Filleting Fish: How To Choose The Best Fillet Knife
Whether you’re fixing shore lunch on the banks of a backcountry lake or cleaning your latest limit on the kitchen counter at home, having the right knife for the job makes transforming your catch into fine table-fare infinitely easier.
Throw your Crankbaits to the Right Line
Two things are more important than anything else when you’re fishing with a crankbait — a lively action and a long casting distance. Both of them are directly affected by your line choice.
The Effects of Cold Fronts on Bass
I admit my past skepticism about the effects of cold fronts on bass. Some of my hesitancy to buy into the mother of all excuses for not catching bass is that I’ve enjoyed some memorable catches under post-cold-front conditions, even classic conditions with a high barometer, bright blue sky, sharply colder temperatures, and a strong north or northwest wind.
Finding Big Bluegill in Spring
There are several reasons why spring is the season to invest most of your bluegill-hunting time: Fish are bigger than they’ll be all year and the tall corn—the cabbage, rice, cane, and pads they use to break free—won’t be fully developed yet. From spawn time through fall, the rules change.
Fishing Spring Panfish
The watery world is no exception. Melting ice gives way to a revitalized food web: micro-invertebrates and other tiny critters flitter about, vegetation germinates, minnows cruise the shallows, feeding opportunistically on the influx of nutrients, and panfish and larger predators like bass and northern follow.
Avoid “The Hanging Tree” - Leave No Fly Behind
Recently I’ve been amazed by the number of flies and rigs that anglers have left hanging on streamside trees and bushes. On one stretch of water that I frequent on a weekly basis, I’ll usually see a number of hanging patterns, so I wade across the stream and cut them free.
Prespawn Smallmouth Tactics
That’s spring bass fishing “up here.” On the Great Lakes and the natural lakes of the North Country, shallow bass rule prespawn hunts. We could fish them deeper, but why? Can’t see them. Can’t watch them fight all the way back to the boat. Not as active off the breaks. Obviously I’m prejudiced, so I asked a few experts to help pick top prespawn tactics.
Fishing Trips: What Kind of First-Aid Kit Should You Carry?
After more than 20 years as a wilderness paramedic and fly-fishing guide, I can assure you that most anglers overlook the importance of carrying a good first-aid kit. I have dealt with many emergencies at remote fishing locations and responded to calls on the very rivers I guide on in Colorado, and I can safely say that–had any of the anglers involved had a little first aid training and an appropriate first-aid kit– quite a few of these situations would have had a better outcome.