Innholdsfortegnelse for July - August 2015 i Bassmaster

Blades Your Way The bladed jig took the bass fishing world by storm when the Z-Man Chatterbait almost won the Bassmaster Classic on Lake Toho in 2006. Since then, the bladed jig has become a mainstay in the arsenal of most anglers. And although the Chatterbait (www.zmanfishing.com) remains the gold standard of this bait genre, there are a group of anglers who will only fish with their own creations. Luckily for these DIYers, the components are available from www.lurepartsonline.com, and the specialized jigheads can be found at www.fishboss.com. Here are the simple steps of assembly. 1 Attach a snap to the blade in the two middle holes. 2 Slide the blade on the oversized eye, making sure the snap is facing away from the hook. Crimp the eye down once…

July National Cellphone Courtesy Month. Hang up and fish! 4 Independence Day. Give us life, liberty and the pursuit of bass. 6 National Fried Chicken Day. Sure, somebody just made this up, but it’s hard to beat fried chicken and a glass of sweet tea after a long day on the lake. August 1 National Catfish Month. Someone get out the fryer! 4 U.S. Coast Guard Day. The Revenue Cutter Service, predecessor to the Coast Guard, was authorized by Congress on this day in 1790. 13 International Left-Handers Day. Does this mean we have to use a spinning reel today?…

It’s no secret among anglers that fuel containing ethanol can have negative consequences for older boat engines. But a recent survey by Boating Industry attempts to quantify the problem. The publication surveyed readers of its print and digital editions in April and found most respondents, which included dealers, manufacturers and marina owners, experienced engine damage and other issues related to ethanol in the fuel supply. While many newer-model engines that are properly run and cared for can handle the 10-percent ethanol fuel that’s common at gas stations, older engines don’t fare as well. And the use of 15-percent ethanol in fuel supplies is spreading. 14%: Number of survey respondents who said ethanol is responsible for more than half of their engine repairs. 60%: Number of survey respondents who said ethanol…

There’s a new game warden in town, and he has four legs. Connecticut’s Department of Energy and Environmental Protection has enlisted the help of canines to find illegally caught fish. Although many state fish and wildlife agencies use K-9 units to assist in wildlife evidence collection and tracking, the use of dogs specifically trained to find fish isn’t as widespread. The Labrador retrievers were rescued by Connecticut Labrador Rescue Inc. and had received previous training in tracking and evidence collection. Their new training is designed to help them locate gamefish species that may have been illegally caught and hidden.…

The last time the Elite Series weighed in here, B.A.S.S. attendance records were broken. The series returns July 30 for the Evan Williams Bourbon Bassmaster Elite on the St Lawrence River. With a small music festival held in conjunction with the Elite event, Waddington’s sure to be rockin’ this month. 34,100. Attendance at the 2013 Elite Series event in Waddington, a series record at the time. Party In The Park. Whitaker Park plays host to daily Elite launches and weigh-ins July 30-Aug. 2 and doubles as a concert venue, with local and national performers throughout the tournament. 966. Population of the village of Waddington. Comfort Zone. Waddington’s late-July and early-August temperatures range from an average low of about 60 degrees to an average high of about 80. 7,200,000. Bassmaster.com…

IT’S THE DOG days of summer, a time when lake temperatures soar into the upper 80s and 90s and big schools of bass are lounging on offshore ledges, humps and dropoffs. Not a good time to be a shallow-water angler, right? Ah, but you’re wrong, says 2015 Bassmaster Classic champion Casey Ashley. Like many anglers, he’s not in his comfort zone when forced to coax deep bass living far off the bank into biting. “Shallow water is my deal and where I feel most comfortable,” he says. “Some of my best seasons on the [Bassmaster] Elite [Series] tour have come when I stayed shallower than 10 feet.” The Donalds, S.C., pro acknowledges that you won’t find big schools of bass living shallow during hot summer months but says there are…

In a matter of days, Lake Arrowhead went from 30 percent capacity to flood stage, with water pouring over its spillway. WHEN I WALKED under the boathouse my grandfather built in the late 1960s, my heart broke. Lake Arrowhead in Wichita Falls, Texas, was where I spent the majority of my summers as a child, sitting on that very dock with 10 feet of red-clay colored water beneath it. Instead of the crappie, catfish and bass my brother and I spent countless hours trying to catch, shabby little bushes, weeds, cracked earth and my footprints occupied the space beneath the structure, which towered above my head. The edge of the lake was too far away to see, and I would have needed a machete to slice through the mile-thick wall…

Stephen Browning Birthday: April 28, 1966 Hometown: Hot Springs, Ark. (Note: When we caught up with Browning this spring, he was on a multiday fishing trip at Lake Wallace, a roughly 6-mile-long, 350-acre oxbow lake in southeastern Arkansas.) How’s the fishing at Lake Wallace? It’s good. Hear that fillet knife in the background? Crappie? No, man, bass. We’re not crappie fishermen. Do you think people would find it surprising that a guy who makes his living fishing bass tournaments also eats bass? I know there’s not but probably two of us, and we’re both old boys from southeast Arkansas. God didn’t put ’em here for fishing tournaments; he put ’em here to feed folks. Now, we’re catching quite a few 3- and 4-pounders, and we’re throwing them back. But there…

Long-term investigations are needed to reveal the full impact of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, according to staff scientist Ryan Fykes with the National Wildlife Federation. Restoration projects are underway, and rivers where bass are found and which feed the Gulf stand to benefit from the restoration funds. | Alewives may pose a threat to the smallmouth fishery on the St. Croix River in Maine. | The Arizona Game and Fish Department has started using FINS (Fisheries Information System) to manage data on stocking locations.…

Daniel Baldwin loves bass fishing. When the 19-year-old isn’t attending classes at the University of Tennessee, he’s usually on the water. According to WVLT in Knoxville, during a spring fishing trip to the Norris Lake boat ramp in Tazewell, Tenn., Baldwin instead found himself in the water, rescuing a drowning angler who had fallen out of his boat. Baldwin caught the rescue on camera. He was wearing a chest-mounted GoPro because he had planned to shoot a video about smallmouth bass fishing from the boat ramp. Shortly after starting to record, Baldwin saw an elderly angler fall out of his boat and begin to struggle. Baldwin jumped into the water, which was about 10 feet deep, and helped the man to shore. “I threw down my rod and jumped in…

“The only reason I ever played golf in the first place was so I could afford to hunt and fish.” Sam Snead, professional golfer Summertime, and the living’s easy. But for those of us in the northern hemisphere, summer also means long days and lots of sunshine. And that means anglers need eye protection now more than ever. These days, sunglass options abound. That’s a good thing, but figuring out the best eyewear among the myriad choices can make you see red. So here’s a (mostly) simplified guide to choosing what’s best for you. Color. Truth be told, the best lens colors for fishing change throughout the day, which is why manufacturers make so many colors. But with the best shades commanding top prices, what’s the best option for the…

AFTER SACKING A heavy final-day limit to win the 2015 GEICO Bassmaster Classic presented by GoPro at Lake Hartwell, Casey Ashley said he caught most of his bass during that event from a “ditch.” The word ditch is a vague, generic term many Elite Series pros use to describe a narrow creek channel, drain or wash. What constitutes a ditch for one pro may not be the same for another. To a great extent, it depends on where in the country the pro learned to catch offshore bass. ASHLEY’S CLASSIC-WINNING DITCH A textbook ditch for Ashley at Hartwell, his home lake, is a creek channel that winds underwater from the back of a pocket to the main lake. The best pockets have fresh water flowing into them, which attracts baitfish…

7-8 Grand Traverse Bay, Michigan ◆ 1/2-ounce Silver Buddy ◆ Water clarity: clear ◆ Depth: 12 feet ◆ Weather: clear, cold 12-3 St. Johns River, Florida 9-inch shiner, size 5/0 hook with bobber 11-7 Kingsley Lake, Florida Texas rigged 1/2-ounce Bitter Vibe Jig Worm 11-9 Mulberry Lake, Georgia 6-inch lizard (purple) 6-2 Lake Ontario, New York Roboworm on a drop shot 10-3 8-inch wild shiner, 5/0 Gamakatsu shiner hook 10-4 Lake Del Valle, California Zoom Shad on a drop shot (white) 6-0 Lake Ontario, New York 3 1/2-inch tube with 3/4-ounce jighead (green pumpkin) 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…

IF YOU’RE A saltwater angler in Florida, you know the meaning of the term, “death by a thousand cuts.” “The issues our coastal fisheries currently face could easily translate into freshwater if we do not take action.” In recent years, federal agencies, backed by the preservationist anti-fishing movement, have launched a series of initiatives to ban or severely restrict recreational fishing in important Florida fisheries, including Biscayne National Park, the Everglades, the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary and the red snapper fisheries on both coasts. Threats to saltwater angler access rights are emerging elsewhere in the Gulf of Mexico and the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. However, last fall, the American Sportfishing Association (ASA) chose Florida as its battleground state to see if it can help stem the tide of onerous…

“Cool the livewell water no more than 7 to 10 degrees below the lake or reservoir surface temperature.” — B.A.S.S. Conservation Director Gene Gilliland COOLING VEGETATION Here in Louisiana, the water temperature can get really hot in the summer. How do you handle fishing in really hot water? Is there anything you do differently? Mike Lambert, Louisiana Elite Series pro Mark Menendez What I tend to do is look for vegetation. In the Classics that we’ve had in New Orleans, I looked for shallow-water vegetation. If the water was 2 feet deep, the fish were never on the bottom, so it’s easy to fish below the fish. The fish will be as close to the vegetation as possible, seeking oxygen. They’re still semi-aggressive, so I will take a creature bait…

Tournament anglers always want to put heavy weights on the scales, but fishermen are putting up some big numbers in a figurative sense, too. Check out these eye-popping numbers. $2 million Money raised for St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital over the past 17 years through Minnesota’s Dick Hiley St. Jude Bass Classic. $191 million Estimated construction and renovation costs to convert the Memphis Pyramid into the Bass Pro Shops Pyramid superstore. $1.1 billion Funds generated by anglers and hunters last year through the Pittman-Robertson Wildlife Restoration and Dingell-Johnson Sport Fish Restoration programs, which place excise taxes on sporting equipment and marine fuel. The funds are distributed to state and territorial fish and wildlife agencies for conservation projects.…

Carhartt Bassmaster College Series National Championship and Classic Bracket presented by Bass Pro Shops Where: Lake DuBay; Stevens Point, Wis. When: July 9-14 Bass Pro Shops Northern Open No. 1 presented by Allstate Where: James River; Richmond, Va. When: July 9-11 Costa Bassmaster High School National Championship presented by TNT Fireworks Where: Kentucky Lake; Paris, Tenn. When: July 22-25 Evan Williams Bourbon Bassmaster Elite Where: St. Lawrence River, Waddington, N.Y. When: July 30-Aug. 2 Bass Pro Shops Northern Open No. 2 presented by Allstate Where: Oneida Lake; Syracuse, N.Y. When: Aug. 6-8 Huk Performance Fishing Bassmaster Elite Where: Chesapeake Bay; Cecil County, Md. When: Aug. 13-16 Old Milwaukee B.A.S.S. Nation Northern Divisional Where: Lake Vermillion; Tower, Minn. When: Aug. 26-28 Bassmaster Elite Where: Lake St. Clair; Detroit, Mich. When: Aug.…

Lake Erie BUFFALO Enjoy buffalo wings at Anchor Bar where they were invented; partake of Buffalo’s burgeoning craft beer scene; visit the city’s fine zoo; and gaze upon wondrous Niagara Falls. There are also extensive art and entertainment venues here. If you’re in the mood to cheer, catch a Bills, Sabres or Bisons game. Lake Erie is, unquestionably, the best smallmouth bass fishery in the nation. The eastern 40 miles of the big lake in New York is the best of the best for big numbers of heavyweight bronzebacks. Bassmaster ranks this area 19th on their Top 100 Best Bass Lakes list. Fish Erie’s offshore reefs and rockpiles with drop shot rigs and tubes, and you’re sure to tangle with feisty smallmouth bass. Other productive lures include crankbaits, jerkbaits and…