Coastal Angler Magazine | May 2022 | Charlotte/Piedmont, NC Edition

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The Workingman’s Drum

By CAM Staff

Young angler Hayes Grinnell did battle with this big black drum while fishing the Texas coast with Slinging Mullet Guide Service and Get Em Guide Service.

I

n some circles, black drum don’t get the respect they deserve. Maybe it’s their appearance? With weird chin barbells and a humped head, they hug the bottom, looking like the hunchbacked cousins of the sleeker redfish inshore anglers adore.

Or maybe it’s their reluctance to take a lure?

Black drum feed primarily by scent, and while you might catch one slinging a spoon, targeting them requires bait, which is more effort than plug and paddletail aficionados are willing to put forth.

However, for anglers who aren’t too prissy to get their hands dirty, black drum have a whole lot to offer. They are the workingman’s drum, found nearshore and inshore throughout the Gulf of Mexico and up the Atlantic seaboard to New England.

Black drum pull hard, with powerful bulldogging runs regardless of size. And they grow quite large, reaching weights well over 100 pounds. On top of that, they provide consistent action in a wide range of areas where they can be caught. Shore-bound anglers can target them from docks, bridges, jetties and piers, where drum hunt crustaceans around structure. Surf anglers often connect with them on quartered blue crabs cast outside the breakers. From a boat, passes and inlets are prime feeding grounds as is nearshore structure.

Shallow-water anglers find younger specimens way up in the estuaries tailing like redfish for fiddler crabs in tidal creeks.

Their movements are seasonal, but as long as you’ve got bait, you can pursue black drum pretty much anywhere you choose. Like most fish, they bite best on a moving tide, when your bait’s scent disperses over a wide area. They’ll eat halved blue crabs, whole fiddler crabs or mud crabs with backs cracked to let a little scent out, and also live or dead shrimp or fresh cut bait. On the northern end of their range, anglers add clams, mussels and blood worms to the array of baits a drum will eat. As long as your bait is on the bottom and smelling like food, it’s likely to draw the attention of a drum.

Rigging and gear are pretty simple. A classic Carolina rig with just enough weight to keep the bait on bottom will get the job done in most situations.

Up in the creeks, where you’ll be doing more casting and maybe even sight fishing, baits can be fished on a jighead or even a simple hook with a split shot.

Tackle in the 20-pound class is a good starting point, and it’s wise to beef up to pull big drum off structure. They do get big. The IGFA world record, caught in 1975 off Delaware, weighed 113 pounds, 1 ounce. Fish in the 40- to 50-pound range are regular catches across the drum’s range.

Those big fish aren’t good to eat, though. The meat is often full of worms by the time fish reach weights heavier than about 15 pounds. Smaller drum are excellent table fare.

For more information, go to coastalanglermag.com.

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IT’S GROUPER TIME AGAIN!

By Capt. Quinlyn Haddon

M

ay is finally here, opening grouper season for fishermen on the Atlantic Coast.

For the past several months of the season closure, charter captains in the Florida Keys have been boasting incredible throw-back grouper catches.

The reopening of this species enriches each fishing trip with an extra opportunity for a great fighting fish, which is also excellent tablefare.

Grouper fishing can easily be peppered into a day of fishing by dropping a bottom rig down while yellowtail fishing, trolling lures or stopping offshore to deep-drop for snowy grouper while on the mahi hunt.

While the fishery in the Keys may not be famous for its bottom fishing, there is no reason it shouldn’t be. Red, black and gag grouper are plentiful and close to land.

Snowy grouper aren’t too far either, and can be reasonably reliable to target.

Snowy grouper are found within 1,000 feet, and can be targeted with electric or hand-crank set ups. Electric reels are advisable when mahi season is in full swing, as to make quick work of the one-per-boat limit of snowy grouper.

The trek offshore for a single fish might seem like a waste of time, but there is a little more to it. Snowy grouper can get quite large and yield impressively sized, excellent tasting fillets. There

are also the welcomed bycatches of rosies, barrelfish and tilefish while deep dropping in these areas.

Furthermore, there should be ample opportunities for mahi fishing on the way to and from the spot.

Another reason the electric reel is preferable is an 8-pound weight should be used to keep your bait on the bottom in the heavy current. Keep your weight as close to the bottom as you can and utilize a chicken rig, with multiple hooks along the leader, baited with just about anything. Continuously recheck the bottom to make sure it hasn’t gotten away from you, and bring a spare weight or two, as it isn’t overly difficult to lose one while fishing this way.

Targeting red, black and gag grouper on the reef can be a little different than typical grouper fishing on the west coast of Florida. Heavy weights can easily get snagged on the rocky bottom in the heavy current, potentially making inexperience quite expensive in terms of lost tackle. There are also plenty of smaller reef fish waiting to pick apart your bait. Over-baiting can be a good tactic, but the most reliable way to bypass these conditions, is to simply freeline a live bait on a jighead.

After breaking client’s hearts by releasing trophy grouper throughout the closed season, we are thrilled to be able to add these tasty critters to the icebox yet again.

Right now is an excellent time to visit the Florida Keys and enjoy our full fishery.

Capt. Quinlyn Haddon guides with Blue Magic Charters out of Marathon, Fla.

LURES

CASTING FAR: THE DYNAMICS OF LONG DISTANCE LURES

PATRICK SEBILE

I

’ve enjoyed fishing from the shore since I was a teen angler, and one thing that became obvious to me very quickly was there are numerous situations when casts are a tad bit short to reach targeted fish in specific situations.

This is a constant truism when fishing from the bank, the beach, a pier or jetty, but it also applies to boat anglers. Quick, long casts are often required for fastmoving fish like tuna. Long casts are also useful when it’s necessary to keep the boat away from reefs, boulders and breakers for safety or to avoid spooking fish.

Long ago, I began making sure to always have lures in my possession that

were especially efficient for reaching out long distances. These lures sometimes trade realistic swimming action for distance, yet there are also a few that find a balance between great range and great action.

When you read the packaging of a saltwater lure, and especially a surffishing lure, it often mentions how good the lure is for longdistance casts— or how good it is supposed to be. The problem is, there is no scale. There is no quantifiable reference for comparing lures that honestly presents the real numbers of yards any given lure will deliver. Marketing promises do not

always translate into real performance.

To make things more complex, there is theoretical and real distance. A lure that casts great on a parking lot with no breeze can turn into a disaster when casting into an onshore breeze at night, which are conditions many serious fishermen face in the surf.

There’s no magic, and what makes some lures reach farther distances than others is a mix between their concept, their balance and, to a certain extent, the gear used to throw them when the goal is to reach a little bit farther than other anglers.

This conversation is all about the physics that translates to longer casting distance for better fishing results. The key points that will help you pick the proper lures to do the job are shape, buoyancy, the position of weight on the lure, the total weight and sometimes extra appendages, such as side wings that really help a lure fly as far as possible.

These elements are just a primer to a discussion on lures designed for distance.

Next month, I plan to go in-depth on ways you can select lures that will truly help you cast super-long distances to reach fish other lures cannot. Arming yourself with a longcasting arsenal gives you an edge in catching fish, simply because you’ll be able put a lure in front of them.

J

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Legendary angler Patrick Sebile is a world record holder and an award-winning designer of innovative lures and fishing gear. Check out his creations at abandofanglers.com.

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Shiner Fishing for Giant Florida

LARGEMOUTHS

B

ass tournament anglers get excited about 20-pound five-fish limits, and a 30-pound tournament sack is a lifetime achievement for most. It takes a little bit more to impress hawg hunter Sean Rush.

Rush makes a living guiding clients to trophy largemouth bass, mostly on Rodman Reservoir in north Florida. The best five fish haul his boat has seen weighed 61 pounds, 9 ounces. Think about that. That’s a more than 12-pound average.

Rush said it was the best fishing day he’s ever witnessed, with two fish well over 13 pounds and the smallest of the five weighing a measly 11 pounds, 1 ounce. Most bass anglers across the country spend a lifetime seeking out a single 10-pound-plus largemouth. Rush’s anglers did five lifetime’s worth of trophy catching in a single day on April 26 of 2021.

“And we probably lost between three and six fish that were that big or bigger,” Rush added after rattling off the astounding statistics. “Those guys were from New Jersey. They had never done any Florida shiner fishing before. I told them it was all downhill from there.”

The downhill slide, however, is not too steep.

Even a decent day using Rush’s techniques on Rodman produces results that would impress just about anyone. When it comes to catching big largemouths, he’s got several advantages over your average angler.

Location is a big factor. Rodman is a 9,500acre giant bass factory. It is a 15-mile long stump field with a deep river channel running down the middle of it and the matted vegetation Florida

By Nick Carter

fisheries are known for. In more than three decades guiding, Rush said his clients have boated close to 1,000 bass better than 10 pounds. He landed 73 10-plus-pounders last year alone and has overseen the landing of eight fish on FWC’s TrophyCatch Hall of Fame list, which is for fish heavier than 13 pounds. He does 95 percent of his trips on Rodman.

“If fishing is good, we commonly catch 30 to 60 fish a day,” he said. “The average size at Rodman is pretty solid. Usually we’ll have fish in the 8- to 10-pound class on the top end of that range.”

Tactics are everything when it comes to catching fish like that. Live bait provides a huge advantage over the lures tournament anglers must fish. Rush fishes exclusively with live, wildcaught shiners, which he keeps lively in a huge bait tank on his custom-built, 22-foot Prodigy Razor. The tournament guys can keep their fiberglass glitter rockets. Rush’s sturdy aluminum boat is rigged out for the style of fishing he does, and it’s powered by a 150 hp Mercury with a power-assisted hand tiller.

The tackle is also sturdy. Rush pairs heavy duty Daiwa 300 Lexa baitcasting reels with super heavy 7 ½- and 8-foot rods he said are essentially musky rods. He fishes straight 20-pound Berkley Big Game in green, which is thin enough for low visibility and strong enough to get the job done.

He hooks his shiners through the tail above the anal fin with 3/0, 4/0 or 5/0 Eagle Claw 84s, which

are standard J hooks with a slight offset.

In a typical spread, his anglers will work shiners under bobbers set 3 to 5 feet deep, and he’ll throw out one or two shiners on freelines to swim up under the vegetation. For big fish, he prefers shiners 7 to 9 inches long.

Rush’s big-fish reputation has gotten around, so he stays booked 300-plus days a year. His favorite time of year is fall, before the December through February spawn.

“It’s prespawn, the fishing pressure is lower and the fish are feeding up that time of year,” he said. “The fish are also big then. They look like gorillas.”

Late spring and summer are also good, once fish settle back into normal patterns after the spawn. Most of the year he targets them around floating mats of vegetation and deep river bends.

The exception is during the spawn, when bass push up on the flats. Rush does not bed fish, though.

He’ll set up on mats near known spawning flats and try to catch big females staging.

One more thing: don’t call Rush if you want to eat bass or have a trophy mounted. Rodman is managed under regular Florida regulations— which allow five fish, with one fish longer than 16 inches—but Rush’s trips are catch-and-release.

“I’m up front and honest about it on the phone,” he said. “If they even talk like they want to keep one, I just won’t take them.”

Contact Capt. Sean Rush and Trophy Bass Expeditions of Central Florida through the website at www.floridatrophybass.com.

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Monster Blue Cat Smashes Mississippi Record

By CAM Staff

T

he Mississippi River near Natchez, Miss. has a history of producing giant blue cats. The most recent monster catfish, caught on April 7, weighed 131 pounds and absolutely crushed the existing state rod-and-reel state record.

Eugene Cronley, of Brandon, Mississippi, had just set up in a 90-foot-deep hole downstream of Natchez. About five minutes after making his first cast, the big fish took the cut skipjack he was using as bait, according to a report in the Mississippi Clarion Ledger.

“He hit the rod and started pulling drag,”

Cronley told the Clarion Ledger. “We had to untie the boat and float down the river.

“I couldn’t move him. I’d pull on him and take in a foot of line and he’d pull and take 10 feet. I just sat there like I was hung up.”

After a 40-minute fight on 30-pound line, the angler’s exhaustion made hauling the fish into the boat a chore. Cronley has caught 50-pound fish from the area before, and he didn’t

realize exactly how big this fish was until he put eyes on it. Then, it was time to start looking for a certified scale with the capacity to weigh such an enormous fish.

Cronley’s fish waited on ice for three days before he was able to get a certified weight. Fish lose weight when they are out of the water. The Clarion Ledger reported that the fish had an initial weight of 138 pounds on uncertified scales. Even out of the water for three days, Cronley’s blue cat shattered the previous rod-and-reel state record of 95 pounds, caught from the Mississippi near Natchez in 2009. In 1997, a 101-pound Mississippi trophy record blue catfish was caught in the same stretch of river.

The IGFA all-tackle world record for blue catfish is 143 pounds. It was caught from Kerr Lake, Buggs Island, Virginia in 2011.

Cronley’s catch, if certified by IGFA, would possibly be a new 30-pound line class record. The 30-pound line class record stands at 111 pounds. It was caught in 1996 from Wheeler Reservoir in Alabama.

For more Mississippi fishing records, visit mdwfp.com.

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CHARLOTTE/PIEDMONT NC EDITION

In This Issue….

Local Fishing Forecasts The Science Line Catch of the Month The Net Three Baits to Try Billy Raines, Publisher TheAnglerMagCLT@gmail.com

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MAY 2022

CHARLOTTE/PIEDMONT 1

FRESHWATER FORECAS

Forecast for Lake Norman By: Captain Gus Spring has “sprung” and the fish are biting. Like many Piedmont residents, it may have been a long time since you wet a line. Hopefully, these tips will help make your first fishing trip of the new season a productive one.

line is perfect for most fishing conditions on Piedmont lakes. Optimum performance is achieved when the spinning reel is filled to within 1/8th of an inch from the lip of the spool.

Get an early start: Sunrise signals the first inning of a fishing day. Fish are particularly active from dawn until an hour or so after sunrise.

Best places to fish: Boat docks are preferred for most species of fish on Lake Norman. Other prime targets include bridge pilings, downed trees, brush piles, channel markers and points of land.

Ice, gas and bait: Plan to be on the lake at first light. Load the boat with gas, ice, bait and tackle the night before. Don’t forget to set the clock.

Nets: Be sure to have a landing net on board. Place the net in the water and lead the fish into it head first.

Sun glasses: Polarized glasses reduce the glare and make it easier to see through the water. Fish swimming along the banks or tending their spawning beds are easy to catch.

Camera: Don’t forget to take a camera and share the pictures with those who didn’t go with you.

Artificial/Live Baits: Swimming lures that imitate the look and action of shad – Shad Raps, Rapalas, Rattle Traps and Swimbaits are popular with bass and hybrid striped bass anglers. Soft plastics, jigging spoons and deep diving lures are preferred when fish are deep and feeding near the bottom.

Live shad/ herring /minnows are particularly effective during the spring.

They swim naturally when hooked through the nose or lips. To keep them active a bait tank, live well or a bait bucket with a battery-operated aerator is recommended.

Hooks, sinkers and bobbers: Match the size of the terminal tackle to the size of the bait for the type of fish you target. When fishing slows, downsize bait, hooks, sinkers and bobbers.

Tips from Capt. Gus: Using small corks and bobbers means more fish when live baiting,.

Larger bobbers are easier to cast and see, but are more difficult for small or medium size fish to tug on. In fact, if a fish detects too much resistance, it might drop the bait before swallowing it.

April Hot Spots: Warmer and rising lake waters have bass close to shore and in the backs of coves where they are spawning. Hybrids are upriver where they can be taken on live bait, clams, mussels and a variety of artificial lures.

See ya out there!

Capt. Gus Gustafson of Lake Norman Ventures, Inc. is an Outdoor Columnist and a full time Professional Fishing Guide on Lake Norman, NC. Visit his website at www.FishingWithGus.com or call 704-617-6812.

Casting: Spring is a good time to re-spool reels with new line. A 6• to 7• medium action spinning rod and reel combination, loaded with ten pound test

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3 Baits for May May is finally here. Warmer weather, bluegill and shad spawn should be happening and it is time to start working our lures a little faster. At the same time we need to start using top water baits. We still need to remember to keep our baits smaller and match the profile of the forage fish that the bass are eating.

Number One: Top water Buzzbait One those early mornings where the wind is calm, a top water buzzbait is a killer lure to use. Not only it is a great search bait, but it is great over pads, grass and more. A buzzbait allows you to make cast after cast to find them quickly. May finally offers us a time to break out the top water baits in clear and dirty water, and a buzzbait has great sound, stirs up and offers a lot of commotion, but bass will be aggressively feeding and running down faster working lures. And when you do hook into one remember the cadence and speed that you were using, and REPEAT. Number Two: Swim Jig If you have not seen or heard of the new Berkley Powerbait Swim Jig, do not worry about it. Is it better than your normal swim jig? YES! Berkley has made the skirt of this new jig out

of their Powerbait scent. This scent is infused into the silicone skirt and it is a great improvement. Fish will hold onto the bait longer, but since your swimming it, you should be able to feel the bite. I like this bait this time of year because it will allow you to put it into heavy cover, into a possible bed, skipped under a dock.... put this swim jig in places where they are waiting to ambush that smaller prey. Put a small curly tail grub on the back to give off more water displacement and a little bigger presence in the water.

Number Three: Senko Stick Worm I will be completely honest here. I LOVE the DOA Senko. Is it the best? Probably not, but it is as good as any Senko Stick Worm I have ever used. It holds up well, has great action, and in the month of May, it is a great option to catch any and all fish looking for an easy meal. I prefer to put a small weight in the front so that the worm will go through the water column faster. The weight also allows the baits to stick vertically, and with a quick rod twitch, the bait will fold and then bounce back. This is a great way to catch them.

Hope you have a great month, remember TAKE A KID FISHING, GET UR FISH ON!!! We will see ya soon. Cheers!!

DS

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MAY 2022

CHARLOTTE/PIEDMONT 3

FRESHWATER FORECAS

Forecast for Lake WYLIE By: Captain Phillip Rizzitello Finally, the rain has let up! With the weather starting to warm, the rain starting to go away and the longer day light it can only mean one thing.

That’s right, the spawn. Fish are already coming out of the lethargic stage and getting more and more active by the day. Spawning beds are being made, bites have picked up and water temps are on the rise. With that being said, now is the time to get out. The next month or so should be very productive and only get better. Make sure to get out and take advantage of this prime time as the recreational boaters and sweltering summer temps will be here before you know it.

year day by day. Warmer days go shallower and cooler days move a little deeper. Fish should be covering a lot of different depths with the weather so back and forth as well as while they are getting their beds ready. If you can visually see beds the fish will not be far.

Get out there, enjoy everything nature has to offer, and land some fish!

Visit www.rizzsoutdoors.com or call 803-2306309 to book your fishing trip with Captain Phillip Rizzitello

The water, while clearing, is still dingy. Utilize baits that will draw attention will be in your best interest.

Whether it be something noisy, vibrating, shiny, stinky or bright in color anything that will draw attention. Spinner baits, crank bait that rattles, cut shad, live bait (not dead) are all options for most species. Water depth is doing to vary this time of

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CHARLOTTE/PIEDMONT 5

Catch of the MONTH Scott Ricco

6 CHARLOTTE/PIEDMONT

MAY 2022

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The Science Line Sometime Anglers Beat The odds By: Jake Bussolini

Most skilled anglers, through their years of experience, have developed their own theories and myths that guide their fishing techniques. We understand that fishing in the winter is different than fishing in the summer. We understand the feeding habits and how water temperature also will affect the behavior of the different fish species. But sometimes even the most experienced anglers get fooled. I have found that Nature is a wonderful teacher for wildlife and fish in particular have developed habits that sometimes violate common sense logic.

Scott is a trout fisherman from New York and he still has trouble believing that he could catch a fish this big with 10 pound line and a light rod and reel. More of a surprise to me was that this big guy was in the exact location that we caught it one month earlier, same fish, same time of day (5pm) and hooked at the exact same spot as the previous catch. Fishing is always able to provide us with surprises, even when we think we know all the habits of the fish.

Jake Bussolini is a freelance writer who has written several Take catfish for example. Most anglers that fish for catfish books about freshwater fishing. His books can be seen at www. regularly, believe that the habits of the three main species of booksbyjake.co. catfish are well understood. The channel catfish is the most available one in Lake Norman and channels like to attack smelly bait. The flathead catfish is somewhat territorial and will remain close to or on the bottom and roam the same locations for weeks at a time. The blue catfish which is the most soughtafter species in Lake Norman, stays close to the bottom and will normally roam long distances searching for its food. The blue catfish prefers fish, clams and other live bait for its food and will roam long distances to find the preferred source.

BUT! The blue catfish will sometimes fool those who seek it out.

Anglers do not normally expect to find a specific fish remaining in the same general area for weeks at a time, but surprises do happen. In the February issue of The Angler, A fisherman was featured with the catch of the month. It was a 40 pound blue catfish that he caught while fishing with me on Lake Norman.

Now a 40 pound fish is not a normal catch on this lake so one would not expect to see that same fish caught soon after that day. BUT, the other day while fishing with a friend in the exact spot that the big cat was caught a month earlier, my friend hooks this 40 pound monster and after a 30 minute fight, we finally got it into the boat to photograph. All indications pointed to the fact that this was the same monster that we caught a month earlier and it was hooked in the exact same spot as the previous fish.

Scott Ricco is shown here straining to hold the big fish up for the photo before returning it to the lake. Now Scott was previously an Airborn Ranger and still remained in reasonably good fitness and he just about made the time required to take the photo.

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CHARLOTTE/PIEDMONT 7

Underappreciated Essentials: The Net By: Ryan Wilson

Fly fishing is a gear heavy sport. The scope and the cost of all the stuff that you need can be intimidating for new and experienced anglers alike. While some of us love all the gear and gadget options, others find themselves overwhelmed. It can be tempting to cut corners in certain areas to trim down on the cost and clutter of your fly fishing outfit. Over the next few articles, I’m going to highlight a few items that I consider essential, but that I often see anglers neglect to their own detriment. Today, we’re going to talk about the net.

Simply stated, if you are fishing without a net, you are landing fewer fish, losing more flies (and wasting time having to retie), causing more harm to the fish you do bring to hand and looking pretty silly in the process.

Without a net, your options to land a trout are to either bring it to hand or drag it up on the bank. Both of those options take time and put extra strain on those light tippets and will often cause the line to snap, losing you the fish and the fly. Even more important than your lost rig, those landing methods are significantly more damaging to the fish, hindering a successful recovery after release. Landing a trout by hand is difficult because that fish is slimy, and oddly enough will be doing everything in its power to avoid you. After several failed attempts, it’s only natural that most of us will seize that fish with a death grip when we finally do get a hand on it. That grip can cause muscle, tissue & organ damage, as well as removing the slimy coating that helps protect the trout from infection and parasites. If you require a demonstration on how dragging a trout across sand/ rocks/ gravel/ dirt isn’t good for it, then I suggest sitting your own butt down and pooch scooting across the backyard once or twice.

When choosing a net, you need to consider size & portability, material and cost. Handle length and head width will depend on your fishing style and the fish you’ll be targeting, as well as personal preference. A net that’s too big will be a pain to carry & deploy and too small will make landing fish more difficult, especially the fish you really don’t want to lose. I have different nets for different situations, but the one I use 90% of the time has a 12” handle and is 32” total. That gives me decent reach, but isn’t so big that it hinders my mobility.

8 CHARLOTTE/PIEDMONT

MAY 2022

I exclusively use Fishpond nets, which are a carbon fiber/ Kevlar construction. They’re lightweight and very strong.

They come with the price tag, but as a guide, I need stuff that I can trust to hold up to hard use. In the past, I’ve also used wood and even plain aluminum nets. Like anything in the sport, purchase the product that best fits your budget, recognizing that cheapo gear will have to be purchased more than once.

Another important factor is bag construction & depth.

For trout fishing you want a soft rubber mesh instead of the traditional nylon. The rubber is much gentler on the fish and won’t abrade away the protective slime we talked about earlier. It’s also easier on the fisherman, as flies tend to get badly snagged/ tangled up in the nylon mesh and come out easily with rubber. Make sure the bag is deep enough to land the fish you might encounter.

If you’re in an area with big fish, make sure you have a net that can hold them.

Aside from just not wanting to spend the money on one, the main reason anglers don’t carry a net is that it can be cumbersome. The net has to be accessible, easy to deploy, secured to your pack/ person and easy to store.

Some packs make that easy, some do not. Most full-size packs have a net storage option, but it’s not always that convenient. I have mine hanging from a shoulder strap, attached with a magnetic tether. It works really well with my pack of choice. The tether is especially important, as losing expensive gear makes my stomach hurt. There isn’t space here to go over all the different pack/ vest configurations, but you may have to play with it a little bit to find out what works with your outfit.

A net is an essential piece of fly fishing gear. From both an ethical angling and from a productivity perspective, there really is not an excuse for not using one. It will require a little bit of thought to get your system set up efficiently and being good with your net is an actual skill that you will have to learn, but overlooking this important piece of equipment will help you catch and successfully release more fish, save you time, flies and mental anguish.

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n Illinois angler broke the Missouri state record for paddlefish in March. He snagged a 140-pound, 10-ounce paddlefish at Lake of the Ozarks. It beat out the previous record— set in 2015 at Table Rock Lake—by just one ounce.

Record-breaking angler Jim Dain, of Pittsfield, Ill., was on a family fishing trip and almost decided not to take the boat out because of shifting weather conditions the day he caught his monster fish.

“The forecast was calling for storms, and then it changed to no rain, so we went out, but it just kept getting colder,” Dain said. “We weren’t having much luck, but decided to fish for another hour. So we took another turn, and that’s when the drag on the reel started. It felt like a tree was on the line!”

Paddlefish are an interesting target for anglers because they are filter feeders and will not take lures or baited hooks. The most popular method for catching them is to troll large, un-baited treble hooks to cover water and hopefully snag one.

“We got 16 one-gallon bags of meat out of this catch,” laughed Dain.

“We’ve fried it, grilled it and made paddlefish tacos the other night. We’ll be having paddlefish for a while!”

Missouri’s paddlefish seasons run March 15-April 30 on its major paddlefish snagging waters: Lake of the Ozarks, Table Rock Lake, Truman Lake and their tributaries. There is a minimum length limit of 32 inches.

The paddlefish season for the Mississippi River is March 15 through May 15 with a fall season of Sept. 15 through Dec. 15.

For more information, see the Missouri DNR website at dnr.mo.gov.

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CoastalAnglerMag.com/contest 14 NATIONAL

MAY 2022

FLEXIBLE LIMIT

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PROPOSED FOR MAKOS

OAA Fisheries has proposed establishment of a flexible retention limit for shortfin mako sharks with a default limit of zero in commercial and recreational highly migratory fisheries.

This measure follows a 2021 approval to ban mako shark harvest in the North Atlantic in 2022 and 2023 in a decision handed down by the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT).

ICCAT’s juridiction is over highly migratory species, like sharks, which cross international boundaries.

NOAA’s flexible retention limit would fulfill ICCAT’s recommendation, while allowing flexibility if conditions change. During the fishing year, NOAA Fisheries could increase the shortfin mako shark retention limit from the default, or subsequently decrease the retention limit, for the commercial fishery, the recreational fishery, or both, based on regulatory criteria and retention allowed by ICCAT. Strict conservation measures have been on the table for mako sharks since 2017, when a stock assessment indicated the species was being overfished.

Annual take from both sides of the Atlantic ranged between 3,600 and 4,675 tons, mostly caught with commercial gear. ICCAT warned that catches must be kept below 1,000 tons to rebuild the population.

Off the U.S. east coast, Atlantic shortfin mako sharks are found from New England to Florida, in the Gulf of Mexico from Florida to Texas, and in the Caribbean Sea. For more details or to comment on the proposal, see www.fisheries.noaa.gov.

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NATIONAL 15

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t’s tarpon time, and as big fish flood the channels, bays, flats, beaches and passes up the Gulf and Atlantic coasts, every angler with a monster silver king on the bucket list hopes to get a piece of the biggest show on water. Most of the time, all they’ll get is the aerial show.

Whether it’s a thrown hook from a head-shaking leap, a sharp gill plate that cuts the line, or a big hammerhead that makes the line go slack, hooking a big tarpon is a lot easier than putting hands on one. Studies have shown less than 40 percent of hooked tarpon make it boatside to have their photo taken.

Here are a few tips to help you turn a hook-up into a great release photo.

TARPON FIGHTING TIPS

By CAM Staff

1) Bow to the King:

If you have any interest in tarpon at all, you’ve heard this one already, but let’s just get it out of the way for those who don’t know. When a tarpon jumps, stop reeling, drop your rod tip and point it at the fish. When the fish is doing all its head shaking and tailwalking, a slack line doesn’t provide as much leverage to throw the hook. When the fish lands, lift the rod tip back to about 45 degrees and reel quickly to take up the slack.

2) Predict the Jump: Watch the fish’s behavior and you can often predict when it will go airborne. A hard run usually culminates with a big jump.

Also, when you see the line angling up, it means the fish is headed to the surface. Pay attention and you won’t be caught off guard.

PHOTO COURTESY OF CAPT. JEFF MAGGIO

3) Go Hard on Them: Tarpon are big and powerful. If you don’t break their spirit quickly, they just might break yours. Use heavy tackle and do everything you can to get them in quickly. Use an anchor buoy to quickly unhook and chase fish down. This allows you to gain line and maintain the upper hand.

By adjusting the drag, you can let the fish tire itself out more quickly. Start with the drag lower in the early stages of the fight, when the fish is still making long powerful runs that can break the line. As it begins to tire from running and jumping, start ramping up the drag pressure and continue pumping and reeling. If you’re good enough, palming the reel allows you to manually control drag pressure without committing to a higher setting. This can save you if a fish has a sudden second wind.

Keep the heat on a big fish from start to finish. If it runs to the right, swing your rod to the left and vice versa. By keeping constant pressure against the direction the fish is trying to go, it is sometimes possible to convince them to give up.

4) Don’t Feed the Sharks: Sharks always seem to show up when there’s tarpon fishing going on, and it’s a pity so many big tarpon end up getting sharked on the end of a line. When sharks show up, ethical anglers pull lines up and move. Reeling in half a fish is worse than reeling in no fish at all. If a big shark shows up during the fight, clamp down on the drag and try to break the line.

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THE SCREEN TELLS ALL

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Tim Barefoot

s you should know by now if you read my articles or subscribe to my YouTube channel, I like to fish for everything with fins. From offshore in 300plus feet of water to creeks, there is one thing that makes us more effective now than we were years ago: electronics!

When I was very young, we went to the very first mark off the beach and loaded up on sea bass, gray trout (weakfish), flounder and whatever else would bite a crude chicken rig with cut mullet. Those days are gone. Now, we have evolved to using the most advanced electronics available to locate and stay on fish. We’ve got side imaging and live imaging technology, which is not (almost) cheating, to… screw it… It’s cheating, and I’m doing it.

I love a gag grouper like Peter loved the Lord, and I also like to fish for bass as well as drum, trout and snook. Electronics like side scan make me dangerous. They are the difference between being close to a good place on a ledge or wreck versus being ON THE SPOT. It’s now possible to see whether you’re close to a stack of baitfish or on it. The stack of bait is the key to catching instead of just soaking baits. Look for the giant stack of bait, because that is what holds

predators, bottom fish below and pelagics above.

For example: The video link at the end of this article as well as the blue photo on this page are a prime example of electronics telling us what’s below us and how deep. The marks near the bottom are African pompano and other bottom fish. The marks in the 100-foot range are blackfin tuna.

The other photo is of crappie in a creek. I was watching them in real time using Garmin LiveScope. Regardless if you’re fishing in 300 or 15 feet of water, having the correct electronics will make a huge difference.

We rely on our fishing instincts to catch fish. I’m a believer in the “cleanest” terminal tackle being the most effective tackle. The most important thing of all, though, is to position your boat on top of fish. For this, proper electronics have become essential.

Check out barefootcatsandtackle.com, and watch this video https://youtu.be/qGzW6QFZHKE on using electronics offshore.

m

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MAY 2022

NATIONAL 19

Making Memories M

ay is a great month to take or introduce a child to the sport of fishing. The summer crowds haven’t arrived, the weather is tolerable, and there should be a nice breeze to keep it comfortable.

If your child is already catching more than you, this is a great time to teach them some new techniques or how to use a new lure.

Jetties, piers or docks are great locations to target this month, and sheepshead can be an entertaining target for the beginner. They can be corporative, and a nice trophy for a child. At times, they can be easy to catch and will provide a solid fight for the saltiest of anglers. Sheepshead love structure. Focus your attention on the most barnacle-encrusted structure you can find. At times you can hear them munching on those barnacles! If it is legal in the area you are fishing, scraping barnacles off the structure is a great way to chum for sheepshead and really gets them fired up. Small live or fresh dead shrimp are great, readily available bait.

Small jacks, croaker, pinfish and whitting are also good options to give young anglers a strong tug and a good time. Once again, live and dead shrimp are a good choice to lure in these aggressive feeders.

Beach fronts, jetties and structure are good areas to target them.

If your child is up for a challenge and wants to learn something new, like my 11-year-old, May

By Capt. Michael Okruhlik

is a good month to explore. With optimal water temperatures that keep fish aggressive, May is ideal.

My son and I were in our favorite local tackle shop one day, and he picked up a custom painted lure and showed it to me. The owner, Mike, had painted these and they are renowned for catching big trout.

My son had never fished one, but wanted to learn and catch a big one!

For a few weeks, every time my son walked into the lure room and saw the Corky hanging on the rack, he would say, “Dad let’s go fishing.” He wanted to use the lure from Mr. Mike and catch a big trout.

When we finally had a chance to hit the water, conditions were not ideal. We went to learn how to work the lure, if nothing else. My son did accomplish catching his first fish on a Corky. Even though it was not the big trout he planned on, it gave us a good laugh and memories that will last forever.

This photo shows his first fish on that style of lure… the first of many I am certain. Go grow up little pinfish. Hopefully the next time we meet you are in the belly of a big trout!

Take a kid fishing, leave the electronics at home, and everyone will have fun learning something from each other!

The Return of a

PHOTO COURTESY OF KNOCKIN TAIL LURES

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

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conversations. Satellite phones are an option but are cost prohibitive for most of us. Luckily, the satellite network has created a new choice with two-way texting devices like the Garmin inReach Mini, which I find offers a great mix of features, affordability, size and peace of mind.

All these devices require a subscription plan, but most are affordable and allow you to pause them during off seasons. There are several manufacturers and options on the market, and they have many different features. Some have built-in keypads for easy composition of messages, but that makes the size larger. Most will pair with your cell phone, making it simple to create and send messages. They all also have SOS buttons that send a distress message along with your location to a communication center.

Like EPIRBs and PLBs, they will continually transmit your location to

By Will Schmidt search and rescue, helping them to find you quickly. Unlike the others, you are notified when your SOS is received. You can also communicate the nature of your emergency and answer vital questions from rescuers via text. The small size and waterproof rating means you can clip these devices to a life vest and continue sending and receiving information should you need to abandon ship.

Furthermore, you can send non-emergency messages to check in with others. The inReach Mini allows you to create three preset messages that can be quickly sent and have unlimited sends on each of their data plans. This is a great feature for sending useful updates and non-emergency messages such as: “Just checking in, everything is fine.” Or “Everything is ok, but we are running late.”

Other features many of these devices offer are waypoint navigation, tracking and weather reports. If navigation features are of primary importance to you, a larger device with a bigger screen might suit you better. Since mine is a backup navigation device, the connection to my phone is sufficient. I can even pair my inReach with my chart plotters to quickly send and read messages while underway.

Whether you travel offshore, into the backwoods or to a remote island ith technology helping us get farther away from shore, it is lodge, if you want the ability to summon help or just check in at home when imperative that we have a reliable way to communicate with others. off the grid, these satellite devices offer great usability in an affordable easyIt’s not unheard of for people to take a bay boat 40 miles offshore to-use option. where VHF might not be heard. While Emergency Position Indicating Will Schmidt is a seasoned tournament angler who has been writing Radio Beacons (EPIRB) and Personal Locator Beacons (PLB) are a great about fishing from more than two decades. way to request assistance in an emergency, they lack the ability for two-way

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22 NATIONAL

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IT MIGHT JUST BE CRAZY ENOUGH TO WORK! Berkley played a pretty good gag for April fools that likely sent a group of very specialized anglers to the store looking for a product that doesn’t exist.

The company, which produces scented and flavored artificial baits, announced the release of the Berkley PowerBait Noodling Glove.

“Infused with PowerBait, this glove is designed to give noodlers a way to successfully wrangle catfish and give the fish a flavor so good, they’ll never let go,” read the press release.

Berkley went on to tell sportsmen the following: Originally designed to withstand the fight of giant catfish, the team at Berkley Labs quickly discovered that the PowerBait Noodling Glove can be effective on more than just catfish. Extensive field testing proved that the PowerBait Noodling Glove increased angler catch rates for bass, trout and other species. The team even tested the glove with local hunters and found it’s just as effective in luring white-tailed deer as it is in luring catfish. There is nothing that can’t be caught using the PowerBait Noodling Glove.

The Berkley PowerBait Noodling Glove may also get its time to shine on the bass tournament trails this year thanks to Berkley Pro Angler John Cox. Cox says, “The way I fish is very similar to noodlers; they go down the bank and look for holes. Well, I go down the bank looking for a 5 or 6 pounder either on a bed or chasing bluegill. So, when I heard about noodlers using the Berkley PowerBait Noodling Glove, I thought ‘Hey, this might work really well for me.’ Noodling is definitely not for just catfishing anymore.

That was a pretty good one, Berkley.

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PARTING WATERS

LIKE NO OTHER INNOVATION DRIVES SUZUKI ON THE WATER Unparalleled throttle response and silky-smooth shifting along with the outboard industry’s first Contrarotating Dual–Prop design, the 350hp outboard is in a class of it’s own. With Suzuki Marine’s reputation for performance and reliability, you can rest assured your boating day is going to make memories that will last for years to come.

YEAR LIMITED WARRANTY

5 YEAR LIMITED WARRANTY applies to qualifying purchases of Suzuki outboard motors sold and delivered to the retail purchaser, for pleasure (non-commercial) use only, from April 1, 2021 through June 30, 2022.

See Suzuki Limited Warranty for additional details. Suzuki, the “S” logo, and Suzuki model and product names are Suzuki Trademarks or ®. Don’t drink and drive. Always wear a USCG-approved life jacket and read your owner’s manual. © 2022 Suzuki Marine USA, LLC. All rights reserved.