Innholdsfortegnelse for September - October 2017 i Bassmaster

Split-belly swimbaits are a productive lure when bass are feeding on shad. However, some fish will short-strike the bait or nip at the tail, which leads to frustration and an empty livewell. Elite Series pro Russ Lane has devised a clever rigging tip to catch these fish. Here’s how he does it. 1 Push a coffee stirrer through the nose of the bait until it reaches the split cavity. 2 Cut off the stirrer flush with the nose of the swimbait. 3 Slide your line through the hole in the stirrer. 4 Add a small tungsten weight, bottom side first, to the line. “This prevents the hook from pulling through the nose of the bait,” Lane says. Pick your weight size based on the depth you are fishing. 5 Tie…

Todd Faircloth Hometown: Jasper, Texas Age: 42 When did you know you wanted to be a pro angler? (Laughs) Good question. You know, I always thought it would be great to do for a living, but I wasn’t sure it was the right decision. Before I qualified for the Top 150s, I was fishing at home and having fun. It’s such a huge commitment and investment. I had a stable lifestyle, and there’s just a risk factor. Now, I’m glad I decided to do it. When did you know you’d made the right decision? Probably three or four years into it, I felt like I could make it. It’s such a far-fetched deal. I can say, “I’m going to do that.” But there are so many variables — financial, travel,…

A lawsuit by Des Moines Water Works that charged agricultural runoff should be regulated as point-source pollution by the federal Clean Water Act has been dismissed. | Two Tennessee men were charged with wildlife violations after they were caught with 35 smallmouth bass and three largemouth from Yellow Creek in Tennessee. The state limit for black bass is five. | The Utah Division of Wildlife Resources has liberalized limits on bass in two of its waterways. At 1,680-acre Pelican Lake, anglers can keep 12 bass and as many bluegill as they catch until October.…

70,239 Pounds of Asian carp removed by commercial fishermen under contract with the Illinois Department of Natural Resources during a three-week-long effort on the Starved Rock and Marseilles pools of the Illinois River this past spring. (That weight total is more than a railroad boxcar but slightly less than a fire truck.) 9.4 billion gallons of potentially polluted water pumped from a Palm Beach County, Fla., reservoir into Lake Okeechobee from June 24 to July 5, part of an emergency effort by the South Florida Water Management District to alleviate rising water after heavy spring rainfall. (That’s enough water to fill more than 14,000 Olympic-size swimming pools or to meet Fort Lauderdale’s public water needs for more than six months.) $350,000 Amount raised for Wolfson Children’s Hospital in Jacksonville, Fla.,…

U.S. Army veteran Jason Galvin was on his way home from buying minnows for a fishing trip when he noticed a young bald eagle dangling upside down, entangled in twine and suspended about 75 feet up a large pine tree. After driving 5 miles to his cabin on Minnesota’s East Rush Lake and telling his wife about the bird’s plight, Galvin used a borrowed .22 rifle to free the eagle by shooting through the tree branch and twine. Galvin’s wife called state wildlife officials and local law enforcement officers, who said they knew about the bird but couldn’t reach it because of the height of the tree, according to a report in the Minneapolis Star Tribune. So Galvin borrowed a .22 rifle from a neighbor and went to work. He…

Boat Thefts Law enforcement agencies and boat industry representatives warned boat owners this past summer about an uptick in boat thefts that authorities say are the result of organized crime. The thefts started along the East Coast’s Interstate 95 corridor — one Virginia marina reported six 600-pound engines were stolen in one theft — but they soon spread to other parts of the country. The thieves were targeting boat dealerships, storage facilities and marinas and were drawing the attention of a new working group of federal, state and local law enforcement officials. Great Lakes Water Levels A wet spring raised Great Lakes water levels to their highest marks in two decades. Following several years of unusually low water in the lakes, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ forecast predicted…

Congratulations to the newest members of the Bassmaster Lunker Club™. Membership in the club is free and open to any B.A.S.S. member who catches a largemouth bass weighing 10 pounds or more, a spotted bass weighing 5 pounds or more, or a smallmouth bass weighing 6 pounds or more, from Jan. 1, 2016, to the present. New Lunker Club members will receive an official certificate with holder and a Minn Kota hat. To request an application, write to editorial@bassmaster.com or B.A.S.S., The Lunker Club, 3500 Blue Lake Drive, Suite 330, Birmingham, AL 35243. A photo documenting the catch must be provided, along with the length and girth of the bass. Only suitable photos will be published in Bassmaster Magazine. We will only accept entries for bass that…

The Bass Fishing Hall of Fame will open to the public as a key feature inside the Wonders of Wildlife. BASS FISHING HAS been very, very good to Johnny Morris. As a young man, he launched a promising career as a professional bass angler on the B.A.S.S. Tournament Trail, qualifying for five consecutive Bassmaster Classics and ranking fourth in the Bassmaster Angler of the Year race one year. The 1976 Classic Press Guide identified the 28-year-old Morris as “a fishing bachelor and very active businessman in the sporting goods industry.” By that time, his Bass Pro Shops fishing tackle store was just four years old but beginning to take off. According to company lore, whenever Morris discovered great, locally made lures during his tournament travels, he would take some back…

I was a little disheartened by the response from my state’s delegation to our plea for support for the Modern Fish Act. WHEN THE PROTESTERS entered the room, it was awkward. I was dressed in my Sunday’s best, hoping to fit in with the Washington D.C. crowd. My pants were khaki, but still made of denim, so I’m pretty sure I failed that litmus test. Luckily, the protesters were in shorts, T-shirts and smelling like it was 100 degrees outside, so my fashion standing immediately improved. I was about to meet with Sen. Luther Strange of Alabama to discuss upcoming legislation that would be a boost for recreational fishermen. Little did I know these visitors would offer the most valuable lesson during my trip to Capitol Hill.   “Mic check!”…

Getting back aboard a capsized kayak is fairly easy but not completely intuitive. You need to have a plan and — ideally — go out and practice. Throughout the process, keep your center of gravity low and in the middle of the kayak as much as possible. 1 Have a stirrup strap ready to help right the kayak (we showed how to make one in the July/August issue). 2 Once the kayak is right-side-up, place a foot in a stirrup, reach across and grab the far side. 3 With one motion, slide yourself across the yak, pulling with your arms, pushing with your legs and lying belly down on top so your weight is centered and evenly distributed. 4 Carefully roll to your back while twisting at the hips and…

TOURNAMENT ANGLERS have been known to argue over fishing spots, but a June dispute over a Louisiana bank-fishing spot ended with one man in jail and another facing a fine and possible jail time. According to NOLA.com, Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries agents and Sabine Parish Sheriff’s Office deputies were dispatched to an area near Kite’s Landing on Toledo Bend Reservoir after 911 calls from Dean Bullara, 56, of Opelousas, La., and Donald Johnson, 48, of DeRidder, La. Agents said they learned Johnson and his wife were fishing the area when Bullara pulled up and demanded the couple leave. Johnson told authorities he felt threatened by Bullara and pulled out a handgun. Deputies arrested Johnson for aggravated assault with a firearm — a charge that carries penalties up to…

“Do not tell fish stories where the people know you. Particularly, don’t tell them where they know the fish.” Mark Twain Noted kayak angler Bill Schultz of New Berlin, Wis., has an affinity for smallmouth bass, a passion that he proved when he recently surpassed 20,000 smallies caught over the past two decades. Schultz reported the milestone in a news release this past summer, saying he has kept detailed records of his fishing trips and the number of fish caught for the past 23 years. “Over the years, I’ve been around many athletes who keep a log of their activities,” he said. “While swimming at the University of Wisconsin, I kept a log of the yardage in practice sessions, and during my 45-year racquetball career, I kept a log of…

The eyes of the bass fishing world will focus on this northern Minnesota hamlet when the Bassmaster Classic Bracket tournament takes place Sept. 19-22. The uniquely formatted event will give the first eight Elite Series anglers who missed the Classic cut one more chance to punch a ticket to the 2018 Bassmaster Classic. Pokegama Lake This 6 600 -acre lake will play host to the , Classic Bracket tournament. Pokegama is a Native American word meaning “many fingers.” Chippewa National Forest The first national forest east of the Mississippi River was established in 1908 and features more lakes and wetlands than any other national forest. It’s in Minnesota’s Nature It’s hard not to dig a place with a tourism slogan like this.…

“By switching the line size and holding my rod at different angles, I can take this bait from 2 feet to 7 feet.”— Elite Series pro Matt Lee DIY FISHFINDERWhat is the best way to find cover and other deep-water spots that may hold bass if you don’t have a fishfinder?@Saving_private_ryan115, Instagram Elite Series pro Brian Snowden Tie on a Carolina rig. I’d use a 3/4-ounce weight, which will drop about a foot and a half per second, and count it down to get a decent idea of the depth. Use a tungsten weight and braid main line and drag it around. This setup will tell you if there is gravel or boulders or trees or stumps. Once you identify the depth and type of structure, you can switch to…

Minnesota is known for its lakes and fishing, harboring largemouth and smallmouth bass and a host of other sport-fish, like walleye, muskellunge and northern pike. But a father-son fishing trip last spring yielded something completely different and bizarre. The Minneapolis Star-Tribune reported that Joe Piskel, 59, landed a largely intact shark jawbone while fishing with his son Joey, 32, on the Mississippi River near Grand Rapids. “When we saw it coming up, we had no idea what it was,” Joey said. “We thought it was a sheep skull or cow jaw until we saw the teeth.” A Minnesota Department of Natural Resources fisheries biologist identified the 9- to 10-inch jawbone as being from a sand tiger shark, a saltwater species that can’t survive in freshwater. Pictures of the jawbone on…

Bass Pro Shops Northern Open No. 3, Douglas Lake Dandridge, Tenn., Sept. 7-9 Toyota Bassmaster Angler of the Year Championship Mille Lacs Lake, Mille Lacs, Minn., Sept. 14-17 Bassmaster Classic Bracket Pokegama Lake, Grand Rapids, Mich., Sept. 19-22 Bass Pro Shops Southern Open No. 3 Smith Lake, Jasper, Ala., Sept. 28-30 Bass Pro Shops Central Open No. 3 Grand Lake O’ the Cherokees, Grove, Okla., Oct. 5-7 Academy Sports + Outdoors B.A.S.S. Nation Championship presented by Magellan Outdoors Lake Hartwell, Anderson, S.C., Oct. 19-21…

The inaugural Pearl River Clean Sweep is seeking volunteers to help remove litter along the river’s entire 444-mile length as part of a large-scale, anti-littering initiative called Take2Miss. Teams of volunteers will descend on the river Sept. 23, from its headwaters in Neshoba County, downriver through Ross Barnett Reservoir, along the Mississippi-Louisiana border, and all the way to the Gulf Coast. Plans call for watercraft and land-based crews to deploy along as much of the river as crews can cover. The event has its roots in a smaller Pearl River cleanup that was launched six years ago by Jessica Gauley, the owner of Honey Island Kayak Tours on the lower Pearl. Gauley has joined forces with Take2Miss, a social media campaign to raise awareness about littering and the prevalence of…

A new rule was signed into Canadian law in June, simplifying the process for U.S. boaters and anglers who cross over to the Canadian side of shared U.S.-Canadian waterways like the St. Lawrence River, the Niagara River and the Great Lakes. Under the new law, American boaters and anglers who don’t anchor their vessel or set foot on Canadian soil will not have to report to Canadian Customs. The measure also exempts Canadian boaters from being required to report to their country’s customs officials when they return from U.S. waters if they didn’t anchor or set foot on U.S. soil. The legislation stems from a 2011 incident involving New Yorker Roy Andersen, who was fishing on the Canadian side of the Gananoque Narrows in the Thousand Islands area when Canadian…

There are few techniques in the world of bass fishing that are more intimidating than punching a soft plastic bait through intensely thick vegetation. The weight has to be gargantuan. The bait has to be small. The bites are infrequent. And when you do hook a fish, it is very difficult to pull it out of the grass. Still, you can catch the biggest bass of your life if you commit to the effort. Elite Series pro Chris Lane knows this, and owes his bass fishing career to the technique. Follow his advice on narrowing down vast acres of matted green stuff to identify small concentrations of fish, and punching may well become your go-to method for catching lunker bass. IT ISN’T OFTEN that a single bass defines an angler’s…