatim transmission of vibration signals is due to the crispness of the blank. The Winn Dri-Tac grip, one fashioned after the old Tennessee-style grips, is phenomenal—hands down the best in the spinning market. Its unique design completely shrouds the reel foot, letting the angler concentrate on working a finesse bait while minimizing that hand-full-of-reel-seat distraction. The Pro-Ti blank tapers perfectly to a…

COVERING GROUND is the best way to fill late-season turkey tags consistently. Avoid burnout and stay agile by striving to achieve efficiency in your turkey gear. Now more than ever, manufacturers understand the importance of providing lightweight product solutions for mobile hunters. Here are some of the latest examples. 1 The new Mossberg SA-410 Turkey weighs just 6.5 pounds and is designed to cycle modern, magnum .410 shells like butter. It’s concealed in Mossy Oak Bottomland with a 26-inch barrel and receiver-mounted rail. If you don’t want to add an optic, the adjustable fiber-optic ghost-ring sight system is accurate and reliable. MSRP: $735; mossberg.com 2 Federal Heavyweight TSS .410 turkey loads are nasty. The Flitecontrol Flex wad is filled with No. 9 Tungsten Super Shot, which is 56 percent denser…

As its name implies, Berkley’s Snap Jig ($5.99/2 pack; berkley-fishing. com) is made specifically for snap jigging.According to walleye pro Gary Parsons, the Snap Jig gives walleyes a very different look compared to a standard round-head jig. “The key to fishing the Snap Jig is to not overwork it,” says Parsons. Unlike a round-head jig, the Snap Jig, due to its metal fins, glides to the side with much less movement. Often, Parsons employs two or three successive short strokes on each lift. He performs another lift as soon as the lure hits bottom, then maintains a tight line on the fall. Bites come on the fall, or the fish is there when he makes the next upward lift. Parsons dresses the Snap Jig with fluke-style profiles, like a Gulp!…

DIRECTLY ON the Atlantic Ocean at the southernmost end of Monmouth County, New Jersey, the quaint seaside town of Manasquan serves as the hub of the bluefish migration. Some 6,000 residents call Manasquan home, while many thousands of visitors add to the population for a true Jersey Shore beach experience every summer. The town offers many seasonal summer rentals and fine and casual restaurants. The downtown area’s Main Street has unique shops. The beachfront, back bay, river and inlet are heavily utilized for sunbathing, swimming, boating, surfing and fishing. (manasquan-nj.gov)…

A MAP and a reservation are all that’s needed for many drive-to fishing opportunities in Quebec, which maintains three national parks and 27 provincial parks, all in spectacular locations. Many have campgrounds and great trout fishing. Some have motels or lodges nearby. For more information, visit Quebec Tourism at quebecoriginal.com. A number of outfitters also provide world-class trout fishing at drive-to destinations. “All outfitters located in the Laurentides, Outaouais, Abitibi and Mauricie regions are easily accessible,” says Vicky Boivin, communications director for the Quebec Outfitters Federation. “In Mauricie, one of the oldest and most prestigious trout fishing institutions in North America, La Seigneurie du Triton, is not far north of Montreal and can be reached romantically by train.” The Quebec Outfitters Federation maintains a list of affiliated lodges scattered throughout…

LAKE PICACHOS, located about 30 miles northeast of Mazatlán in Sinaloa, Mexico, encompasses nearly 38 square miles of prime largemouth bass water. Bass up to 9 pounds are not uncommon. Fish average in the 2- to 3-pound range, and the lake record is 12-plus pounds. The Tackle Test team based its operations from the Anglers Inn (anglersinn. com/locations/lake-picachos) on the shores of the lake. Billy Chapman operates the resort, which features double-occupancy suites, a full-service dining area, bar and tackle shop. Guests are treated to a five-star experience. As we discovered, Picachos presents plenty of opportunity to catch giant bass on spinning gear. The prolific baitfish population makes for great fluke and Senkostyle bait action. Early morning and late-afternoon topwater action can get hot, too, when a small propbait’s suggestive…

Spinning gear offers bass anglers an invaluable tool for managing light lines and lures. It shines when fishing baits that require a level of precision in presentation that cannot be accomplished with less agile baitcasting combos. Whirling spinning reels and light-to medium-action rods give anglers the ability to fish dainty baits on low-poundage lines. Baitcasting gear, on the other hand, is designed for power fishing and is simply incapable of casting light lures. On the cast, baitcaster spools must be “pulled” and subsequently rotated by the weight of the bait. As such, light finesse baits do not have enough mass to be cast with level-wind combos. The open, forward-facing reel spools and lighter-actioned rods that characterize spinning gear propel morsel-sized baits via the spring in the rod. Additionally, spinning gear…

Including the baitcasters that formed the first part of the Game & Fish Tackle Test, we evaluated nearly 50 rods and reels on Lake Picachos. We fished each of them, and so of course we needed lines, baits and a boatload of other gear to complete the project. Although we did not evaluate these products for awards, a handful of them really stood out during our time on the water.These bass-fishing essentials are as noteworthy as the rods and reels included in the test. Berkley PowerBait Pre-Rigged Swim Shad Available in 3- and 4-inch sizes, these swimbaits might be the best value in the bass-fishing world. They come precisely rigged and are durable enough to take on multiple (think 10-plus) fish. We used all we took to Picachos. MSRP: $3.79-$3.99;…

RONNIE WAS older than Shane, but one afternoon in the school parking lot Shane saw him hop into a jacked-up Chevy that had fishing rods hanging over the tailgate. The next day Shane passed him in the hallway between classes and, despite the age difference, worked up the nerve to start a conversation. “Hey man, that’s a pretty sweet truck you got,” said Shane. “Thanks,” said Ronnie. “She ain’t new, but she’s four-wheel drive.” “You like to fish?” asked Shane. “Do pigs like slop?” countered Ronnie with a smirk. “Caught a fivepounder yesterday. You?” “Heck yeah. But I can’t drive yet so I gotta wait on my dad. And he works a bunch.” “Well, let’s go after school today,” said Ronnie. “My grandparents have a few ponds.” “Cool! But I’ll…