If you live in northern states, there may be enough safe ice for some
ice fishing opportunities. If you’ve never tried it, this is an odd
activity, braving the cold and sitting on a bucket, peering down a hole…
but it can be FUN. However, before venturing out, consider these tips
regarding exposure to cold air.
For the Anglers
Start Warm. There is an old saying, “start warm,
stay warm.” If you are already shivering in the truck, your patience
will be lacking and so will the fun level. Layers. Dress in many layers. A couple pairs of
wool socks, long-underwear, t-shirt, hooded sweat shirt, … that works.
The air space between layers serves as more insulation and you can
adjust your comfort level to prevent the hazard of sweating. Shelter. On warm(ish) days, ice fishing can be
accomplished exposed (accomplished or exposed?) to the elements.
However, for serious cold and wind chill issues, a shanty or hut of some sort can make the ice fishing experience almost cozy. Almost. Ashley Rae,
year-round angler, writer, and TV host ice fishes in Canada in
temperatures as cold as -20 degrees F. “When people say ice fishing is
cold it's because they're not doing it right. Most of the time, I'm
fishing in a portable shelter with a propane heater going. Jacket and
gloves are off, I like to be comfortable!”
For the Fish
The colder it is, the faster you must work if releasing.
Staying inside a heated shanty buys you a little more time. “On the
very cold days,” Ashley shared, “I don't take fish outside of my shelter
as not to risk freezing.” Have the right tools. Professional angler and muskie expert, Pete Maina,
recommends having a pair of forceps, jaw spreaders, and standard
long-nosed pliers handy if you are fishing a lake inhabited by toothy
pike or muskellunge. Keep the fish wet. A bit trickier when ice fishing,
but neoprene gloves will help protect both you and the fish. Have a
spare bucket or cooler of water ready to help get a safe photo of the
two of you.
When the temperature is well below freezing, not only do anglers need
to plan for the danger of cold air exposure but if you are practicing
catch and release, you need to be prepared to avoid releasing an injured
fish. Frozen gills or eyes can occur in seconds. Check here for more ice fishing safety tips.
I love freshwater fishing in the fall because in a lot of ways I am
similar to the fish. I eat more in anticipation of the cold winter.
Football was my #1 sport, and the cooler temperatures made me more
aggressive. And there is a shot at catching a big fish, which resembles
me after I pack on some extra pounds. Some fall fishing tips to catch
more fish when the leaves start to change:
Go big. Trout in rivers
know they need extra calories, so they'll find them in high-fat bugs
and in big mouthfuls. Hoppers along a field work well as do big
streamers in a pool and big stoneflies around the rocks.
Move around. Ponds and lakes
are turning over so finding the right strata when fishing in the fall
is critical to success. Probe the water column until you find their
level. Knowing exactly where to fish in the fall takes practice
so...start practicing.
Rig up.
Fall fish hit hard, so the same small diameter monofilament that you
used during clear, low-water levels in the summer won't work now. You'll
pop fish off, so increase your leader's strength to put more fish in
the net.
Bouncing barometers. Winds shift back and forth from the South to
the North, and they can gust pretty good. When fishing in fall, match
the wind and current directions to find the edges where the fish will
hold.
Noreasters bring rain, and they fill up the rivers that feed into ponds and lakes. After a good, soaking rain, head to the inflows and outflows to find concentrations of fish.
Bring a camera. Fall fish change colors and they'll be among the
prettiest of the year. A few pictures taken while fishing in the fall
will carry you through the winter, and you can stare at them when you're
in a shanty on the ice.
If you've had a tough time catching 'em this summer then get after it by
fishing in fall. The fish will be less spooky and easier to catch, and
you'll end your freshwater fall fishing season on a high note
Are you wondering what it means to have good fly fishing etiquette?
Fishing aside, your parents probably corrected your dining etiquette
dozens of times when you were growing up. You know not to put your
elbows on the dinner table or talk with your mouth full to this day, but
if you're not sure what constitutes good fly fishing etiquette, keep
reading.
While I'm no expert on this topic, I do have a few suggestions on how
to practice good fly fishing etiquette based on my recent fly fishing
adventures.
Keep the noise level down. Whether you are fishing
alone or with a group, remember to keep the noise level down. Many fish
species that are targeted on fly, such as a brown trout in a freshwater stream or bonefish
on a saltwater flat, have a tendency to be particularly skittish. By
staying quiet, you are being respectful of other anglers in the area,
and you can avoid scaring off a potential catch. Besides, most anglers
go fishing not only to experience the joy of catching, but also for the
solitude and relaxation in between bites.
Know the fishing regulations and follow them. This guideline goes for any type of fishing. It's easy to find the fishing regulations for your state. Read the regulations and practice proper catch and release on any species that are not within the current regulations.
When fly fishing on a stream or small river, work upstream
while leaving plenty of water space between you and any other anglers. If
you see another angler casting in a spot that you were hoping to fish,
find another section of the waterway and start there. Before you make
your first cast, make sure there is plenty of open space.
Be conscious of splashing and shadows if you are wading. Splashing can make it much more difficult to sight-cast to feeding fish, and shadows can spook any fish in the area.
Leave no litter behind. This is another etiquette
guideline that applies to any type of fishing. Better yet, if you do
see litter, pick it up and leave the waterway a little better than it
was when you found it.
Now that you know the basics of good fly fishing etiquette, find a great new spot to fly fish in your area using the Places to Boat and Fish Map. Put proper fly fishing etiquette into practice on the water.
Mexico Bass Fishing Trip Planning Q & A with MLF Commissioner Don Rucks
The U.S. is dotted with epic bass fishing destinations, but sometimes the grass is greener across the border; if bass fishing Mexico is on your bucket list, heed the advice from a man who has been there,
done that, and continues to go back
Mexico Bass Fishing Trip Planning Q & A with MLF Commissioner Don Rucks
MLF
commissioner Don Rucks shows off a nice largemouth bass ' one of many '
he caught on a bass fishing trip to Mexico with outfitter Ron Speed
Jr.'s Adventures. (Photo courtesy of Don Rucks)
In the world of bass fishing, there may be no better
major-league destination on the planet than the red-hot action found
south of the Rio Grande River in old Mexico.
Starting many years ago with the fish-every-cast action found on
storied Lake Guerrero, bass catching opportunities in Mexico have
steadily expanded to include a number of fabled lakes offering
mind-boggling numbers, double-digit weights, stunningly gorgeous waters,
and the warm, delicious food and hospitality found south of the border.
Long a fan of the tremendous bass-catching action found in Mexico,
Major League Fishing commissioner Don Rucks recently toured the region
again and found the fishing to be as spectacular as ever. MajorLeagueFishing.com: How many Mexico bass fishing trips have you been on over the years? Commissioner Rucks: I’ve been really fortunate to
have experienced the excellent bass fishing Mexico offers on at least a
dozen different week-long trips over the last 20 years. My most recent
trip took place in January 2016. MajorLeagueFishing.com: With a number of good U.S. fisheries, why travel all the way to Mexico to go bass fishing? Commissioner Rucks: Bass fishing just doesn’t get any better in the world than it is in Mexico. Period. MajorLeagueFishing.com: What is the largest bass you have ever caught in Mexico? Read the rest of the Q & A at MajorLeagueFishing.com.
Lufkin angler catches ShareLunker 564 - thanks to a crappie - from Sam Rayburn Reservoir
Texas Kicks off ShareLunker Season with 13.2-pound Largemouth
Roy Euper of Lufkin caught Toyota
ShareLunker 564 from Sam Rayburn Reservoir November 2. The fish weighed
13.2 pounds and was 25.5 inches long and 22 inches in girth. (TPWD/Reese
Sparrow photo)
ATHENS, Texas — Roy Euper of Lufkin
caught the first Toyota ShareLunker of the season from Sam Rayburn
Reservoir Monday afternoon. The fish weighed 13.2 pounds, qualifying it
to become ShareLunker 564.
Any angler who catches a 13-pound largemouth bass
can be considered lucky, but Euper may be the luckiest of all. The
official weight for the fish was taken at Jackson Hill Park Marina, an
official Toyota ShareLunker weigh and holding station. After the fish
arrived at the Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center in Athens, it
regurgitated a crappie that weighed 0.3 pounds.
Had the fish not eaten that crappie, or if it had spit it up before
being weighed, it would not have weighed the 13 pounds necessary to
qualify as a ShareLunker.
Euper was fishing in 30 feet of water with a crankbait when the fish
bit about 3 p.m. The fish was 25.5 inches long and 22 inches in girth.
The catch moved Sam Rayburn into sole possession of second place
among Texas lakes for number of ShareLunkers caught. Anglers have caught
26 largemouth bass weighing 13 pounds or more from the lake. Only Lake
Fork, with 257 entries, has produced more. Lakes O.H. Ivie and Alan
Henry have each produced 25.
Last season Sam Rayburn sent two ShareLunkers to Athens. Both were
caught on the same day, March 7. More ShareLunkers are caught in March
than in any other month. Euper’s fish is only the twelfth in the 30-year
history of the ShareLunker program to be caught in November.
Anyone legally catching a 13-pound or bigger largemouth bass from
Texas waters, public or private, between October 1 and April 30 may
submit the fish to the Toyota ShareLunker program. Fish will be picked
up by TPWD personnel within 12 hours.
Anglers entering fish into the Toyota ShareLunker program receive a
free replica of their fish, a certificate and ShareLunker clothing and
are recognized at a banquet at the Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center in
Athens. The person who catches the season’s largest entry will be named
Angler of the Year and will receive a prize package from G. Loomis of a
top-of-the-line rod, Shimano reel, PowerPro line and G. Loomis hat. If
the Angler of the Year is a Texas resident, that person will also
receive a lifetime Texas fishing license.
ShareLunker catches can be reported 24 hours a day, seven days a week
during the season, by calling (903) 681-0550. If poor cellphone service
prevents use of the voice number, anglers can leave a phone number
(including area code) at (888) 784-0600. That number is also monitored
24/7 during the season
Paul Easley, of Mead, Okla., with his
state-record alligator gar weighing 254 pounds 12 ounces, caught April
23, 2015, in Lake Texoma. (Photo courtesy of wildlifedepartment.com)
About 1 p.m. April 23, 2015, angler Paul Easley of Mead,
Okla., was snagging in Lake Texoma in Marshall County when he landed a
new state-record alligator gar. The monster fish was 97 3/4 inches in
length, 44 inches in girth and weighed 254 pounds, 12 ounces.
Easley was using a Quantum reel on an Eagle Claw rod with 150-pound braided line.
The gar was weighed on certified scales at the Wildlife Department's
South Central Region fisheries office near Durant, and then released
alive.
The previous state-record alligator gar weighed 192 pounds 1 ounce, caught in January 2011 in the Red River.
The biggest, oldest, fastest, priciest and most amazing fishing history facts
10 Interesting Fishing Facts Sure to Astound You
Captain Jay Gould of Hollywood, Florida
landed this 5,500-pound manta ray in 1933. It may be the biggest fish
ever hooked and landed. (Photo courtesy of Fishes and Fishing in
Louisiana)
Wherever anglers gather, there is likely to be talk about the extreme aspects of fishing. Someone will mention the biggest this or most expensive that,
and suddenly the place is abuzz with discussion. Those with conflicting
opinions may engage in light-hearted arguments, bets will probably be
made, and, sooner or later, someone will access the Internet from their
smartphone to settle the dispute.
To motivate such lively discourses, I present the following tidbits
about fish and fishing that are sure to nurture your knowledge of our
favorite sport and allow you to amaze your fishing friends with the
amount of trivia that clogs your brain. These fascinating facts may also
provide some new benchmarks the hardier among you can try to achieve.
Biggest Record Fish
So you think that marlin you had mounted for the wall was big, huh?
Well, it probably was for its species, but chances are good it wasn’t a
third the size of the heaviest fish in the record books.
On April 21, 1959, Alfred Dean of Irymple, Victoria caught a
2,664-pound great white shark off the coast of his native Australia.
Amazingly, he subdued this monster—the heaviest record fish ever listed
by the International Game Fish Association—in only 50 minutes on
130-pound line. Dean also caught great whites weighing 2,333 and 2,536
pounds.
A replica of Dean’s biggest catch can be seen at Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World in Grapevine, Texas.
Biggest Fish Ever Hooked and Landed
Another giant catch was described in Fishes and Fishing in Louisiana
by James Gowanloch. In 1933, Captain Jay Gould of Hollywood, Florida
captured a manta ray that measured 19 feet, 9 inches from wing-tip to
wing-tip. The ray was hooked on a large shark hook on 1,200 feet of
1/2-inch rope, and when it had been subdued and towed back to Ft.
Lauderdale, Florida, the city’s 20-ton crane had to be used to lift the
fish from the water, after the chain hoists on three smaller cranes were
stripped while trying to bring it up. The manta ray’s weight was
estimated at 5,500 pounds.
Oldest Fishing Record
The 22-pound, 4-ounce world-record largemouth bass caught by George
Perry in Georgia’s Montgomery Lake was unmatched from June 2, 1932 until
Manabu Kurita caught an equally big largemouth on July 2, 2009 in
Japan’s Lake Biwa. That’s a long-standing record by anyone’s measure.
But one fish record has stood almost twice as long and remains
unbroken—a 4-pound, 3-ounce IGFA all-tackle record yellow perch caught
in New Jersey by Dr. C.C. Abbot in May 1865, 150 years ago!
Biggest Bass Ever Caught and Released Twice
A largemouth bass nicknamed Dottie, perhaps the largest ever
recorded, was caught at least twice by anglers fishing 72-acre Dixon
Lake near Escondido, California. (The fish was recognizable because of a
unique black mark on the underside of the right gill plate.) When Jed
Dickerson caught it in 2003, it weighed an astounding 21 pounds. He
released the fish healthy and alive. When Dickerson’s friend Mac Weakley
caught it again in 2006, it weighed 25 pounds, 1 ounce on a hand-held
digital scale, making it a potential new world record. Weakley decided
to release the bass, however, because he had unintentionally foul-hooked
it. The bucketmouth turned up dead in the lake two years later, never
having been caught again.
Fastest Fish
It’s difficult to determine how fast some fish can swim, but some
anglers at Florida’s Long Key Fishing Camp came up with a simple method
for accurately measuring a fish’s swimming speed. A fish is hooked. It
makes a run. You measure how much line the fish took off the spool in a
certain number of seconds, and you can calculate the fish’s speed. The
fastest fish in these speed trials, perhaps the fastest fish in the
world, was a sailfish that took out 300 feet of line in three seconds, a
velocity of 68 mph. That’s zero to 60 mph in 2.6 seconds!
Fastest-traveling Fish
A tagged great white shark became the quickest recorded oceanic
traveler after it swam from South Africa to Australia and back in under a
year. The female shark was tagged with a data transmitter off South
Africa in November 2003. The unit detached automatically and was
recovered off western Australia four months later, but that wasn’t the
end of the story. In August 2004, five months after the transmitter
bobbed to the surface, project research scientists spotted the
shark—identifiable by a pattern of notches in its dorsal fin—back in its
old haunt off South Africa. It had completed a round trip of some
12,500 miles in just nine months.
Biggest Fly Rod and Reel
On June 12, 1999, Tiney Mitchell of Port Isabel, Texas, finished
constructing the world’s largest fly fishing rod and reel. The rod is a
whopping 71 feet, 4.5 inches long. The reel measures 4 feet in diameter
and 10 inches in width. You can see it at the end of Maxan Street in
Port Isabel.
Oldest Fish
For many years, the oldest fish on record was female European eel
named Putte. She was kept in an aquarium all her adult life, and when
she died at Hälsingborg Museum, Sweden in 1948, that slimy ol’ gal was
reported to be 88 years old.
That record is old news, though. A 32-inch-long rougheye rockfish
caught in Alaska was determined by scientists to be an amazing 205 years
old. Biologists used growth rings in the fish’s ear bone to estimate
the age of the fish that started life 50 years before the Civil War!
Researchers are studying the genetic code of rockfish, but it’s unclear
for now why the rougheye, which matures and reproduces late in life,
lives so long.
Priciest Lure Ever Made
If you’re like me, you find it pretty upsetting when you snag a $5 or
$10 fishing lure and lose it. But a loss like that is nothing compared
to the chance one would take fishing with the Million Dollar Lure from
MacDaddy Fishing Lures. This 12-inch trolling lure, designed to catch
marlin, was crafted with just over 3 pounds of glimmering gold and
platinum, and encrusted with 100 carats of diamonds and rubies (4,753
stones to be exact). Cost? Just as the name says—a cool $1 million.
According to Sport Fishing magazine, the lure’s owner
insured it through Lloyd’s of London and actually trolled it behind a
boat inside the bay at Cabo San Lucas using 130-pound-test mono and a
500-pound steel leader. Fortunately for him, perhaps, the sparkly bait
didn’t draw any strikes.
Most Consecutive Casts
So you thought you made a lot of casts during the last tournament you
fished, huh? Check this out. In July 1999, Brent Olgers of Macon,
Georgia established a world record for the longest period of consecutive
casting. Using a Zebco 33 Classic reel, Olgers cast 6,501 times in just
over 24 hours, averaging 270 casts per hour. Each cast had to be at
least 45 feet in length. Amazing!
Video showing the Livetarget Baitball Yearling lure on
the West River, Nova Scotia. Ambassador Donnie Cooke describes his
technique and set-up while fishing out of his pontoon boat for stripers.
Pickups in Stickups and Other Ways to Score on Transition Bass
Pickups in Stickups and Other Ways to Score on Transition Bass
Fishing gently sloping flats with
stickup timber like this is a good way to nail bass during the
summer-to-fall transition. (Keith Sutton photo)
In autumn, anglers have a chance to catch their biggest
largemouth bass of the year, maybe a lifetime. Veteran bassers look
forward to this season, but many weekend anglers dread it because they
haven’t yet learned how to locate and catch bass that may be deep one
day and shallow the next.
If you’re in this latter group, the following facts could help alleviate autumn anxiety.
Things to Try as Autumn Begins
Changing weather conditions as autumn begins trigger good fall
fishing. You should especially watch for cold fronts that drive
temperatures in the shallows back down into the 70s. This “shakes up”
water conditions, and bass that refused to feed during the monotonously
hot weather of late summer may take on a much more positive attitude to
food and lures. Bass still stay close to deep summer haunts, but now,
with much better water conditions, they’ll begin making forays to the
shallows for at least a few hours each day.
Fish near dawn and dusk if you can, as action tends to be better then
during the early part of the season. Remain flexible in your tactics.
On a 100-acre lake, there could be 10 bass patterns going on at the same
time; in a large reservoir, even more. Keep moving, casting and
experimenting until you find at least one pattern that works for you.
One tactic that may help you pinpoint bass is fishing gradually
sloping, stickup-covered flats in 10-20 feet of water near channel
breaks. These areas provide largemouths the security of deep water
nearby, and when the fish want to hang around in mid-depths, as they
often do this time of year, they can still move vertically in the water
column while relating to the woody cover. On some days, they’ll suspend;
other times, they’ll be near the top of a stickup, or closer to its
bottom. One day they’ll be closer to the channel break; the next might
find them on the flat’s shallowest edge. Whatever the case, you’ve
narrowed the scope of your search somewhat, and by working various
portions of the flat using lures most suited to the depth you’re
searching at a given moment, you should eventually get some “pickups in
the stickups.”
Use sonar to pinpoint the outer channel first, then work stickups on
the edge by casting jigs or vibrating crankbaits and working them at
different depths with different retrieves. Next, move to mid-portions of
the flat and work the water column top to bottom with shallow-diving,
suspending and deep-diving crankbaits. Bass on the flat’s shallow side
often hit plastic worms/lizards crawled across the bottom, or
spinnerbaits allowed to “helicopter” down beside timber. Be patient, and
work the flat methodically, and you’ll eventually get “pickups in the
stickups” that make the effort worthwhile.
Tips for Turnover Time
Turnover time occurs in mid- to late fall, depending on the latitude,
when previously stratified water “mixes” and the temperature evens out
top to bottom. It’s caused in part by cooling winds that pound waves
against shorelines and chill surface waters to make them heavier. (Water
is heaviest at 39.2 degrees.) When surface waters heavy up, they sink
beneath the warmer, lighter waters below, which rise to the surface and
replace the entire upper realm. Thus the logical term “turnover.”
Big bass sense this oncoming annual period and instinctively respond.
Seasoned lunkers sense that food soon will be scarce, so they eat and
lay on extra fat to tide them over the period of lean rations ahead.
They also must conserve energy, however, so exertions are held to a
minimum.
Catching these bass requires the angler to develop two mind-sets.
First, imagine cruising bass looking for a school of oversize minnows or
shad. Then picture bass in seclusion after getting a belly full of
prey.
For cruising bass, think deep. Look for dark drop-offs around old
creek channels, bluffs, steep points, cliffs and bridge pilings. This
calls for lures designed to work at deepest depths. Probe dark shores
with deep-running crankbaits, covering a lot of territory to cross paths
with feasting hawgs. That failing, try weighted sinking lures such as
jigheads with various soft plastic or hair bodies. Walk them down steep
shorelines, nudging bottom all the way to your boat. Also, bring them in
at all levels to see if bass are hanging at certain depths for reasons
known only to them.
Look for secluded bass in dense weeds, lily pads, brush or other
heavy cover abutting dark water, and think “s-l-o-w.” This calls for
lures with “do-nothing” appeal because a bass with its belly full won’t
chase them. Try vertical jigging. Rig a soft-plastic crawfish body on a
1/2-ounce jighead. Move quietly along deep shoreline covers with a
vertical line suspending the lure. Lift and lower it gently,
s-l-o-w-l-y, temptingly, to trigger instinctive slurps from inactive
lunkers. Keep your eyes on the line where it kisses the surface, and at
the slightest change in tension, loose or taut, set the hook.
Late Fall
When water temperatures dip below 55 degrees, bass take to deep
water. You’ll notice them moving farther from shore with each degree
drop in water temperature. Fall’s frenzied feeding slows now, and the
fish’s instinctually move to deeper haunts where they’ll settle in for
the winter.
Your best bet now may be working the mid- to deep levels beside rocks
bluffs and steep points toward the lake’s deeper end. The points, in
particular, may offer one last chance to win the “lunker lottery.” Just
about the time everybody thinks the fishing has gone to pot, a school of
big bass often moves up for one more crack at food. Likely as not,
they’ll come up on a steep point directly adjacent to some of the
deepest water in the lake. They normally move up no deeper than the
middle depths, and your lure—a long-billed crankbait bounced across the
bottom, or perhaps a jig-and-pig or lipless vibrator like the Cordell
Spot—must be worked painfully slow to entice them.
Cold weather is the norm when late fall arrives, and it may take the
constitution of a polar bear to be out there when strikes are typically
few and far between. This is probably your best chance, however, to hang
a real trophy before next spring’s thaw
Topwater plugs like the Heddon Zara Spook can be used to entice explosive strikes from fall largemouths. (Keith Sutton photo)
Topwater bassin’ fanatics have a saying: “Catching one
bass on a topwater lure is worth 10 on anything else.” It’s true. Seeing
the drama makes topwater fishing special. You watch the wake of a bass
homing in on your lure. You see the fish boil beneath the bait. You
witness the hook-set. Your eyes are glued on the bass as it jumps.
Fishing doesn’t get any better than that, and during autumn, topwater
fishing is at its best.
Topwater lures come in many varieties, and some terrific tricks can
increase your catch rate when fishing each type. Here are three to try
this season.
The Lure: Popper
Poppers are productive, fun-to-fish bass lures. Each has a face
scooped-out, grooved or otherwise designed to catch water. The lure
makes a chugging sound when jerked. Examples include Rebel’s Pop-R,
Creek Chub’s Super Knuckle-Head and Cabela’s Top Popper.
The Trick: Raking Weeds
On sunny fall days, add a rake to your fishing gear. Bass often lurk
in heavily matted weeds when the sun is high this season. Run your boat
into the weeds and use the rake to clear a 6-foot hole. Rake out a slot
to open water, too. Leave for one hour. Bass soon forget you were there
as they gorge on baitfish eating plankton stirred up by your raking.
When you return, launch a popper into the hole from a distance. Count to
10, then twitch the lure so it spits. If this doesn’t garner a strike,
jerk the popper hard so it makes a deep bloomp sound, and keep it coming. Detonating!
The Lure: Stickbait
Stickbaits have no propellers, lips or built-in action. But skilled
anglers can animate them with short, sharp jerks that produce a
left-right-left action known as “walking the dog.” Heddon’s Zara Spook,
Sebile’s Topwater Stick Shadd and Rapala’s Skitter Walk are among the
makes.
The Trick: Head Nod
Stickbaits create a commotion when walked quickly over the surface,
but at times, persnickety bass prefer quiet lures, and the fact that
stickbaits have no sound-producing features makes them very effective.
Cast near cover, and wait a few seconds. Then, gently twitch your rod
tip to make the lure nod its head. Repeat, nodding and reeling so the
stickbait dimples the water every couple of inches. Bass rarely see
lures do this, and few can resist.
The Lure: Prop Bait
A small propeller on one or both ends of the lure body characterizes
this group of artificials. On retrieve, water twirls the propellers,
causing the lure to sputter like a trolling motor tilted too high.
Venerable names include the Smithwick Devil’s Horse, Luhr-Jensen’s
Nip-I-Diddee and the Heddon Torpedo.
The Trick: Doodlesocking
For the ultimate in topwater excitement in autumn, try doodlesocking
with a prop bait. This old-fashioned bassing method employs a 12- to
16-foot fiberglass or graphite/composite jigging pole instead of a rod
and reel. On the end, tie a prop bait with a 24-inch length of heavy
braided line. The lure is fished in pockets in shoreline cover. Work it
back and forth very quickly with short sweeps of the pole, making as
much noise as you can. When a bass hits, it’s like someone set off a
depth charge
Catching autumn crappie may require
anglers to use tactics like wade fishing that differ considerably from
slab-hooking methods during other seasons. (Keith Sutton photo)
Autumn is a golden season for crappie fishing fans.
Summer’s crowds have vanished. Lakes, ponds and rivers shimmer beneath
canopies of vermilion and amber leaves. Summer-fattened crappie are
ravenous and in prime condition, offering exciting possibilities for
action-hungry anglers.
This season offers some of the year’s best crappie angling if you
learn some tips that will help you find and tempt these silvery panfish.
Read on, and you will.
Shallow Water Wading
Crappie often move to extreme shallows, water barely deep enough to
cover them, as the water temperature cools in fall. You may catch more
if you don a set of waders and carefully make your way to edge areas
fringed with inundated brush, willows or grass. Use a 12- to 14-foot
jigging pole, pull the jig to the tip, then after positioning the jig
over a hole in the cover, lower the jig into the crappie hideout.
Trolling Jigs
Try trolling with jigs to find often-scattered schools of autumn
crappie. This tactic works best if you periodically change your trolling
speed and the size of jig you use. Start with a 1/32-ounce jig and a
fast trolling speed. This will find crappie in shallow water. If that
doesn’t work, try a 1/16-ounce jig and a medium trolling speed to look
for crappie in mid-depths. If necessary, change again, to a 1/8-ounce
jig and a medium-slow speed, then a 1/8-ounce jig and a very slow speed.
Trolling Crankbaits
Autumn crappie often suspend in open water near tributary mouths. To
find them, watch for schooling fish that show up as “boomerangs” on your
sonar. To catch them, troll crankbaits instead of jigs. Use a 1/4- to
1/8-ounce shad-imitation diver. Silver works great on sunny days and in
clear water. If the sky is overcast, or the water is murky, switch to
hot colors such as chartreuse.
Back Out With the Fish
When fishing a reservoir that has current caused by power generation, it
pays to observe changes in the amount of current. Crappie may be in as
little as 4 to 5 feet of water when current is minimal, but when power
generation increases and current is high, crappie will move out to
structures 10 to 20 feet deep. In the latter situation, work offshore
cover, positioning your boat directly above and dropping minnows
straight down. Or back off and cast 1/8-ounce jigs dressed with
curly-tailed grubs or tubes.
Get to the Point
If the water level starts dropping fast due to power generation, try
fishing points using small in-line or safety-pin spinners. Retrieve the
lure with an up-and-down “yo-yo” motion, or buzz it along the surface
and allow it to fall or “die” right beside the cover. Position your boat
in deep water and cast toward the shallow part of the point, or vice
versa.
Sliders for Stumps
Stump fields in mid-depths are prime holding areas for fall crappie, but
stumps often gobble up so many tube jigs that you’re doing more tying
than fishing. In this situation, try a weedless jig such as Charlie
Brewer’s Weedless Crappie Slider. Cast past the stumps, let the lure
settle, then retrieve the lure slow and steady. If you hit wood before
catching a crappie, continue your retrieve, allowing the jig to bump
over the wood. Most times, you’ll be able to work the lure in this
fashion without hang-ups to catch more fish.
Hot Combo
If you pinpoint feeding crappie near schools of surface-running shad, a
common occurrence in fall, try casting a 1/32-ounce jig tied above a
1/8-ounce jig with a small safety-pin spinner. The heavier jig stays
well beneath the upper lure at a level where larger crappie are often
holding. Double hookups are common.
Fish Windward Shores
Wind can be an important factor in determining where you’re most likely
to find early fall crappie. Wind pushes tiny invertebrates that minnows
and other baitfish eat. If there’s a westerly wind for a couple of days,
an east-shore area could hold the most fish, or vice versa.
Consequently, you should always give wind-hit areas your full attention.
“See” Edges that are Out of Sight
Fall crappie often hold along creek channel drop-offs and other edge
areas. You’ll be able to fish such a location better if you mark it with
a several buoys. Locate the drop-off with sonar, then slowly follow the
edge. Throw out a marker buoy each time you cross a certain depth—10
feet, for instance. Continue placing the buoys, about 20 feet apart,
until you’ve used them all. Now you have a visible image of the edge,
and can fish it more thoroughly for crappie.
Be Persistent
“Don’t give up on a previously productive fishing spot too quick,” a
crappie guide once told me. He noted that autumn crappie are often
finicky, and just want something different. Try changing jig colors or
body styles. Use minnows instead of jigs, or vice versa. Try a fast
retrieve instead of a slow one. Switch to lighter line. “If the
structure you’re fishing has given up some nice slabs on previous trips
during the same season,” the guide said, “it should do so again if you
can determine the best fishing pattern
When the water temperature drops, look for winter crappie in deep cover or structure
Catching Crappie in the Cold
You may have to bundle up in extra
clothes to stay warm, but winter days can be good times to go fishing if
you're a crappie fan. (Keith Sutton photo)
The air was icy when we left the ramp, but when we
arrived at our fishing hole, calm air and warm sun made the morning
pleasant despite the 25-degree temperature. My son Josh and I, bundled
up like Eskimos, basked like turtles while waiting for a bite.
We didn’t wait long.
“One on red!” our friend Jerry Blake snapped.
Each of us was watching “color-coded” bobbers above our minnow baits.
Josh had a red bobber and a white bobber. I had green and yellow. Jerry
had black and blue. Josh’s red bobber had sunk slowly out of sight,
indicating a bite.
“Dadgummit!” Josh exclaimed as he snapped his pole upward without hooking a fish.
“One on green!” Jerry said.
Red was back under, too, and Jerry had a hit on the black bobber. Fortunately, we managed to land three fish.
“They feel like ice,” I said, feeling the sides of the crappie I caught. “I don’t know how they can be so lively and so cold.”
Lively they were, though. Although most crappie we caught barely
wiggled our bobbers, each fought hard when hooked. And plenty were
hooked.
Catching winter crappie can be challenging. If the water temperature
falls extremely low, crappie become lethargic. Those feeding may bite so
gingerly they are almost undetectable. Nevertheless, crappie are
commonly caught in winter by those who know tips for success.
Most winter crappie hold on deep cover and structure, but they can be
pinpointed on brushpiles, fish attractors, creek channel edges and
other hotspots using a fish-finder.
The depth at which the crappie are holding may vary from one location
to another. Some crappie may be 15 feet deep, others 25 feet. But if
you use the rigs we use, adjustments are easy.
Each rig consists of a live minnow fished on a No. 6 Tru-Turn bronze
Aberdeen panfish hook beneath a Thill pencil-style slip float. On the
line above the float is a bobber stop. Moving the bobber stop up or down
is all it takes to change the bait’s depth. A split shot to sink the
bait completes each rig.
Many winter crappie anglers also fish with jigs. Each should be tied
so it hangs perpendicular to the line. The lure then is lowered to the
depth crappie are holding and is held almost motionless until a fish
strikes. Tipping the jig hook with a live minnow or a small piece of
minnow increases the lure’s attractiveness to crappie.
Although in frigid water, the crappie we caught that day were hungry
and hitting hard. I usually miss as many as I hook, but that day, lots
of crappie were hooking themselves. Before lunch, Josh, Jerry and I had
put 53 in the livewell, including a few that exceeded 2 pounds.
Winter fishing isn’t for everybody. For most of us, a warm fireplace
is much more attractive than a frigid outing on a cold lake.
If the fishing itch gets too intense to bear, though, give winter
crappie a try. Fishing for these sassy panfish is a sure remedy for what
ails you
Tips for Fishing Small Streams for Cold-Weather Panfish
Casting upstream and fishing from the shallow side of the shore can lead you to bigger catches
Tips for Fishing Small Streams for Cold-Weather Panfish
When the vagaries of fall turnover make
fishing more difficult in lakes and ponds, fishing small streams may be
the best way to catch a mess of rock bass or other panfish. (Keith
Sutton photo)
Late autumn brings cooler water temperatures, and as fall turnover begins, panfish
in lakes and ponds scatter, making schools more difficult to pinpoint.
Some are shallow, others deep, and anglers must keep moving to pick up
numbers of fish.
Fishing streams eliminates these problems. These flowing environments
aren’t subject to the vagaries of turnover, so fish can still be found
in familiar haunts.
The word “stream” can describe practically any body of flowing water,
from a tiny creek to a river the size of the Mississippi. Here, we’ll
confine our discussion to small flowages—streams small enough you’d have
no trouble tossing a pebble from one side to the other. One beauty of
these little gems is their usually convenient location. Small streams
are found throughout the U.S., sometimes several to the mile, and each
may be home to several species of panfish including rock bass, bluegills, redbreasts, longear sunfish, crappie and others. All these waters have something special to offer the adventurous angler.
Fishing for small-stream panfish is like hunting with a rod. Many
creatures would eagerly devour these fish, so they are a nervous and
wary lot, ready to streak for cover at the slightest intrusion. The
silhouette of an angler standing upright will put them under rocks,
brushpiles and cutbanks in short order, so like a hunter, you must slip
up on the prey unannounced and do your work with extreme stealth.
Any decent cover in a foot or more of water is a potential panfish
hideout. Cast upstream or quartering upstream to fallen trees, boulders,
brushpiles and ledges adjacent deep water; along the edges of coontail,
willow shoots and other vegetation; under overhangs, root wads and logs
along the banks; and any place where the water drops into a pool or
run. The best of these spots will be in or near long, deep pools, so
when you encounter a big hole or long stretch of deeper water, work it
methodically. Drop successive casts about a foot apart, covering a
variety of depths until fish are found.
One technique that elicits smashing strikes is to cast up on the
rocks or the bank and jump the bait or lure into the water. Panfish get a
bit crazy when a popping bug or cricket behaves in this manner, or when
a tiny spinner leaps from the bank and starts swimming away.
Any bait or lure you use elsewhere will work here as well, but the
best bait might be right under your feet. Tiny crayfish, nymphs, scuds,
leeches and insect larvae can often be collected by carefully rolling
over rocks in the stream. Worms get lots of attention during or after a
rain and can sometimes be found by kicking through leaf litter along the
shore. Impaled on a small hook and drifted through a deep hole, any of
these baits can entice a hefty bluegill, bullhead or other panfish when
your favorite artificials aren’t paying off.
When stream fishing, remember these additional guidelines that will lead you to bigger catches:
Cast upstream whenever possible, allowing your bait or lure to ride with the current in a natural manner.
When walking the shore, always fish from the shallow side,
entering the water only when necessary. Should you enter the water, do
so below the hole you plan to fish, so the moving current will carry
your vibrations away from the fish.
Stay as far back from the bank as cover will allow. Move quietly.
Use small baits and lures and the lightest line feasible for the type of cover you’re fishing.
Though you can fish most small streams by wading or walking the
banks, a canoe or other boat can be much more productive than going
afoot. You’ll cover more territory and be able to fish locations
inaccessible by wading. Belly boats, or float tubes, are useful for
covering short stretches. And for a special taste of panfishing fun, try
an overnight campout/fishing expedition when the trees are ablaze with
the reds and golds of autumn. Pan-fried fish never smell or taste better
than they do when cooked over a streamside fire.
Remember, catching fish is a big part of stream fishing, but catching
a limit of memories is the bigger part. Share the joys with family and
friends
Tips for Catching Popsicle Pond Cats Despite popular misconceptions, channel cats feed
actively throughout winter and even put up a fight when the water is
frozen over
Tips for Catching Popsicle Pond Cats
Many catfish fans confine their fishing
activity to warm months, but it's easy to load a stringer with
good-eating channel cats when fishing farm ponds on cold winter days.
(Keith Sutton photo)
Do catfish contain antifreeze? That question crossed my mind as I lifted my tenth big channel catfish over the transom. It was a polar afternoon during Christmas break. The high temperature
that day soared to near 30 degrees. My friend Alex Hinson and I were
catfishing in a small farm pond owned by one of Alex’s neighbors. To say the fish were cooperative is an understatement. We’d cast a
bait into deep water by the pond’s dam, and before it hit bottom, a
sassy channel cat would have it. Alex caught a 5-pounder, then its twin.
I caught several 2- to 4-pounders. We caught a total of 23 before our
fishing trip ended. What surprised me most was how icy-cold the fish were. Each fought
like the dickens, and we took great care that we didn’t get soaked with
freezing water when one splashed alongside the boat. Yet when you
touched one of the catfish fresh out of the water, it felt like a
Popsicle. How, I wondered, can a cold-blooded creature put up such a
fight when its body temperature is barely above freezing? Antifreeze,
perhaps? Despite what many anglers think, channel cats feed actively
throughout winter, as the experience outlined above shows. Alex and I
make several winter fishing forays each year, and we’ve never failed to
catch plenty of cats for a fish fry back home. Even more amazing is the fact that channel cats are now common
targets for ice-fishermen in northern states. Despite popular
misconceptions, they don’t lie in the mud and sulk when it’s cold. They
actively hunt for food and bite readily even when all the water is
frozen over. Many rivers and lakes serve up excellent cold-weather catfishing, but
almost invariably I head for the nearest farm pond when fishing in
December, January and February. Most ponds are stocked with channel
cats, and I can fish from the bank or a small boat without freezing
during a long boat ride on open water. Start by obtaining permission to fish and asking the pond owner to
point out the deepest hole in the pond. During cold weather, that’s
where most cats will be. Fish from a boat if you can, lowering your bait
straight down into the hole. When it reaches the bottom, turn your reel
handle a few cranks so the bait is a foot or so above the substrate
where cats can better detect it. When bank fishing, adding a small
bobber on the line between your hook and sinker accomplishes the same
thing. Fresh chicken liver is my favorite winter bait. Cats quickly zero in
on the scent and taste of poultry blood dissolving from the tissue. I
weave my hook through each piece of liver several times, then put my
reel in freespool and let the bait sink straight to the bottom. When
bank fishing, a gentle lob keeps the liver from flying off on most
casts. Don’t sit in one spot too long. You’ll have a bite before 15 minutes
passes if a hungry channel cat is nearby. If you don’t, move a short
distance and try again. If luck is with you and the catfish are biting, the action may end
abruptly after you’ve caught a few fish. Once again, it’s time to move
and try another location. Of course, when you’re fishing for cats in winter, it pays to keep
moving anyway, just so you can keep warm. This is not a sport for
anglers who detest the cold. You’ll get chilly out there, even when
you’re wearing the proper clothing. Your teeth will chatter, and your
hands and feet will feel like Popsicles. Nice thing is, when the cats start biting, that frigid feeling
disappears. Nothing in the world warms you quicker than battling a
rod-bending catfish. Try it yourself and see
Winter Crappie Tips from Professional Angler Brent Chapman
The Major League Fishing pro shares his six-step plan on how to catch big (and tasty) crappie during the wintertime
Winter Crappie Tips from Professional Angler Brent Chapman
Brent Chapman fills his family freezer up by targeting big crappie during the wintertime. (Photo courtesy of Brent Chapman)
For Brent Chapman, bass fishing is all about catch-and-release.
So too is his wintertime crappie fishing activities on his home water of Lake Quivira near Kansas City, Kansas.
It's just that when it comes to the big sided sac au lait slabs from
fat and prime wintertime crappie, the catch-and-release is into a bowl
of fishing fry coating and on into a fryer bubbling with hot peanut oil!
Winter is great time to catch a mess of prime-time crappie destined for the skillet according to Chapman.
"Yeah, it's a great time to fish for them," said the 2012 BASS Angler
of the Year. "In fact, it's one of the best times of the year since the
fish tend to school up in the winter months better than any other time
of the year.
"When the bass fishing starts to slow down - and the deer hunting is
over for the year - the crappie seem to bite really, really well."
And that's why Chapman puts a six-step plan into place as he searches for big crappie to fill up the family freezer.
What are those six steps?
"The first is that I use bigger baits in order to try and catch
bigger fish," said Chapman. "The second is that I use braid with a
fluorocarbon leader so they can't see my line.
"Third, I'll mark my line with a marker when I find the right depth
since depth is critical. Fourth, I'll rely on good electronics to help
me find them, a good sonar unit with GPS, side and down view options,
and even a pan option.
"Fifth, while I love to use jigs, I most often use minnows," he
added. "In fact, I'll have one rod rigged with each and I find that I
catch a lot more fish by using these two-rod set up with these baits.
"And finally, I make sure I dress warmly since you can't really catch fish too effectively if you're cold."
Ok, there's the six-steps that Chapman employs in his wintertime
search for crappie slabs. But where does he put that plan into practice
on a body of water?
"My target areas are usually around creek channels, wherever the bait
is, it's the key," said Chapman, a multiple winner of GEICO Select Major League Fishing events along with four BASS events.
"Typically, what that entails is that the bait gravitates into the
creek channels, especially in the bigger creeks and that's most often
where you'll find the crappie, is on the edge of the creek channels," he
added.
While that's the generalized location where Chapman will start his
wintertime crappie search, he'll rely on his electronics to fine tune
the location of brush piles, submerged timber and such, all that will
tend to hold fish.
"In the wintertime, crappie don't associate with brush as much on
some lakes as they do on others," he cautioned. "Here, they get in the
creek channels and follow the shad around."
Which is why his electronic sonar is of such great importance.
"They are so important, especially in the wintertime since they are
literally your eyes under the water," said Chapman. "With the technology
available today, you can put your boat in the creek channel, follow it
around with the mapping on your sonar, and with a side-view screen, you
can even find schools of fish off to the sides of where you are
traveling."
"When I see a school of fish, I'll idle over, verify that it's
crappie with my Garmin sonar and then start fishing," he added. "With
Garmin's Pan-Optics feature, I can even see them out in front and that
can be huge."
Why is that? Because if you don't see crappie - below you, to the
side or out in front - Chapman says to keep going and keep searching
until you do.
"If your electronics are not showing fish, then keep going," he
laughed. "When you do find fish, you can easily save the waypoint, which
saves so much time in finding them again."
And since a pile of slab-sized crappie is valuable Intel - like a
Morel mushroom hunting ground in the spring or a big buck hangout in the
fall - such modern gadgetry helps an angler keep such a little secret
tucked away and hidden from the view of other anglers.
"Back in the old days, we'd throw a marker buoy out and hope that
someone else didn't find it," laughed Chapman. "About 20 years ago, I
think we often found crappie holes by seeing these floating marker
buoys. You would see them, idle over them, and sometimes, hammer the
crappie since someone was nice enough to share the spot with everyone."
However a school of crappie is discovered during the cold months of
winter, the good news is that when you catch one big slab, they all tend
to be that size.
"While it seems like a lot of our lakes around here will cycle -
meaning that some years, the crappie are bigger, other years they are
smaller - when you locate a school and catch one, then most of the rest
tend to be the same size," said Chapman.
"And in the summertime, a lot of times, you'll have to weed through a
lot of fish to find keepers, but not in the wintertime. If you catch a
good, fat pan-size crappie, odds are, you'll usually catch plenty more
close to that size."
All of which makes for some fast-paced action on big slab-sized crappie.
"Honestly, we're spoiled," said Chapman. "If we don't get a limit within a couple of hours, that's a tough trip."
And those aren't very plentiful for Chapman, a dedicated bass angler
who loves to catch-and-release his wintertime crappie into a deep fryer
ready to turn the fillets golden brown.
"I love to fish and I love to eat crappie," laughed Chapman.
Which is why you'll probably find him all bundled up this winter,
looking to pull a pile of good eating slabs from the water that lies
virtually outside his backdoor, Lake Quivira
Take a break from the slopes and visit these Colorado streams for some wintertime trout fly fishing
Winter a Great Time to Chase Ski Country Rainbows and Browns
Colorado has lots of great fishing opportunities, even during the winter months. (Photo courtesy of Lynn Burkhead)
Many years, the wintertime snows enveloping the Colorado
high country has found the family Suburban packed down with the usual
array of parkas, sweaters and mittens.
And – much to my wife's chagrin, I think – a fly rod tube containing a
graphite trout stick, a fly reel or two, a box of wintertime flies and
my Simms waders and wading boots.
Why? Because as much as I love to ski, I also love to fly fish for
rainbow trout and their brown trout cousins – even in the dead of
wintertime.
And believe it or not, the fishing is surprisingly good when the snow flies at a several locations around the Centennial State.
With that in mind, here's a sample of the action that Ski Country
enthusiasts can find across the state if they're willing to take a day
off from the slopes: Aspen & Snowmass / Frying Pan River
To try and point out a Colorado epicenter of both skiing and fly
fishing would be about as dangerous – for me anyway – as trying to
descend down a double black diamond chute on an icy morning.
But as I found out a few years back, the slopes at Aspen and Snowmass
- and the nearby Frying Pan River tailwater (not to mention the
freestone Roaring Fork River) would be a pretty good candidate.
Why? In addition to the legendary slopes that get buried in champagne
powder, the Pan offers anglers a chance to hook some true-blue
piscatorial pigs.
In fact, the Frying Pan’s famous trout can tip the scales in the
double-digits thanks to the ample supply of protein-rich Mysis shrimp
spilling through the bowels of Reudi Dam and into the 40-degree river.
Want my advice? Leave the glitz and glimmer of Aspen behind with a
fly box full of midges and Mysis shrimp imitations – you will not be
disappointed. Crested Butte / Taylor River
It’s a tough decision for a ski/trout bum when you arrive in the town of Gunnison, one of my favorite places on earth.
In one of the prettiest parts of Ski Country, a part of the world
where a ski bum can either head on up the road to Crested Butte…or can
make a detour for the Taylor Reservoir and the Mysis shrimp tailwater
paradise that lies below it, the Taylor River.
Like the Frying Pan, the Taylor River’s trout are legendary for their
size, thanks again, to a steady diet of freshwater shrimp cocktail.
Anglers who venture from the slopes at the nearby Butte with a supply
of shrimp patterns in their fly box can expect to see a good number of
solid rainbows – including some double-digit lunkers big enough to make
an angler famous on the cover of a fly fishing magazine! This brown trout was caught while fly fishing in ice water. (Photo courtesy of Lynn Burkhead) Purgatory / Animas River
After the news headlines last August trumpeted the spilling of more
than three million gallons of toxic mining waste into the Animas River
near Durango, I'd have to admit that I'm a bit hesitant to include this
river in the mix.
Especially after all of the media reports about the incident showed
photos of orange water filled – made that way from toxic sludge and
waste spilled in the Gold King Mine disaster – flowing through this
stunningly beautiful southwestern Colorado town.
But despite the spill, many reports seem to indicate that the river
seems to be fishing similar to its old self this fall and early winter,
meaning that along with spending a few days shredding the slopes at the
Purgatory Ski Area this winter, a visit to the Animas River should also
be on one's agenda.
Even as winter sets up shop in the region and appears ready to stay for a while.
"It’s cold," writes Andy McKinley of Durangler Flies and Supplies in his online Animas Lunch Report blog a few days ago in mid-December.
"Snow is dropping and wind is blowing," he added. "The weather outside is frightful…or at least mildly unpleasant.
"We get it, fishing may be one of the last things on your mind.
(Skiing may be first). With dropping temps, make sure to layer up and
have a good jacket to keep you warm on the water or when digging your
vehicle out of a foot of snow."
Obviously, that means that the early season skiing conditions are good at Purgatory.
But it also means that Animas trout are looking up at midges
according to McKinley. Because of that, he suggests a dry-dropper-midge
set-up for anglers trading in a day of slope side action for a visit to
the river.
Interested in visiting the Animas? Then see McKinley's list of suggested wintertime flies. Monarch Ski Area / Arkansas River
One of the most difficult drives for me to make in the entire state
of Colorado is west out of Canon City to Salida along Route 50.
Why? Well, it’s hard to concentrate on the highway surface while
paralleling one of the state’s most beautiful stretches of trout water.
Most Colorado anglers know all about the Arkansas River during the
legendary Mother’s Day caddis hatch in the warmer months of spring.
But winter isn’t too bad either according to Bill Edrington, for many
years the shop proprietor of Royal Gorge Anglers in Canon City (the
shop is now owned and operated by Bill's son, Taylor).
That’s especially true when the first few BWO hatches begin to appear
in late February and March, at times when a rare mix of a 50 degree air
temperature, low cloud cover and light snow occurs.
"That sounds strange, but you can have that in the Southern Rockies at (that) time of the year," Edrington has told me.
"The air at the surface is warm, but above you, the air can be so
cold that you can still get light snow. Those heavy, wet (early) spring
conditions where you have a high moisture content in the air, that’s
what they (BWOs) love.
"I love the snow because it traps them (BWOs) in the water in the
surface film. The fish go completely crazy when those bugs get trapped
in the surface film and can’t get away. Usually, I get one day like that
a year."
And on that one day of the year, you won't be sorry at all for
ditching the slopes at nearby Monarch Ski area - and the unparalleled
view of snow covered "Fourteener Peaks" along the Continental Divide at
Monarch Pass either - when the wintertime fun is traded for a day of fly
fishing on the amazing Arkansas River. Summit County/ Blue River
Summit County certainly makes a bid for being the capitol of Colorado’s Ski Country USA with its quartet of ski resorts – Arapahoe Basin, Breckenridge, Copper Mountain and Keystone to be exact.
But the area is also home to one of the state’s top wintertime
tailwater angling opportunities, the Blue River spilling below Lake
Dillon.
While the Mysis shrimp rich trout stream can run low and clear,
making for spooky fish, the payoff is piggish rainbows up to 10-pounds
slurping a freshwater shrimp cocktail in downtown Silverthorne as the
semi-trucks thunder overhead on I-70.
While the window of fishing opportunity is admittedly small – primarily during the warmest part of mid-day hours during
the so-called "Banker's Hours" stretch of daylight – a visit to the
Blue can result in some great fly fishing memories and photographs
capturing a day of superb wintertime angling.
As long as you can get the rumbling sound out of your head of
semi-trucks noisily pounding the Interstate 70 pavement a few feet away
as the serpentine highway descends to the west of Eisenhower Tunnel.
And while a foot of fresh wintertime powder covers the nearby slopes of the Colorado high country.
But the height of ski season or not, it's worth the effort to visit
the Blue - and the other Colorado trout streams mentioned in this piece -
since some great fishing action awaits.
As long as your wife will let you pack the fly rod into the back of the Suburban, that is
