I know a lot of out there do not consider fishing for jack salmon, dore, pike-perch. Better known as Walleye but that is because the Walleye is not really a know fish by most. It is a very difficult fish to catch unless you know about it as most know about bass. So here I am going to see if I can give you some incite on a relatively easy fish to catch once you know where and when the best time to go on the hunt.
First, Walleye are not blind though their eyes makes one to believe they are but their eyes are opaque so that they can see in low light which gives them advantage over their pray in low light, dark nights and cloudy days as well as windy days. They shirk away from bright light and are more active at night. Now that does not mean that you can’t caught them during the day. You just need to use the weather to your advantage. Cloudy, windy and low light day or evening and of coarse at night. The wind will diffuse the light rays and make Walleye more active during the day.
Walleyes do not like dense vegetation, muddy bottoms or lose sand. So what do they like, open bottom with rocks, gravel or firm sand as long as they are not in spawn and love current. When the Walleye spawn the males enter spawning area first followed by the female and are found schooling. The female swim over the spawning area dropping the eggs and the males impregnating the eggs and the eggs drop to the bottom to settle where they may and both the male and female leave the eggs unprotected. This is a good time to catch Walleyes as they are in schools and they are hungry. The spawn begins when the water warms to 45 to 50 degress. If you find a current you will most likely find Walleye.
You can use live minnows or artificial bait, artificial bait that is fluorescent or bright in color is best, or a combinations of both. Just remember that Walleye are bottom feeders so you must get down to the bottom or close to it to get them.
I hope that you give Walleyes a try this spring.
Happy fishing and be save,
William
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If most of you are like me, you are interested in having the lates and best technology that is available. Am I right? OK, read on as this article my change some of your thinking when it comes to fishing and catch and release. There have been some biologists studying different species and have come up with some pretty interesting assumptions to prudent questions. So let us take a look at their findings.
Dose fishing pressure make fish more difficult to catch? (Rainbow Trout)
Test setup was this: three lakes were chosen and net sample was taken for each and the fisher were tagged and released
Three anglers were setup with the same gear
First lake was fished everyday for fours hours for thirty days and the trout were released within the hour - result were, first five days catch rate was 16 trout per day however the catch rate declined rapidly to 5 trout per day by day 15. The other two lakes were fished once for one hour. So you can see that the heavier fished lake produced less catch rate. So what can you do to change your catch rate with smart fish? Change the bait!!!!!
Are your chances of fishing success better in a lake that contains a lot of fish or fewer fish?(Walleye)
This study was done on Oneida Lake in New York and on 215 lakes across Ontario. Their findings here delete with not only fish population but also growth rate and abundance of prey. In the study in New York your catch is greater when the prey abundance is lower. In Ontario it also had to with prey but with the added twist that 60 of the lakes had no ciscoes but had yellow perch the other 155 had both prey. So what to do, fish lakes with low population of prey but with ciscoes and lower population of Walleye will produce trophy Walleye.
So that is how science and technology put together can solve your catch rate.
Lets go fishing,
William
P.S. By the way, while you are on my site please feel free to check out my shopping page. There are 50 stores from which to buy and window shop from. There are items from books, printing needs to jewelry. It also includes Home Depot for all your shopping needs.
I came across a term that I had not heard before and that is “speed worming or swimming worms”. This is a tactic used by some pro’s to fill a niche when lures just don’t produce. There are number of ways to swimming worms so lets take a look at some.
Top Water Swimming
Take a 7 inch heavy weight Thumping Worm and Texas rig it. This type of worm is heavy enough that you can case it without extra weight and it will glide across the surface like a mini buzzbait and you do not have the trouble of snagging as much in cover. You will also want to use a wide gap worm hook. This works good for heavy fishing pressure.
Under Surface Swimming
Take a 6 to 8 inch soft plastic ribbontail worm and Texas rig it. You will also want to add weight, oh 3/16-ounce bullet sinker works will for depth to 5 feet. Of coarse for more depth you will need to add more weight. You will want to use a wide offset hook. You would use this setup when you know where the fish are but you can’t get them to bite other ways. You want to slowly drag the worm across the bottom to get the wary fish to hit.
Submerged Grass
Take a 10 inch ribbontail worm and Texas rig it and add 1/4 to 5/16 ounce bullet sinker. With this type of rigging you will be able to work the grass a lot better than with lures as it will just glide over the grass and the larger worm is what the big boys are looking for. This works best in late spring early summer as that is when the grass is most lush and fairly tall. You all know that where there is one in the grass there are more sow keep hitting the same spot.
Try these methods next time that are having problems getting the big boys to bite. It might surprise you.
I was wondering if there is any fishing equipment that would be save for the environment, so I thought I would see if I could find some. I came across a non-profit organization called S.A.F.E. (Sustaining Angling, Fish and Ecosystems) dose have a kit in a tackle box for $14.99. They can be purchased on line at www.greentackle.com, www.redrockwildernessstore.com and at a few local sporting goods stores in St. Paul and Ely, Minnesota, Lincoln,Nebraska and Council Bluffs, Iowa, also the sale of these kits go to Stewardship Ethic though the non-profit group Recycled Fish. These groups are working hard to insure that fishing will be there for future generation.
Why use S.A.F.E. gear?
Fisherman are creating problems for other species who use the water ways. When we barack a line that has lead weight is lost in the water and believe it or Loons, Swans, Ducks and Geese find them and eat them. Once that happens, the foul will die from lead poisoning. Studies have shown that 25% to 50% of dead Loons is from lead poisoning. When Eagles catch fish and eat them can also inquest lead that maybe inside the fish and also die of poisoning.
Traditional soft plastic lures do not degrade and can be ingested by fish and cause a blockage that will end up killing the fish. Some 20 million pounds of plastic end up in the water supply every year due to plastic lures.
What is in the tackle box?
There are lead-free sinkers and lures, biodegradable molded lures and floats, circle hooks and cam-action single hooks.
I know that most of us do not use this type of gear and I am not saying that we should but I had not heard if there are environmental gear and I do not believe it is readly avalible in all areas.
Democrats and Republicans may agree quicker than the Elite Series anglers about the legality of the Alabama Rig. Last fall pro Paul Elias used thee rig to win the FLW on Lake Guntersville. The rig mimics a school of baitfish with fantastic success. The success of the rig has generated considerable discussion about whether it should be permitted in bass tournaments. Some comments from the pro’s in B.A.S.S. have been: Paul Elias said “this has not been fished enough in the professional competitions to say if it should be banned or not.” Jeff Kreit said: ”it should not be allowed in B.A.S.S. sanctioned events.” Kevin Short: “while it is fun to fish, it has no place in tournaments.” Rick Clunn: “ethically, we need to wait and watch and not jump to conclusions.”
So B.A.S.S. on January 17 announced that it amended its rules to limit anglers competing in the Bassmaster Classic and the Elite Series to a single lure during practice and competition. This clarifies the long standing rule permitting only one rod, one reel and one cast at a time. They said that it would take effect February 1. Of course the discussion continues with points being made that there could be more fouled hooks, injured fish and add to post-release mortality.
So what is your opinion of the Alabama Rig being allowed in tournaments? My opinion is, I do not know why pro’s would want to use the rig. These guys are the best of the best when it comes to finding and catching the most pounds in a set time and when you use multi hooks on one cast where is the sport? If they were fishing commercially I could understand but they are not. So leave the pro’s to the sport and everyone else to fish the way the laws in their state permits.
Time is coming close to thinking of getting things ready for the early spring, going after Crappie. Most fishers will have forget this time of year for fishing for slabs and pan fish because of the unpredictable weather and water conditions. That could be your biggest mistake in missing some great fishing. Let’s take a look at why some decide not to in this time of year. The top problem that most see is the water conditions, water to clear, to muddy or to dingy. Let us see if we can give you some help to look past these condition and get out there and have fun and give you some proven plans for catching crappies under these conditions.
Clear Water
When you have clear try going with ultra-light tackle and 2 pound test line. The ultra thin line is practically invisible to the fish. Also you you will have to fish deeper to find the crappie. you can exspect the fish to be in the 10 to 15 foot range and as far as 22 feet. You can also troll with live minnow but keep the bait behind the boat about 75 feet as the Crappie are going to be spooky.
Muddy Water
Muddy water can be the most difficult problem to over come but us need to remember you will have to change your method to produce fish. In muddy condition, Crappie will be holding near or even in weeds, rocks, logs and ledges. The method best to use is minnows and straight line. Really bump the minnows into the cover. Give scent a try in muddy water. You have to get the Crappie to notice your bait to get them to bit.
Dingy Water
This sitution is not as dramatic as Clear and Muddy Water situations. You just have to adjust to the condition. Go with trolling with minnows but you canshorten the amount feet behind the boat to about 40 feet. If water temperature is above the magical 50 degree mark you will want to troll between 0.7 to 0.9 miles per hour and if the temperature is below 50 degress you want to slow down to 0.5 miles per hour. You will want to fish along creek and channel ledges with scattered cover or if on deep lake look for points with stumps.
So don’t miss out on getting those big Early Spring time Crappies just because of water conditions. Just remeber that you have to adjust to the condition and you to will be able to catch those Crappie.
Let’s go fishing and be save.
William
P.S. By the way, while you are on my site please feel free to check out my shopping page. There are 50 stores from which to buy and window shop from. There are items from books, printing needs to jewelry. It also includes Home Depot for all your shopping needs.
Just as the seasons come and go so do the rivers and streams change their course. Rivers and streams can change an old established fishing hole into nothing more than a mud bank depending on the snow melt or flooding or any of a multitude of natural occurrence that will change the course of a waterway. Each year our waterways change course and will create new and different places for the fish to lay while making their trek up or down stream. Change of waterways occurs mainly in the rivers and streams, lakes and oceans can also experience changes that will cause the fish to stay in new areas. Rivers and streams are more predominately affected by floods and glacier run off and with an increasing water flow can change
completely eliminating old fishing spots all the while adding new holes that will provide lots of action for the sports fisherman. The change of rivers and streams provide a constant challenge to those that favor fishing there with finding new opportunities as well as revisiting old spots that still exist on the waterway. With this challenge each year thousands of fishing enthusiast take to the rivers and streams to see what is in store for them prepared to take Mother Nature’s challenge and try to win in the game of fishing. No matter what the odds with rod and reel in hand the mighty angler seeks his fortune of fish while battling the changes nature has placed against him.
PS: We have added a donate button to the page for those of you who may wish to donate to the site. It is located at the top of the page. We thank you.
In the world of fishing there are many things you cannot practice but the one thing that can be practiced is the art of casting. Anyone who has spent any time with a rod and reel are well aware that proper casting is truly an art form. Learning how much weight needs to be on your line to get a cast where you want it, what ones rod and reel are capable of are both valuable lessons that can be gained from practicing casting. Probably the biggest advantage to practicing casting is learning how to pinpoint your cast and make the lure or bait fall exactly where you want it to go. Fly fishermen practice casting to get their timing down and a memorable scene from the movie “A River Runs Through It” shows a father teaching his two sons how to practice fly casting on a timing system. Casting is very important in almost every type of fishing and the better the ability to cast the better your fishing results should be. Learning to cast out overhead, side arm from the right and from the left side of one’s body will become invaluable as you continue your fishing journeys. Learning to cast far as well as spot casting can make the difference in being skunked (not catching any fish) or getting your limit and as long as the fish are there and your using the right bait casting is an extremely crucial skill to master to enjoy fishing.
I got an other story from my early years of fishing. Do any of you have a young brother or sister that seemed to come up with ideas that sounded good but turned out not so good and you being the oldest, you get the idea. Well, I had a brother who was two years and ten months younger than me and to this day, I still do not know why I let him talk me into going into the inlet of the lake that our folks own a place on. OK, so this is how the day started. We up and one the lake by 6 AM and where having pretty good until about 10 AM when the fish just quit biting so we decided to go in for a bite to eat before heading to our spot that we fished when this would happen. After lunch, we decided to head across the lake to our spot. We were there about an hour and nothing was happening so my brother decided that we need to move to an other spot that was over close to the inlet. So we stopped at that spot and fished for about a half hour and nothing. My brother started to get antsy and he said to me, “You know, now would be the time to try out the inlet like we have been talking about doing.” I thought OK nothing happening on the lake maybe we should just try it since we are right here. So up anchor, and away we went with me at the ores, we did not have a motor, rowing up this lily pad lock water way. The brother was in the front of the watching to make sure we did not hit something and put a hole in the boat. After a lot of work we got to a hole in the pads and decided to see what we could catch and the day being what it was, nothing. So I said lets go so we can eat before we come back out to fly fish a little after 5 PM. We always had good luck for pan fish in the evening. So I rowed us back out of the inlet onto the main lake where my brother took over to row us back to the trailer. We were about to the pier when I heard something behind us. I realized that it was snake and had plains of joining us in the boat which I did not think was a good idea. So I told my brother to move and I replaced him at the orrs and rowed as fast as I could.I just got to the pier when in the boat came the snake and out of the boat we went and up to the trailer.We waited awhile before go back to the boat to see if the snake was gone, it was. Let me tell you that was first and last time we thought about getting off the main lake.
For the fisherman who wants to spend his time in fresh water the ability to cast is as important as what one uses for bait. Although most salt water fishing is done without casting there are several times that casting comes into play such as surf casting, fishing off a jetty or even casting out a plug out from a boat. If one is casting in a river the proper way to cast for the most part is upstream allowing the bait or lure to drift down into a hole where the fish are laying. There are some instances where one might cast directly across from them but in most cases one should always cast upstream and allow the line to work its way through the water until it goes below you and starts coming into the bank. The proper weight on the line plays an important role not only getting the bait or lure down in the water but also preventing the line from going too fast down the river or stream. Another role the weight plays is that without weight it is hard to get the proper cast because the line and lure alone are not heavy enough to get your gear where it needs to be in the water. Proper casting is an art and even more so with fly fishing which operates on a completely different system than regular river and lake casting. For the angler practicing one’s ability to cast is extremely important to their fishing success.
