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Hauling Mutton And Grouper
Off The Marathon Bottom By CAM Staff
Darcie Arahill’s biggest mutton snapper to date came from 200 feet of water off Marathon in the Florida Keys.
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ottom fishing is about hard-pulling fish and filling the cooler with some delicious table fare. With grouper season in full swing, there may be no better way to get your daily workout than floating over a reef or wreck. And you’d be hard pressed to find a better place to do it than off of Marathon in the Florida Keys. Darcie Arahill, host of the YouTube channel Darcizzle Offshore, spent a day with Capt. Dave Schugar and the crew with Sweet E’Nuf Charters out of Marathon and absolutely loaded the coolers with mutton snapper, amberjack, blackfin tuna and yellowtail snapper. It was the kind of trip that bottom fishing is supposed to be. Capt. Dave spent the early part of the day hopping from wreck to wreck and patch reef to patch reef, briefly prospecting each one with baits before moving on in search of hungry fish. He eventually found them over structure in about 200 feet of water. “You gotta keep moving to find those bites,” said Darcie, understanding the searching it takes to find productive bottom. But after setting up a drift on this spot, the whole boat knew they were on the fish. The action started quickly and it was fast, with multiple double and triple hookups. They caught some fish vertical jigging, but Darcie’s largest mutton snapper ever—a beautiful 13.6-pounder—was battled off the bottom after it ate a live pinfish. The live-bait rig consisted of a pinfish hooked through the lips with a circle hook, which was tied into 25 feet of leader and a three-way swivel. A 10-oz. teardrop sinker was deployed off the other arm of the swivel to get the bait down to the bottom. The group hauled several muttons up from the depths, and they also caught amberjack, jack crevalle, bonita and blackfin tuna off the same spot. Capt. Dave took the opportunity to give a quick demonstration on how to properly bleed a blackfin to deliver better tasting fillets to the table. Instead of cutting the fish’s throat, use your hands to tear the gills beneath the gill plate.
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“You don’t want to cut the heart,” he said. “You want to cut the gills so all the blood can drip out… The heart’s still pumping, but it breaks the circuit so all the blood will pump right out.” With the fish boxes filling up, Capt. Dave decided it was a good time to head for shallower water to pursue grouper and yellowtail snapper. They ended the run in about 100 feet of water over the sunken center swing span of the original Seven Mile Bridge. In the 1980s, 4,500 tons of concrete and steel from the bridge were sunk as a part of Florida’s artificial reef program. Constructed in 1912, the Over-Sea Railroad bridge connected the Florida Keys to the mainland and to each other for the first time. Now pieces of the railroad make great fish habitat. With a couple heavy-duty grouper rigs deployed with big live grunts, Darcie went to work on the yellowtail. Yellowtail fishing with light tackle offers fast action and delicious fish. It’s a lot of fun and a perfect style of fishing for families, Darcie said. With chum out, it’s as easy as flipping out a piece of cut bait on a lightweight spinning rod and allowing it to drift with the chum until a fish picks up the bait. As the boxes continued to fill, this time with yellowtail, there was a vicious takedown on one of the grouper rods. A grueling struggle to haul the fish up was rewarded with a big 25-pound black grouper. It was the exclamation point on the end of a fine day on the water. Check out Darcie’s YouTube channel Darcizzle Offshore at www.youtube.com/user/DarcizzleOffshore.
To see more Mutton fishing with Darcizzle, go to
CRYSTALSALTWATERS.COM
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The History Of Rapala
I
t all began with a hungry Finnish guy and a carving knife. It was the 1930s when a simple fisherman made an observation of simple genius: Big fish eat little fish, especially little fish that are wounded. So began one of the greatest fishing stories ever told. As Lauri Rapala fished the waters of Finland’s Lake Paijanne, he quietly rowed and watched. And what he saw was how hungry predator fish would dart into a school of minnows and attack the one that swam with a slightly off-center wobble. Lauri realized that if he could craft a lure that mimicked the movements of a wounded minnow, he could catch more fish, earn more money, and not spend time constantly baiting lines. So Lauri set to work. He whittled, carved and shaved. Eventually a lure took shape. Using a shoemaker’s knife and some sandpaper, he created his first successful lure from cork in 1936. Tinfoil from chocolate bars formed the lure’s outer surface. Melted photographic negatives were the protective coating. It perfectly imitated the action of a wounded minnow. Legend has it that Lauri sometimes caught 600 pounds of fish a day with that new lure. And as word of his abundant catches spread, the lure’s reputation grew. The rest, as they say, is history. That first lure was the forefather to the lure that has helped more fishermen experience the thrill of more big fish than any other: the legendary Original Floating Rapala. As fishermen around the world began to catch more and bigger fish with Rapala’s lure, it became clear that what triggered them was the lure’s tantalizing
wiggle and wobble. Even though fish throughout the world are different, predators and baitfish always acted true to form. Big fish hammer wounded little fish. That’s why Lauri tested each lure to make sure it swam true to the unique “wounded-minnow action.” It wasn’t the fastest way to make a fishing lure. But it was the only way to make a Rapala. To this day, Rapala lures are hand-tuned and tank-tested to swim perfectly right out of the box. It’s an action as distinct to a Rapala as a fingerprint is to a person. With every unforgettable trip of a lifetime, every successful Saturday afternoon with a kid at the local fishing hole, the Rapala legend grew. A deep-seated trust formed between anglers and Rapala. Weekenders became hardcore. Dads became heroes. More and more fishermen began reaching for Rapala. For millions, success could be measured by the growing number of trophy fish caught on Rapala lures. To this day, no other lure holds more world records. And because we the designers at Rapala are fishermen first, they know not only what fishermen need, but what they can’t live without. When the Shad Rap exploded onto the scene, its ability to catch fish spread like wildfire. Tackle shops sold out across the country. Resort owners and mom-and-pop bait shops rented out Shad Raps by the day, and even by the hour. Yes, it was that good. Twenty years later, it’s still one of fishing’s most successful lures. Likewise, the moment Rapala introduced Fish ’n Fillet knives, they enhanced the fishing experience for millions. The tapered design and unique flexibility of the Fish ’n Fillet made filleting easier, which is why they’re still the number one fillet knives in the world. And so a foundation was laid. The successes of the Original Floater, Shad Rap, and Fish ’n Fillet were followed by other Rapala products that found their way into tackle boxes and history books. They are lures like the Magnum, the Rattlin’ Rapala, the Fat Rap, the CountDown, the Husky Jerk and the Tail Dancer. There’s a reason so many fishermen around the world put their faith in Rapala. It’s a confidence that stretches through 140 countries and is validated each year by the 20 million Rapala lures sold. Simply put, Rapala products make better fishermen. Nothing is rushed to market; everything is carefully crafted from years of experience. It is a legacy of unwavering quality that can be seen in every lure, every fillet knife, every tool, and every cast of our premium monofilament line. It is a legacy that continues with new Rapala offerings, new actions, new sizes, new colors, new finishes, new tools, new accessories and new ways of catching more fish. The sweet smell of success lingers long after the scent of fish slime fades. Tens of millions of walleye, trout, bass, wahoo, snook and tarpon later, Rapala continues to stand the test of time. Because through it all, one simple truth has endured. That which is irresistible to fish will always be irresistible to the fisherman.
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ne of the most prolific inshore species available to anglers on any coast, spotted seatrout come in two varieties: eaters and gators. Eater trout—those measuring in the 15-inch range—are extremely popular, due to their affinity to gather in big schools and chase down lures. Gator trout, however, are a whole different ballgame. Targeting big trout requires a different approach. Most resources suggest moderate-sized artificial lures, like imitation shrimp, for seatrout of any size. Yet, on numerous occasions, I’ve had big gators run down and attempt to swallow smaller trout while I’ve reeled them in. As seatrout grow larger, their diets shift from small crustaceans to almost exclusively fish—the bigger the better. Live baits are my preference for targeting big fish. Mullet are a favorite, as are pinfish and croakers. With big baits in the livewell, it’s time to find gator water. While it’s common to find schools of smaller trout in deeper channels adjacent to shallow flats, trophy trout spend more time around subtle depressions and breaks. If you’re catching large numbers of eaters, a change of areas is usually required to find gators. Most of my fishing is done in super-skinny water in heavily pressured areas with tough fish. Fishing these small, shallow areas requires stealth and patience. For big trout, I move into an area as quietly as possible, put the Talon down, and wait.
As things settle down, it’s important to assess the area. Flooded oyster bars or current-swept mangroves are always worth a shot, but don’t overlook inconspicuous spots. If an area is relatively shallow, with one washout or depression that’s just a foot deeper than everything else, that spot can be key, especially at low tide. Before the first cast is made, it’s important to select proper tackle. Line and hook size should be greater than what’s considered routine. With a mainline of 20-pound braid, I attach a long leader of 25-pound test fluorocarbon. It’s my only hope against razor-sharp oyster bars. I tie on a 5/0 to 7/0 VMC circle hook that’s super strong. A small float helps keep track of a hard-swimming mullet. It’s important to lob baits delicately toward the target. However, once a fish is hooked, any delicacy is tossed aside, as big inshore fish don’t play nice. Here, the proper rod becomes key to the equation. I like St. Croix’s Mojo Inshore rods for gator trout hunting. These rods are workhorses, covered in a double layer of finishing cure and backed by a five-year warranty. But durability doesn’t come at the sacrifice of quality. Mojo Inshore models are built from SCII graphite and contain hardcore components. Longer models aid in casting, hooksets and moving big fish away from cover; the 7’6” medium-heavy is perfect. Once your trophy trout is boat-side, be sure to handle it carefully. Summertime water temperatures leave these fish compromised after a fight. Giant spotted trout are rare and always females; to release them in a healthy state ensures a future for us all.
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Beautiful Log Home Erected in One Day!
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ounds incredible, doesn’t it? When we first heard that statement from Chip Smith, Owner of Blue Ridge Log Cabins, I smiled and said, “We would like to see that.” Chip’s confident smile back and his reply, “Great. Let’s get you scheduled to observe a cabin construction first hand.” The following article documents the amazing process developed by Blue Ridge Log Cabins and verifies construction of a 5,000 square foot log cabin in one day! This awesome engineering feat can be viewed in a time-lapse video by visiting www.blueridgelogcabins.com. Take a look; it’s quite impressive. Celebrating 25 years as an innovator in their industry, Blue Ridge Log Cabins have been featured on “Extreme Makeover,” HGTV’s “Amazing Log Homes” and were recognized as America’s Favorite Log Homes 2017 in a survey conducted by Log Cabin Hub. Editor’s Note: the logs used by Blue Ridge Log Cabins are engineered in their state of the art, 110,000 square foot, temperature-controlled production facility in South Carolina and are kiln-
dried and precisley constructed in their facility. Every log fits perfectly before it arrives to your job site. In their system, your log home has already been constructed at their facility before it arrives to be assembled. Nothing is left to chance, no guesswork, no hassles. It truly is an amazing process to watch. Their process is a truly personalized experience. They have a wide variety of floor plans to choose from in their Estate, Classic and Cabin Collections. Or bring your own ideas to them and let Blue Ridge Log Cabins customize a home for you. Then choose your style and decor so that your home truly is unique to you. All plans are reviewed and approved by a licensed third-party engineer to make certain all local building codes are met. The Blue Ridge Log Cabins team will visit your land to ensure there are no unexpected surprises as construction commences. Should you need help in finding the perfect property, they can assist with that, as well. Once you finalize your plan and design your home, Blue Ridge Log Cabins’ team of experts begin building your home inside their facility. While your foundation is going in on your property, they’re building your dream home including electrical, plumbing, windows and doors as well as installing appliances, fixtures, cabinetry and more. Once your home is delivered to your property and onsite construction begins, your dream cabin will be up before the day is over. If you enjoy the beauty and ambiance of wood and the mystique of log home living you owe it to yourself to see how easily and economically a Blue Ridge Log Cabin can come together. We were impressed and have no doubt that you will be too. For more information, please visit www.blueridgelogcabins.net or call toll free 888-340-9782.
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By Capt. Michael Okruhlik • Photo courtesy of Controlled Descent Lures
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he Texas summer surf can spoil a newcomer in a heartbeat and is what the seasoned surf angler awaits each year. Vacation days are set aside well in advance and excuses to come in late to work are ready and often recycled. Spoil a newcomer, addiction, you might ask, what is so special about the surf? My fastest limit, 10 trout from the upper Texas coast, came on 12 consecutive casts. One was a dud, a lost fish, and 10 were solid trout, 19.5 to 24 inches. After I caught my limit, I continued to catch and release solid trout up to 5 ½ pounds. If that doesn’t spoil you, nothing will. Days like this are not uncommon when the conditions are right. The key to a successful morning in the surf is to remember you don’t plan a trip when you want, you go when the surf calls you. Green incoming tides rising with the sun paired with a calm surf are my favored conditions. May and June routinely provide the best odds of landing the larger trout with Independence Day marking the arrival of masses of school-size fish. I like to start my day before the sun’s rays illuminate the horizon. Standing on the sand, tossing topwaters or suspending baits parallel and as close to the sand as I can effectively work the lure. I have caught many trout pushing 7 pounds along with large flounder and snook using this approach. It is amazing the size of fish that will feed in mere inches of breaking water. As the blanket of darkness no longer conceals my presence, I will begin to gradually angle my casts towards the open Gulf. I will broaden my search area and structure type until I find where the fish are feeding, never overlooking the shallow water where I began my day. As the sun climbs, the trout will typically find comfort in the guts, chasing mullet, shrimp, shad and other baitfish. When this occurs, I still vary my cast from parallel to offshore, covering the deep guts and not overlooking the structure, which is the bar. As you would do while fishing the bay, don’t overlook the drop off. Casting along it can produce great catches. White water and waves crashing is an often-overlooked hot spot. I seldom see surf fishermen casting into the whitewash, which can be a huge mistake. The turbulence disorients the baitfish which are easy meals for the thick-bodied, strong-swimming surf trout. I can remember one day in particular when most, if not all, of my trout were caught in the white water on top of the bar. A solid trout inhaled my slow-sinking lure as it tossed and turned in the froth. After that, I made repeated casts into the turbid water to end a successful day that up until that point had been quite slow. Let me check the forecast, is it calm yet? Capt. Michael Okruhlik is the inventor of Controlled Descent Lures and the owner of www.MyCoastOutdoors.com.
For basics on Surf Fishing, go to
www.coveralls.biz
FISHINGWATERS.CO
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DAVID MANEY, FOWLER’S SUNGLASSES
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aving been actively involved in the sunglasses industry for over 20 years and having sold over 25,000 pairs of sunglasses last year, I’m often asked, “What is the most important thing to consider when choosing a pair of sunglasses?” My answer is always, “the way they fit your face; comfort is the most important consideration.” I’m surprised at the number of people who choose their sunglasses based on brand. For anglers, and I am one, the next consideration can be offshore or inshore. The blue mirror lens models hold the best lens clarity for offshore while the green mirror/amber lenses produce the clearest lens visibility for the inshore angler. I’ve been a big fan of Revo’s Blue Crawlers for my offshore sunglasses, and I switch to my ambers as my go-to inshore glasses. Another big consideration for some is OSHA-approved eyewear. The correct approval body is ANSI approved. This ANSI validation of the sunglasses is the only accepted approval by OSHA’s requirements, however, few brands actually possess the ANSI approval. If OSHA requirements are important for your choice of sunglasses, make sure you’re seeing the ANSI approval in writing and not simply relying on your representative’s assurance. Finally, if you’re a prescription eyewear user, ensuring that the lens you receive when you request your prescription sunglasses from your favorite brand is not always apples to apples. Make sure that the exact same lens technology
is available for your prescription sunglasses as their nonprescription lenses. Otherwise, you could own an expensive pair of non-angler-friendly sunglasses. Believe me, it happens all the time. There are many new entries in the sunglasses field these days. Lens technology advancements continue to improve the quality of the angler’s viewpoint. If you’re in the market for a new pair of sunglasses, I recommend you do a little research before you make your purchase. Don’t just go buy XYZ sunglasses. Find the pair, regardless of brand, that’s best for you. If Fowler’s can be of any assistance in helping you make that decision, please feel free to call or email us. We’re happy to help ensure that you’re completely satisfied with your next sunglasses purchase. David Maney is considered to be one of the most published experts in the general field of sunglasses. He has appeared in Southern Living Magazine, USA Today and U.S. World Report and even appeared on Oprah. Fowler’s has been in business for 118 years and has sold over 250,000 pairs of sunglasses. For more information on Fowler’s and David Maney, visit www.fowlerssunglasses.com or call 888-340-9021.
6 Reasons Why Fowler’s Sells More Sunglasses than Anyone Else in the U.S. Over 250,000 Pairs Sold #1. Price #2. Selection #3. Price #4. Selection #5. Price #6. Selection
Since 1955
Toll Free
888-340-9021
www.FowlersSunglasses.com
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SUNGLASSES NATIVE EYEWEAR SIGHTCASTER Native Eyewear’s Sightcaster is all about giving you the right tool for the pursuit of a good catch. Color enhanced, high-definition optics cut through glare on the water allowing you to see deeper and farther. Native’s premium polarized lens technology also blocks up to four times more infrared and protects against harmful UV rays, helping your eyes stay fresh even after a long day on the water. The full-wrap, X-Large frame comes with nonslip grip material along the temples and nose pads to ensure all-day comfort with a lightweight and secure fit.
WWW.NATIVEEYEWEAR.COM COSTA REMORA
Costa Del Mar was born on the water and is committed to protecting it. This summer, Costa will celebrate its tradition of conservation by launching its OCEARCH Limited Edition collection. Costa is a primary supporter of OCEARCH, a research organization that generates critical scientific data on keystone marine species like great white and tiger sharks. Its vessel, the M/V OCEARCH, is an at-sea laboratory that puts science on the side of sharks to help protect our oceans worldwide. One of the models in this OCEARCH Limited Edition collection is the Remora, a brand new frame that features all of Costa’s signature performance technologies. This particular pair features a brand new lens as well! The Gray Silver Mirror lens is great for all-day wear. It is a polycarbonate lens with silver mirror on a gray base. The frame color is called Tiger Shark, and reflects the patterns of its namesake. Think of it as the popular tortoise shell in a more shark and ocean-inspired colorway! MSRP: $169. These glasses also come with a limited edition cleaning cloth and C-MASK. For more on OCEARCH, go to www.ocearch.org.
WWW.COSTADELMAR.COM RIO RAY SEASIDE Rio Ray Optics is the best new brand and most comfortable polarized sunglasses on the market. Designed for the outdoor lifestyle, all Rio Ray sunglasses come with 100 percent optically correct polarized CR39 lenses, indestructible TR90 frames, optical spring hinges for maximum comfort and a hassle-free lifetime warranty. All Rio Ray hard-coated polarized lenses are made of the highest quality CR39 and contain nine layers of protection with 100 percent UV protection. A hydrophobic coating on the front repels water, sunscreen and dirt, which makes cleaning and maintenance easy. A vibrant flash mirror provides additional glare reduction and a superior scratch resistant coating prevents lens damage. The backside anti-reflective coating eliminates bounce-back glare. Rio Ray MaxFlex frame technology makes these the most comfortable sunglasses on the market utilizing lightweight TR90 nylon, which maintains the frame shape and offers incredible durability. Our frames were designed to be 100 percent prescription ready, and each pair comes with a full array of accessories including a hard and soft case, cleaning cloth and retainer. There are over 40 styles to choose from, an average MSRP of only $149.99, and new styles are on the way for each season. Replacement lenses are available for only $24.99. Rio Ray is always looking for high-quality retailers to partner with, and they have the best retailer friendly program in the sunglass industry. For dealer inquires, call 800-498-2104 or email jarrod@ riorayoptics.com.
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S RE VIEW2017 REVO GUIDE S AND GUIDE II Back in 1985, Revo became a global performance eyewear brand known as the leader in polarized lens technology. Their glasses were first created utilizing lens technology developed by NASA as solar protection for satellites. Today, Revo continues to build on its rich tradition of technology and innovation by offering the clearest and most advanced high-contrast polarized sunglass available. With two new frames, the Guide II and the Guide S, Revo seeks to fill the needs of those seeking the best in performance sunglasses. Both frames feature HighContrast Polarized Serilium lenses that are lightweight, shatterproof and formulated of polycarbonate. Revo’s 8-base lens technology offers a more curved fit relative to your face, and elastometric nosepads provide a more secure fit for active wearers. Sleek and modern, the Guide II adds an element of comfort to the all-activity, allcondition mentality. What carries on in the Guide lineage, however, is the confidence to exceed expectations and reach the objective. The Guide S blends all-terrain functionality with a sleek fit. They are equipped with fast-flow vents and Motion-Fit technology for optimal comfort in any condition or environment.
WWW.REVO.COM
SKELETON OPTICS RENEGADE
FLYING FISHERMAN MORAY
New for 2018, take hold and be bold with Flying Fisherman’s Moray sunglasses, a sporty frame equipped to take your fishing game to the next level. Built with durability and comfort in mind for anglers who work hard and play even harder, the medium fit, semi-rimless wrap-around frame provides generous lens coverage, helping shield the sun from all angles. Non-slip, co-injected temples and adjustable, rubberized nosepiece give this frame solid performance and comfort for all-day wear. The Flying Fisherman Polarized, AcuTint lens coloring system eliminates glare and enhances color contrast, without distorting natural colors. The enhanced visual sharpness and comfort adds to fishing productivity, and maximizes the outdoors experience for anglers and watersports enthusiasts who need to see below the water’s surface to spot fish and structure. Morays are available in matte black frames with copper-red mirror, smoke, or smoke blue-mirror lenses, matte grey frames with smoke blue-mirror lenses, and matte white frames with smoke-blue mirror AcuTint lenses. MSRP is $24.95 - $29.95, and the Moray will be in stores this September. Call 305-852-8989 or visit the website for more information or to receive a free catalog.
WWW.FLYINGFISHERMAN.COM
POPTICALS POPSTAR
Skeleton Optics high-performance eyewear delivers superb craftsmanship, trend-forward innovation and advanced technology for outdoor enthusiasts everywhere. From the Rocky Mountains to the Atlantic Ocean, Skeleton Optics sunglasses are designed to empower ordinary people to do extraordinary things, inspiring them to live the “No Boundaries” lifestyle. The new Skeleton Optics Renegade frames not only embrace that belief but take it to the next level. Adding to their already popular Original Collection, Skeleton Optics took the wraparound feature of the best-selling Scout model, and extended the frame width while working closely with the Zeiss Optical team to increase the lens height and create the all new Renegade sunglasses. Rugged and durable, yet sleek and stylish, Renegade sunglasses are perfect for a day on the water, on the trail, in the car, at the beach or in town. Renegades feature polarized polycarbonate lenses by Zeiss with 100 percent UV protection and advanced TRI-PEL/RI-PEL coating to enhance colors and promote clear vision in any outdoor environment. Lenses also include a premium hard coating for scratch and impact resistance. Grilamid TR-90 frames were designed and manufactured in Italy for lasting durability, comfort and protection. The in-line nosepiece is anti-slip and moisture wicking. Specifications: • Base Curve of 8 • DBL: 18mm • Temple Length: 115mm • Lens Size A/B: A65xB40 For information, call 888-564-9025.
WWW.SKELETON-SUNGLASSES.COM
Sunglasses are a necessity, but they’re also a burden. There is an ever-present possibility to lose or damage this expensive piece equipment. And you can forget about storing a conventional pair in a case in your pocket. They’re just too bulky. That’s where Popticals steps in. This revolutionary new line of portable, pop-out sunglasses has a patented design that makes storage safe and convenient. Popticals’ FL2 Micro-Rail System allows the sunglasses to easily fold down to be stored in a small hardshell case. You won’t even notice this compact design in your pocket, and the unit can be clipped to anything with an included carabiner. These glasses are high-performance, as well. The NYDEF Nylon Lenses manufactured by Carl Zeiss Vision are clearer and 16 percent lighter in weight than polycarbonate lenses. They offer complete UV protection, filtering out 100 percent of harmful UVA and UVB rays, while hydrophobic and oleophobic technology repels water, oil, sweat and dust. The Swiss Grilamid TR 90 frames provide long-lasting durability and resistance to extreme temperatures while remaining lightweight and comfortable for extended use. Popticals are engineered in the U.S.A and handcrafted in Italy. See the Popticals website for a wide range of styles designed for any outdoor pursuit.
WWW.POPTICALS.COM
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FLY FISHING
TARPON TIME: THE TWO HANDED STRIP
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t’s tarpon time! Many of you will be headed to tarpon waters this summer looking to hook one of ocean’s greatest gamefish on the fly. When you go, consider altering your fly retrieval technique from the standard one-hand strip to the two-handed stip. If you do, you might be surprised at how effective a two-hand strip can be at catching this great gamefish. There are some saltwater fish that react to a fly that is stripped as fast as possible. Tuna, barracuda, roosterfish, amberjack and yellowtail are all good examples. These guys prefer a fly that moves like an Indianapolis racecar. If the fly isn’t imitating a fleeing baitfish, and suddenly stops, this group of gamers will turn and swim away. The two-handed strip is also a wonderful technique for feeding a well-presented fly to a tarpon. But there is a difference. The twohanded strip is slightly different for tarpon than it is for offshore and nearshore species. Where offshore fish like tuna want the fly to burn through the water without pause, a tarpon often wants to see the fly move through the water at a slower pace while still keeping the fly’s continual motion. An advantage of the two hand strip technique is the angler has total control of the fly’s pace through the water, making it possible for the angler to speed up or slow down the fly depending on the reaction of the tarpon to the fly. For example, if a tarpon reacts aggressively toward the fly, the angler might speed up the retrieve to initiate a strike. If the tarpon’s reaction is less aggressive, almost passive, the angler can manipulate the fly’s speed and try to turn on the tarpon’s “light switch” to instigate a strike. Another advantage to using the two-hand retrieve is that the rod is placed under the arm rather than in the hands, making it almost impossible to lift the rod tip on a strike. This combats the urge of freshwater converts to set the hook by lifting the rod, a big no-no
in tarpon fishing. With the rod under and arm, the only way to hook the fish is with a solid stripstrike. For a successful twohanded strip do the following: • After the fly has been cast, place the rod under the arm (right or left). • Point the rod tip down, keeping the tip on the water at all times. • Begin the strip by pulling the fly line with your hand at the first stripping guide. Repeat this with the other hand. • There should be a continual motion, changing hands with each strip. • Vary the speed of the fly as you strip it through the water. • Strip the fly all the way to the boat and repeat. If you feel a strike, give your line a solid strip-strike. Use the two-handed strip, and I guarantee you will never go back to the one-hand strip again. Good luck on the tarpon grounds this season!
For Tackle Box Essentials from Bowman, go to
CAMFLYFISHING.COM
High Performance Eyewear
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SOUTHEAST
By Nick Carter
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orth Carolina’s Oconaluftee River has a multiple personality disorder. Its headwaters fall from an elevation of more than 5,000 feet via a little creek called Beech Flats Prong high in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Beech Flats gains flow from multiple tributaries and becomes the Oconaluftee in a more than 8-mile run through the national park. With the influx of Bradley Fork at Smokemont Campground, the “Luftee” is one of the larger flows in the GSMNP. Above Bradley Fork, the river is small and steep and home to small and beautiful wild trout. Below Bradley Fork, it is one of the most easily accessible and overlooked opportunities in the park. Downstream of Smokemont, a buddy and I once stood on the elevated bank and watched a pod of a half dozen 10- to 12-inch rainbows in a flat blue pool feeding calmly on caddis. That was enough to get us excited. I dropped in downstream of them and began a slow approach, gently moving into casting range to avoid spook-
ing fish in glass-slick water. I was stripping line to cast when my buddy, who was still spotting from above, began pointing and making strange muffled sounds. I didn’t find out until later that I had kicked up a very large brown trout, which moved to the head of the pool and then disappeared. It had scattered the smaller fish in the process. It taught me that it pays off to be patient and watch the water before making a move in the Oconaluftee. U.S. 441 is hard on its banks, making for extremely easy roadside access, yet big fish live there. They are smart due to the fishing pressure they receive, which is pretty limited considering how easy it is to get there. The ’Luftee flies under the radar for a couple reasons. A lot of anglers drive right up the river in search of more secluded destinations. And, the Oconaluftee within the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians’ Qualla Boundary draws attention away from the Oconaluftee on the national park. The river takes on its next personality when it is joined by Raven Fork and enters Cherokee lands. By this point it is a big river. Cherokee maintains some of the highest fish densities in the east through extremely heavy stockings of rainbow, brook and brown trout. The fishing pressure can be enormous. Still, fishing can be good, and it’s a great place to introduce a youngster to trout fishing. Flyfisher’s Guide To North Carolina & Georgia is 218 pages of extensively researched information on the area’s best trout fishing. It includes more than 40 full-color maps, driving directions, GPS coordinates to access points and tips and tactics. It is available on Amazon, and signed copies are available by contacting the author at nsc8957@gmail.com.
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Get The Blues By CAM Staff • Photo courtesy of Hightower Marina/Facebook udging by the size of this bruiser’s belly, it’s not too hard to imagine it eating a lot of McDonalds. The story of this Texas largemouth has been making the rounds on the Internet lately. At 10.802 pounds and 24.5 inches in length, it is certainly an awesome fish. It’s a new record for 3,138-acre Lake Bardwell, just south of Dallas near the town of Ennis, Texas. But the reason this fish went viral has to do with the bait. Mathew McNellis and his girlfriend caught the bass in May on a McDonald’s Chicken McNugget. They were jugging for catfish, which is a technique that involves setting out numerous floating plastic jugs with lines, hooks and baits suspended beneath them. They weren’t having much luck, and that’s why McNellis’ girlfriend suggested they try the nugget, according to KDFW Fox 4 News. After boating the fish, the couple took it to Highview Marina, where it was weighed, photographed and declared the new record by the marina. The fish was then released. It bested the previous Lake Bardwell record of 10.44 pounds. The previous record, held by Artee Lewis since February 2006, was caught on a more conventional bait… a minnow.
By Carlos Hidalgo
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SEA SCHOOL - WHERE THE SAVVY FISHERMEN GO TO GET THEIR CAPTAIN’S LICENSE SINCE 1977
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“Everyday, everyday, everyday, everyday I have the blues” — B. B. King
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’m pretty sure B. B. King was not a fly fisherman. Had he been, I’d like to think that, like his guitar Lucille, his fly rods would have been named after women. His delicate 3-weight, small stream rod might have been called Celeste. His 12-weight tarpon stick… Beulah, or maybe Gertrude. I hope you don’t have the blues. But if you are a trout angler, I do hope you have some blue flies in your boxes. You will be hard pressed to see any blue trout flies in the bins of your local fly shop or in many fly pattern books. This is understandable, since so many trout anglers are strict “match the hatch” believers and trout do not feed on any blue prey items. Despite this, blue flies are very effective. Here are a few you should consider. John Barr ties a blue version of his very effective Copper John nymph. Just replace blue copper wire for regular copper wire in the fly’s abdomen. A few years ago, Atlanta guide Dave Johnson requested that his friend Scott Abernathy design a blue nymph for his clients. Abernathy said the fly, which became known as the Blue Assassin, is based on the Rainbow Warrior nymph but with a really bright touch of blue. He speculated that its effectiveness might be because blue is the most visible color in deep water, as scientific studies have shown. This nymph is an extremely hot fly for Georgia trout. Pennsylvania angler Charles Meck included two blue dry flies and one blue egg in his book, “Fishing Tandem Flies.” Meck wrote that he began tying blue flies because of studies that showed that blue and purple flies “are the last to disappear as the fly sinks deeper in the water column.” The Blueberry is an egg pattern Meck ties with a brass bead and white or cream Glo Bug yarn, which is dyed with Rit evening blue dye. Meck swears by his two dry flies, the Patriot and the White-Winged Bluebird. Although uncommon, blue is a very effective color for trout attractor flies. Give them a try.
Blue Assassin – Scott Abernathy
(available at The Fish Hawk in Atlanta, Ga.) Hook – Tiemco 2457, size 14 -20 Thread – blue Bead – silver (tungsten or brass) Tail – light gray Antron (originally, Scott used pheasant tail fibers) Abdomen – pearl Lateral Scale Thorax – hot purple SLF dubbing
White-Winged Bluebird – Charles Meck
Ask Us About Our
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ONLINE Courses!
Hook – dry fly, size 12 – 14 Thread – 6/0 medium blue Tail – blue hackle fibers (Meck uses white hackle dyed Rit evening blue) Body – smolt-blue Krystal Flash, with red thread mid-rib Hackle – blue Wings – white calf tail -To tie the Patriot, substitute brown for the tail and hackle, everything else stays the same.
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6/19/17 2:38 PM
Keep An Eye
On The Hook By Patrick Sebile
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ccidents happen while fishing. A treble hook impaling your hand while you’re trying to remove the lure from a thrashing ladyfish is one common example. If you fish long enough, you are bound to be hooked at one time or another. With limbs or digits, getting hooked is a relatively minor incident. A hook in the eyeball is a life-changing event. I have had several close encounters when lures came way too close to my face. It has convinced me to be cautious. It has taught me to hold the rod at an angle so the lure won’t fly back at me if it suddenly pops free from a fish’s mouth or a snag. But while I can control my own actions, I can’t predict the actions of others in the boat. Several potentially dangerous moments remain fresh in my
memory, and they keep me aware of what is going on around me. It also reminds me to wear glasses for more than just the reduction of glare. One of these chilling experiences happened a few months ago when my good friend Alessandro came from Italy to visit me in Florida. We went out early to a spot where snook and small tarpon had been biting topwater baits before the sun rose. I coached him to retrieve his Sebile Splasher with the rod tip close to the surface, and to set the hook sideways to keep the lure from flying at us on a missed hook set. It’s easy to coach, but when a tarpon rolls on your bait, the blood boils and coaching flies out the window. Alessandro reared back with a tremendous hook set, and that Splasher with its two big treble hooks flew straight at me, just a few inches from my eyes. On another occasion, I was trolling inlets on the west coast of Africa. Because of the area we were fishing, the lures were close to the boat. We were pulling a big shad crankbait just 20 feet behind the boat. I spotted a drifting branch and knew the big crankbait was about to snag it. I told my client not to set the hook when the tip bent, but he grabbed that rod and gave it a powerful jerk. That 5-inch-long lure flew at my head with so much force that four of the six treble hooks embedded deeply into my hand. I was lucky I had time to get my hand in front of my face. It was bad, but at least they didn’t get my eyes. We were 10 hours from the nearest hospital. These anecdotes are examples of why I always wear glasses on the water. Good reinforced, impact-resistant polarized glasses—such as the Rhinolens line from Flying Fisherman—shield your eyes from hooks as well as the sun. Even in super low-light conditions, I wear bright yellow polycarbonate shades made for shooters. We only have two eyes, and I will not trust the protection of mine to cheap glasses. Safety first, my friends… in fishing and loving! Patrick Sebile is the owner and lure designer of Sebile Innovative Fishing (www.sebile.com).
Hot Action On The Savannah Snapper Banks
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apt. Judy Helmey with Miss. Judy Charters out of Savannah reports great bottom fishing on the Savannah Snapper banks. “We are catching vermilion, white grunt, black sea bass, triggerfish, cobia, grouper, genuine red snapper, an assortment of pogies, mahi mahi, king mackerel, and I could go on,” she said. “The bottom line when it comes to fishing, whether it is on the bottom or on the troll, is you really never know what you might catch!” The best baits when bottom fishing have been cut baits, either squid or fish. When trolling, Capt. Judy suggested ballyhoo rigged on Sea Witches in an assortment of colors. When drifting or on the slow troll, Capt. Judy said assorted color Dusters King Rigs rigged with light wire and small hooks are the ticket. For light-tackle rigs, live and fresh dead cigar minnows or Spanish sardines will get bit. Miss. Judy Charters can be contacted at 912-897-4921 or by emailing Capt. Judy at fishjudy2@aol.com. See their website at missjudycharters.com.
By Paul Lebowitz
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hen it comes to fishing accessories, nothing is as indispensable as a tackle-management system that fits in the storage well behind the seat on most any kayak. Back in the day, these were usually crafted out of venerable milk crates, with sections of PVC tubing zip-tied into each corner for use as rod holders. Some kayak anglers continue to use them, but increasingly, they have been supplanted by purpose-designed accessories that come fully featured. Here are a few things to look for if you’re in the market for a kayak tackle-management system. First, ask yourself how many rod holders it has. Most have three at a minimum, with the ability to add extras. The best crates come predrilled to accept them for nearly tool-free installation. Rod retention shock cords are a nice bonus. The ability to accept additional accessories such as tackle bins, camera booms and cup holders is another plus. Many crates are designed to be tied-down using the shock cords that come outfitted on most kayaks. Non-stretch webbing tie-downs are a more secure option. A cover, whether integrated or an accessory, is another good feature. While not every kayak angler will need the option, the ability to easily disassemble and pack the crate flat is a nice touch. It can come in handy for kayak anglers who travel by jet to distant fishing spots. There are great crates out there–go get one.
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BLUE RIDGE
By Nick Carter
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hile rock hopping and prospecting with dry flies for brightly colored brown trout, it’s easy to imagine the upper end of Wilson Creek as it was more than 250 years ago. But the forest is younger than it was when Native Americans likely pulled native brook trout from the creek. Logging began in the 1750s, when pioneers settled this remote area of western North Carolina’s Caldwell County. For nearly two centuries a timber operation and the communities that grew around it thrived in the shadow of Grandfather Mountain. Mortimer was the largest settlement on Wilson Creek. It was home to the Ritter Lumber Mill Company sawmill as well as a small textile mill. The ruins of Mortimer lie near what is now a stretch of prime trout water. The story of Mortimer is one of nature reclaiming itself. Beginning in 1916, and probably exacerbated by the clearance of the land, a series of fires and floods twice destroyed the narrow-gauge railroad used to haul out timber. A final massive flood in 1940 swept away both the sawmill and the textile mill, and without industry the surviving residents abandoned their homes.
Since that time, a good portion of Wilson Creek’s more than 23mile corridor from its headwaters on Grandfather Mountain down to its confluence with Johns River has regenerated to a mostly wild state. In 2000, the stream was designated a National Wild and Scenic River, which provides special ecological protections. Trout anglers should delight in the transformation. On its upper end, Wilson Creek plummets cold and clear as a small to medium sized stream through a steep wooded valley on Pisgah Game Lands. There is access by foot to miles of creek that offer anglers one waterfall and plunge pool after the next. Small but bright stream-born brown trout dominate the fishery. In this stretch it is managed under catchand-release, artificial-only regulations. Downstream, after flowing through roughly 4-miles of private property, Wilson Creek emerges again to the public as a larger flow. The mouth of Lost Cove Creek is the upper boundary of delayed harvest waters. October into June each year, this beautiful 3-mile stretch is managed under catch-and-release, single-hook, artificial-only regulations. The state stocks it heavily. And for anglers who’d like to keep some trout for the table, Wilson Creek is open under regular hatchery supported trout regulations for another 5 miles down to the remains of an old lowhead dam near the Adako community. This section is big water. It is punctuated by a gorgeous rock gorge. Wilson Creek falls from North Carolina’s high country around the towns of Boone, Blowing Rock and Linville. Fishing it would make for a good day trip or weekend adventure from Winston-Salem, Asheville or any of the towns on this eastern edge of North Carolina’s Blue Ridge Mountains. For GPS coordinates to access points and detailed maps of Wilson Creek and all of North Carolina’s and Georgia’s best trout water, check out “Flyfishers Guide to North Carolina & Georgia.” It is available at fly shops, on Amazon, and signed copies are available from the author by emailing nsc8957@gmail.com.
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GuideNorth Service & Travel GA’s
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Atlanta/N. Georgia/ Lake Country July 2017
PUBLISHER: Bob Rice CONTRIBUTING WRITERS: Nick Carter Henry Cowen Dr. Andrew Cox Capt. Jake Davis Jim Farmer The Fish Hawk Ronnie hall Jmmy Harris Capt. Cefus McRae Chris Scalley Gary Turner Noey Vineyard O'Neill Williams Rene J. Hesse Jimbo Mathley James Bradley David HulseY WAYNE WOOTEN Steven king ryan kennedy jay striker Graphic Design: Kathleen CARREIRO KATHLEENCARREIRO@YMAIL.COM
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A Free Publication The Angler Magazine Is Distributed Across The Southeast. The Angler Magazine Is Published Monthly By B & B Publishers P.O. Box 766 Madison, GA 30650 706-614-8231 www.theanglermagazine.com Reproduction Of Contents In Any Form Is Prohibited Bob Rice, publisher The Angler Magazine Fishing, Boating, Conservation “Find your outdoors here”
Photo by Nick Carter
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Local Rivers & Fly Fishing
July Fly Fishing Report June proved to be a sensational month for topwater spotted bass and even some small stripers. Conditions were such that lakes all across Georgia were provided with sensational topwater action. Lanier in particular fished extremely well with spotted bass at or above the 4 pound mark caught daily on fly rod poppers or intermediate lines and small Game Changers, Wiggle Minnows and Clousers. July should continue to offer the same type of fishing with the only exception being that as the water temps creep up to 82+ degrees, the bigger spotted bass will certainly go deeper. If you want to get in on this action, the first half of the month will offer a better opportunity to get your last licks in on a magnum spot or striper on topwater. After that, the topwater action will certainly continue, but it will be with the smaller fish only. July temperatures, while hot, can also make the fishing every bit as hot. While the thermometer will push 90 degrees each day, anglers need to dress accordingly and get ready for some great fly fishing opportunities around all our North Georgia lakes. Will Lake Allatoona have their recently
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departed topwater bite of hybrids going in full force sometime in July? It hasn’t happened over the past 2-3 years like it used to, but that doesn’t mean it won’t fire up again. This is some of the most productive and visual fishing of the year. The key is to get out at either first light or last light and just drive until you see schools of fish feeding on the surface. This can happen anywhere on the lake, but your best bet is to look between Kellogg Creek and the Bethany Bridge for most of the action. Anglers should come equipped with a 6 or 7 weight rod. I prefer two rods in the boat: one with an intermediate slow sinking line and the other with a floating line. On the floater I would attach a Wiggle Minnow as my fly of choice. On the intermediate I would attach either an Albie Anchovy or some super small 2” long fly. Hybrids on Allatoona will average 2-5 pounds, and they fight pound for pound harder than any other game fish here in North Georgia. The hybrids will be feasting on very small young-of-the-year threadfin shad. These shad average 1-3” in length, but most of them will appear in the 1-1 ½” range. Anglers who do not fly fish can get the same flies and attach them behind either a popping cork or casting bubble for success. If you
want to plan a trip for this topwater event, it is best to plan it around both the full and new moon period. The fish will always surface feed a little more aggressively around the moons. If the hybrids do not show, you can always fly fish all the mountain lakes (Allatoona, Carters, Lanier or Hartwell) for topwater spotted bass. A 3-4 hour window after first light can have you fishing to and catching spotted bass on 6 weights on poppers. These fish are aggressive and love to do cartwheels for your entertainment. On light tackle fly rods it can be about as much fun as you can stand! Lake Lanier can be counted on to be especially good for this summer bite. Another opportunity for folks wanting to stay cool during July is to fish on the river. Look no further than the Hooch for both striped bass and carp action. Stripers can be found from Morgan Falls Dam down through the Peachtree Creek section (below Paces Mill) and everywhere in between. Once again a slow sinking intermediate line will be your best bet to locate stripers moving up from West Point Lake and summering over in the city limits. Anglers should fish both early and late day (low light) as your best options for river stripers. Fish in the 3-8 pound range are the norm for the river fishing, but do not be surprised if a fish in the teens or bigger hits your fly. Best flies are those that are weighted and in the 4”-6” length. Bright pink over white is a really good color for the river! Baitfish patterns, Coyotes, Clousers and Wiggle Minnows (on a faster sinking line in the deep holes) can be effective. An intermediate slow sinking line can also be effective for river stripers. I especially like an Umpqua Game Changer fly for fishing the banks. Try to hit the banks with your cast as stripers tend to hide in the structure along the banks or are down in the deeper holes of the river. Just keep in mind with the drought we have had the past year, water levels will probably still be way down thus making the river fishing that much tougher on anglers as the
fish cannot get to their normal places. If you are running a jet boat, I again urge you to proceed with caution as many of our North Georgia rivers will be running on minimum flows unless we get bunches of rain. For carp anglers, July is a wonderful month. The area around Bull Sluice is generally considered some of the better flats for fly rodders wanting to try their hand at sight fishing. A boat of some sort is required in order to paddle or pole the flats in search of common carp. Carp on the Hooch will average 10-12 pounds, and they are as weary as a permit! A perfect presentation in terms of the cast is required and a slow strip followed by a pause will have you anticipating a hook up. You must throw the fly almost on top of them if you want to get one to eat. Be prepared to throw to 20 fish before you get an eat! They are the hardest of all fish to fool in fresh water on a fly. A 7 or 8 weight rod with a floating line and a long leader is required to hunt for carp. As for flies, anything dark and small should be good. Size 8-10 trout nymphs and crayfish patterns are the norm. Again, keep in mind that minimal river flows will surely effect whether the carp migrate up and onto the flats. So there you have it….some hot summer fishing in the Deep South! Get your sunscreen, wear your long brimmed hat, stay hydrated and have at it. July in Hotlanta! It’s a fishery that is truly hard to beat. See you on the pond or the river.
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Local Rivers & Fly Fishing
Hot Days of Summer Contributed by James Bradley www.ReelEmInGuideService.com (706) 273-0764 As we continue into the month of July, hot and steamy days are beginning to show up and there will be more to come. The end result of hot days is higher water temperatures! High water temps above 68 degrees make the life of a trout a little tougher, especially when anglers are present. Most of the private waters in Georgia shut down by the end of June to keep from stressing their big trout and potentially killing them. Loss of dissolved oxygen (DO) is usually the culprit when water temperatures rise above the 68 degree mark. And the higher the temperature climbs above 68 degrees, the faster the DO dissipates. Trout need a rich level of dissolved oxygen to recoup after an aggressive fight with an angler. Low levels due to high temperatures make it hard for the trout to revive. The sad part of angling during low and warm water is many anglers may see a trout swim off after being released thinking it is okay, but fail to realize that five minutes later that same trout is seen by a different angler floating belly up. There are ways to prevent this scenario. Private waters close their respective sections of a stream or river due to the above mentioned fact. You can protect trout by simply carrying a stream thermometer and check the temperature before fishing. These thermometers can be purchased online or at most fly shops. If the temperature is anywhere close to 68 or above, you will not have to pack it up and head home. Head up higher into the mountains and fish the smaller headwater streams. These higher streams have more shade and faster water which help maintain lower temperatures throughout the year especially if on a north faced slope. If you are in need of big water, then hit either the Chattahoochee or Toccoa River below their respective dams. Tailwaters stay cold well into late summer. Heck, they stay cold year-round unless water is being released over the spillway. Tailwater fishing does come with an additional threat. Rapid release of water rises quickly and seems to catch some people off guard. I can assure you that having water coming at you around 150 cubic feet per second (cfs) is much different when it is coming in a bigger volume like 1500 cfs. For some, it is the difference between life and death. Some tailwaters have warning devices, but they can only be heard so far. Some will post their release schedule like the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), but this isn’t fool proof. Some tailwaters will begin to generate if their grid is calling for additional power. This blows the schedule completely out of the water, no pun intended. Be aware of the regulations as well. Some areas around a tailwater may require you to wear a personal floatation device. When fishing a tailwater be AWARE of your surroundings. Things to keep an eye on are like a rock that is barely showing in the middle of the river or a log that is partially submerged but still showing. While fishing, if either disappear, it is time to get out! If you begin to notice a change in the water like debris showing up, leaves coming at you in the water, maybe a slight change in water color, it very well may be time to get out and quickly. Many times these are the first signs of rising water and you only have a very short time to make it to the bank before the rise or release shows up. Paying attention to your surroundings is a sure way of making it back to fish again! Reel ‘Em In Guide Service is the only Orvis Endorsed Fly Fishing Guide in North Georgia’s High County region. They have been offering their services to fly anglers since 2001. They have proper permits for guiding in North Georgia and North Carolina, offering over 7 miles of private trophy waters across Georgia, and operate drift boat trips on the Toccoa River in GA and the Tuckasegee River in NC.
Post a Picture of your catch!
Ellijay, GA facebook.com/theanglermagazineGA
9400 Highway 197 North Clarkesville, GA 30523
(706) 947-3474
info@blackhawkflyfishing.com
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Guided Fly Fishing for Trout, Trophy Trout and Float Trips
JULY 2017
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Daniel Nolen, with a redeye bass from a guided trip on the Chattooga River
Local Rivers & Fly Fishing Chattooga River
by Karl Ekberg Chattooga River Fly Shop www.chattoogariverflyshop.com 864-6382806 Summertime is fishing great on the rivers around us here at Chattooga River Fly Shop. Whether you are fishing for trout or redeye bass and panfish, you can have an enjoyable day catching plenty of fish. River conditions are in wonderful shape, as we have received plenty of rain over the past month. Along with the rains, we have had cooler summer temperature conditions which have kept the river temperatures down. After the rain storms have passed us, we have had low temperatures overnight and daytime temperatures from the mid 70’s to 80’s. If you are wondering if you should bring the waders, leave them home and just bring the wading boots. We have been wet wading now for over a month, which has made for enjoyable days on the rivers. Let’s hope Mother Nature keeps us on this trend with plenty of rain and lower summertime temperatures. For the trout fishing, early mornings until 1pm have been good along with late afternoons until dark as daytime temperatures fall off late in the day. Pick your “cup of tea”, as we have had tremendous successful days with dry flies, streamers, nymphs and terrestrials. During the sunny days, target the overhanging
foliage of the river banks and the shaded areas of the rivers. Also look for deeper runs, as the fish will seek thermal refuge during the heat of the day. As for the redeye bass and panfish, topwater and streamers are working great! Fishing the back eddies and slower moving water has proven to be the key to successful days. Mid-morning and through the day has been better fishing than very early mornings or late evenings. This is a great time of year to take the kids fishing! School is out for the summer break, water temperatures are great and there are plenty of fish to be caught. We had the pleasure of participating as a volunteer with the Kid’s Fishing Rodeo at Burrell’s Ford Campground this past month with the U.S. Forestry Department. Introducing kids to the great outdoors and nature is a wonderful time, and catching a few fish will add to the experience for all. Remember to bring your camera along for your trip and share your photo. You might see your photo in the next edition on the Brag Board. As we are all guests of the forest, let’s remember to “leave no trace”, and pack out what we bring in on our trips to the rivers. Keeping the forests clean will add to the enjoyable experience for all. We hope to see everyone out on the rivers!
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Local Rivers & Fly Fishing
y
Open
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The Casting Corner Rene J. Hesse Certified Casting InstructorFederation of Fly Fishers & Atlanta Fly Fishing and Camping Meetup Organizer
Tension in Fly Casting? Most of us want to ‘get away’ from the stress of everyday life and go fly fish. We tend to be the most optimistic sportsmen and women. We will make 500 casts in a day and on every cast say ‘There must be one there, here it comes’. We are a great culture of sportsmen. Within this sport there are a lot of different terms and views on things that have to do with the sport. Here is a term that may change the way you look at something you have viewed differently based on experience or something you have been taught. The word tension has a few meanings, and today we will look at how it is good for fly casting. Tension. That word can be interchanged with ‘absence of slack’. Slack in a cast is not a good thing, unless you are going for a slack line cast. Go figure. The following is a mental process that you may want to adopt to improve your casting. To optimize the casting stroke, there must be tension on the line from your hands to the fly before you start your cast. Here are some ways to achieve that. First, always
start with your rod tip at the water line. This will put all of your line in the water and remove the sag of line from your rod tip to the water. When your rod tip is there, you now have the ‘water tension’ assisting in the slack removal when you start to move your rod tip. When you start your cast, make sure the line from your hand to the first guide is taunt. Have as little slack as possible. If necessary, remove slack by stripping in line (remember you want to be at the head or in the rear taper of your fly line before starting a cast). If you have done the above you can now start your cast. If you move your rod tip and the fly starts to move, you have tension! Energize the line. Get as much slack out by creating tension, then start you casting sequence. The cast will take less effort if the rod is loaded by the weight of the line against the rod tip right from the start. The cast will smooth out and the loops will be easier to create with a smooth constant rate of acceleration that tension allows. So go out and create some tension in the fly fishing arena. You will notice a difference.
July 9th Full Buck Moon
henrycowenflyfishing.com. To book a trip, please contact us thru our website at www. by Capt. David Hulsey Contributed
Fly Fishing in July
International Federation of Fly Fishers Master Certified Casting Instructor http://www.hulseyflyfishing.com 770-639-4001
The hot summer sun of July pretty much leaves the low light cooler parts of the day the only time to head to the river in search of trout. Early morning and late evening jaunts to the river are more productive and not as harsh on the fish as fishing in the glaring high sun time periods. The Toccoa tailwater is still producing fish as long as you can steer clear of the tubers and kayakers for short periods of time to get your fly over unspooked fish. Small streams in the higher elevations are still fairly cool, especially with the occasional evening thunderstorms ripping through the hills. Try to land the fish as soon as possible and be gentle as you can when you release them. Terrestrial patterns are the best bet for hot weather flies for trout right now. Carry a thermometer and use it! If the water temperatures are getting close to seventy, don’t fish. Try to find cooler water. Our warm water ponds, lakes and rivers are also fishing better early and late in the day. Bass and bluegill are still whacking poppers on the surface along with jumping on deep stripped streamers when the sun gets up high
in the sky. Quietly fish around any visible cover that may provide a little shade. Carp fishing in the middle of the day when they are most visible is good right now. The mud flats on our mountain lakes is the place to be. Flies looking like a small crawfish or Damselfly Nymphs are your best bet with the golden ghost. July is also the beginning of “hopper season” in the Western states. Fly anglers in droves are packing their bags and heading to the Rockies for the most exciting fly fishing of the year. Big rainbows and browns crashing hopper patterns on the surface is a heart stopping event that every angler should experience once in their life! Cool temperatures with low humidity is another good reason to run from the Southern states at this time of year. Large foam hopper and beetle patterns are the flies to have if you head west this summer. Give us a call at 706-838-0585 to book your trip of a lifetime or to get on your own journey in learning how to fly fish! Check out our website at www. ncfga.com.
By John Rice Blackhawk Fly Fishing jriceflyfishing@gmail.com
Hook - tiemco size 10. 6X long Thread - 140 Ultra thread darkbrown Tail - Tan goose biots Underbody - Tail, #15 lead Thorax, #30 lead Dubbing - Brown super fine Ribbing - Clear vinyl, medium Legs - Tan goose biots Wingcase - Mottled Brown thin skin
Down and Brown Stone
As opposed to bead head or tungsten bead head that nose dive down through the water column, this fly, being evenly weighted, falls very natural through the water column producing takes from suspended fish as well as deeper ones. Be sure to flatten the lead underbody with your de-barbing pliers for a flatter more natural body shape.
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Local Rivers & Fly Fishing
The Guide's Angle
lake Allatoona Striper/Hybrid
Contributed By: Chris Scalley River Through Atlanta Guide Service
Coolest Place to Fish This Summer! With two consecutive droughts both in 2016 and 2017, the Georgia water table is depleted making for super skinny streams in the mountains. Tailwaters like the Chattahoochee or the Toccoa will be your best bet for trout this summer. These rivers will have a minimum flow which keeps water temperatures cooler and consistent.
Forecast By: Capt. Robert Eidson First Bite Guide Service 770-827-6282 eidson6260@att.net www.firstbiteguideservice.com Lineside fishing is good. The bite that was so strong mid-lake is starting to slow down compared to last week due to the full moon. The fish are starting to move off the flats and humps and are starting to school 6 ATLANTA
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Following our warmest Georgia winter on record, the thermocline within the Blue Ridge and Lake Lanier impoundments is slightly warmer making for 2 to 3 degrees warmer, but still quite cold. Summer can be great nymph fishing and mid-day can be excellent terrestrial dry fly fishing. During low light windows early and late streamers can score big browns. Tight lines!
Lake Allatoona will be at full pool (840 feet) until the fall draw down. Due to a failed and fiery attempt to bring the generators back online, Allatoona Dam will continue to sluice water at a fairly constant rate until further notice. Clarity over most of the lake will be very clear with the exceptions of the backs of Allatoona Creek and Little River. Surface temps should be holding in the mid-upper 80’s with 90 being a possibility if we get a “global warming” summer. Our thermocline will be setting up around the 22-25 foot mark over most of the lake, slightly deeper in the immediate vicinity of the dam. Fish catching activity on the lake has been good to great for hybrid and striper with reports of hybrid pushing 10 pounds and a few striper in the 20’s. We even saw a video of a 35 pound striper caught last month in the river above the lake! No matter how hot it gets,
Lake Allatoona
Acworth, GA
out over the river and creek channels. striper soup 1.8NS.indd This week we have caught fish as deep as 50 feet. Downlining live bait is your best bet right now. Look for these big schools to start to move south as the water warms into the mid-eighties. Topwater is slow! There is limited topwater action right at sunup, but you have to be in the right place at the right time. It really isn’t worth targeting yet. Trolling is fair at best but should heat up in the upcoming weeks.
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the hybrid will be apt to erupt on top mixed with white bass and small striper. The freshly spawned threadfin shad should be in the 1-1.5 inch size range and will be schooled up all over the lake. Keep your eyes on the water and search for feeding fish by looking for white spray from thrashing predators. Actively feeding fish are easily caught on a wide variety of lures such as casting spoons, jigs, spinners, soft jerk baits and surface plugs. For live bait fishing, we will be on a virtually 100% downline bite until the water cools again in October. Target areas where baitfish are funneled like long points and narrow stretches of the lake. The striper and hybrid will tend to hang around the thermocline in large schools and feed up in short bursts. If you run across a large school of fish, you will have every rod bent and can easily boat 50 fish as fast as you can reel them in. HINT: Please respect the fishery and your fellow anglers and only keep as many fish as you can eat. Released fish will keep growing and give us more to catch in the future
www.stripersoup.com 770-529-9601
8/11/14 10:03 PM
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Local Rivers & Fly Fishing RIVER BASSIN with UNICOI OUTFITTERS Contributed By: Jimmy Harris
www.unicoioutfitters.com
If you follow Unicoi Outfitters on any of the popular social media outlets, you’ll already know that we love river bass fishing. Our primary target is the indigenous shoal bass, but we aren’t above sticking a spot (which we may take home for tacos), largemouth and even striper. If they’re in the river and looking to eat what we’re throwing, regardless of the time of year, it’s game on. We offer a variety of trips throughout the year with summer providing the best topwater action. Wet wade fishing the shoals is hard to beat when afternoon temperatures top out in the high 80’s and the humidity even higher than that. Watching a tiger-striped shoal bass launch from beneath a rock ledge to attack your Stealth Bomber is about as much fun as you should be allowed to legally have. If you want to cover more water with less effort, we offer float trips in a Headhunter 2-person pontoon boat that can negotiate the shallow
shoals and riffles from Highway 255 all the way to Belton Bridge. We’ll take you on the section we feel offers the best floating and fishing depending upon water level. The newest addition to our River Bassin trips is an amazing G3 with a jet that allows us to work the river anywhere from Don Carter State Park to just below Mossy Creek. For the ride and fishing trip of your life, hop in Jake Darling’s new jet sled and hang on. Jake knows the river like the back of his hand and can negotiate every sand bar, rock and tree stump to put you on fish. River Bassin really is a lot of fun and we would like to show you what it’s all about. Give us a call at 706878-3083 and we’ll help you start planning your trip. Watch our You Tube video by Henry Cowen:
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Local Lakes & Forecasts Nickajack Lake
lake lanier striperS Forecast by: Clay Cunningham www.catchingnotfishing.com 770-630-2673 The stripers on Lanier are in summer mode. Buy a tank full of blue back herring and go catch some fish. The fish are concentrated on the southern end of the lake for the most part. As the summer heat continues to heat the surface, look for the stripers to move as deep as eighty to one hundred feet deep. To catch the stripers you need some simple equipment. You need a Shakespeare Striper rod spooled with twenty pound Trilene Big Game line and you are ready to catch some fish. Tie on a Carolina
rig with a 2 ounce Capt. Mack swivel sinker, a seven foot Trilene 100% Flourocarbon leader finished off with a size 1 Gamakatsu Finesse Wide Gap hook. This hook has become my favorite. The Gamakatsu size 1/0 Octopus hook is also a great choice. Also be sure to ice your bait. If live bait is not your choice, tie on a Spro Prime 1 ounce white bucktail tipped with a 6 inch Capt. Mack chartreuse curly tail and reel it up through the schools of fish you see on your electronics. Great electronics are critical. On the Humminbird Solix you can watch your bait swim around on the hook fifty feet deep or more. This is an awesome time to be on the lake. See you on the water.
The stripers on Lanier are in summer mode. Buy a tank full of blue back herring and go catch some fish.
Forecast by: Capt. Jake Davis www.midsouthbassguide.com msbassguide@comcast.net 615-613-2382 If you’re in search of a less pressured lake that provides lots of action and some quality fish, take a look at Nickajack Lake just outside Chattanooga TN. I had the pleasure of spending several days in May and June on Nickajack with clients visiting Chattanooga, and we had a blast. We boated 30-50 fish per day mainly all on Tightline Mussel Crawler Jigs and Tightline Jigs “Catch 5” Big’N in a white shad or Guntersville Special Swimjigs. Water temps ranged from 79 to 82 degrees. We found our fish scattered on road beds, main channel grass and points while covering water from Marion County Park down to Shellmound State Park. Our best fish came from 14 FOW using Mussel Crawler Tightline Jigs with twin turbo tail trails. Now is the time to make your
reservations for some exciting summer ledge and fall fishing on Nickajack, Normandy, Tims Ford and Guntersville! I have days available throughout the summer with full time professional USCG licensed/insured guides. As always, we supply all fishing gear including Duckett Rods, LEW’s Reels, lures and drinking water, military discount and the dedication to making your trip successful. “Let’s go fish’ in”
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Local Lakes & Forecasts Lake Blue Ridge Smallmouth and WALLEYE By: Shane Goebel Big Ol’ Fish Guiding Service & The Angler Magazine Fishing Team www.bigolfish.com 828-361-2021, 1-844-4-ANGLER
July 31, 2017
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Lake Blue Ridge is not just one of the most idyllic settings in the North Georgia Mountains; it is also the source of some of the best smallmouth and bass fishing in the area, and July is a great month to hit the water as we move into the prime of the summer season. Currently, Lake Blue Ridge is at full pool. Water temperatures are in the mid 80’s. Water clarity is clear in the main lake and in the creeks and rivers. Not a lot has changed out here. We are still catching substantial amounts of smallmouth and spotted bass all over the lake, with the majority of our smallmouth being caught in the Toccoa River area. Target these fish off rocky points, ledges and shallow humps around the lake, though it is not uncommon to find them under docks as well. We are still pulling planer boards with live blueback herring, but it’s a good idea to also set out a couple of free lines 100 to 120 feet behind the boat. When the sun comes up in the mid-morning hours, we switch to downlining live blueback herring. Most of our fish have been in the 25 to 35-foot range. This seems to be the best technique for the larger smallmouth but not until the sun gets up. Look for large schools of smallmouths in the Toccoa River and Star Creek area. Live bait seems to be the key out here lately, but a jigging spoon and shaky head can’t be ruled out this time of year. This time of year, spotted bass start to school up and feed strong, so keep an eye out
for the topwater bite, too. When they start busting on the surface, they will hit just about anything you can throw at them. To escape the heat, walleye start to head for deeper water in July. Look for these guys to be suspended off rocky points and on steep ledges throughout the lake. You may also find some stray wanderers on shallow humps. Downlining live bluebacks will work the best to target these guys. You can even bounce a few nightcrawlers 6 to 12 inches from the bottom, in addition to trolling crankbaits and jerkbaits. When I decide to pull artificial baits, I always turn to my Yo-Zuri Deep Diver, Shad Raps or Smithwick deep divers. Just remember to make some good S turns and keep your speeds around 2 to 3 mph. July is a fantastic month for catching some very big fish on this lake. Give Big Ol’ Fish Guiding Service a call and let the area’s #1 guide service put you on some of Lake Blue Ridge’s best trophy fish. And for all your live bait and tackle needs, go check out Hughes General Store in Blairsville, GA. They carry everything you need for a successful day of fishing. Now, hit the water, and go get your fish on! Good luck!
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Angelo (Andy) Koundourakis and his wife, Patty, on a recent fishing trip
Local Lakes & Forecasts Clarke Central Team Heads To The Classic Wayne Wooten
So, you are a couple of juniors at Clarke Central High School in Athens, Georgia. You and your teammate are fishing in a tournament on Lake Lanier where a win could qualify you for the Georgia High School Bass Fishing Classic. You just weighed from about mid-pack of the field of 91 boats and to then take the lead. Walking back to the boat to wait on the final teams to weigh in and you feel nervous and a little nauseated from anxiety. Well, that is what happened to Cole Bonner and Jack Byrne as they went on to win the tournament by .01 ounce. Yep that is correct, .01 ounce. The first 3 places were separated by the same .01 ounce. They also had “Big Fish” of the day, 6.26 pounds. Their “weapons” of choice were a Jaw Breaker DT Special Spinnerbait, Buckeye Lures Buzzbait and a shakey head rigged with a Zoom
trick worm. Cole and Jack had only fished 3 events prior to this one. They finished last in the first one, 22nd out of 96 boats in the second one and 15th out of 77 boats in the third. Cole and Jack both began fishing at 6 with their grandfathers and have grown to love the sports of fishing and hunting. They also hope to compete at the college level after they graduate from high school. They work hard cutting grass to earn money to fish. Cole and Jack’s boat captain for this event was David Earl Thornton a Clarke Central Alumni Class of ‘81. David works as manager for the fishing department at Franklin Gun in Athens and fishes tournaments on the weekends. He was very emotional when we talked. David, now 54, told me, “This is what it’s all about! Working with these young
folks, watching them use what they have learned and be successful. This generation is the future of our sport, and I’m proud to be a part of it.” David said they started off with a 6.26 pound bass, lost one probably a little bigger at the boat, and culled a fish to gain 3 ounces with 10 minutes left to fish and that was the difference. Cole and Jack’s coach, Christian Barner was also very excited as well as their classmates. They were giving them high fives and applause when they arrived at school the following Monday. Cole and Jack went on to fish the Classic, a 2 day event on Lake Chickamauga in Tennessee with
boat Captain Darren Taylor. They finished 12th out of 31 boats. Cole and Jack were in 5th on day 1 and caught 30 fish on day 2 but just didn’t get the larger fish needed to maintain the position. They are already getting lined up for the fall and hope to fish some BASS high school events. Cole did get a DT22 to the face but pulled it out with pliers and kept chunking! I want to wish Cole, Jack, the other teams at Clarke Central and all of the other high school teams much success in the future. I also want to thank ALL of the boat Captains that donate their time and boats to these students which allows them to fish these events.
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Local Lakes & Forecasts lake lanier STRIPER Forecast By: Steve Scott http://TeamLanier.wordpress.com With the lake level still down 7’, the search for stripers had been a challenge for the month of June. The stripers remained scattered from Browns Bridge north to just before the rivers begin. These stripers were mostly “schoolies” sizing in the upper 20” to low 30”. Another concern this year for the species is the Copods found in the mouths and gills of these fish. I believe while the stripers are still eating live bait, they are concentrating on eating smaller sized baits because of this anomaly. July’s striper fishing looks to be the same. Going out with smaller baits will be the ticket. Blueback herring and medium sized shiners are still working well. There is still a chance of catching a larger striper, but for the most part, you will catch a lot of smaller ones. The water temps are crawling up into the mid-80s, and this is controlling where the lake’s live bait is concentrating from 20’ to the bottom. You should use weighted flatlines and weighted planer boards. Put a couple of #7 size weights on your leader 4’ from the hook. Take
care not to apply too much pressure adding these press-on weights as you could damage the line and cause an unexpected break-off. Other baits that are working are the 8” Ben Parker spoon over an 80’ clear bottom or just over the trees; Umbrella Rigs over humps and points adjacent to deep water drop offs; and downlines over deeper water 60’ to 120’ on clear bottoms and over the trees, but be careful as when the stripers hit they will try to freight train it to the trees. Remember to rabbit towards the strike to prevent that escape and bring in the striper without stressing them. Locations to try should be north of Browns Bridge, Chestatee Bay, C1-C4, River Forks, Gainesville Creek, Holly Park, LM 55 and the pond dam near Hwy 60 bridge. In late May, I had the honor of taking a couple of Gwinnett County police officers fishing with me. In early June, I also did a Wounded Warriors and Atlanta Falcons fishing trip. I wanted to give something back to these great Americans who protect and have protected us in the past. Update your log. TIP OF THE MONTH: Checking your bait when surface temps are in the 80s is futile just replace them. For more detailed information go to my blog at TeamLanier.worpress.com/menu.
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The stripers remained scattered from Browns Bridge north to just before the rivers begin.
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Local Lakes & Forecasts
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Fishing Across America
Contributed By: Dr. Andrew Cox Professor at Troy University, Phenix City, Alabama. andrewtrout@aol.com. I recently made what has become an annual trout fishing trip to the Green River. Rather than taking air transportation with its hassle of airports and crowded flights, I like to drive via automobile. Traveling through seventeen states in making the round trip from Georgia to Utah, several days driving time is required. In my travels, I have always been one to look over highway bridges that cross over on-route waterways. On this particular trip, I crossed over many waters within the continental United States.
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The United States is a vast country with varied landscapes, terrain and climate. Varied waters are found to include brooks, springs, streams, farm ponds, rivers and both natural and man-made lakes of multiple sizes. My thoughts are that it would be nice to sample these various waters and the fish species inhabiting them. My son accompanied me on this trip and shared in the driving duties. To pass time in the automobile, as we traveled through a state or observed a particular body of water, I would look up fishing opportunities and descriptions for the state’s waterways. There is much information via the internet describing fish species to target, fishing techniques, water access and optimum time of the year for fishing bodies of water within each state. Over the course of my travel to Utah, I was particularly impressed with Lake Barkley, Kentucky Lake, and the Land between the Lakes region of Tennessee and Kentucky.
These are large lakes with good fishing for a variety of warm water species. On several occasions, I crossed over the Missouri River as we traveled through Missouri and Nebraska. This waterway ranges from a large river surrounded by high limestone bluffs to a flat urban waterway. In Nebraska and Wyoming, we viewed various portions of the Platte River. This river has fish species ranging from high caliber trout fishing in Wyoming to warm water fishing throughout Nebraska. As I spent a week in Utah fishing, I was able to travel to a variety of waters within this state. Even an arid state such as Utah has varied waterways ranging from muddy to clear streams and rivers as well as large lakes suitable for angling and other water sports. It is interesting to see small to large streams and rivers traversing through a desert landscape. Each state through which we traveled had multiple fishing opportunities. These included the rugged, flowing mountain streams, and alpine lakes of the Colorado Rocky Mountains, the large reservoirs of Texas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas, and the lakes and rivers of Mississippi and Alabama. Even New Mexico has beautiful flowing streams with desert views interspersed among snowcapped mountains. This trip through a large swath of south, middle, and western United States impressed me with the fact that fishing opportunities exist virtually everywhere in the United States. There is obviously more water than one can visit and fish in a human lifetime within this great country. Though I like to sample new waters and catch fish species that I have never or rarely caught, this trip made me realize that I do not have enough years left to sample fishing opportunities available in even the seventeen states that I traveled. Good fishing and be safe.
Author’s Note: Dr. Andrew Cox is a contributing writer to outdoor publications and newspapers. He is a member of the Georgia Outdoor Writer’s Association. He has been fishing the waters of Georgia,
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Alabama, and north Florida for over forty years. Dr. Cox financially supports his fishing habits as Professor Emeritus at Troy University, Phenix City, Alabama. He may be contacted at andrewtrout@aol.com.
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Local Lakes & Forecasts Lake Lanier in July – Summer Fun! Contributed By: Jim “Jimbo” Mathley www.jimboonlanier.com Depending on the water temperatures, there are several techniques you can utilize to stay on top of the fish, sometimes literally, and remain successful on Lanier during the hot summer months. Let’s review the locations, techniques, and lures you can utilize to ensure you keep catching fish in July. Location: By July, the majority of the spotted bass are normally in their traditional summer patterns. While some fish will be relating to key features at the mouths of the major creeks, you will begin to find more and bigger spots active on the main lake. The fish tend to relate either to schools of bait or to some of the hundreds of man-made brush piles that can be found around the entire lake. Look for brush and other fishattracting features around the steeper side of long-running points, rocky shoals, steep rocky ledges as well as underwater humps throughout the lake. Locating these areas and the man-made cover that is often found on them which will often concentrate the fish will be important to your success. I recommend LanierMAPPED.com to get started. The site provides an opportunity to purchase narrated video and GPS Coordinates for over 800 different fish-attracting features in the lake that were filmed when the lake was 20 feet down during the historic draught of 2007-2008. Lures and Presentation: Now that we have explored the location that the spots can often be found in July, let’s examine some of the techniques and lures that can be used to catch these fish. 1. Topwater/Swimbaits – These lures remain a viable approach until the surface temperatures hit the mid to upper 80’s. At this point, the majority of the bait goes deeper as do the fish. Until then, look for this bite to remain solid. The Gunfish and Chug Bug are two of my favorite topwater lures. When the fish are stubborn, try a weighted fluke as a great second option on missed fish. Swimbaits such as a Sebile and the offerings of the Sweet Bait Company are two of the best choices for the hard swimbaits. 2. SuperSpin – When the topwater/ 14 ATLANTA
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swimbait bite is tough, pick up your SuperSpin. Tip the SuperSpin with a Super Fluke Jr. trailer and fish the bait over and around brush for your best success. Vary your retrieve speed and depth until you hit on the right combination for that day. 3. Worm and Jig - When you see fish in brush on your Lowrance, try the worm and jig. I like the Picasso Shakedown heads. The tungsten heads give you great feel of the bottom structure. Explore different worm sizes, shapes, and colors when you are fishing. Something different presented appropriately can make a big difference on certain days. Chattahoochee Jigs in 3/8 ounce are my favorite jigs on Lanier. A PBJ color pattern is often a good bet. 4. Drop-Shot – This is a great tool when the fishing gets tough. I opt for this offering when fish are suspended in or around brush, or when they are suspended on points or humps. This presentation can be made vertically or it can be cast toward the feature. I prefer the Lanier Baits options on the artificial side, and I do several trips each summer with spot tail minnows. This is a blast and an easy option for kids or inexperienced anglers. Spottailing turns fishing into catching! I still have some dates available in July, so call me or drop me a line to have some fun! See you on the water! Jimbo is a full-time, year-round spotted bass guide on Lake Lanier. Contact him today to book a trip at 770542-7764 or at www.jimboonlanier.com.
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Local Lakes & Forecasts carters lakE
Forecast By: Eric Crowley Lake & Stream Guide Service (706) 669-4973
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Water temperature: 81 degrees, lake level: full, clarity: 6 feet. Carters has been the place to be. We have been on a great big fish bite for the last few weeks with stripers up to 26 pounds coming to the boat before being released. Big fresh alewife caught under the Hydro Glow lights are still the go-to bait. I like 15-17 pound leader and 2/0 circle hooks for catching these fish. The lighter line is small enough to get bit and still plenty strong enough to catch these fish as long as you keep them out of the cover. We are pulling a combination of flat and down lines
for the striped fish. The spot bite has been insane. The spots are feeding on the schools of fry bait that are all over the lake right now. Topwater artificial, live baits and even baitfish streamers on fly have all caught their fair share of fish in the last few weeks. The walleye bite has been consistent at night. Live bait with 8-10 pound leader is the way to go. We have had several 5 and 6 fish nights with fish ranging from 4-8 pounds. Shallow points, the reef markers and any of the boat ramps are holding good fish in the dark. Night fishing has also been really good for the hybrids. Lots of fish in the 5-8 pound class are being caught the last hour of darkness on live bait and artificials like small Rapalas and swimbaits.
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Local Lakes & Forecasts SEMINOLE
Guntersville
Forecast By: Jake Davis msbassguide@comcast.net, 615-613-2382 The past month has been good for my clients for the most part. We had some slow days, but everyone still caught fish. We experienced some exciting fishing while catching them on a variety of lures. The best lineup of lures was Tightline Jigs, D-Bombs and Destoryers from Missile Baits, swimbaits and Wobble Head Swimjigs from Tightline Jigs around main channel grass lines and grassy humps. Water temps range from 80 to 86 degrees. July is shaping up to be a great month out on the ledges and we should see the start of a fantastic frog bite with all the grass this year. Best advice is slow down and work an area completely! It’s time to start planning those late summer and early fall frog and flipping trips Guntersville is famous for. Call me to reserve a
Forecast By: by Paul Tyre
Jason Abernathy enjoyed a great day on Guntersville while ledge fishing with Capt Jake Davis date. Please wear your PFDs and be aware of your surroundings; with the increased traffic boating accidents can happen to anyone! Make your reservations now for some great fishing on Guntersville or Tim’s Ford. We supply all fishing gear, including Duckett fishing rods, LEW’s reels, Vicious Fishing Line, top shelf lures such as Missile Baits soft plastics, and Tightline Jigs all at no additional cost you. We offer a Military Discount and 100% dedication to making your trip successful. Let’s go fish’in.
Water temperature: 84 degrees, lake level: 6 inches below full pool, clarity: stained. Bass fishing on Lake Seminole has been better than normal for this time of year. The bass are moving into their summertime areas under the pads and to the main lake outer grass lines. The topwater bite has been productive using baits like buzzbaits and frogs in these areas. A Strike King Pro Model buzzbait in white and chartreuse is my favorite to use on the Flint River arm of the lake. Hollow body frogs have been producing around the pad fields on the Chattahoochee arm. I’ve been using a Strike King KVD Sexy Frog in copper and I really like this frog because it has a stout hook that will pull the big ones through the pads. Also, it comes with a rattle that gives extra sound and action. The Spring Creek arm of the lake
is remaining clear, even with all the rain we have been getting and the bass have been being taken on jerkbaits like a Strike King KVD Deep Jerkbait in Clearwater Minnow fished over the edges of the deep grass. As of this writing, the bream and shellcracker have still been bedding, and the campers at Bass Island Campground at Wingate’s Lunker Lodge have been catching them by the coolers full. Bream are being caught on crickets while the shellcracker are biting on worms. Miss Jane has both stocked at the Wingate’s Lunker Lodge store and is open on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.
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Local Lakes & Forecasts Lake NOTTELY STRIPER By: Shane Goebel Big Ol’ Fish Guiding Service & The Angler Magazine Fishing Team www.bigolfish.com 828-361-2021, 1-844-4-ANGLER July brings with it some great fishing in the North Georgia Mountains, and there’s no better lake to experience awesome striper fishing than Lake Nottely. The striper bite is intense; it’s the perfect time to hit the lake and catch some amazing fish. And what’s the best way to do that? By booking a trip with Blairsville, GA’s #1 striper guide: Big Ol’ Fish Guiding Service. Currently, Lake Nottely is at full pool. Water clarity is clear and slightly stained in the backs of creeks, and water temps are in the low 80’s. Striper fishing has been excellent. We have been loading the boat with some big fish in good quantities, averaging 20 to 30 stripers a trip. The early morning and evening bites are your best times to see action. In the early-morning hours, we are still pulling some free lines with our downlines. Keep your free lines 100150 feet behind the boat, and as the sun comes up in the late-morning hours, switch to all downlines. Target creek mouths and points off the main lake channel. Also, during the hot sunny days of summer, search out areas with some good shade. The majority of our fish have been caught from Point 7 to the dam. The topwater bite has slowed a bit, but I still like to keep a Spook or a Red Fin at the ready to snag surface-busting fish. The fish will continue to school up through
the next couple months and will move to even deeper water. Just remember to keep an eye on your electronics and watch for schools of stripers when cruising the lake. Also, remember to try to get the fish back into the water as quickly as possible after they are caught. Spotted bass fishing has been outstanding, too. These fish are finally off the beds and are schooled up. We’ve been wearing out some nice spots every trip lately. Work shallow humps, creek mouths and clay banks. Also, target brush piles throughout the lake. Downlining blueback herring has worked best for us, but we are also picking up some quality fish on jerkbaits, flukes and Spooks. Look for these bass to continue to school through the rest of next month. July is a fantastic month for catching some monster stripers and bass on this North Georgia lake. Give Big Ol’ Fish Guiding Service a call and let the area’s #1 rated guide service put you on some of Lake Nottely’s best trophy stripers during the fishing trip of a lifetime. We are Blairsville, GA’s premier full-time guide service, specializing in striped and hybrid bass. We also serve Lakes Hiwassee and Chatuge (in North Carolina), and Lake Blue Ridge. And for all your live bait and tackle needs, check out Hughes General Store in Blairsville, GA. They carry everything you need for a successful day of fishing and have the best live herring around. So, come fish with the pros for the opportunity to be featured in The Angler Magazine and let us help you get your fish on!
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Local Lakes & Forecasts lake HARTWELL
Let’s Talk Gear
By Preston Harden Bucktail Guide Service www.bucktailguideservice.com (706) 255-5622
by O’Neill Williams Let’s talk fishing! No, let’s don’t. Let’s talk about our gear. Think about it. The gear we use for our fishing, hunting, camping, outdoor cooking, etc. is varied, high quality, sturdy, long lasting, priced reasonably and useful. Think too about where we have to shop: Bass Pro Shops, Cabelas, Sportsman’s Warehouse, Dicks, Gander Mountain and so many others. Great isn’t it. Everything you could possibly need for that next adventure is at your fingertips. Not all that many years ago, trying to get quality gear was a hassle; small little shops with little to choose from. Sometimes you had to order special items and wait and wait, kind of like the scene in “Oh Brother Where Are Thou” when it always took two weeks at the little store to get everything. Take game cameras for instance. I use a Plotwatcher. I placed it on the edge of a food plot recently. It took over 5,000 photos that pictured for me ALL the activity in that plot 24 hours a day; where the deer and turkey entered and left the plot and how long they stayed there. It wasn’t just up close where movement triggered the shot, no; it was upwards of 100 yards away, the spots where some hunters who use triggering cameras call a ‘dead zone’. If it had been one of those old cameras, I would have missed 60% of what and when the visits occurred and what the animals were. The net effect was that I scouted that
food plot for two weeks and actually was there only about 10 minutes, and I have a record of it. Now, about rod and reels. Remember those old ABU 5000C free spools? Strong, sturdy, long lasting, however, you couldn’t adjust very well the reel to the weight of the lure and size of the line. You had to have a talented and practiced thumb. Now? Affordable reels of many brands that are as smooth as silk, cast like bullets, have reliable drags and braking systems and are small enough to hold comfortably. Rods? Oh, my goodness, you could feel a mosquito light on the end of a 6½ foot rod. Feel a strike? With a little practice, you feel it just before it happens. Line? Braid, fluorocarbon? Enough said. Sunglasses? They are comfortable, clear, optically correct and polarized. If you don’t lose them, they will last you forever, and it’s personal now; they make some with little ‘cheaters’ along the bottom of the lens that allows an old guy like me to see up close. I could go on and one but won’t. You get the drift. Sometimes, I think we should take a look around and see what a free economy and capitalism can produce. Finally, over 20 years ago, you didn’t have a big mouth guy on radio urging you to enjoy the outdoors with your family live on WSB on Saturday mornings. Now you do.
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The water temperature is 80 degrees and the water level is 5 1/2 feet below full pool. July striper and hybrid fishing should be on fire. They are easy to locate and are usually hungry. Surface activity is mostly over as the fish migrate to deeper, cleaner water in the lower half Lake. Good electronics are important, as it is as much hunting as it is fishing. Free lined herring are replaced by downline Carolina rigged herring. Drop a fresh herring down to the fish marked on the sonar and hold on! Artificials will work if you prefer. A large teardrop spoon or a 1 ounce jig head and 5 inch swimbait
are productive options to live bait. Don’t be afraid to reel fast through the fish marked on the sonar. The spotted bass are all over the shallow brush piles around points, shoals and humps. They will move a little deeper in July but are still shallow in the 15 to 30 foot range. They will still relate to brush piles. I like to fish a topwater plug from a distance and then a drop shot fished vertically if I mark fish on the sonar.
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Local Lakes & Forecasts Lake chatuge
Eric Welch Welch’s Guide Service www.welchsguideservice. com 706-455-2323 Water temperature: 76-77 degrees, lake level: 1 foot above full pool, water clarity: clear. The lake is a foot above full pool, and all the laydowns and brush along the banks are under water. We’ve been targeting these areas with a Texas rig finesse worm and
a Whopper Plopper. There has been some fish around the docks, so try a shaky head and dropshot. The same baits are working on the long points. There has been some fish starting to break early in the mornings and throughout the day, I’ve been keeping a Strike King Sexy Dawg tied on for those long casts. You can find a lot of fish on your electronics, but you just have to work at getting them to bite. Give us a call for a great summer trip.
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Local Lakes & Forecasts
Ole’ Good Dog Cloud Fishing
Contributed By: Noey Vinyard
Every farm or ranch has one, at least every properly run farm or ranch does. They aren’t any particular color and they don’t have pedigrees. They don’t hunt like the sporting dogs though they will chase a squirrel if you show an interest. Ole’ dogs prefers to greet you with a wagging tail. They usually have names like Tippy or Blue. The one here at 30 Coveys is named Cody and being just a good ole’ dog is his job. I truly believe that when God created the dog, it was a dog like Cody, a dog that provides companionship without requiring constant attention. He doesn’t jump up on you or think that you exist to show him attention but is always close enough in case you feel the need to feel the comfort that comes from petting a dog. He is not a spoiled lapdog but is always willing to come and lean against your leg in a show of solidarity at whatever
problems you may face, and all he asks in return is a belly rub now and again. Cody is never more than an arms length away from wherever or whatever we are doing. Whether we are working horses, trimming goat hooves are cutting hay, Cody will be there ready to provide company or the confidence that a good tail wag brings. Just the other day, Rene and I were working a mare, or rather she was working us. It became clear that the best we could hope for on this day was to work the horse to a draw and find a positive place to stop. Once we had her stopped, all we needed was for her to stand just like she was for about ten minutes to call it a victory, and while we were discussing the best way to do it, Cody came and laid right in front of that horse. He had not asked our permission, and he was not intimidated by the horse. He simply understood the situation and did
what ole’ good dogs do best, be where they are most needed. Like all the other dogs here at 30 Coveys, Cody is a rescue and someone missed out on a heck of a good ole dog. All good ole dogs like Cody are the sum total of all the good attributes of all the dogs in the pack. One of the best things about Cody is his lack of ambition in both trying for our attention and battling the other dogs for position in the pack. He gets his share of attention just for being him, and he is content with being middle of the pack in seniority. But the bigger, more aggressive dogs have learned that Cody’s mild manners are not the same as weakness. His teeth are sharp and there is no yellow streak that runs down his back. At one time or another, he has stood up to every dog in the pack with his deep throated growl making his message clear, “Leave me be.” So if you have a ranch or farm or plan on getting one, the first thing you need to do is get an ole good dog to help you run it, to keep you company when you enjoy it, and to come sit beside you when it overwhelms you. He will always be there for you in all the ways
a dog should. With an ole’ good dog in your life, you will never be lonely and you will never have to face anything alone. See you next month.
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Local Lakes & Forecasts Lake Burton
Lake SINCLAIR BASS
Contributed by Matt Henry www.sinclairmarina.com 478-451-0167 Lake Sinclair is down.72 feet with the water clear and the temperature in the 70’s. Bass fishing is good. There are a lot of bass back in shallow water feeding. Topwater baits and spinnerbaits have been especially good during the last few days. Popping baits like Pop Rs and Chug Bugs and prop baits like a Torpedo and a Devil Horse are working. Start the morning in more clear water till the bite slows and then move to stained water and give it a try. The topwater bite has lasted all day during a couple days recently. Try the Strike King Redeye Shad Bait gold
black back 0.25 ounce. Spinnerbaits have done well on mornings with wind and a choppy surface. Lowrance Structure Scan and Down Scan technology unlocks the areas where the fish live. If the bite slows or stops, try using a lightweight Texas rig in the same areas around any cover present. Rip rap along the roadway bridges are holding fish that are hitting crankbaits, spinnerbaits, Texas rigs and jig head and worm rigs. Docks and boathouses are still holding bass that are mostly hitting Texas rigged worms. Fish the summer humps, points and ledges. Large crankbaits like Norman DD22, Poe’s 400 and Fat Free Shads are good choices when the fish are real active, especially during power generation. Carolina rigs and Texas rigs are the other primary choices for these deep fish.
Forecast by: Capt. Wes Carlton Georgia Lake Fishing 770-318-9777 www.georgialakefishing.com Water temperature: 76 degrees, level: full pool, clarity: clear. Bass: The bass are on their summer pattern of feeding early and late afternoons. Try working jerkbaits in the backs of creeks along ledges. We have been catching most of our biggest fish on long points out over the main river channels. These fish are hugging the bottom, so work a drop-shot or underspin in the 20 to 28 foot depths
cruising the bait just above the bottom back towards the boat. These fish should continue this pattern over the next few weeks. Trout: We have been catching some smaller trout the last few weeks. These fish are in the 1 1/2 pound range. Most of the schools I am seeing are big, but trying to stay on them has been tough. Trolling crankbaits, spoons and small jerkbaits is the ticket for these fish. I have had good success with maintaining a speed of 2.8 to 3.5 mph. This sounds fast but not for a trout. Hopefully this bite will continue for the next few weeks. Good luck!
Try working jerkbaits in the backs of creeks along ledges. We have been catching most of our biggest fish on long points out over the main river channels.
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Local Lakes & Forecasts Jackson Lake
By Brian Lee leebrian16 @yahoo.com
Water temperature: 78-83 degrees, water level: full pool, water clarity: stained/clear. The morning bite will last as long as the bait is up shallow. Topwater will produce a lot of fish early, so cover as much water as you can. As it gets hot, the bite slows down. This time of the day I like to find isolated brush piles and pick them apart with a jig. Color depends on
the water clarity. A Texas rig, shaky head and Carolina rig will work as well on the brush piles. The afternoon bite is slow. Flip docks on the shady sides. A weightless trick worm will catch a few as you can skip a good ways under docks. July is a tough month on bass fishing due to the heat. If you want to fill the boat, come early and leave before the sun gets high and bright. A recent tournament on Jackson produced two 18 pound plus sacks with big fish being over 8 pounds. I won this event with 18.49. Till next month, tight lines.
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Local Lakes & Forecasts Relax, Slow Down and Fish Contributed By: Jay Striker www.jaystriker.com Many times in the world of tournament bass fishing, I find myself getting fired up as the tournament draws near. I’m thinking of all the things that need to be done and what to take, what not to take, and so on. I have found that over time it has been to my benefit to relax, slow down and fish, I hope that the next few moments will help you do that when your next event is upon you as I cover the things I like to do to help me get in the right frame of mind, body and spirit. Day before the tournament: When the practice is all done and it’s time to come off the water is when I start my normal routine of getting in the mood to go live on day one of the tournament. The day usually goes something like this; One hour and 30 min before I come off the water I am in the back of a cove retying all the lures I need for day one competition. I do this because it is much
easier to not have to worry about getting gear ready afterwards when you need to be getting some rest. Then prep the boat, get gas, oil, food, etc., and take off over to the meeting for the event. Here is when I get to start to relax because all the logistics are complete. After the pre-tournament meeting, I head to the campsite or hotel and get ready for further relaxing. Get fishing off your mind: After spending three days of practicing and only thinking of fishing, the evening before the event is about chilling and just taking my mind off fishing altogether. In the past I used to be up all night thinking about what the fish are going to do, and when and where I’m going first. If you are doing this, let me advise you to stop. It will only add undue pressure you don’t need. So, take some time and spend it on yourself and relax. If you get enough rest, you will be amazed at how
much better you will feel by doing so. Tournament day: One way to build on the relaxation that you enjoyed the night before is to get to the boat ramp early. My routine is to have my breakfast and a cup of coffee on the way to the lake and listening to some good praise music. Keeping God first place in all I do is a big key to my success in life and on the water. My goal for getting to the ramp early is to be in the water, out of the way with no stress creeping in my thoughts. Blast off for a tournament is one of the highlights in competition bass fishing, but if you let it can be stressful and dangerous. I often see boats one after another wide open, jumping waves; trying to get to a spot. I have learned to just wait until I’m ready and calmly ease out of blast off and let the “flyers” fly as I just start fishing close by. You will still have 8 hours to fish, so why not stay relaxed and fish. Catch a limit: The best way to catch a limit is to relax, slow down and
fish. I have found that while fishing a tournament to keep a clear head, and one way I do that is by staying relaxed. I often will put on some music in my blue tooth ear piece and just relax to the sounds of the beats. When I’m relaxed, it automatically allows me to slow down. What does it mean to slow down? It means to take time to take some deep breaths, look at your surroundings and take breaks during the day. I have had several co-anglers ask me what I’m doing in the middle of the day when I find a shady cove; drop my power poles, grab my lunch and sit and relax. I tell them to continue to fish, and if I need to get the net, I will. But for me, it’s about slowing down and enjoying the moments. I encourage you to try some of these things I do, and it my just help you put more fish in the live well. If you see me on the water off in the corner of the lake, I’m probably in relax mode. Till next time, remember to relax, slow down and fish.
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Local Lakes & Forecasts lake lanier crappie Forecast By: Dan Saknini, Lanier Crappie Angler’s Club. www.laniercrappieanglers.net As expected, crappie fishing around this time of year is becoming fair at best with water temps around 86 degrees. Your best bet for catching fish is early in the morning on deep docks and deep brush piles. Expect this pattern to remain the same until you see a combination of a change in the temperature and cooler rain. This will bring the fish to shallower structure, thus making them easier to catch. If you are interested, visit our website above where we have posted links to several YOU Tube videos on the subject. This is a good time of the year to work on your brush piles, which will give you more spots to fish when the weather cools and the bite heats up! Night fishing is good right now. Target bridges such as Clark’s Bridge, Wahoo Bridge and Six Mile Bridge. All have one good thing in common: they are in sight of a boat ramp, which is convenient when
launching. You will need some type of twelve volt light such as a Hydro Glow. For best results, keep the light a few feet away from your boat. This can be accomplished by using a broom stick or some type of rod. After submerging the light, attach the cord to the rod, leaving just enough slack in the cord for the light to stay submerged. Place the other end in the rod holder. This will keep the light several feet from the boat and give you better coverage, and keeps it from banging against the boat and spooking the fish. Small or medium crappie minnows are your best bet for bait. Set your baits at different depths, and if you notice one depth is getting more action, adjust accordingly. The bite is sporadic. You may wait an hour or so for the fish to come after the bait and hit them good for thirty minutes or so, then you may wait another hour or so for another school to come by and start the bite again. This requires patience, but is a great opportunity to kick back and relax during an evening on the water.
Enjoy your summer, and be safe on the water as the lake is now crowded! Wear your life jacket. It can save your life!
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Local Lakes & Forecasts
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Local Lakes & Forecasts Keep Your Head Up and NEVER Give Up… By: Ryan Kennedy YouTube: Ryan Kennedy Fishing Instagram: ryankfishing ryankfishing@gmail.com
As a tournament fisherman, I must be in a constant mindset that any cast or flip could be the one to change the game. I recently got back home from a collegiate event on Lay Lake in Alabama where this was 100% the case at hand. Me and my partner were able to have three days of practice before the tournament which was filled with monsoon-like rain, changing water levels and clarity change across the entire body of water. These changes made for some stellar moments of practice and plenty of mental droughts throughout the days. With everything that happened during the time of prefishing, practice was wish-washy at best. Day 1 of the derby rolled around and we knew we just had to run with what we had. The day started off better than I had expected when we had three fish in the live well quickly, including a 3.5 pounder that I caught right in front of a competing team. Excited by the fast-paced start, we continued running the same pattern as nature awoke all around us. The sun began to get a little higher and I had a gut feeling to move to a slightly deeper spot to catch the bass in their transition to their deeper dwelling for the day. After making it to the waypoint on the Humminbird Helix unit, we threw a few casts out and were able to fill our limit. Yes, we had a limit, and just like many other tournament anglers I feel that I fish better with five in the boat,
but our limit wasn’t what it needed to be in order to do well on the first day. Well the strong courage that was abundant in the boat at the start of the day was starting to dwindle as the sun got higher and hotter. We were simply doing what worked in practice after the sun got to its full intensity for the day, and that was flipping boat docks with brush piles using a Chattahoochee Jig made by The Dugout in Kennesaw, GA. After hours and hours of flipping to no avail we knew something had to change. Again, on a gut feeling I ran to a spot up river where the current was pushing through a little harder around the docks. By this time, it was the final hour before we had to be checked in for weigh-in. Within that hour we were able to cull every smaller bass in the live well on the jig. With every cull that came in the boat, I let out the classic Iaconelli yell… “NEVER GIVE UP!” The excitement of a plan coming together after staying positive throughout the day even through adversity is a feeling that can’t be matched by anything else in the fishing industry. With a positive attitude in a tournament or even just a fun fishing day on the water, anything is possible… a tournament win, a new personal best, the best day of fishing you’ve ever had or even just a new level of confidence. Keep your head up, your lines tight, and stay determined. God Bless!
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Striper guides with charters and needing bait early can call 706-429-7211 to make arrangements.
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Lake Oconee is full with the lake clear on the south end and stained to muddy up the lake with the water temperature 82 degrees. Striper fishing is good. Use your Lowrance to locate the schools of fish in the mouths of the coves and on the humps on the south end of the lake. Live bait (shad) has been the best over the past week. You can also pick up some fish on the pipeline with a spoon when Georgia Power is pulling water. 28 ATLANTA
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The umbrella rig bite is just starting. It will pick up as we move into July. Crappie fishing is very good. The fish are moving into the timber on an early summer pattern. Long lining jigs over timber from 8 to 15 feet deep have been the best producers over the past week. Match your color to the color of the water. Make sure you stop by Sugar Creek Marina and pick up your spoons and all your tackle needs. You can also book your crappie and striper trips as well as on-the-water Lowrance classes with Reel Time Guide Service at 404-803-0741 or reeltime@bellsouth.net
by Mark Smith Reel Time Service at 404-803-0741 or reeltime@bellsouth.net
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Local Lakes & Tournaments Tournament Schedule 2017
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Local Lakes & Forecasts
Think Like A Fish By Capt. Cefus McRae Nuts & Bolts Fishing Series
In the real estate world, it’s all about location, location and location. Folks want to put down their roots in an area that is convenient to shopping, grocery stores, good schools, social activities and their workplace. And, they want to live in a climate that suits their particular taste. When you think about it, the same is true for our piscatorial friends in both fresh and saltwater. Although they may not be pushing a squeakywheeled cart down a grocery aisle, they will find a home where there’s ample forage, and their schools teach more about the benefits of “safety-innumbers” than quantum physics. Picking the most suitable location to make a homestead is as important to fish as it is to us two-legged critters. If you keep that in mind as you make your selection on where to fish, and in many cases, how to fish, you’ll find your days will become more productive. With perhaps the exception of the top predators, most fish base their location selection on the Big Three; Food, Comfort and Safety. Identify where all three of those factors converge and you’ve got a very fishy spot. Game fish have to eat, and they have to eat often, whether it’s a rainbow trout dining on tiny nymphs or billfish that will eat a 25 pound tuna in one bite. A yellowfin tuna has to eat nearly its own weight in food every day, because it spends its entire life roaming the ocean currents, and that uses up a lot of energy. On the other hand, large trout will find a spot in a slip-stream behind a rock waiting for a tasty tidbit to float by. They simply tilt their pectoral fins and the current lifts them up, just like airplane wings to grab a tiny midge and then glide back down to their rock again. That’s not a lot of energy expended for the protein they just gulped. So your first task is to find the kitchen. Sometimes it’s pretty obvious when you see baitfish being corralled on the surface. Sometimes it takes a little more thought and knowledge to locate the dining area. There are seasonal patterns that occur and if you do a little research, or ask around at the local tackle stores, you can get some very valuable information. The next component is Comfort. Fish will move both horizontally and vertically to find a location that is
comfortable. Just like us, they have to breathe. So they will congregate in place in the water column that has the right amount of dissolved oxygen. Ever notice how reservoir-based stripers will move to deeper water in the summertime? Sure, the water is warmer at the surface than it is 50 feet down, but that warm water doesn’t hold as much oxygen as the cooler water does down deep. Fish are coldblooded, and the actual temperature of the water may have less to do with preferred locations than the oxygen content. Look at how many fish hang around a natural spring upwelling or at a seamount, compared to a placid, sunbaked flat. Remember the old adage about water temperature: “68 and the fishin’s great!” Most of us have experienced the impact weather can have on the fishing, and changes in the barometric pressure, especially quick changes that occur with rapidly moving fronts, can make a dramatic difference in the bite. As the front approaches, the bite can really fire up. When the front arrives, the fish may get lock-jaw for a couple days. I believe the change in pressure (which transfers into the water) can make fish either lethargic or frisky. And the third piece of the puzzle is Safety. Why isn’t Safety the number one factor? Well if you are starving to death, or can’t breathe, being in a safe place doesn’t really matter, does it? Safety can come in the form of a good hiding place like a rock outcropping, vertical structure such as pilings or ledges, or it can be exhibited by large numbers like we see in schooling baitfish. The ability to blend into the environment or use camouflage is another trait that provides safety from being eaten by something larger. Similarly, predator fish use those same techniques for finding food. Flounder will change their color pattern to match the shelly bottom as they quietly wait on an unsuspecting meal to swim overhead. Speckled trout have unique color patterns on their back that makes them virtually invisible in the grass flats, concealing them from overhead predators like ospreys. And coincidentally, shell banks are great places to fish for flounder, and grass flats are prime locations for catching speckled trout. Starting to see a pattern? An inland lake, coastal waters, even a mountain trout stream will usually have places that provide at
least two out of the three factors. During certain times of the year, you’ll find a spot that has all three. That would be considered the gold mine. To find these spots, modern technology has provided us anglers with an assortment of tools. Simrad DownScan will show ledges and dropoffs, structure, creek channels, bottom composition, typical spots that hold game fish. Services like Sirius/XM Marine Weather interfaces with your chart plotter to show contemporary
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weather systems, sea surface temperature, wave period, and wind speed/direction, all of which can be contributing factors to the bite, as well as letting you know when it’s time to head for the barn. So, do a little homework and check out the real estate below the surface before you make your first cast. Find a location that has the Big Three... Food, Comfort and Safety, and you’ll be well on your way to closing the sale on some fine fishing.
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Local Lakes & Forecasts
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Lake MARTIN Forecast By: Capt David Hare 256-401-3089 Alex City Guide Service
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Surface temperature: 85 degrees, lake level: 490.58(491.00 full pool), clarity: clear to very clear. Happy 4th of July! Here on Lake Martin, July will be the busiest month on the lake, especially during the holidays. In saying this, please be extra careful while out on the water. July is a great time to carry the little ones out for a lot of fishing action. Bream fishing will be at its peak this month, and you are talking about action that’s really fun with ultra-lite tackle and a bucket of crickets. To find these fun fighting fish, look in shallow sandy areas and back of pockets with lots of debris floating in the back. Once you locate these fish, it will be crazy bites with crickets, and you will be a fishing hero in your youngster’s eyes! This is also a good time to get your light-weight fly rod out and some popping bugs and hit the water at daylight. You should fill your limit fast
with nice size bass and giant bream. Over the years the northern end of the lake and all up in the north part of the river toward Erwin Shoals has been a favorite of ours for this type of fishing. Stripers will continue to move in and stay in deeper cooler areas of the lake. For best results during the day, try trolling spoons along with big jigs. For best results at night, fish deep water pier lights with crankbaits and light line. Don’t forget to work these lights with topwater lures also. If you are fortunate enough to have live shad, then you need to fish my favorite way which is fishing these baits real deep near the thermal line and be very patient. Remember, check your bait often because the deeper you fish, the quicker the bait will die, and you always want fresh lively bait for trophy stripers. Try the dam and Goat Island area as it has produced some giants over the last several summer night trips. Catfishing with noodles and jugs should produce well in the Pleasure Point area at night. Until next time, be safe and catch one for me!
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JULY 2017
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Wall of Fame
Win A Free Angler Magazine Cap! A Angler Magazine cap will be given away each month for the best reader submitted photo!
WINNER! Brad Whitehead used his special fish attracting shirt to help catch this 15 pound striper on Lake Lanier
Gary Lowe with a magnum spot from Lake Lanier
Chad Conley caught this beautiful 23 inch brown on a dry fly with Reel Em In Guide Service!
Spencer Phillips with a big Carters Lake nighttime striper caught with Lake and Stream Guide Service
John Rice travelled south with his fly rod to take this big snook
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Tracy Whitehead with a nice Lake Lanier striper.
6/18/17 3:18 PM
By Dustin Stanberry
T
here are few things that can ruin a fishing trip quicker than poor fishing etiquette. Good decorum would seem like something an angler would tune into and develop fairly quickly. Yet, negative and/or awkward situations and experiences are becoming more the norm for me. Maybe it’s my location or perhaps bad luck, but I feel that more anglers are affected by poor stream etiquette than let on. An angler that is new to the sport may not even recognize the effects of these actions until someone points it out. Poor etiquette on the water could be a product of many scenarios. It could be an angler with a poor attitude, a sense of entitlement or someone that just doesn’t know what the acceptable behavior is. I feel all anglers, and especially guides, are responsible for setting a good example and teaching the skills of proper fishing etiquette. There are several occurrences that come to mind when thinking about poor stream etiquette, and the majority of them are caused by anglers crowding one another. The fact that there is finite amount of fishable water is something that everyone should recognize. This is especially true for my geographical location, a place where the fish seem to be outnumbered by the anglers, 10 to one. If we are fishing a familiar river, we generally have those spots we dream of the night before. A place we feel will produce fish. We get up early; cram breakfast down, throw the bags in the vehicle and off we go. As we approach our favorite “honey hole,” we begin to get excited and nervous at the same time. As we turn the bend, we are quickly deflated as we see an angler’s vehicle, which is easily spotted by the fishing-related stickers and rod racks. It’s what happens next that will define who we are as anglers. Do we jump out in frustration and stubbornness and rush down to the water and try to jump in front of the angler without giving thought to their space and plan of movement? We should take into account the things that pulled us to the sport of fishing, mainly peace and tranquility while on the water. Let’s face it, for most recreational anglers, fishing is about being out in nature or spending time with a friend on the water. My dreams of fishing are not filled with me prying open a spot to fish in a small stream full of anglers that are glaring at one another or yelling nasty comments across the river. That’s just not my idea of fun. Giving an angler their space should always be at the forefront of good stream decorum. How much space? This is a gray area and depends on the size and popularity of the water. To make things simple,
I always ask myself how much space is reasonable for the given situation. I have fished rivers where there was an angler every 30 yards and was happy to have that amount of space. I’ve also fished rivers with a half-mile, or better, between anglers. In general, always try to give the widest berth possible when you can. Another factor is the angler’s plan of migration while on the water. Are they fishing upstream or working downstream? We don’t want to assume they are headed in any one direction before it is established. One option is to take a moment to watch the angler another is simply to ask. I am sure this next bit may ruffle some feathers, but it needs to be discussed. A guide represents more than themself. They operate at the forefront of this sport, tasked with educating upcoming and experienced anglers alike. As a guide, one may have “home water” that they feel is “their” water. This mentality often dictates the actions and attitudes toward fellow anglers in a negative way. Some guides are just blatantly rude about it. A close friend once had a “guide” approach him while fishing and explain to him that he couldn’t fish a particular stretch of water on certain days during the week because he guided there. Bear in mind that this water is on public land. That is simply unacceptable behavior from a true guide, especially someone who chose the job as his/her profession. I have kayaked several miles to fish a grass flat only to have a guide pole his boat so close to my location that I could smell the sunscreen from the anglers on board. Much of the time I believe this behavior happens out of spite. From a paying customer’s point of view, being with a guide with a negative attitude and not respecting other angler’s space is a very undesirable trait. Most importantly, it sets a bad example to someone new to the sport. There is simply too much water for a situation like this to occur. There is a flip side to this coin, one that must be acknowledged by all anglers, and that is to respect the guide’s and their client’s space while on the water. Guides are working hard to provide a memorable experience for their clients. When an angler invades the space where a guide is working, it takes away from the experience they are working so diligently to provide. If we all participate in this type of activity, where are we headed as anglers? Where is the sport headed? And most importantly, where is the sportsmanship in that way of thinking? Perhaps a few years later, you are in the river and hear that car approaching. As the doors shut, you wonder if they will ask themselves “Am I too close?”
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By Dickelsby Finn
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f you ever thought about visiting beautiful Lake Nottely in the mountains near Blairsville, Ga., and you think you might want to experience some terrific fishing, keep reading. We had the pleasure of joining The Angler Magazine fishing team a few weeks ago. The participants were our two professional fish guiders, Shane Goebels and Darren Hughes. Two other Angler Magazine officials, Bob Rice and Nick Carter were also on board. We gathered at Hughes General Store very early and soon had the big flat bottomed boat out on the water heading for Ivy Log Creek. It was spring, the mountains rose all around us, and the stripers were on the move into the creeks. We were advised to expect either feasting or fasting by the big fish, and hopes were high we would find them looking for herring and shad for breakfast.
Soon the electronics indicated baitfish and stripers at 30 feet. Sturdy rigs were baited and inserted in the rod holders. There were planer boards with blueback herring out each side and a monster gizzard shad on a rig with a bobber the size of a softball trolling behind us. It didn’t take long for the rods start bending, and we all grabbed the nearest one. Jimmy Jr. was closest to the big one in the back, and an epic battle began as he tried to land his first striper ever. This was a very big fish, and it really didn’t want to be caught, so sadly it got free somehow. We could only imagine setting the lake record with that monster that still swims in the Nottely depths. The record, by the way, is heavier than 53 pounds. Nottely is known as a big-fish lake. While this was going on, we landed four other beauties that were quickly released. Soon the kid had another one on a light spinning rod that tried relentlessly to avoid the net. Got ’em this time… a good one! This was an event and a picture memory to last a lifetime. Did I mention this was all going on at the same time? In a spree that lasted maybe 20 minutes, we had doubles and triples on. It was pandemonium. As the sun peeked through, a few more beauties were boated. Then something extraordinary occurred. The rod nearest me doubled over and we netted the largest crappie I’ve ever seen, 2 ½ pounds worth of beautiful crappie… on a blueback herring! Quickly checking the smartest phones ever invented, we discovered it was one of the largest caught in Lake Nottely. The record belongs to a lad who caught a 3.09-pounder. If you too wish to experience this wonderful action, get in touch with Big Ol’ Fish Guiding Service, www.bigolfish.com or call Shane Goebel at 828-361-2021. They also run trips to lakes Chatuge and Blue Ridge. Also, if you are in the area needing gas, bait or supplies, stop in at Hughes General Store on Murphy Highway in Blairsville. Get in touch with us here at The Angler Magazine if you would like to get your message in front of a great audience. Call 404-4273286 or email Dickg@theanglermagazine.com.
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By Charlie Warfield
ier rem lide P | s oms d Water o R ed an ovat r Pool n e o ly R ndo New ant | I taur Res
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n early summer, as the weather warms and the bugs become more active, one of my favorites bugs starts jumping around and finding its way into streams where fish wait eagerly for a big nutritious meal. I am talking about grasshoppers. Hoppers are prolific around the world, and they thrive in grassy areas like the ones next to many trout streams. One extremely effective way to fish hopper flies is to rig what is called a hopper-dropper—also known as a western rig. This rig is set up by tying a 12- to 24-inch piece of tippet to the bend of your lead fly’s hook. Then attach a nymph to this piece of tippet. When fished, this rig allows you to cover a lot of water and works great as a searching pattern to locate and catch fish when there is no obvious hatch, because you are offering a large meal on top and a smaller—more sensible—subsurface nymph. The hopper-dropper is one of my favorite searching rigs for summertime fishing and is especially good during the late morning and into the afternoon. Hoppers are very active in the midday sun, so that is a prime time to fish a hopper. And, if you’re going to fish a hopper, why not tie on a dropper?
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Coastal Angler Magazine Looks at Expansion Into the Coastal Georgia Area by CAM Staff
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By Julie Richardson
T
he first time I heard the term ‘shallow-water blackout’ my family had already been freediving and spearfishing for 24 years. My 19-year-old son Robert had taken a course and began describing this phenomenon of how a freediver could blackout while breath-hold diving. I waved my hand dismissively. “That happens to people who don’t know what they are doing,” I said. “We’re experienced.” Three months later, I got schooled in just how wrong I was. April 19, 2008 dawned with beautiful calm seas and clear skies—a spearfisherman’s dream. It was Robert’s 20th birthday, and he wanted to celebrate it by diving with his 16-year-old brother, David, and three other friends: Carson, 20; Nicky, 16; and Richard, 15, who were not experienced freedivers. The boys left early in the morning to freedive together, and we planned to join them in the afternoon with friends and family who were coming out with us on our larger boat. After a successful dive of 50 feet, the boys decided to do a deeper dive. They put the anchor out in 92 feet of water, and Robert headed down first with David behind him. At the bottom, they both grabbed some sand before heading back up. Robert was 15 feet from the surface when he looked down at his brother and saw David motionless 30 feet below him. Robert swam down and grabbed his unconscious brother around the chest before heading for the surface. That’s the last thing Robert remembers. Their friends on the boat suddenly noticed my sons’ bodies drifting face down in the current some 30 yards away. Carson dived off the boat and swam out to them with Nicky right behind him. They turned the boys over. My sons’ faces were blue with swollen purple lips and open staring eyes. The color of their eyes had faded. They were not breathing and were bleeding from the mouth. Their three traumatized friends— engulfed in a nightmare—worked together to bring them onboard and start CPR. And then I got the call. “Hello?” “There’s been an accident.” “Which one?” I asked as fear enveloped me. “Both.” I clung to the table. My heart felt like it was going to explode. I took deep breaths trying to ease the pain in my chest, but it didn’t work. I started praying, with Carson’s girlfriend, that my sons would be spared. My husband Walter and I met the helicopter at the hospital. The boys’ arterial blood gases (oxygen levels) were so low—32 and 54 per-
cent—the ER doctor did not believe the report and had it verbally repeated five times. The pulmonologist told us our sons’ lungs presented as drowning victims. Yet, after three days in ICU, Robert and David were sent home to finish healing. It was a miracle. Soon after the accident, concerned freedive experts contacted me and encouraged me to use my story to make a difference. I felt a strong desire to respond, and so two months after the accident, I founded DiveWise to further freedive safety education. Tracking fatality reports is vital in understanding how accidents happen and how we can prevent them. Divers Alert Network (DAN) maintains an online Breath-hold Incident Database, so divers can report fatal and non-fatal blackout events easily and anonymously. This can be accessed at DiveWise.org. Through much effort and single-minded dedication, Terry Maas has given a gift to freedivers everywhere with his ingenious device, the Freediver Recovery Vest (FRV). This unit is designed, through the diver’s preset depth and time setting, to deliver a blackout victim to the surface face up. You can read more about it at oceanicss.com. My sons now wear the FRV when they freedive and spearfish. There are other ways freedivers can mitigate the risk in this sport: 1. Dive with an evenly matched partner and conform to the level of the least capable diver. 2. Weight yourself correctly by being positively buoyant at the surface after a full exhalation. 3. Do not hyperventilate to excess. 4. Dive one up/one down maintaining constant visual contact. 5. When conditions allow, each diver should have a dive flag; if a boat is involved a dive flag should be conspicuously displayed. 6. Maintain close, direct supervision of a freediver for no less than 30 seconds after they surface, even if they have signaled “OK.” 7. Make your minimum surface interval twice the duration of your dive time. 8. Do not take every dive to its limit; maintain a reserve. 9. Review, practice, and discuss how to recognize and handle blackouts and near blackouts. Never before has more effort from more groups created a greater combined potential for saving lives in the sport of freediving and spearfishing. We are hopeful this will correspond to a lower fatality rate. DiveWise isn’t my organization. It’s yours. We are here to serve the freedive community. Please help by donating online at our website DiveWise.org, a 501 c(3) nonprofit organization, or by offering your suggestions on how we can better help the freedive community. We offer a big “thank you” to the organizations and individuals who have given generously these past nine years in support of our work. We couldn’t have done it without you. Julie Richardson lives in Miami, Fla. with her husband and their three sons. She and her family are avid boaters and spearfishers. In 2010, Julie won the National Award from the Coast Guard funded National Water Safety Congress for her work in promoting water safety. To learn more visit DiveWise.org.
To learn more on Freediving blackouts, go to
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FRESHWATER $1200 IN-HOUSE REBATE OR FREE BOAT COVER By Frank Geremski t The St. Lawrence produced a tie for the state record smallmouth last August when Patrick Hildenbrand caught this 8-lb., 4-oz. fish that was just 21.5 inches long.
T
he St. Lawrence is a majestic river that combines a world-famous historic seaway with breathtaking scenery. Countless islands speckle the St. Lawrence, coining the area’s moniker as the 1000 Islands Region. The area’s beauty must be witnessed first-hand to be truly appreciated. Most important for anglers, this deep-water channel that connects the Great Lakes with the Atlantic Ocean creates countless fishing opportunities. The 1000 Islands Region of Upstate New York offers world-class fishing for huge and plentiful northern pike and tasty walleye, and for as long as anyone can remember it’s been the musky capital of North America. But it’s the St. Lawrence’s bass fishing that will take center stage this summer, with the Bassmaster Elite Series coming to the 1000 Islands Region for the third time in five years. This fishery has always offered tremendous bass fishing, with countless shoals and sunken ships that create textbook structure for smallmouth bass, and myriad bays and weedy backwaters that offer phenomenal largemouth opportunities. A full day of bent rods on 2- and 3-pound smallmouth has always been the norm. In the last decade, an invasive baitfish species, the goby, has populated this and other Great Lakes. Their spread has been like steroids for the smallmouth population. The goby’s desired habitat aligns perfectly with the smallie’s dinner table. Evidence of this is the pot-bellied New York record 8-lb., 4-oz. smallmouth landed last August. This trophy smallmouth fishing has lured the highest level of tournament bass fishing to small, yet quaint Waddington, N.Y. from July 20-23. Bassmaster recently polled its professionals and found that the St. Lawrence ranks among their favorite destinations. Five fish bags over 20 pounds are expected. The Angler Magazine field expert and Bassmaster Justin Walts predicts about 75 percent of the professionals will target smallmouths. In smallmouth waters, pros often ensure a five-fish bag of 2- to 3-pound smallies before seeking out bigger largemouth. On the St. Lawrence, the dynamic changes because of the possibility of scoring huge smallmouth. Walts, who fishes the St. Lawrence often, favors drop-shotting deeper shoals in 25 to 50 feet of water with watermelon, shad or perch colored V-tailed shad or casting crankbaits and swimbaits on shoals 25 feet or shallower. Flipping weeds or tossing frogs in back bays is the ticket to score largemouth. Spectator participation is also a factor for the Elite Series return to Waddington. In 2015, the town hosted over 30,000 fishing fans, breaking an Elite Series record. Waddington hosts a four-day event to entertain and feed visitors, with music and fireworks provided by local sponsors. Waddington is easily reached via a picturesque drive from Syracuse, or via airports in Massena, Ogdensburg, or Watertown, N.Y. Visit www.waddingtonpartyinthepark.com for more details. For more on fishing St. Lawrence County, visit www.fishcap.com to receive a free St. Lawrence County Anglers Guide and information on other tremendous fisheries, specifically Black Lake which is loaded with bass, crappie and pike. 20
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FRESHWATER A Pro’s Guide To Okeechobee Bream By Steve Daniel, The Voice of Okeechobee
L
ake Okeechobee is known as one of the best bass lakes in the world, but it is also a fantastic bream fishery. Every spring Okeechobee is invaded by thousands of anglers loaded down with cases of live crickets. I prefer to use artificials. For this reason, I look for them in open water instead of around heavy grass. Okeechobee bream spawn in big groups. When you find them, you can catch your limit quickly, and they’re easy to spot on the edges of the grass when the sun gets up. The only lure I use is a modified black Beetle Spin. I take a 1/32-ounce Beetle Spin and replace the arm and blade with an Arkie Jig Spinner, which is a slightly larger blade that makes the lure easier to cast and feel. I also replace the head with one that weighs 1/16 of an ounce. It is important to use a heavier jig that has the same size hook that comes with the original lure. That way you can use the black plastic grub that comes with the Beetle Spin. Cast this lure around the beds, and you won’t have any trouble filling your livewell. The limit on Okeechobee is 50 per day.
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Steve Daniel is a veteran Okeechobee guide and hosts the radio show Hooked up with Steve and Deb. Check out the show at www.renoviolaoutdoors.com. Contact: stevedaniel84@yahoo.com or 239-560-2704.
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UNDER THE SEA 24
SPEARFISHING – WHERE TO BEGIN?
S
club members are there because they are sociable and willing to help others. They remember starting out and are often willing to take you out and give advice. Just remember to return the favor by being a good buddy; help pay for the gas, bring snacks and water to share, and help clean the boat. That will hopefully get you invited back. Learning from others who already do it is probably the most valuable step you can take. If you are lucky, you will share many great experiences, have a new AJ Hally and Sheri Daye with dinner. set of lifelong friends, and maybe even find a mentor or two.
ummer is here! What better time to learn to spearfish? Many people have gotten into it because they were already “divers” and wanted to try another activity while underwater—as happened to me. A few fishermen, who weren’t yet divers, have asked me where to begin if they wanted to learn. My first piece of advice to anyone is to be sure you are comfortable underwater, whether scuba diving or freediving. One must be so comfortable underwater that it becomes second nature. If scuba diving, achieving proper buoyancy should happen without even thinking about it. If freediving, it’s best to have many dives under your belt before picking up a speargun. Fortunately, there are many dive agencies and dive shops that offer scuba certification and freediving instruction. Beyond that, I recommend at least one year’s worth of experience diving under different conditions before attempting to spearfish. It is a very good sign if you are so calm and collected in the water that fish which are normally “spooky” will let you swim near them instead of running from your presence (such as mutton snappers and black groupers). This is the sign of an experienced diver and will help you to properly hunt fish. When ready to begin, it’s important to have the right equipment— and I’m not just talking about a speargun. Get advice from a reputable dive shop that specializes in spearfishing. They will guide you toward the right wetsuit, mask, knife, gloves and speargun. Dive shops are familiar with local conditions and will give good advice. If you have a spearfishing club in the area, by all means, join! Many
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Here are a few more tips: 1. Always remember that safety comes first. Don’t do anything that is risky or beyond your comfort zone. 2. Learn what size and species to target in order to maintain quality and selectivity. Keep it honorable and ethical. Consider setting even higher standards than the law allows. 3. Spend more time observing in the beginning. Watch the more experienced hunters; you can learn a lot just by watching them. 4. Consider starting with a polespear instead of a speargun in order to refine your stalking skills, as this requires that you get closer. This is especially good for young divers. 5. Enjoy the experience, keep it fun and consider being a mentor to someone else as you improve. Sheri is a world-record holder, host of Speargun Hunter and producer of “The Blue Wild Ocean Adventure Expo” in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. Follow “Sheri Daye” and “The Blue Wild” on Facebook and Instagram.
For more Sheri Daye, go to
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6/19/17 5:01 PM
CAM Special Correspondent Tobin Strickland
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t’s summertime, and shallow-water fishing for reds is kicking off this month. It will last through mid October on the Atlantic Coast, and to mid February along the Gulf Coast. Before you “see” your first tailing redfish, you really feel like everyone is just making this up. You see nothing during an eight hour shallow-water expedition, and others come back speaking of tails “… like a used car lot, flags everywhere,” as Capt. Chuck Uzzle of Orange, Texas would say.
But why aren’t you seeing this? There are several factors involved in seeing tailing redfish, redfish swimming in shallow water; they are not easy to see. If you are fishing shallow seagrass, marsh or even flooded spartina marsh in areas where redfish roam and you’re doing it during a season when shrimp are abundant in those areas, then there are tailing redfish there. Let’s take a look at what you should be looking for with your eyes. Both Capt. Steve Soule of Galveston, Texas and Chuck McKinney of Portland, Texas say you should be looking for the horizontal line of the redfish’s back. Everything in the marsh and on seagrass flats tends to be either vertical or irregular shaped. Grass is vertical, potholes are irregular, even oyster reef edges are irregular. See a redfish cruising the flats, and the first thing you will notice is the horizontal line of it’s back. A good pair of Costa 580g lenses is what you want for this. The only difference between a cruiser and a tailer is that the tailer is probably nose down into the mud and a little bit of his tail is sticking out of the water. You’ll probably only see a little dark triangle at the end of the horizontal line of the redfish’s back. You typically won’t see the big blue tail and black dot rising out of the water waving at you like a little red flag back and forth. So begin to look for the horizontal line, the small triangle, and the glow of coppery orange. This should help you to see what’s been in front of you all along. Let’s talk about something else here that’s also a problem for most people. These environments are very grassy, and throwing an open-throated jig head during summer low tides is asking for trouble. Might as well go ahead and throw the lunch salad on a hook, because that’s all that fish is going to see. You have to throw something weedless that you can cast accurately, no matter the wind, something that can get the fish’s attention with action or accuracy, and sinks naturally so they can’t pass up such an easy meal. The troutsupport.com lure solves many of the frustrations sight casters have to put up with. Both reds and speckled trout love it. It casts far and accurately, walks the dog, wobbles like a big slow spoon, but is buoyant enough to sink slowly right in the fish’s face. Tobin created TroutSupport.com to help anglers develop their abilities by learning what to look for on the water.
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Choosing Colors
For Your Trolling Lures By Darrell Primrose, Ballyhood Lures
“M
atch the hatch” is an old adage fishermen have used for ages. It comes from freshwater fly fishing, in which anglers seek to match, with an artificial fly, the insect life hatching off the water to fool feeding trout. The same concept applies across the fishing world. Offshore, this can mean taking the time to examine the stomach contents of the first fish you catch to see what it was feeding on. Cut that fish open and check the length and size of the current forage as well as its color. Then use that information to choose your lures accordingly. I get to talk to anglers worldwide on a daily basis. I ask them all, “What colors are most prevalent?” What I’ve learned from them goes into our Ballyhood trolling lures, and the best color combinations change from location to location. On the West Coast, where anchovies, sardines, mackerel and squid
are the most prolific forage species, the most popular trolling lure colors are used in our Mexican flag, which is green/yellow/red/white. Black/ purple is another color scheme proven to produce in a trolling spread. Squid turn purple, and that could be a reason it is such a successful color. Zuchini is also a very popular color used on the West Coast. It’s a green/ orange/yellow lure. Now, taking a look at the northeast—in the Atlantic off New York, Massachusetts and New Jersey—they catch more tuna than most places in the world. Their top must-use colors are solid green, green/yellow and black/purple. In Florida, the Bahamas and the Virgin Islands, the No. 1 color is light blue. Colors known as Bally Blue and Flying Fish Blue are quite productive. I’ll assume you caught the baitfish reference in those color names. Pink/white and black/red also see a lot of time in the water, but anglers in these southern waters very rarely use anything green. Their water is very clear, which I think has something to do with it. In the Northeast, as on the West Coast of the U.S., the water is fairly dark. When you start to get farther south in the Pacific around Cabo San Lucas and down to Cancun, the colors used tend to lean toward the same choices as those used in Florida, the Bahamas and the Caribbean. The southern Pacific has the same type of clear water as they enjoy off south Florida. I can tell you the most overlooked color on the southern West Coast is pink or pink/white, at the same time pink/white is the No. 1 color for albacore off Oregon and Washington. Another guideline to color choices is to use dark colors on dark days and bright colors on bright days. Now some of this information has to do with matching the hatch, some of it is based on water clarity, but all off it is gathered from onthe-water experience and reflects what produces fish the best. Color is an absolutely critical factor in choosing which lures to include in a spread. For information on Ballyhood Top Gun Lures see www.ballyhood. com or call 714-545-0196.
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PRODUCT SPOTLIGHT DEXTER SOFGRIP FILLET KNIVES Dexter SOFGRIP flexible fillet knives are the outdoors standard and make filleting tasks easy. A soft-to-the-touch, textured handle provides both comfort and a slipresistant grip. An ergonomic handle shape fills and matches the contours of the hand, making it more comfortable to use and easier to hold. The protective finger guard prevents slippage and unintended cuts. Dexter’s “wiggleworm” trademarked handle design and surface ornamentation tells you it’s a genuine Dexter. Dexter SOFGRIP fillet knives are crafted with DEXSTEEL, a proprietary high-carbon, high-alloy, stainless cutlery steel that enhances sharpness, edge-holding, corrosion resistance, and ease of re-sharpening. Each fillet blade features Dexter’s legendary just-right flexibility to help get the job done quickly and efficiently. Dexter SOFGRIP fillet knives are proudly made in the U.S.A. and are available in 6”, 7”, 8” and 9” lengths. The 8” fillet knife is also available in a wide, stiff blade. They are all available at your local and online retailer. When shopping for a sharp, durable fillet knife, make sure it’s an original… make sure it’s a Dexter. For more information and to view all Dexter fishing knives, visit dexteroutdoors.com. Already use a Dexter? Visit us on our FB page at facebook. com/DexterOutdoors and tell us about it.
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The Skimmer Kayak Motor Kit
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addle fatigue getting to you? Want to motorize your kayak or canoe? There’s no need to pay $2,000 for a motorized kayak. Watercraft Technologies’ The Skimmer is a simple system for motorizing your kayak or canoe, and it costs less than $400. It ble motor that mounts snap it on when you
is a lightweight, portaeasily to your stern. Just need it. Fishing has never been easier, safer and more convenient. Go farther and save your energy for fishing! Increase your range! Catch more fish! The Skimmer weighs only 6 pounds. It’s 12v battery operated. There are easy controls for steering and motor lift. It’s environmentally safe, with no pollution, oil or gas spills. The Skimmer is made for saltwater, but does great in brackish or fresh water. It is able to propel a craft 2-4 knots and lasts two to five hours per charge. Imagine running your kayak at that speed and that long with zero effort! This propulsion system is great for people who want to get on the water and not worry about paddling hard into a swift current or strong wind. It is also great for those with shoulder, back or elbow issues. This kayak trolling motor kit carries a one-year, full parts replacement policy. See The Skimmer in action and order online at www.kayaktrollingmotor.com or order by phone at 631-848-3119.
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PRODUCT SPOTLIGHT
Feds Extend Gulf Red Snapper Season
TSUNAMI SHIELD SPINNING REELS Saltwater can be a double-edged sword! It’s in our blood and it’s what fuels our passion to keep searching for that next trophy. But, it is also the great enemy of fishing tackle. The unique Tsunami SHIELD series of saltwaterproof spinning reels feature up to 13 internal seals in key, strategic locations to shield critical components from harmful saltwater intrusion. The internal seals, super smooth and strong CF3 carbon fiber drag system and five sealed stainless steel bearings are wrapped in a hybrid machined aluminum body combining protection, precision and toughness. The heavy-duty rotor brake controlled bail system and precision machined aluminum, braid-ready spool assure the best control of super braids cast after long cast. The 3000 and 4000 SHIELD models contain 11 strategically located internal seals for years of reliable use with minimal maintenance. The 5000 and 6000 Shield reels contain 13 various internal seals at all of the locations where salt water could reasonably be expected to penetrate the reel for even greater protection in these larger reels. Hybrid all metal construction includes precision machined aircraft aluminum and tempered aluminum precision stampings and heavy duty protective anodizing to keep these reels operating up to factory specifications year after year. The combination of these top-notch designs and precisely mated components are what make the Tsunami SHIELD spinning reels an all-new contender for your favorite reel for years to come! MAP: 3000/4000: $99.99; 5000/6000: $109.99
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n mid June, the U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC) announced that private recreational anglers would be allowed an additional 39 days to harvest red snapper in federal waters of the Gulf of Mexico. This allowance, the result of negotiations between the five Gulf states and the DOC, comes on the heels of the shortest recreational red snapper season in history. Private recreational anglers were originally allowed just three days of snapper fishing in federal waters June 1-3. This newly re-opened season consists of three-day weekends, Fridays through Sundays, June 16 through Sept. 4 (Labor Day). The extension, however, comes with a tradeoff. State controlled waters extend out to 9 miles, and federally controlled waters are from 9 miles out to 200 miles. In exchange for the additional opportunities in federal waters, state waters will be closed to red snapper harvest for private recreational anglers Mondays through Thursdays this summer. Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas have indicated there might be additional fishing days in state waters this fall depending on the harvest estimates from the summer season. This extension does not make any changes to the quota or season length for the federally permitted for-hire component of the recreational fishery or the commercial individual fishing quota program and the 2017 commercial quota.
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PRODUCT SPOTLIGHT INTERLUX INTERPROTECT HS InterProtect HS is a versatile, costeffective, two-part epoxy that meets the most restrictive V.O.C. regulations and helps reduce solvent emissions into the environment. It can be used above and below the waterline as a primer for all substrates. The high solids formula requires fewer coats to reach the desired dry film thickness. An underwater barrier system applied either by roller/brush or airless spray can be achieved in just 7 mils Dry Film Thickness (DFT). InterProtect HS uses Micro-Plate® Technology, which substantially reduces water migration through the epoxy to the hull surface and provides protection from corrosion for all metals. It can also be used as part of a gelcoat blister repair or prevention system and as an alternative no-sand primer on new, or never-been-painted fiberglass boats. For more information, go to www.yachtpaint.com.
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The Gator Den is a brand new, 12 room motel located at Angler’s Resort, on the Withlacoochee River, Dunnellon, FL. We have a Bait & Tackle Shop, Pontoon and Jon Boat Rentals, Airboat Tours and the Blue Gator Tiki Bar Restaurant, all on premise making this a fisherman’s getaway. 12189 S Williams St Dunnellon, FL 34432 | www.AnglersResort.us Motel: 352-489-2397 Restaurant: 352-465-1635 Boat Rentals: 352-489-2397
PRODUCT SPOTLIGHT TECNIQ BOAT SPREADER LIGHTS Some of the best fishing happens after the sun goes down. For illumination assistance and safety on board at night, TecNiq offers its new P10 and P11 LED Boat Spreader Lights. Available with all white or white/red LEDs, they deliver up to 1,450 lumens with remarkably lower power draws. Offered in recessed and surface-mounted versions, they’re perfect for a tuna tower or T-top. Boat Spreader Lights feature anodized and white powder coated aluminum bodies and impact-resistant polycarbonate flood projection lenses for exceptional durability. Both TecNiq models are available with four highperformance white LEDs, or two white and two night-vision friendly red. They’re completely waterproof and sealed to IP68 standards. TecNiq’s recess mounted P10 Boat Spreader Light installs flush for an integrated appearance. The four white LED model produces 1,300 lumens, or 700 lumens white and 160 red in the combo version. Both draw a maximum 1.2 amps at 12V DC or 0.6 amps with 24V DC. It measures 4.8” L x 1.73” W x 1.26” D. It retails for $145. The P11 surface mounted Boat Spreader Light installs anywhere with its included stainless steel hardware. It produces 1,450 lumens white, or 825 white and 160 red in the combo version. Its maximum draw is 1.6 amps at 12V DC or 0.8 amps with 24V DC. It measures 4.8” L x 1.6” W x 2” D. It retails for $154. Contact TecNiq, 8850 M, Richland, MI 49083. 269-629-4440. sales@ tecniqinc.com; www.tecniqinc.com.
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What Makes A Great Pair of
Fishing Sunglasses?
F
ishing is about being in the right place, at the right time, with the right gear. One bit of gear nearly every angler uses yet may take for granted are sunglasses. But when it comes to fishing sunglasses, what separates a good pair from a great pair? First, fishing sunglasses should always be polarized. Polarization eliminates glare reflecting off of the water, to better show what’s happening under the surface. Not all polarization is equal. Some polarized sunglasses block only 20 to 30 percent of glare. Maui Jim Sunglasses feature patented PolarizedPlus2 technology, eliminating 99.9 percent of glare using high-efficiency, proprietary polarizing film. Maui Jim’s lens materials also stand out. Their SuperThin Glass is 20 percent lighter than standard glass and is saltwater resistant so they won’t peel after too much time at sea. Add it all up, and Maui Jim Sunglasses offer anglers unmatched color, clarity and detail. It’s also important to have the correct lens color to match conditions. Days with varying conditions, from overcast to sunny, are best suited for more versatile lens colors, such as Maui Jim’s HCL Bronze, Maui HT or MauiRose. For days when the sun is on blast, a darker lens color like Maui Jim’s Neutral Grey is your best bet. Another obvious reason any angler should wear quality sunglasses is eye protection. Maui Jim’s block 100 percent of harmful UV rays from the eyes and surrounding areas, and are the only premium sunglasses to have the Skin Cancer Foundation’s Seal of Recommendation. Finally, because accidents happen, a stout warranty never hurts. Maui Jim’s two-year warranty and unparalleled customer service can ease fears of the occasional mishap. So, before your next fishing adventure, be sure to pack a quality pair of sunglasses like Maui Jims. The difference will be crystal clear!
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Coastal Angler June 2017.indd 1 CANGL_NAT3-NAT34.indd 32
JULY 2017
I
Most orders Placed by 4:30 et shiP the saMe day!
4
ITEM
MEC
Only $99.99
www.defender.com 800-628-8225 32
$
SIZ MED LG X-L
PWC Fishing Towers
2017
FREE Catalog!
Enclosures
Rod Holders
Casting Platform
E-Box
Accessory Mounts
Lights
$3
Storage Bag
COASTALANGLERMAG.COM • THEANGLERMAG.COM
5/1/17 9:55 AM
YOU
Compar
*Origina
6/19/17 5:02 PM
hft_coa
800+ Stores Nationwide HarborFreight.com • 800-423-2567
SUPER COUPON
SUPER COUPON
20% OFF
FREE WITH
6
ANY PURCHASE
$ 99 1" x 25 FT. TAPE MEASURE
VALUE
ANY SINGLE ITEM
ITEM 69030/69031 shown LIMIT 1 - Cannot be used with other discount, coupon or prior purchase. Coupon good at our stores, HarborFreight.com or by calling 800-423-2567. Offer good while supplies last. Shipping & Handling charges may apply if not picked up in-store. Non-transferable. Original coupon must be presented. Valid through 11/1/17. Limit one FREE GIFT coupon per customer per day.
Limit 1 - Coupon per customer per day. Save 20% on any 1 item purchased. *Cannot be used with other discount, coupon or any of the following items or brands: Inside Track Club membership, Extended Service Plan, gift card, open box item, 3 day Parking Lot Sale item, compressors, floor jacks, saw mills, storage cabinets, chests or carts, trailers, trenchers, welders, Admiral, Bauer, Cobra, CoverPro, Daytona, Earthquake, Hercules, Jupiter, Lynxx, Poulan, Predator, StormCat, Tailgator, Viking, Vulcan, Zurich. Not valid on prior purchases. Non-transferable. Original coupon must be presented. Valid through 11/1/17.
SUPER COUPON
900 PEAK/700 RUNNING WATTS 2 HP (63 CC) 2 CYCLE GAS GENERATOR
Customer Rating
8 GALLON, 2 HP SAVE 125 PSI OIL LUBE $59 AIR COMPRESSOR
• 5 hours run-time @ 50% capacity
$9999
99
$89 $10999
$ ITEM 69667 68740 shown
LIMIT 4 - Coupon valid through 11/1/17*
99 124 $159
Compare
RAPID PUMP® 3 TON LOW PROFILE HEAVY DUTY STEEL FLOOR JACK
Customer Rating
12 VOLT MAGNETIC Customer Rating TOWING LIGHT KIT
SAVE 71%
Compare
$149.98
STEP STOOL/ WORKING PLATFORM
$34.95
ITEM 63100
$
9 2999 $1
99
1/2" ELECTRIC IMPACT WRENCH
Customer Rating
• 230 ft. lbs. of max. torque
$39 $
49
Compare
SAVE $164
Blade sold separately.
SUPER COUPON
YOUR CHOICE
$399 Compare
Customer Rating
ITEM 62434/62426 62433/62428 62432/62429
$16.12
SAVE 75%
$
199
5
$ 99
6" VARIABLE SPEED DUAL ACTION POLISHER
LIMIT 9 - Coupon valid through 11/1/17*
Compare
$119
99 Compare $299
SAVE 65%
$54
ITEM 62403/62862/69924 shown LIMIT 4 - Coupon valid through 11/1/17*
SUPER COUPON SAVE 50%
Includes one 18V NiCd battery and charger.
$1699 $1999
Compare ITEM 69651/62868 62873/68239 shown
Customer Rating
$1999
$49
$
2999 $39.99 Compare
99
ITEM 62314/63066 66383 shown
LIMIT 7 - Coupon valid through 11/1/17*
SUPER COUPON
Customer Rating
SAVE 64%
SAVE 38%
SUPER COUPON
7 FT. 4" x 9 FT. 6" • 1000 lb. capacity ALL PURPOSE WEATHER RESISTANT TARP
$299
4
$ 99
Compare ITEM 69249/69115/69137 69129/69121/877 shown
$8.48
$
$799
3-IN-1 PORTABLE POWER PACK WITH JUMP STARTER
Customer Rating
$39 $
49
MOVER'S DOLLY Customer Rating
1099 Compare
$19.97
SAVE 59% ITEM 61899/62399 63095/63096/63098 63097/93888 shown
LIMIT 8 - Coupon valid through 11/1/17*
SUPER COUPON
SAVE $145
99
SUPER COUPON
Customer Rating
Includes hook, mirror, magnet accessories, and video-out cable.
99 Compare
$64.99
2.4" COLOR LCD DIGITAL INSPECTION CAMERA
$5999 $
99 69 $205.75
Compare ITEM 61839/62359 shown
ITEM 38391/62376/62306 shown
LIMIT 3 - Coupon valid through 11/1/17*
SUPER COUPON
SUPER COUPON 3 PIECE TITANIUM HIGH SPEED STEEL STEP BIT SET
SAVE 85%
6999
ITEM 63054/69034/62858 shown
LIMIT 4 - Coupon valid through 11/1/17*
SUPER COUPON Customer Rating
$9999
Compare
LIMIT 5 - Coupon valid through 11/1/17*
• Drill 28 Hole Sizes from 1/8" to 3/4" Customer Rating
$
12999 $205.99
18 VOLT CORDLESS Customer Rating HEAVY DUTY FOLDABLE 3/8" DRILL/DRIVER ALUMINUM WITH KEYLESS CHUCK SPORTS CHAIR
$134
SAVE $64 Item 62429 shown
ITEM 61253/62326/61282 shown
99
LIMIT 5 - Coupon valid through 11/1/17*
LIMIT 3 - Coupon valid through 11/1/17*
SIZE MED LG X-LG
12" SLIDING COMPOUND DOUBLE-BEVEL MITER SAW
ITEM 61969/61970/69684 shown
ITEM 69606/61173/68099 shown
$
LIMIT 9 - Coupon valid through 11/1/17*
SUPER COUPON
SAVE $130
99 $169.99
MECHANIC'S GLOVES
ITEM 62515 66911 shown
• Powerful 15 amp motor • Makes precision cross, bevel and miter cuts • Laser guide
99
9499
SUPER COUPON
LIMIT 7 - Coupon valid through 11/1/17*
LIMIT 6 - Coupon valid through 11/1/17*
SUPER COUPON
SAVE $106
20"
• 350 lb. capacity
$57.55
™
LIMIT 7 - Coupon valid through 11/1/17*
SUPER COUPON
SAVE 65% Compare
$
• Weighs 73 lbs.
SUPER COUPON Customer Rating 10 FT. x 20 FT. PORTABLE CAR CANOPY
LIMIT 3 - Coupon valid through 11/1/17*
Compare
$999 $1899
SAVE $69
$7999
LIMIT 3 - Coupon valid through 11/1/17*
SUPER COUPON Customer Rating
SUPER COUPON
JACKS IN AMERICA
SUPER COUPON
Customer Rating
ITEM 63024 63025 shown
# 1 SELLING
99
$8
$
1399 Compare
$59.97
ITEM 69087/60379/91616 shown LIMIT 8 - Coupon valid through 11/1/17*
1500 WATT DUAL TEMPERATURE HEAT GUN (572°/1112°) Customer Rating
SAVE 67% 99
$8
Compare
$
$28.06
1399
ITEM 62340/62546 63104/96289 shown
LIMIT 7 - Coupon valid through 11/1/17*
COASTALANGLERMAG.COM • Freight THEANGLERMAG.COM I that JULY I NATIONAL At Harbor Tools, the “Compare” or “comp at” price means the same2017 item or a similar functioning item was advertised33 for sale at *Original coupon only. No use on prior purchases after 30 days from original purchase or without original receipt. Valid through 11/1/17. or above the “Compare” or “comp at” price by another retailer in the U.S. within the past 180 days. Prices advertised by others may vary by location. No other meaning of “Compare” or "comp at" should be implied. For more information, go to HarborFreight.com or see store associate.
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6/19/17 6/8/17 5:02 4:04 PM PM
BIG ICE
MAKE YOUR OWN ICE!
TRAYS
-Makes six 4” Cubes -10 lbs. of Ice per Tray -Last twice as long! -No more plastic bags -Save money by easily reusing
bigice.com contact@bigice.com
contact@bigice.com | 504-710-7766
Fishing Lights Dock Lights Flounder Lights 785-621-2646
fishinglightsetc.com
www.power-pole.com
JOIN
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• Regional Reports • Featured Articles • Fishing Tips • Giveaways
www.COASTALANGLERMAG.COM 34
NATIONAL
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CANGL_NAT3-NAT34.indd 34
JULY 2017
I
COASTALANGLERMAG.COM • THEANGLERMAG.COM
6/19/17 5:02 PM
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SUZUKI DEALS TAKE ADVANTAGE OF ALL THREE SUZUKI DEALS FOR MORE SUMMER FUN
Six Years of Protection at no extra charge on all new outboards 25 to 300 HP.
Cash Rebates on select models. See your dealer for details.
REPOWER FINANCE
Rates as low as 5.99% on new Suzuki outboards (OAC).*
For details and the name of your nearest participating Suzuki Marine dealer, visit www.suzukimarine.com Gimme Six Extended Protection promo is applicable to new Suzuki Outboard Motors from 25 to 300 HP in inventory which are sold and delivered to buyer between 7/01/17 and 9/30/17 in accordance with the promotion by a Participating Authorized Suzuki Marine dealer in the continental US and Alaska to a purchasing customer who resides in the continental US or Alaska. Customer should expect to receive an acknowledgement letter and full copy of contract including terms, conditions and wallet card from Suzuki Extended Protection within 90 days of purchase. If an acknowledgement letter is not received in time period stated, contact Suzuki Motor of America, Inc. – Marine Marketing via email: marinepromo@suz.com. The Gimme Six Promotion is available for pleasure use only, and is not redeemable for cash. Cash Rebates apply to qualifying purchases of select Suzuki Outboard Motors made between 7/01/17 and 9/30/17. For list of designated models, see participating Dealer or visit www.suzukimarine.com. Customer and participating Dealer must fill out the appropriate rebate form at time of sale. Customer will have the choice to either apply the cash rebate against the original dealer invoice (Suzuki will credit Dealer parts account) or have a check sent directly to the customer. There are no model substitutions, benefit substitutions, rain checks, or extensions. Suzuki reserves the right to change or cancel these promotions at any time without notice or obligation. * Financing offers available through Synchrony Retail Finance. As low as 5.99% APR financing for 60 months on new and unregistered Suzuki Outboard Motors. Subject to credit approval. Not all buyers will qualify. Approval, and any rates and terms provided, are based on credit worthiness. $19.99/month per $1,000 financed for 60 months is based on 5.99% APR. Hypothetical figures used in calculation; your actual monthly payment may differ based on financing terms, credit tier qualification, accessories or other factors such as down payment and fees. Offer effective on new, unregistered Suzuki Outboard Motors purchased from a participating authorized Suzuki dealer between 7/01/17 and 9/30/17. “Gimme Six”, the Suzuki “S” and model names are Suzuki trademarks or ®. Don’t drink and drive. Always wear a USCG-approved life jacket and read your owner’s manual. © 2017 Suzuki Motor of America, Inc.
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