Joe Pool Lake – July 03, 2008

Lake Joe Pool – July 03, 2008

Fishing Partner: JW Smits
Air Temps – mid 90’s
Water Temp – 83
Skies – Sunny (small clouds dotting the sky periodically)
Moon Phase – new moon (+0)
Winds – Light, S/SW 10
Surface conditions – Calm to Choppy
Precipitation – None
Water Clarity – Stained to Muddy (mid-afternoon)
Structure/Cover Fished – Humps, flooded timber, brush, points, bridge pilings
Other Contributing Factors – Baitfish (loads of baitfish!), Heavy mayfly (spinnners) hatch

Fishing equipment used – Daiwa D-Shock spinning reel w/10# P-Line/Daiwa D-Force 6’6″ rod; Professional Angler 9’0″ custom rod / Daiwa D-Force spinning reel w/17# Berkely mono; Pinnacle Solene low-profile baitcaster with 12# P-line / Shakespeare Excursion graphite 6’6″ rod

Catch Count:
LMB = 1
Crappie = 0
WB = 0

My final outing on a 3-day fishing spree during my vacation.

Well today was another awesome day on the waters and I spent it with JW! When I arrived at JW’s house and saw the boat, I knew that we were going to have some serious fun!! Here’s a pic of the boat and then one of JW at the wheel.

Well we hit the water at Lynn Creek and headed off to the bassin hole! JW started off working with a small Rat-L-Trap and I started with malibu-style senko (did I mention I like those senkos?!). After JW’s fifth bass, I decided to give up on that senko and tie on my firetiger Rat-L-Trap. Well there were some hits but the ones doing the hitting were some young bucks and just not taking my offering. But I soon found out that string, rocks and a sunken tree branch just loved that firetiger Rat-L-Trap. So much so, that one rock decided to keep it all to himself!! We began working some sunken cedars… JW on a modified carolina-rigged lizard and I on my Texas-rigged senko. All of a sudden WHAMMO BLAMMO!! I had a lunker on and it was takin’ drag!!! I’m a-reelin’ and a-reelin’ and wondering when this lunker is going to surface!!! And then JW says, “Are you hung up?”. I stop and suddenly realize that I am!!! Thanks JW… just couldn’t let me live in the moment any longer could ya?!

I went back through the motions trying to figure out what had just occurred. There was definitely a serious THUMP! and that line did suddenly move to the right. After going through the motions a couple of times, JW and I surmised that it was a 7-pound bass that hit the senko and then got me all wrapped up in that cedar. I shall have my revenge on that bass one day!

Now it was time for some crappie fishing. Once on the humps and near the secret ‘house’ location, we set up our spider rigs and started trolling for crappie.

Those crappie must have orderd some baitfish to-go from Ray Roberts cause they weren’t biting!!! Nonetheless, we found a new feature in the water and have it marked so that we can come back and fish that spot knowing exactly what’s down there! While there, I noticed a lot of mayflies and caught one so that I could take a pic of it to use for reference when I’m tying up some flies later on.

Now we’re off to work a brush pile that was down in about 33 feet of water. I rigged up with a tandem drop-shot rig and started working that brush. Several tap-tap-taps but nothing ever solid taking hold. We were then off to work some bridge pilings where again a lot of tap-tap-taps and JW even got one to the surface before she shook off! Next we headed to some flooded timber and I was able to get a bass to the surface. But like JW’s crappie, this one shook off right at the surface.

Although the fishing action wasn’t what it was expected to be, it was still a joy meeting JW and swapping stories of our military days and just being on the water with someone who truly loves to fish. Can’t wait to get back out on the waters with him soon!!

Lake Ray Roberts – July 02, 2008

Lake Ray Roberts – July 02, 2008

Fishing Partner: Kyle Chrisman
Air Temps – mid 90’s
Water Temp – 83
Skies – Sunny (small clouds dotting the sky periodically)
Moon Phase – new moon
Winds – Light, S/SW 10
Surface conditions – Calm to Choppy
Precipitation – None
Water Clarity – Stained
Structure/Cover Fished – Humps, flooded timber, brush, points, bridge pilings
Other Contributing Factors – Baitfish (loads of baitfish!), Heavy mayfly (spinnners) hatch

Fishing equipment used – Daiwa D-Shock spinning reel w/10# P-Line/Daiwa D-Force 6’6″ rod; Professional Angler 9’0″ custom rod / Daiwa D-Force spinning reel w/17# Berkely mono; Pinnacle Solene low-profile baitcaster with 12# P-line / Shakespeare Excursion graphite 6’6″ rod

Catch count:
LMB = 1
Crappie = 0
WB = 9
Gar = 1
My second day of a 3-day fishing spree while on vacation.

Well this was my second day of fishing Ray Roberts this week and my third time overall. I warned Kyle that the fishing was going to be challenging if it was anything like the day before … and it was!!! On my first-ever trip on Ray Roberts, I spent the day with Kyle and we just had the time of our lives and have been trying to pick a date that worked in our schedules to get back out on the water together!

We went back and hit a couple of spots that I had fished with Gary the day before; at least the spots that I could remember!!! And those baitfish were still there in massive numbers!!! We worked the bridge pilings for quite a while! What a blast it was to watch those sandies pushing the baitfish up to the surface and seeing the water just boil and boil!! As the schools moved from one piling to the next, we just trolled beside them casting into the melay and bringing in those sandies!!

After hitting the sandies, we moved out to some flooded timber in hopes of making up for yesterday’s crappie performance on my part!! We tied off to a tree branch and started working that area. All of a sudden I felt one serious THUMP! on my line! I thought to myself that it was either one big crappie or a catfish. Much to my surprise I pulled to the surface the first gar that I’ve ever caught!!! Let me just say for the record that it shocked me to see that thing on the end of my line! The first thought I had was, “How in the heck am I gonna get this off my hook?!!” By now I have this prehistoric creature in the boat and it’s flopping around!!! Okay, it isn’t that big but it’s got tons of surgeon scapel-sharp teeth and I want to keep all my skin intact!!! So Kyle recommends that I just lip the gar and pose for a picture. Lip a gar… yeah, right!!! Well I get the gar in my hands and all I can think is, “Crikey!!! Look at that thing. Isn’t she a beauty?!!” So after posing for a few pictures, we get the crappie jig out of its upper jaw and release it back into the waters to shock another angler someday!!!

Well we were done with gar, crappie and sandies. It’s time to go bassin!!! So we head to one of Kyle’s favorite bassin spot and we start working those waters! We were getting some serious tap-tap-taps but I was waiting for that one tap from a 10+ pounder!!! He must not have gotten the word that we were coming because he did not show up!! All the same we caught some really nice bass that evening. There’s just something about fishing for bass on the lake while the sun is going down. It’s just surreal and relaxing … a place I wouldn’t mind being at every day!! Well many know that I’m not a bass fisherman but have lately started taking an interest in this species and out to catch more to learn more about it. So on this evening I caught my 4th-ever bass in my life (told ya I wasn’t a bass fisherman!!) and enjoyed the short battle! I had cast underneath a willow tree and felt the solid tap but I overreacted and jerk that Texas-rigged senko too far away. So I quickly reeled in and sent that senko right back under that tree. This time the bass hit and hit hard and soon he was in the boat!! Not a big one but a bass all the same! I just wonder…. which is bigger? The bass on my shirt or the bass in my hand?!!

Kyle had been telling me that this spot held some hefty fish. Said that it held 4-pounders like he’s never seen before. Well, I was beginning to have my doubts when all of a sudden I see his rod take to a serious bend and seeing the water swirl and the flash of a big white belly!!! Kyle starts yelling to get the net and we get that big boy into the boat!! Kyle was grinning like a kid on Christmas day!!! There’s a shot of the scale showing the 4.3 pound bass!

But sadly, all good things must come to an end. It was late in the evening and I needed to get home ’cause I had one more day of fishing to put in during my vacation. Oh, here’s a pic of some of the sandies that I brought home. I must be some good luck in the boat ’cause Kyle brought in that sweet looking magnum!!

Lake Ray Roberts – July 01, 2008

Lake Ray Roberts – July 01, 2008

Fishing Partner: Gary Sims
Air Temps – mid 90’s
Water Temp – 83
Skies – Sunny (small clouds dotting the sky periodically)
Moon Phase – new moon
Winds – Light, S/SW 10
Surface conditions – Calm to Choppy
Precipitation – None
Water Clarity – Stained
Structure/Cover Fished – Humps, flooded timber, brush, points, bridge pilings
Other Contributing Factors – Baitfish (loads of baitfish!), Heavy mayfly (spinnners) hatch

Fishing equipment used – Daiwa D-Shock spinning reel w/10# P-Line/Shakespeare Durango 7’0″ rod; Professional Angler 9’0″ custom rod / Shimano spinning reel w/6# Strean mono; Pinnacle Solene low-profile baitcaster with 12# P-line / Shakespeare Excursion graphite 6’6″ rod

Catch count:
LMB = 0
Crappie = 2
WB = 10

My first day on a 3-day fishing spree during my vacation.

What a blast it was to fish with Gary!! We headed out of Buck Creek and went wide-open (well, nearly wide-open!) through the flooded timber and started off a great day of fishing!! I thought with the storm systems that had blown through a few days before, coupled with the New Moon phase, that we were in for a fabulous day of catching!! Little did we know that catching fish would go from a dream to a goal!! We fished some bridge pilings and started to realize that today would pose a special challenge in catching the fish!!

Rather than a fishing report, I should be posting a baitfish report!!! NEVER in all my years of fishing have I ever witnessed such massive amounts of baitfish!!! At each flood timber, it was just covered with a huge ball of baitfish. We’d work that section and maybe get a nibble or two and maybe even a fish in the boat but it was clear, the fish were full of bait and not
really wanting what we were offering.

I’ve only been on Ray Roberts once before so it was good to get back and to fish a new section of the lake! Moreoever, it was just grand spending the day with Gary and getting to know him and pick his knowledge of the lake and how to fish for the crappie there!! Here’s a pic of Gary with a really nice crappie!

The crappie action was very, very slow so we decided to break the doldrums by hitting the sandies. How refreshing it was to finally start getting some fish on the hooks and into the boat!! I always tell folks, if you can’t catch sunfish or sandies, you may want to try another sport!! It’s always a grand feeling when you get a double hook-up!! Here are a couple of pics of our doubles:

Later during the day we bumped into Ratmo’s brother-in-law. We did take a pic of him and are waiting for the bribe money to get deposited. If not deposited soon, I will update this post with his picture!! We buddy-boated while we worked those sandies. He and Gary pulled in some really nice magnums too! Just check out this pic of the sandies!!

While working those sandies we kept seeing a fish hitting the surface and rolling about and then going back down. We moved in closer only to see a catfish with a sandie in its mouth but the sandie seemed to have the upper-hand in the battle as it had either finned the catfish in the mouth with its spikey dorsal fins or had gotten itself into a position where the catfish couldn’t easily get it all into its mouth to swallow it. George then tossed a slab (an RJR Beast to be exact!!) at the catfish. When then slab hit, the catfish spit out the sandie and both it and the sandie soon disapperead!

We then all headed to some more timber grounds in hopes of pulling out more crappie. Let me tell you, we fished and fished but they were just plumb full of that bait that I had mentioned earlier. But, we did manage to bring in a really nice catch!!

Let me just state for the record that yes, I did catch the smallest crappie… thank you very much!!! And just who did bring in that barndoor of a crappie?? Well that was George, Ratmo’s BIL!!! That crappie measured 16 inches and weighed 2.14 pounds!!!! Doesn’t it just dwarf all the other crappie??!!

The day just kept getting hotter and hotter and we searched a few more spots but nothing was biting so we just decided to cut the day short and head back home. All in all it was still an awesome day!! We managed to catch some fish but I enjoyed the day more because it was spent with someone that loves fishing about as much as I do!!!

I know we’ll be getting together more on Ray Roberts and hopefully some other lakes too!!

Structure vs. Cover

Wanna start a fight?  Mosey into the fishing shop and start discussing the difference between fishing structure and fishing cover!!

If anglers chose to use the same terminology across the board, there would be no need for these discussions nor (for that fact) no need for this blog entry!  But for the fact that this discussion does take place and for the fact that I will be discussion various fishing tactics and techniques, it is only fitting that I put up a clarification of what I mean when I’m discussing fishing structure and fishing cover.

Definitions

Structure – a change of any sort in the “natural” surface of the bottom of the water body regardless of the depth of the water column.  This change can be in various forms:  depth and geological formation.

Cover – these are naturally occurring and man-made which include: vegetation (grass, weedbeds, etc.), brush piles, stumps, rock piles, wood piles, foundations of buildings, rip-rap, concrete pilings, sunken cars or heavy equipment (hey, they are out there!), sunken roads, sunken railroad track, etc.

Fish, whether they are freshwater or saltwater species, generally will gravitate to structure of some sort.  For example:

• Crappie – fish structure such as brush piles, concrete pilings as this species is generally not found out in ‘open’ water (no structure or cover).
• Amber Jack – fish structure such as oil rigs or sunken boats; again, this species is not easily caught out in ‘open’ waters.

To further elaborate, let’s say you and I are discussing a recent fishing trip of mine and I say, “I caught that bass off the rip-rap on the east side of the dam near the emerging weedbed.”  Just from that statement, you will know what structure I was fishing (rip-rap) and the cover that was nearby (emerging weedbed).   If I stated that later in the day I caught a bass off the hump, then you’d know only the structure that I was fishing.

However, if I said that I caught that bass off a stump on the hump just off of Hangman’s Point, you’d have a lot more information.  Here’s what you’d have:

1. Cover – stump
2. Structure (given) – hump
3. Structure (later quantified) – change of surface and depth.  You would get this information by looking at the water map to determine where Hangman’s Point is and then looking at the relief features to determine where the hump is.  Then you could determine the change of the surface and how deep that change was and much, much more.

Here’s a great video discussing this topic:

Nighttime on the Lake

At night the lake comes alive and darkness provides cover so that the predator fish does not have to use up some much energy when attacking their prey.  There is little doubt that on very clear lakes you’ll catch more fish at night and bigger fish than at any other time.

The jig-and-eel (or jig-n-pig) and the spinner bait are good night lures on most lakes during the spring and fall of the year. During the summer, a plastic worm or a spinner bait will take more fish.  Crawl these baits right along the bottom.  Surface plugs also often provide exciting action at night.  And it doesn’t really make a difference whether you fish on a bright night or on one when the moon isn’t shining.

Plus the one big benefit of fishing at night… the water isn’t as crowded as it is during the day!

Fly/Jig Tying Steps Made Simple

Step 1: Get materials.

Step 2: Get more materials.

Step 3: Get more of what you already have.

Step 4: Think of more stuff to get.

Step 5: Return one item that you bought and buy more stuff.

Step 6: Organize your stuff and then forget where you put it all.

Step 7: Buy more stuff ’cause you can’t find it.

Step 8: Repeat steps 1 thru 7; twice.

Step 9: Inventory what you have and then buy more stuff.

Step 10: Dream of more stuff to get.

Step 11: Buy stuff you’ll never use but want to have “just in case”.

Step 12: Seek professional help; repeat steps 1 thru 11 until cured.

Fly/Jig Tying Tips

Here are some tips I always give to someone who’s getting into tying or has been at it for quite some time:
——————————————————————————-

Rule #1: Choose whom you’re tying for… If you’re tying to put something up on the wall or on the desk to be admired, ask the jig tyers.  If you’re trying to tie something to catch fish, tie it up, go fishing and let the fish be the judge!  Most of the time jig tyers will tell you what they like to see (a handful will tell you what will work better for fishing).  The fish will always tell you what they like to eat!!

Rule #2: Experiment, experiment, experiment… Don’t get stuck in the rut of always using the same materials. Venture out and try new stuff from time to time in order to increase your understanding of the vast materials out there and how they behave and perform in the water.

Rule #3: Have fun with it! Don’t get too wound up (no pun intended!) in perfection!  If you’re tying to fill orders then yes make it look good.  If you’re not tying to fill orders just remember that them fish will hit the ugly ones just as hard as they’ll hit the pretty ones!

Rule #4: Observation is key! If you’re really wanting to hone your skills on tying, find tyers that you really like their style and look at how they tie up.  Then find your favorite style of tying and bounce some ideas off of them.  Otherwise you’ll be inundated with “your tail is too long”, “your tail is too bushy”, “too much body”, “too much paint”, and on and on.  Tie up what you like and tie it the way you like it and go catch some fish with it!!

and finally…

Rule #5: Repeat #3 as much as possible!!

Weather & Fish Behavior

All of us should know that weather affects fish behavior, and that this behavior can be amplified by the season of the year and the type of water.

1. It is believed that fish are more active on cloudy days.
2. A slowing rising/falling barometer seems to provide the best fishing.
3. Fish bite well just before a storm.  I’m not sure why but I hear that the plankton are able to move about in the water columns more easily.  I’ve been told that high pressure tends to force the plankton to  move down low which then causes the bait fish to be less active.  Some of my fishing mentors tell me that the dropping pressure was nature’s way of letting the fish know that a period of high pressure was on the way and that this would cause them to chow down (like animals eating up in preparation for their winter hibernation).
4. The muddier the water, the shallower the fish will be.
5. In a clear lake, you’ll do better with lighter lines and smaller lures and the fish will be relatively deeper than they would be in dingy or muddy water.
6. The windy side of a lake is often better because the breeze creates more oxygen, and it also pushes baitfish against the shore.
7. Fishing is often better along the rip-raps that border a dam when they are on the windy shore.

 

Saltwater Jigs: The Shimmers

When down on the coast you won’t find me without my Shimmer! This babies are work-horses of a jig! Redfish, sea trout, and some stingray have all given their seal of approval on this one!!

Materials (jig on the left):

• black powder paint
• red tying thread
• black wing-n-flash
• rainbow wing-n-flash
• yellow fishair
• 1/8 oz. H&H saltwater hook

Materials (jig on the right):

• yellow powder paint
• black tying thread
• black wing-n-flash
• rainbow wing-n-flash
• polar bear faux hair
• 1/8 oz. H&H saltwater hook

Saltwater Pitching/Trolling Jigs

Now don’t let the size/weight of these jigs fool ya…. these are really perfect for trolling and also for pitching that jig out along the oyster reefs, etc.!!  These are very versatile jigs and while some would say that the 1/4 oz. jig head would be too heavy, I beg to differ. That weight is just right for really zinging that jig out there, plus the weight really helps to put that jig on the bottom and get some attention with all the digging around that you can make it do!

Materials:

• 1/4 oz. ball jig
• powder paint for the heads (copperhead, dragonfly, ruby slipper, blue sapphire)
• heavy threads for the bodies (lime green, black, orange)
• fishair for the tails (yellow, black, kingfisher blue, white, mustard, burnt orange)
• wing-n-flash for tail accents (black, rainbow)
• flashabou accent for tail accents (burnt orange, rainbow, black)
• whiting feathers for body accents (various complementary colors)

Anchoring Your Chenille

There are tons of tricks of the trade but here are a couple of techniques that I use when tying in my chenille.

1) When I’m ready to start tying in my chenille I’ll first lay it on top of the hook shank with the tip of the chenille up against the jig head. Then I’ll pull the chenille back just a tad. This gives me a subtle gap for when I’m finishing off the chenille with my whip finisher.

2) Once I’ve run my thread from the jig head over the chenille and I’m down to my tail material I’ll put 2 or 3 really tight turns of the thread at the point where i’m going to start wrapping the chenille around the hook shank. Before I run my thread back up to the jig head, I’ll pull the chenille forward and run 2 really tight wraps of thread right up against the butt of the chenille between it and the thread base/tail material. This really anchors the chenille both on top and right behind.

3) Now I run my thread back up to the jig head and wrap my chenille up to the jig head. Now it’s time to get the chenille ready for finishing. Holding some tension on the chenille, I’ll wrap the thread tightly around the hook shank binding the chenille up against the jig head and to the hook shank. Then I will pull the chenille away from the jig head just a tad and give the thread 2 or 3 really tight wraps. Again you’re just ‘pinching’ the chenille down ensuring that it won’t easily come unwrapped.

4) Using a whip finishing tool I give it three tight wraps and finish and then repeat. Sometimes I’ll add some ‘hard as nails’ and sometimes I won’t.

Hopefully these tips have helped ya some!!

Bluegill Catchin Tip

While you see most folks fishing for bluegills/bream/sunfish with a hook-n-bobber… I love to fish using in-line spinners and don’t be afraid to use some wacky colors every now and then!!!  Always give them something that they haven’t seen before!!

I generally use the “double-ought” (or “00”) and then the “0” and the “1”…. lots of black and brown in-line spinners in my pack but there’s also yellow, red, and chartreuse…. even a few purples.

But one trick I love to use is tying on a trailing fly!  I’ll tie it in using 2-pound (when you can find it!!) or 4-pound test line right on the d-ring used to hold the treble to the in-line spinner.  Give yourself about a foot of line and tie on your trailing fly.  This way, when the in-line spinner goes through the school, you’ll get a fish on there for sure but the all the other fish that have gotten excited will see that trailing fly and nail it too!!

Fish on y’all!

Bank Fishing Tips

Here are some handy tips to consider when fishing from the bank:

1.  Use jig-style lures (bottom bumpers)

2.  Keep track of how long it takes for the lure to hit the bottom.  This will help to identify the structure in that area… how it’s shaped/contoured, etc.

3.  Use 7 foot rods with no-stretch superline (10-14 pound test) and even go hi-vis!  Be sure to upgrade your line for tougher conditions as they warrant.

4.  The first sign of warming during late winter/early spring is the time to pound the banks!

5.  Look for fast-warming spots such as feeder creeks and backwaters, canals, and/or channels.

6.  Fish areas that get the first sunlight.  When the sunlight shifts, move to fish those areas.  But don’t forget to fish the shady spots during the heat of the day.

 

Live Well Tip

In the book, Bass Master Shaw Grisby: Notes On Fishing and Life, the topic of how to keep fish alive in the live well was brought up.

Put a generous amount of ice into the live well.  Instead of pumping in fresh lake water, recirculate the water in the live well.  Have plenty of a commercial preparation to replenish the slime coating on the fish.

 

Buzzbait Tips

Source: B.A.S.S. Advanced Bass Fishing Skills: Best Lures, Techniques and Presentations

 

1. To keep a buzzbait from tumbling and tangling on the cast, leave 18 inches of line between the lure and the rod tip.
2. Heavy line prevents breakoffs in thick cover, and it helps keep the lure riding high on the surface.
3. Maintaining the proper speed requires concentration.  In most cases, listen for a steady plop-plop-plop cadence.
4. The squeak of a buzz blade rotating on the wire seems to draw more strikes. To increase the noise, crimp the rivet a the end of the blade.
5. Tie a buzzbait to your car’s radio antenna as you drive down the highway to “tune” the blade.
6. For easier casting of 1/4-ounce and smaller buzzbaits, mash some split shot on the hook shank.
7. Superlines, either fluorocarbon or  braided lines, will aid in hook sets.
8. Prime time for throwing a buzzbait is warm weather just prior to the passage of a cold front.
9. Always keep a “comeback lure” – a worm, grub, or soft jerkbait – handy when fishing a buzzbait.  If a bass misses the buzzer, throw into the same area with the slow sinking back-up (comeback lure) bait.
10. Like most lures, buzzbaits come in a variety of colors. You can cover all the bases with white for bright days and black for darks skies.
11. Cast beyond your target, and you’ll get super strikes.  Tournaments have been won by anglers casting buzzbaits onto the banks and dragging them into the  water.
12. To prevent short strikes, trim the skirt to a point even with the belly of the hook.

 

Bonus Tip: Bass are notorious for striking buzzbaits and missing the hooks.  For extra strike insurance, add a trailer hook to the main hook.  Use a single stinger when the cover is thick, and a treble trailer hook in open water.

 

Purchasing Bait Tips

Source:  Freshwater Fishing Tips & Techniques; Gene Kugach

Here are a few pointers on purchasing bait for your fishing trips:

• Always use fresh, spunky offerings when live bait fishing.
• If using leeches, change them frequently.
• When buying live bait, make certain it looks lively.  Night crawlers and leeches should be firm; minnows and chubs should be swimming at the bottom of the tank, rather than the top.
• Cool your bait bucket before you fill it.
• Don’t over-crowd your bait bucket.
• Don’t put your bait in chlorinated water; use lake or well water.
• When fishing, keep you bait cold and out of the sun.

 

Getting Rid of that “Smell”

Trying to get rid of that smell?  You know, the one that tends to linger on you, especially when you are using smelly baits and such?!  Well, here’s a few remedies that you can use to get rid of that smell:

1. lemon-scented Wet Ones
2. Mountain Dew
3. Real Lemon
4. Liquid Orange
5. dirt
6. listerine
7. vinegar

 

Home-made Fish Attractor

I would not believe it if I had not seen it with my own eyes!  I’ve read about it but just blew it off as some other wise-crack attempt at attracting fish.  But then I tried it out and man did it change my mind!!

It’s a homemade fish attractor and it’s really easy to make!  You start off with an empty and clean 2 liter bottle.  Make sure all the labeling and glue are off of the plastic.  Drill some holes in a somewhat even pattern on the sides and around the neck of the bottle.  Leave about 5 to 6 inches from the bottom without any holes, you’ll need this to hold some water when you are putting in the minnows.  Next, drill a hole in the cap just large enough so that the cord/line you are using will slip in.  Tie the cord/line around a washer to that it won’t slip back out the hole in the cap.  Now your rig is ready to be used!

Fill the bottle with water from the lake or water from the minnow bucket up to the first series of holes on the sides.  Put in a handful of minnows and screw on the cap.  Lower the bottle over the side of the boat 0r dock and wait for the predator fish to show up!!  Drop in your lines and start catching!!

Trip Snacks in a Pinch!

I’ve used this quite a bit whenever I’m heading out for a day of fishing or hunting.  One of the best things to do is pack a meal that will be easy to eat and not call for a lot of work to put together or require different utensils.

So here’s what I do… First I make up a bunch of East Texas Po-boy Sandwiches.  Take some saltine crackers, mayonnaise packets (Hellman’s of course!), deli meats (turkey, chicken, roast beef, etc.) and cheese slices.  When ready to eat, spread a light spreading of mayo on the crackers, put on some deli meat and cheese and then top off with another cracker.  Po-boy sandwiches at their finest!!

Another great lunch is to take a big-mouth thermos, put in some beef franks or hot links and put however many you are going to be eating that day.  Boil some water and pour into the thermos.  Make sure the franks/links are completely covered with water.  When you’re ready for a snack just take out the frank or link and toss it onto a bun.  Squirt on some mayo (better be Hellman’s!) or mustard, or whatever and chow down!  That thermos will keep those franks/links nice and warm throughout the day!

Hypothermia Tips

Make sure during the winter season that you protect yourself from hypothermia; and the best way to do that is to avoid it!

If you stop for a moment and think about it… we outdoorsmen are prime candidates for suffering from hypothermia.   You need to be sure to take into account the wind chill factor.  You need to be sure to wear several layers of clothing while you are out (wool cap, mittens/gloves, thermal wear, insulated boots, etc.).  Wearing several layers of clothing helps you to retain your body heat.

Make sure you’ve got plenty of food and hot liquids while you’re out.  And take along some chocolate if you’re needing some quick energy boosts.

Also, you need to know what the symptoms of hypothermia are:  dizziness… disorientation… drowsiness… slurred/slowed speech.  If you notice someone experiencing these symptoms, you need to take action.  First, get emergency help on the phone.  Next, get them covered up with lots of blankets or something that will get them warm.   If possible, get a fire started (it should go to say that you should NOT start a fire in the boat!!).  Give them warm food and something warm to drink; but don’t give them alcohol.

So be safe out there.  Winter is an awesome time to be in the great outdoors … but be safe at all times while you do!!