8-Estherville (Ia.) Outdoor Connection, FRIDAY, July 12, 2013
MIDDLE OF THE SUMMER BASS Hawkins recognized for BY BOB JENSEN FISHING THE MIDWEST FISHING TEAM
It’s mid-summer and the weather is hot. In many areas of the Midwest, the bass fishing is pretty hot also. Some of the most consistent bass-catching of the year, for largemouth and smallmouth, can take place during the hottest period of the year if you keep a few things in mind. Here are some of those things. Some of the best bites will take place early and late in the day. The bass will get more active and be more willing to chase baits when light levels are a little lower. Largemouth will wander farther away from cover when the sun isn’t beating down as intensely on the water, and smallmouth will move shallower on the structures they’re working during lower light. Overcast days will also encourage them to move around more. That doesn’t mean bass won’t bite at mid-day: They will. You just have to remember that, especially largemouth in the shallows
and mid-depths, will be closer to cover. In fact, they’ll probably be right in the middle of the cover. If you can find a clump of coontail or some other heavy shallow cover, you can have some outstanding action. When the sun is directly overhead, largemouth will be tight to cover. You have a much better idea where to put your bait. If you put that bait where the fish is, it will often eat the bait. A rubberlegged jig like a Jungle Jig tipped with an Impulse Brush Beaver will be good. Use a jig heavy enough to get through the top layer of vegetation. Smallmouth at mid-day can be very susceptible to a live-bait presentation. I have many memories of catching smallies on live-bait rigs tipped with crawlers or leeches in 12-15 feet of water right on the transition where rock changes to sand. But, you’ve got to be using healthy crawlers and leeches. Keep them cool and out of the sun. Frabill's Crawler Can does an outstanding job
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of keeping crawlers healthy on the hottest days. When the light is low and the fish are wandering, you have to cover water to find them. If you can get on the water when the sun is coming up or going down, work the areas around the heavy cover or the weedline for largemouth, and try the tops of rock humps or rock points for smallmouth. Rushes near deep water can be good for either specie. Topwater baits, minnow imitating baits, swimming jigs, and spinnerbaits will fool largemouth and smallmouth. A Slurp! Jig with a white four inch Impulse Swim'N Grub is a proven bass-catcher. There are lots of fish, especially largemouth and smallmouth bass, to be caught right now. Get on the water and find out how good this bass action can be.
excellence in the field SPIRIT LAKE - Iowa fisheries biologist Mike Hawkins has been awarded the Fisheries Biologist of the Year by the Midwest Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies for his work in lake restoration, watershed management and his leadership in getting the electric fish barrier placed at the outlet from Lower Gar Lake. Member states of the Midwest Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies include Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio and Canadian provinces Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Ontario. Hawkins is the Iowa Department of Natural Resources fisheries management biologist working out of Spirit Lake Hatchery for the nine-county region in northwest Iowa. Hawkins was recognized for his successes that include a significant renovation of the 1,100-acre Lost Island Lake. The Lost Island Lake renovation project included adding water control structures to connected marshes and installing fish barriers to prevent carp migration to the marshes to spawn; working with a commercial fishing company to remove hundreds of thousands of pounds of adult carp and aggressively stock predators to
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help control recently hatched carp. He also worked with landowners in the watershed to create a management plan to reduce harmful runoff from entering the lake. Water quality improved substantially and anglers have returned, spending nearly 15,000 hours fishing during the summer of 2012. Hawkins received the Ace Cory Conservation Award from the Okoboji Protective Association for his efforts to construct the electric fish barrier at the outlet of the Spirit Lake-Okoboji chain to prevent unwanted invasive carp species from entering the lakes during flood events. He also led a multi agency project with South Dakota to replace the severely damaged low head Klondike Dam on the Big Sioux River in Lyon County. The dam was replaced with arched rapids that provide necessary upstream water elevation while allowing fish migration and eliminated safety concerns about the low head dam. Hawkins also installed the Iowa DNR’s first-ever low power AM travelers radio station broadcasting aquatic invasive species messages and other boating and fishing information from the Spirit Lake Hatchery.
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