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June 20, 2015

July Outdoor World Fishing Tips

Tricks For Boating Bass

A trick to use in stained or muddy water or at night when bass can’t see as well is to use big lures that displace water and create good vibrations.

Another trick some fishermen use is to put a little more bend in the blade of a spinnerbait to make it throb more intensely and make more noise as it moves through the water.

Maybe the best trick I can give you, though, is to slow down your retrieve. Believe it or not, a slow moving bait will actually send out more heavy vibrations than a fast moving bait will.

The final trick is to use darker colored baits in low visibility situations. When their sight is restricted, dark colors stand out better. Actually, it is not the color that catches bass in these situations anyway; it is the vibration of the bait.

 

IMG_20150412_145511092Tips For Bagging Big Cats

Summertime is channel cat time across America. In lakes and reservoirs, fish flat areas in 18 to 25 feet of water using shad, shrimp, dough balls, cheese, prepared baits, nightcrawlers, and even that left over hot dog from lunch.

In rivers, try the same baits around undercut banks, old hollow logs, and even slack water. Ponds are also great places to catch channel cats. Give them some time to mouth the bait and pick it up before setting the hook.

My favorite part of channel cat fishing is eating them. Here’s my special recipe:

  • Cut filets into bite size pieces
  • Dunk them in milk
  • Coat with one of Bass Pro Shops Uncle Buck’s fish batters
  • Drop in 325 degree peanut oil until they’re good and crisp. Dip them in shrimp sauce for some outstanding eating.

 

Where's Walleye? Tips For Finding Their Summertime Hangouts

A walleye’s metabolism rises with the water temperature in summer and that means they need to eat more, not less.

Most walleye anglers use leeches and minnows on Lindy rigs in deeper water during this time of year. But, also try finding them where they are suspending with baitfish or prowling around on shallow reefs, weedbeds, shorelines, and points. These are all primary locations for catching walleyes in summer.

Using tactics you would use to catch bass will put you on active walleye quicker and help you put more of them in the boat during summer.

A plate full of hot, fried walleye will help make that summer cookout even better.

 

By Larry Whiteley, Host of the award winning Outdoor World Radio For more tips go to basspro.com and click on 1Source News & Tips

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May 07, 2015

Walleye fishing remains good at Sylvan Lake

Walleye_IDNR

A reduction in the number of walleyes stocked by DNR officials at Sylvan Lake in recent years has had little effect on the high quality of walleye fishing.

The 669-acre impoundment in Noble County remains one of the hottest walleye fishing spots in northern Indiana. According to DNR estimates, anglers caught 3,100 walleyes there last summer. Early catches this year are on track to match that figure.

Fishermen took home 550 legal-size walleyes (14 inches or larger) last year. The number was 40 fish shy of the harvest in 2007.

The DNR has stocked walleyes at Sylvan Lake each year since 2001. More than 100,000 walleye fingerlings were released through 2008 and 50,000 have been stocked since 2008.

The fish are purchased from a commercial hatchery in Wisconsin and measure 6-8 inches long when stocked. Because they are larger than walleyes typically stocked in Indiana lakes, their survival has been much better.

“Our initial goal was to flood the lake with walleyes,” said Jed Pearson, DNR biologist. “After that, we felt we could back off.”

Despite the 50 percent reduction in stocking rate, walleye numbers remain high.

Last fall, Pearson and his crew captured 60 walleyes per hour during sampling with an electrofishing boat. The catch rate was one of the highest in the state.

Walleyes that are no longer stocked in Sylvan Lake have been transferred to Clear Lake in Steuben County and Lake Maxinkuckee in Marshall County.

According to Pearson, anglers fished 39,000 total hours last year at Sylvan Lake, including 4,000 hours for walleyes. Anglers who specifically targeted walleyes caught them at the rate of one walleye per three hours of fishing.

The average harvested walleye measured 16 inches long but several longer than 22 inches were taken.

When anglers were asked to rate walleye fishing at Sylvan Lake, two-thirds described it as “good.”

Pearson said walleyes can be found throughout the lake, but seem concentrated in areas along the dam, near Boy Scout Island, and in Pit Basin. Anglers also routinely catch walleyes in the spillway below the dam.

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May 06, 2015

Lake Monroe Walleye Tagging Study

Tagging

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February 24, 2015

March Fishing Tips (Bass Pro Shops)

CP3Jerking for Crappie

Want to try something a little different when crappie fishing this spring? Try jerking for them. Jerking is a technique that’s been used in some parts of the country for quite a few years but is just now catching on in others.

Here’s how you do it. Rig a minnow or jig under a bobber, cast it around crappie cover, then move it with short, quick jerks every minute or two. Beneath the surface, your jerks make the bait dart erratically for a second and then flutter down, simulating a wounded baitfish, and that really excites a crappie.

When using this tactic, expect strikes to come within a few seconds of one of those quick jerks. The darting movement will get a big crappie’s attention, and the slow fluttering fall that immediately follows will be too much for them to resist.

 

Tips for Catching White Bass

One of America’s most popular gamefish is the white bass. The most exciting time to fish for them is during their annual spring spawning run up streams and rivers.

When water temperatures reach the low 50s, whites start moving upstream, out of the lakes and reservoirs, until they reach a dam or other obstacle that blocks their travel. Here they stack up and continually gorge themselves, waiting for the magic 55-degree mark to complete their spawn.

Hungry, aggressive white bass aren’t too picky about what they will eat, but 1/8- to 1/4-ounce curlytail or hair jigs are most popular, with in-line spinners coming in a close second. White is usually best, but chartreuse, yellow, pink, and other bright shades will work, too.

I like using a lightweight spinning reel on a 7-foot soft-tip rod with a stout butt and 4- to 6-pound test line. What I like most of all, though, is frying up a limit of these good-eating fish.

 

How Weather Affects Walleye Fishing

Spring thunderstorms will cause walleye to go deep or bury themselves in weeds. Big lake suspended schools of walleye may break up or move great distances during storms. Cold fronts can cause them to hibernate. Bright days on clear lakes can also shut them off. When any of this happens, head for the nearest walleye river because they aren’t affected as much by stormy weather.

The best times for walleye are when choppy conditions create current, diminish light penetration, and stir up shallow water causing baits to be more active. Windswept shorelines also will be especially good. A great time for big walleye is the three days before and after a new or full moon. When that happens, you need to be on the water.

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August 18, 2014

Bass Pro Shops September Fishing Tips

120719_0000September Crappie

Strategies September afternoons can be a great time to catch crappie. At this time of day, they begin to move to shallow areas to feed as the water cools.

Their bite will not be as aggressive in the fall as in the spring, so be sure and watch your line. As they get active and begin to chase bait, use small crankbaits.

Blakemore Road Runners or a white or chartreuse jig tipped with a chartreuse Berkley® crappie nibble are favorite baits among a lot of crappie anglers not only in September but throughout the year.

If you don’t find them in the shallow areas, try deep water around bridge pilings and wood docks or piers. These areas are usually covered with plankton, which attracts baitfish and thus crappie.

Depths of 15 to 20 feet in these areas would be best. If you see active bait, begin vertically jigging the area. The crappie will come up for the bait.

 

140713_0002Catch Walleye on Crankbaits

If you are trying to decide what bait to use in the fall for walleye, your best bait is to imitate their main prey, which are minnows. Crankbaits are great for this. Cast and retrieve a crankbait, or troll it behind the boat, but don’t let it move too fast.

Walleye are a little sluggish feeding in the fall as the water cools down. If walleye are suspended, cast or troll your crankbaits so they run at the same depth — or just above the depth — they are holding. If they are in shallow water, use a crankbait that dives a little deeper than the depth of water you’re fishing. This will cause the crankbait to root around, stirring up the bottom, and act in an erratic fashion as you retrieve it. This seems to stir the feeding instincts of walleye.

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June 02, 2014

Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World Tips (June)

OW_TipsSPRINGFIELD, Mo. —  Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World Tips presents free, seasonal how-to tips from Larry Whiteley, host of the award-winning Outdoor World Radio show. Each weekly tip offers practical advice to improve your skills.

Tips offered for June include:

  • How to Fish June Bass:  Bass enjoy cooler temperatures so grassy areas or the moving waters of a nice river or stream may prove successful during the hot summer months.
  • Walleye Hot Spots:  Fishing for walleye in the summer months is all about location, location, location. If the walleye just aren’t biting, they likely are not there so move to a new spot and keep trying.  Adapting and persistence are key elements to finding walleye hot spots.
  • Crappie Lure colors: Think crappies only like bright colors?  There are many schools of thought on the best lures to catch crappie fish but some suggest bringing all your lures and mixing it up for the most success.
  • Game Camera Set Ups:  Game cameras aren’t just for hunters anymore. They can be used for everything from wildlife photography to home security if set up right. Learn more about the many creative opportunities to use a game camera and capture one-of-a-kind images.
  • Secrets of Night Bass Fishing: A bass exploding out of the water in the dark of night to gobble up the perfect lure you’ve selected is an experience of a lifetime. Get advice on how to make the perfect lure choice for bass fishing at night.

See the attached document for all of this month’s tips or visit http://www.basspro.com/ and click on 1Source New & Tips.

 

  • Download June 2014 Outdoor World Tips

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April 28, 2014

IDNR Brookville Walleye Video

If you've been out to Brookville Res. this past month, then you've seen IDNR personnel running around near the dam. Here's what they've been doing, courtesy of Tyler Delauder, Assistant Fisheries Biologist at Indiana Department of Natural Resources.

 

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April 17, 2014

Fish Biologist + GoPro = ???

What happens when you let a fisheries biologist take his GoPro camera to work? You get a cool 'behind-the-scenes' look at the state's walleye collection efforts. This is from Kansas just a week or so ago, but the exact same procedure has been carried out over at Brookville Res. the past couple weeks, the lake that supplies all the walleye broodstock for Indiana waters.

 

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February 14, 2014

BPS March Outdoor Tips

1HOTSPOTS

If you learn the hotspots where bass seek optimum habitat in which to deposit their eggs, you’ll catch more bass than the average angler.

Back ends of creeks and coves are always good places to start and they are usually always good when situated along northern banks that receive plenty of sun.

If your favorite lake has lily pads, remember that they are not just great bass cover but they commonly spawn on the roots of the pads.

Shallow flats and points that grow thick with aquatic vegetation can be good if there are open areas that bass can use for nesting sites.

Look for pea-gravel bottoms usually found in creek arms and coves on the lower or deeper ends of reservoirs. Bass love to spawn in these areas.

Spring rains often flood shoreline bushes that were high and dry during the winter drawdown. The firm bottom and protective cover attract spawning bass.

Stacey King is a Member of the Bass Pro Shops® National Fishing Team


3PRESENTATION

Presentation is a key element in fishing a cold front because of the way fish respond to the weather change. They tend to move close to cover and stay there, which means that their strike zone is much smaller than normal. You have to adapt to that change and concentrate on presentation to be effective.

You also may have to develop a "presentation pattern" to enjoy a full day of success. Keep track of where cold front fish are hitting your baits – on the deeper side of a flooded brushpile, for example – and concentrate on making casts to those kinds of spots.

You'll stop wasting time and start catching fish more often.

Also remember that simplicity is a key to consistent fishing success.

Keep things as simple as possible by sticking to the things you do best.

Kevin VanDam is a Member of the Bass Pro Shops® National Fishing Team


4WALLEYE SPOONS

Spoons are sometimes overlooked as walleye baits, although they can be very effective – especially when fish are using weedbeds in water 10 feet deep or shallower.

When fishing areas like this for walleyes, try casting a spoon and fishing it as if you were after a bass. Vary your retrieve, pausing often to let the spoon flutter down like a wounded baitfish.

Many anglers use a snap or snap-swivel to attach spoons to their line, which assures that the lure will move through the water with maximum action.

Experiment with lure size and retrieve until you start catching fish. Then concentrate on consistency to "spoon feed" more walleyes on your next trip.

Gary Parsons is a Member of the Bass Pro Shops® National Team

For more tips, log onto basspro.com and click on News & Tips

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January 03, 2014

Got Input? Fishery Rule Changes

DFW

For those that haven't seen it yet, IDNR is proposing a variety of possible rule changes that cover most anglers in the state in one form or another. Here is a short list of the more interesting items, including making the 3 hook ("A-Rig") rule permanent:

  • Number of Hooks: Allow 3 hooks to be used on a sport fishing line instead of 2 and clarify that Alabama rigs and other similar devices can be used with no more than 3 hooks that have live bait or 3 artificial lures, or a combination of both. This is currently authorized by temporary rule and a permanent rule is needed.
  • Dogwood Lake (Daviess County) largemouth bass size limit: Change the size limit for this lake back to the statewide 14 inch minimum size limit (it is 15 now).
  • Kunkel Lake (Wells County) largemouth bass limit: Allow only 2 largemouth bass to be taken per day and be at least 18 inches long.
  • Crappie size limit at Dogwood Lake and Hardy Lake: Add a new 9 inch minimum size requirement to harvest crappie at these two lakes.
  • Muskie size limit change on Lake Webster, Backwater Lake, and Kiser Lake in Kosciusko County: Change the size limit from 36 inch to 44 inches for muskellunge and tiger muskellunge on these 3 lakes.
  • Walleye/Sauger/Saugeye: Establish a 16” size limit for walleye north of State Road 26 on all public waters (lakes, impoundments, rivers, and Lake Michigan) with the exception of these 5 lakes: Lake George (Steuben County), Bass Lake (Starke County), Simonton Lake (Elkhart County), Wolf Lake (Lake County), and Wall Lake (Steuben County).

        - Eliminate the minimum size limit for saugeye on all waters statewide, except for Huntingburg Lake (Dubois Co.) and Sullivan Lake (Sullivan Co.).

        - Add sauger to the aggregate bag limit for walleye and saugeye (does not include the Ohio River).

  • Sunfish: Establish a statewide daily bag limit of 25 (in aggregate) for all species of sunfish (includes species such as bluegill, redear, warmouth, pumpkinseed, green sunfish, and others).
  • Catfish (both sport and commercial fishing): Increase the minimum size limit on channel catfish, flathead catfish, and blue catfish from 10 inches to 13 inches on rivers and streams statewide, except on the Ohio River;

        - Allow not more than 1 channel catfish to be taken per day that is 28 inches in total length or longer in lakes and streams statewide;

        - Allow not more than 1 flathead and 1 blue catfish to be taken per day that is 35 inches in total length or longer in lakes and streams statewide.

They are accepting comments either in 'support of' or 'opposed to' from now through Feb. 28. Go to the following IDNR webpage to make sure your input is heard. Once there, click on the PDF link for "DNR, Division of Fish & Wildlife Issues" to read all proposals. You will then need to register by creating a username and password (just like most fishing forums) in order to comment online.

This is your chance to express your opinion one way or the other and be part of the process to possibly change fishing regs in the state this go-round.

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