fall2008 by roifield brown

LET’S BRING EVERYONE UP TO SPEED.

PRO KICKER OUT-TROLLS THE COMPETITION.

9.9 hp PRO KICKER

Mercury® 9.9 hp Pro Kicker can troll 18% slower than Yamaha® 8 hp 9.9 hp BIGFOOT four-stroke and 16% slower than Honda® 9.9 hp four-stroke. 9.9 hp MERCURY 9.9 hp PRO KICKER 8 hp

Mercury Verado 250 hp is 8% faster than Suzuki® 250 hp and 5% faster than Yamaha 250 hp. MERCURY VERADO

6 hp

YAMAHA

5 hp MERCURY 9.9 hp PRO KICKER

2.5 hp

300 hp 275 hp 250 hp 225 hp 200 hp

YAMAHA

175 hp

4 hp 3.5 hp

HONDA

NO OTHER ENGINE CAN COMPETE WITH VERADO.®

150 hp

SUZUKI

135 hp

SEE MORE TESTS AT MercuryMarine.com

With Mercury Verado and Mercury Pro Kicker, you can experience the ultimate in power and precision. If you want to be first to the fish, hit the throttle on Verado and take advantage of unsurpassed top-end speed. If it’s slow, precise trolling you’re after, put Pro Kicker to work and hover over the fish with slow, pinpoint control. Get up to speed on the optimum walleye fishing engines by looking deeper at MercuryMarine.com.

Pro Kicker FourStroke

Source: Mercury Marine Engineering Department – December 2003. Test conducted on a Mercury 9.9 hp FourStroke Pro Kicker, a Yamaha 8 and 9.9 hp four-stroke and a Honda 9.9 hp four-stroke. © 2008 MERCURY MARINE. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited. Honda is a registered trademark of Honda Motor Co. Ltd. Suzuki is a registered trademark of Suzuki Motor Corporation. Yamaha is a registered trademark of the Yamaha Corporation. All other trademarks belong to the Brunswick Corporation.

S P E C I A L FA L L F I S H I N G I S S U E !

Canada Post Mail Product Agreement No.40015689

VOLUME 14 • ISSUE 4 Just $3.95

DISPLAY UNTIL JANUARY 15,2009

Fall 2008

With an available best-in-class Duramax diesel 6.6L V8 Turbo engine that cranks out 365 hp and 660 lb.-ft. torque, it does almost everything you need it to.* And it’s not just stronger. It’s smarter. An enhanced cargo management system adds more functionality. The large rear doors of the Extended Cab open 170 degrees, creating the best cabin access of any full-size pickup. The Next Generation Silverado HD. The most powerful heavy duty on the planet.†

SILVERADO HD

silverado.gm.ca

RIPPER. SEEDER. SPRAYER. BALER. LOADER. ALL IN ONE.

* Based on 2007 GM Large Pickup segment and latest available competitive information. Excludes other GM vehicles. † All claims based on 3/4-ton and 1-ton vehicles in the 2007 GM Large Pickup segment and latest published competitive information available. Excludes other GM vehicles

To Make The Most Of Your Time, You Have to...

Making the most of your time gets a little tougher everyday. It’s why Ranger developed a whole new level of leadership in the revolutionary Z-Comanche® Series. With muscle-car-inspired engineering and a long list of best-in-class features, these designs continue to take acceleration, handling, space, fishability and head-turning performance to new extremes. So take charge of your time and space. Surround yourself with the pace-setting freedom of the Ranger Z-Comanche® Series. It’s an all-out reminder of the power that comes from turning things loose!

For The Name Of Your Nearest Ranger Dealer, Call:

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©Copyright MMVII Ranger® Boats R-7011

Contents Features 34 LAKE BACCARAC’S BIG BASS BONANZA When Shimano Canada needed to pick a great bass lake for their annual Big Bass Hunt they chose Lake Baccarac in Mexico – and for good reason. By Real Fishing Staff

42 DEER SEASON BASS Most people think that November is better suited to hunting than fishing and that’s great news for hard core bass anglers. By Shawn Good

48 SIMPLE FALL TACTICS FOR TROPHY MUSKIES Late fall offers the best chance at catching a trophy musky. These tips and tactics will help to put the odds of catching one in your favour. By Ryan Haines

Fall 2008 Volume 14, Issue 4 Editor Jerry Hughes Art Production Rossi Piedimonte Design

Publisher Fred Delsey National Advertising Izumi Outdoors Tel: (905) 632-8679 President Wayne Izumi

Columns

Contributors Shawn Good, Jeff Gustafson, Ryan Haines, Bob Izumi, Wayne Izumi, Francois Latulippe, Andrew Luu, Steve May, Dave Taylor, Charles Weiss, Lawren Wetzel

6 OPENING LINES By Jerry Hughes

10 SPORTSMEN’S ALMANAC Real Fishing is published by Izumi Outdoors Inc. 940 Sheldon Court Burlington, ON L7L 5K6 Tel: (905) 632-8679 Fax: (905) 632-2833 Privacy Policy: Occasionally, we make our subscriber list available to carefully screened companies whose products and services might be of interest to our subscribers. If you prefer to have your name removed from this list and not receive these mailings, please write to us at the above address.

We welcome manuscripts, but will not be held responsible for loss of manuscripts, photos or other materials. Published four times each year: January (Winter) April (Spring) July (Summer) October (Fall) One year subscription is $9.95. For USA add $10 all others add $30. Subscriptions: Real Fishing 940 Sheldon Court, Burlington ON L7L 5K6 Subscription inquiries Please call: 1-877-474-4141 or visit www.realfishing.com Canada Post Publications Mail Sales Product Agreement No. 40015689 Customer Account No. 2723816 GST Registration No. R102546504 Postmaster: Please return front cover/label only of undeliverables to: Real Fishing 940 Sheldon Court, Burlington ON L7L 5K6 Contents copyrighted. All rights reserved. Reproduction of any material without prior written permission from the publisher is strictly prohibited. Printed in Canada

On the cover: Lunker Largemouth Photo by Izumi Outdoors

News, trivia, event listings and more from the world of fishing

17 WHAT’S NEW The latest in fishing tackle, gear and accessories

20 FISHING Decisions, Decisions, Decisions By Bob Izumi

28 24 CHEVY TRUCKS FISH FACTS Northern Pikeminnow

26 UNDERSTANDING ELECTRONICS By Lawren Wetzel

28 THE WATER’S EDGE 22 FLY FISHING

By Dave Taylor

By Steve May

30 BEST FISHING TIMES

Doug Hannon’s moon phase calendar

32 THE HOT BITE 60 TALES FROM THE ROAD The trials and tribulations of life as a professional angler By Bob Izumi

65 WHAT’S COOKING 66 ART OF ANGLING

opening lines By Jerry Hughes

It’s All in your Mind If you’ve been reading Real Fishing for any length of time you know that we often refer to the mental aspect of fishing as being one of the keys to success. Anglers who can think through the situation they’re faced with and adapt their approach to suit the prevailing conditions will almost always out-fish those who stubbornly stick to a favourite fishing method or location. Sure, those favourite areas and pet baits will put a bunch of fish in the boat when the conditions are right, but what about on those days when things go south? The choice you make may be the deciding factor between a decent day of fishing and a complete blow out. I had this point made crystal clear to me during a recent tournament. On the first day of the event my partner and I had located good concentrations of bass holding tight to cover in shallow water. We used the trolling motor to quietly manoeuvre our way around docks and isolated pieces of rock and wood, and we caught fish on a variety of baits. At the end of the day we weighed in a decent bag of fish and were sitting comfortably within striking distance of the leaders. This particular event is known for its tough fishing and low overall weights and because of our first day’s success we were brimming with confidence heading into the second day. Then it hit the fan. Sometime during the night the wind changed from a gentle southwest breeze to a hard blow directly out of the north. The clear skies were replaced by ugly grey clouds and the temperature dropped by 10 or 15degrees. After some deliberation we decided to check our previous day’s pattern to see if the fish were still holding in the skinny water or if they had moved. Although the fishing was much tougher, we did connect with a few bass. They weren’t huge, but we knew that a small limit on this second day would easily be good enough to earn us a cheque so we persevered. Then things really got ugly. For some 6 Real Fishing – Fall 2008

reason the steering head on our trolling motor cracked, then split wide open. With its innards exposed, the motor was done and so was our stealthy, shallow water fishing pattern. We could feel the wind being sucked out of our sails. After spewing expletives until we had exhausted our vocabulary of curses, my fishing partner and I realized that we had to do something to save the day. Taking a page from the old school book of boat control, we decided that our best option would be to use the wind to our advantage by drifting over some rock/weed points in deeper water, but with the wind swirling around the numerous points and islands on this lake, getting a proper drift was next to impossible. We were continually being blown off course and had to rely on the big outboard to adjust our position. It was frustrating to say the least, but as we drifted past one particular rocky outcrop I got a bite and set the hook into a very solid fish. I screamed to my partner to get the net but just as he did, the fish came off. That was the straw that broke our collective backs. Rather than being thrilled at the fact that we could still catch fish without the use of a trolling motor, we saw losing that fish as yet another bad omen. At that moment we became convinced that we couldn’t win. In our minds, we were beaten. We tried drifting past another point but we couldn’t keep a true course and, to make a long story short, we gave up. We tossed the small keeper fish that we had caught earlier, headed back to the weigh-in site and put the boat on the trailer some three hours before the official weigh-in time. The next day my partner and I were discussing our misfortune, but the more we tried to justify our actions the more we real-

ized that we had made a huge mental error. Despite the weather and the loss of our trolling motor, we had hooked a solid fish while drifting with the wind. In the clear light of hindsight we agreed that we should have continued with that pattern for the rest of the day. As I said earlier, this was a tournament where a small limit would have put us into contention so catching a couple of keeper bass just might have been enough. Unfortunately, hindsight only kicks in after the fact and I have to admit that while we were on the water neither of us could see anything positive. We let a little bad luck throw us off our game and it almost certainly cost us the chance to reach the podium. It’s the ability to focus on fishing and to adapt to whatever arises that separates the great anglers from the rest of us. Unfortunately that message didn’t get through to my partner and I until after the tournament. It’s a tough way to learn a lesson but I’ll guarantee you that it’s a lesson I’ll never forget. ?

ÂŠ Tim Hortons, 2006

Deep Crankin’ 8 Real Fishing – Fall 2008

PHOTO BY FRANCOIS LATULIPPE

The term “deep crankbait” refers to lures that are made to run deep in the water column but this bass took the term too literally when it engulfed an entire crankbait deeply into its oversized mouth. Luckily, the rear trebles avoided the gills and the fish was only hooked in the back of the tongue. After a few photos and a quick twist with a pair of pliers the bass was set free, none the worse for the experience.

Fall 2008 – Real Fishing 9

Ranger Z520 Comanche named “Best Buy” Consumers Digest magazine has named the Ranger Z520 Comanche its top “premium selection” in its list of “Best Buys in Powerboats.” The editors of Consumers Digest praised the interior layout, seat design and smooth, rough-water ride of the Z520. Additionally the magazine touted the speed, acceleration and standard equipment features of the Z520 Comanche. Measuring 20

feet, 9 inches, the Z520 Comanche is rated for a maximum 250 horsepower and features 48 gallons of fuel capacity. The blend of power, size and fuel capacity make it perfectly suited for long runs on big reservoirs or fishing open water. With a 95-inch beam, the Z520 Comanche is an extremely stable fishing platform that delivers a smooth, dry ride, with plenty of fishing room.

da Raffle Muskies Cana cLaughlin M for “Big” Jim

p “Big” l be used to hel e funds that wil only in and to rais s. Tickets are ” Jim McLaughl his treatment h “Big wit ws l be wil Jim kno Everybody sador for fishMuskies Canada e as an ambas ere 00 each and wh don $5. 8 has 200 he 13, at com wh August rnament on tou w r, dra ake a g spe r availholdin ing. As a semina kages will be ine publishtastic prize pac de and magaz ler fan gui r ang fou ing ow fish , fell a petitor ntless hours to n. If supporting dedicated cou able to be wo to buy a ticker,“Big”Jim has promoting the ugh incentive eno and t lic isn’ d ing pub nee fish in a musky educating the at you may chance to win s of fishing. Wh et or two, the fishing gear positive aspect s diagnosed a boatload of t “Big” Jim wa charter and tly rmation please ren info not know is tha cur or is this year and be. For tickets lier uld ear sho cer ay@rogers.com with can tunately the Clay at mattcl atment. Unfor contact Matt s@sympatiundergoing tre ” Jim could use s at jim.hutching “Big ing tch and Hu tly te at Jim cos treatment is s Canada websi derie that or visit the Muskie spirit of camara or the ca In co. p. , hel some ong anglers da.ca. am ana s iesc ter usk fos sly www.m he so tireles le in order is holding a raff Muskies Canada

er 2008

Muskies Canada Raffle Winners

Ontario adds new Conservation Officers Five new conservation officers will soon be protecting Ontario's natural resources and keeping the outdoors safe.The protection of the province's natural resources is also being improved through increased ground patrols, patrols using aircraft, boats and other mechanized transportation, and new mobile technologies. These enhancements are being supported by a $2.5 million provincial investment, an increase of 10 per cent over the previous year's budget. Of the 10 Real Fishing – Fall 2008

$2.5 million, $2 million will be a permanent addition to the annual operating budget of the Enforcement Branch, and will be used in part to hire 5 new Conservation Officers.The remaining $500,000 is a one time infusion of money, and will be used to offset higher operating costs, particularly for fuel for aircraft enforcement in the north and large vessels on the Great Lakes. The new officers will focus on lakes Ontario and Erie, as well as other priority areas within the province.

In the last issue of Real Fishing we told you about the Muskies Canada raffle to support “Big” Jim McLaughlin, who was recently diagnosed with cancer. The raffle was held on August 13th and raised $15,000, all of which will go to “Big” Jim to help with his cancer treatments. In addition to raising money for a great cause, there were five charter fishing trips and one fishing trip to Pine Crest Lodge up for grabs in the raffle. The five charter trip winners are Doug Buckland, Connie Lachapelle, Robert Dick, Ben McAllister and Daniel Vidal. Loic Tronel of St. Sauveur, Quebec, was the winner of the trip to Pine Crest Lodge.

h C

In N t t o

Photo by David A. Brown, FLW Outdoors.

EVENTS Calendar TOP BASS Bass/Walleye Tournament October 5, 2008 Rice Lake Bewdley, ON Tel: 905-727-8496 www.top-bass.ca

in Bo w fr b w

FISHING FOREVER Mike Desforges of Burlington, Ontario topped a 126 boat field to win the FLW’s Stren Series tournament held on the 1000 Islands in August of this year.

DINNER & AUCTION October 7, 2008

Canadians take First and Third at 1000 Islands

Le Dome

A group of 10 Ontario anglers made their collective mark in the FLW’s Stren Series recent Northern Division tournament on the 1,000 Islands held back on August 20 – 23. Leading the Canadian contingent was Mike Desforges of Burlington, Ontario, who topped the 126 boat field to win the event with a four-day total of 20 bass weighing 77pounds, 1-ounce. Elora Ontario’s Derek Strub took third place with a four day total of 20 bass weighing 71-pounds, 7-ounces while John McGoey from Omemee captured 22nd place with a weight of 47-pounds, 15ounces for his 20 biggest bass. Rounding out the Ontario crew were Jay McCormack from Aurora who finished in 41st; Rob Webster from Janetville in 44th; Kingston’s Tom Tarasoff took 45th place; Darren Jacko from Tillsonburg finished in 57th; Real Fishing’s own Bob Izumi nabbed the 62nd spot; Greg Gervais from Westmeath ended up in 88th and Mike Neilson from Markham finished in

BASS PRO SHOPS

121st place. Congratulations to all of these anglers for a great showing against a first class field of top American pros. Photo by David A. Brown, FLW Outdoors.

pro en

Oakville, ON Tel: 905-632-8679 www.fishingforever.ca

LAKE SIMCOE OPEN Bass Tournament October 25, 2008 Sibbald Point Provincial Park, Lake Simcoe Sutton, ON www.aurorabass.com TORONTO INTERNATIONAL BOAT SHOW January 10 - 18, 2009 Direct Energy Centre, Exhibition Place Toronto, ON 905-951-4054 www.torontoboatshow.com

Derek Strub from Elora, Ontario, with one of the chunky smallmouth bass that helped him capture third place in the 1000 Islands tournament.

Fall 2008 – Real Fishing 11

READ ALL ABOUT IT BIG: THE 50 GREATEST WORLD RECORD CATCHES Paintings by Flick Ford Text by Mike Rivkin with an introduction by George Reiger BIG: The 50 Greatest World Record Catches is a fascinat-

ing salute to the sportsmanship of dedicated fishermen, the history of big-game angling and the fine art that brings it alive. Artist Flick Ford and International Game Fish Association (IGFA) historian Mike Rivkin have combined to tell the stories of fifty of the most amazing record fish catches from around the world, selected for their sheer size, popularity, beauty and classic record story. Through species research and archival photography, renowned artist Flick Ford reconstructs a portrait of each record catch as it would have looked emerging from the water. The incredible stories range from Dr. John Cook’s legendary and still-standing 1916 brook trout record to fifteen-year-old Sara Hayward of Texas, whose wahoo catch was an astonishing thirty pounds bigger than the previous record. With over 50 colour paintings and hundreds of photos on its 216 pages, this book is a must for serious big fish aficionados. Hardcover: $65.00 CDN Greenwich Workshop Press, PO Box 231, Seymour, CT 06483 800-243-4246 www.greenwichworkshop.com

TROUT FLIES FOR THE 21ST CENTURY By Dick Talleur

Trout Flies for the 21st Century presents 200 of the most effective trout patterns in use today, providing the tying recipe for each one. Author and master tier Dick Talleur covers all the major categories: dry flies, wet flies, emergers, nymphs, terrestrials, attractors and streamers. Talleur has collected patterns from across the country, many from professional fishing guides, and thrown in a ton of classic patterns in his own famously practical and beautiful style. With fullcolor photographs of each completed fly and many technical photos of crucial tying steps, this book delivers a lifetime’s worth of must-tie patterns that will catch trout in any circumstance. Concealed Spiral-Bound: $24.95 ISBN 978-1-59921-259-3 The Lyons Press is an imprint of The Globe Pequot Press 246 Goose Lane, Guilford, CT 06437 203-458-4646 www.globepequot.com

12 Real Fishing – Fall 2008

Send us a photo of your best catch! You could see your picture in a future issue of Real Fishing Magazine! Send photos to: Real Fishing, 940 Sheldon Court, Burlington, ON L7L 5K6

Marise Dubé Stittsville ON Brown Trout

Ben Heron Lasalle ON Smallmouth Bass

Charles Weiss Toronto ON Muskellunge

Glen Chapman Oshawa ON Largemouth Bass

Frank Sears Oshawa ON Largemouth Bass

Mark Basaraba Timmins ON Walleye

Fall 2008 – Real Fishing 13

BOB IZUMIâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S REAL FISHING SHOW SCHEDULE The Magic of Crankbaits Trolling Ontario's Great Lakes Lake of the Woods Walleye, Pike and Bass Halifax Blue Shark Adventure Casting to Shore Rice Lake in the Fall Walleye Trolling on Erie North of Superior Jigging Yukon Lakers, Grayling and Pike Sinking Minnow Bass Trolling and Jigging for Walleye Springtime Pike and Bass Freshwater Flats 25 Years of Real Fishing Largemouth on Mexico's Lake Baccarac

October 4 October 11 October 18 October 25 November 1 November 8 November 15 November 22 November 29 December 6 December 13 December 20 December 27 January 3 January 10

STATION LISTING and AIRING TIMES* MARKET

PROV./STATE

STATION

DATE & AIR TIMES

Calgary

Global Calgary (CICT)

Saturday 12:00 m

Edmonton

Global Edmonton (CITV)

Saturday 12:00 pm

Lethbridge

Global Lethbridge (CISA)

Saturday 12:00 pm

Atlantic Canada

Global Atlantic (CIHF)

Saturday 10:00 am

British Columbia

Global BC (CHAN)

Saturday 11:00 pm

Winnipeg

Global Winnipeg (CKND)

Saturday 9:00 am Sunday 6:00 am

Ontario

Global Ontario (CIII)

Saturday 9:00 am

Quebec

Global Quebec (CKMI)

Saturday 9:00 am Sunday 7:00 am

Regina

Global Regina (CFRE)

Saturday 9:00 am Sunday 7:00 am

Saskatoon

Global Saskatoon (CFSK)

Saturday 9:00 am Sunday 7:00 am

USA

USA (National)

Versus

Tuesday 10:00 am

Canada/USA

WFN

Check www.wfn.tv for dates and times

*Station listings and air times are subject to change. Please refer to your local television listings for stations and times in your area.

What’s

NEW NEW

2008

BERKLEY® GULP!® ALIVE!™ 5-INCH CRAZY LEGS JERK SHAD The new Berkley® Gulp!® Alive!™ 5-inch Crazy Legs Jerk Shad has an improved bent, split-tail design and added legs to provide even more twitch and action than the original Jerk Shad. The new bait is heavy enough to cast and tough enough to withstand drag-stripping strikes and the exclusive GULP! formula disperses 400 times more scent and flavor than standard plastic baits. Available in five fish-catching colors including Black Shad, Chartreuse Pepper Neon, New Penny, Pearl White and Watermelon, the biodegradable Gulp! Alive! 5-inch Crazy Legs Jerk Shad comes in wide-mouthed, re-sealable, plastic containers that keep bait fresh and reusable for the next trip to the lake.

www.berkley-fishing.com

CURADO E-SERIES BAITCASTING REELS Shimano introduces five new Curado reels that have been redesigned with a more compact design making them easier to palm and providing all-day fishing comfort. The series includes the high speed CU200E7 and 201E7 with 7.0:1 gear ratios; the cranking CU200E5 and 201E5 with powerful 5.0:1 gearing and the large capacity CU300E and 301E. Features on all of the E-Series reels include HEG, Super Free, VBS, plus shielded stainless steel bearings and an A-RB bearing on the pinion gear to prevent saltwater intrusion. The Curado E-Series was voted Best of Show and Best Freshwater Reel at the 2008 ICAST New Product Showcase.

www.shimano.com

BOTTOM DWELLER DEEP STRUCTURE SPINNERBAIT Strike King’s new Bottom Dweller spinnerbait was made with deep water fishing in mind. With its unique head shape, the Bottom Dweller has been designed not to roll when it comes in contact with the bottom and it features all-new Raz-R-Blade high RPM blades. The Raz-R-Blade is a thin cut willow leaf blade that was designed to spin with increased speed for more flash in deep water while allowing the bait to stay in the strike zone longer. The Bottom Dweller is available in both 3/4-oz. and 1-oz. models and comes complete with the new Perfect Skirt and premium components.

www.strikeking.com

16 Real Fishing – Fall 2008

AVAILABLE AT: ÂŽ

1 Bass Pro Mills, Vaughan ON L4K 5W4 www.basspro.com

Omni-Techâ&#x201E;˘ is a revolution in outerwear fabric technology that provides waterproof/breathable protection for maximum comfort and performance.

What’s

NEW NEW

2008

We welcome submissions from manufacturers and distibutors for our New Products section. Products that appear in this section have not necessarily been tested or endorsed by the staff at Real Fishing. Submissions can be sent to: Editor, Real Fishing Magazine, 940 Sheldon Court, Burlington, ON L7L 5K6

LOWRANCE HANDHELD VHF RADIO/GPS Enhanced with a built-in GPS receiver, the new Lowrance LHR-80 is a fullfeatured, waterproof, floating, handheld VHF unit with the added convenience of a simple plotter with storage for up to 500 waypoints. The unit features a huge 128 x 128 pixel LCD screen with adjustable contrast settings and backlighting; latitude, longitude and time displays; a distress call button; the ability to select and program up to three favorite channels on a dedicated key; weather alerts and an easily accessible buddy list of up to 20 people. The Lowrance LHR-80 VHF/GPS radio comes with a belt clip, wristband, rubber duck antenna, desktop charger with 120V AC wall adapter and a 7.4V 1400mAh Li-ion battery pack.

www.lowrance.com

X-CHANGE® JIG SYSTEM Lindy's new X-Change Jig System will change the way you fish in a snap! The X-Change Jig System features a unique, patented design that allows anglers to quickly and easily change the weight or color of their jig without retying. Specially designed X-Change Jigheads and X-Change Max Gap® hook collars simply snap together, providing anglers with a multitude of size, color and hook options that can be changed to meet any conditions. The X-Change Jigheads are available in 1/16, 1/8, 1/4 and 3/8-ounce sizes and 20 colors including solids, glow 2-tone and metallics, while the X-Change hook collars come in four colours with 2/0 hooks.

www.lindyfishingtackle.com

BERKLEY® FIRELINE® BRAIDED LINES Berkley® is introducing two new braided Firelines® for 2009 that have been designed to excel on baitcasting reels. The radial construction of the new lines makes them round, smooth and strong, properties that keep these lines from digging into casting reel spools. FireLine® Tracer Braid features 2.5-foot sections of alternating low-visibility/high-visibility colors in a line that’s easy to detect yet subtle enough not to alarm even the most finicky fish. FireLine® Braid has all of the properties that anglers have come to love in the original Fireline: durability, ultra-sensitivity and easy castability. Both new lines are available in strengths from 15 to 80-pound test and come on 110, 300 and 1,100-yard spools.

www.berkley-fishing.com 18 Real Fishing – Fall 2008

fishing

Bob Izumi is the host of The Real Fishing Show.

By Bob Izumi

Decisions, Decisions, Decisions Being in the right place, having the right equipment and having the right conditions can spell successful fishing. It’s a fine line between a mediocre outing and a great one and I think that anybody reading this knows what I’m talking about. Now I’m not talking about enjoying the outdoors because, let’s face it, we all enjoy being out there pursuing our passion. What I’m talking about is that fine line between making the right decisions and the wrong ones. After coming off a downward spiral of a few bad tournaments I want to analyse what I did right and what I did wrong. That’s the great thing about fishing. Whether you have a successful outing or a bad one you can use what you’ve learned out there – good or bad – to your benefit the next time you go out. Many times I’ve said that I’m not a patient person. I do know that there are times when patience is important for successful fishing but I also know that running and gunning can catch you a lot of fish. Let’s use bass as an example. In a lot of lakes there can be as many as ten or more different patterns for largemouth and smallmouth bass going on. You could be getting topwater smallmouth, flipping heavy cover for largemouth, dropshotting deep water for smallmouth, fishing deep weeds for largemouth and so on. What I want to get into is the fact that decisions can make or break your fishing day. How long do you give a spot? How long do you give a technique? How big of an area do you try to expand your pattern or technique to when you catch some fish? What I learned in a recent tournament on Lake Champlain in upstate New York is that I was trying to fish too many things in one day. I’d run to fish a row of docks or matted weeds in one area then I’d run 35 or 40-miles to fish some reeds, then I was fishing some smallmouth with a dropshot in deep water somewhere in between those areas. The lesson I learned is that when you 20 Real Fishing – Fall 2008

have a limited amount of time on the water you have to analyze the situation and try to make your decision go in your favour. During the Champlain tournament a fellow competitor was fishing fairly large area with an average depth of about 15-feet, which had some big smallmouth on it. It wasn’t one of those places where you could go and catch a bunch of quick fish; it had to be covered thoroughly and methodically. He fished that area all day long catching a fish here and a fish there but at the end of the day both he and his partner brought in respectable limits. I would say that patience, know-how and the confidence in knowing that the area held enough fish were the keys to him catching those fish. In many cases it’s possible to run around on a lake and catch fish shallow, deep and in the mid-depths but it’s pretty hard to run a number of patterns when there’s a substantial amount of educated fishing pressure on the lake. Some patterns get burned out and some lakes just don’t lend themselves to cer-

tain techniques. And that’s one of the decisions you have to make – is it even possible to catch fish using a variety of patterns on the lake you’re fishing or are there only a few tactics that will result in success. The weather conditions on the lake can also play a big role in your success, or lack of. During practice for the Lake Champlain tournament the weather was overcast, windy, there were scattered rain showers and the fish were quite turned on but come tournament time we were faced with bluebird skies. The number of effective patterns went from 8 or 10 down to about three or four that dominated the event. The lesson I learned is that when the conditions get tougher you’re best bet is to stick with your strengths, focus on prime areas, and work them thoroughly. On the flip side, when conditions are good it’s often a good idea to cover larger expanses of water with faster moving baits in order to target aggressive fish. The bottom line for successful fishing is making the right decision at the right time. Sure, having great equipment and being in the right place can help, but the biggest key to great fishing lies right between your ears. Pay attention to what’s going on, adjust your approach accordingly, and you’ll become a more successful angler. ?

fly fishing

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

By Stephen May

Wading Safely Wading can help you access great river fishing efficiently, affordably and safely. Unfortunately, every year people run into trouble wading and some even perish. To avoid becoming one of these statistics, use your common sense. By staying within your limits, having a safety first attitude and using the right equipment you can enjoy the freedom that wading offers. When you are new to walking in the water I recommend practicing in shallow areas with gentle current to get your “river legs.” A rule of thumb is to only move one foot at a time when wading. This will help you to slow down, keep your balance and avoid and unplanned swim. Water depth and current speed can make wading more challenging. This is amplified in cold water and in water colored by higher flows. Swimming in October through

22 Real Fishing – Fall 2008

April in most of Canada is definitely not recommended! If you find yourself in water where you don’t feel safe, back up and look for shallower areas with less current where you are more comfortable. A “safety first” decision might just allow you to fish another day. Don’t push your luck. Other trouble spots to watch for are areas where fast flows and large boulders or downed trees mix. Getting pinned under a boulder or trapped by a tree in fast water

can be deadly. It is best to avoid these areas. For added safety try to always fish with a friend. Not only is it more fun to share your fishing experience, but there will be someone there to help if you need them. Having the right equipment for walking in rivers will help to keep you safer and you will be more comfortable. A good set of stocking foot waders with proper fitting boots that offer dependable traction are the way to go. Breathable waders fitted with a belt will keep you dry and allow you to layer underneath for cold water conditions. I am even comfortable fishing with ice bouncing off my waders when the proper layers are underneath. Solid wading shoes with good traction and ankle support are essential because few mountain trails offer the challenges of unstable, algae covered rocks on a river bottom. Boots with felt soles or soft rubber and metal studs provide needed traction on slippery streambeds. A wading belt stops water from pouring into your waders if you should ever experience a dunking. When wearing a belt you can usually stand up or float through a small set of rapids and end up with just a few cups of water in your waders and a bruised ego. But without a belt you may find yourself trying to swim in a bag full of water. Needless to say, this could be a very dangerous situation. A wading staff is another wise investment. An old ski pole, streamside stick or telescopic staff can provide a helpful “third leg.” I have a folding staff on my belt that is always ready to help me retreat from water that is too swift or to probe a river bottom in colored water. This folding staff is something that I don’t usually go on the river without. Don’t be afraid of wading. With some common sense it allows you the ultimate freedom to access quality fishing on rivers throughout the world. Treat them with respect and they will provide you with wonderful fishing experiences for years to come. ?

www.berkley-fishing.com

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Al Lindner, legendary angler

The FIRST translucent superline “I’ve fished FireLine Crystal all around the country, a lot of different kinds of fish and a lot of different kinds of environment. It fishes well against any water from crystal clear to so muddy you can’t see two inches down. There’s never been a line like this, a superline that seems to disappear in the water. That’s the power of thermal fusion. I love it!”

Northern Pikeminnow Ptychocheilus oregonensis

The head and snout are relatively long and flattened and can account for between 22% and 23% of the fish’s total length. The northern pikeminnow has a large mouth that can extend to the front edge of its eyes and its upper and lower jaws are equal in length. Its tail is distinctly forked and the fins are clear, however, the lower fins of males take on a yellow/orange hue during spawning. The native range of the northern pikeminnow includes the Pacific slope of North America, from western Alberta and northern British Columbia south to northeastern Nevada as well as parts of Montana, Idaho, Washington and Oregon. In British Columbia it can be found in most of the major river systems including the Fraser, Skeena and Columbia as well as in numerous smaller streams and interior lakes. In the upper northwestern United States its range includes the rivers of Puget Sound as well as Lake Washington, the Columbia, Snake, Willamette, Spokane, Pend Oreille, and Kootenai river systems and their tributaries. It prefers lakes and slow moving portions of streams. Although it is a freshwater species, the northern pikeminnow can also be found in many costal river estuaries, especially after spring flooding. The average size of the pikeminnow is between 10 and 20-inches in length and weighing 2 to 4-pounds, but there are reports of specimens reaching over 36-inches and

Photo by: Andre Luu

The northern pikeminnow has an elongated, slender, pike-like body that is generally dark green, green-brown or grey-green along the back with lighter, often silvery sides and a white to cream coloured abdomen. weighing over 20-pounds. The official IGFA All Tackle World Record for an anglercaught northern pikeminnow is 5-pounds, 8-ounces. Spawning takes place between May and July on shallow, gravelly riverbeds or along lake shores or river banks. They gather in large numbers and each female will spawn with more than one male. Females will produce from 12,000 to 100,000 eggs depending on the fish’s size, and the eggs are randomly deposited. Hatching takes place approximately one week after spawning. The Northern pikeminnow has a varied diet that includes terrestrial and aquatic insects and larvae, plankton, crustaceans, fish eggs and other fish including sculpins, minnows, and suckers. In addition to feeding on coarse species, the northern pikeminnow is considered to be a serious predator of game fish including various species of salmon and trout. For this reason it is often seen as a nuisance species and some fisheries agencies undertake efforts to control its numbers. In the lower Columbia and Snake River systems in parts of Washington, Oregon and Idaho, the Northern Pikeminnow Sport Reward Program offers a bounty of between $4 and $8 for each angler-caught northern pikeminnow that exceeds 9-inches in length. As a sport fish, the northern pikeminnow gives a good account of itself on light tackle and will readily hit small lures and flies.

Northern Pikeminnow

24 Real Fishing – Fall 2008

Although edible, they are not particularly sought after as a food fish so angling pressure is relatively light except in areas where bounties are offered. ?

DID YOU KNOW? In some parts of the United States a bounty of between $4 and $8 per fish is offered to anglers submitting northern pikeminnows over 9-inches in length.

FAST FACTS Colour: Dark green, green-brown or greygreen along the back becoming lighter and often silvery along the flanks.The belly is white to cream coloured. Size: The average size of a northern pikeminnow is between 10 and 20-inches in length with a weight of 2 to 4-pounds.They are said to occasionally attain lengths over 30-inches and weights of over 20-pounds. Life Span: Up to 11-years. Habitat: Lakes and slow moving sections of rivers. Occasionally the northern pikeminnow will be found in estuaries of large rivers. Spawning: Spawning takes place between May and July over gravelly sections of rivers and lake shorelines.They may also spawn along suitable riverbanks.

CURRENT RECORD The current IFGA All-Tackle World Record northern pikeminnow weighs 5-pounds, 8-ounces and was caught in Riffe Lake, Washington, on April 26, 2002.

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The Ultimate Fishing Experience

understanding electronics

Lawren Wetzel is a Lowrance Canada service technician and accomplished tournament angler who competes on the Citgo Bassmaster Northern Tour.

By Lawren Wetzel

Fishing Modes As anglers we are always tinkering with lures to give us an advantage in hopes of outsmarting the fish. It can be as simple as dyeing the tails of a soft plastic lizard chartreuse, or it can be as involved as designing your own jig molds, melting lead, pouring and painting your own custom jigs. Whatever it may be, it’s all done in the interest of being efficient and effective on the water in order to put more fish in the boat. Many anglers want to avoid tinkering with their electronics as it can be an involved and timely process but to get the best performance there are countless adjustments that need to be made as you move from shallow to deep water or from a rock bottom to a weed covered bottom. It sounds like a lot of work, and it sure can be. So how can we make this tinkering less time consuming but still take advantage of the manual settings? It’s very simple. On many of the new higher end sonar units there is now a feature called Fishing Modes. This feature allows you to switch between several preset Modes which will change a number of your sonar’s settings with one key stroke. The Fishing Modes can be found under the Sonar Features option on many models in the Lowrance LCX series of units. Fishing Modes are sonar presets that will retain in the memory all the settings you make to the unit under that Mode. Rather than adjusting the sensitivity, depth range, ping speed, and other functions each time conditions change, we can select the appropriate Fishing Mode to adjust all these settings at once for the best possible detail. For instance, each time you change the Fishing Mode to Shallow Water it will switch the unit back to the settings that were last made when the unit was in Shallow Water Mode. 26 Real Fishing – Fall 2008

The units come pre-programmed with several presets, but they can be fully customized to your personal preferences. I use four settings that will handle just about all the conditions I will face throughout the day. The first is for water from 0 to 5-feet, the second is set for 5 to 10- feet, the third for 10 to 30-feet and the final one is set for running on plane. Between the first three settings the only thing I change is the depth range and the sensitivity. The depth range I adjust accordingly, and the sensitivity I increase as the water depth increases. Being primarily a bass fisherman this works best for me as we rarely fish deeper than 30- feet. If you are targeting another species in deeper water you would need to adjust your depth settings for that. I do make quite a few changes to my On Plane setting. First, I like to run the unit in Automatic Depth Range mode because this allows the unit to keep the bottom on the screen as I run over deeper water. This gives a good perspective on the lay of the lake, and I can’t tell you how many spots I have

found while keeping my eye on the sonar when running across the lake. Turning the Ping Speed up to 100% also helps because this will increase the rate that the sonar screen updates. This gives you a more accurate picture of the bottom when moving at higher speeds, and also can warn you quicker of approaching danger. The Fishing Modes do make things much simpler when using manual mode, however, there are still a few situations where it can get time consuming constantly adjusting them as the depth changes. When you’re fishing steep break lines and constantly moving from deep to shallow water it is frustrating always going into the menu to change modes. An easy solution to that is making use of the Zoom feature. Set the depth range to the deepest you will be fishing and then all you need to do is hit the ZIN (Zoom In) key as you move shallower. If your depth range is set from 0-30 feet, pressing ZIN once will activate the 2X zoom and that will change the range to 0-15. Pressing ZIN again will activate the 4X zoom and this will change the range to 0-7 feet. By using the fishing modes, you can now tinker with the sonar setup in a fraction of the time allowing you to focus on what you came to do – catch fish! ?

Expanded choices of 7”, 8.4” and 10.4” SolarMAX™ TFT displays for 2008! For virtually any boat needing advanced navigation plus high-performance colour sounding, the Lowrance LCX Series big-screen models definitely provide a whole lot more operational capabilities and functions, for a whole lot less money! And for 2008, enjoy expanded choices, including 7”, 8.4” or 10.4” high-resolution, 256-colour SolarMAX™ TFT displays for superior viewing even in the brightest sunlight. Totally NMEA 2000® compliant for networking, these incredible sonar/GPS performers also incorporate two digital card slots for richly-detailed NauticPath™ and Navionics® plug-&-play electronic chart options. With increased nand flash memory, plus new Ethernet expansion ports for radar, video and satellite radio compatibility, the LCX Series products are loaded with Lowrance innovation. So compare the new LCX-27c, LCX-37c and the LC X-112c models, and be nicely surprised to find bigger total performance gains, for much smaller budget pain!

Dave Taylor is a well known photographer and naturalist from Mississauga, Ontario

water’s edge By Dave Taylor

White-Tailed Deer The largest mammal an angler is likely to come across while fishing a stream or river throughout much of North America is the white-tailed deer. Deer are as abundant now as they were at the time of the European discovery of North America. Some sources estimate that there are even more deer here then there was then. Certainly the increase in deer numbers has been one of the more successful wildlife stories of the last century. A hundred years ago market hunting for white-tails had virtually eliminated this species from large parts of its former range. Modern game laws and hunting regulations have really helped this species recover. It is, I suspect, a fairly common occurrence for anglers quietly fishing a stream to look up and see a deer coming down for a drink. Most encounters are brief and elicit little more than a comment, “Oh look, a deer,” before the quest for fish is again pursued. A big buck in the fall might get more attention but not much more. Deer are that common. White-tails deserve more. The species has been here 3 million years. That’s

28 Real Fishing – Fall 2008

about 3 million years longer than humans have been around. Our species is about 100,000 years old. We are of African origin by way of Eurasia but the white-tailed deer evolved here about the same time that our ancestors were learning to walk upright on the plains of Africa. Like us, white-tails are generalists. For much of those three million years the species was a less than spectacular member of the ecosystem. Confined to what is now the California coast, it eked out an existence despite the pressure from megacarnivores such as America lions, sabertoothed cats, cougars, wolves, bears and competition from mega-herbivores including three species of elephants, giant bison, camels, horses and giant ground sloths. It was only with the disappearance of many of these species at the end of the last ice age that the white-tailed deer spread across the continent. It also invaded South America where several races still can be found today. Its numbers were so great that it was more important to Native Americans than the bison - for better and worse. On the positive side it was a source of meat, leather and bones (for tools and fertilizing crops) but on the negative side it was a major competitor for the

domestic crops grown by the first North Americans. This is a species that not only survived major climate change on scale that surpasses the worst predictions of dire consequences imagined by Global Warming pundits, it reveled in them. In the last 10,000 years white-tails have shared the changing Ontario landscape with wooly mammoths, mastodons, elk, caribou, grizzly and black bears, moose and wolves. Some of these species are gone, some are in retreat and some are increasing in number, but the white-tail deer has, of all of them, managed to survive well in a mixture of farms, cities and wild lands. So the next time a deer comes down to the shore for a drink, show it some respect. It’s a true survivor. ?

Dave Taylor’s latest book explores a year in the life of deer through maps, text and over 400 striking and intimate images arranged by month and day.The photos are accompanied by informative captions that offer insight into the deer, its behavior through the seasons and the role it plays within its local ecosystem. Also included are images of other animals that share the deer’s habitat such as elk, moose, caribou, bears wolves and more. Deer World is sure to inform and delight sportsmen, photographers, naturalists and wildlife enthusiasts of all ages.The book is available at better bookstores or through Firefly Books, 66 Leek Cr., Richmond Hill, Ontario, 416-499-8412.

LIKE A COMPASS, THEY ALWAYS POINT NORTH. THE CARIBOU BOOT | RATED TO -40째 | SOREL.COM

30 Real Fishing – Fall 2008

OCTOBER NOVEMBER

MONDAY

TUESDAY

WEDNESDAY

THURSDAY

1:18 - 3:18 1:42 - 3:42

4:30 - 6:30 4:54 - 6:54

5:18 - 7:18 5:42 - 7:42

6:06 - 8:06 6:30 - 8:30

10:06 - 12:06 10:30 - 12:30

10:54 - 12:54 11:18 - 1:18

NA 12:06 - 2:06

12:30 - 2:30 12:54 - 2:54

3:42 - 5:42 4:06 - 6:06

4:30 - 6:30 4:54 - 6:54

5:18 - 7:18 5:42 - 7:42

8 6:54 - 8:54 7:18 - 9:18

2:06 - 4:06 2:30 - 4:30

9 7:42 - 9:42 8:06 - 10:06

16 1:18 - 3:18 1:42 - 3:42

6:06 - 8:06 6:30 - 8:30

9:18 - 11:18 9:42 - 11:42

10:06 - 12:06 10:30 - 12:30

11:42 - 1:42 12:06 - 2:06

12:30 - 2:30 12:54 - 2:54

SUNDAY

MONDAY

TUESDAY

WEDNESDAY

6:54 - 8:54 7:18 - 9:18

30 1:18 - 3:18 1:42 - 3:42

FRIDAY

SATURDAY

2:54 - 4:54 3:18 - 5:18

10 8:30 - 10:30 8:54 - 10:54

17 2:06 - 4:06 2:30 - 4:30

24 7:42 - 9:42 8:06 - 10:06

3:42 - 5:42 4:06 - 6:06

11 9:18 - 11:18 9:42 - 11:42

18 2:54 - 4:54 3:18 - 5:18

25 8:30 - 10:30 8:54 - 10:54

31 2:06 - 4:06 2:30 - 4:30

THURSDAY

FRIDAY

SATURDAY

1 2:54 - 4:54 3:18 - 5:18

2:42 - 4:42 3:06 - 5:06

3:30 - 5:30 3:54 - 5:54

4:18 - 6:18 4:42 - 6:42

8:18 - 10:18 8:42 - 10:42

9:06 - 11:06 9:30 - 11:30

9:54 - 11:54 10:18 - 12:18

10:06 - 12:06 10:30 - 12:30

1:06 - 3:06 1:30 - 3:30

DECEMBER

Best Fishing Times 2008

DOUG HANNON’S

To order your copy of Doug Hannon’s 2008 Moon Clock Calculator send $9.95 plus $3.75 shipping & handling to: Moon Clock, Department RE, PO Box 724255, Atlanta, GA 31139 or visit www.moontimes.com

SUNDAY

1:54 - 3:54 2:18 - 4:18

2:42 - 4:42 3:06 - 5:06

5 5:06 - 7:06 5:30 - 7:30

3:30 - 5:30 3:54 - 5:54

5:54 - 7:54 6:18 - 8:18

13 10:42 - 12:42 11:06 - 1:06

20 4:18 - 6:18 4:42 - 6:42

6:42 - 8:42 7:06 - 9:06

14 11:30 - 1:30 11:54 - 1:54

21 5:06 - 7:06 5:30 - 7:30

15 NA 12:42 - 2:42

22 5:54 - 7:54 6:18 - 8:18

8:42 9:06 3:06 3:30

7:30 - 9:30 7:54 - 9:54

8:18 - 10:18 8:42 - 10:42

9:06 - 11:06 9:30 - 11:30

10:42 - 12:42 11:06 - 1:06

11:30 - 1:30 11:54 - 1:54

NA 12:42 - 2:42

SUNDAY

MONDAY

TUESDAY

WEDNESDAY

THURSDAY

FRIDAY

SATURDAY

1:54 - 3:54 2:18 - 4:18

2:42 - 4:42 3:06 - 5:06

6:42 - 8:42 7:06 - 9:06

7:30 - 9:30 7:54 - 9:54

8:18 - 10:18 8:42 - 10:42

NA 12:42 - 2:42

1:06 - 3:06 1:30 - 3:30

1:54 - 3:54 2:18 - 4:18

5:54 - 7:54 6:18 - 8:18

6:42 - 8:42 7:06 - 9:06

7:30 - 9:30 7:54 - 9:54

11:30 - 1:30 11:54 - 1:54

NA 12:42 - 2:42

1:06 - 3:06 1:30 - 3:30

3:30 - 5:30 3:54 - 5:54

10 9:06 - 11:06 9:30 - 11:30

17 2:42 - 4:42 3:06 - 5:06

24 8:18 - 10:18 8:42 - 10:42

31 1:54 - 3:54 2:18 - 4:18

4:18 - 6:18 4:42 - 6:42

7:30 - 9:30 7:54 - 9:54

6:42 7:06 1:06 1:30

23/30 -

5 5:06 - 7:06 5:30 - 7:30

9:54 - 11:54 10:18 - 12:18

10:42 - 12:42 11:06 - 1:06

3:30 - 5:30 3:54 - 5:54

25 9:06 - 11:06 9:30 - 11:30

4:18 - 6:18 4:42 - 6:42

26 9:54 - 11:54 10:18 - 12:18

6 5:54 - 7:54 6:18 - 8:18

13 11:30 - 1:30 11:54 - 1:54

20 5:06 - 7:06 5:30 - 7:30

27 10:42 - 12:42 11:06 - 1:06

If it looks like a fish, swims like a fish, feels like a fish and tastes like a fish then it must be a fish. Right? That’s what this giant bass thought when he decided to chow down on what appeared to be a lone baitfish.Too bad for him his lunch turned out to be one of Berkley’s new 5" Hollow Belly Swim Baits. Oops!

32 Real Fishing – Fall 2008

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D[l[h" ;l[h Ijef <_i^_d] JWa[ YeccWdZ e\ j^[ XeWj" \hec Wdom^[h[ _d _j$ M_j^ ekh d[m :_]_jWb M_h[b[ii I[h_[i" oekĂ&#x160;h[ \h[[ je cel[ WXekj j^[ Z[Ya" WdZ W fhekZ emd[h e\ j^[ ceij h[b_WXb[ WdZ l[hiWj_b[ jhebb_d] cejeh ed j^[ cWha[j jeZWo$ >_j j^[ mWj[h m_j^ fh[Y_i[ ij[[h_d]" W )) ijhed][h i^W\j XWYa[Z Xo W B_\[j_c[ =kWhWdj[[" W hk]][Z 9hWZb[ cekdj" WdZ el[hi_p[Z Xhki^[i j^Wj Z[b_l[h i_b[dj" kbjhW# [\\_Y_[dj ef[hWj_ed m_j^ b[ii XWjj[ho ZhW_d$ M[ YekbZ ]e ed" Xkj m[ ik]][ij oek \_i^ _j" WdZ \_dZ ekj \eh oekhi[b\ m^Wj _jĂ&#x160;i b_a[ je hkd j^[ X[ij$

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Ekh M_h[b[ii >WdZ#>[bZ H[cej[ ]_l[i oek kbjhW#fh[Y_i[ YeccWdZ e\ oekh :_]_jWb M_h[b[ii cejeh$ 9^Wi[ W XWii Xem je ij[hd" ifej \_i^ \hec j^[ feb_d] fbWj\ehc" [Wj bkdY^ Wj j^[ Yedieb[ # _j i jhkbo W Yedjheb \h[Wa i Zh[Wc$

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Lake Baccarac’s Big Bass Bonanza W

hen the world’s largest rod and reel manufacturer decides to take some of their sales representatives, retailers and pro staff on a fishing adventure, every aspect of the trip has got to be as first-rate as their company. That’s why Shimano chose to load their crew onto a Continental Airlines Boeing 757 and whisk them off to Lake Baccarac Lodge on Mexico’s Lake Baccarac for their 2008 Big Bass Hunt this past September. Over the past several seasons Lake Baccarac has gained a well deserved reputation as perhaps the best bass lake in the world both for numbers of bass and for their incredible size, making it the ideal location for this dream fishing adventure.

Photos by Izumi Outdoors, Francois Latulippe and Jeff Gustafson

34 Real Fishing – Fall 2008

The fishing isn’t the only thing that’s hot on Lake Baccarac. Daytime temperatures can soar to levels that parch both the landscape and visiting anglers. It’s enough to drive some anglers into the shade for a cool drink – or into the drink for a cool dip.

36 Real Fishing – Fall 2008

Despite the heat, eventually the hot fishing offered by Lake Baccarac lures anglers onto the water where the rewards can be huge.

Fall 2008 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Real Fishing 37

Baccarac’s bass aren’t picky about what they eat. At times it seems like they’ll hit any bait that’s thrown their way.

38 Real Fishing – Fall 2008

With so many big bass in contention, picking the winner of the Shimano Big Bass Hunt wasn’t easy.

FISHING FRIENDLY TRAVEL

But in any fishing competition there can only be one winner.

Everyone else will have to try again next year.

40 Real Fishing – Fall 2008

CO N T I N E N TA L A I R L I N E S Continental Airlines is one of just a few “fishing friendly” carriers who are willing to transport fishing gear.Their policy allows for one item of fishing equipment per customer as checked baggage. An item of fishing equipment consists of the following: • Rods • Reel • 1 landing net • 1 pair of fishing boots • 1 tackle box When transporting your fishing gear all items must be properly encased in a suitable container not exceeding a total of 115 linear inches (L + W + H). Fishing equipment over 80 inches in length will not be accepted as checked baggage on any itinerary involving a Continental Express or Continental Connection flight. If you have more than one piece of fishing equipment as outlined above, a second bag fee of $25 will be applied. Fishing equipment carried in addition to the baggage allowance will be assessed at the current excess baggage charge for a single piece, whether or not it is presented as a single piece. For more information on traveling with your fishing gear, visit Continental’s website at www.continental.com

LEAVE THE INDOORS BEHIND.

Be the master of all your backyard cooking with the Coleman BackYard Selectâ&#x201E;˘ Grill. With four different optional Side Solution accessories you can roast beef tenderloin for the adults while making hot dogs and fries for the kids. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the grill for every meal and every occassion. www.coleman.com

Griddle / Skillet

Available at

Rotisserie / Oven

Side Solutions acecssories are sold separately.

Side Burner

DEER SEASON

BASS By Shawn Good

Shawn Good is a transplanted Ontarian who’s been working as a fisheries biologist with the Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department for the past 11 years. Shawn manages bass, muskie and other fish populations in south-western Vermont and Lake Champlain. He’s a hardcore bass angler who fishes both recreationally and competitively.

42 Real Fishing – Fall 2008

Fall 2008 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Real Fishing 43

W hen my deer hunting plans fell through last November I found myself with a week off and nothing else planned. The Sunday evening before my vacation I contemplated the week ahead and the long “honey-do” list I’d put off for most of the summer. I thought I should maybe knock a few things off it before the snow started flying and winter set in, however, as I puttered around the garage my Ranger kept catching my eye. There it sat, un-winterized and still loaded with my rods and tackle… ready to go… beckoning me. “It’s too late in the year to go bass fishing,” I thought to myself. “The air’s too cold. The water’s too cold. The fall bite was weeks ago.” As I rattled off the excuses not to go, each one sounded weaker than the previous. Actually, the forecast for the coming week was for perfect fall weather – bluebird skies, cool temperatures and light winds. Why not take the boat out for one last hurrah before putting her away for the winter? I had the time, the weather was nice, the boat and gear were ready and bass season was still open on my favourite lake. There was no reason not to go so I made the decision that

44 Real Fishing – Fall 2008

night – I’d hit the water the next day for one last bass trip of the year. The next morning was a bit bizarre. I'd never bass fished this late in the year and it was more than a little odd pulling the boat out of the garage with the thermometer registering 28ºF. When I got to the launch it was just before 10:00 a.m. and there was still a skim coating of ice on the ramp. “This is crazy,” I thought. “Shouldn’t I be sitting in the bush somewhere with my muzzleloader, looking for deer?” An hour later I couldn’t have disagreed with myself more. I had already caught two nice largemouth (a 3-pound 10-ounce

fish and a 4-14) plus a half-dozen smaller fish and it only got better after that. So much so that I ended up fishing two more times that week. When people think of fall bass fishing, they usually think of late September or early October, rarely November. I have to admit that before last fall I was among those anglers. Sure, you will sometimes see the hardcore walleye and muskie guys out in late November, or even into December, but bass anglers generally pack the rods away and winterize their boats long before then. That’s a definite mistake, as I came to realize last fall. November bass fishing, as it turns out, can be just as productive as September and early October if you take the time to learn how bass transition to their early winter haunts. And a fall bass outing doesn’t mean you have to exclusively target those gangs of hungry smallies that are more synonymous with that time of year. Largemouth bass, and big ones at that, are more than happy to eat your lures late in the fall if you present your baits where and how the fish like them. Bass fishing at this time of year doesn’t require the typical summer arsenal of rods and tackle piled up on the front deck either. Two or three rods and a handful of lures will do the trick. Late fall largemouth fishing is all about keying in on specific areas and structure and then working them with simple, yet effective, techniques. Prime areas to target during this period are rock ledges, scattered weed edges and isolated, deep offshore structure. The most important aspect of the first two is that they must offer quick access to deep water of 18 to 20-feet or better. By early November, near-freezing overnight air temperatures have cooled the lake’s surface considerably and deeper water offers a slightly warmer refuge for bass. However, bluebird skies and a few hours of warm sun in the morning will draw bass up out of the depths and into the shallows where they hunt among the scattered, decaying vegetation and rocks, gorging on sluggish, frigid baitfish. By the time I got the boat in the water that Monday morning the air temperature had warmed up to 40ºF or so and the surface temperature on the graph read 47ºF. Not really knowing how or where to start

The bass didn’t disappoint. That morning was even colder than the previous morning but the sky was clear and the sun felt good as it warmed both us and the upper layers of the lake – perfect conditions to intercept hungry bass as they invaded the shallower water looking for an easy meal.

We began on the same weedbed I had fished on Monday and I started catching bass right away on a crankbait with a slow, wide wobble. Tom likes to throw a spinnerbait and so, out of habit, that’s what he started with that morning. But, after nearly a half hour without a bite, he switched

The One-Knot Wonder!

the day, I picked up my crankbait rod and began covering water. By pure chance, I started casting along the closest weedline to the launch, in 10 to 12-feet of water, but near where the bottom dropped quickly to a depth of over 25-feet. Being so late in the fall, the weed edge wasn’t nearly as well defined as it was in the summer. Clumps of vegetation were scattered, but some still looked surprisingly lush and green. As I slowly put the pieces of the puzzle together I realized this was also the key to catching numbers of good fish. Most of my hits came when I pulled my lure slowly through weeds that were still green. Late fall bass, it seems, don't want to work too hard for a meal. The retrieve that achieved the best results was cranking my bait hard a couple times right off, to drive it down to depth, then crawling it back to the boat as slowly as I could. When the lure contacted weeds I just lifted the rod tip and twitched it through gently, instead of ripping it out as I would in the summer. More times than not, as the crankbait slipped through the clump, I’d feel a bass suck it in. A medium-action 6’6” crankbait rod with a soft tip and spooled with 12-pound test fluorocarbon line was essential in feeling the difference between weeds and fish. As I said before, the fishing was so good on Monday I couldn’t pass up a second (and third) trip that week, so the following Thursday I coaxed a co-worker, Tom Jones, out with me with promises of big things.

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Fall 2008 – Real Fishing 45

over to a medium diving crankbait and it didn't take him long to connect with his first three-pounder of the day. We finished working another long weed edge adjacent to a steep dropoff and caught a half-dozen good bass each. A light breeze had slowly pushed us off the weed edge but by another stroke of luck we discovered a second late fall bass pattern for the week. Looking down at the Lowrance, I saw that we had drifted into 22-feet of water and we were marking a small hump with several arcs around it. I pointed this out to Tom and it didn’t take him long to drop his crankbait rod and pick up another which he rigged with a plain jighead and Berkley Gulp straight-tail worm. He let the bait spiral to the bottom right next to the small piece of structure. Immediately his line jumped and he set the hook on what turned out to be a feisty 3-1/2 pound smallmouth. When I saw that, I frantically began digging through my boxes and came up with a 3/4-ounce silver Hopkins jigging spoon. I tied it on, dropped it down onto the hump, lifted, dropped, lifted, dropped and

WHAM – a hit like a freight train! I landed a good smallmouth, just slightly smaller than Tom’s. Realizing we had stumbled upon a little gold mine, we spent the next several hours wandering around the general area looking for similar pieces of structure in the deeper water. Every time we found one, we’d catch fish - and not just smallmouth. Several nice largemouth came out of 20-feet of water or more. Apparently not all of those late fall, deepwater largemouth make the trip upslope to the weed edge to feed for the day! Similar to summer patterns, bass don’t require very large pieces of structure to congregate around in the fall. Summer bass anglers will flip and pitch to the smallest stick or branch that’s fallen in the water, as they can often hold a decent sized bass or two. So too with offshore spots. When late fall bass slide off the steep drops into deeper water, seeking that extra couple of degrees in temperature, they still feel the urge to relate to something solid, regardless of how small it is. It can often be something as small as a chair-sized boulder

A small hump in deep water can be a magnet for late fall bass.

or a single, solitary sunken tree branch. The important thing to remember is that these pieces of structure are usually the only oddity on an otherwise featureless piece of the lake bottom. They will hold fish, and usually more than one. High-quality colour sonar units are a must to find and fish such structure – and GPS/Sonar combos will make it that much easier for you to stay on the structure as you work it. I don’t have a combo unit on my boat yet and the light wind we had that day kept blowing Tom and I off of those little pieces of structure. We sometimes spent more time looking at the graph and moving around with the trolling motor trying to find them again than actually fishing them. One of the great things about late fall bass fishing is that there’s no need to get an early start. Hitting the water at 6 or 7 a.m. for the early morning bite is unnecessary and can be rather painful in the freezing dawn temperatures! After all, this isn’t duck hunting – this is lazy man’s bass fishing. Sleep in, wait until the sun’s well up and the surface water temperature has inched upwards a few degrees. With water temperatures hovering in the 40’s, bass need a couple of extra hours to awaken, warm up, and begin to think about feeding. On the water by 10:00 a.m., off by 3 p.m. These are short days, but possibly some of the most productive of the year! As I drove back home from the lake on Friday I realized that the end of my deer season bass fishing came much too quickly. I was wishing that I didn't have to put the boat away for good this time, knowing that those largemouth and smallmouth were still out there, cruising around and on the hunt for those last precious meals before winter arrived. But the snow was coming all too soon and my summer “honey-do” list didn’t seem to be getting any shorter… ?

Fall 2008 – Real Fishing 47

SIMPLE FALL TACTICS FOR

TROPHY MUSKIES By Ryan Haines Ryan Haines operates Lake of the Woods Experience Guide Service out of Kenora, Ontario and has been guiding on Lake of the Woods since 1992. Ryan has a Fisheries Management degree from the University of Northern British Columbia.

once read that there are three phases that many serious anglers will go through during their lifetime. The

first phase is the desire to catch as many fish as possible. Many anglers are able to maintain their sanity and remain in this phase for their entire lives. The second phase is to catch the biggest fish in the area or system. The third and final phase is to pursue the most difficult fish to catch. The mighty muskellunge is one of those unique sport fish that bridges both the second and third phases of this progression.

48 Real Fishing – Fall 2008

It is this combination of huge size and difficulty to catch that has made the pursuit of muskies a lifelong passion for many anglers throughout North America. For those anglers afflicted with “the fever”, there is no better time to best their quarry than the cold, crisp days of autumn.

Muskie fishing in the fall typically requires a shift from the casting focus of the summer months to a trolling dominated approach. The reason for this is that during the summer months muskellunge in Canada will typically seek out the warm surface waters as their metabolism

operates optimally in water temperatures in the mid 70â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s (Fahrenheit). As the surface waters begin to cool, warmer temperatures can be found in deeper waters. In addition, the cooling fall waters reduce the productivity and food availability in near-shore habitats and forage fish are

more readily available away from the muskieâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s summer haunts. For these reasons, fall muskellunge head to deeper waters that can be more efficiently covered by trolling. Darcy Finlan is a muskie fishing enthusiast and guide who runs Darcy Finlan's

Fall 2008 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Real Fishing 49

Lake of the Woods Fishing Guide Service out of Sioux Narrows, Ontario on the shores of Lake of the Woods, one of the world’s premier muskie waters. During his 19-years of assisting his guests latch onto these large, toothy critters, Darcy has documented angling approaches that match the behaviour of the mighty muskellunge as the lake begins to cool and ice-up approaches. During the fall Darcy will continue to have a casting dominated approach right up until turnover. Following turnover, trolling is the name of the game until the boat launch is covered with a thick layer of ice.

EARLY FALL As the surface waters begin to cool in early September (near the time of the first frost) Darcy will put away the bucktails and topwater baits of summer and begin to cast deeper running baits such as Muskie Innovations’ “Bull Dawg” and Esox

Darcy Finlan with a nice fall muskie.

50 Real Fishing – Fall 2008

Research Co.’s “Triple D.” The Bull Dawg is retrieved with a pumping action of the rod and the Triple D is twitched back to the boat in a jerk-pause manner. Darcy’s casting efforts are focused on rock piles with adjacent deep water access. This time of year focusing on the remaining patches of live, broad-leaf weeds such as “cabbage weed” will also produce fish. If casting these areas is not moving any fish, it is time to add some trolling to the mix.

MUSKIE GEAR Boat Trolling for muskies involves using an outboard for hours at continuous speeds. Kicker motors are designed to perform this task and save a great deal of wear and tear on your big motor. High quality electronics are a must for marking baitfish and muskies,and a GPS-Sonar unit allows you to track your trolling path while marking fish and depth at the same time. Rodholders, while not necessary, will help you to stay on the water longer during those late fall missions when you need to bury your hands into your pockets to keep them warm.

TROLLING AWAY When the trolling sessions of late fall are underway, Darcy Finlan takes an unorthodox, but simple, approach to determining where his efforts should begin. Rather than pinpoint areas to focus his trolling efforts, Darcy will troll the entire shoreline of large (100-acre plus) islands. An ideal island will have multiple points extending out into a deep basin. The trolling then begins around the entire island, between depths of 8 to 15-feet, keeping a close watch on electronics for congregations of baitfish or muskie. Large muskie and pike will show up on the graph as large, steep-angled arcs (like they are doing wheelies under the water). Either enter waypoints or make mental notes of where the baitfish or large muskie/pike are located in relation to the island and conduct a more focused trolling session in these areas after completing the circumnavigation of the island. “This approach enables me to find a great deal of unknown structure that does not show up on the map and receives less fishing pressure. In addition, focusing on large islands allows me to spend more time with a lure in the water covering new territory,” says Finlan. Another strategy is to target deep water areas adjacent to large, shallow, weedy bays. As the weeds die off, baitfish, walleye, perch, and small pike will exit the weeds and head for deeper water. Muskie will set up in neck-down areas between the weeds and deep water to intercept these migrating forage fish.

Rods A longer muskie rod will get the lure further away from the boat and help to cover more water so 7’0”to 8’0”muskie rods will be excellent choices for both trolling and casting. Shimano’s line up of Compre Muskie Rods will meet all of your muskellunge needs. Reels For casting, most round spool casting reels, as well as some of the heavier bass reels, will get the job done. The Calcutta 400 is an excellent muskie reel made with the same quality as other high-end Shimano reels. For trolling duty, choose a quality line counter reel with a large line capacity. Leaders Fluorocarbon trolling leaders can be purchased from all muskie tackle shops. The other option is to make your own using ball bearing swivels, snaps (make sure to use cross-lock), crimps, and 100 to 150-pound test fluorocarbon leader line.Darcy Finlan has his own leaders made in 3-foot lengths of 150-pound test fluorocarbon. Line Superlines now dominate the reels of muskie anglers everywhere. Any of the top brands in 80pound test will handle most muskie fishing situations. Tie these lines with a Palomar knot to ensure that your trophy makes it to the boat in a timely fashion.

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Electronics play a large role in an effective trolling strategy. Not only does a fishing graph help to mark baitfish and muskie, but a GPS unit will help to make the most efficient use of your trolling passes. When trolling, the visible trails feature allows anglers to record where they have made trolling passes over an area and this information can be used to attack the same area from a different angle to try to induce a strike. Finlan stresses the importance of trusting your electronics. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Last season, I trolled over for over two hours after marking a large muskie on my graph just once. The result was a 50.5inch beauty.â&#x20AC;?

Beth Guillou with the result of trolling for two hours over the same piece of structure.

52 Real Fishing â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Fall 2008

Once you have caught a muskie in an area, do not immediately move on to the next spot. There is a good reason why that fish was located at that spot, and other muskies will have the same reason to be in that area. It is not uncommon to catch multiple muskies from the same general area in a short time period. Be sure to pay attention to details such as trolling direction, boat speed, wind direction, and depth every time a fish is caught to begin to develop your own patterns. The ideal trolling speed for muskie will change as the season progresses. Darcy Finlan will typically troll at 4-mph during early fall trolling seasons and 3.5-mph is as slow as he will go. After turnover, the

speed gets cranked up a notch to between 5 and 5.5-mph to try and produce a reaction strike from behemoth muskie looking to bulk up for the upcoming winter. To temporarily change the speed of the lure, try occasionally pumping the rod while trolling as this will sometimes trigger strikes. Altering the direction of the boat will also vary the speed of the lures. Running the boat in a zig-zag pattern (which is often necessary when following a shoreline) will speed up the lures on the outside of the turn and slow the lures on the inside of the turn. Pay attention to which lures are being hit on a turn as these are cues as to whether you should speed up or slow down your trolling speed.

A selection of Muskie Mania Jakes (top) and Esox Research Triple Ds (bottom) are ideal for late fall musky fishing.

54 Real Fishing â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Fall 2008

MAKE IT A JAKE When it comes to lure selection, Finlan feels that the lure that you select for trolling is not that important as long as it is a Muskie Mania Jake. Although he will occasionally allow a Triple D to go for a swim behind the boat in the late fall, usually Darcyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s only decision is what size and colour of Jake to use. This decision consists of 8 to 10-inch Jakes in perch, glitter walleye, and Holoform Superman (white) colours. Other excellent trolling baits include the 9-inch Grandma, Muskie Mania Ernie, and the classic Drifter Believer. For trolling Jakes and Grandmas in 8 to 15-feet of water, 80 to 100-feet of line out is the ideal distance behind the boat. For

HANDLING FISH Despite their large size and ferocious reputation, muskellunge are one of the most fragile fish species and must be handled with care. It is important to keep all muskie in the water for as long as possible.A large,deep muskie net is essential to keep the fish in the water at boat side to remove hooks, take measurements, and prepare for photos. Once the hooks have been removed from the fish using long needle-nose pliers (or cutters for those fish hooked really deep), take a length measurement using a floating measuring stick. If you would like a replica mount, girth measurements can also be taken while the fish is in the water. When taking photos,ensure that all of the preparations have been made prior to lifting the fish out of the water. The camera should be on, the person operating the camera should be familiar with how to operate it and the location and pose for the photo of your trophy should all be determined prior to lifting the fish out of the water. With proper preparation, there is no need for a fish to be out of the water for more than 10-seconds to adequately document your great catch. These few precautionary measures will help to ensure that angling mortality is minimized and a healthy fishery will be preserved for years to come.

Fall 2008 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Real Fishing 55

deeper diving lures such as the Triple D and Ernie, 60 to 80-feet of line out is often sufficient. The Believerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s diving depth can be adjusted using the two different clip attachments. Lures should be trolled so that they occasionally hit bottom - which often triggers strikes - but not so that they are continually digging into it. All this does is forces you to spend a large portion of your day removing snagged baits from the bottom. Line counter reels are an important part of a precise trolling approach to ensure that you have your lure running at the desired depth. The speed of the boat will not impact upon the depth of the lure, so once you have determined the ideal amount of line for a lure to run at a desired depth it will work at all trolling speeds.

56 Real Fishing â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Fall 2008

CASTING REVISITED Do not put your casting gear into winter storage as soon as turnover hits your favourite body of water. On those exceptionally warm, sunny fall afternoons in October, shallow, sheltered bays will warm enough to see a brief increase in productivity and fish activity. During these afternoons, it is a great opportunity to hook a few more muskie chucking lures from the front deck. Focus on the bays that will receive the greatest warming influence from the sun, similar to selecting an early-spring pike fishing area. This fall, take advantage of your best opportunity to connect with the muskie of a lifetime. Tie on a Jake, put your rod in the rod holder, and troll your way around the

nearest large island. Use this simple approach to muskie success until Old Man Winter forces you to tuck your boat away for another season. Happy hunting! ?

CONTACT INFORMATION Ryan Haines Lake of the Woods Experience 68 Beauty Bay Road, Kenora, ON P9N 4P3 Phone: 807- 465-5689 www.lakeofthewoodsguide.com email: experience@lakeofthewoodsguide.com Darcy Finlan Lake of the Woods Fishing Guide Service P.O. Box 592, Sioux Narrows, ON P0X 1N0 Phone: 807-226-9798 www.darcyfish.com E-mail: darcy@darcyfish.com

FISHING FOREVER UPDATE Fishing Forever Dinner & Auction Fishing Forever’s gala fundraising Dinner and Auction is being held on Tuesday, October 7th, at Le Dome in Oakville, Ontario. The evening kicks off with cocktails and a silent auction at 5:00 p.m. followed by a fully catered, sit-down dinner at 7:30. The highlight of the evening will be the live auction where a number of dream trips and other outdoors related items will go on the block. This is the major fundraising event of the year for Fishing Forever and all of the

monies raised will be used towards fisheries and conservation related projects, including Ontario’s Atlantic salmon reintroduction program. Seating for the Fishing Forever Dinner and Auction is limited and will be available on a first-come, firstserved basis. To avoid disappointment, you’ll want to you book your seats early. For convenience, you can

order tickets on-line at www.fishingforever.ca or by calling 905-632-8679 ext. 0. ?

KIDS, COPS AND CANADIAN TIRE FISHING DAYS The 2008 season of the popular Kids, Cops and Canadian Tire Fishing Days program has just concluded another hugely successful year. What began as a grass-roots series of fun fishing days in Ontario has grown to include nearly 60 events in three provinces, including nine new fishing days in 2008. With the gracious assistance and support of parents, local police members, businesses, fishing clubs and corporate sponsors like Canadian

58 Real Fishing – Fall 2008

Tire, some 8,000 youngsters were introduced or re-introduced to the wonderful sport of fishing this year. Along with the success of the live fishing days, Kids, Cops and Canadian Tire Fishing Days launched a new, interactive web site in 2008. The site is packed with general fishing information, games, information on attending or hosting a fishing day and a complete schedule of events. Most Kids, Cops and Canadian Tire Fishing Days are free and in many cases rods and reels are provided for kids who may not have their own. Prizes or gifts are

handed out to all of the participants and free lunches are often provided by the local hosting clubs. As this issue goes to press, the 2009 schedule of events is already starting to fill and it looks like the Kids, Cops and Canadian Tire Fishing Days program will be even bigger next year. If you’ve ever wanted to take a youngster fishing, there’s no better way than by attending one of these events. For complete details on the Kids, Cops and Canadian Tire Fishing Days program, visit their new website at www.kidsandcops.ca. ?

Tales from the Road By Bob Izumi

Since our last issue I’ve had a wild and crazy schedule. I was invited by the Canadian Wildlife Federation to attend their annual banquet in Edmonton but unfortunately my schedule didn’t allow me to make it out there. As it turned out I received an award – the Roderick Haig-Brown Award for Outstanding Conservation Achievement. I have to admit I was quite flattered and honoured to be recognized like that. We made a trip up to Lake of the Woods for some fishing out of Wiley Point Lodge where we targeted primarily muskies. We ended up catching muskies and pike up to the 41-inch range along with a number of walleyes. Overall it was a great trip. The folks at Wiley Point Lodge have a phenomenal operation and their accommodations, food and guides are all top notch. After my muskie trip my son, Darren, and I fished the CSFL’s annual Casey Cup bass tournament on Lake Simcoe. We ended up in 22nd place with 20.66-pounds for the day which wasn’t quite enough to place us among the winners, but we did end up catching the big fish of the tournament, a 6.24-pound smallmouth bass. Then it was off to Rondeau Bay in southwestern Ontario. Rondeau Bay is a small bay off of Lake Erie and it’s where I grew up fishing. My brother, Wayne, and I did some

60 Real Fishing – Fall 2008

video for our 25th Anniversary show which will air during next year’s Real Fishing Show season. It was fun to get down to our old stomping grounds to have a look around and to re-live some of the fond memories that we have of growing up in that area. As it turned out, after we shot a bunch of the video we needed in and around our hometown of Blenheim and the surrounding areas, we only had an hour and a half or so to fish but we managed to catch a few nice bass. As the sun started to set I wished we would have had more time to fish, but that’s the way the schedule goes. After our day at Rondeau, my son and I fished two CSFL one-day tournaments on Rice Lake and ended up in the middle of the pack in both of them. I guess that’s what happens when you don’t practice and just run around trying to catch fish in some of the old areas. A lot of these lakes change

from year to year making pre-fishing so important, especially considering the calibre of today’s anglers.

Then I was off to Las Vegas for the annual ICAST show. This is the show where all the fishing manufacturers showcase their newest products for the upcoming year. Some highlights included Shimano’s new and totally redesigned Curado baitcasting reel; Berkley’s Powerbait Hollow Belly Tube and some new Gulp Alive assortments and Strike King’s two new spinnerbaits – the Bottom Dweller and Burner. I have to admit that getting away to the ICAST show every year is a real treat. I get to see a lot of old friends and a ton of new fishing products and this year’s show was definitely a lot of fun to attend. The World Fishing Network hosted its first tournament ever, the Canadian Open, out of Sarnia, Ontario, back on July 25 – 27. They ran an excellent event and had a great turnout, and the city of Sarnia really got behind it. It was exciting to see the huge turnout of both competitors and spectators.

Berkley approaches bait with unmatched scientific understanding of fish and what causes them to strike. Proof of their latest breakthrough is new, patent pending Gulp! Alive! packed in buckets, filled to the brim with their exclusive natural attractant. Each Gulp! Alive! bait is loaded with more scent, more flavor, more action and more value per bait. Making it the most potent bait you can buy! Plus, you can reload Gulp! Alive! by soaking it back in the liquid Gulp! attractant. Beyond the convenience of Gulp! Alive! packed in buckets, you’ll also notice each bait has room to roam. The result? Perfection in shape, scent, action and color. So upgrade your choice to the bait that not only outfishes live, it outfishes all bait. You’ll be showing off your intelligence, right along side your trophies.

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Host of the Real Fishing television show

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Tales from the Road Josh Myers, from Chatham, Ontario, was the winner of the inaugural WFN Canadian Open Bass Tournament

The majority of the field fished in the St. Clair River and Lake St. Clair. A few competitors tried the bass fishing out on Lake Huron but from what I heard they didn’t fare too well, partly because it was pretty windy out on the big water. Local bass ace, Josh Myers, from Chatham, Ontario, ended up winning the event with 58.55-pounds over the three days of fishing. Yours truly had a mediocre tournament but still finished in 22nd place which put me among the prize winners. I sure hope that WFN takes this to the next level in 2009 and holds a full series of tournaments for the Canadian competitive fishing market. After the Canadian Open I went down to the locks on the Welland Canal with the folks from FNCC and Boater Exam to shoot a couple of safety tips for next year’s television series. Then my son and I were off to Trenton, Ontario for a couple of one-day tournaments on the Bay of Quinte. We finished in 7th place for the first day with 19.74-pounds of smallmouth bass, including a 5.26-pound fish that tied for the biggest smallmouth of the day. We slipped a little on the second day and brought a mixed bag of smallmouth and largemouth weighing 13.54-pounds which placed us in 49th. For us, the fishing was scattered and we didn’t have any real concentrations of fish in any one area. 62 Real Fishing – Fall 2008

Sometimes the fish that you lose make for a more interesting story than the ones you catch. The highlight of this tournament occurred on the second day when my son, Darren, set the hook on what he thought was a little smallmouth. Well, the only reason he thought it was small is because it was coming straight up towards the surface from about 28-feet of water. As I turned around to look, I saw a smallmouth of over 6-pounds jump about 10-feet away from the boat! Then it made a power dive and proceeded to break Darren’s line. Not only would that fish have earned a $1000 big fish prize, it also would have boosted our weight and moved us up in the standings. That’s the way the cookie crumbles through, and you can’t cry over spilled milk…or missed fish. The following week the CBAF (Canadian Bass Anglers Federation), a series of 5 clubs in southern Ontario, approached my about doing a fundraiser for Fishing Forever, a not for profit organization that I am the chairman of. They were hosting a corporate bass tournament on Lake Erie where a number of two-person corporate teams would pay to fish with a pro. We met in Port Colborne but due to high winds we moved to the Niagara River and launched out of Chippawa Creek. Paul Climpson, a pro bass fisherman who owns his own company, brought his two young sons as his corporate team and ended up winning the tournament. This event had a three-fish limit and Paul and his crew had three largemouth bass that weighed over 10-pounds in total. They also won the big fish award with a bass that weighed over 6-pounds. I had no idea that there were largemouth bass that big in the Niagara River! It was great to see the young guns out there fishing with their dad. A special thanks to Rick Weatherill, Shawn McLaughlin, Melanie Frost and all of the other volunteers from the CBAF that helped make this event a great success. I can’t wait until next year! My next trip was a quick one up to Belwood Lake to shoot a Ziploc Big Bag commercial and a couple of tips for next year’s TV series. For those of you who don’t know, I’ve been called “The Ziploc King” for a number of years. I love my Ziplocs. I

keep everything in them – spare clothes, smelly, scented lures and a variety of other things. It was fun shooting the commercial up there. We needed a bit of rain for the commercial and we definitely got it. A special thanks to Ryan Whightman, who works at the Belwood Lake Conservation Area, for appearing in the spot and getting soaking wet during his cameo. The next day I flew up to Timmins to do a promotion at Krazy Krazy. Craig Salmonson, who owns the store, was celebrating his 20th anniversary and asked if I would make an appearance. Normally at this time of year I would never think of doing any type of appearance but Craig is a tournament angler and a good guy so I thought I’d fly up there and visit for the day. He’s got a great store that has everything you could imagine, from high end cameras to wide screen TVs and more. I think everyone in the town of Timmins fishes because boy, did I ever meet a lot of people!

The Police Association of Ontario’s 30,000 members support Fishing Forever through the Kids, Cops and Canadian Tire Fishing Days program and I had a chance to speak at their annual general meeting in Mississauga. After the event we went out to the Fish 4 Trout pond in Milton where we had several hundred kids fishing. The weather was great, the fish were biting and the Peel Regional Police did a wonderful job in hosting this event. Next on my agenda was a trip to the 1000 Islands for an FLW Stren Series tournament. A number of Canadians participated in this event, the fishing was spectacular and a lot of monster weights were caught. My fishing column, on page 20 of this issue, is about making decisions and guess

what? I made the wrong decisions on days one and two of this event and weighed in mediocre limits of bass. On day three I decided to do what I was planning to do in this tournament and went to an area that I hadn’t exploited on days one or two. I caught about 17-pounds of largemouth before heading out to catch some smallmouth. I ended up catching about eight big ones that allowed me to cull some of my largemouth and I ended up with a limit weighting 20-pounds, 11-ounces. Unfortunately I got my times mixed up and was four minutes late for weigh-in (which earned me a 4-pound penalty) so my official weight was reduced to 16-pounds, 11ounces. I guess when things aren’t going right they go in stages and this was just another one of those times. I was extremely proud when my son, fishing as a co-angler, caught the largest day three limit of over 22-pounds. With a penalty of one-pound, due to a couple of fish that were in rough shape, he ended up with 21pounds, 2-ounces which was still the biggest limit of the day. It was a very proud moment for both of us. My pal, Rick McCrory, had some mojo going and he caught good bags on every day. Rick made the top ten cut and ended up in 7th place on the co-angler side. Hat’s off to Rick. Congratulations also go out to Canada’s Mike Desforges who ended up winning the pro side of things with 77pounds, 1-ounce over four days, and to Derek Strub who took third place in his first ever U.S. tournament. Despite a mediocre season, my son Darren and I qualified for the CSFL’s Bassmania Tournament Trail Classic on the Bay of Quinte. After two days of fishing we missed the top 20 cut by .80 of a pound. It’s pounds and ounces that separate good and bad finishes and although we fished well, we just didn’t get many big bites. Congratulations to Mike Desforges and Doug Brownridge who pulled a rabbit out of the hat by coming from behind to win the event on the final day. It was nice to get home for two days on the Labour Day weekend before heading off to Edmonton to fish with professional guide, Keith Rae who operates a business called Get Hooked Fishing Adventures. We

fished for a day and a half on the North Saskatchewan River for goldeyes and walleyes using fly gear and light spinning outfits. The first day was beautiful day but on the second morning, boy did it ever rain. It came down in buckets. Despite the weather we had a phenomenal trip. Keith runs a custom aluminum boat with a jet drive outboard and is able to access areas of the river that would never get fished by somebody using a traditional propeller driven engine. I used G-Loomis five and eight-weight fly rods with sinking lines and bead-head flies and caught dozens and dozens of goldeyes and walleyes. Goldeyes are like mini tarpon, they really, really fight. Pound for pound they’re an awesome fish and I can’t wait to fish for them again. Along with the goldeyes we caught a few bonus pike, but what really surprised me is that we also caught a number of walleyes on flies. We stayed at the Marriott at River Cree Resort and all in all it was just a great trip. I wish would have had more time to spend out there. After spending one night at home I was off to Lake Champlain for the third tournament of the FLW Eastern Series. My friend, Rick McCrory, fished well as a co-angler and ended up cashing a cheque, my son had a good final day and I had a disastrous tournament - in keeping with the theme of making bad decisions. Everything was consistent. I was doing consistently poorly; Rick was doing consis-

tently well and my son fished well on the final day as he had done on the third day of the Stren tournament. There were a lot of consistencies going on but in very in different ways. Maybe it’s time I retired from fishing. No, I’m just kidding, I’d never retire from fishing, I love it too much. Just like any sport though, you have good times and bad times. Unfortunately I seemed to lean towards the bad during this year’s tournament season. The great thing is that there’s more to come and you’ll be able to read about those in the next Tales from the Road. As I say farewell, I’m getting ready to take a bunch of Major League Baseball and NFL Hall of Famers, along with a number of other sports celebrities, out for a fun day of fishing on Lake Erie just prior to the Fergie Jenkins Charity Golf Classic. Who knows, maybe I can win this one! ?

Fall 2008 – Real Fishing 63

To celebrate our mutual passion for good food and great wine, Coyote’s Run has teamed up with Bob Izumi, the great Canadian Outdoorsman, to produce a set of signature Bob Izumi wines. With the sale of each bottle of Bob Izumi wine $1 will be donated to the Fishing Forever Foundation, a non-profit organization committed to providing fishermen with a vehicle to renew and preserve Ontario's fishing resource for the continued enjoyment of the sport today and for future generations. The wines are produced by Coyote’s Run Estate Winery, a small craft winery located in Niagara-on-the-Lake. This award-winning winery has been producing wine since 2003 and focuses on hand-crafted, small batch VQA wines. Coyote’s Run produces a variety of other wines include Pinot Noir, Meritage, Chardonnay and Riesling and are available at the winery retail store located on the vineyard property.

2004 Bob Izumi Red

Bob Izumi Wines

2005 Bob Izumi White

Introducing

To purchase your Bob Izumi wines please go to www.izumiwines.com and for more information about the Fishing Forever Foundation can be found at www.fishingforever.ca.

485 Concession 5 Rd, St. David’s, ON, L0S 1P0 • P: 905.682.8310 or 1.877.COYOTE.3 • www.coyotesrunwinery.com

What’s COOKING

Here’s a great tasting salmon recipe that incorporates a hint of sweetness with the tang of orange and bourbon. Simple and quick to prepare, this dish is perfect as a side on a buffet

INGREDIENTS

METHOD

4 2 1/4 cup 1/4 cup 1/4 cup 1/4 cup 1/4 cup 3 tbsp 3 tbsp

1) Combine all ingredients (except salmon & cooking spray) in a large, zip-top bag. 2) Add salmon and marinate in refrigerator for 1 1/2 hours, turning bag occasionally. 3) Remove salmon and reserve marinade. 4) Coat grill rack or broiler pan with cooking spray. 5) Grill salmon on rack or broiler pan for 6 minutes per side or until fish flakes easily with a fork. Baste frequently with reserved marinade.

6-ounce Salmon fillets, about 1” thick garlic cloves, chopped bourbon orange juice low-sodium soy sauce brown sugar, packed green onions, chopped fresh chives, chopped lemon juice cooking spray

table or as a main course.

Fall 2008 – Real Fishing 65

MUSKIE FAVOURITES

Artist: Charles Weiss Medium: 12" x 16" Acrylic on canvas Contact: Charles Weiss Art Studio 34 Hughey Cr. Toronto, ON M1K 2V4 charlesweiss@mail2chuck.com 416-752-4363 www.natureartists.com

66 Real Fishing â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Fall 2008