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Fishing News
7 Tips to
Improve Your Topwater Bass Fishing(September 7) - The recent cool
snap has us hoping there is some prolonged relief to all this heat we’ve
been enduring all summer. It also has us hoping, however, for that
proven topwater bite for bass fishing we love so much in the fall. In
fact, we might go on record as saying that a topwater is one of the best
ways to catch a big fish in the fall. Just going out and casting
blindly, however, doesn’t usually lead to big catches. Being smart with
how you approach topwater fishing and not just casting it around because
you’re tired of throwing something else can really put you on some big
fish. Like is the case with any lure, there are opportunities to make it
a little more attractive to the bass in different situations. So we sat
down and compiled some of things we think about when making the most of
topwaters when fishing for bass.
Complete Story
West
Vancouver man lands record fish(September
6) - A West Vancouver man made headlines last month when he shattered a
Haida Gwaii fishing lodge record by hauling in an 84-pound Chinook
salmon. Chris Lewis reeled in the monster fish - the same weight, it
turns out, as his son's Bernese mountain dog - on an excursion from
Queen Charlotte Lodge.Lewis knew he had something big on the line the
moment he felt the first tug, he said, but that didn't prepare him for
what he saw when it surfaced."It was absolutely massive," said Lewis. "I
realized we really had a very large fish." It took half an hour to reel
it in, but Lewis said it wasn't his hardest catch ever - although it may
have been the most nerveracking. "
Complete Story
Girls Gone Fishing
Father and Son Kayak Fishing Trip Snags Shark(August 26) - A father and son in
Texas got quite a ride while fishing in a kayak off the Galveston coast.
It's apparently a new fishing challenge in the area, and thanks to their
video camera, they can share with the world their catch of a seven-foot
shark. Kevin Stevens and his son Hunter snagged the shark less than a
mile off the island's west end. "Super scary and crazy," is how Hunter
described the ordeal. "Instead of us using all of our energy to try to
pull the shark, the shark pulls the kayak. It's called the Texas sleigh
ride," said Kevin. For an hour, Hunter let the camera roll while his dad
wrestled with the black tip shark, dragging them up and down the beach.
"Yeah, I was like seriously stop, I'm done, I don't want to see
anymore," says Hunter's mom Christina Stevens. "I mean seriously, I
watched Jaws at a very young age "
Complete Story
$1.5M Fishing
tournament opens off coast of Cape May(August 22) - One of the
biggest fishing tournaments on the East Coast is getting under way
today. More than 100 boats are registered for the Mid-Atlantic $500,000,
which has a total purse of more than $1.5 million.Anglers had to pay
$6,000 to enter.But a good haul could be lucrative. The heaviest marlin
will be worth $100,000 and the biggest tuna will get the person who
catches it $75,000. Each boat can go out only three of the five days of
the tournament. They're launching from Cape May and Ocean City, Md., and
must stay within 125 miles of Cape May.
Mazur Wins Erie Bass Fishing Tournament(August 22) - Lawrence
Mazur of Lancaster, N.Y., weighed a five-bass limit totaling 20 pounds,
1 ounce Saturday to win the EverStart Series t on Lake Erie.
Complete Story
Invasive smallmouth bass
gains foothold in Lake Tahoe(August 16) - Invasive smallmouth
bass have become established in Lake Tahoe, posing what researchers
call a "much more ferocious threat" to native fish than anything
that has come before. "We've had reports of smallmouth bass before,
but now we've 100-percent confirmed its presence in Lake Tahoe,"
said Kevin Thomas, environmental scientist at the California
Department of Fish and Game. "The population could explode and put
more stress on the native fish." The finding was announced Monday by
the University of Nevada, Reno. It came during a UNR project with
Fish and Game and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which removed
5,000 invasive fish from the near-shore aquatic zone. Sudeep
Chandra, a UNR limnologist, found that decreased ultraviolet
radiation in the near-shore environment.
Complete Story
10 Year old Boy catches
19-year-old bass(August 11) - A 10-year-old Kalispell boy using
a rubber worm caught a largemouth bass in Western Montana that
wildlife officials say is nearly twice as old as he is. Fish,
Wildlife and Parks biologist Mark Deleray said the bass caught and
released by Garrett Frost in Rose Creek Slough on July 16 could be
as much as 19 years old, which may be the oldest on record for
Montana. The fish was 20 to 22 inches long and weighed about 3.5
pounds. Garrett removed a tag that had been placed on the fish in
1997 in another Flathead River backwater area about 5 miles away.
Biologists estimate that the fish was 5 years old when it was
tagged, based on the fact that it was just over 14 inches long and
weighed 1.5 pounds at the time. Most literature says largemouth bass
can live to be 15 or 16 in the northern United States. Fish
tend to grow slower and live longer in colder waters.
Costly State Regulations Threaten
California Recreational Fishing and Jobs(August 10) - Many
Californians are not aware of a very serious and looming threat to
recreational fishing. Fish farmers who stock California lakes and
grocery stores are threatened by a legal case quietly moving through
the courts as well as the costly regulations being drafted by the
California Department of Fish and Game. Given that California grows
some of the healthiest and safest fish in the world under existing
regulations, one can only assume that the State's actions were not
motivated by a public need, but merely by a political agenda, one
that anglers know has led to significant limitations on ocean
fishing off the coast of California. Due to new regulations being
drafted by Fish and Game, fish stocking could be a thing of the past
once costly regulations are mandated.
Complete Story
World Record Striped Bass(August
9) - The fishing community is in a frenzy as a flurry of reports
came in Saturday that a world-record striped bass had been caught on
Long Island Sound. The catch, reportedly caught by North Branford
resident Greg Myerson, tipped the scales at 81.88 pounds, according
to several angling blogs. If confirmed, that beats the existing
record of 78 pounds 8 ounces, which was set by Al McReynolds on
Sept. 21, 1982, when he was fishing in Atlantic City, NJ. It will be
up to the International Game Fish Association to determine if
Myerson's catch snags the new world-record. According to a
Connecticut Post blog, Myerson caught the fish off a boat, using
live eel as bait. AGoFishn blog published a map that shows the
potential record-breaker was reeled in off the shore between Milford
and East Haven.
Summertime Storms Can
Provide Fishing Frenzies(August 8) - Anglers aren’t the only
ones affected by the hurricanes and tropical storms that spaghetti
plot their way from the scorching Atlantic and Caribbean waters to
Florida, a vulnerable target with its exposed, one-thumb-down shape.
Fish take action before, during and after these summertime storms,
and many anglers begin prepping their summertime gear soon after The
World Meteorological Organization Hurricane Committee has decided
which household name to slap on a storm. The tropical storm is
likely to at least skirt Florida’s east coast by Monday. The storm
could tickle the Tampa Bay area with enough rain to trigger a heck
of a redfish bite. Anglers can count on this hurricane season to
determine many fishing factors. The fishing typically is the best a
few days prior to, and during, a storm.
Complete Story
Homer promotes image as
halibut fishing capital of the world(August 7) - Visitors to
Homer are welcomed by a sign at the top of Baycrest Hill proclaiming
Homer the "halibut fishing capital of the world." Is it true? "There
are two thoughts on that: more halibut gets moved across the fish
dock or more people come here to sport fish for halibut. I would say
both things," said Homer Harbormaster Bryan Hawkins. "It is the
largest port for commercially caught halibut. On the other side of
it, the sport-recreational side, Homer is very popular for
sportfishing halibut." While the moniker is true, Monte Davis,
executive director of the Homer Chamber of Commerce, believes the
title first was self-proclaimed. "No one else had it, so Homer
reached up and grabbed the title 'fishing capital of the world' and
it has stuck and been true," said Davis.
Complete Story
Redneck Fishing Tournament takes
aim at Asian carp(August 6) - The fish are already flying at the
Redneck Fishing Tournament. "We've had two boats come in, and they
brought in over 300 fish," said organizer Betty DeFord on Friday
afternoon. "We're going to have one of the biggest fish kills of
silver Asian carp in the history of the Redneck Fishing Tournament."
Conditions are ideal this year for a big haul. The water level is
low and the fish are jumping.Bloomington resident Mike Rave, who has
come to the tournament every year, caught 50 in just a few minutes.
He is passionate about the need to rid the Illinois River of these
invasive fish. "If we don't take care of the river, it's going to go
the way of so many other things," he said. "My family and I come
through here for recreation and the fish threaten that.
Complete Story
Keep 'em cool--tips for helping
bass survive a ride in your livewell(August 5) - Throughout the
South, anglers who visit tournament sites a few days after a hot
weather competition often have the same sad report--lots of dead
bass, despite the fact that most fish were released alive the day of
the event. To be sure, nobody brings in more than a legal limit of
fish at these events and they could all legally take them home and
fillet them: mortality rate 100 percent. In that sense, any that
survive are bonus fish. But the majority of bass anglers would
rather have their fish than eat them; catch-and-release is almost
universal, which is a big part of the reason that bass fishing has
remained so good across much of the nation despite the angling
pressure. But if a high percentage of released fish don't survive
more than a few hours.
Complete story
Tarpon fishing on Tampa Bay is
good(August 3) - Tarpon fishing in Tampa Bay has been excellent,
and I would expect to see a good bite right through the late summer.
Most of the tarpon will be in the 100-pound class and smaller, and
there will be lots of them from Apollo Beach north to Port Tampa,
near and around the Gandy Bridge and, of course, along the Sunshine
Skyway Bridge. I like fishing tarpon on a strong, outgoing tide
using large, live threadfin herring for bait. There are always a
number of juvenile tarpon in most of the rivers that empty into
Tampa Bay. The Hillsborough, Palm, Little Manatee and Manatee rivers
are all known to hold these fish. Try fishing the mouth of the
rivers using artificial bait on a strong outgoing tide near sunrise
or sunset. My favorite artificial lure is the DOA Bait Buster.
Complete Story
Bass tourney ends in historic
first: co-champs(August 2) - After three days of fishing, it
came down to an impromptu backstage meeting to determine the winner
of the 2011 Fort Frances Canadian Bass Championship. But following a
lengthy discussion, it was decided Richard Rud and Jon Austin, from
International Falls, and Thunder Bay’s Glenn Leroux and Trevor Zimak
would share the tournament title after both teams finished in a dead
heat with a three-day total weight of 52.42 pounds. The official
rules of the tournament state that in the event of a tie for the top
spot in the standings, both teams would head right back out onto
Rainy Lake for a one-hour fish-off. And if there still was a tie
after that, a coin flip would then determine the winner. Complete Story
A new record for brook trout in
New York state(August 1) - Dan Germain had caught some nice
brook trout in South Lake in northern Herkimer County. Up to about
three pounds, maybe, which didn’t prepare him for what he connected
with June 15. Trolling a Lake Clear Wabbler – a classic Adirondack
lure, even if made in Gilbertsville, in Otsego County – baited with
a nightcrawler, he had a big hit. “I knew right away I had something
extraordinary,” said the Foresport resident, who is retired from
Alcan Aluminum in Oswego. Using a 4-foot Ugly Stik with 4-pound test
line, Germain took 8 to 10 minutes to land the huge brookie. “It
seemed like 20,” he said. “When the fish finally rolled on the
surface, I could not believe it. … I was in awe of that fish.” As
well he might have been.
Complete Story
World Record - Man hooks 2,649 fish in
24 hours(July 31) - A Minnesota man who spent 24 hours straight
fishing off a dock on Lake Minnetonka set a new world record to break
his 2010 total by more than 500. Looking for more sports scoop? You can
count on Brooks to dish it up. Jeff Kolodzinski completed the marathon
fishing event Saturday from his post near Maynard's Restaurant in aid of
the nonprofit organization Fishing for Life, catching 2,649 fish,
myFOXtwincities.com reported. "The Guinness Book of World Records
[challenge] is most fish caught in 24 hours, so we went for the
bluegills. They're smaller — you can catch a bunch of those, as opposed
to walleye, musky or pike. So almost all the fish that we caught were
bluegills, a few bullheads and a few crappies, but that was really it,"
the enthusiastic angler said.
Complete Story
Eastern Idaho Man Catches Record Breaking Trout(August 2) -
It was a fight…man-against-fish. Pocatello angler Mark Adams won and
caught himself one heck of a fish story. The rainbow trout Adams
pulled from the depths of American Falls Reservoir weighed in at
34.74 pounds, according to the Idaho Department of Fish and Game,
breaking an old state record by nearly 15 pounds. Adams said fishing
buddies thought it was a carp when they pulled it from the Snake
River into their boat on Monday. Fisheries Biologist David Teuscher
told the Idaho State-Journal he was stunned by the sight of the
fish, which he’s now checking against records from elsewhere in the
continental United States. Teuscher says everybody stood around the
trout during the weighing with their jaws open. The fish was just
over 41 inches long.