Fishing

The beginner must learn to look with eyes that see. Occurrences of apparently little importance at the moment may, after consideration, assume proportions of great value. The taking of an insect, for instance, may mean nothing more than a rising trout; but the position occupied by this fish may indicate the position taken by others in similar water. The flash of a trout, changing his position preparatory to investigating the angler's fly, will frequently disclose the spot occupied by him before he changed his position;...

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Why Night Fishing Beats Day Fishing Any Day of the Week Without a doubt, night fishing is better than day fishing for many reasons. I like to think the big fish just sit around all day and take bets on which little fish is going to get caught by a fisherman. Ok, maybe that is a little far fetched, but it's fun to imagine. Bigger fish also seem to feed on baitfish in more shallow water than during the day. Since the fish are less likely to associate night time to fishermen, they tend to take the bait with less resistance and hesitation....

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For those of you that don't know, Alaska trout fishing is one of the most beautiful, most unbelievable experiences in this world. Not only are the trout big and beautiful, but the area around the fisherman is enough to make the trip perfect. The most common trout fishing done in Alaska is for rainbow trout. But, there are many more types of trout and even some gorgeous salmon that you can catch. Alaska trout fishing is a journey, not an adventure into some of the most beautiful lakes, streams and rivers imaginable....

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Meanwhile back at the Yurt... Having been humbled by "Hank's" famous trout, it was time for a little change of scenery. My little girl, and kids in general, don't seem to understand catch and release. Granted, I really hadn't caught anything to release,(except that seven.. err.. "FIFTEEN INCHER") it was still hard to return to the yurt and explain my lack of fishing success. She would greet me with her big "daddy can do no wrong" eyes, and expect me to tell her of the "whopper" that got away. Especially since she is used to fishing success, since most of her fish are caught in Grandpa's Pond, where it is basically a "live well" ready to pull out the catch of the day on a moments notice....

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It's late December... temperatures are racing towards 0 degrees. Ice is covering most of the lakes in Wisconsin and getting thick on the lakes in the Northern half of the state. This is the time of the year when the die-hards come out to take on the bitter cold to do what they love... fish! But ice fishing doesn't have to be just for those fishing fanatics. If you usually put fishing into the back of your mind during the cold winter, you might want to think about reaching back and pulling it to the front a few months early....

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My young stepson and I was fishing at Rush Creek in Ohio and using the same rod and reel, line and lure. Everything was exactly the same, the problem was I had caught about a dozen bass and he hadn't caught any and we were only standing about 10 feet apart. He finally asked me why I was catching all the fish and he wasn't. I said "Well John, you're not holding your mouth right". He said "How A I suppose to Hold it?". I said "like this". I made some strange face and had my lip stuck out and my face all messed up....

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Method 1 Equipment I fish baits at all depths, not just the bottom, in wide-open water. I always set up and fish deep lake structures. Besides an understanding of the contours on the bottom of the lake, being mobile and being able to read your fish locator are the keys. The tools I use are 8-foot heavy action rods, circle hooks, cut and live shad, balloons and the all-important fish locator. I use 30-pound line, large capacity reels, 8-foot heavy action rods, 2 oz. Egg sinkers, barrel swivels and #7/0 circle hooks....

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Last summer we had an unfortunate incident with a swordfish we brought to the boat. It was about 8:30pm and we had been set up for about 45minutes when we had our first bite, the second balloon at 150' baited with a dead squid started to scream. My brother Rocky was on the rod and the instant he pushed the drag up to strike, which on our rods is set at 25-30lbs of drag, the fish stopped and Rocky cranked the fish in effortlessly. Less then five minutes later we had a small swordfish boat side. We couldn't see the hook and since this fish was brought to the boat so quickly we didn't want to put this green fish through any trauma....

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Well, we have talked about flippin and now we'll mention pitchin. Both techniques are used to fish cover and to do it quietly. Use pitchin when the distance is too long for flippin, to fish under boat docks, brush piles, logs and shallow water. You can use pitchin to fish with most baits but some of the favorites are of course, jigs, spinner baits, worms and lizards. Lots of people prefer a wide gap hook. A good stout rod 6 1/2 to 7 1/2 foot long with a flexible tip and lots of backbone is the best to use when fishing cover, you want the rod to be able to pull the fish out of the cover you're fishing....

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This aint exactly rocket scientry boys... I picked up a copy of The Oregonian this morning and read a story about how the ocean conditions this year are killing off seabirds in record numbers. Murres and cormorants are washing up on shore like pieces of Northwestern forest driftwood, mainly due to starvation. Most biologists are blaming a lack of cooling ocean winds which are causing warmer Pacific ocean temperatures, which are causing a lack of phytoplankton production, (which then need to stirred up from the ocean bottom by the wind),which are causing Anchovys and Sardines to die, which are causing the birds to go without food....

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Rainbow Trout: Few freshwater fish can match the fighting spiritand beauty of a Rainbow Trout. The Rainbow Trout is a well-traveled species of fish. Originally, the Rainbow Trout was found in the coastal rivers in the UnitedStates on the west coast but today, Rainbow Trout are foundthroughout the United States, as well as in the cold-waterstreams of South America, Europe, New Zealand and even Australia. The reason for the wide range of Rainbow Trout in the U. S. isthat Rainbow Trout are relatively easy to transplant....

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The Best Type Of Line For Night Fishing Here is a topic that is often debated between night fishermen. Depending on how you like to fish at night, here is what you should look for in general: If you are going to be fishing with a blacklight, you will want to be sure you spool up a clear blue fluorescent line. The clear blue is especially made to work well with blacklight night fishing, so it is highly recommended. When you go night fishing, never use a line that is less than 20lb test. 20lb is the minimum weight you should even think about....

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Do you have a lucky hat? I was fishing the bridge pool where CO 67 and a Jeffco Highway come together. The water was crystal clear. The pool had just enough moss in it to offer fish protection and challenging fishing for the fisherman. After two hours, I had only had a couple of strikes but could not get hooked up. So I headed to the car for my secret weapon. The "Lucky Hat" or in my case "Lucky Cap". Mine is old and dirty. I purchased it in 1990 on a trip to Cancun, Mexico. How long it has been my lucky cap, I rightly can't remember....

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Preparation is the Key To Successful Night Fishing, You Better Have These... Night fishing requires quite a bit more preparation than daytime fishing does. Even if you "think" you know the waters pretty well, you need to take extra precautions when fishing at night. If you are night fishing from a boat, you have even more to think about. Make sure you have enough flotation devices onboard and that they are easily accessible. If someone falls overboard, it is much more difficult to see them at night, so you need to be able to throw a flotation device out to them quickly....

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Steelhead Gear Like many things in fly fishing you can ask 10 different fly anglers a single question and you'll get 10 different answers. Asking what steelhead rod one should use for fly fishing is no different. Every circumstance is different. And the answer varies with each situation. However let's try to get a generic answer so everyone can at least get started in this rewarding aspect of fly fishing. RODS Most steelheaders use at least a seven weight rod. And in fact that is my recommendation....

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