navigating peace of mind
THE IMPORTANCE OF BOAT INSURANCE
Embarking on the open water is an exhilarating experience, flled with the promise of adventure and relaxation. Whether you’re a seasoned sailor or a weekend cruiser, protecting your vessel with proper insurance is not just a choice—it’s a necessity. Explore the reasons why every boat owner should prioritize boat insurance for a worry-free voyage.
Unpredictable waters
The open water can be unpredictable, with unexpected storms, collisions, or other potential accidents. Boat insurance can give you fnancial protection if there is damage to your vessel, providing coverage for repairs or replacement.
Damage and injury
Accidents on the water can result in damage to other boats, docks, or even injuries to passengers. Boat insurance offers liability coverage, which can pay for damages or injuries you’re liable for while boating, up to specifed limits, and lawsuit costs if you’re sued. This includes damage you cause to another watercraft or if someone on or near your boat is injured and you’re found to be legally responsible.
Theft and vandalism
Unfortunately, boat theft and vandalism are realities that boat owners face. Boat insurance has comprehensive and collision coverage that can protect you against events outside of your control, including theft and vandalism.
Incurred medical payments
Accidents on the water may lead to injuries for you or your passengers. Boat insurance offers a range of optional medical payments coverage limits, helping to cover medical expenses if you are in an accident or someone is hurt on your boat, regardless of fault.
Peace of mind for fnancing
If you fnanced the purchase of your boat, most lenders require insurance coverage to protect their investment. Having boat insurance not only fulflls these requirements but also gives you peace of mind knowing that your fnancial interests are safeguarded.
Navigational fexibility
Some water municipalities and marinas may require proof of insurance for docking or accessing certain areas. Boat insurance allows you the fexibility to explore different destinations without worrying about entry restrictions.
Emergency towing and assistance
Progressive boat insurance can include optional Sign & Glide® On-Water Towing coverage. If your boat is disabled or breaks down on the water, Sign & Glide® pays for on-water towing, jump starts, soft un-groundings, and fuel delivery.
Wreckage removal
If your boat sinks, Progressive boat insurance will cover the cost of removing your boat from the water (if removal is legally required).
Investing in boat insurance is not just about protecting a valuable asset; it’s about safeguarding the memories, experiences, and joy that come with your on-water adventures. Don’t let unforeseen circumstances disrupt your journey—navigate with confdence, knowing that Progressive boat insurance has you covered. Ensure a smooth and worry-free voyage, because when it comes to your boat, peace of mind is the ultimate luxury.
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learn more.
THE TIME HAS COME TO RAMP UP AMERICA’S FISH STOCKING PROGRAM
By Ben Martin, Editor in Chief
The non-pro!t Protect Our Waters reports that, “Fish stocking has been a vital tool for maintaining healthy !sh populations in America’s lakes, rivers, and reservoirs. However, in recent years, most of our waterways have su ered from declining !sh stocks due to habitat destruction, over!shing, pollution, and climate change. If we’re going to combat these challenges, we’re going to need to ramp up our !sh stocking e orts to ensure the sustainability of recreational !shing, and food security.”
Fishing is one of America’s most popular outdoor activities, with millions of anglers heading to the water each year. e recreational !shing industry contributes over $125 billion to the economy annually and supports nearly a million jobs. Unfortunately, declining !sh populations threaten our industry, leading to fewer opportunities for anglers and reduced economic bene!ts for communities that rely on !shing tourism.
but also sustains the businesses like as bait shops, tackle manufacturers, and guide services that depend on a thriving !shery. Additionally, if we’re going to
can lead to an imbalance in the food chain. Stocking e orts can help restore native species in waters where they have declined, preventing the dominance of invasive species that may outcompete them.
While recreational !shing is the primary focus of most stocking programs, increased stocking can also support food security. Stocked !sh provide a renewable source of protein for both commercial !sheries and subsistence anglers.
Enhanced !sh stocking e orts can help mitigate the negative impacts that we’re seeing by introducing hybrid climate-resilient strains of !sh, e technology is there, we just have to use it. Without proactive stocking and conservation e of our favorite species of dramatic declines in the coming decades.
By increasing !sh stocking e orts, states could easily replenish popular game !sh species like red!sh, $ounder bass, trout, walleye, and crappie, ensuring that anglers have plenty of !sh to catch. is not only keeps !shing enthusiasts engaged
encourage a younger generation of anglers to be passionate about this wonderful pastime, they’ve gotta be able to catch !sh.
Many ecosystems are under constant pressure from habitat degradation, invasive species, and pollution. In some cases, native !sh populations struggle to maintain healthy numbers, which
America’s !sh stocking programs could and should play a critical role in maintaining healthy !sh populations, supporting the economy, preserving ecosystems, and enhancing food security. With increasing environmental and economic pressures threatening it’s time for a signi!cant investment in stocking e orts. By expanding hatcheries, improving stocking strategies, and integrating habitat conservation e orts, America can ensure that its waters remain abundant with !sh for generations to come.
Protect Our Waters is an angler-sponsored, nonpro!t organization with it’s primary focus on the sustainability and enhancement of recreational !shing. Learn more at ProtectOurWaters.com.
Smooth Sailing
There are many reasons why the beautiful, deep-water queen snapper has made its way to the top of many anglers’ bucket lists. Not only is this !sh unique and stunning in appearance, but the quality of !llets it produces tops the scale of other snappers.
Most !sh that are harvested from the deeper, cooler waters, as with queen snapper, tend to yield higher quality table-fare. With the thick white meat on these !sh, that can grow over twenty pounds, targeting this species is a foodie’s delight.
Queen snapper can be found from 400 to 1,600 feet of water, spawning year round, with schools constantly on the move. Although they can be targeted over ledges and deep-sea coral beds within these depths, it’s not common to catch one as bycatch while not speci!cally intending to target them. As with most !sh with a penchant for these depths, research is scarce, with !shermen providing the majority of information on their observed behavior. at being said, targeting this species will be more productive with an experienced guide, rather than going it alone and winging it.
If you are a part of the DIY deep-dropping explorers club, and looking to add queen snapper to your hunt, you’re probably going to want to make a few di erent rigs for them.
An electric reel setup is recommended for this type of !shing. Not only due to the depths you are trying to reach, but you may only get short
By Capt. Quinlyn Haddon
dri%s over where you need to be before its time to reset.
e standard drop LEDs and lights should be used the same as with other deep-drop methods. Utilizing a heavy mono!lament leader line of approximately 300 pounds, a x your !ve drop lines at varying distances from each other. You may !nd you get bites higher up in the water column on certain days, making an extremely long leader more productive in !nding the !sh, especially on a !rst dri%. e drop lines should be decorated with your choice of glowing fandangles, whether it be glow wraps, rubber squids or the simple glow beads. Circle hooks ranging from 7/0 to 10/0 are e ective, and if you choose to put a variety of sizes on a single rig, the larger hooks should be at the bottom of the line.
this type of !shing is new to you, pepper in a few chunks of skin-on bonita in your presentation.
If you happen upon your queen snapper territory and !nd yourself in conditions without much current, you can also attempt to catch them with a heavy slow pitch jig. As long as you have light braid and a heavy jig to get to the bottom, and the energy and tenacity to retrieve it again, this is a productive method in extremely light current.
Once you start catching !sh, you may !nd they are consistently eating the bottom hook or the top hook, you can then play around with switching your rig to a longer or shorter leader.
e ideal go-to bait for queens is squid, but since this is a so%er bait, its easier to miss the bite. If
FISHING IS BETTER IN
Queen snapper can be found deep in the gulf, and in the Atlantic from North Carolina to Brazil. While they have hot spots in the Bahamas and deep within the Gulf, e Atlantic waters of e Florida Keys o ers the best opportunity to target these within the United States and with the most minimal travel time. With mahi season around the corner in the Florida Keys, this is a great time to start heading o shore for queen snapper, as it provides a chance to target mahi to and from the deep-drop spots. Give me a call to get out there!
Capt. Quinlyn Haddon guides with Sweet E’Nuf Charters out of Marathon, e Florida Keys. (504) 920-6342. www.captainquinlyn.com; IG: @captainquinlyn
MUD HOLE CUSTOM TACKLE ALL-IN-ONE ROD BUILDING KITS
For anyone looking to build the best rod you’ll ever !sh, All-In-One Rod Building Kits from Mud Hole Custom Tackle are the ideal starting point. All-In-One kits take all the guesswork out of building a !shing rod, making it easy and enjoyable. Whether casting, spinning, y, or even ice, Mud Hole has everything you need for the perfect performance !shing rod and to start a lifetime of custom building.
Mud Hole’s All-In-One Rod Building Kits make it simple. Each kit includes everything you need—rod blank, guides, reel seat, grips, thread, and even the tools and supplies for assembly. With everything already preselected and packaged together, beginners don’t have to worry about picking out matching components and determining which supplies and tools are needed—all the work has been done by their professional builders.
Plus, Mud Hole provides all of the instruction required to build your !rst !shing rod. Kits include an easy-to-follow instruction book, and Mud Hole is the world’s largest source of free online rod building education material and content. ere’s nothing like catching a !sh on a rod you built. And All-In-One Rod Building Kits from Mud Hole Custom Tackle are the perfect way to get started in this time-honored cra$.
Faith - Family - Freedom
AFTCO Apparel & Fishing Gear - Costa Del Mar
Offshore & Inshore Saltwater Tackle- Shimano
Momoi- Rod Repair- MS Fishing Licenses
Marine & Boat Supplies
Ice-Bait-Drinks-Snacks
Fuel (diesel, 89 Octane & non ethanol)
Itactics for spawning trout
By: Nathan Rich
t is time to put away the bibs and long johns, and trade them for shorts and flip-flops. Spring is finally here! The water temps are rising and the trout are moving. It is time to leave the muddy creeks and rivers, and head to the sand flats! With the warming of the water temps, comes the migration of Speckled Trout. These Speckled Trout headed deep into the creeks and rivers in search of warmth and now that the water temps have risen to a comfortable level the trout are on the move looking for good areas to spawn. With that being said, there are certain areas and tactics that you can utilize to maximize your success this spring!
Where to Look
There are 3 key elements that Speckled Trout look for when searching for an area to spawn. These elements are heavy salt content, sandy bottom, and a clean area. In other words, you really want to be targeting these Speckled Trout on large sand flats such as those that surround Horn Island and Deer Island. Stay away from areas that contain a muddy bottom or that are cluttered with drift wood, debris and even rocks and oyster beds.
The Right Approach
For the artificial anglers, lures with a slow presentation are the way to go. There are a few killer options available that are sure to get the job done! My personal favorite is the Southern Salt Bait Co. Hoodwink. This is a 5” fluke style bait that I like to rig on a ¼ oz. Southern Salt Screwball jig head and it is DEADLY!! Another great option is a Mirrodine 17MR. The Mirrodine 17MR is a suspending twitch bait that is amazing at mimicking small baitfish and can be worked with long pauses between twitching, which is deadly at getting a reaction strike!
YOU CAN ALSO VISIT OUR YOUTUBE CHANNEL, WHERE WE HAVE SEVERAL VIDEOS GOING IN DEPTH ABOUT THESE RIGS AND SETUPS
For more tips, trips, and tutorials for everything inshore fishing be sure to check out our Youtube channel “Southern Salt Kayak Fishing”. Until next time, remember to always keep safety in mind, be courteous to your fellow anglers and keep conservation at the forefront!
Tight Lines
Nathan Rich
Shimano Twin Power FE
The toughest offering in Shimano’s MagnumLite series of spinning reels, the all-new TwinPower XD FB incorporates Shimano’s latest premium spinning reel technologies to elevate inshore angling performance. Constructed from CI4+ carbon-reinforced resin, the MGL Rotor provides light and sensitive rotation for increased precision and lure control during technical inshore angling. With a focus on improved drag performance and an enhanced reeling experience, the new TwinPower XD FB adds Shimano’s Duracross technology for improved drag smoothness and longevity while also incorporating InfinityDrive and InfinityXross technologies for increased winding power and enhanced gear durability. Built to endure harsh saltwater environments, a new X-Protect design reduces reeling noise and improves bearing longevity by draining water to the outermost point of the reel. The addition of Shimano’s InfinityLoop technology enhances line lay to improve casting performance and increase drag consistency by reducing drag spikes. A reel built for toughness without sacrificing sensitivity, the TwinPower XD FB has no equal for inshore anglers.
BY: SONNY SCHINDLER
There are a lot of options in April, and everything pretty much revolves around the rain and salinity. Hopefully we don’t get hit too hard with the rains and river flooding. The lower the salinity, the more we will be focusing on the redfish and drum. They seem to tolerate the lower salinities much better than the speckled trout and triple tail. Those delicious puppy drum usually make a big showing in April. The nearshore reefs all along the Mississippi Gulf Coast should be thick with those tasty critters. Live shrimp works well, but I think fresh works even better. The giant black drum will also be lurking around. Close to shore, they are handsdown, the biggest, baddest, and hardest fighting fish you will see in close. Some of these big drum can get in the 50 pound range! Please remember, Mississippi does not have limits on black drum however, if you decide to go into the neighboring
Now, hopefully we don’t get a lot of rain and the salinity is higher. The speckled trout fishing should be going from good to great. These fish will be preparing to spawn and feeding like crazy. Find the bait and find the fish. You want to be looking for oyster beds or grass beds in 5 foot
Louisiana Waters, they have a 16 inch minimum, allowing five fish per person. Keep what you need let the rest go.
of water or less. Pogies, rain minnows, mullet, and shrimp will help you locate fish. Moving water is always a plus and of course, if you’re lucky enough to find diving birds, that’s typically the magic combination where your speckled trout will be.
Assuming we get warm temperatures and high salinity, it’s time to start looking for triple tail. They will usually be coming in from the east and the south; making their way west towards Lake Borgne. Anything and everything is worth checking. Channel markers, buoys, and most definitely floating debris will hold triple tail. Get a live shrimp or minnow near the fish and remember not to hit them on the head with your bait. The crowds are going to get bigger the better the fishing gets.
Please be courteous to
other people at the boat launches, bait shops, and out on the water. There are plenty of places to fish so if you see a big crowd, don’t be afraid to explore new areas.
May 30th 6pm
May 31st & June 1st
Shimano Bantam A
Power. Precision. Performance: Three words characterizing the attitude behind the next generation of Bantam reels. Equipped with Shimano’s Infinity Drive technology to provide anglers with unsurpassed reeling force, engineers designed the new Bantam for the power game. Attack thick vegetation, flip big jigs, burn 1-ounce spinnerbaits, or scour the depths with large crankbaits without resistance or hesitation. Built upon a one-piece aluminum CoreSolid Body, the Bantam provides anglers a solid in-hand feel and the confidence they need during hard hooksets while delivering the power required to yank fish out of the thick stuff. Now featuring Shimano’s MGL Spool III with a decreased startup inertia, the Bantam enables anglers to cast further while providing them with the added versatility to fish a variety of baits and presentations. A reel with a reputation for toughness just got even stronger and more versatile: Don’t shy away from heavy cover, expansive weed mats or thick hydrilla — step up your Power Game with the next generation of Bantam.
Mississippi Kitchen Delights
Oilfield Beans
Icall them Oilfield Beans, some folks call them Cowboy Beans, regardless of what label you assign them, there is no denying this side dish has been a cornerstone of cookouts and gatherings for generations. We are talking about Baked Beans, but not just any old baked beans. To qualify as Cowboy Beans or Oilfield Beans the recipe must include meat and other ingredients. With dishes like gumbo or potato salad you will be hard pressed to find any two recipes that are the same, Oilfield Beans are no different in that regard. One of the truths I believe regarding cooking is there are no rules. Cooking is an artform and beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Have fun with it, and don’t be scared to color outside the lines a little. The following is how I make my Oilfield Beans.
INGREDIENTS:
1 Large, #10 can of Baked Beans (I prefer Bush’s Original)
1 pound of 80/20 hamburger meat
1 pound of Jimmy Dean’s ground “Hot” sausage
1 red Bell pepper
1 yellow Bell Pepper
1 orange Bell Pepper
1 green Bell Pepper, diced (or 6 Jalapenos if you prefer)
1 large purple onion
¼ cup of Compass Point Blend’s “GPS garlic pepper salt” seasoning
1 pound of smoked sausage
1 pound of Little Smokies
1bag of brown sugar
1 stick of unsalted butter
1 bottle of Bulls Eye Original BBQ Sauce
PROCESS:
Dice your bell peppers and onion
Melt the stick of unsalted butter
Over medium / high heat sauté the peppers & onions until they brown, season with Compass Blend’s “GPS Seasoning” (Garlic, Pepper, Salt)
As the peppers and onions start to caramelize add the hamburger and Jimmy Dean “Hot” sausage, season with Compass Blend’s “GPS Seasoning”
Once the burger meat and sausage are brown, drain the grease and add ½ of the bag of brown sugar. Let it melt over the meat, keep stirring to avoid sticking and scorching
Add in your sliced smoked sausage
Add in the little smokies
Once the little smokies and smoked sausage start to brown, add in the beans
Add ½ a bottle of BBQ sauce, to taste
Add the remaining brown sugar
Mix it all together and simmer on low heat for 30 minutes or so, allowing the flavors to combine. I typically use a crockpot or chaffing dish for serving a crowd. Feel free to adjust the amounts of each meat, based on your own preferences; remember when it comes to cooking “There are no rules”
Captain JJ – Charter Trash
National Pediatric Cancer Foundation
“Fishing
Funds the Cure” Tournaments Raise Awareness
and Funds for Crucial Research
The National Pediatric Cancer Foundation (NPCF) created “Fishing Funds the Cure” to raise awareness and funds for crucial research. Each year, they unite corporate partners, passionate anglers, and dedicated supporters for Fishing Funds the Cure Tournaments through an activity that everyone loves. ese exciting inshore and freshwater shing tournaments are held in beautiful locations like St. Pete Beach and Sarasota, Florida, San Juan, Puerto Rico, and more. Each event, thoughtfully designed to engage supporters, features a kick-o celebration, angler swag bags, an awards dinner and a silent auction, all dedicated to making a meaningful impact.
NPCF organizes these events to blend the universal love for shing with an important cause. eir mission is to conduct research leading to less toxic and more therapeutic treatments for children with cancer, and are committed to making a di erence in a system that o$en neglects our children. Despite their bright futures, only 4% of government funding for cancer research supports pediatric initiatives, highlighting the urgent need for advocacy.
NPCF has made remarkable progress and is recognized as the nation’s leading solution, delivering rapid, innovative, and e%cient science
through a collaborative network of 40 hospitals. Operating independently of pharmaceutical and government funding, with eight institutions noted in the “Top 20” by US News, they have invested over $40 million in translational studies and clinical trials. NPCF currently have 30 studies and 11 active trials:
• A new drug compound – which could be the 11th drug utilized to treat children
• Blood bio-marker study – which could be a prevention indicator for relapse patients
• A rare disease trial addressing “rhabdomyosarcoma”
• Multiple combined immunotherapy trials to include a potential vaccine
• NPCF has also authorized the “ rst-ever” education toolkit – provided to pediatric cancer families
• ey are also developing treatment guidelines for relapse patients
If shing is your passion, NPCF invites you to channel that enthusiasm toward a worthy cause. Join them at one of their tournaments, organize your own fundraising event, or take on their “43 Challenge” to honor the 43 children diagnosed
with cancer every day. You can easily start by using NPCF’s online fundraising tool, challenging 43 friends to sh, and encouraging them to donate $43.
e National Pediatric Cancer Foundation is proud to be a top-rated charity, with 89% of every dollar donated directly supporting research. To learn more, visit NationalPCF.org.
THE SABIKI: MVP OF THE TACKLE BOX
The month of April is when the real change comes around. For a number of reasons, April can be a game changer. Just for starters, we have made it out of the month of March and the “Gales of March.” !e temperatures will rise, the daylight hours will be longer, and the urge to spawn will get stronger for a lot of species.
!e pelagics will be on the march up the coast headed north, and I have taken a much di erent approach to shing in general, but especially for the pelagics. Sure, we may troll for a short period in the morning to mark some bait and/or productive bottom holding sh like African pompano, big snapper and grouper, but trolling will quickly stop and dri$ing and/ or %ying the kite will begin as the sun rises in the sky. As the title of the article suggests, we have either stopped on the way out or will start to work with the Sabiki right away.
!is is the key: when you have the live bait, you get the bites. Don’t hesitate to bring bait from the dock like pin sh, menhaden, etc. to use as light-line kite bait or bottom bait. Sometimes it’s just easier to pull up beside the bait barge and exchange some green for sardines, cigar minnows, goggle eyes, etc., so you can just get on with getting to where
Tim Barefoot
you’re going and start shing right o the bat. When you nd a good mark of bait, and hopefully bottom structure, the stage is set. Put the kite %oats, tackle or freelines out and start sending the jigs to the mid or lower water
column, and even to the bottom. Of course, I like a natural looking squid jig you can cast to breaking sh that’s heavy enough to sh in the mid to lower water column or a few hundred feet deep when needed on the bottom. the
entire time you were harvesting sh on the jig pay attention to the free line or %oat baits and keep some chum going if possible. !is is a great way to bring the sh to you. !ey will de nitely come to the chum.
As always, I would pay attention to the amount of noise you make. Don’t let cooler lids slam down or hard objects hit the deck; this will send a soundwave hundreds of yards away from the boat telling the sh something isn’t right. If you’re dri$ing quietly with a chum slick out and beautiful live baits, you have a recipe for success!
!is is a great time of year to catch that African pompano of a lifetime in 150- to 250foot range as they are ready to break up into smaller schools for spawning. Again, I like a squid-type jig because it is the primary food source for the African pompano. It is the bulk of their diet according to the experts. And it’s not just African pompano; everything out there, without exception, eats a squid. !is is a great way to catch big snappers as well. Pull up to where the marks are, make a dri$ and repeat as o$en as needed. A trolling motor upfront can slow the dri$ nicely, keeping your boat forward in the wind with the kite bait or %oat, and baits behind the boat very manageable.
And be sure to keep an eye on the recorder to know where to keep the jig in front of sh.
For more info on the squid jig and dri ing, check out Tim Barefoot’s YouTube channel and website, barefootcatsandtackle.com.
1920s Style for a 1920s Price
It was a warm summer afternoon and my wife and I were mingling with the best of them. The occasion was a 1920s-themed party, and everyone was dressed to the nines. Parked on the manse’s circular driveway was a beautiful classic convertible. It was here that I got the idea for our new 1920s Retrograde Watch.
Never ones to miss an opportunity, we carefully steadied our glasses of bubbly and climbed into the car’s long front seat. Among the many opulent features on display was a series of dashboard dials that accentuated the car’s lavish aura. One of those dials inspired our 1920s Retrograde Watch, a genuinely unique timepiece that marries timeless style with modern technology.
With its remarkable retrograde hour and minute indicators, sunburst guilloche face and precision movement, this design is truly one of a kind. What does retrograde mean? Instead of displaying the hands rotating on an axis like most watches, the hands sweep in a semicircle, then return to their starting point and begin all over again.
Retrograde watches by the big brands can set you back thousands; one recent offering from a big French fashion house is selling for more than $150,000! But because we’ve designed the 1920s Retrograde Watch in-house, we can offer it to you for just $99!
This watch is so wildly popular with our customers that we’re actually concerned about running out; we only have 937 729 left for this ad!
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“An elegant and exciting timepiece that every collector will love.”
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By Don Norton
FISHING THE BLUEGILL CAPITAL OF THE WORLD
Most anglers think of Lake Okeechobee, Florida, and many other great shing lakes as a destination for largemouth bass. And they truly are. But for those in the know, “Lake O” boasts some of the greatest bluegill shing you’ll nd anywhere in the country.
!is is the time of the year—April and May—that bluegill anglers look forward to all year long. !is is when the feisty, hard- ghting pan sh begin their annual spawn. !eir popularity is unmatched with young and experienced anglers looking to test their light line and tackle.
While bluegill is a single species (Lepomis macrochirus), it is sometimes categorized into three subspecies: the northern bluegill, the coppernose
bluegill, and the southwestern bluegill.
To add to the confusion, redear sun sh and bluegills, both belonging to the sun sh family, are easily confused, but can be distinguished by the red or orange coloration around the redear’s operculum (gill %ap), while bluegills have a dark blue to black operculum. Redear sun sh typically grow larger than bluegills, but are o$en caught in the same area, as are coppernose bluegill.
Bluegills are so plentiful that many anglers come to Lake Okeechobee every year just for them and go home with coolers full of their tasty lets. !e daily limit is $y pan sh per angler, and that’s not a hard number to reach when the season is in full swing.
Bluegills can be caught year-round, but when they come into the shallows to spawn, they become a much easier target. Many anglers will test their skills with a %yrod and small popper, while others will use live bait, light line, and tackle—and even bamboo cane poles!
On average, bluegill typically range from six to eight inches in length, although some can grow up to 10 to 15 inches. Nine inches is considered a decent keeper in the “Big O.”
To rig for bluegill, use a small hook (size 8-10) with a light line, a small split shot a few inches above the hook, and a bobber set to suspend your bait near the bottom; commonly used live baits include small worms, waxworms, or crickets, and you can also try small jigs or tiny so$ plastic baits depending on the situation and water depth.
When it comes to the time of day that produces the best bluegill shing, many anglers recommend early evening. As the sun begins to set, waters tend to calm down and %ying insects quickly become a big part of the menu.
But during the spawn, bluegills can be caught all day long.
Finding the beds is relatively easy. Just look in shallow water, 5-foot deep or less for small circular divots in the sandy bottom. !ese “beds” will o$en be close together and will sometimes number in the hundreds.
!e world record bluegill—a sh weighing 4 pounds, 12 ounces— was caught in 1950 in Ketona Lake, Alabama with a cane pole and common worms.
Don Norton is Co-Publisher of Coastal Angler Magazine’s Okeechobee edition. Contact him at (863) 273-4998 or don@theanglermagazine.com.
Praise for DiamondAura®
“So much sparkle and the play of light on DiamondAura® beats any diamond!” — D.D. from Columbus, OH
How to Win at Love
A classic tennis bracelet serves up over 10 carats of sparkle for a guaranteed win
It was the jewelry piece that made the world stop and take notice. In the middle of a long volley during the big American tennis tournament, the chic blonde athlete had to stop play because her delicate diamond bracelet had broken and she had to fnd it. Te tennis star recovered her beloved bracelet, but the world would never be the same.
From that moment on, the tennis bracelet has been on the lips and on the wrists of women in the know. Once called eternity bracelets, these bands of diamonds were known from then on as tennis bracelets, and remain the hot ticket item with jewelers.
with D Flawless diamonds from another company that costs $57,000!
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OTIPS FROM A PRO FROG FISHING FOR SPRINGTIME GIANTS
TYLER WOOLCOTT
ne of my all time favorite times of year to fish with one of the most fun ways to catch a bass. The spawn and post spawn feed is here for most of us in the south and it won’t be long for many others in the other parts of the country. There is a plethora of ways to catch these bass, but my all time favorite for getting bit and drawing in a big one is a hollow body popping frog.
A popping frog can be used as an incredible search bait, duplicating many different baitfish depending on where you throw it and what color you tie on. There are many different options out there, but I try to duplicate the baitfish forage in the particular lake I am fishing on. Sometimes I will stick to a frog that may imitate a bluegill, and sometimes I throw a color that would imitate a shad. Finding a frog that pops well, has good colors, and a big hook is a few things that need to check the boxes for me. The Gambler popping frog is good and so is the Spro.
When I throw a frog as a search bait, I like to work it faster than most. Cover as much water as possible until you put a pattern together on what exactly the fish are focusing on. That’s the magic of a frog; you can literally throw it around everything! Docks, lay downs, grass and down banks are just a few of the targets I would look for. Once you locate a group of fish or find that right area that they are using you can slow down and pick them off a little slower. I have noticed sometimes there isn’t a “too fast” while working a popping frog.
A couple things that I look for this time of year are areas with active fish spawning, fry guarding bass, and also fish roaming the banks feeding on bluegill. This is something that is very predictable and an awesome way to catch big ones when you get around it. Typically, if you know of a few areas that the fish had previously spawned, these patterns will be occurring in the same areas. I throw a bluegill pattern popping frog because the bluegill will typically be a fish that chase their fry and a fish that drives them crazy this time of year.
Another pattern that you might want to keep your eyes out for is a shad spawn. This usually occurs in the mornings and in the evenings and can be a way to catch a bunch of fish in a hurry. We typically look for birds feeding on banks while running down the lake; you find the birds, you find the bait! A white popping frog or a baitfish color is typically my choice in this situation as a lot of times these fish are so keyed in on the baitfish that you’ll want to match the hatch.
A popping frog can work all year long, but this time of year I think it excels the greatest. It’s an incredible search bait that really drives these fish crazy, and who doesn’t like catching fish on a topwater with heavy line and a heavy rod? Grab a popping frog and go catch some big bass! Frog Fishing Gear: Typically when throwing a popping frog you will be around some heavy cover and need to have some big hooks to get through the fish’s mouth. This calls for a heavy rod, some big line and a fast-geared reel. I like to throw a 13 Fishing 7’4H Myth rod paired with a Concept A 8.3 reel spooled up with Sufix 832 50 lb. braid. This setup will allow you to get the fish out of the heavy cover and into the boat.
Tyler Woolcott is a professional tournament angler and guide. Check out his website at www.tylerwoolcottfishing.com.
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