Innholdsfortegnelse for April 2014 i Bassmaster

“Everyone is looking for the fish ... what I tend to do is look for pieces of the fish.”— Elite Series pro Jared Lintner WITH DROUGHT, LOOK DEEP In California during drought conditions, lake levels are extremely low. This impacts the fish’s mood drastically. Where would you go to find fish in this type of condition? Mark Owen, California Elite Series pro Ish Monroe The conditions have just recently changed. It’s been raining for about a month there, so the lakes have come up substantially. When the water is rising, the fish will be shallow. They will follow it up because there will be cover there that hasn’t been there before. In previous drought conditions, you would look for any deep-water access because the fish don’t want to be trapped.…

Can’t buy this on the road: Short’s favorite food is KFC, but in this case that refers to his wife Kerry’s fried chicken. Must See TV: Big Bang Theory If you could only fish one body of water it would be? “Bull Shoals Lake. There’s a lot of variety there, and you can catch all three species of bass.” If you were a bass, which species would you be? “I’d probably be a spotted bass. They’re pretty laid back but always busy. They’re always moving around, but they’re not spastic like a smallmouth. They’re always looking for that next shad or crawfish, but when you hook into one, it gets super pissed off.”…

Conservation and bass fishing news A positive DNA sample for silver carp was found in Sturgeon Bay this past summer by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. Thus, Lake Michigan now joins Lake Erie as a fishery where Asian carp DNA has been discovered. The Dock Disk reportedly keeps docks and boats free of mussels with proprietary substances that repel both quagga and zebra mussels. Two years into a three-year stocking program, Back River, an estuarine inlet of the Chesapeake Bay, is seeing an increase in numbers and size, according to the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries.…

A Pennsylvania angler loved fishing so much that his family paid tribute by having the angler carried from his funeral service to the grave in a johnboat. Ronald Bloss Sr., 78, of Mount Wolf, Pa., died in January. He had heard of an avid angler being carried to the grave in a favorite boat and often spoke of the idea with his family. “That’s what Dad really wanted,” daughter Tina Rohrbaugh told the York Daily Record. “It was like him going fishing, going for that last ride.”…

The IGFA has approved other species as world records that were hatchery raised, then released where they could be easily caught. WHAT IS A world record? This seems like a pretty simple question to answer. The biggest or fastest or longest wins. Period. To the bass fishing community, however, the water surrounding this topic is muddy enough to create a heated debate. Specifically, the idea of a person growing a bass to top Manabu Kurita’s 22-5 (caught from Japan’s Lake Biwa in 2009) raises eyebrows from anglers who believe that the fish should come from public water and should have grown to world record proportions naturally. These folks likely will take exception to the feature on page 42, “Building The World Record.” Not to spoil the content of that story,…

Weather Apps These mobile device applications will keep you up to speed on what’s happening in the skies while you’re out on the water. My Radar For a look at radar imagery, this easy-to-use application displays animated weather radar for your current location. It also includes layers with satellite imagery for cloud cover and current temperatures. Weather warnings and alerts can be adjusted in the settings; push notifications will keep you abreast of the latest severe weather alerts. ScoutLook Weather FishLog This mobile app helps fishermen track weather conditions for their current or saved locations. With contrasting colors for easy visibility in direct sunlight, this tool is as useful on land as it is on the water. Get weather conditions, solunar information and DriftPoint, a wind mapping tool, so you…

Multitools They’re knives, pliers, screwdrivers and can openers – all in one. Many models now cater specifically to the angling crowd, so you also can trim jig and spinnerbait skirts, tune crankbaits and sharpen hooks. Berkley Fishing Multitool It’s made of corrosion-resistant stainless steel and is spring-loaded for one-hand use. Tools include needlenose pliers, crimper, hook file with V groove, wire cutter, jig-eye cleaner, crankbait tuner, 2-inch ruler, scissors, fish scaler and Phillips/ flat-head screwdrivers. www.berkley-fishing.com; $19.99 Gerber Diesel Multi-plier Stainless struction is backed by a limited lifetime warranty. Tools include needle-nose pliers, wire cutter, partially serrated knife blade, cross-point screwdriver, various sizes of flat-head screwdrivers, can opener, bottle opener, file, saw and scissors. www.gerbergear.com; $74 Buck Knives Splizzors Long-nosed ers help with deep hook removal. Scissors have micro…

@BASS_nation thank you so much for making my day! I love reading Bassmaster :) @Dturcott27 This is how we get thru the off season here in Canada @BASS_nation @RTDfishing The new @BASS_nation magazine is my excuse for not doing my homework @WatsonTy @BASS_nation really enjoyed your March issue. Covers a lot [of] ground with great detail. Appreciate your effort! @kramey24 The new @BASS_ nation magazine is the best yet @Kevin_Kolesar…

BASS TOURNAMENTS ALWAYS write their own stories. The pros, of course, add their various chapters, but no matter how spectacular the lake or how much the anglers plan their strategies, the tournament still creates its own script, and usually several of them. This seems to be most true during the Bassmaster Classic, which, because it is held in February, creates even more plot twists the pros have to face. This was certainly the case during this year’s GEICO Bassmaster Classic presented by Diet Mountain Dew and GoPro on Lake Guntersville, where rapidly rising water temperatures moved schools of bass overnight and left more than a few puzzled anglers in their wake. The predictions to win on Guntersville proved to be more than 10 pounds too high, and even the winner…

WHEN FLORIDA FISHING pals Cliff Prince and Terry Scroggins have some time off from their Bassmaster Elite Series schedule, they like to head out for a little bar hopping. Now, there’s no lack of watering holes in their north Florida hometown, but we’re actually talking about shellbars — those magnificent mounds of mollusk masonry that offer current breaks and feeding dynamics for largemouth bass in the St. Johns River. We’ll skip the gratuitous metaphors, but suffice it to say that, while these accumulations comprise the river’s predominant structure, there’s more to shellbar success than just driving up and ordering a bass. Also, while the St. Johns will be our focus, much of the following will generally apply to shellbar fishing elsewhere. For starters, consider why bass gravitate to these spots.…

Arizona rig We Arizona anglers are limited to two lures with hooks per fishing line, so we need to be creative when it comes to umbrella rigs! I use a Yumbrella Flash Mob Jr. three-wire rig that has inline spinners midway on the two outer wires. To both of these wires I attach a swimbait on a weighted hook that has an underspin willowleaf blade. To the center wire I attach only a willowleaf blade in the same color and length as the body of the two attached swimbaits. This configuration simulates a school of shad, creating flash and water displacement, yet the strikes I’ve had have been on the lures with hooks. Vincent LaZara, Arizona Instant de-icer It can get cold here in the Ozarks from late fall all…

I was flooded with emotion, and I heard, “Do you want to be good, or do you want to be great?” DOES GOD REALLY care who wins a bass tournament? Does He care enough to influence the outcome of the Bassmaster Classic? I’ll leave the theological discussions to someone more qualified than me. I know what I believe. I know what Randy Howell believes. And after reading Howell’s narrative about how he won the 2014 GEICO Bassmaster Classic presented by Diet Mountain Dew and GoPro, you might believe in miracles, too. “At takeoff the final day, I headed toward Mill Creek Bridge, where I had caught 18 pounds the day before,” recalled Howell. “I had told Robin [my wife] and the camera guys that I was starting at that bridge.”…

When your career depends upon fishing heavy water ... you have to beef up your equipment. THERE’S NO BETTER test of a bass boat’s capabilities than pounding through big, wind-whipped waters in the Great Lakes region. Just ask the VanDams. Both Kevin and Jonathon grew up working at D&R Sports Center in Kalamazoo, a Michigan boat and tackle dealership owned by JVD’s dad and KVD’s older brother, Randy. Nearby host bass lakes such as St. Clair, Lake Erie and the inshore fisheries of Lake Michigan and Huron show no mercy to a poorly rigged boat. Timm Vanderhill, D&R’s senior boat rigger, is assigned the task of getting JVD, KVD and Mark Zona, host of Zona’s Awesome Fishing Show, on the water and keeping them trouble free. “Standard boat-rigging methods will…

Kevin Short Birthday: Oct. 30, 1961 Hometown: Mayflower, Ark. The Elite Series visits Table Rock Lake this month. What are your thoughts on Table Rock? I’ve always liked it. It’s been hit or miss for me. I’ve never really done that well in the spring there, but the first week of April should be good. Even though it was a cold winter, when it breaks loose, which should be around the first week of April, you can catch ’em a bunch of different ways. You’re known on the Elite Series by the nickname K-Pink. What’s your fascination with the color pink? It’s just a color. Back in 2006 when the Elites started, I wanted something different. When you watched the weigh-ins, you saw a lot of black and red and…

“The angler forgets most of the fish he catches, but he does not forget the streams and lakes in which they are caught.” – Charles K. Fox Stopping Invasive Species Much has been said about the spread of invasive plants and animals. But much remains to be done. Here’s what every angler should do to prevent the spread of things such as zebra mussels and water hyacinth that can be bad for fishing. Remove all visible mud, plants, fish and animals. If you can see it, remove it. Even mud can contain larvae that could be unknowingly moved to somewhere they don’t belong. Eliminate water from all equipment before transporting. Remove water from the livewell, hull and motor. Clean and dry anything that came in contact with the water. Use…

A Mexican fisherman said he was adrift in the Pacific Ocean for 13 months before washing ashore on a remote atoll in the Marshall Islands. The man identified himself as Jose Salvador Alvarenga, an El Salvador native who had lived in southern Mexico for 15 years. Alvarenga, who was discovered in late January by residents of a 2.2-square-mile island when his 24-foot fiberglass boat stuck on a reef, told Marshall Islands authorities that he set out to catch sharks in December 2012 and was blown off course, and that his motor later failed. He said he survived on fish, birds, turtles and rainwater during his nearly 7,000-mile journey. According to reports, Alvarenga had been accompanied by a teenage assistant who died several weeks into the ordeal. Officials questioned the veracity…

It’s no coincidence that this city’s promotional logo includes a rippling blue line that represents water. Soothing thermal waters draw visitors from around the world. And with three sizable lakes surrounding the area, Hot Springs is a bass angler’s dream destination. Lake Ouachita Arkansas’ largest lake is hugely popular among bass anglers. 40,000 Acres of water on Lake Ouachita Up for the challenge? The second annual Hot Springs Fishing Challenge runs May 1-July 31. Some 53 tagged fish in lakes Hamilton and Catherine are worth a combined $60,000. 2 The number of Bassmaster Classic champions that call Hot Springs home — Bobby Murray and George Cochran. 73/50 Average high and low temperatures in April…

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 or a smallmouth bass weighing 6 pounds or more, from Jan. 1, 2012, to the present. New Lunker Club members will receive an official certificate with holder and a Minn Kota hat. 6-4 Lake Michigan, Mich. ◆ 4-inch sucker on a circle hook ◆ Water clarity: clear ◆ Depth: 20 feet ◆ Weather: clear 10-10Lake Darwendale, Zimbabwe 3/8-ounce Ittie’s Secret Baits frog (junebug) 11-2Lake Cannon, Fla. 7.5-inch Culprit Worm (junebug) 10-13 Cross Pines Ranch, Texas Zoom Swimmin Fluke (junebug) 10-0 Lake Baccarac, Mexico Zoom Magnum Super Fluke (albino) 6-0 Lac Vieux Desert, Wis. Luck-E-Strike Perfect Worm…