The Angler Magazine | January 2020 | Chesapeake Edition

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Winter's

Best Bites Seein’ Stripes!

PHOTO COURTESY OF DARCIZZLE OFFSHORE VOLUME 25 • ISSUE 298

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Photo courtesy of Big Ol’ Fish Guiding Service, bigolfish.com

W

hether saltwater or fresh, good striper fishing awaits those hearty enough to brave winter on the water.

So layer-up, zip into that parka and go. Some of the biggest fish of the year are feeding right now.

On the southern end of their fall migration, striped bass are holed up for the winter off North Carolina. They’ll be chowing down and following schools of bait up and down the coast from Wilmington to the Outer Banks. Many years, Oregon Inlet sets up as the epicenter for the bite, but striped bass can be found in most area inlets.

The key is to follow the birds and find bass blowing up on menhaden, glass minnows or eels. The action can sometimes come in close enough that surf casters can catch stripers from the beaches of the Outer Banks, but the best bet is to hire a local captain with recent intel and a fast boat.

A little farther south, Wilmington offers another option, as stripers pile into the Cape Fear River, where they hold around structure, drop-offs and creekmouths and can be caught on artificials or even flies. These resident fish are a separate group from the highly migratory fish that winter off the Outer Banks.

Cape Fear stripers are catch-and-release only, and must be returned to the water immediately. Keep an eye out for tagged stripers swimming these waters.

Finally, on freshwater reservoirs across the Southern states and up through the Mid-Atlantic, fisheries stocked with striped bass produce pretty well for anglers this time of year. While smaller schoolie-sized stripers tend to get tough during the coldest temperatures of the year, the larger fish will still feed.

The action won’t be as fast as dropping downlines to massive summertime schools, but the fish that do eat tend to be larger.

Tactics will vary depending on the fishery, but when water temperatures stabilize or during a warming trend of a few days, the biggest fish in the lake tend to move up shallow—sometimes very shallow— behind schools of small shad. Find the flickering shad, and you’ll find the stripers. Sometimes you’ll see them plucking bait near the surface. Stealth is imperative in catching them, and a soft plastic such as a Fluke will usually out-produce live baits in such situations. It’s easier to cast and slowly retrieve an artificial.

Another popular tactic is to cover a lot of water trolling wide spreads of small live baits or pulling an umbrella rig loaded with swimbaits, or both. When prospecting like this, it’s wise to seek out good information on where the stripers are holding. On many lakes they spend winters down by the dam. On others, you might find them way up in the creeks.

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12/10/19 9:01 AM

It’s boat show time! And the National Marine Manufacturers Association (NMMA), which produces 18 boat and sportshows across the country, is investing in more experiences and education than ever to meet the desires of attendees and inspire the next generation of the boating workforce. Attendee favorites will return, too, from fishing ponds to Super Thursdays. Here are some 2020 show season highlights.

• With a need for skilled workers in the marine industry (more than 31K open jobs), NMMA boat shows are expanding Boating Career Days, offering the chance for students and job seekers to learn more about opportunities in the boating industry, get career advice from marine professionals and check out job openings. Last year the program attracted more than 550 students across eight shows. In 2020, the program is expanding to 14 markets: New York, Baltimore, St. Louis, Kansas City, Nashville, Louisville, Atlanta, New England, Atlantic City, Minneapolis, Northwest, Miami, Norwalk and Tampa.

• New for 2020, NMMA is introducing The Discover Boating Experience (DBX), the “Hub for Boaters,” an educational marketplace that provides space to mingle, enjoy expert seminars, explore new products, learn boat care, discover new technologies, learn to navigate a boat show and more. DBX offers a place to relax and have a drink while enjoying a variety of topics, inspirational stories and live music.

• The Progressive Boat House features an Occulus Rift Virtual Reality boat race game, the Annapolis School of Seamanship’s expert seminars and a docking pool with a remote-control boat and helm station to master docking skills.

• Returning favorites include free fishing for kids and special deals, like $5 tickets after 5 p.m. and Super Thursday, offering deeper discounts, exclusive pricing and incentives.

• Ongoing education for boaters and anglers of all skill levels is a hallmark of NMMA boat shows with free daily seminars.

The Progressive Insurance Miami International Boat Show, Presented by West Marine cruises into the docks at Miami Marine Stadium Feb. 13-17. Great deals and hands-on experience with hundreds of boats and the associated gear are the big annual draw. Highlights of the 2020 boat show include:

• Costa Conservation Village will showcase the work of some of Florida’s leading environmental organizations, such as The Nature Conservancy, Captains for Clean Water, and Costa’s Kick Plastic program.

• Presentations on sustainable seafood from esteemed Chef Allen Susser and an opportunity to get a signed copy of his new cookbook, “Green Fig and Lionfish: Sustainable Caribbean Cooking.”

• Junior Captains Program, where kids ages 13-17 can learn to operate a boat with Annapolis School of Seamanship.

• Boat US on-water training with Intro To Boating, Women on the Water and Precision Docking.

• The Progressive Boathouse, offering boating seminars, a remote-control docking pond and an Oculus Rift Virtual Reality boat race game.

• Wining and dining at three full-service, sit down restaurants at

the Show including: Latin Café, V&E Restaurant Group Showcasing menu items from Havana 1957 & La Cerveceria De Barrio and SuViche featuring select menu items from Novecento.

• For more information, visit www.MiamiBoatShow.com.

For more information and the schedule of 2020 NMMA boat shows, visit to www.boatshows.com.

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The easiest way to find bait when you’re ready to go fishing is by using the new Baitfinder App, available for free download on both Apple and Android devices. Bait shops are the best possible resource for local information on what’s biting, and on what bait, to ensure you have the right equipment and knowledge before you head out to target a specific species of fish. Everything about Baitfinder is designed for anglers, by anglers, allowing all bait shops in your area to advertise their bait availability in real-time. There’s no more last-minute anxiety about locating bait or driving all over to locate the bait you’re looking for.

Anglers can reserve their bait of choice prior to getting to their favorite bait shop to pick it up, and it’s all easily done on the app! Let your friends know of this free app, and encourage all your local bait shops to enroll at: WWW.BAITFINDER.COM

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By Nick Carter

M

otivating yourself can be tough when daytime temperatures fall into the low 20s and ice forms on the edges of Southern tailwater trout fisheries. Even on these dam-fed systems, where water temperatures remain relatively consistent, trout become difficult when tiny midges are the primary food source.

But there’s a phenomenon that occurs on some tailwaters that makes fishing the cold snaps worth sucking ice out of your guides. It’s called a shad kill. When it happens every fish in the river takes part in the feast.

Shad kills are caused by extended cold weather. When air temperatures drop into the teens or lower for several days in a row, baitfish in reservoirs that feed our tailwaters suffer from plummeting water

temps. Either stunned and dying or just diving deep to find more comfortable conditions, shad and blueback herring get sucked into dam turbines.

What’s washed out into the tailwater is a mix of chopped up, whole dead, and quivering stunned baitfish.

“All of a sudden, they get flushed out into the tailrace. It’s like chumming the river in that upper mile or so below the dam,” said Bill Stranahan, who guides with Southeastern Anglers on Tennessee’s Hiwassee River.

“Good browns and rainbows will key in on it. The ones you catch are so stuffed they look like they’re about to pop.”

Fed by high-mountain winters on Appalachia Lake, the Hiwassee shad kill is a good one. In the Arkansas Ozarks, the White River sees shad kills almost every year. The Cumberland River in Kentucky and Georgia’s Chattahoochee River below Lake Lanier are two other tailwaters where trout put on the feedbag for these events.

But shad kills are not like a hatch you can follow by calendar. It takes rapidly cooling water temps to disorient the numbers of baitfish necessary to be noticeable in the tailrace. During the winter’s hardest freeze, intrepid anglers should hit the water near the dam and watch for activity.

“You’ll see them floating down the river stunned or dead,” said Stranahan. “Sometimes you’ll see fish coming up to the surface to swipe at them.”

White and flashy are the keys to catching fish during a shad kill. White Zonkers or other bunny flies, white Woolly Buggers, anything that looks like a dead or dying baitfish will work. Stranahan said to match the size of the baitfish you see in the water and to experiment with depth and presentation.

Sometimes a jerky retrieve is preferred, while other times a dead drift is the ticket. At times trout will feed on the surface, and some days call for a sinking line to get the fly down.

Shad kills can be ephemeral or they can last a couple weeks when conditions are perfect. It’s the kind of thing you have to be on the water to encounter, and when it happens it brings out the biggest fish in the river.

Contact Southeastern Anglers through their website at www.southeasternanglers.com.

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after wrestling it from between the pilings, it turned toward open water. As I felt the battle shift in my favor, the line parted, likely from earlier contact with the pilings.

“That can happen when you’re fishing up tight like this,” said our skipper, “but some days you have to dig in to get the big ones. Other times we’ll find them in more open water around oyster bars or in the surf.”

Captiva Island, on Florida’s southwest coast, is prime territory for snook, redfish, sea trout, tarpon and a variety of other inshore species.

“Our waters produce so well because we have a ton of bait, structure and opportunity here,” said Fischer, proprietor of Tarpon Fischer Charters (http:// www.tarponfischercharters.com). “Pine Island Sound, on the backside of the island, for example, has several passes that allow water and bait to flow in and out. The Peace, Myakka and Caloosahatchee rivers also empty into here. I run a lot of my charters out of South Seas Island Resorts (https://www.southseas. com) at the north end of Captiva, and from there you can be fishing in the sound or the open Gulf in a matter of minutes.”

Snook and redfish top 40 inches, tarpon range from chickens to 200 pounds and sea trout are abundant. Those species are resident, noted Fischer, but come December and January, offshore action also kicks in with snapper, sheepshead, grouper, kingfish and cobia, among others.

For anglers, these waters call for medium-light spinning tackle. Rig a size 3/0 J-hook or a light jighead on a 2 1/2-foot leader of 30-pound mono to freeline live baits around structure, mangroves or the surf edge. Add a 1/2-ounce splitshot two feet above the hook to get down in deeper water or stronger currents, or add a float two feet above this rig to fish the flats. If you prefer to throw lures, toss a 4-inch paddletail, Rapala Skitter Walk or Zara Spook. Fischer favors a 7 1/2-foot, 8- to 17-pound class Bull Bay rod and Shimano 4000 spinning reels for his inshore fishing.

Keep in mind this area occasionally suffers from red tide blooms.

“It can be here one week and gone the next.” Fischer said. “If it occurs during your visit, simply head for the cleanest water you can find.”

By Tom Schlichter

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apt. Nick Fischer nodded at a boat dock ahead. “There should be a Launching is available at South Seas Resorts (if you are staying there) or good one under there,” he said. “We had a couple there this morning from the Sanibel Island Public Boat Ramp ($5/hr. parking fee: 239-472-6397; but saw a real solid fish just before we left.”

888 Sextant Dr., Sanibel.) Nearby, the ‘Tween Waters Inn is another good spot It didn’t take long to confirm a nice snook was home. I hooked it and, to spend the night. More info at www.fortMyers-Sanibel.com.

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t’s prime time for wahoo in the sparsely populated southeastern Bahamas, where a fleet of boats shows up each winter specifically to target some of the biggest wahoo in the world.

Just off San Salvador and Cat Island, precipitous ledge drops within a 15- or 20-minute boat ride from shore are a magnet for wintering wahoo.

The prime wahoo season runs from November to about April, when fish are densely congregated. Triple-digit weights are not uncommon, and the average wahoo will tip the scales between 50 and 60 pounds this time of year.

High-speed trolling is the name of the game. Pulling lures at 14 knots and zig-zagging along the ledge over depths from 400 to 600 feet is the kind of fishing that produces world records. Five current IGFA line-class record wahoo came from the waters off San Salvador and Cat Island. Two of those weighed more than 150 pounds.

When that reel goes off, screaming from the pull of a big fish moving at 60 mph, it’s important to crank down on the drag and power it to the boat as quickly as possible. Oceanic whitetips are thick in the area, and they’re known to show up and rip a trophy fish to shreds.

For information on lodging and charters in the southern Bahamas, go to www.bahamas.com.

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Winter can be brutal, but to the saltwater fly fisherman it can be the greatest time of year to catch some quality fish on the fly. The beaches, flats and bays are practically deserted, the “sunshine” fishermen having retreated to their firesides at the appearance of the first raindrop or snowflake. It’s time for the serious fly flingers to put on thermals, grab a fly rod, and head for the water.

Two of my favorite wintertime saltwater fish are the speckled trout (or spotted seatrout) and the redfish, two game fish that thrive in cooler water and make for some great fly rod action even “when the frost is on the pumpkin.”

The speckled trout is a coastal fish found on the shallow mud flats and sand flats from North Carolina to Texas. A fish generally traveling in large schools, the “speck” is capable of providing fast action on the fly whether you’re wading or fishing from a skiff, kayak or boat.

A proven way to locate the “speck” is to look for depressions, channels, holes or cuts on or along these areas. Once located, cast into them with a floating or intermediate line, a 9-foot leader and a baitfish pattern. A weedless fly like a Bent Back works well.

The key to catching speckled trout in cold water is to retrieve the fly sl-o-o-o-wly using short, jerky strips. The strike is often as light as an aunt’s peck on the cheek, so keep close eye contact with your fly.

Another worthy wintertime adversary is the redfish, a fish found in the same areas as the speckled trout. Redfish (red drum), can tip the scales from 5-pounds to a heavyweight of 40 pounds. These members of the croaker family take up residence near breakwaters, pier pilings, channels, estuaries and marshes.

They are a great match for the fly rod.

Redfish can be finicky eaters and sometimes the fly needs to be placed close to their noses, especially in colder water.

An accurate cast is essential in fishing for these rascals. Come prepared with a 9- or 10-weight rod, a floating line (weight forward), a 9-foot leader and a pocket full of crab patterns, as reds favor crustaceans.

Don’t hang up your fly gear at the first signs of the winter solstice. Winterize yourself and go fly fishing; it beats sitting in a chair and dreaming of warmer weather.

For more Bowman, go to

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By CAM Staff

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veryone seems to gets excited about those spring runs, when cobia push north in their migration and can be targeted by sight while cruising the beaches. With the run-and-gun nature of these tactics, it’s arguably the most exciting way to catch them. But it’s not the most efficient.

Die-hard cobia fans know that wintertime, before the big move, provides some of the best fishing of the year. Consolidated is a good way to describe cobia populations during the winter. On the Atlantic coast as well as in the Gulf of Mexico, fish have moved southward and offshore in search of comfortable water conditions.

At no other time are cobia populations so dense around the Florida Keys, but they can also be found grouped up on deeper wrecks and reefs along both Florida coasts.

In the warmer waters of the Keys, deep jigging the ocean-side reefs with butterfly jigs or 1-ounce bucktails will haul up a mixed bag, which will likely include cobia, and chumming them up to the surface is also tried-and-true tactic. Out on the reef line, anchor up and drop a chum bag of chopped-up frozen baitfish and wait for the action to come to you. Cobia will show up with sharks, as well as various mackerel and snapper species. Whether it’s pinfish or shrimp, present your bait weightless, and you might want to add a wire leader for the toothy critters in the melee.

Farther north on both coasts, resident cobia are schooled up and easier to locate than they are at any other time of year. Find a good winter day, with warm sunshine and calm seas, and make the run to offshore wrecks or reefs. The key to this is water temperature, so look for temperature bands with surface temps around 70 degrees, and find some good structure with bait present on the sonar.

Again, chumming can bring cobia right up to the surface, which leads to fast action on live baits, but jigging is a tactic that is both fun and effective for targeting fish you actually spot on the screen more than 100 feet down. It’s quicker, cleaner and more efficient than live bait.

The key to this technique is finding the magic depth where the cobia are schooled up. Drop a 2- to 6-ounce jig, depending on the current and depth, vertically to the depth you’re marking fish.

Experiment with the action until they eat. Some pump a jig up with fast, short jerks, others prefer to swing it up high and let it flutter back down. Both techniques will work, and the jig should be sweetened with either a 7-inch soft-plastic trailer or a natural bait like cuttlefish.

Some of the biggest cobia of the year come off wrecks and reefs in winter. So head down to the Keys or make the run offshore and catch them before they scatter with the spring run.

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By Tonya Wiley, Havenworth Coastal Conservation

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awfish are shark-like rays named for their saw-shaped snouts.

Smalltooth sawfish were once found in coastal waters from Texas to North Carolina; however, fishing mortality and habitat loss led to dramatic reductions in both their numbers and range. Now they are regularly found only in southwest Florida, especially around Everglades National Park. NOAA Fisheries listed the smalltooth sawfish as “Endangered” under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) in 2003.

Because of the protections afforded by the ESA, it is illegal to target, harm, harass or handle sawfish in any way. While it is technically illegal to catch a sawfish except with a research permit or in a fishery where incidental take has been authorized, captures do occur while fishing for other species. Mortality from incidental captures in both commercial and recreational fisheries is an ongoing threat to this endangered species. It’s the responsibility of all fishers to follow guidance to quickly and safely release, without harm, all sawfish caught while fishing.

Sawfish are powerful animals that can whip their saws very quickly, which can cause serious injury to the angler and the sawfish. The number one rule to remember when releasing a sawfish is to leave it in the water at all times. Because of the ESA protections, it is illegal to possess a sawfish. Removing it from the water is considered possession and is a clear violation of the law. Do not lift a sawfish out of the water onto your boat or a pier, and do not drag it onto shore. Simply cut the line as close to the hook as is safely possible.

Never remove the snout, called a rostrum, as sawfish use it for detecting and catching food. In addition to being illegal, removal of the rostrum severely limits the ability of the sawfish to find enough food to survive, and could result in death from starvation. Mishandling and

By Will Schmidt

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magine slowly stripping a shrimp fly, with prey in pursuit, when your guide says, “Quick… pick it up before the bonefish gets it.” It seems nonsensical, but it happens more than you think while casting at permit in Ascension Bay, Mexico.

Known to many fly fishermen as one of the most permit populated places on earth, the waters of the southern Yucatan hold much more than world class permit.

the purposeful injury or killing of captured sawfish is both illegal and detrimental to the recovery of the population.

These guidelines ensure the safety of both the sawfish and the angler. If you catch or see a sawfish, take a quick photograph of it, estimate its size, note your location, and share the details with scientists.

The details of your sightings or catches of sawfish help to monitor the population and track the recovery progress.

Share your information by calling 844-4-SAWFISH (844-472-9347) or visiting www.SawfishRecovery.org.

For more information about sawfish research, conservation, and management in the United States visit www.SawfishRecovery.org.

The journey starts with an easy flight to Cancun. From there, a two-hour van ride to Tulum might still have you wondering how to get away from all the tourists. However, once you board your panga and start the hour ride through the pristine waters of the lagoon system of Ascension Bay, you will realize you are truly on the path less traveled.

Once back on land at the Grand Slam Lodge just north of Punta Allen, you’ll be greeted with margaritas and shown to first class accommodations in your beachfront villa. You will also notice there is nothing else around, and you are actually at the end of the road in the middle of nowhere.

This fishery is nothing short of amazing. Home to a lobstering community, there is no other commercial fishing. All the recreational fishing is catch and release. These waters hold more permit than anywhere else I know, but be forewarned they are still permit and not easily fooled. Additionally, the number of bonefish here is staggering, and although not typically as large as the fish you’ll encounter in the Bahamas, they average a respectable 3 to 4 pounds in quantities that are astounding. There are also large numbers of tarpon, snook (which the guides seem to get particularly giddy about), jacks and barracudas to keep you busy all day.

One of the other unique aspects of fishing here is each boat has two guides, the head guide and a junior guide. The second guide is extremely helpful to the angler as an extra set of eyes as well as for quickly changing outfits for the variety of species encountered and to help manage tangle-prone fly line. If you want to be spoiled, two guides does it.

Ascension Bay is one of the greatest fisheries I have experienced. This is a renowned destination for fly fishermen seeking permit and a wonderful intro for anglers new to saltwater fly fishing. To see the quantity and quality of fish here, you would expect to travel much farther and stay in far more rustic accommodations. I recently returned from a trip in the “off season,” which is in reference to the number of tourists not fish. In three days of fishing, I never saw another angler while fishing. It provided us with abundant, pressure-free, happy fish to target.

Will Schmidt is an experienced tournament angler who has been writing about fishing for more than two decades. For more information, check out grandslamfishinglodge.com.

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Ringing in the New Year!

By Captain Jason Seman • The Marylander - Denton, MD http://marylandfishingandhunting.com

We Ring in the New Year with reflections of a successful fishing season and the finality of another successful waterfowl hunting season on the Chesapeake Bay. The successful harvests that we were afforded are minuscule in comparison to the memories made by our new found fishing and hunting friends that will last a lifetime.

typically use small jigs, spoons, and small allotments of blood worms to target these fish on ultra-light tackle. They are a great activity for children of all ages and can be done from boat, land, and local stream when migrating to spawn. It is a great activity to engage in when cabin fever starts to set in for local anglers or after a successful morning of hunting.

The 2019 season was one of our best light tackle seasons that we can remember on the Chesapeake Bay. It was a gift from Mother Nature after the slow start to the Spring Trophy Striped Bass Season. Dry and stable weather conditions throughout the summer generated stable fishing conditions for the mid and upper Chesapeake Bay. Schools of Mackerel and Blue fish were a treat for our anglers after a successful day of Striped Bass fishing in the months of July, August, and September.

We look forward to 2020 with great excitement and are eager to experience future harvests and memories that will be created in the year ahead. We continue to appreciate the Waterfowl Season in hand and the excitement and memories created aboard The Marylander. As the 2019 fishing Striped Bass Season has concluded we continue to Ring in the New Year with plentiful harvests of waterfowl on the Chesapeake Bay. Utilizing layout boats to recreate the experience and passion generations of waterfowl hunters have sought after.

The Fall and Winter Fishing Seasons also continued to produce plentiful numbers of Striped Bass. It afforded us the opportunity to take anglers fishing from as far away as the Mid-West and several groups from close to home. We have discovered that the Fall and Winter time periods in our calendar year contain an abundant amount of untapped potential and are one of the most plentiful points in the season to be an angler on the Chesapeake Bay.

It is with great optimism that we wish you and our fishing and hunting friends a safe, successful, and prosperous future in 2020!

Though Striped Bass Season has ended, many dedicated anglers in the month of January will target some of our favorite summer bi-catches, the White and Yellow Perch. Though small in stature, they are one of the best eating fish on the Chesapeake Bay. We

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Freshwater Fishing Hotspots in Southern Maryland It’s January and as the wind blows, the snow squalls rain down and the grey skies seem to make us believe our last thoughts are about fishing, those of us with fish in our blood are already thinking about spring. We are thinking about that first early season outing where you steal a few hours without great expectations but knowing you will walk away with a smile on your face irregardless of whether the fish cooperate or not.

the deepest part being down near the dam. In recent years, submerged aquatic vegetation has increased around the perimeter of the lake which may make it a little harder to fish from some of the shoreline areas, but is good for the fish population.

So, where do you jump back in for your first time out in the spring?

Piscataway Creek runs through southeast Prince George’s County near Clinton, above Livingston Rd, and a freshwater fishing license is required. It holds largemouth bass, striped bass, chain pickerel, crappie, channel catfish, yellow and white perch, bluegill sunfish and carp.

Here are a few spots where you can sneak away without too many interested parties being any the wiser and get a quick taste of early spring.

Lake Artemesia, near College Parks, is a 38-acre lake has been a family-friendly fishing destination. Stocked trout, largemouth bass and bluegill can be found here.

There are a multitude of tributaries of the Potomac River just keep in mind a Chesapeake Bay Sportfishing License is required to fish in the Potomac and its tributaries up to their freshwater dividing lines.

St. Mary’s Lake is a 250-acre lake in St. Mary’s River Park and is designated as a catch-and-release trophy bass lake where anglers can find both large and smallmouth bass. Other species such as chain pickerel, crappie, bluegill and redear sunfish are also abundant.

Mattawoman Creek lies in the Western part of Charles County above the bridge on Maryland 225. A freshwater fishing License is required.

Wheatley Lake is designated as a catch-and-release trophy bass lake and anglers can find both large and smallmouth bass here. Other species such as crappie, channel catfish, bluegill and redear sunfish are also abundant. Much of Wheatley Lake, located in Charles County, is shallow with

Want to find public fishing access a little closer to home?

The Maryland Department of Natural Resources operates a GIS mapping system you can use as a guide to finding a hotspot right in your back yard. Use the website address, http://gisapps.dnr.state.md.us/PublicFishingAccess/ to access a map you can easily use to find somewhere to quickly wet a line close to home.

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New Products Land in American Waters, and We Want More!

By Thomas Raines

Sakura Fishing is a company located in the heart of wine country in Bordeaux, France. They were founded in 2005

by Francis Coutou and team member Frank Rosmann. The company produces a variety of fishing essentials that have a high-quality build similar to products you would find on the high end of the Japanese market. The company actually has some ties to the Japanese market by being the exclusive distributor of Gary Yamamoto products in France. They even helped to develop an exclusive color of the Fat Ika for the French market. Many of their baits are unlike anything we have ever seen here in the United States. In fact, their baits are not available at all in the US market. Sakura was kind enough to send us some of their products to see how they perform in American waters.

We didn’t get a chance to test all of the baits we received due to the pattern of most fish this time of year but we did get a chance to try out their spinnerbaits, chatterbaits, jerkbaits, and a few soft plastics. Before I even fished with the spinnerbaits and chatterbaits I was very impressed with the build quality of the baits. I am told the skirts are hand tied and all the baits are hand painted as well. The jerkbaits have the nice magnetic weight transfer system which has become the standard for jerkbaits as of late. The plastic seems very solid

on these baits and the casting system works phenomenally for maximum casting distance. I used these jerkbaits for walleye one afternoon and once one of these toothy critters got a glimpse of the bait it was game over for the rest of the school. The chatterbait is a workhorse in thick grass and the hard head on this bait, formulated by a special blend of antimony, does not chip making it very close to the feel of a tungsten jig head. This bait along with the spinnerbait are smaller in profile compared to baits of similar weight due to this antimony blend used in the jig heads. The soft plastics I tried were their “Gobygo” swimbaits, I used these baits as a trailer on the chatterbait and it seemed to help give the bait a more erratic motion when retrieved.

Overall, I was very impressed with these baits, they caught my eye online because of some of their more uniquely designed baits but I never imagined I would be looking to put down some of my most trusted lures in place of these products.

Currently Sakura products have not entered our market here in the US but they are always open to expanding if there is interest in the products. If you’d like to see Sakura come to a tackle shop near you go let them know on their Instagram page: @sakurafishing_official or on their website: http://www. sakura-fishing.com

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January Potomac River Forecast

By Thomas Raines

As most of us know there won’t be a ton of fishing to be done in the month of January on the Potomac.

However, if you manage to find a decent day to head out fish will likely be pulled out into deeper water in most areas with plenty of fish still congregated around warm water discharges. Fish will likely be chasing baitfish when they decide to feed during these colder months. Bass will most likely be schooling and many anglers will target bass using Alabama rigs, underspins and jerkbaits. Using these baits as search tools will be the most effective way to cover water until an active school is located. Catfish should still be biting near most of the bridges as well as in deeper holes like off points. Crappie fishing is still doable if you can find a good school near a bridge or offshore brush pile. Fishing will only get better as the month goes on and we would like to remind everyone to be extra careful on the river until the temperatures rise.

Don’t forget to always wear your lifejacket and kill switch!

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Hunting Squirrels Can Improve Your Fishing!

Squirrels are a plentiful natural resource. Plus, squirrel is some of the best wild meat and their skins are used for caps, coats, glove linings and many other items, but the tail is usually thrown away. Mepps® is asking you to help them recycle this valuable resource, AND, they’re offering to reward you for your efforts!

Mepps buys fox, black, grey and red squirrel tails and will pay up to 26 cents each for tails, depending on quality and quantity. Plus, the cash value is doubled if the tails are traded for Mepps lures.

Fur doesn’t have the rippling, pulsating movement of squirrel hair in the water.

Mazurek wants to remind everyone, “We do not advocate harvesting of squirrels solely for their tails.”

For all the details on the Squirrel Tail Program, either visit their web site www.mepps.com or call 800-637-7700.

Mepps, 626 Center St., Antigo, WI 54409-2496.

Please note: Squirrel tails cannot be sold in CA, ID & OR.

Mepps® needs squirrel tails to create hand-tied, dressed hooks for their world-famous, fish-catching lures. They’ve been recycling squirrel tails for over half-a-century. In fact, they have recycled nearly 8 million tails since the mid-1960s, more of them than anyone else in the world.

“We’ve tried hundreds of other natural and synthetic materials; bear hair, fox, coyote, badger, skunk, deer, even Angus cow, but nothing works as well as squirrel tail hair,” explains Mepps® Communications Director, Kurt Mazurek.

The fact is squirrel tails are all hair–no fur. Practically all other animals have fur tails with just a few guard hairs.

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C

orey Kitzmann, of Davenport, Iowa, knows what it’s like to catch a freshwater monster.

The 57 ¼-inch muskellunge he caught back in August was recently certified as a new Minnesota catch-and-release state record. The nearly 5-foot-long muskie measured 25 ½ inches in girth and had an estimated weight of 47 pounds.

Kitzmann was fishing alone at Lake Vermilion, a more than 40,000-acre Canadian Shield lake west of Lake Superior. He was working a bucktail on 80-pound line when the toothy critter ate.

“When I set the hook, I knew immediately that I had a nice fish on,” he said. “It wasn’t until the fish made its way to the side of the boat that I realized I had a true giant.”

But getting the fish to the boat wasn’t the end of the fight.

Kitzmann was able to net the fish solo, but he had to wave down a nearby boater to help haul it out of the water for photos before a successful release.

Minnesota’s certified-weight state record for Muskie is 54 pounds. That 56-inch fish was caught way back in 1957 at Lake Winnibigoshish. The IGFA all-tackle world record for muskie has stood since 1949. It weighed 67 pounds, 8 ounces and was caught from Lake Court Oreilles in Wisconsin.

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By John Lidington t’s January—named for Janus, the two-faced god who looked forward and backward at the same time. It’s also New Year’s resolution time. That’s when we look at what we should have done, to figure out what we ought to do. Doing this, I’ve come up with a long list of shortcomings that could stand some attention in 2020. But resolutions don’t have to focus on negatives. Accentuating the positives is equally important.

One such positive event was a special snorkeling session at the Blue Heron Bridge. The 6-year-old granddaughter of some friends was coming to visit, and they wanted to introduce her to snorkeling.

They heard the Blue Heron Bridge was a great site, but had never been. Knowing it’s a spot I frequently dive, they asked if I would guide them.

I agreed, and we chose a day with an early afternoon high tide so

I

the weather would be at its warmest. Of course, the bridge delivered its usual magic—magic that was amplified and transformed by a 6-yearold’s reactions to experiencing it for the first time. We swam the full length of the snorkel trail—saw the sunken boat, the shark statues, the rock piles and the artificial reef castings. I pointed out critters left and right to a very excited audience. When we reached the end, she insisted on retracing our path back to the beginning. She wanted to see everything again!

As we wrapped up, it hit me that even though I had not seen a single frogfish, octopus or nudibranch, I was psyched. I realized that I’ve come to treat the standard cast of fishy characters—angelfish, barracuda, porkfish, grunts, parrotfish, porgies and so much more—as background noise while I search for “rarities.” Familiarity had bred complacency. It took the contagious enthusiasm of a 6-year-old to knock me out of my rut.

That was a special afternoon. I’d like to think I helped start someone on a lifetime of appreciation for the marine environment. But it was important for me, too. I felt good that, through a small investment of time and effort, I could make someone happy. I also welcome a renewed enthusiasm for what I had begun to treat as commonplace.

So what’s my New Year’s resolution? Well, I have three grandchildren, spaced a bit more than a year apart, with a fourth on the way. I resolve to offer all of them a good introduction to snorkeling. Obviously, that’s a multi-year resolution. It will let Grandpa interact with them in a way that will keep them excited and my outlook fresh. If I’m really lucky, they will transition to PADI’s Junior Open Water SCUBA Diver program as they turn 10, opening up even more years of fun for us.

If you’ve got someone to take under your wing (or fin), get out in the water with them! There’s no shortage of easy snorkeling sites in Florida, and Pura Vida Divers will show you where to go. The rewards are great for all involved.

Give Pura Vida Divers a call at (561) 840-8750 or make an online reservation through their website at www.puravidadivers.com.

a few inches wider, a few #10 self-tapping stainless screws, some indoor/outdoor carpet and a pool noodle.

G

Tim Barefoot

ot an aluminum jonboat that makes a lot of noise with hull slap? The Silencer eliminates this hull slap noise and allows you to get closer to the fish.

With a few basic hand tools and materials, you can have a jonboat that is as quiet as a V-hull fiberglass boat. Internal insulation reduces the noise of hull slap, but The Silencer eliminates the chop that causes this hull-slap noise all together. Sure, you will have to drill a few holes in your bow, but this simple homemade gadget allows you to get closer to wary fish.

Fish hear your noise way beyond casting distance. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been frustrated by watching trophy fish swim right past the boat in shallow water. These fish have lockjaw.

They’ve heard the boat, and they’re trying to get away instead of smashing that topwater lure.

Noise absolutely matters! Fish are not stupid to the sounds of trolling motors and hull slap. There is nothing I can do about trolling motor noise, but when you need to get closer to fish upwind, the Silencer allows you to get within casting range without the noise from hull slap. I created this method due to my own frustration at watching fish spook before they were in casting range.

From ponds to the Intracoastal Waterway and the sounds, aluminum boats offer advantages for fishermen. But their built-in disadvantage is they are noisy.

The materials for The Silencer are simple. Everything you’ll need for this project can be purchased at the local hardware store or flooring supply store. All you need is .125-inch (1/8 inch) x ¾ wide aluminum (or stainless) bar stock cut to the width of your bow or

STEP 1: Sew a loop of the carpet around the pool noodle (as shown in photo).

The carpet should be as wide as your bow and slightly longer than the height of your bow off the surface of the water.

STEP 2: Screw the aluminum bar stock and the non-pool-noodle end of the carpet to the bow rail. Drill (.187) 3/16-inch (clearance) holes in the aluminum bar stock, and match the self-tapping holes in the bow of your boat to match.

Use an impact driver or drill to “seat” the self-tapping screws into the bow rail, through the clearance holes in the bar stock and the indoor/outdoor carpet.

STEP 3: You’re done. Toss the pool noodle end of The Silencer off the bow. Chop is absorbed by the carpet and pool noodle, leaving an eddy of still water between The Silencer and your hull.

For a detailed video of how to DIY, visit

BAREFOOTCATSANDTACKLE.COM click on: “The Silencer.”

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F

By Michael Okruhlik • Capt. Michael Okruhlik Photo courtesy of Controlled Descent Lures.

or those who enjoy targeting speckled trout of larger proportions, we know they are not easy to come by. The majority of trophy trout hunting is done in cooler water temps and below normal feeding patterns. Utilizing solunar tables for feeding times can improve your hookup ratio and help you get the edge on gator trout.

When I was a child, I would look at the calendar on the wall and see how many fish were on the day I had a trip planned.

Multi-fish days built the excitement and anticipation while zero

fish still left me wanting to go, but lessened my expectations. During my younger years, I also found no consistent correlation between my success and the number of fish on the calendar and soon felt no reason to review it. I felt it was more of a folktale than a tool. As I matured into a somewhat better angler, and started spending more time saltwater fishing, I once again started to study the solunar tables along with the tides.

To be clear, these tables are not a magic act, nor do they place fish where they are not, but I am a believer that if you are on fish, they will be more aggressive during the feeding times specified in the tables. Many people misinterpret the major as the better bite.

This is not necessarily the case. The major vs. the minor is the length of time the bite will last. The major is typically two hours long while the minor is about an hour and a half. Both can share the same intensity of the feeding period.

I plan each trip around the bite times. Naturally, I fish more than the two hours of the major bite, but I place myself in what I feel is the prime area during the bite. One rule that I stick to is to fish during the feed times rather than travel from one spot to another.

On a recent trip, I wasn’t having any luck and considered moving locations. I checked the time and realized the bite was approaching.

I decided to not move during the bite and continued to fish the once non-productive area to realize an aggressive feed during the specified time slot. I find this approach especially true when hunting gator trout. They do not feed that often and are difficult to catch, therefore utilizing the solunar can give you the edge for catching these larger specks.

As I stated previously, these solunar tables do not guarantee you will catch fish. However, if you have the correct conditions of tide, wind, water clarity, temps, bait and most of all FISH, giving it your best during the feeding times greatly increases your odds of catching fish, and gator trout.

Capt. Michael Okruhlik is the inventor of Controlled Descent Lures and the owner of www.MyCoastOutdoors.com.

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urf Expo is coming to Orlando’s Orange County Convention Center Jan. 8-10. It is an enormous one-stop shop, where retailers can stock up for the upcoming season. The expo’s Bluewater category is designed specifically for retailers of fishing gear, apparel and accessories.

Here is a list of Bluewater vendors at January’s Surf Expo: Smithfly, Monster Cooler, Fish Hard Gear, CEECOACH, Big Ocean Sport, Apparel by Home Run, Kanga Coolers, Float Pak, Mang Gear, Fish Hippie, Ugo Wear, Reel Happy, Hooked Soul Fishing Company, 5Fin, AFTCO, Marsh Wear Clothing, Heybo Outdoors, HUK, Tormentor Fishing Products, Jeep by Buck Wear, Bimini Bay Outfitters, Salt Life, Pure Lure Reel Fishing Gear.

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MARK SOSIN

A

ll of us have enjoyed those rare days when fish would ingest virtually any lure or bait tossed in the water.

Those experiences are certainly the exception, because fish are selective about their diets and seldom vary extensively in their choice of foods. Only when they cannot find enough of their standard fare will they range in their choice.

Let me share a few examples: It was a beautiful day on the offshore grounds with a strong current that should hold fish. As the hours passed, our frustration increased. We couldn’t even raise a fish. Finally, the captain told us to reel in the lines. It seemed obvious he was going to try another spot, but that wasn’t his intention.

Instead of moving, he took the trolling lures off the rods and rigged them with a single hook. One of the outfits had a sinker so it would go deeper. Then he turned the boat broadside to the current and cut the engine. We were now being pushed by the natural flow of water.

A live baitfish was put on each hook and then streamed off the starboard side of the boat. He chopped up dead bait and threw a handful overboard as chum every couple of minutes. It didn’t take long before the big guys hit the live bait, and it suddenly became a banner day because the skipper did something different.

More than 50 years ago, the late Joe Brooks told me no

one to his knowledge had caught an Allison (yellowfin) tuna on a fly, and he was sure I could do it. Joe set up a trip for me to Bermuda, where yellowfins responded to chum. I had fished chum slicks with a fly with my father since I was a young boy, and we simply cast in the slick and retrieved the fly. I can’t remember ever having a problem with that method.

We were anchored on the edge of a bank in Bermuda, with the current taking chum off the edge into deep water. Tuna were devouring chum, and I was sure it would only take a cast or two to hookup. To say I was wrong was an understatement. The tuna ignored the fly as I retrieved it. They swam around it and kept eating chum. Finally, in desperation, I dropped the fly into some chum that lingered on the surface and did not move it. To this day, I can see that tuna inhaling the fly. It weighed 53 pounds and 6 ounces.

The point to remember is that if the more common method isn’t working, try a modification. A friend and I were both fishing the same plug. He kept getting strikes, while nothing touched my offering. Finally, he showed me how he periodically vibrated his wrist. It made the lure flash, and that’s all it took.

In a similar situation, another friend and I were using diving plugs. He kept hooking fish while I couldn’t buy strike. While I followed a standard retrieve, he would pause for an instant periodically. That allowed the plug to float upward before diving again. Simple, isn’t it?

Before you claim there are no fish where you are fishing, try a few variations to standard practice. You might be surprised with the results.

For more from Mark Sosin, visit

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heepshead are some of the tastiest fish in the ocean. They are abundant throughout the Gulf and up the Atlantic coast, usually holding tight to structure like piers, pilings, seawalls, jetties and wrecks.

Sheepshead are easy to find, but difficult to hook. They have hard mouths and teeth designed to crush the shells of barnacles, shrimp and mollusks. They’ll crush bait, and the hook, without an angler even knowing they were there.

That’s why a dropshot rig is a good tool to have. The standard Carolina or fishfinder rigs are effective, but the added sensitivity of a dropshot, where everything is in line, lets you know the fish is there before it gets away. You’ll get two taps. Set the hook on the first one, because the second tap means the fish is gone.

Fishing a dropshot rig is simple. Drop it to the bottom and reel up any slack. With a sensitive rod, the smallest peck is transmitted to the angler’s hand.

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• Use enough weight to stay in contact with the bottom, and tie it into the end of the leader.

• Choose your depth, typically about 2 feet up the leader, and use a Palomar knot to tie in the hook so it rides point-up. Use a sharp J hook (#1-4) depending on the size of the bait, whether it’s a fiddler crab, sand flea, pieces of clam, or shrimp.

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