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RA NGER CUP®... The All-Time Richest Tournament Payouts!

30A HEAD FOR TOURNAMENTSBob Izumi explores the mental aspectsof tournament fishing. By Bob Izumi

Contents

42THE LOST ART OF STEELHEADINGThere’s more than one way tocatch steelhead. Here’s a lookat some tried and true methodsfor those days when float fishing doesn’t work. By Dan Robson

Features

48SPRING PANFISH Tips, tactics, locationsand presentations forearly season panfishsuccess.By Wil Wegman

56HIGH & LOW ON

THE GREAT LAKESBig water trolling

tactics for walleyes. By Mark Hicks

20 THE WATER’S EDGEBy Dave Taylor

22 THE VINTAGE TACKLE BOXBy Patrick Daradick

24 REAL FISHING FISH FACTSNorthern Pike

26 BEST FISHING TIMESDoug Hannon’s moon

phase calendar

28 THE HOT BITE

60 TALES FROM THE ROAD The trials and tribulations of

life as a professional angler

By Bob Izumi

65 WHAT’S COOKING

66 ART OF ANGLING

EditorJerry Hughes

Art ProductionRossi Piedimonte Design

PublisherFred Delsey

National AdvertisingIzumi Outdoors

Tel: (905) 632-8679

PresidentWayne Izumi

Contributors

Patrick Daradick, Mark Hicks, Bob Izumi,Wayne Izumi, Steve May, Jason Mohring, Dan

Robson, Dave Taylor, Wil Wegman

Real Fishing is published byIzumi Outdoors Inc.940 Sheldon Court

Burlington, ON L7L 5K6Tel: (905) 632-8679 Fax: (905) 632-2833

Privacy Policy: Occasionally, we make our sub-scriber list available to carefully screened companieswhose products and services might be of interest toour subscribers. If you prefer to have your name

removed from this list and not receive these mail-ings, please write to us at the above address.

We welcome manuscripts, but will not be held responsible for loss of

manuscripts, photos or other materials.

Published four times each year:January (Winter) April (Spring) July (Summer) October (Fall)

One year subscription is $9.95.For USA add $10 all others add $30.

Subscriptions:Real Fishing

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Contents copyrighted. All rights reserved.

Reproduction of any material without prior written permission from the

publisher is strictly prohibited.Printed in Canada

Spring 2012Volume 18, Issue 2

On the cover:

Bassmaster Bob!Photo by Izumi Outdoors

Columns

6 OPENING LINESBy Jerry Hughes

10 SPORTSMEN’S ALMANAC News, trivia, event listings and

more from the world of fishing

14 WHAT’S NEWThe latest in fishing tackle,

gear and accessories

16 FISHINGSpring Patterns

By Bob Izumi

18 FLY FISHING By Steve May

24

28

20

6 Real Fishing – Spring 2012

By Jerry Hughes

Familiarity Has Two Faces

opening lines

The arrival of spring heralds the beginning of a new open-

water fishing season and there’s anticipation in the air as

anglers everywhere prepare for the first trip of the year.

A return to familiar haunts for some; thebeginning of a new tradition on unknownwaters for others. No more bundling up tobrave the elements in the hope of catchingsomething from below a sheet of ice. Nomore putting one’s life in the hands of thethickness of that ice. No more hunkeringdown in a fishy smelling shack and suckingup propane fumes in exchange for a bit ofwarmth. No sir, not anymore. It’s spring-time. Grab a rod and hit the shoreline.Dump the boat and blast off. Good timesare here again!

And therein lies the problem. While thewinter presents us with a host of challengesand unknowns to keep us on our toes, theopposite seems to be the case during thesoft-water season. We rush off withoutalways exercising the same caution we useunder more extreme conditions. Perhapsthat’s one of the reasons there are morewater-related incidents during the springand summer than there are in the fall andwinter. Not the only reason of course - thereare a lot more people out there when theweather’s nice so the law of averages defi-nitely comes into play - but one reason.

I can vividly remember one spring, wayback in the early ‘80s, when a buddy and Itook a trip to a favourite and famous steel-head river. Although the regular seasonopener was still several weeks away, thisriver is known for the great pre-season fish-ing at its mouth and we were determined toget in on it. We packed our rods, jackets,vests and waders late on Thursday night sowe could take off right after work onFriday, catch 40-winks in the car and hit thewater at daybreak on Saturday.

Everything went as planned and, as thesun started peeking over the horizon, wewaded out from the rivermouth and took

our places in the waist-deep water amongthe dozen or so other anglers who werealready fishing. Even in my insulatedwaders the cold water started to take itstoll. After about an hour I started to get alittle chilled, so I stepped up onto a largerock that I had used many times in the past.It was somewhat rounded and a bit slipperybut I knew where to place my feet.

You can probably guess what happenednext. Someone hooked a fish and I turnedto get a look, just as a small wave rolledonto my rock. With my attention on theangler fighting the fish, I never saw thewave coming. After a couple of ballet-qual-ity moves I lost my balance, fell off the rockand ended up completely under water. As Itried to stand up, with my chest wadersnow full of icy water, another small wavehit and knocked me over again. This time Igot half a lung full of water and started gag-ging and gasping for air. I managed to getback to my feet, half drowned, choking onlake water and shivering uncontrollably.With my buddy’s help I got back to the caronly to realize that we had not packed anyspare clothing.

Never one to let a dunking spoil a fishingtrip, I decided to drive to the local laundro-mat and have my buddy put my wet thingsthrough a dryer. I stripped down to what Iwas born with, wrapped myself in a sleepingbag and headed to town. All I could thinkabout was what would happen if we gotpulled over by the police. How do youexplain two guys driving around with thedriver buck-naked and wrapped up in a sleep-ing bag? I’m sure glad it didn’t come to that!

Anyway, within a couple of hours myclothes were dried out and we were back onthe river. Looking back, it’s a funny storybut it could just as easily have been disas-

trous. What if I had hit my head on the rockand knocked myself out or split my skullopen? What if another wave had hit andpushed me under for a third time?

The point is, I wasn’t paying attention towhat was going on around me and I ended uppaying for it. A friendly, familiar place sud-denly showed its other face and became coldand frightening. I was lucky that I got off witha warning and didn’t become a statistic.

In our rush to get back to what we lovedoing, we often take things for granted andrush in on instinct. We set our expectationsand we don’t really consider what could hap-pen if things don’t work out as we hope. Wedon’t prepare properly and that can leave usoff-guard and extremely vulnerable. It is,after all, the punch you don’t see coming thatknocks you out – sometimes permanently.

Enjoy your time on the water this year butkeep your eyes wide open and don’t let fateblindside you. A fish just isn’t worth it. ?

Magenta, Yellow, Black

© Tim Hortons, 2009

The fi rst catch of the day.

T


INTO THE LIGHT

No it’s not the Bermuda Triangle, but this shot

sure gives that impression. Late in the afternoon,

last October on Lake Erie, the angle of the sun,

the focus of the camera and the expression on

Bob’s face all lined up perfectly to create this

intriguing image.

Spring 2012 – Real Fishing 9


community based on their outstanding per-formance put forth through the course of theyear,” went to Bob and Wayne Izumi for theirwork in establishing Fishing Forever, a not-for-profit conservation organization that acts as afunding agency for worthwhile fishing, con-servation and outdoor education projects.Fishing Forever has raised nearly $500,000 forvarious fisheries projects throughout Ontario– from small-scale fish hatcheries and stock-ing programs to scientific studies and, mostrecently, the Lake Ontario Atlantic SalmonRestoration project. In 2003, Fishing Foreverpartnered with the Police Association ofOntario and Canadian Tire to develop theKids, Cops and Canadian Tire Fishing Daysprogram. With over 60 events per year, to dateover 100,000 young anglers have been able toexperience the thrill of fishing.The Conservation Award, presented to the

“outstanding conservation project of the year asvoted on by Canadian Angler Hall of FameAlumni,” went to the Atlantic SalmonRestoration Program. Spearheaded by theOntario Federation of Anglers and Hunters,Ontario Power Generation and the Ontarioprovincial government, the program isresponsible for the reintroduction of Atlanticsalmon to several rivers and streams in theLake Ontario watershed.

through his tireless work with Fishing Foreverand its Kids, Cops and Canadian Tire FishingDays program. Other inductees include Fish’n Canada’s

Pete Bowman in the Media category whichhonours “a person who has used the media toreach or influence people widely in positiveregard to sportfishing;” Phil Morlock, Director,Environmental Affairs for Shimano, in theAdvocate category as “a person who speaksor writes in support or defence of the indus-try,” and former Director of Marketing Servicesfor Mercury Marine, Bob Paterson, in theIndustry Leader category recognizing “a per-son who has taken the initiative to help theindustry in a positive way.” The Rick Amsbury Award, presented annu-

ally to “an individual(s) judged by the angling

WAYNE IZUMI INDUCTED TO THE CANADIAN ANGLER HALL OF FAME

On February 17, The Canadian Angler Hall ofFame announced this year’s list of inducteesas well as the recipients of the 2012 RickAmsbury Award and the Conservation Award. Real Fishing co-founder Wayne Izumi was

inducted in the Angler category which recog-nizes, “an avid angler, be it recreational, compet-itive or otherwise.” Wayne won his first fishingcompetition, the Rondeau Bay Rod and GunClub Youth Fishing Derby, when he was justnine-years old and he has been fishing com-petitively ever since. He has hundreds of indi-vidual and team titles to his credit includingback-to-back wins at the Canadian Open in1992 and ’93 and winning the first OntarioPlace Open in 2004. Along with his tourna-ment prowess, Wayne is actively involved ingetting youngsters involved in fishing

Wayne Izumi receives his Canadian Angler Hall of Fameinduction trophy from his brother Bob.

2012 Canadian Angler Hall of Fame inductees (from right) Wayne Izumi, Phil Morlock, Pete Bowman;Rick Amsbury Award co-winner Bob Izumi and Hall ofFame inductee, Bob Paterson.


Together with Muskies Canada Inc. and several other partners,Ontario’s Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) announced that theystocked more healthy muskellunge into Lake Simcoe in 2011 thanever before in support of an ongoing restoration effort. The Lake Simcoe Muskellunge Restoration Program (LSMRP) is a

partnership between the MNR, Muskies Canada Inc. (MCI), FlemingCollege at the Frost Campus in Lindsay and several other project part-ners. The goal of this project is, “To restore a self sustaining muskel-lunge population to Lake Simcoe through a long term restorationproject including habitat enhancement and stocking efforts.” “Since the program began in 2005, over 5,000 muskies have been

stocked into the lake. In 2011, 1,960 healthy fall fingerlings werereleased at various locations across Lake Simcoe. This was our beststocking year yet!” said Emily Funnell of the MNR’s Aurora District. Muskie were once quite common in Lake Simcoe. Due to several fac-

tors such as overexploitation (a commercial fishery for them existeduntil 1904), by the early 1900s there was already evidence of a crashingpopulation.

During the current restoration period there is a year-round closedseason for muskies on Lake Simcoe so if you catch one you must put itback. The MNR is asking anglers to report “incidental captures” to theirlocal MNR office so they can track how the population is doing.

KIDS, COPS AND CANADIAN TIREFISHING DAYSYear ‘round youth oriented fishingevents.Various dates and locations.905-632-8679www.kidsandcops.ca

ORILLIA PERCH FESTIVALApril 21 - May 12Lakes Simcoe & CouchichingOrillia, ONwww.orillia.com

BLUEWATER ANGLERS SALMON DERBYApril 27 - May 6Lake HuronPoint Edward, ONwww.bluewateranglers.com

TRENTON KIWANIS WALLEYE WORLD May 5 - 6Bay of QuinteTrenton, ONwww.kiwaniswalleyeworld.com

RICE LAKE SPRING FISHING FESTIVALMay 12 – June 17Rice Lake, ONwww.ricelakefishingfestival.ca

SOUTHERN ALBERTA WALLEYE TRAILMay – JuneVarious dates and locations inAlbertawww.gowalleye.com/sawt

SASKATCHEWAN WALLEYE TRAILMay – SeptemberVarious dates and locations inSaskatchewanwww.saskwalleyetrail.ca

ANGLER & YOUNG ANGLERTOURNAMENTSJune - JulyVarious dates and locations inCanada and the United States.www.angleryoungangler.ca

GRAND OPPORTUNITIESFree On-River Fly FishingSeminars/Fishing DayJune 2Belwood Lake Conservation AreaFergus, ONwww.friendsofthegrandriver.com

CANADA/US WALLEYE TOURNAMENT June 9 - 10Sturgeon LakeBobcaygeon, ONwww.bobcaygeon.org/CanUsWalleyeTournament.html

CASEY CUP BASS TOURNAMENTJune 24Lakes Simcoe & CouchichingOrillia, ONwww.csfl.ca

NATIONAL FISHING WEEKJuly 7 - 15License-free fishing days acrossCanada www.catchfishing.com

E V E N T S Calendar

LAKE SIMCOE MUSKELLUNGERESTORATION LORDS OF THE LAKE

By Mark ForaboscoLords of the Lake is a unique combination of advice, fishing lore, sto-ries, interviews and how-to information. Written for every angler whois passionate about catching the big one, this book will guide youstep-by-step into the world of muskie fishing. Lords of the Lake isabout what fishing really means – themagic of time on the water, the compa-ny we keep and the enduring memoriesthat only muskie fishing can provide.

Softcover, 6” X 8 7/8”, 244 pagesB&W with photos and illustrationsISBN: 978-0-9876917-0-5Mark Forabosco, Grand River Publishing, [email protected]

CARP FISHING IN CANADABy Tony Benham with Fritz VatterWith the right tackle and tactics, carp can be caught right acrossCanada. Carp Fishing in Canada showcases these opportunities andprovides information and tips on gear, baits and presentations forcatching carp in any waters – inland lakes, rivers, creeks,ponds and even the Great Lakes.From simple bait rigs to advancedbottom-ledgering and float fishingtactics, this book covers all the anglesfor understanding and catching carp.

Softcover, $24.956” x 9”, 336 pagesFull colour with hundreds of images ISBN: 978-0-9876721-0-0Wirdzbooks, C/O Tony Benham, [email protected], www.carpfishingincanada.com

READ ALL ABOUT IT


READER’S PHOTOSBeth StokesBurlington, ONPike

Denis PoulinVanier ONBrook Trout

Jeff WahlmanBurlington ON

Carp

Jamie AntoineCornwall ONSmallmouth Bass

Send us a photo of your best catch and you could see your picture in a future issue of

Real Fishing Magazine! Send photos to: Real Fishing, 940 Sheldon Court, Burlington, ON L7L 5K6

Neil HydeEnnismore, ONWalleye

STATION LISTING & AIRING TIMES*MARKET PROV./STATE STATION DATE & AIR TIMES

Atlantic Canada Atlantic Canada Global (CIHF) Saturday 10:00 am

Calgary AB Global (CICT) Saturday 10:30 am

Edmonton AB Global (CITV) Saturday 10:30 pm

Manitoba MB Global (CKND) Saturday 9:30 am

Ontario ON Global (CIII) Saturday 9:30 am

Quebec QC Global (CKMI) Saturday 10:00 am

Regina SK Global (CFRE) Saturday 9:30 am

Saskatoon SK Global (CFSK) Saturday 9:30 am

Vancouver BC Global (CHAN) Saturday 10:30 am

Canada/USA Canada/USA WFN Check www.wfn.tv for dates and times

*Station listings, airtimes and show descriptions are subject to change.

Please refer to your local television listings for the latest show schedules.

BOB IZUMI’S REAL FISHING SHOW SCHEDULEBob and Bob in Oklahoma April 7B.C. Feast April 14Watsit Jigging at Old Post April 21New Jersey Stripers April 28Big Bass in Oklahoma May 5Bring the Fuzz May 12Catching and Cooking May 19Peacock Bass in the Amazon May 263 Bobs in a Boat June 2Late Season Smallmouth June 9Georgian Bay Pike/ TBA June 16TBA June 23Costa Rica Run June 30

Catch BOB on the Tube!Catch BOB on the Tube!


TORO® TIMEMASTER®

The new Toro® TimeMaster® 30-inch wide walk-behind mowers let youcut your lawn up to 40% faster than with a typical 21-inch mower. Their30-inch cutting decks feature a twin-blade cutting system and two-pointheight-of-cut adjustment to give you professional-looking results while a12-gauge steel deck, cast aluminum frame and Briggs & Stratton® 190ccOHV engine provide durability you can count on. The innovative PersonalPace® automatic drive system adapts to your mowing speed and theTimeMaster’s Spin- Stop™ System lets you stop the cutting blades withoutshutting off the engine. TimeMaster mowers are covered by a three-yearfull warranty and Toro’s three-year Guaranteed-To-Start (GTS) promise.

www.toro.com

What’s 2 0 1 2NEWNEW

TRILENE XL ARMOR COATEDBerkley’s newest Trilene uses Bi-Component Technology to bond a toughouter sheath to an exceptionally flexible inner core creating a rugged, yeteasy-handling monofilament line. XL Armor Coated is incredibly sensitive,super strong and versatile enough to use with a wide range of baits andtechniques. It is smooth casting and it resists twisting and kinking whileoffering greater abrasion resistance than standard monofilament lines.Trilene XL Armor Coated is available in 220-yard spools and comes inclear (6 to 17-pound test) and green (6 to 20-pound test).

www.berkley-fishing.com

CHILL OUTColumbia’s new Airgill Chill™ LongSleeve Shirt is the coolest shirt in yourwardrobe, in a very literal way. Its Omni-Freeze™ ICE advanced cooling technolo-gy uses the sweat you generate to cool you

off and Omni-Shade® UPF 30provides protection fromthe sun’s harsh UV rays.The quick-drying fabricand vented designadded to its advanceddesign makes the

Airgill Chill™ the ultimateshirt for outdoor activities.

The UltimateChill™ ShortSleeve Shirt willkeep you com-

fortable under theblazing sun withOmni-Freeze™ ICEadvanced cooling, aquick-drying fabricand Omni-Shade® UPF

50 sun protection. Ultra-cool detailsinclude a zip-closed security pocket andsunglass cleaning patch.

Featuring an easy synch closure system,the Powerdrain™ fully drainable hybridwater shoe performs excellently in andout of the water. The upper features meshfor breathability while the Techlite® mid-sole features drainage ports in the heeland forefoot. The Omni-Grip® outsole issiped with lugs toprovide wet or drytraction. This styleis also availablefor women.

www.columbia.com


ROD GLOVEThe Rod Glove fishing pole covers were designed to provide anglers with a cost effective way toprotect and organize their rods. They are made of a tough polyethylene filament that is virtuallyimpervious to salt and are resistant to mold and mildew. Their unique braided construction allowsbarbed hooks to be easily removed and their wide expandability makes them a snap to put on andtake off. The Rod Glove prevents rod tangles and is ideal to use in boat rod lockers, rod storagetubes, in the back of your truck or going to and from the boat. The Rod Glove is available in 12different sizes for casting, spinning and even ice fishing rods and comes in 17 great colors.

www.vrxfishing.com

WREAK HAVOC ON BASS!Berkley has introduced a series of new shapes to their HAVOC® line of soft baits for2012. The Hawk Hawg, designed by Elite Series pro Bobby Lane, is a creature baitdesigned for Texas or Carolina rigging at any depth or speed. Wings near the headgive the bait a gliding motion on the fall while oversized side appendages move waterand create vibration when fished aggressively. The long curly tails move at the slight-est twitch, adding to the attraction when the bait is fished slowly. The Hawk Hawg isfive-inches long and is available in 15 colours.

The Mike Iaconelli designed Havoc Smash Tube has a flatter (smashed) body thatfalls and glides erratically on every cast while making hook penetration easier thanwith other tube-style baits. The fatter, dual coloured tentacles deliver increased waterdisplacement and a unique look that bass haven’t seen before. The Smash Tube isfour-inches long and is available in six colours.

The Havoc Juice Worm is the brainchild of Elite Series pro Boyd Duckett. It has aunique design that prevents it from rolling over during the retrieve and features a highaction tail that keeps working even at slow speeds. It’s a natural choice for Texas orCarolina rigging but the applications for this bait are virtually endless. The HavocJuice Worm comes in six or eight-inch sizes and is available in 20 different colours.

www.berkley-fishing.com

We welcome submissions from manufacturers and distibutors for our New Products section. Products that appear in this section have not necessarily been tested

or endorsed by the staff at Real Fishing. Submissions can be sent to: Editor, Real Fishing Magazine, 940 Sheldon Court, Burlington, ON L7L 5K6

BUG OFF! The folks at SC Johnson have two great new products to keepmosquitoes and other insects at bay while you enjoy yourfavourite outdoor activities this year.

OFF!® Clip•On™ Mosquito Repellent is a new, field-tested mosquito repellent that you don’t have to spray on your skin.This innovative technology uses a quiet fan to circulate the repellent around you, providing head-to-toe protection for up to 11- hours. Just clip it on and enjoy bug-free outdoor living.

OFF!® Deep Woods® Insect Repellent Dry is specifically formulated to feel dry on your skin so it protectswith a non-greasy, comfortable feel. With 25% DEET, OFF!® Deep Woods® Insect Repellent Dry provides aprotective shield from mosquitoes for up to 8-hours as well as long lasting protection from black flies, deerflies and ticks.

www.scjohnson.ca


fishingBy Bob Izumi

Bob Izumi is the host of The Real Fishing Show.

There’s no question that once the ice goes out in the springand the water starts to warm up, everything comes alive.

What I learned from Mike that day wasthat big fish can still be caught, even whenthey’re not in an aggressive mood, by slowlytwitching a jerkbait. I’m talking about reallyslowly twitching. We were just about ready toquit for the day when I hooked a pike thatturned out to be around 40-inches long. Thatfish saved the day. We got some great videoshot as well as a few still photos and salvagedour trip.

There are so many ways to catch walleyesduring the spring of the year but I would saythat the number one technique is fishing a jiglike a Lindy Watsit. Number two would be rig-ging and number three would be a hard bait,like a crankbait or a minnow bait. For sheernumbers of fish though, a jig can’t be beat.

The key during the early season is to fishthem slowly. As the water warms up, justlike with pike, you can get a little moreaggressive in your approach. I like to tip myjigs with Berkley Power Bait or Gulp. Attimes I might take some minnows during thecold water period but it seems like you cancoax a lot of walleyes with artificial baitsthat have some sort of scent impregnatedright into them.

My recommendation is to fish jigs with slow, subtle hops or by dragging them. Ifyou are getting short strikes, add a littlestinger or a small treble trailer hook on theback of your jig.

If you want to get bigger fish, I suggestgoing with a body bait; a crankbait. It seemslike the bigger fish are caught by anglers whoare casting or trolling these. I feel that thesebig, post spawn walleyes are pretty lethargicbut they still need a big meal to replenish theenergy they used spawning. Fishing at nightor under low light conditions are great timesfor slowly working a crankbait around weededges or on flats near spawning areas.

Lake trout may be easier to catch in thespring than at any other time of the year and

there are a number of ways to catch them.One of the easiest is to long-line troll withspoons or body baits around islands or alongrocky shorelines as soon as the ice is out.Lakers love to gorge on baitfish that moveinto the shallows to spawn or to feed and thetrout will stay in these areas until the waterwarms up too much for them. Another wayto catch spring lake trout is to get over someof the deep water close to these shallowerareas and jig for them. Use jigging spoons andwatch your depth finder. You might also getinto some whitefishthis way.

Steelhead are attheir most accessiblewhen the move intorivers and streams tospawn in the spring.There are lots of baitsthat will work – roe,worms, flies, spinners,small spoons, crankbaitsand the list goes on. Thereal key to spring steel-head fishing is timing.Some fish will move in and out of rivers andcreeks all winter, but the big runs start inearnest after the first warm spring rains swellthe rivers and start warming the water. I try toplan my fishing trips when the water is stillhigh but dropping; slightly coloured but notmuddy. These are prime conditions. As springprogresses and steelhead finish spawning,they quickly leave the rivers and make theirway back to the Great Lakes so timing is crit-ical. The term, “here one day and gonetomorrow” definitely applies to spring steel-head fishing.

Panfish, carp, brook and brown trout, bassin areas where there is a spring season, andjust about every other fish you’d want tocatch are all relatively easy to pattern andcatch in the early part of the season. There’sno better way to shake off the winter cob-webs than getting back out fishing and there’sno better time than the spring to take advan-tage of it. ?

Spring Patterns

It doesn’t matter if you’re fishing for pike,walleyes, lake trout, steelhead or some-thing else, there are a number of patternsthat will work.

Over the years I have spent a considerableamount of time fishing for northern pike allacross Canada during the spring of the year.These big, toothy critters will start to movetowards their spawning areas before the lastof the ice has gone out and they can offersome of the most predictable action of theyear. Last spring I had an opportunity to tapeone of our Real Fishing episodes withCaptain Mike Richardson, who guides up onGeorgian Bay. It was a really cold, overcastand rainy day that made for tough fishing.We fished hard throughout the day and I trieda number of different presentations to coax abig pike, but all we caught were a bunch ofhammer-handles - nothing to get excitedabout. The fish that we did catch all came onbass-sized suspending jerkbaits. You want topick a smaller lure for pike fishing during thespring of the year.

Phase_Gard Ad_Real Fishing.pdf 1 16/02/12 2:40 PM


fly fishingBy Stephen May

Steve May is the Stewardship Coordinator for Waterloo Region with theOntario Ministry of Natural Resources. When not working to improve localfisheries Steve can be found guiding or fly casting on his local rivers.

Hunting FishIn today’s day and age, equipment manufacturers seem tohave a technological fix for just about everything. Thatnew rod, perfect fly and invisible leader will have the fishjumping on to your line if you listen to the sales pitch.

I am not saying that this equipment is notbetter than what was available a few yearsback; it certainly is better and nicer to use.But, it will not really help most anglerscatch more and bigger fish. There is usuallya bit of fine print that these anglers have notread and it is the true foundation to becom-ing a better angler.

The biggest problem is for many anglersis their impatience! They want it all, theywant it now and darn it, they paid theirmoney to have it happen! But that is not theway it works. Slow down!

Fish are wild creatures with exceptionalsurvival skills. They are experienced atavoiding being eaten. A loud splashingangler, the flash of a bright line, a shadowwhipping over them or presentations thatsmack down on the water are easy toavoid. Fish can detect when things are not

right and their fear or flight instincts kickin to help them survive. The sloppy, impa-tient angler is much less successful than the“trout hunter.”

This point was made very clear to me acouple of years back. A good friend wasstruggling to get hooked up with some real-ly nice fish he had found in a local, pres-sured river. He was new to fly fishing andwas watching some of the other anglers andhow they approached fishing on this busyriver. Unfortunately, they were not goodexamples to follow.

I helped him by sharing a very simple butkey concept that he immediately understood.He is an awesome hunter. Deer, turkeys,waterfowl and more are in trouble with himin the woods. I told him to approach the sit-uation as if he was stalking big game. Thekey was to scope out the situation carefully

and plan his “hunting” strategy. Think aboutthe current, how sound can alarm fish, howto stay out of sight of the fish and how todeliver the perfect, natural looking presenta-tion. I gave him a couple of dependable fliesand off he went.

When I saw him a week later he had sto-ries of several “hunts” that had resulted insome beautiful trout photos. He took morepictures of big fish in that week than manymuch more “experienced” anglers wouldhave to show off through several seasons.

He told me that the key was to sit quietlyon the bank for a few minutes to plan hisapproach. He watched for bugs, whichhelped him choose the right fly. He plannedhis stalk to hunt down individual fish. Hethought about the perfect presentation, andhow it would float in the current. He usual-ly lengthened and lightened his leader. Heslipped carefully into positions where thatperfect drift was possible. He waded like apredator: quietly, smoothly and focused.The additional time to get in the perfect spotpaid off in much more “hunting” success.

Take your fall hunting routine to the riverthis spring and I am sure you too will havemore success stories to share. ?


water’s edgeBy Dave Taylor

Dave Taylor is a well knownphotographer and naturalistfrom Mississauga, Ontario

Peregrine FalconI was on a long pier in the GTA where anglers often gather

to try for salmon before the fish head upstream to spawn. I

was hoping to photograph some of the large schools of

ducks that had gathered in the shelter of the river’s mouth

when suddenly a blur of movement caught my eye. Seconds

later I had my camera focused on a peregrine falcon that

had just snatched a pigeon in mid-flight.

Peregrine falcons were quite literallyposter boys for the campaign to removeDDT from North America’s arsenal againstinsect pests. During the 1950s the numbersof these birds across North America wentinto steep decline and in many regions ofthe continent the birds were extirpated.Once DDT got into the food chain it builtup in the peregrine’s body and caused the

females to lay extremely fragile eggs thatoften cracked upon laying. The banning ofDDT eventually removed the threat butother steps were required to bring thisspecies back from the brink of extinction.

Wildlife and conservation groupsembarked on an ambitious plan to reintro-duce the peregrine falcon, focusing largelyon the Eastern United States and Southern

Ontario where the birds were very hard hitby the chemical. Young birds from captivebreeding programs were hacked (handraised by people hidden behind glass).Peregrine puppets were used to feed thebirds to keep human contact at a minimum.

In Ontario these programs were tried in avariety of sites. Obvious ones were the cliffsof remote lakes in Algonquin ProvincialPark, but surprisingly, birds hacked inmajor cities did particularly well. The rea-son the birds did so well in city cores had todo with two factors. The tall buildings mir-rored the birds’ preferred nesting habitat(cliffs) and abundant rock doves (pigeons)provided a ready source of food.

Hacking boxes were replaced with nest-ing boxes as the number of wild, free roam-ing falcons grew. Cities like Toronto arenow home to several nesting pairs. Theperegrine falcon is back.

These birds are believed to be the fastestliving creatures on earth. When a falconstoops (dives) on its prey – be it a duck,pigeon or song bird - it can reach speeds inexcess of 300-kilometers per hour. It strikesits prey with its talons balled up and thenturns and swoops down on it and grabs it.It’s a spectacular sight and one that is nowpossible to see throughout the Peregrine'sreclaimed range. ?

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27484-toro-Bob Izumi Ad.indd 1 11/22/11 1:52 PM


the vintage tackle box

Gananoque Tackle MakersGananoque, Ontario, is a historical town in many aspects.

Its name is aboriginal and means “town of two rivers,” a

reference to the Gananoque River which flows through

town, and to the St. Lawrence River that marks the town’s

southern boundary.

Gananoque has also been referred to as“The Gateway to the Thousand Islands.”With such an important location, the townbecame a Mecca for merchants and touristsin the late 1800s and many businesses setup shop in the area to take advantage of allthe river had to offer.

Probably the most noted Gananoque areatackle maker from the late 1800s wasGardiner M. Skinner. Born in Brockville,Ontario, in 1845, Gardiner spent his earlychildhood exploring the shores of that rivertown. In 1857 the Skinner family moved toGananoque, where Gardiner attendedschool and honed his fishing skills. With aworld class fishery on his doorstepGardiner’s main interest was to become anardent and expert angler of the trophy bass,walleye and muskellunge the mighty St.Lawrence River offered.

Gardiner Skinner tested all the artificialbaits that were offered to anglers by thepresent day tackle makers. Not content, hesought to design and make something thatwould be more appealing to fish as well asto the hoards of anglers who visited the areaeach year. After many experiments hedesigned a metal lure with fluted blades.Testing the waters with his first fluted bladelures assured him that his new lure designidea was worth the effort and, in 1874, heapplied to patent his “G.M. SkinnerCelebrated and Fluted Spoon Baits.”

In the 1870s Gardiner opened a store onGananoque’s Main Street that suppliedanglers, trappers, hunters and sportsmen.The store was billed as a “Sportsmen’sHeadquarters and Manufactory of the

Celebrated Fluted Trolling Baits.” With theincrease in tourism on both sides of the bor-der, many merchants, including GardinerSkinner, were rewarded financially. In 1879G.M Skinner and family moved his businessto Clayton, New York.

In 1899 Gardiner Mills Skinner wrote,“It is now more than a quarter of a centurysince I commenced to experiment, lookingtowards something more attractive andmore effective for catching the large gamefish of the St. Lawrence River. I realized thatsomething radically different from anythingthen in use was needed and the result was afluted blade which, as the trade and all

anglers know, has become the most cele-brated lure ever placed on the market.”

Two other noted fishing tackle manufac-turers were listed in Gananoque in the late1800s: William W. Bulloch & Co and JohnLivingstone.

William Bulloch & Co. was a manufac-turer of fishing tackle, boat fittings and ironand copper rivets. Metal lures produced byBulloch had a unique hook attachment andwere made in various styles sizes and finish-es. The lures were stamped, W.M Bulloch,Gananoque, Ont.

John Livingstone was a machinist who alsomanufactured fishing tackle from 1871 untilsometime after 1887. His metal lures wereproduced in many shapes and were clearlystamped, J. Livingstone, Gananoque, Ont.

Metal lures made by any of these 1800stackle makers, that are specifically stamped,“Gananoque,” are very sought after by col-lectors. Prices for baits from these makerscan start at about $150 and can often go forover the $500 mark. ?

By Patrick Daradick

Patrick Daradick has been collecting vintage fishing tackle forover 23-years and is a specialist in Ontario made tackle. Heenjoys sharing his passion and knowledge and can be contactedonline at www.ontariolures.com or by phone at 613-398-7245.

Left to Right: A Skinner fluted-blade lure; a J. Livingtstone bait and a W.M. Bulloch & Co. lure.

“Wherever I am, I’m thinking about fishing! And Navionics is always close at hand to help me zero in on the best spots. Before heading out, I’ve already created a game plan and marked my waypoints with the PC app that comes free with my Navionics charts. I download my waypoints to a chip and upload them to my unit. In the boat, Navionics shows me where I am, and where I want to be so I can work my spots and focus on catching the winning fish. Later on, I can review my routes, add my own Navionics UGC, and show off my catches — all on my mobile! If I can do it, so can you!”

Bob Izumi, Winner, 1000 Islands Tournament, FLW Outdoors EverStart Northern Division, July 2011

Congratulations Bob!

And now, you can read Real Fishing on the Navionics NewsStand!

navionics.com


real fishing fish facts

Northern PikeEsox lucius

The northern pike is a long, narrow fish with a broad,

flat, and somewhat duck-bill shaped head.

The jaws, roof of the mouth and tongue arecovered with sharp teeth that are constant-ly being replaced. The lower jaw oftenextends beyond the upper and the under-side generally features five pores on eachside. A single, soft rayed dorsal fin is locat-ed far to the back near the tail, just forwardof the anal fin. The tail fin is moderatelyforked and the tips are slightly rounded.

The basic coloration of the pike features adark background with numerous light, bean-shaped spots arranged in seven to nine hori-zontal rows. The back and sides can rangefrom dark green through olive-green toalmost brown while the lower flanks andbelly are creamy to milky-white. Fins may begreen, green-yellow, orange or pale red andfeature irregular black markings or blotches.

Pike are found around the world in thenorthern hemisphere almost to the Arcticcoast lines. They are primarily a freshwaterfish but are known to inhabit slightly brack-ish water, especially in the Baltic Sea andother areas of northern Europe. In Canadatheir range includes most of Labrador andQuebec lying south of Ungava Bay; all ofOntario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and

Alberta; the northeastern section of BritishColumbia, and most of the Yukon andNorthwest Territories except for theextreme northern and eastern coastal areasand the Arctic islands. Pike are absent fromthe Maritime Provinces.

Pike spawn in the early spring, immedi-ately following ice-out, when water temper-atures are in the 40°F to 52°F range.Spawning takes place during the day onvegetated river floodplains, in marshes andin the shallow back-bays of large lakes. Onefemale usually pairs up with one or twosmaller males and they will spawn at irreg-ular intervals over a few days. Pike do notbuild spawning nests; their eggs are scat-tered randomly over several spawning sites.It is estimated that female pike carry about9000 eggs per pound of body weight andthe average female will have some 32,000eggs. Although pike deposit high numbersof eggs and the fertilization rate is usuallyover 50%, the mortality rate is exceedinglyhigh and can reach over 95%.

Young pike feed on zooplankton andsome small insects for their first week or sobefore adding small fish to their diet. Bytime the juveniles reach about two-inches inlength their diet shifts almost entirely toother fish. As adults, pike will consumealmost anything including frogs, crayfishand occasionally mice, ducklings and othervertebrates, however, their main foodsource remains other fish which, make upsome 90% of their diet.

Pike are often though of as a fish of shal-low, weedy water and this is true to someextent. A lot depends on their geographiclocation. Mature adults enter the shallowsin the spring and fall, but tend to retreat todeeper, cooler water in the heat of summer.Younger pike are more likely to remain inthe shallows through the summer. In thenorthern part of their range mature pike

can be found shallow all season while in thesouth they are more likely to hold in deeperwater during the hottest time of the year.

Pike are a popular sportfish and can becaught by casting, trolling or fly-casting.They will hit spoons, spinners, plugs, fliesand all types of live and dead baits. Pike canmake long runs when hooked but generallyseem to do more thrashing, twisting andshort distance darting, especially when theyget close to the boat.

Pike are wonderful food fish havingsweet, white, flaky flesh. They have a seriesof y-bones along the side that can make fil-leting them a challenge but the results arewell worth the effort. It’s best to skin pikebefore cooking as the skin has heavy pig-mentation and a thick mucus that can givethe fish a muddy taste. ?

DID YOU KNOW?Although pike are a freshwater fish theycan also tolerate low levels of salt water. Inthe Baltic Sea pike are known to thrive inwater with up to 10% salinity and canreproduce successfully in water with up toa 7% salt concentration.

FAST FACTSColour: Dark green through olive-greento almost brown on the back and sideswith numerous light, bean-shaped spots.The lower flanks and belly are creamy tomilky-white.

Size: The average angler caught pike isbetween 20 and 30-inches in length and weighs three to five- pounds althoughfish over 36-inches and weighing over10-pounds are common.

Life Span: 10 to 12-years in the southernpart of their range and up to 25-years inthe north.

Habitat: Pike are most commonly foundin warm, slow, heavily vegetated riversand warm, weedy bays of lakes. In theheat of summer, larger specimens willoften move to deeper, cooler water.

Spawning: Mating occurs in early spring,immediately following ice-out and, occa-sionally, under the melting ice whenwater temperatures reach 40°F to 52°F.

RECORDThe current IFGA All-Tackle World Recordnorthern pike weighs 55-pounds, 1-ounce and was caught from Lake ofGrefeern, West Germany in October, 1986.


DOUG HANNON’S

Best Fishing Tim

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DOUG HANNON’S

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To order your copy of Doug Hannon’s 2012 Moon Clock Calculatorplease visit www.moontimes.com or send $9.95 (USD) plus$3.75 (USD) for shipping & handling to: Moon Clock, Department RE, PO Box 724255, Atlanta, GA 31139

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LEGEND

Excellent times shown first in bold font. Good times shown below in regular font.

Home of the largest fresh water lake in Québec

La Nation Crie de La Nation Crie deCree Nation of Cree Nation of

Aigle Pêcheur

Osprey Lodge

www.mistissini.ca • OUTFITTING • FISHING • ACCOMMODATIONS • MARINAS • RESTAURANTS • GAS STATIONS • 418 923-3466

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Pub CRIE - 8x10.ai 1 12-02-13 08:19


Quick, what’s the main reason

Canadian anglers head to Florida in

the winter? If you guessed Disney

World or fresh oranges you’d better

take another look at the picture.

In mid-January Bob Izumi hooked

up with Miles Burghoff, the son of leg-

endary MASH actor, Gary Burghoff, for

a day of bass fishing on the Butler

Chain of Lakes. Miles is an accom-

plished tournament angler and, as you

can see, he’s no slouch when it comes

to finding big bass and putting them

in the boat. Miles was undoubtedly

happy about his gigantic bass, but we

bet he was happier that Bob tagged

along to record the catch for posterity!


A Head for Tournaments

By Bob Izumi

I feel that mentally, in that little

space between your ears, you can

actually talk yourself into doing

well or not doing well in tourna-

ment fishing. Now, there are a lot

of factors that go with that.

Obviously know-how, time on the

water, knowing the species you’re

going after, knowing about their

seasonal movements, the habitat,

the weather conditions, bait choices

- all of those factors play a big role

in successful fishing. But after com-

peting in bass tournaments (and

some walleye and pike tourna-

ments) for nearly 40-years there’s

one thing I know for sure: you’ll go

through a lot of entry fee and

expense money if you don’t have

your head screwed on straight.

I’ve found that the more confident youare in your approach to fishing, the morefish you will catch, but there’s a fine linebetween being confident and being cocky.All of the most successful athletes outthere have an air about them, whether it’sperceived as being egotistical, arrogant orsomething else. The fact is, deep downthey are incredibly confident in their abili-ties to perform in whatever sport they’redoing, and that’s part of what makes themthe achievers that they are.

Back in the ‘80s I was introduced toKevin VanDam at a BassMasterInvitational. He had just started out in thetournament game and was doing prettywell, but he certainly had not made thename for himself that he has today. Havingmet as many people as I have over theyears, I tend to think I’m fairly good atreading people and my first reaction wasthat he was a little bit cocky. As the yearswent on and I followed his tournamentcareer, I realized that it wasn’t as muchcockiness as it was confidence. When Kevinbecame one of the greatest tournamentbass anglers in the history of big-money


events, I realized that his confidence com-bined with his know-how is what madehim the incredible angler that he was.

In tournament fishing your attitude cansometimes play in your favour and some-times it can work against you. One of thebiggest mistakes some anglers make is beingso confident that they become stubborn.Stubbornness does one of two things: itmakes you do well or it makes you not dowell and there’s a fine line between them.Maybe you stick with a favourite area orpattern even though you’re not catching thequality or quantity of fish you need. Ormaybe you stick with it and at some pointin the day the fish turn on and you end upwith a big weight. Maybe you leave an areaor change patterns or techniques and don’tcatch as many fish as you should have. Ormaybe you change your technique or loca-tion and strike gold. Successful tournamentfishing is making the right decisionsthroughout the day. There’s no right orwrong answer until the weigh-in is done.

Tournament fishing requires a lot ofphysical preparation, equipment prepara-tion, research, time on the water and, lastbut not least, having the right mental out-look. I know that when I go into eventsthese days, quite frankly, I’m not focused.We produce the magazine that you’re read-ing right now, we do the TV show, the radioshow, I do personal appearances and chari-ty work – I’m involved in a lot of differentthings which take some of my concentra-tion away from tournament fishing. Thereis no way that you can be off in 20 direc-tions and then just turn the switch off, gotournament fishing and dominate. That’swhy a lot of the best tournament anglers in

North America do nothing but work fortheir sponsors and basically focus on theirtournaments.

When I was younger and I didn’t have asbusy a schedule as I do now, mentally myhead wasn’t as stuffed up as it is now. As Iget older maybe I’m more responsible;maybe I’m going crazy or senile – whoknows. All I know is that nowadays itseems that I’ve got a lot on my mind. In theearlier years, whether I was fishing in a Pro-Am event or a team tournament, I expectedto win every tournament that I fished.

At the start of the day I felt so good aboutmy ability to catch fish that I pretty well feltthat I had a chance to win every tourna-ment. I was young and very confident in myabilities. I was going wide-open when I goton the water and I was fearless. I was com-pletely focused on catching fish and I don’tremember thinking of anything else in tour-naments except catching fish.

Nowadays I’m thinking about the TVshows I need to shoot, the magazine articlesI have to get done, keeping my Twitteraccount up to date, scheduling my personal

appearances, my charity work – there’s azillion things running through my mind. I’mnot making excuses, but I know that it def-initely is a factor in not having the consis-tent success now that I had in those earlyyears. But I still want to compete and dowell. I’m in my fifth decade of tournamentfishing now and I realize that my biggestchallenge is the mental aspect; trying to lockout as much as I can when I’m on the waterso that I can think clearly about making theright decisions.

I’ve been very happy with my success intournaments over the years. I’ve had a prettydecent career here in Canada and, in 2011,


I finally won a major U.S. tournament; theEverstart 1000 Islands event. I count mylucky stars every time I do well in a tourna-ment because for me it’s a very small por-tion of a very large pie that I am involvedwith in the fishing industry. While tourna-ment fishing is a very large personal com-mitment (some might say addiction), deepdown I know it’s a very small sliver of whatI do during the course of the year.

There’s no easy way to have ongoing suc-cess in tournaments. I would almost guar-antee that if you interview 100 tournamentwinners not many of them will say, “Oh itwas really easy, I just went out and in thefirst hour caught all the fish I needed andwon the event.” You might get one or twoout of a hundred that will say that becausethey found the honey hole of the century,but for the most part you’re going to findout that it was a grind for these people.

Tournament fishing can be gruelling onthe mental side. It can be an incredibleroller coaster ride of emotions as you gothrough the day. You may feel down-and-out because you’re not getting bit, then youcatch a few good fish and all of a suddenyou feel like you’ve won the lottery. That’swhat keeps a lot of tournament anglerscoming back, the incredible range of emo-tions; the successes and failures we experi-ence throughout the event. As anglers wealways think that on our next cast we’regoing to produce a fish and it’s that opti-mism that really keeps us going.

Part of the mental side of fishing is beingconfident in your ability with certain tech-niques. There are a lot of really goodanglers that are specialists in specific tech-niques. Some guys are good with acrankbait, others might be good at flippingand pitching, others may excel in deepwater while somebody else might be anincredible sight fisherman. Over the yearsI’ve noticed that a lot of anglers who excelin certain techniques will have their timeand place when they are successful. Forexample, the angler who’s into finesse fish-ing with light line might excel on a deep,clear lake while a flipper and pitcher wholikes shallow, murky water might strugglein that situation.

What’s really important is to become profi-cient and confident in a few techniques. Thereare very few anglers who are really good withmultiple techniques; some are capable withall of them but for the most part are only real-ly good at maybe half of them.

Recently I was reading some PGA statis-tics about the top golfers in each category ofthe game: greens in regulation, drivingaccuracy, driving distance, putting etc. As Iread these I noticed that, for the most part,there were different names in the top-10 ineach category. I expected to see TigerWoods in the top-10 in all of the divisionsbut he was absent from many of them.While he was high up in some of the cate-gories, he wasn’t among the best in everyone. It’s similar in just about every sport. In

basketball you’ve got guys who are goodrebounders and other guys that are greatthree-point shooters; in hockey there aregreat defensemen and there are great goal-scorers; in baseball you’ve got great pitchersand great hitters. It makes me think thattournament anglers are a lot like any othertop athlete. You’ve got some that excel inone aspect of the sport but maybe not inanother. Very few can claim to excel inevery area.

Most of the successful tournamentanglers I know do an analysis of their dayafter the event. Even some that aren’t suc-cessful do this and it’s what I do after everyevent I fish, whether I do well or not. I liketo analyze what worked, what didn’t, whatcould have, what should have, whatworked for others, what didn’t work forothers. Becoming a student of the successfultechniques, patterns and choices that vari-ous anglers made at an event can definitely

You’d better know how to flip if you’re going to catch fish from this kind of water.

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help make you a better angler. Keep anopen mind so the next time you’re facedwith those types of conditions you can goback into your memory bank and recallwhat worked and what didn’t. That wayyou’ve got a starting point to base yourdecisions on.

At Wheeler Lake at the FLW EasternSeries Open a few years back I didn’t realizethat I found the winning fish until after thetournament was over. It blows my mind toknow that I had an area where I could haveliterally walked away with that tourna-ment. I know for a fact that with the fish Ilost during that tournament I should havewon instead of getting 10th place.

During practice my friend, RickMcCrory, (who was fishing as a co-angler)and I went into a big, meandering creek andgot the boat stuck so badly that I had to getout and push us off of the mud and clay.The water was only a foot deep in most ofthe creek except for depressions in the oldcreek channel that were a foot and a half totwo-feet. These deeper spots had the poten-tial to hold fish but it was really tough get-ting in there. When we finally got in, I hadtwo good hits that I shook off. At the timeI didn’t realize how many fish were relatingto isolated pieces of wood in that creek.

On the first day of the tournament Idecided to play it safe and go for a limit offish so I stayed away from that creek andwent to other areas of the lake where I hadcaught some fish in practice. I caught ameagre limit of keepers and finished the dayway down the list.

On day two I decided to roll the dice. Iwent to the creek that I had found in prac-tice and ended up catching 18-plus pounds.I also lost a few other really big fish that daybut still moved way up in the standings. On the third day I went back to the creekand caught 15-pounds and change. Onceagain I lost some big fish and I felt that Icould have been leading the tournament if Ihad caught every fish I hooked. Despite los-ing some fish, I moved into eighth placegoing into the fourth and final day.

My confidence was at an all-time high andmentally I was ready to rock and roll on thelast day. Unfortunately I lost three decent fish,caught two little tiny keepers and slippeddown to 10th place. Analyzing that tourna-ment I realized two things: I had some equip-ment issues and I was on the right fish to win.

I was using a medium-heavy rod that wastoo light for the fishing I was doing. I wasflipping a Berkley Power Bait SabretailTube (which is discontinued) with 20-pound test Trilene fluorocarbon on a flip-ping hook with a screw-in weight and Iwasn’t getting a good hook set. It wasn’t therod’s fault, it was my fault for not switchingto a beefier stick. The rod I was using wasmore suited to heavier spinnerbaits or aswimming jig or something like that but Iwas flipping into isolated wood. I shouldhave gone to a medium-heavy ShimanoCrucial flipping rod instead. Because of thatI lost eight big fish that would have easilytaken me over the top.

Seeing the weight that ended up winning,and looking at all the fish that I lost, I’mconvinced that I could have won. You

know the old saying; would have, shouldhave, could have. Had I fished that creekarea for all four days and not lost the fish Idid, I could have walked away with thatevent. I’ve got a ton of these stories fromover the years where making the wrongdecision has cost me a tournament. On theother side of it, there’s a ton of times wheremaking the right decisions have given mefirst place. It’s amazing how your decisionsand the mental side of fishing can play handin hand to bring you success.

I’ve been fortunate enough to win a tour-nament every year for the last four years in arow. When you win a tournament there’s noquestion that you exude a confidence thatcan carry on to the next event and you justfeel good about it. When you’re on a highfrom doing well in an event, whether you

If you’re not catching the bigger fish, it’s timeto change things up.


win it or you’re in the top-10 or top-20 ortop-50 - whatever makes you happy – you’vecan transfer that positive energy to the nextone. The biggest thing as a competitiveangler is learning to shrug off your bad fin-ishes. It’s easy to get into a rut and get downon yourself, down on everything aroundyou, and get into a negative mood whereyou’re in a funk that’s very hard to get out of.I cannot stress enough how, when you’re outon the water, being positive is so much betterthan being negative. When you’re negativeyou tend to fish too fast, you make hastydecisions and you’re not focused.

Say you go to your best spot and thingsaren’t happening. You get a few small ormedium fish on your key spot but they’renot the fish you were hoping for. Do youstay and wait for the fish or do you leave?This is where experience definitely comesinto play. It’s all about time management.

I don’t know how many times over theyears we would be catching fish - and catch-ing a lot of fish – but not the size to win.There comes a time where you just have topull up your trolling motor and move on. Ifyou’re not catching the bigger fish in a spe-cific area with a specific technique it’s timeto change it up. That means changing tech-niques, changing locations, or both, untilyou find what it takes to produce the kindof fish that will take you over the hump andlet you of do well in the event. I’ve seenother anglers do it and I’ve done it myself –staying too long in an area using the sametechnique. All of a sudden you look at yourwatch and say, “Where did the day go?”

When you have eight or nine-hours in aspecific tournament day you want to makesure that you use every minute to youradvantage. You have to decide whether tostick with your primary area, make a longrun to an area where you’ll have a veryshort time to fish, fish multiple areas orwhether to do a milk run of a few choiceareas over the course of the day. Those arethe decisions that you have to make. Whatseparates the winners from the rest of thefield is using your available time to producethe best results.

It’s funny how your success – or lack of it– can affect how the day goes by. In a lot oftournaments where I’ve had really goodfishing early in the day, I end up looking atmy watch a lot, wondering when it’s time toweigh in. When you get a lot of good fish

quickly it seems like the day goes by veryslowly, probably because you know thatyou’ve already done very well and you justwant to get your fish on the scales. Ofcourse the opposite is true too. When you’restruggling it seems that the day just flies byand before you know it you’ve got to headin with a small limit or worse.

A case in point is when my son, Darren,and I won the Renegade Bass tournament in2010 on Lake St. Francis in Cornwall. Wehad our limit of just a few ounces shy of 25-pounds, including the big fish of the tourna-ment – a six-plus pound smallmouth – by10:30 in the morning. Every time I lookedat my watch only a half-hour or so wouldhave passed and it seemed like eternity forweigh in time to come that day.

Getting a big limit early and being anx-ious for the day to end is the exceptionrather than the rule though. For the mostpart, successful tournament fishing is grind-ing it out, thinking you’re going to catch afish on every cast, including your very lastcast of the day. I can remember so manytournaments where I caught a very large fishon my last cast that turned out to be the dif-ference between winning and not winning.I’ve pushed the envelope to the point of hav-ing a seven mile run with nine minutes left inthe day, getting in with a minute to spareand ending up winning the tournament.

If you’ve ever fished a tournament youcan relate to the feelings that you have dur-

ing them. If you’ve never fished one, I cantell you that you will experience every emo-tion that you can think of. Tournamentfishing can be some of the most incrediblygruelling, happy, depressing, exhilaratingdays you’ll ever have on the water. They arevery unpredictable and challenging andthat’s what keeps me coming back.

An example is when I fished the 2010FLW Series, Eastern Division tournamenton Lake Okeechobee. My friend, RickMcCrory, and I were practicing for thetournament and we had had a terrible pre-fish. For the three days leading up to thetournament I believe I only caught a coupleof keeper fish. I didn’t even have a startingarea where I felt I could catch a limit. I wasat my wit’s end and totally bummed the daybefore the tournament.

I even said to Rick, “Maybe I’m out ofmy league fishing in these tournaments.”

I was starting to second-guess myself andwhy I was even fishing in this event.

On day one of the tournament mylivewell was empty at quarter to eleven inthe morning. At that point I actuallythought that I might blank and have noth-ing to weigh in. Then I happened to see afish, about a 2 ½-pounds, sitting on a bed inthe eel grass. I caught it and the light switchwent on. The weather was starting to warmup and I thought that maybe a few fish werestarting to move up shallow and make beds.I put the trolling motor on high and covered

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38 Real Fishing – Winter 2012

miles of water looking for fish. At the endof the day I had a fairly decent limit of fishand was in 15th place.

To make a long story short, I had twomore decent days and ended up in eighthplace out of the 160 boats in that tourna-ment. Leading into this event I would havebeen happy just to know where I was goingto catch a couple of fish. It was amazinghow just seeing that one fish late in themorning on day one changed my wholeattitude and the way I was fishing.

That’s the thing about tournament fishing.You have to be careful to not get down andout on yourself before the event even starts.You don’t know what’s going to happen untilyou actually get immersed in the competition.

The best thing you can do in tournamentsis to stay cool, calm and collected. Whenthings aren’t working, take a couple of deepbreaths, look around you and think aboutwhat you’re doing, what else you could bedoing and where else you could be doing it.If you’re not catching them in the thick cover,maybe you’ve got to go to open water or tosome moderate cover. If you’re not catchingthem on a reaction bait maybe you have tohit them on the head with a slow movingbait. When you’re calm, you can go throughthis process of elimination until you find outwhat will work on that particular day.

The worst thing you can do is start run-ning around helter-skelter, in panic mode.When you’re in panic mode not only doyou make the wrong decisions on whereyou may be fishing, but also on the wayyou’re fishing. You might set the hook too

hard or too fast; you may horse a fish toomuch; you may fish through an area toofast; you may not use the right technique forthe area you’re fishing. Your mind is racingbecause time is running out and you’ve gotto catch fish. When that panic mode sets inyou start making irrational decisions andthat rarely works in your favour.

I’ve had so much success over the yearsfishing tournaments on Lake Ontario and atthe 1000 Islands that I really felt good aboutgoing into the 2011 Everstart 1000 Islandstournament. Mentally I was in a pretty goodspace but with the number of good anglersthat were in that tournament I would havebeen happy with a top-10 finish.

On the first day of the tournament I wasvery confident in the spot I had found. Itwas the corner of a very small shoal out inthe big waters of Lake Ontario that I hadfished at the Canadian Open a week earlier.

In that tournament I weighed in just over22-pounds on the first day of competition;19-pounds and change on the second and Iended up in seventh place overall, less thanthree-pounds away from winning. I felt thisarea still had the potential to produce agood bag and I was pretty confident that Iwas going to do well.

I fished a few other spots early in themorning and finally made it out to the shoalaround mid-morning. When I got there Ifound that a friend of mine from Vermontwas already there and Cory Johnston wasjust pulling up on the spot at the same timeas I was. We all fished the same area andeverybody seemed to be catching a few fish.I caught three but they were no better thantwo-pounds each and by 11 in the morningmy three fish (that would have weighedabout seven-pounds) were not looking verygood. I was fishing beside these guys, jokingaround and having a good time, but deepdown inside I was melting away. I was dev-astated. I was freaking out but on the out-side I was trying to stay cool.

I’ve had more success fishing tournamentsin these waters than anywhere else and I’vewon three Canadian Opens and a CanadianClassic on eastern Lake Ontario. I fished dif-ferent areas in every one of those tourna-ments – both for largemouth and for small-mouth – so I have a lot of confidence.Anyway, I decided that it was time to go intoscramble mode. Now, scramble mode does-n’t mean panic. Scrambling means moving,changing and doing whatever it takes to puta decent limit together to stay in the hunt. Asit turned out I did some running and gun-ning and put together 17-pounds, 9-ouncesfor day one and was in 17th place.

Catching just one fish can be a big boost toyour confidence.

Luckily the blood, sweat, and tears we put into it drained right out.

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On day two I did not go back to thatshoal where I had run into the other fel-lows. Instead, I fished a number of newareas, put together a limit that weighed 19-pounds, 7-ounces and moved up to 7thplace. On day three I was completelyrelaxed because I had made the top-10 cut.I was pretty sure that I couldn’t win becausethere was quite a spread between myselfand Chris Johnston, who was sitting in first.Plus there were six other guys that wereahead of me so my feeling was that maybeI could squeak into the top-5, earn a fewbucks and be happy.

I went out feeling good and was lookingto have some fun out there on day three. Ifished a number of areas in the tournamentand covered a ton of water fishing specificrock areas that would hold fish. I did anextensive milk run and ended up with apretty decent limit weighing 21-pounds, 1-ounce. My attitude was that I had arespectable limit and should be able tomove into the top five.

At the weigh-in I didn’t really know anyof the American anglers who were in thetop-10 so I didn’t have any idea what theyhad in their livewells. You’re not supposedto talk to the other guys about what they

have because it’s all supposed to be a bigsurprise, but I did ask Chris Johnston howhis day went and he said not good at all.When Chris says not good at all that meansit’s not good.

The weigh-in started with the 10th placeangler and moved up through the field. Atthese tournaments the current leader gets tosit on the stage in the “hot seat” until some-one else takes the lead. When my fish hit thescales I ended up taking over first place andgot to sit in the hot seat but there were sixanglers ahead of me in the standings whostill had to weigh-in. So I’m sitting in the hotseat as every angler came up – sixth place;fifth place, fourth, third, second – andnobody knocked me out. I looked over atthe current leader, Chris Johnston, and hewas grinning at me from across the stage.Chris had said that he had a bad day so Istarted thinking that there was a goodchance I’d won. I couldn’t believe it. It feltalmost surreal because it’s not what I expect-ed. When Chris weighed in 14-pounds offish he dropped down in the standings and Iended up winning the tournament.

After fishing about 70 tournaments in theU.S. and having some good finishes butnever closing the deal, I had finally won my

first major U.S. tournament. I was elated.The weird thing is that it didn’t really sinkin until the next day. I was awestruck by thefact that nobody weighed in enough to beatme out of that hot seat.

In that tournament I fished very loose,mentally, on day three because I wasn’tthinking of winning, I was only looking atclimbing up the leaderboard a few places. Ifished without a care in the world because Iknew I already had a top-10 finish and Ibelieve that that helped me to get that 21-pound limit.

I was riding the wave of success when thenext Everstart tournament, out of Buffaloon Lake Erie, rolled around. I was goinginto that one feeling really good because Ihad just won at the 1000 Islands andbecause it was on water that I truly love.When you have success in an event you canride that wave and I was certainly riding itgoing into this one.

I weighed in 17-pounds on the first dayand 19-pounds the second day – includingthe big fish of the tournament that weighedover six-pounds. I didn’t think I’d made thetop-10 but I did think at least I’d get acheque. After weighing my fish I went to theparking lot and started packing all my stuffaway before heading back to the weigh-into see how I fared.

Then my wife, who was still watching theend of the weigh-in, called me on the cellphone and says, “Bob, you’ve got to getover here now, they’re calling your name.”

I said, “For what?” She said, “You made the top-10, you’re

sitting in 10th place, you made the cut tofish on day three!”

I left everything and ran back over to theweigh in area. I was thrilled with the factthat I had made another top-10. I ended upin eighth place overall which put me in thelead for the Everstart Angler of the Yearafter the first three tournaments.

There is no question that when you’redoing well in tournaments, and your confi-dence level is peaking, you can ride thatwave and continue to have some success.The same can be true when you’re notdoing well too. To sum it up, and I can’tstress this enough, keep a positive mentalattitude in your tournament fishing, and inlife as well, and you’ll find that success isn’tso hard to find. ?

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Driving Your World Forward

THE LOST ART OFSTEELHEADING Underutilized Methods for Catching Great Lakes Steelhead.

By Dan Robson


“That’s a fish,” he said, “lift therod and set the hook.” My father had an uncanny ability

to distinguish bottom from fish,even when he wasn’t holding therod. He was right of course, but myslow hook-set meant a couple ofhead shakes and the fish was free.As I glance back at my 10-year

old self I realize what I thought of as simply catching trout wasactually shaping the foundationfor the steelheader that I amtoday.

The methods that used to put so many fishon the bank for my father and I, however,seem to be losing valuable fishing space tothe more popular float fishing. The newgeneration of Great Lakes steelheaderseems focused on a single method whileothers begin to fall by the wayside. Thesemethods still have their place on the bankand will produce just as many fish if giventhe chance.

BOTTOM BOUNCINGMost old-school steelheaders will agreewith me when I say that bottom bouncingis without a doubt one of the hardest meth-ods to master, second only to swingingflies. Finding the perfect balance between

keeping the bait up off of the bottom anddown in the strike zone requires practiceand patience.

The terminal tackle is as simple as it gets:a barrel swivel between the main line and 12to 24-inches of fluorocarbon leader, depend-ing on water clarity. On the business end ofthe fluorocarbon I use a typical steelheadhook ranging in size from #8 to #14, againdepending on water clarity.

Attached to the main line just above theswivel, or to the tag end of the upper knot onthe swivel, is a group of small split shot. Thisgroup of shot will need constant adjustment.The size and number will depend on thewater being fished. The faster the water themore, or heavier, the shot used. In slower


The line will now begin to tighten. Ifallowed to do so, the current then pulls thebait up off the bottom and out of the strikezone. Counteract this by turning your bodyand following the drift. It may also be neces-sary to give some line. It is imperative thatthe line is let out at a proper rate. Too muchline too quickly and the slack will cause thebait to drag the bottom, potentially snaggingup. Too little line let out too slowly and thetight line will result in the bait rising up andout of the strike zone. If the drift is correct,you should be able to feel the rig brushingbottom every couple of seconds.

Bottom bouncing is a technique thatshines when conditions are less than favor-able; when fish are less active and holdingtight to bottom. For example, winter steel-head are very lethargic, and rarely move totake bait, they wait for that bait to come tothem. Bottom bouncing is ideal for coldwater steelhead. It also shines in deep flowsthat are difficult to fish with a float and it’sa great way to cover shallow riffle water inthe spring.

SWINGING SPINNERS AND SPOONSSpinners and spoons are two entirely differ-ent lures, but can be placed in the same cat-egory if for no other reason than the tech-nique used to present them. Think bottombouncing because swinging a spinner orspoon is very similar. Cast just upstream ofyour position and allow the lure to sinkwhile reeling in the slack. Reel until you feelthe lure working. It’s now time for the cur-rent to take over and impart the action onthe lure. It doesn’t have to be working fever-ishly; it simply has to be working.

The ideal swing will require no reeling at allbut there are often times, especially in slowermoving water, when reeling is necessary. Reeljust enough to keep the lure working and offthe bottom. As the lure swings, follow it withthe rod tip, lowering it as you near the end ofthe swing, creating a push and allowing the

lure to travel that much further. Hold thatfinal position for a moment as the lure stopsand begins to rise in the current. This pausewill often trigger a strike from any curioussteelhead following the lure.

Once you are satisfied that you have suf-ficiently covered the area, move on. Whenfishing a large run I try to set up in the gen-eral area where my previous swings wereending, helping to ensure that I’ve coveredall the area.

Choosing the right spinner or spoon canbe overwhelming as there are countless sizes

THE EQUIPMENTBOTTOM BOUNCINGI prefer to use a rod in the 9 to 11-footrange for bottom bouncing. The longer therod the better and I tend to use an 11-footrod for most applications, unless I’m fishingon a smaller stream. A light to medium-light action is ideal, the more sensitive thebetter. A sensitive rod helps to feel the bot-tom, which is key to determining the differ-ence between bottom and subtle strikes.Eight to ten-pound test monofilament

as the main line is sufficient in most cases,paired with a six-pound test fluorocarbonleader. Of course the pound test can bechanged, depending on water conditions,but this is a good starting point.Fluorocarbon is very abrasion resistant andit is important that the monofilament mainline is as well. The main line should be ableto stand up to abuse just as well or betterthan the leader.

SPOONS AND SPINNERSI like to use a 9-foot, medium action rodwhen swinging spoons and spinners. Thelonger rod helps to control the line duringthe swing. Choose a rod that is sensitiveenough to be able to feel the lure working,yet has enough backbone to ensure agood hook-set. A heavier line is a good idea when fish-

ing spoons and spinners; 12 to 15-poundtest main line matched with a 10-poundfluorocarbon leader is sufficient. The heav-ier line can handle the action of the heav-ier lures as well as help with a solid hook-set. The pound test of the line is relative tothe size of the lure being used and can bedownsized with lighter lures.

PITCHING CRANKBAITSWhen pitching crankbaits I will run thesame equipment as I do with spoons, for allthe same reasons. I always like using alonger rod for several reasons – the lengthlets you get away with using lighter line; ithelps to control the lure and it helps infighting strong, aggressive fish.No matter what rod or line you chose touse, it is imperative that it is used togetherwith a quality reel. A smooth, quality dragis very important. The last thing you needwhen a fresh steelhead takes off is for thedrag on your reel to fail.

water less is needed. The idea is to get thebait into the strike zone quickly, while havingit travel at the same speed as the current. Toomuch weight and the bait will slow downand stay in direct contact with the bottom,causing it to snag up rather than hook fish.Too little weight and the current will pushthe bait up and out of the strike zone. Alwaysadjust the amount of shot. At times it mayseem insignificant, but it could mean the dif-ference in putting fish on the bank.

Cast placement will vary depending on thewater you’re fishing. The faster or deeper thewater, the further upstream the cast shouldbe placed. If slow water is what you’re fish-ing, a cast directly in front of you, or evenslightly downstream, may be necessary. Therig should be in a fishable position (near bot-tom) as it passes directly in front of you.

Hold the rod high as the rig passes in frontof you and begins its drift. Keeping the lineup and off the water as much as possible willhelp combat the current “pushing” the lineout in front of the bait, which in turn caus-es it to pull the bait at an unnatural rate.

Two methods of split shot placement on abottom bouncing rig.

Turn your body and follow the drift as your bottombouncing rig passes your position.

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and color combinations to choose from. Thefinish of the lure or its blade is what youshould focus on when deciding on color. Usebrass or copper finishes when fishing low,clear water, and silver finishes in coloredwater. The added flash of a silver finish willalso help to entice lethargic winter steelhead,no matter what the water conditions.

Depending on the speed of the water, Iwill run spinners from #1- #4 and spoonsranging from ¼- to ½-ounce. Use the heavi-est lure you can get away with as spinnersand spoons both have a tendency to float upin the current. The heavier the lure the bet-ter it will stay in the strike zone.

Swinging spinners and spoons is an effec-tive method any time of the year, howeverthere are times when each will shine. Forspinners it’s in the spring, when the fish areaggressive. For spoons it’s the opposite. Ilove fishing spoons in the winter. There’sjust something about a spoon as it fluttersits way downstream, banging up against arock every now, that awakens slumberingsteelhead.

PITCHING CRANKBAITSWhen the word crankbait is mentionedaround steelheaders it is usually during aconversation about drop shotting from adrift boat. But what about all of the waterthat’s inaccessible with said drift boat? Witha well placed cast, a crankbait can reach the

fish hiding in that inaccessible water. As ayouth with a very short attention span,pitching crankbaits was my favorite methodof steelheading as it covers a lot of waterquickly in search of aggressive fish.

While most steelhead methods require anatural drift presentation, pitching acrankbait is the complete opposite. Theselures can be reeled across the current as wellas upstream and downstream. They can beworked fast or slow, in shallow runs or indeep pools. The fish being targeted areaggressive and are more than willing tochase a fleeing baitfish.

There are many crankbaits to choosefrom, some specifically designed for steel-head, some that are not. Simplify yourchoice by matching the lure with the waterbeing fished. Is it typically running dirty?Use something bigger and brighter. Clearwater? Go with something more naturallooking with a smaller profile. Use a lurethat is relatively shallow running; some-thing that will run in the two to five-footrange. Most importantly, the lure shouldfloat. A floating crankbait allows you makea cast and let the lure drift to a desired pointbefore beginning the retrieve. This is espe-cially helpful when casting into heavy coversuch as fallen or overhanging trees.

Pitching a crankbait may not be the mosteffective method of steelheading, but it is byfar the most exciting. The strikes are savageand it’s almost unbelievable when a three-

pound fish nearly pulls the rod right out ofyour hands. Once hooked, the fish will stopat nothing to shake themselves free, makingfor an incredible battle.

From learning to read the water to figur-ing out fish habits, these methods have allplayed significant roles in my steelheadsuccess. They are the methods that werehanded down to me when I was young,and they remain relevant even in today’ssteelhead world. ?

Banana-style crankbaits like these Lindy River Rockersare great options that provoke vicious strikes fromstream-bound steelhead.

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SPRING PANFISH


By Wil Wegman

Wil Wegman is the former editor of Canada’sBassMan magazine and an award winningoutdoor writer from Bradford Ontario. Hecan be reached through his Focus on Fishingwebsite at www.wilwegman.com

It can be a tough haul if you are a die-hard bass angler living in southernOntario, a part of Canada that does not offer a spring bass fishing season.That fourth Saturday in June opener is looked forward to more than aBirthday, Christmas and Easter combined. Why it’s not declared a ProvincialHoliday - so all the poor souls working in tackle shops can also have the dayoff to fish bass - is simply beyond my comprehension.

The burden of waiting for the opener, how-ever, can be and is much more tolerable ifyou realize the joy of multi-species fishingbefore God’s favourite species becomes fairgame. Today we’ll look at catching a varietyof panfish to fill the pathetic void left in ourlives each spring without bass.

Panfish species have many similar charac-teristics and this is especially true during thespring season. Bluegill and pumpkinseedsunfish, rock bass, yellow perch and blackor white crappie are all warmwater fish thatseek warmer, shallow waters in spring.Northern shorelines receive the most sunand those with dark bottoms capture andhold more of the sun’s heat giving rays.Begin looking for these warmer waters rightafter ice out, perhaps even while some mainlake ice is still present.

Keep your eyes open for baitfish, whichare drawn to the warmer waters as well.Many attribute spring panfish movementsdirectly to their spawning period, however,only the yellow perch (of those mentionedabove) quickly changes focus after ice outfrom food and warmer water, to procreation.

Panfish Spawning BehaviourSmaller male perch are the first to moveshallow to spawn, followed shortly after bylarger females; typically from mid April tomid May. In some regions spawning canlast until July. Spawning occurs when watertemperatures are between 44°F and 54°F.Unlike the other panfish mentioned, perchare not nest builders, nor do they guardtheir young. Instead, they lay more eggsthan sunfish to make up for all those thatwill be eaten by various predators.Therefore, enough survive to allow perch tothrive in most waters. All members of theperch family (like walleye) disperse their

eggs in the shallows at night or early morn-ing over rooted vegetation, fallen trees,brush or even over sand and gravel.

Sunfish, both bluegills and pumpkin-seeds, spawn much later than perch andwait until late spring or early summer whenwater temperatures reach 68°F. Males movein first and make nests and then wait for thefemales to arrive. After the courtship ritualthe female deposits her eggs, the male fertil-izes them and the female soon takes off,leaving the male to guard the eggs and fry.The same deal goes for all members of thesunfish family.

Crappie, both the popular and abundantblacks and the less common whites, are inthe sunfish family and exhibit the sametraits and prefer similar spawning habitat

conditions. They will, however, also spawnbeneath undercut banks and along cattaillined shorelines.

Finally, the highly prolific rock bass -which isn’t a bass at all - is also a nestbuilder and moves into the shallows tospawn when water temperatures arebetween 60°F and 70°F. Like other sunfishspecies, this fish spawns over diverse habi-tats – including those already mentioned forsunfish and crappie, but also over gravel oreven rocky shorelines.

Finding Spring PanfishAlthough northern shorelines with darkbottoms can be prime panfish locations, aneven better early spring option could beslow moving rivers or channels connected


Slow moving rivers or channels connected to the main lake can be magnets for spring panfish - and panfish anglers.


growth peaks. Don’t be afraid to move inreal shallow looking for these wood-relat-ing bluegills, in water as skinny two orthree-feet.

When fishing main lake areas for springpanfish there is no need to battle windyshores, instead, look for sheltered ones orback bays. A channel or river leading tothose back bays can be an added drawingcard but not all panfish species head upthese in the spring. Perch will often spawnin the adjoining bays and then remain near-by, in water from 5 to 12-feet deep. Lookfor mixed sand interspersed with weedy

patches, or bare sandand gravel transitionareas. Often thesepatches or transitionzones can be perchmagnets so markingthem on your GPScan be extremelyeffective. Whenwater conditionsaren’t super clearyou could driveright over themwithout know-ing! I rely heavi-ly on LowranceHD units to

detect thesepatches and I plot

them all so they showclearly on my Navionics map.

“HERDING” PANFISH“One of our favourite early-season

bluegill techniques is something we call

“herding,” says Paul Bassi of the Aurora

Bassmasters. “We look for small cuts or

inlets off of the main river and follow

those up as far as the Ranger will take

us. Sometimes these cuts aren’t much

wider than the boat. The whole time we

are keeping our eyes open for any likely

holding spots – newly emerging weed

growth, holes, brush piles, laydowns or

whatever.”

Often though, it isn’t until the end of

the cut that bluegill are caught or seen,

especially if there is some cover there for

them.

“We believe we actually push or herd

some of these fish ahead of us as we

make our way up the skinny waterway”,

explains Bassi.

“Once we reach a distance of about a

long cast from the end of the cut, we

stop and either tie onto shore to avoid

spooking fish or do our best to hold the

boat still,” says Paul’s fishing partner and

fellow Aurora Bassmaster, Brian Ogden.

This is when they begin to lob small

jigs, tipped with a small twister tail or

grub, on slip floats to areas where the

‘gills are holding. The duo reports that

they have had large schools of big ‘gills

in these areas but that it isn’t always

easy to catch them.

”You need to be extra mindful about

not spooking these finicky fish,” says

Brian. “We try and keep a low profile

and make sure we don’t move around

too much. Those extra-long casts are

critical, but you need to make sure the

bait lands softly, so feather the reel

spool for a delicate landing. Sometimes

you can catch several big ‘gills from

these schools, but we’ve also had big

fish scoot past us without catching

even one,” he concluded.

to the main lake. Here, aquatic vegetationusually begins to grow first and the small,green weeds can be a magnet for panfish.Bluegills and pumpkinseeds love this earlyseason growth regardless of how sparse itmay be. Later in spring, as actual weedlinesbegin to develop, focus your fishing oninside weed edges for pre- or even post-spawn sunfish. Rock bass can be in thesame areas but will seek out rockier shore-lines and somewhat deeper water.

We all know that crappies are extremelystructure oriented, but any sunken timber isalso a bluegill haven, especially before weed

Upsized baits can result in upsized panfish.

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Once you have identified prime spring perch habitat, the task ofcatching them can be accomplished several ways. Being a ratherimpatient angler who would rather keep moving to find fishinstead of waiting for fish to find me, my style is to stay on theelectric until perch are located. Realizing that perch are schoolingfish, with typically at least a couple of aggressive hungry membersamongst the others, gives me the confidence to throw fairly fastmoving minnow imitating baits. When even one or two nice jum-bos attack a three-inch suspending jerkbait, it can help you locatea whole school. This is when it does pay to slow down and toss asmall jig or dropshot directly to where the aggressive perch hit.Although high-end electronics will map these places for you onyour sonar screen, I still prefer to toss a marker buoy for a visualreference.

Upsizing Your BaitsOftentimes the smallest panfish are the most aggressive and trying tokeep them off the hook can be a real chore. This is when I usuallyupsize my baits, whether I’m casting with jerkbaits or cranks whilesearching for panfish or have already stopped to cast a plastic bait.

If I’m tossing crankbaits for sunfish and crappie I like to crankthem down and let them float back, as both of these species sus-pend and look up to feed. Rock bass and yellow perch, however,are typically closer to bottom so you want your baits to stay nearthere during the retrieve.

For plastics, a variety will work, ranging from tubes to grubs totwister tails and minnow imitating baits. Chartreuse, white andhot pink colours are great in off coloured water while more neu-tral green pumpkins, browns or natural baitfish shades are tops inclear water. I rig these on 1/16-ounce jig heads and I utilize a slip

Sonar for ShallowWater PanfishThere are many anglers who believe sonar’s

usefulness is very limited in the shallow water

where so many spring panfish reside. This is

simply not the case says one of Canada’s lead-

ing experts in sonar technology, Lawren

Wetzel. Lawren got his start with Lowrance

Electronics but is now familiar with most

other units as the Marine Electronics

Specialist at Radioworld, a popular electronics

store in Toronto.

If your unit has the ability to change fishing

modes (like the Lowrance HDS or Elite series

models) the first thing to do is make sure your

unit is set to Shallow Water mode.

“This will really help when you are fishing

the shallow, weedy back bays,” says Wetzel.

“The Shallow Water mode changes the way

the unit processes information and helps it

acquire and retain a bottom reading in less

than ideal shallow water conditions, such as

those in weedy or muddy bottoms.“

Wetzel advises anglers to adjust the sensi-

tivity on their units to provide better bottom readings rather than

to actually find fish. Lowering the sensitivity will reduce clutter on

the screen, but will help show hard bottoms much better.

“In the shallows, you’re not going to mark fish unless they are

right below your transducer so there isn't much point to set the

unit up to find the fish. Set it up to find the bottom transition

areas. This means lower the sensitivity and use the unit on a

range that will show at least double the depth,” he advises.

We asked Wetzel to explain further the reason to double the

depth range for the shallows where anglers are fishing panfish

in spring.

“Basically, hard bottoms will send back two or more sonar

returns. So, for example, if you are fishing in eight-feet, set the

range for 20-feet. You'll see the true bottom at eight-feet and

then you will see the "double echo" at 16-feet. When the double

echo disappears you've found the transition... and hopefully

panfish are nearby,” he said.

Side Imaging can be tricky in very shallow water, especially if

there are weeds, but if you are fishing over hard bottoms this fea-

ture can really come into play. When you see screen shots of sandy

bottoms littered with little basketball size depressions and small

white lines in the middle of them they are sunfish beds with fish

on them.

“Also, if you cruise through the shallows before the weeds

come up in early spring, look for stumps and other woody debris

with your side imager and save a waypoint over each. Crappie

spawn up against stumps quite a bit, so knowing where those

hidden stumps are later in the spring when crappies spawn can

be a valuable aid,” recommends Wetzel.

A modified dropshot rig, with a lure like a Bad Boyz on bottom instead of aweight, can be deadly on post-spawn yellow perch.


like a Bad Boyz on bottom instead of aweight, and a 2 to 2 ½-inch plastic minnowbait up top. This rig can be deadly on post-spawn yellow perch or big pre-spawn rockbass when they are in water from 8 to 15-feet deep.

To maximize the fun factor and catchmore panfish, leave your beefy bass tackleat home and opt for a light to ultra-lightspinning rod ranging from 6 to 7 ½-feetwith a fast tip. Spinning reels spooled with

four-pound test monofilament let you castthese light baits further and with greataccuracy.

Conservation:Ontario has several world renowned pan-fish fisheries. Eastern Ontario’s RideauSystem has prolific bluegill; Rice Lake (nearPeterborough) has magnificent black crap-pie and the incredible yellow perch fisheryof Lake Simcoe is one of the finest on theplanet. However, even these can, and possi-bly already have, become a little less entic-ing because so many big panfish have beenremoved. Fortunately, panfish limits arenow in place across most of Ontario. Still,keeping legal limits of the biggest panfishcan have a detrimental effect on the overallquality of the fisheries. If you’re fishing forthe table, fill your limit with smaller malesrather than the large, egg laden females.

An exception may be in areas where rockbass pose significant threats to fisheries.They can quickly dominate a system - andalready have in many Halliburton arealakes. In Ontario there are no rock bass lim-its so in some cases it can actually be wiseto harvest as many as you can eat.

Although panfish numbers acrossOntario and most other provinces arehealthy, in many cases they can be evenhealthier if more anglers voluntarily utilizeconservation principles like selective har-vest. We can begin by realizing that thebiomass of panfish in most water bodies isdominated by smaller fish. Althougheveryone loves to catch big fish, regardlessof the species, it’s the smaller ones that weshould harvest. Choosing to voluntarilyrelease those less abundant, larger speci-mens is an important personal contribu-tion each of us can make to the future ofeach fishery we visit.

Fishing for spring panfish allows anglersof all ages to get back to basics and enjoythe simple pleasures of catching plenty offish with ample opportunity to enjoy a greatmeal of pan-fried fillets afterwards.Introducing children to spring panfishaction can be a recipe for success, even ifyou keep it as simple as a bobber and wormpresented from shore. So this year, givespring panfish action a try and get somekids hooked on fishing while you’re at it.Together, they’ll make that long wait forbass season a lot more enjoyable. ?

float for crappie and sunfish who want thebait above their eye level. For perch or rockbass I seldom use a float since I prefer topresent my baits near the bottom wherethese fish prefer to feed.

Vary your retrieve depending on themood of the panfish, from an exaggeratedlift and fall for aggressive fish, to a slowerhop and drag when fishing is slow. When Iam casting to a specific school of fish I liketo use a modified dropshot rig, with a lure

“My two favorite months for walleyes are July and August,”

says Green Bay fishing guide Jason Muche.

It is during these hot months that Muche keeps his clients

busy reeling in limits of walleye, including trophy-size fish.

The summertime action heats up wherever walleyes live in the

Great Lakes.

Crawler harnesses play a key role for Muche spring through

fall, but they are his primary walleye baits in the summer.

He’s especially keen on the new Lindy Spinners with willow

leaf blades.

“Willow leaf blades mimic the young-of-year baitfish that

have grown to be about two- inches long,” Muche says.

Lindy offers crawler harnesses with No. 4and No. 5 willow leaf blades. Muche fareswell with both sizes. He believes the lifelikeholographic colors on the blades also gener-ate more bites. The Alewife, Purple Smeltand Perch blade patterns score big for

Muche because they look like the baitfishthat walleyes forage on in Green Bay. Lindyalso offers other blade patterns that resem-ble the most prominent baitfish anywherewalleyes live.

Slow & EasyAnother reason crawler harnesses are deadlyin the summer is because the walleyes eatworm-like larvae on the bottom, Mucheclaims. The combination of a live crawler anda willow leaf blade looks to a walleye like aburger and fries looks to a hungry fisherman.

Lindy crawler harnesses also let Muchetroll at a slow pace, typically one-mile perhour. This keeps his baits working in thestrike zone as they pass over a pod ofwalleyes.

Since crankbaits require faster, two-milesper hour trolling speed, they give walleyesless time to react. However, Lindy Shadling

crankbaits do play a role for Muche in thesummertime, as we shall see.

Search & DestroyGreat Lakes walleyes go deep in the sum-mertime. In Green Bay, they move to out tomud flats that are 24 to 30-feet deep,Muche explains.

Although his clients are eager to startfishing first thing in the morning, Muchedoesn’t set out lines until he sees a mess ofwalleyes on his LCG. After running to deepwater on plane, he slows to idle speed andlooks for walleyes on his graph. If he does-n’t mark many fish after idling for a fewminutes, Muche jumps the boat on planefor 200 to 300-yards. Then he slows to idlespeed and again studies his LCG. WhenMuche sees good numbers of big arches onthe screen, he idles around the area to get afeel for the size of the walleye school. Once


By Mark Hicks

HIGH & LOW ONTHE GREAT LAKES


he has done that, he moves upwind of thefish and trolls over them.

Low to HighEarly in the morning, the walleyes are usu-ally down near the bottom. Muche sets outthree inline boards on each side of the boat,each one dragging a Lindy crawler harness.

If Muche is trolling over 30-feet of water,which is typical, the boards on one side ofhis boat pull crawler harnesses set to run25, 22, and 18-feet deep. The deepest boardwill be closest to the boat; the shallowestfarthest from the boat.

The three spinner rigs on the other side ofthe boat are set at depths of 25, 20 and 15-feet. This is true even when Muche markswalleyes hugging the bottom.

“You want to run the bait just above thewalleye so they have to swim up and chaseit,” Muche says.

If you troll a crawler harness past a wall-eye’s nose, it sees it too well in the clearwater and is more likely to reject it.

As the day progresses and the sun getshigher, the baitfish become more active andgradually rise in the water column. Theypull the walleyes right up with them, some-times within five-feet of the surface.

Depth ControlAs the walleyes rise in the water column,Muche reduces the length of line betweenthe trolling boards and the Lindy crawlerharnesses. This keeps his baits swimmingabove the fish.

He monitors the depth of the walleyeswith his LCG. However, when the walleyesfeed much less than 10-feet deep the LCGmarks few fish - even though they could beall around the boat.

“A lot of fishermen think the walleyeshave vanished when that happens,” Muchesays. “They stop catching fish becausethey’re trolling too deep.”

Muche uses a simple system to control thedepth of his crawler harnesses. All thetrolling rods are matched with 10-poundmonofilament, and each crawler harness isattached to a one-ounce inline keel sinker.For every two-feet of line let out, the crawlerharness sinks one-foot when trolling at one-mile per hour, Muche explains.

“For example, if I want my spinner run-ning 15-feet deep, I let out 30-feet of linebefore I attached it to the board, Muchesays. “It’s a simple and effective system.”

ReefsOn a typical day, Muche trolls over deepmud flats for six- hours or so. If his clientshaven’t filled their limits by that time, hetrolls Lindy crawler harnesses along thedeep edges of reefs.

The mud flats yield bigger walleyes, up to32-inches, but the reefs produce more 18-to 24-inch fish. Trolling along a reef letsMuche’s clients quickly finish their limits.

“It’s easier to catch walleyes that relate toa reef because you know where are,”Muche says. “It’s more hit-or-miss on themud flats.”

CranksThe #5 Lindy Shadling comes through forMuche in the summertime when he can’tfind a good pod of walleyes with his LCG.This is when he trolls the Shadling behind

boards at two-miles per hour. “Because I troll the Shadling twice as fast

as the Lindy crawler harnesses, I covertwice as much water,” Muche says.

By covering more water, Muche’scrankbaits run past more walleyes when thefish are widely scattered. This ploy alsohelps Muche locate schools of walleyes.

“When I find a good pod of fish, I switchover to Lindy crawler harnesses and slowdown,” Muche says. “That pays off for metime after time.” ?


After returning from Peacock bass fishing in the Amazon inDecember, it was nice to stick around home base and getsome things done. I did two appearances for ColumbiaSportswear at the new Sail stores in Vaughn and in Oshawa.

By Bob Izumi

Tales from the Road

tubes really do a great job on cold watersmallmouth.

Then I made a quick trip up to ShimanoCanada’s headquarters in Peterborough for aphoto shoot before starting on a month ofwork on our new season of TV shows. I spenta lot of time doing voiceovers, reviewing andediting the new shows and having lots ofmeetings before finally spending some qualitytime with family and friends at Christmas.

In January my brother, Wayne, and I start-ed working with Bolton Motor Products, aGM dealer located in Bolton, Ontario. Theyhave a passion for fishing and wanted towork with us, so Wayne and I are now driv-ing brand new Chevrolet Suburbans. We’ll beflying the Bolton Motors colours as we travelaround North America this year.

I thought my wife, Sandy, and I would takeone of the Rangers down to Florida and getsome filming done before the FLW Opentournament on Lake Okeechobee. We wouldleave the boat there and fly home for the off-limits period on the lake and then fly back forthe tournament in the first part of February.So we loaded up the truck and the boat andheaded down to Florida.

When we got to Florida our first stop waswith young bass tournament pro, MilesBurghoff. I’ve known Miles’ dad, GaryBurghoff, since the ’80s, before Miles waseven born. Miles guided for a number of yearsin Alaska and is just finishing University now.His goal is to be a full time fishing pro and he’scertainly worked very hard towards it.

Miles had invited me down to do sometaping with him so our first stop was to fishsome of the lakes in the Butler Chain of Lakesnear Orlando. I had never fished these lakesand one of the things I really wanted to trywas the Alabama rig.

I’ve never seen so much controversy andexcitement over a lure as I’ve seen over theAlabama rig. It’s an umbrella-style rig whereyou can attach a number of baits to a numberof wire arms protruding from a lead head.Depending on the regulations in your area,you can run from three to five baits at onceon these rigs.

The jury is still out as to whether theAlabama rig should be allowed in certaintournaments. The BassMaster Elite Series hasdecided not to allow them in competition.The FLW’s stance on it is to leave it for a yearand see how it goes before making a finaldecision. I will say this: when it’s used at the

They are beautiful stores with an incredibleselection of fishing tackle, hunting and camp-ing gear and outdoor clothing. It was great toget out and meet some of the viewers of theshow and to meet some old friends as well.

December 14th was one of those days. Theweather wasn’t going to be ideal but the windwasn’t too bad, so I decided to head down toLake Erie to fish the New York side for somesmallmouth bass. As it turned out, it wasovercast and pretty cool, but certainly fish-able. My friends, Mike and Sue Watson,came out with us in their own boat. Whenyou’re fishing at that time of year you neverknow what’s going to happen so it’s alwaysgood to use the buddy system.

We got on the water by mid-afternoon fora few hours of fishing and I ended up catch-ing 15 to 20 bass. I didn’t get any real giantsbut I had a great time catching them by drag-ging heavy tube jigs and dropshot rigs in deepwater. Most of the fish were in 40 to 48-feetof water. The key was to find any brokenrock or bumps on the bottom because that’swhere the fish seemed to be. One of the bestbaits that day was a Berkley Powerbait tube.I really like soft baits that have some sort ofscent in them and the Berkley Powerbait

Miles Burghoff scores with the Alabama Rig.


comfortable and convenient for our few daysof fishing. A pretty severe cold front had gonethrough and there was an Everstart tourna-ment going on in the north end of the lake sowe thought we would fish the south end, tostay out of the way of most of the tournamentcompetitors.

Because of the cold front we decided itwould be fun, and a good idea, to use wildshiners for bait so that’s what we did for twodays. We fished in a number of different areas,mostly little reed points and funnels where thepre-spawn fish would move in from the mainlake. It’s an interesting way of fishing becauseit’s a sit-and-wait deal. You cast your shinerand float out to the edges of the reeds andwait. We ended up catching around 15 fisheach day, up to about five-pounds.

We ran into pro angler Tom Mann Jr. on thewater as he was guiding. Even though we did-n’t land any giants, Tom has been having oneof his best years ever on the “Big O," puttinghis clients on numerous 6 to 10-pound bass.

Bernie was disappointed in how we did butI was extremely happy because we had lots ofaction and got lots of great footage for ashow. Bernie really wanted to catch one ofthose 8, 9, 10-pound legendary Okeechobeefish but, as we all know, things don’t alwayshappen the way we’d like them to. As far as Iwas concerned, we had lots of fish and had agreat time out there.

After I finished filming with Bernie, mywife Sandy and I did some visiting with thein-laws in Cape Coral and then went out fora few hours with my buddy, and G.Loomisfield staff member, Bill Chambers, fromNorth Bay. For the last couple of winters Billhas spent a considerable amount of time inthe southern U.S. fishing a number of tourna-ments. It was fun to get out with him for afew hours.

right time, in the right place, it is an incredi-bly effective way of catching fish in deepwater or on flats. It seems to get bass into abit of a feeding frenzy. It’s definitely an inno-vative approach to catching fish. If you planon trying one of these rigs, check your localregulations first. You want to make sure it’slegal to use in your area and how manyhooks you are allowed to use on it.

After a lot of fun fishing with Miles, it wastime to head to Lake Okeechobee to fishwith my long-time friend and professionaltournament angler, Bernie Schultz. Bernieand I have known each other since the ‘80s.He’s been fishing tournaments for a longtime and has done a great job promoting thesport over the years.

We met up with Bernie at Roland Martin’sMarina where we stayed in one of the manyluxury condos they offer guests. It was very

The Alabama Rig is an umbrella-stylerig with a number of wire arms pro-

truding from a lead head.

Shiners are one of the top baits forfussy Okeechobee bass.

Bernie Schultz with one ofmany bass he and Bobcaught on wild shiners.

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there, the fishing was so-so. We fished around the lake and got into one

area that had some sand and mixed vegeta-tion where we caught some fish on BerkleyHavoc Grass Pigs. We found another areawhere we were catching them by flipping, butthe biggest fish any of us caught during thethree-day practice period wouldn’t have beenany bigger than four-pounds. On LakeOkeechobee, if you don’t have at least onekicker fish each day you’re usually not goingto do very well in a tournament. So much forbeing pumped. After three days of practice,things were looking pretty dismal going intothe tournament.

On the first tournament day the wind wasblowing about 20-miles per hour or more outof the northeast. I had planned to run up tothe north end of the lake but I didn’t feel likepounding myself, my co-angler or my boat,so I decided to stay south and fish some areasclose to the tournament headquarters. Myfirst fish of the day was over seven-pounds sothings were off to a really good start.Unfortunately that was the highlight of myday and I ended up with a small limit weigh-ing just 12 ½-pounds.

After fishing with Bill we left the boat andtruck in Florida and flew back home for theoff limits period on Lake Okeechobee. Wegot a number of things done at home and inthe office and then we flew back to Florida toget ready for the official, three-day practiceperiod for the FLW Open.

Lake Okeechobee is one of those lakes thatchanges from year to year and I have neverdone well in the same spot two years in a row.Of the five tournaments I’ve fished downthere I’ve had two good finishes and threethat were not so good. My goal going intothis one was to not blow out. I really did notwant to have a bad tournament. I strive forconsistency in bass tournament fishing but it’svery hard to achieve because there are somany variables that can come into play.

Going into this tournament I was pumped,but when me, my wife Sandy, and my buddy,Rick McCrory, got out on the water for somepractice the fishing was mediocre at best. Eventhough it had been one of the most incredibleyears for shiner fishing, the artificial bait bitehad been off. Okeechobee has been on fire forthe past couple of years but, because of thecold fronts they have been experiencing down

I was sitting in 54th place after day oneand definitely wanted to move up. Day twowas windy again so I decided to play it safeand stay in the south end of the lake. Becausethe cold front was still affecting things, andthe fish weren’t really active, I thought I’d tryto hit them on the head with a flipping bait.I was using a punch-style skirt, a ¾-ounceUltra Tungsten weight and 25-pound testTrilene fluorocarbon on a Shimano Cumaraflipping rod. My trailer was a black/blueBerkley Crazy Legs Chigger Craw. With thisparticular outfit I could flip into some of theheaviest cover on the lake.

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Rick McCrory with a practice bass fromLake Okeechobee.


The day started with my co-angler catchinga fish about 3 ½-pounds. Then I lost one overthree-pounds. As we continued along, Iflipped into a little point in the reeds andcaught one over seven-pounds. A few min-utes later we came up on a little clump ofreeds that was maybe six-feet in diameter. Iflipped into it and caught another good bassof about six-pounds. I moved over to somehyacinths that were about 20-feet away andmade a few flips without a bite. Then Ipitched a cast back about 10-feet into thehyacinths, felt a hit, set the hook and got onebetween five and six-pounds. I had justcaught three big fish in a matter of about 15-minutes and was thinking that I might have a

good tournament after all! I proceeded to fishthe rest of the day and caught a number offish but no more giants. I ended up with justshy of 21-pounds for my limit.

I was on the dock talking to the legendhimself, Roland Martin, who had just comeout of retirement to fish tournaments again.He had a monster bag on day one and anoth-er great limit on day two. I told him that I hadweighed over 20-pounds on day two and heasked if I had made the cut. I told him that Ididn’t think so because I only had 12-poundson day one.

After Roland left I was sitting with fellowCanadian pro, Jeff Gustafson, waiting for thefinal results. Jeff was in the top-20, poised to

make his first cutfishing his first FLWtournament. As Istood there talking toJeff the other anglerscontinued to weightheir fish and Iwatched myself getknocked from 18thplace to 19th then to20th, the final cutspot. When it was allsaid and done, Isomehow hung on to20th place and would be fishing on day three.I was ecstatic! I was 10-feet off the groundand couldn’t believe I had made the cut afterhaving such a dismal day one. That’s tourna-ment fishing for you – you never know what’saround the next corner.

On day three the winds were blowing outof the north at 30 to 35-miles per hour. It wascold and there were whitecaps in the smallarea I was fishing. I started off fishing aHavoc Grass Pig on 40-pound test Spiderwirewith a 15-pound test Trilene fluorocarbonleader, making long casts with a medium-heavy Shimano Cumara baitcasting outfitand a Core 50 reel.

This area had a lot of beds around but nobig female bass - just small bucks. I wanted to

make sure I would save face and at least get alimit of fish so I started in there and, in aboutan hour, I had a limit of keeper bass. Then Ipicked up my flipping stick and for theremainder of the day I flipped.

I might have upgraded another pound inweight at best but I just could not get any bigfish with my flipping stick. I ended up weigh-ing a small limit of largemouth and moved uptwo places, to 18th spot. Only the top-10 fishthe fourth day and I didn’t make that cut butI was happy with a top-20 finish. All in all itwas a lot of fun and a great way to start theyear. It’s funny how time flies when you havea good tournament. The 20-plus hour driveback to Ontario seemed like it was minutes.

As soon as I got back I had to head up to

Bob shares a laugh with fellow Canadian pro, Jeff Gustafson.


Parliament Hill in Ottawa, where I had beeninvited to sit in the gallery at the Long GunRegistry vote. MPs from across the countrywere there to vote on abolishing the Registry.From what I understand, the Registry wassupposed to cost 10 or 20-million dollars butover the last number of years the governmenthas spent close to 2-billion dollars on it. Theirony is that there are so many guns thatnever got registered. Criminals don’t registertheir guns and I think that right from the startthis was the biggest waste of money our gov-ernment has ever made. That money couldhave been used for law enforcement, roads,schools, health care or any number of differ-ent things rather than for something that did-n’t work from the start. The vote to abolishthe Registry passed unanimously and oncethe Senate votes, hopefully this spring, theLong Gun Registry will be gone.

After my trip to Ottawa, I attended theannual fundraiser that Andy and Vita Pallottahave at their Spring Fishing and Boat Show. Itwas a great evening for a great cause. Thenext morning I went to their fishing industrybreakfast where this year’s Canadian Fishing

Hall of Fame inductees were announced.Entering the Hall of Fame this year areShimano’s Phil Morlock; Pete Bowman fromFishin’ Canada; Bob Patterson who is retiredfrom Mercury, and none other than mybrother, Wayne. Knowing all four of theseguys, and knowing what they’ve done in thefishing industry over the years, it was won-derful to see them being recognized for theircontributions to the sport. I followed that upwith a seminar at the show the next day.There was a great crowd and it was fun to getup there and talk fishing with them.

As I wrap this up I’m getting ready to go tothe Niagara Outdoor Sports and Boat Showwhich is also run by Andy and Vita Pallotta.This is the first year for this show and I’mlooking forward to getting down there andchecking it out.

That’s all for now. I hope you all have a greatspring fishing season. Stay safe and have funout there! ?

2012 Canadian Angler Hall of Fame inductees.


What’s COOKING

METHOD

Combine the first six ingredients in a largeZiploc bag.

Cut the fish into nugget-sized pieces. Add thefish to the breading mix a little at a time. Closethe bag tightly and shake until well coated.

Whisk the eggs and milk together.

Coat the fish in the egg wash, one piece at atime, then back into the breading until all of it iscoated a second time.

Heat a large skillet on medium low heat. Add agenerous amount of butter (about a third of apound) to the pan as it is warming up.

Once the butter starts to bubble, add the fish tothe pan. Do not over crowd your pan or the fishwill steam and not fry well.

Fry fish pieces until they are firm to the touch,about fifteen minutes. Serve and enjoy!

Special thanks to Jason Mohring of TecvanaCorporation for providing this recipe.

Pop’s Famous PickerelIn memory of a great fisherman, Bill Mohring.

INGREDIENTS

2 cups flour

2 cups Parmesan cheese

1 tsp onion powder

1 tbsp garlic powder

1 tsp black pepper

2 tsp Lowry's Seasoning Salt

2 ½ pounds fresh pickerel fillets (thisbreading can be used on just about any mild, white fish)

5 eggs

1/2 cup milk

1/3 pound butter

This was my Dad’s fishbreading recipe and ittook a long time toget it out of him. Ichose this recipebecause I wanted tohonor the guy whotaught me everythingI know about fishing -including how tocook my catch.– Jason Mohring


Subject:A largemouth bass surges upthrough the lily pads to strikean angler’s jitterbug.

Size: 24" x 33"

Medium: Graphite, Staedtler marker, watercolour

Contact:Stuart Arnett, WildlifeConservation ArtistStuart Arnett Fine Art47 Avenue Rd.Ottawa ON K1S 0N7Tel: 613--715-1439Email:[email protected]

JITTERBUGGING THE RIDEAU (2008)

Description: This work is done on top of atopographical map of the RideauLakes System - a favourite bassfishing destination in easternOntario.

spring 2012

Documents

mercury racing

mercury marine

participating mercury

mercury authorized dealer

fishing contingencies

local mercury outboard

qualifying mercury outboard

local ranger dealer