Innholdsfortegnelse for June/July 2021 i Game & Fish East

Last fall a good friend of mine killed a bull elk at 358 yards. It was a long shot for a guy who most often hunts whitetails in the hills of Pennsylvania and typically fills his tag at a fifth of that distance. It’s a long shot for me. Might be for you, too. Nevertheless, Dave took the shot with complete confidence. He had researched loads for his .300 Win. Mag., chosen one that performed well at extended ranges and then spent the summer shooting to prepare for his trip to Colorado. His practice included checking data generated by ballistic calculators against results he witnessed while shooting. He judged wind and shot in it, celebrated his good calls and learned from his errors, and by the time elk season arrived…

Once the calendar displays pages for June and July, the bountiful bites of spring have faded in the rearview mirror. Surface water has been warmed by the sun’s relentless heat for several consecutive months, and now even a cool evening has a hard time pulling water temperatures back into the comfort zones for many of our favorite fish. The typical response of bait, fish and anglers alike is to shift toward deeper, cooler waters, and the shallows can seem deserted and devoid of quality fishing opportunities. Happily, this is simply a mirage. Dedicated shallow-water anglers can enjoy exceptional fishing for a wide range of species, even in the summer’s heat. Slather on sunscreen and stay shallow to tap into these bites around the country. LARGEMOUTH BASS Big largemouths are some…

You may have heard some variation of an ancient Chinese proverb that speaks to both forestry and optimism, with a cameo appearance by procrastination. “The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago,” says the most frequently quoted version. “The second-best time is today.” Both those commodities—young trees and fresh optimism—are facing a certain shortage at the moment. Optimism seems to be on the run in every corner of the country. Tree inventories are also depleted in much of the U.S., while in other places, our forests aren’t working as well as they could. In some areas, our forests have become public-safety liabilities, capable of fueling conflagrations that threaten rural homesteads and communities. Other places have the opposite problem: too few trees to filter water and provide adequate…

Alaska River Adventures (ARA) offers fishing, sightseeing and bear-viewing trips, and the outfit will tailor an epic Alaskan experience to its clients’ wishes. Chase rainbow trout, Dolly Varden and silver salmon on a multitude of waters, or go after giant king salmon (or steelhead) on the nearby Kasilof River. Anglers using spinning, casting or fly rods will all find productive waters with this outfitter. Conventional tackle is preferred for salmon fishing in the Lower Kenai River section near the ocean. The outfitter possesses permits to operate in Katmai National Park, Chugach National Forest, Lake Clark National Park and the Togiak National Wildlife Refuge, in addition to the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge. A trip to view Alaskan marine life along the Kenai Fjords, horseback riding, hiking and whitewater rafting are ARA…

The bite from the 3-pound small-mouth bass was barely detectable, merely a stopping of the slow crawl I was imparting to the finesse-sized tube jig. The day would produce a couple dozen nice bass, both smallmouths and largemouths, and they all required the same painstakingly slow, bottom-scraping retrieve to get them to commit. A week later, fishing the same clear-water reservoir, largemouth and small-mouth bass were crushing a hard-bodied suspending jerkbait twitched aggressively over the tops of emerging weed beds. Another memorable day, but one that required a totally different approach. Sometimes bass are in a chasing mood, sometimes they are not. The circumstances that determine whether they are change not only on a daily basis but sometimes hourly. This is particularly evident during the early part of summer, when…

Knife-building is a great DIY hobby. It’s not only a lot of fun; you also end up with a new knife to use on your outdoor adventures. Good custom knife-makers are artists with decades of experience, but almost anyone can get into knife-building by starting with a kit. Jantz Supply (knifemaking.com) is the king of knife-building components. The company offers everything from simple starter kits to materials that will produce a knife of museum quality. I wanted to make a medium-size fillet knife, so I chose Jantz’s Trout Fillet kit with a 5 3/4-inch blade. The kit includes pieces of wood for the handle, but I wanted a different look. I added a block of red canvas Micarta handle material to jazz things up a bit. Jantz has several colors…

It’s no secret that the Atlantic population of large striped bass is in trouble. For years, biologists, conservationists and lawmakers have worked to implement new restrictions to help protect breeding-age fish. A recent study in Virginia revealed a severe decline in the harvest of large stripers by recreational anglers from an estimated 368,000 fish in 2010 to fewer than 52,000 in 2018, with overfishing being the primary cause for the drop. According to Nicole Costa, the principal biologist for Rhode Island’s Marine Fisheries Division, the 2018 benchmark stock assessment estimated spawning stock biomass (SSB) in 2017 was 68,476 metric tons below the SSB threshold, which demonstrates the stock is overfished. “These findings indicate there’s not enough biomass of striped bass in the stock to support the current level of removals,”…

Fishing often slows as we head into the middle of summer, but that doesn’t mean you can’t spend the better part of an outing with your rod bent. Panfish are often more immune to rising temperatures than other gamefish, making them favored summertime targets. The scrappy fighters are a blast on light tackle, and, of course, they’re downright delicious. But sometimes these willing biters get a bit finicky, causing even seasoned anglers to rethink their approach. Here are some tips to ensure you’ll have plenty of tasty fillets all summer long. GO NOCTURNAL As the mercury climbs, activity falls off. Just as you don’t see many people out for a leisurely jog when the temperature approaches triple digits, our finned friends below the surface curtail their movement during the hottest…

Exceptional boat control is one of the primary factors that separates good days on the water from great ones. Locking the boat onto a single fixed position allows anglers to saturate the strike zone with baits, helping to convert more lookers into biters. In olden days, boats were equipped with physical anchors to help pin the boat in place against the forces of nature, and thankfully, those times are behind us. In the modern, digital age of angling, we now enjoy access to satellite-based boat positioning from systems that are collectively referred to as GPS anchors. A fully refined GPS anchor, like the Minn Kota Spot-Lock feature incorporated into current i-Pilot and i-Pilot Link systems, elevates boat positioning to the electronic age. Spot-Lock works by comparing a satellite-based position input…

Although long-range hunting seems to be a new trend, the truth is hunters have always searched for ways to extend their effective range with a rifle. That’s how we went from the .30-30 Winchester to the .30-06 Springfield and then to the .300 Winchester Magnum. But are today’s hunters taking things too far? Is reaching out, way out, with a rifle leading to a decline in hunting skills? The answers to these questions depend on the individual, but let’s look at some facts, because facts apply to everyone. First, consider this: If you shoot a big mule deer buck at 500 yards, you have not saved yourself any work. You still have to walk to the buck, field-dress the animal and drag it the same distance. The work does not…

Early on a cool September morning, guide Tyler Gottfredson launches his wooden, wide-body drift boat at the Kenai River State Park boat ramp just below Kenai Lake and the Milepost 48 Sterling Highway bridge. Two other anglers and I don chest waders, ready our gear and step into the lengthy boat for the 14-mile float down the famed Kenai’s Middle Section past Juneau and Cooper Creeks and the Russian River. Using fly rods, we gently cast salmon-egg imitations with trailing stinger hooks off each side of the boat during our drift downstream. I have an immediate hookup and reel in a hungry, 18-inch-long rainbow, while one of my partners boats a similar-size Dolly Varden trout. Soon, the third angler in our party is fighting another feisty ’bow to Tyler’s waiting…

I like food. I like beer. And exercising isn’t really my thing. Easily 30 pounds overweight, I knew I had a lot to do to get ready for my first elk hunt in the Bitterroot Mountains of Idaho. At 33 years old, I was in the worst shape of my life and heading to one of the most extreme mountainous areas in the continental U.S. with my father, who is twice my age, and several friends. I didn’t want my physical condition to hinder our hunt in any way, so I dedicated myself to a strict yet manageable plan and got in shape without overdoing it. My preparation made the difference between an enjoyable hunt and a hellish experience. THE DIET As a firefighter, I eat as most firefighters do:…

When it comes to summertime catfishing, there are generally two schools of thought. Those partial to fishing during daylight hours will point to the fact that fish are confined to creek channels, scour holes and other deep-water haunts while the sun shines and are therefore easier to find. Nighttimers will tell you that since cats feed more actively after dark, that’s the best time to target them. These nocturnal fish, they say, are more nomadic, roaming over wider expanses in search of food, which increases the likelihood they’ll come across your bait. Both camps make a strong case, and in the end there’s really no wrong answer, so let’s take an in-depth look at each scenario. THE DAY SHIFT The biggest advantage to catfishing during the day is that you…

One of the nice things about panfishing is that a minimalist approach is typically sufficient. The new Lure Lock Roll-Up tackle management system perfectly captures that spirit. Toss it under your arm like a newspaper and your hands are free to carry rods, a cooler and a comfy seat. Lure Lock’s proprietary, mess-free Tak Logic gel is the linchpin here. Simply place your favorite lures, a set of pliers and any other small items you might need for a day of panfishing on the gel pad, roll it all up and you’re ready to go. Overall dimensions are 28 inches by 10 inches unfurled, while the gel pad is 22 inches by 10 inches. —John Taranto…

Although various forms of the design have been fielded for nearly 150 years in other countries, the straight-pull bolt-action rifle has largely been ignored by hunters in the United States. We’re used to lifting the handle before cycling the bolt and pushing it back down at the end of the cycle. That’s just the way a bolt-action rifle works, right? Well, it doesn’t have to. A straight-pull bolt need not be rotated to move lugs in and out of recesses during cycling; just pull the handle straight backward to remove the bolt from battery, and push it directly forward to achieve lockup. The primary benefit of a straight-pull rifle is speed in cycling because the system eliminates two steps in the process. Plus, all the movement stays in one plane…