The Angler Magazine | January 2020 | Great Smoky Mountains & Upstate Edition

GREAT SMOKY MOUNTAINS & THE UPSTATE 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

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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

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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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hft_coa

Editor’s Note: Delayed harvest (DH) trout seasons are in full swing across the Southeast. With catch-and-release regulations, streams will stay full of trout through the cool months, providing anglers excellent action. Here’s a quick look at one of Georgia’s best DH streams. This description of the Toccoa River in the mountains southeast of Blue Ridge, Ga. is an abbreviated excerpt from the book “Flyfisher’s Guide to North Carolina & Georgia.”

By Nick Carter

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pstream of Lake Blue Ridge, the Toccoa River is large and wide in comparison to most Georgia trout streams. Even high in the drainage, it offers plenty of room for airing out casts. The main river and several of its tributaries are stocked heavily with mostly rainbow trout. There is some reproduction in the river’s tributaries, so the occasional wild fish and a few brown trout might show up. It is a good fishery because it is full of fish, but it is a better fishery during the cooler months when the water is cold and the trout are more active.

The upper Toccoa’s DH stretch is 1.5 miles of water on the lower end of the river’s trout water that has been set aside as catch-and-release, single-hook, artificial only from Nov. 1-May 14 each year. From personal experience, it is one of the best of Georgia’s DH streams.

Size is one of the main reasons the Toccoa DH is so good. There are good deep holes as well as some runs and pocket water big enough to be considered deep holes on most other Georgia trout streams. Even with just a mile and a half of water, there is a lot to fish.

The Toccoa DH also seems to receive stockings of some larger fish through the DH season. On one January trip with snow on the ground,

a buddy and I got into a pod of rainbows in the 14- to 18-inch range that ate flashy egg patterns and San Juan Worms until we got tired of sucking ice out of our guides.

The DH section runs from the Sandy Bottom Canoe Access downstream to Shallowford Bridge, which is generally considered the bottom of the decent trout water. A road and a trail run the length of this stretch of river, so access is good, although high water can make it difficult to wade.

As with any stream with easy access, the best-looking, most-visible areas receive most of the pressure, so it can be worthwhile to find areas that require a little walk. Or, you can fish from a float tube, canoe or kayak and hit all of the holes. Bring an anchor or the short float will be over before you’ve had a chance to string your rod up.

“Flyfisher’s Guide to North Carolina & Georgia” includes maps, GPS access points and detailed descriptions of the region’s best trout fishing.

It is available on Amazon, at fly shops or by contacting the author at nsc8957@gmail.com.

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By Jay Striker

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hen I go to the lake this time of year, I grab my three favorite rods. They are my jig rod, my other jig rod, and last but not least… my jig rod. Your chances of catching a big fish increase when throwing jigs in the winter.

In January, it’s easy to find water in the magic temperature of 55 degrees or lower. That is an excellent time to be fishing. Conditions can also be very calm, and the lake is just about empty most days.

Now, don’t get me wrong. I don’t like being cold and uncomfortable when fishing. I’m looking for air temperatures that will rise

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throughout the day, and instead of rushing to the lake at 4 a.m., I arrive at 8 or 9 a.m., relaxed and ready to fish.

Bass are easy to predict this time of year. On frigid days, the fish are not active and are usually sitting on the bottom of the lake. I’ve caught fish with mud on their bellies from being on the bottom. A key factor to consider is how bass react to the sun. When it’s bright and sunny, bass tend to move to areas warmed by the sun. On overcast days, they’ll be bunched up near the bottom, and this is when I catch more jig fish. They are more predictable.

Minimal movement is the presentation for this bite. Instead of hopping the jig, use a dragging technique that provides full contact from the bottom of the lake to the end of the rod. There might be only a handful of bites all day, and this technique allows you to feel fish when they pick up the bait.

I look for water that is not dirty but has a light stain, as bass use sight to verify prey before striking. Black and blue is my go-to color in January, and I use a big chunk trailer to slow the jig’s fall. Watch your line on the fall, especially around sun-warmed rocks. You might not feel the bite, but if your line jumps, set the hook.

I fish structure and cover when it’s cold. When fishing docks, I focus on those near steep drops that fall off into a channel. Steep or vertical banks allow fish to move up and down through the day, and they are especially good if there is a nearby flat. I also look for areas with combinations of structure and cover, such a brush, laydowns, metal-roof docks, rocks and grass, but they must be near steep water.

When you get the urge to fish in the winter, go out and enjoy it.

Take a handful of jigs and focus on slowing down and dragging the bottom. Look for the right water clarity and the right combination of cover and structure. There won’t be many bites, but you just might catch the fish of a lifetime.

Contact tournament angler Jay Striker through his website at www.jaystriker.com. Follow him on social media @jaystriker52.

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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.

MURPHY AREA

Lake Monsters: Lake Hiwassee Trophy Stripers

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anuary’s here and the holidays are gone. It’s time to put those awesome Christmas fishing gifts to good use, and there’s no better place to start than on this excellent Western North Carolina reservoir.

Located in Murphy, NC, Lake Hiwassee offers some amazing striper fishing. For me, January seems to really kick off the start of monster striper season. So, if Santa forgot to leave you those rods and reels, just book a trip with Murphy, NC’s #1 and only fulltime striper guide: Big Ol’ Fish Guiding Service.

We specialize in striper and hybrid fishing on these mountain lakes and have what it takes to put you on some huge trophy stripers. If you want to experience an amazing fishing opportunity give us a holler!

Currently, the water temps are in the low 50’s. The water clarity is

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By Shane Goebel

clear throughout the entire lake.

Water levels on Lake Hiwassee are extremely low, about 32 feet below June’s water levels but no worries.

It just concentrates the fish.

Striper fishing is EXCELLENT lately! We have been catching a lot of monster stripers every morning.

The majority of our fish have been in the 15-30 pound range with a few 30 to 40 pounders mixed in.

Most of our fish are being caught early in the morning on planer boards and free lines with either live bluebacks, big gizzard shad, or huge trout. We’ve also had an incredible downline bite once the sun gets up. This is pretty typical for this time of year. Look for these hard fighting stripers in the backs of creek all the way out the mouths of creeks. We’ve also been picking up some nice fish in the rivers.

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In the upcoming month, look for stripers to be searching for warmer water, especially on cold sunny days. Continue to work the backs of creeks, around shallow humps and in the river. Pulling planer boards and free lines with live blueback herring and gizzard shad will be your best technique for landing these wintertime monsters. Keep an eye out for seagulls and schools of baitfish.

It’s not uncommon to see stripers crushing bait right under those birds. I like to cast a Red Fin or a fluke right into these guys for some nice top-water action.

January is a fantastic month for catching a lot of stripers on this Western North Carolina lake.

Give Big Ol’ Fish Guiding Service a call and let the area’s #1 rated guide service put you on some of Lake Hiwassee’s best trophy stripers during the fishing trip of a lifetime. We are Murphy, NC’s premier full-time guide service, specializing in striped and hybrid bass. We also serve Lakes Nottely, Chatuge, and Lake Blue Ridge.

And for all your live bait and tackle needs, check out Hughes General Store in Blairsville, GA. They carry everything you need for a successful day of fishing and have the best live herring around.

So, come fish with the pros for the opportunity to be featured in The Angler Magazine, and let us help you get your fish on!

Shane Goebel is the Owner of Big Ol’ Fish Guiding Service and a member of The Angler Fishing Team. Contact him at www.bigolfish. com or (828) 361-2021 / 1-(844)-4-ANGLER

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Lake Chatuge Hybrids and Spots

By Darren Hughes

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ishing has been awesome out here lately. The spotted bass and hybrids have settled in to their winter patterns. If you can deal with the cold, it’s a perfect time to be on the water.

Currently, Lake Chatuge is 8 feet below full pool. Water clarity is clear in the main lake and the creeks, and rivers are stained due to the recent rains. Water temperatures are in the upper 40’s.

Spotted bass have been very active, and we are catching a ton (30-40) of nice fish. You can still find these bass schooled up all over the lake from shallow to deep. Focus on shallow humps and points around the lake that hold a lot of bait, then work your way out to deeper water. Most of the creek mouths and rivers have been holding some nice fish.

Pulling planer boards and free lines with live bluebacks will work great for covering good ground

and catching quality fish. Watch for an early morning top-water bite. Casting jerkbaits, spoons and spooks will also produce quality results. This bite should get even better in the up-coming months.

The hybrid bite has also been pretty good. These hard-fighting Western North Carolina hybrids have been on the move and headed for the mouths and backs of creeks in search of warmer water. Pulling planer boards and free lines with live blueback herring should land you some nice fish. Vary your lines

behind your boards. Set your bait about 20 feet behind your outside boards along the banks and 30 to 40 feet on your inside boards.

Keep your free lines around 80 to 100 feet behind the boat and maintain your trolling speed at .5 mph. It’s also a great idea to set out a few down lines as you troll.

January fishing on Lake Chatuge is always exciting. The

bigger fish start feeding more aggressively, and for us, it’s a great time of year for some great topwater action. Remember, live bait on this lake can be the difference between a successful day of fishing and a horrid one. Hughes General Store in Blairsville, GA carries a wide range of bait and tackle--it’s the only place around for quality live blueback herring. For guided fishing trips on Lake Chatuge, Hiwassee and Lake Nottely, or questions about the bait shop, call Darren Hughes or Shane Goebel at Big Ol’ Fish Guiding Service. And whether you’re a seasoned angler or just starting out, give Chatuge a shot for some of the best spotted bass and hybrids in the area. Good luck, and get hooked!

Darren Hughes is the Owner of Hughes General Store & Bait Shop and a member of The Angler Magazine Fishing Team and Guide for Big Ol’ Fish Guiding Service. Look him up at www.bigolfish.com or give him a call, (706) 745-6569 or (828) 361-2021

SMSS has all the essentials for hunting, target shooting, home defense, reloading and more Call for date & time of monthly concealed carry class.

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EAST TN / GREAT SMOKIES / SWAIN COUNTY

Winter Trout Fishing

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By Rene J. Hesse

would like to talk about two things that may help you catch more trout in the cold months. Although there are a lot of methods to pursue trout, such as nymphing and swinging wet flies, my favorite is streamer fishing. All of them have their place. Just like fishing casts, we have to adjust to the situations.

Let’s look at the streamer fishing in cold water.

What is a streamer? Generally, it is a fly that has the resemblance of a small minnow, sculpin or fish in general. Wooly Buggers, Rolex’s and sculpins are in that family. With that being said, my favorite way to fish for trout is to swing streamers across and downstream. The hit from a trout is like a shockwave

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going through your body. There is little guessing if you got a hit.

Try using a ‘tuck’ cast when using a weighted fly. This will get the fly deep faster than any other method I know of, and when the water is cold, the trout tend to hold deeper in the water column. The tuck cast is utilizing a more horizontal back cast, sweeping up in the back, then send the forward cast way above the target. I mean WAY above the target and then stop the rod abruptly. This will make a weighted fly kick over the line and head straight down into the water before the line falls. Put your rod tip in the water and keep it there the whole time you are retrieving the fly.

Now that the fly is lower in

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the water column, remember the fish are a little slower in the cold.

So moving the fly long distances while stripping it in may reduce your chances of getting a hit.

Here are a few thought processes. Fish tend to react like a dog.

If you set a ball down, a dog may go after it or may not. Throw that ball, and I bet he will chase it. My thinking on a steamer is, a fish will react to a ‘dancing’ fly more than a steady retrieve. So

when you ‘strip’ the fly in, use more of a wrist movement like a guitar player on a rock song than a violinist. Short, choppy strokes of an inch, will give the fly a lot of movement without taking it out of the strike zone. Keep your rod tip in the water and hang on.

Don’t forget to bring a complete change of clothes on your fishing trips. Maybe not for you, but someone may need it.

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Tennessee Tailwater Trout Fishing

he Cherokee Tailwater on the Holston River is a somewhat overlooked trout fishery in east Tennessee as it sits in the shadows of the South Holston, Watauga and Clinch rivers. Located just out of Knoxville, the Holston River below Cherokee Dam provides trout fishing opportunities for approximately 20 miles.

Water temperatures in late summer and early fall often get too warm to support trout in the majority of the tailwater, but some fish do find enough coldwater to hold over, so Rainbow and Brown Trout occasionally reach and exceed 20”. Most of the trout range from 11 to 14 inches.

There is an abundant food supply in this tailwater, particularly caddis and mayflies, so trout do grow extremely well.

Unfortunately, public access is limited to only a few locations on the Cherokee Tailwater and the river is best-suited for fishing

from a boat unless you have access through private land. Ramps just below the dam and all the way downstream at Nances Ferry provide the best access for anglers wanting to launch a boat or kayak.

The Nances Ferry access also provides wading opportunities several hundred yards upstream when water levels are low.

As with all of Tennessee’s tailwaters, water levels are dependent on whether or not the turbines at the dam are operating.

When they are, water levels are too high to wade so you will be limited to bank fishing or fishing from a boat.

size or bait restrictions.

Generation Schedule:

Always be mindful of the generation schedule below the dam. When generators are turned on, the water level can rise several feet very quickly. Allow yourself enough time to get out of the water

Stocking:

November through April (limited year-round fishing) Species Caught:

Brown Trout, Rainbow Trout.

Regulations:

Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency

The Cherokee Tailwater is managed under statewide trout regulations: 7 trout daily creel no

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if generation is expected to start.

If you want to wade-fish after the generators have been turned off, make sure you allow some time for the water to go back down. You can find generation and spilling schedules on the Tennessee Valley Authority’s webpage or on the TVA Lake Info app.

423-587-7037 www.tn.gov/content/tn/twra.html

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Swainglers Encourage New Members

By Tammy Millsaps

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he water was cool and the fish were hungry! Clouds were building getting ready to drench us with rain for the next two days. It was perfect fishing weather! The Swainglers Fishing Club ventured to the Tuck River banks for a quick fishing adventure on a chilly November day. Wildlife regulations required single hook only, with no live bait or scented lures, and catch and release. We made good use of our forty-five minute fishing trip during the middle of the school day. Luckily, it only took ten minutes to get to our fishing spot and cast the lines. It didn’t take long until hooks were set. Novice angler, freshman Jackson Pittard is a natural fisherman. He is new to the sport but has what it takes

sponsoring this club is getting to see students help each other out.

Sophomore Travis Franklin is a perfect example. He spends more time assisting new anglers and teaching them how to cast, tie on a lure, or untangle a line than he does fishing. I can always count on Travis to lend a helping hand. Yes, I have to brag on “my kids”. I am so proud of them! They are hard workers at school and during their free time. They have a respect for others and the outdoors that many adults could learn from!

The Swainglers and myself would like to wish everyone a Blessed New Year! God Bless!

to catch fish! Within minutes, he silver/white streaks. Trevor Jones, had reeled in two nice trout on a as usual, caught a nice trout. yellow, gold-bladed rooster tail. One of the many benefits of I’m pretty sure Jackson is hooked Tammy Millsaps is the Leader of The Swainglers fishing club at Swain for life on fishing! Junior Ashton County High School in Bryson City, North Carolina. They fish once a Buchanan caught four brown month of the school year during club time. Contact her at tmillsaps@ trout on a black rooster tail with swainmail.org for more information or to support this popular club.

Trout Fishing In Winter

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By Ronnie Parris

ey folks, Old Man Winter has finally arrived and the warmth from a hot hickory coal bed feels awfully good but, for the sportsmen that is willing to brave the cold and hit the water, there are plenty of fish to be had, even some monster trout. One of my favorite places when the cold sets in and slows the dry fly fishing in The Great Smoky Mountains, is to put the drift boat in and hit the Tuckaseegee River. The

Tuck has always been home to big Rainbow and Brown Trout as well as Walleye, Bass, Catfish, and Bluegill but a few years ago, the Wildlife Commission made the great call to designate different sections of the Tuck as Delayed Harvest water where there would do supplemental stockings, with some of the fish being really large Rainbow, Brown, and Brooke Trout, from October till June. During this time, trout can only be taken

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with artificial lures, with a single hook, and must be released.

On Opening Day in June, where the rule changes to the same as hatchery supported rules, from sunrise till 12am, only anglers 16 and under are allowed to fish, which is a great way to get a youngster hooked on fishing because they can always catch a good number of hungry trout.

The upper section on the Tuck that runs above the old Dillsboro dam gets a stocking of all three trout species while the lower section that runs through Bryson City only gets the Brown and Rainbow stockings, since the Brooke tend to run up Deep Creek in the hot summer months, to get in the colder park waters. Both sections can be ac-

cessed by either wading or a drift boat. I’m partial to the drift boat since there are a lot of pools that it’s just not safe to wade and also you can cover more water with the boat. If I’m guiding a fly angler on these sections, I usually start with bright colored egg patterns if the fish are recently stocked but, as the fish get accustomed to eating more wild bugs and minnows, I will start fishing more wooly buggers and streamer patterns. Some days, the fish seem to want a smaller

CONTINUED, SEE TROUT FISHING IN WINTER, PAGE 8 I

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Smallmouth are Plenty, Spots are Few

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ith only a few football games left to go, deer season winding down, and snow (maybe) piling up, there should be more time to devote to our “fishy friends”. While snow and cold make work almost impossible, modern fabrics have made winter fishing and outdoor activities almost comfortable, or the very least, bearable.

Smallmouth have always seemed more accessible in cold weather. I know they are the earliest bass to spawn, but they also seem hungrier with nasty weather.

Larger members are most affected, so if a really big smallie is on your hit list, now is the time for that biggun. Topwater plugs, and especially jerkbaits like the x-raps from Rapala or hair jigs, have been

By Capt. James McManus

my favorite enticers. Most fish will be on the banks, so anything that can be thrown will be in their radar zone. I tie a deer hair jig with white bucktail under a dark shoulder wrap and just a few sprigs of flashabou or tinsel and, for some reason, I have caught many more big smallies on that jig than almost any other plug, spinnerbait, or even live bait. If they won’t hit your topwater plug or jerkbait, try throwing a jig right to the bank and walk it down to as deep as 60 feet. Most fish will be at 40 to 45 feet but don’t ever assume they won’t head for the deep side during adverse fronts or cold snaps. I have found them as deep as 100 feet, but that’s unusual, so just let your electronics show you where they are most comfortable.

Another place to look is in the backs of creek openings suspended maybe a quarter out from the very back. Slowly motoring in may expose these schools which can be very large at times, with 40 to 50 fish in a school, and with that many fish, there is enough competition to get them to bite without much hesitation. Mouse Branch, Greasy Branch, Gold Mine and Forney come to mind as some of my favorite places. Most of the creeks towards the dam like Pilkey, Eagle, and Hazel also hold good schools at times. Fontana, like every other local lake, has spotted bass so, in order to help our smallie friends take the spots to eat and encourage them to return all the smallmouth, they need the help. I think the

spots taste better anyway.

On the subject of spots, I am not sure what happened, but last year we had a herring die-off with ick-type fungus showing on dead or dying baitfish all over the lake.

I never saw many dead game fish but our lake hasn’t been the same since, so I suspect whatever got our herring was passed along to our spots because there has been a drastic reduction in their number.

There just hasn’t been the number or size of spots this past year that we have grown accustomed to.

While much attention has been given to the decline of our walleye, there never has been any concern about the spotted bass, except for their overabundance, but this past

year sure hasn’t been one to write home about. I know fish populations are cyclical but what has happened this year is something I have never seen before. Here is hoping that with reduced volume, there will be healthier, i.e. larger, spots this coming season. Many of the same tactics that attract smallies will work on spots and they definitely travel together at times.

Well, take care, dress warm, and in layers, let folks know where and when you will be fishing, and slip out to get that one time trophy.

Alert the wildlife folks if you see anything that looks suspicious and enjoy one of God’s greatest gifts, our beautiful, bountiful mountain lakes. Later, Capt. James

Capt. James McManus is the Owner of 153 Charters. Give him a call for a great day of boat fishing!

TROUT FISHING IN WINTER fly and, at those times, I usually fish either hare’s ear nymphs or prince nymphs as well as rainbow warriors or the all time go to- squirmy wormy. Some of my clients just want to catch a big trout and are not into fly fishing so for these trips, it’s hard to beat a good Rooster Tail Spinner with the single hook, or

continued from page 6

a Rapala with the extra hooks cut off. No matter what your fishing style or preference, there are always plenty of willing fish, in the Tuck, to make your heart beat faster, if your willing to brave the cold temps, so stock up the stove, put on your warmest cloths, and as always take a kid fishing.

Ronnie Parris is the Owner and Head Guide of Smoky Mountain Outdoors Unlimited-Fontana Lake Fishing Guides, headquartered in Bryson City, North Carolina, heart of the Great Smoky Mountains. (www. smokymountainoutdoorsunlimited.com) (828-488-9711).

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ASHEVILLE / HENDERSONVILLE / BREVARD

A Year of Trash:

The Results of a Year Long River Clean Up in Western North Carolina (Part 1)

By Ethan Hollifield

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orking as a guide gives me the unique opportunity to spend the majority of my time out on the different rivers and streams that I guide on. When you spend a dedicated amount of time on any stretch of river, you can’t help but start to notice details that others oftentimes miss. Most people imagine picturesque scenes of mountain rivers when they think about fishing in Western North Carolina.

Much what I envision, especially after this past year, is a picture perfect scene with unnecessary, preventable, and oftentimes obscene amounts of pollution in the form of trash. To make a long story short, I got tired of seeing it all. Being an Appalachian native and having my roots traced back 300 years in these mountains, the thought of the streams and rivers here, my home, being used as a garbage dump was disheartening enough to where I became motivated to actually try

and do something about it, particularly with the incredible amount of pollution coming from plastics and chemical based products.

So, as of January 2019 I have dedicated myself to going out at least once a week to remove a minimum of one 33-gallon trash bags worth of garbage out of the streams I fish and guide on. This, in turn, led me to log a quantifiable number in order to determine an accurate approximation of how much and what kinds of trash I was removing, and to try and summarize, at the end of the year, the effect it is potentially having on our own fisheries. The results as of this article being written have been outstanding, and at times shocking.

I started by simply going out to aquatic streams and adjacent riparian zones and counting, by hand, how much I was finding, in terms of trash, categorizing what I found and narrowing it down specifically to plastic pollution and chemical product containers such as motor oil bottles, household cleaners, etc. I would also make a note of any other items found that could have some sort of environmental impact to the ecosystem or even health impacts to people visiting those places. That data has been kept in an ongoing spreadsheet showing the location, date, amount of plastic items, amount of chemical products found, the amount of

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plastic bags specifically found, and any other items of interest. The totals as of December 6th, 2019 are as follows: Approximately 86.5, 33-gallon trash bags were filled, within them containing approximately 9,364 individual pieces of plastic. Out of those totals: 46, 33-gallon bags and 5,446 pieces of plastic came from the waterways in Mitchell County, NC, where I live. Almost every time trash was removed, I would find at least one if not more bottles of chemical based products, mainly used motor oil, which at a minimum, still contained trace amounts of that product and, at worst, were completely full and leaching into the aquatic environment. Copious amounts of plastic bags in whole or in shards were found hanging in the surrounding plants growing in the riparian zone. One of the most shocking and disturbing things that I stumbled across this year was the amount of hypodermic needles that are present in our waterways, with over 30 being (carefully) removed and disposed of properly.

Those numbers do not count the incredible amount of other items removed, mainly because I was trying to log items that do not decompose organically.

So, what does this all mean? If my numbers are even close to ac-

curate, it can then be assumed that there is an unfathomable amount of pollution in the form of trash that can and will have a potential impact on aquatic ecosystems here in the mountains.

I wanted to share my results in a public forum as a way to start meaningful dialogue between anglers, guides, and other members of the outdoor community as to what the potential impacts are, and what can be done to help negate the future affects to our mountain streams. I believe wholeheartedly that it ultimately comes down to us as anglers to take care of the places we fish and guide on. We cannot continue to take this fragile and overused resource for granted without doing our part to take care of it. I will highlight more on where I think this trash comes from, how we can negate it, and what you, as an individual, can do to help in what might be one of the biggest conservation issues facing the Southern Appalachians in Part 2 of this article in the next issue of The Angler Magazine: Great Smoky Mountains Edition.

A special thanks to the folks at 2% for Conservation, Southern Appalachian Anglers, and to many friends and family who have helped and supported me in this effort this year.

Ethan Hollifield is an Environmental/Physical Science Teacher and is also a guide for Southern Appalachian Anglers

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ur 24 craft beers and ciders are selected using local breweries with great seasonal and year-round selections. Our 100% domestic wild caught seafood is delivered fresh from the coast. The Fresh Catch of the Day is so fresh we

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can’t put it on the menu. It will come off the boat tonight. No farm raised here!

We search the coast and country for only the freshest seafood and ingredients to prepare our sauces and dishes daily.

From the Po-Boys with the New Orleans Flair to the Mississippi hushpuppies that folks drive hours for; our fresh flavors come from recipes that have been used by our family for decades.

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in a fun and unique atmosphere.

We are passionate about quality and service. Only the best and freshest will do!

We work with local children’s charities and Meals on Wheels in our communities hoping to make a difference. If you would like to help please check out our

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Trophy Time

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By Scott Norton

few times a year some, baits really shine. You have reaction baits, finesse baits, and big baits. You can get a few more bites with finesse in the winter when the bite starts to shut down, but why concentrate on the small ones when the giants are more than willing to feed. I’m talking about big baits. Right now, mature largemouth bass don’t want to chase small meals to only waist more calories. They want a big easy meal this time of year so give them a slow easy target they can’t refuse.

I know the majority of anglers don’t want to get into this style of fishing, which was a proven method developed in California. If you look up what they are catching out there you can’t deny that it works.

Big bait fishing is slowly making its way to the East Coast and some of the gear and baits are being offered in a few places. The advantages of choosing this method is that our

fisheries have not had a big bait traffic yet. Being one of the first anglers to participate in this is a strategy in itself. If all your bites will be small, why not go big and swing for the fences.

The gear involved is extra heavy. It is expensive but there are budget friendly versions you can buy to get you started if you want to get your feet wet. Once you get your first big catch on a big bait, more than likely you will be hooked. Your rods will be around seven feet and eleven inches, all the way to eight feet rods, with an xx heavy rating. The actions will vary if you use treble hooks or single magnum size hooks. You can start out with a budget set up that can be used for everything. An “everything rod” is just not as good as a rod that is technique specific to the setup of a certain bait. The reels used have to be heavy duty as well and will usually be around 300 to

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400 size. Anything lighter will just get torn up and it will not hold the amount of line capacity you need. The last few years, some really good low profile reels entered the market and are good on price in the world of big baits.

The line choice needs to be no lighter than twenty pound test and thirty pound test, on the heavy end of monofilament and fluorocarbons. Braid is also a good choice with a leader with sixty pound on the low end with eighty pound test being the heavy end.

Look for hard structures like wood and rocks when locating

bass. Your retrieve should be slower than slow and, may I stress, you cannot be too slow. This is hard for some anglers to do but it is not for everybody. Be careful of the speed of your gearing on your reels. A five speed is way easier to fish than, say, a seven speed. If you use a fast reel, it will be painfully slow but they can be used for multiple setups. Do your research before going out and you may stumble upon a new love for fishing all over again.

Scott Norton is a native of Western North Carolina. Born in Asheville, NC, he is a long time avid hunter, angler, and weekend warrior. He is a member of Southern Raft Supply’s prostaff team representing them in his Jackson Kayak Coosa FD

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Fly of the Month Blackhawk Fly Fishing keepemwet94@gmail.com

Prince Nymph Hook: Tiemco TMC3761 size 14-18 Thread: UTC 70 denier (color) Light Brown Body: Peacock Herl Tail: Goose Biots (brown) Ribbing: Fine Wire (gold) Collar: Brown Hackle Fibers Horns: Goose Biots (white) When the water temperature is a little colder than ideal, the Prince Nymph is one of my most pro-

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ductive winter patterns when fished deep and slow.

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Wintertime Stuff to Do

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By David Hulsey

f you’re a fly angler, there’s always stuff you need to do in order to make yourself more productive for the upcoming spring trout season. I’ve been doing this trout thing for a long time and there are always things I need to work on to make guide trips easier, or more successful, for my clients. Finding new access points on the river that are less likely to end up in a swimming lesson are always a good thing. Fly patterns that can be dragged around, hung on the bottom etc., and still catch fish, are great. Leader construction that will turn over a concrete truck will also help with the worst of casters to keep me from losing my mind! Fly line cleaning and sending off broken rods for repair will also land in the top ten. Sharpening my teaching skills will make both of our lives complete. You really have only about eight or ten weeks of slower time here in the

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southern mountains to get ready for the onslaught of folks wanting it to be spring. These are the things a guide thinks about. Coming next is a list of things you should consider if you want to catch a few more fish this year and keep your favorite guide out of the crazy house!

1. Scout out a few new spots to fish. Winter is a great time to find new holes on your favorite river and totally new watersheds to fish.

Usually no Snakes will be about.

That’s a biggie for me. I’m a snake hater. Access points will be more visible due to the lack of vegetation.

2. Learn to tie a few new fly patterns or get with a friend that actually knows how to tie flies.

Better yet, attend a real fly tying class at your local fly shop. Stock up on simple patterns like San Juan Worms and Wooly Buggers.

3. Learn to tie your own lead-

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ers. This will save you some cash and get you great performance, if you tie them right. Again, try your local fly shop or trusted fly friend.

4. Clean or replace your fly lines. Check your lines and leader connections for damage. Just don’t destroy your fly line coating it with too much scrubbing or the wrong cleaner.

5. Consider a new fly rod pur-

chase. I see this all the time. Somebody shows up with an old piece of junk with some kind of sentimental value. Catching fish is much more important than that. Get a 9 foot 5 weight and be done with it.

6. Take a freaking fly casting lesson or two! Bad casting is the most detrimental thing to an otherwise great fly fishing trip!

Give David a call to book a class or trophy trout guide trip at Noontootla Creek Farms. We can make learning to fly fish easy and fun! You can make the switch.

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Step Up Your Suspension Nymphing Game

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By Stephen Tomasovich

uspension Nymphing (using a floating strike indicator) is a great way to catch fish and beats all other techniques in certain water types. It is my go-to technique if I need to fish deep fast water, fish at distance, and also when fish are eating at and below the surface simultaneously. Here are a few things I have learned to help improve your day on the water.

Pick the right indicator: I generally use two types, a bobber style and a dry fly. For heavier flies, I go with the bobber and generally use a dry fly for all other circumstances. Always be aware of the buoyancy of your indicator.

I do not want my indicator to sink constantly, but I also don’t want it so buoyant that it affects strike detection.

Consider a longer leader when fishing big water: If your skill level

er, one size larger than the tippet you are using on your flies, for the space that you will likely be moving the indicator to adjust depth. Your leader is most likely tapered and, if you move up the leader with your indicator, the larger diameter material will sink much slower and keep you out of the strike zone more.

• Mend proactively and aggressively: Once you know the direction you need to mend on a drift, make your move quickly

allows, go longer to spook less fish. Even your leader will cast a shadow that can scare away fish on a sunny day, fly line is worse.

Always add floatant to your leader down to within a foot of your indicator. If you have an issue with moving your indicator when mending, this will help tremendously in keeping the leader up on top of the water and reducing resistance. I like Loon Payette paste as it does not liquify in our warmer months or solidify too badly when it is cold.

• Never move your indicator up and down your leader: Add tippet to the end of your lead-

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once the fly lands, and mend big enough to keep from having to duplicate your efforts. A proactive and aggressive mend will cut down on the need for a second or third large mend and make for a smoother drag free drift.

• Keep a manageable level of slack: Too little slack and you drag your flies, too much and you delay your hook set and miss fish.

• Position yourself properly: If you are fishing across multiple current speeds consider wading or positioning yourself to be able to fish more directly upstream. This helps to avoid having your fly line in several different current speeds.

Fish On – Big T

Stephen “Big T” Tomasovich is the owner of Big T Fly Fishing, Outfitter and Ecommerce Fly Shop. Visit them at 106 Grand Ave, Suwanee, Georgia, or look them up online at bigtflyfishing.com

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20/20 VISION IN 2020

By Jimmy Harris

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eading into the New Year, it’s so enticing to write about all the new possibilities we’ll have to get outdoors, but this month I want to help you focus on optimizing your opportunities. So let’s take a look at your vision.

Are you NEARSIGHTED? I mean, are you prepared for that chance trout fishing trip you may hop on in a moments notice?

Where is your winter fishing gear?

You don’t want to get all the way to the Chattooga River only to find you’ve got three bottles of Gink floatant but no split shot. Ever spent good fishing time looking for a river pebble that you could tie on your tippet and pray it stays there and helps get your fly to the bottom where the fish are? Uh huh, I’ve only heard these stories myself. Take time to go through your vest, pack, or whatever and make sure you have everything

you need for winter fishing before you head out.

Are you FARSIGHTED? Where and when are you going fishing? As valuable as your personal time is to you, don’t spend days or weeks planning a trip without looking at weather conditions, stream flows, and water temperatures. If you have a few hours to fish, don’t waste them getting on the stream at daybreak when the water temp is in the 30’s.

Catching is going to be almost non-existent. Time your arrival to get there later in the day when things have warmed up a little.

Once that water temperature hits 40°, the bite will likely turn on also. But if it doesn’t hit that magic number until 11:00 and you got on the water at 7:00, you’ve put in a half-day of fishing with little to show.

Finally, use your X-RAY VISION. Read up, study, and find

out what other anglers are doing successfully. Best way to optimize your X-Ray vision is to delve into the internet. Locally, North Georgia Trout Online and GNO both have active message boards where you can pick up tips to improve your game. Of course, YouTube is where everyone goes to get their advanced degree these days, but be warned, there is plenty of misinformation there also. It doesn’t take much surfing to find the folks who really know what they’re talking about and truly want to share it with others. George Daniel (the angler, not the drummer) has some of the best information, and he’s a tremendous communicator. Tom Rosenbauer with “The Orvis Guide to Fly Fishing” will keep you entertained and educate you on almost any subject you can imagine.

The bottom line is that we want to make the best of our time on the water. Sure, getting out there and learning by trial and error is a great way to do it (I personally spent years pursuing this exact technique), but if your time is limited, spend some of it planning your vision. The one where you’re on the cover of a magazine holding a beautiful fish and grinning like a mule eating briars.

Jimmy Harris is the owner of Unicoi Outfitters Located in Helen, GA.

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HIGH COUNTRY

Protecting Wildlife Corridors and Farmland

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More Land Protected in Haywood County!

n fall 2019, Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy purchased 50 acres at Hidden Valley in Haywood County in order to protect corridors for wildlife movement, water quality, scenic views, and farmland.

The tract adjoins the 146-acre Little Creek Headwaters preserve that we purchased in 2016, providing connectivity for wildlife corridors. Conserving the land also protects scenic views from the Crabtree area and the agricultural community in Bald Creek valley.

“A scenic gem, the Bald Creek area of Crabtree is a quiet farming community tucked between the iconic Crabtree Bald and the Haywood/Buncombe County line,” says Land Protection Director Michelle Pugliese. “The Hidden Valley property expands SAHC’s protection of a concentration of over 1,400 permanently protected acres within Crabtree and nearby Sandy Mush (Buncombe & Madison Counties). This chain of protected land follows ridgelines that are important for wildlife movement and dip into fertile valleys that provide water resources and soil for productive agricultural land.”

The main stem of Little Creek flows through the property before merging into Bald Creek. The property reaches 3,740 ft. in elevation, with beautiful high-elevation pasture areas. Three-quarters of the tract is open grazing land for cattle, and the remainder consists of Appalachian oak forest. A local farmer currently grazes cattle on the land using seasonal grazing practices, and SAHC will continue to work with them.

“We plan to own and manage the property for the long-term, with continued agricultural use and implementation of best management practices for protecting

evoke a sense of joy and nostalgia.

People support land conservation because they love these special places and want them to continue to be here for future generations.”

SAHC plans to continue to protect the important ridgelines and bottomlands that provide wildlife corridors, scenic value

soils from erosion,” explains Michelle. The property contains 15 acres of important soils. Seven acres are locally important soils (EvD and SdD), and eight acres are soils of statewide importance (SdC). A small corner of the southwestern tip of the property (less than one acre) contains nationally important prime soils (ScB).

The land will not be open to the general public, but in the future SAHC may use it to host guided recreational or educational outings.

About the Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy

Since 1974, over 75,000 acres of unique plant and animal habConservation in the itat, clean water, farmland, scenic beauty, and places for people to Landscape – Connectivity enjoy outdoor recreation have vs. Fragmentation been permanently protected in “Our purchase of the tract will the mountains of North Carolina help reduce fragmentation in the landscape, which is one important goal of conservation,” adds Michelle. “Fragmented landscapes allow greater impacts from erosion and make it harder wildlife and plants to thrive. By protecting connected parcels of land, we are working to protect habitat for native plant and animal species, as well as soil and water resources.

Plus, unbroken, beautiful views of surrounding farms and hillsides

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and productive farmland in Haywood County and beyond. We work with willing landowners who want to pursue conservation options for their land. SAHC provides a service for those who love the land and are looking for ways to conserve it.

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and Tennessee. We invite you to join the effort! Your generosity, time, energy and ideas will help meet the challenges of protecting these magnificent natural resources for ourselves and for future generations.

appalachian.org

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N.C. Angler Recognition Program

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nglers who catch trophy-sized fish that do not qualify for a state record can have their fishing feats officially recognized by the Commission through the N.C. Angler Recognition Program (NCARP). Minimum fish size requirements and details can be found at www.ncwildlife.org.

Anglers who catch a fish that meets or exceeds either weight or length requirements can submit their catch information to the Commission’s Inland Fisheries Division in exchange for a certificate of recognition featuring a color reproduction of the fish species by renowned wildlife artist Duane Raver.

Anglers who collect six NCARP certificates receive a Master Angler certificate and patch. Because either lengths or weights can be used to certify fish as NCARP-eligible trophy

Measuring a Fish Properly

To obtain total length of a fish, measure the fish from the tip of the mouth to the tip of the pinched tail.

This fish is nearl 19.5 inches. For more information on the N.C. Angler Recognition Program visit: www.ncwildlife.org/Fishing/Fishing-Records/NC-Angler-Recognition-Program-NCARP fish, anglers can practice catchand-release with their fish.

Apply for an NCARP certificate by completing an NCARP application at www.ncwildlife.org.

Applications are also available at many bait and tackle shops, sporting good stores and

other Wildlife Service Agent locations and in the North Carolina Inland Fishing, Hunting and Trapping Regulations Digest.

A $5 fee with each application covers costs associated with the program.

Youth age 15 and younger

can apply for a Youth NCARP certificate for any of the fish species listed below. Minimum length and weight requirements are waived.

For more information about NCARP, call (919) 707-0220.

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UPSTATE SOUTH CAROLINA

Lake Russell

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Lake Hartwell

By Wendell Wilson

will be the first to admit that fishing in the middle of winter is not for everybody. This simply means there are more fish to be had by those few anglers willing to put on warm clothes and get out on the water. Some very impressive catches can be made during this time. Often, the largest individual specimens of a species are taken in cold temperatures.

On Lake Russell, we will be spending most of our time in deep water around schools of bait. Often, but not always, there will be loons and seagulls in the area. Expect to encounter bass, perch, and stripers in these places. They can best be caught on medium minnows or jigging spoons. Also, have an A-rig ready to cast at surface feeding fish.

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full pool Fishing is good on Lake Hartwell. It got tough with the turnover. Now the water quality is good and fish are feeding.

Most fish have moved up the lake and into the major creeks and up the rivers. Most fish are preferring small thread fin shad to large herring. They will key in on smaller shad as the water cools. I used to say that hybrids and stripers slowdown in January, but after the last two mild winters, the fish have kept feeding all winter. If the water goes below 48 degrees, most game fish do not eat much as their

It may not be “a day in the sun” wearing short sleeves. But at the end of the day when you look back on all the fish you caught, I hope you will think it was worth it.

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metabolism slows. Who knows what this winter will bring. If we have a warm winter, fish will feed all winter. If the water gets cold, the best option is crappie.

They will feed no matter how cold the water gets. They taste better from cold water. I like to work a 1/32-ounce jig and a soft plastic, very slowly, under shade. Bridges and docks 15 to 30 feet will hold schools of crappie in January. It helps to have some brush. Side scan shows the schools clearly. Pick your days in January with nice weather. Wear a lifejacket as the water will cause hypothermia in seconds.

Preston Harden / Bucktail Guide Service, 706-255-5622 / bucktailguideservice.net

Wendell Wilson / Wilson’s Guide Service / 706-283-3336

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By Preston Harden

ater temperature – Upper 50s. Water level - 5 feet below

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Wet, Warm, and Dry Flies

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By Karl Ekberg

e hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season, and are ready to do some winter fishing. Cooler temperatures through December have pushed water temperatures down to the low 40’s. Enjoy that extra cup of coffee on the morning drive in to the mountains and spend a few minutes with us, and we will convince you that it is definitely a good day to be on the water while the temperatures for the day only achieve the low 40’s. Wearing an extra wicking base layer, a beanie, and a pair of gloves for the day, will make for an enjoyable experience. Please remember that wearing cotton clothing will keep body moisture close to you and in return result in a cold day, so leave the blue jeans for the drive home on your way to dinner.

Enjoying a 50-60 degree day in January is not uncommon here, and some dry fly fishing may be on the menu. Usually these days are “gin clear” water, so adding a little extra length to the leader by adding some 5x or 6x tippet to slide through the eyes of these small little dry flies will do just the trick. For the days where the temperatures do not exceed the 50 degree range, there is no top water activity, so nymph fishing will be your main attraction. Remembering that the warmest part of the river is at the bottom, at this time of

year, delivering a cast upstream, mending the line and a “deaddrift”, will be essential to catching fish. Concentrating casts in the deep runs along the seam lines will be critical. In these areas, running heavy point flies, with small trailing nymphs will be a great choice. If no success at first, do not give up, simply do one of two things. Adding a piece of split shot or two to the tandem fly rig will help get the flies deeper in the water column, or changing the point fly to a heavier one will get these flies down to where the fish are holding.

Another avenue of keeping a little warmer on the cooler days is streamer fishing. A few casts, retrievals, and marching along the river will keep the blood moving in the body. We have been having great success, of late, throwing streams, and this trend will continue throughout the winter months. I colder water temperatures, slow down the retrieval rate, and fish lower in the water column. For fishing on days after big winter rains, the use of sink tips will aid in keeping streamers lower in the river. No need to purchase full sink lines, we have a wide array of sink tip leaders, in different sink rates, which easily attach/detach to your floating fly line.

As we start a new year, resolutions always seem to be broken, except one, which we keep each

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and every year. Each year, we try to pick up more litter from the river corridors, and remind everyone about “leave no trace”.

This year, we hope that everyone visiting the river sheds here in South Carolina, along your home waters, or wherever your

travels take you, will endeavor to pick up a little more than we walked in with, so generations to come may enjoy our beautiful outdoors.

Happy New Year from all of us at Chattooga River Fly Shop!

Karl and Karen Ekberg are Co-Owners of Chattooga River Fly Shop, located at 6832A Highlands Hwy, in Mountain Rest, SC 29664. Give them a call at (864) 638-2806 or look them up on the web at chattoogariverflyshop.com

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Deploying Your Holiday Haul

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his month you are probably using those angling items and gadgets that were received as gifts over the Christmas season. Some of you probably received traditional fishing items such as lures, rods and reels that have a limited learning curve to use, particularly if you have been fishing for some time. Others may have received some high tech type angling gifts that seem to be popular today in the fishing world. These include high tech fish finders and trolling motors that virtually operate themselves.

If you fall into the later camp and have new high tech fishing aides, hopefully you kept the manuals for these items or are adept enough to go to the manufacturer’s website and download instruction manuals and FAQ’s for your particular item. Possibly, your new fishing toy will include some YouTube videos to help you in mastering the

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Dr. Andrew Cox

one hand and remote in the other.

The long story is that the motor appears to be more trouble than it is worth. On my last angling trip, the motor once again failed to deploy, obviously aggravating this angler, as this has happened on several occasions. I thought to myself that fishing is supposed to be pleasurable, not a source of aggravation.

Accordingly, I have decided to replace this high tech trolling motor with a good basic foot control motor with simple features and no extravagant bells and whistles. Such a motor should be dependable, being able to deploy it into the water and operate as long as there is power in the batteries. Someone will be able to get a good deal on a lightly used

use of your new angling item.

Though I have my fair share of angling technology that supposedly assists me in locating and catching more fish, I have recently become rather leery regarding high tech angling gadgetry. A point comes to mind. Last year, I purchased a high tech, top of the line electric motor for my boat. This has a multitude of features to include spotlock to keep you on a particular fishing location, virtually hands-free operation, and a self-deploying feature. The latter, I thought, would be very useful in easing stress on my worn out body joints. The motor comes with either foot pedal operation, or remote operation modes, which allows the angler to operate the motor from anywhere in the boat. I took time to read the manual, which was difficult to comprehend with the different operation menus, and practiced on the water. I would operate the motor with the manual in

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high tech motor on Ebay in the very near future!

Those anglers with more technology experience and grew up cutting their teeth on using technology may have better success in using such fishing gadgets. I can see how these items can improve your angling skills and boat maneuverability. This month, many of you will spend time practicing and mastering this technology. On the other hand, I am from the old school, believing that fishing is a skill using tried and true angling techniques to locate and catch fish.

A return to basics appears to be in my angling future. Best of luck in learning and enjoying these new angling technology items!

Dr. Andrew Cox is a contributing writer to outdoor publications and newspapers. His writing interests specialize in angling and travel, human interest, and general fishing technique oriented topics. He is a member of the Georgia Outdoor Writer’s Association. He has been fishing the waters of Georgia, Alabama, and north Florida for over forty years. Dr. Cox financially supports his fishing habits as Professor Emeritus at Troy University, Phenix City, Alabama. Contact him at andrewtrout@aol.com.

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Best Baits and Tips for Winter Bass and Crappie

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ill the following conversation get you a limit of bass or crappie when you have been catching only a few?

Certainly not, however, you will get bit more and catch more. The thing to remember is that you can’t just practice these suggestions for an hour or two. You have to schedule a day or two sticking with it and see what happens.

When the water temperature gets below 55 degrees, the bass and crappie angler should change their techniques and lures to accommodate. One can still catch big bass and hundreds of crappie with a few short and well-defined suggestions.

Bass:

1. Lighten you line. The strike or bite will become very softly. Lighter line and smaller lures will make the strike detectible. Say you feel and stick 4 more bass bites in a day because of this change. Worth it?

Would be to me.

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By O’Neill Williams

2. Slow down and give them a chance to take a good look. When tossing into a deep tree, brush pile, or stump field, leave your bait there and let it sit. Just pick it up between the limbs or over the stump and let it fall back. You should not ‘swim’ it over or through the target. I know of a very successful tournament veteran on Lanier who told me that some of his casts would last 30 minutes before he reeled up. Worth copying his technique? I’d say so.

3. Use scents liberally. You may have gassed up on the way to the lake or had breakfast and eaten the bacon by hand, then you hook up your lure. Your hands will smell accordingly. Are the bass repulsed?

I don’t know, but I do know that a scented spray on the lure before making your casts can’t hurt.

4. Finally, what is your chosen lure? The number one big bass artificial lure during these times is a crawfish imitation. Natural prey

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like bream, smaller bass, shad and other critters are all ‘hunkered’ down and in hiding, but crawfish are not. They are actively feeding on the rotting growths on the limbs and other deep water objects.

When choosing that hair or rubber skirted imitation, pick one with rattles and has an extra sharp large hook. Crawfish do make a sound when swimming in the branches.

Copy it.

Crappie:

In water below 55 degrees, crappie gather in huge numbers under the deep water marina docks, often under deep water docks out in the lake with brush piles underneath and in the standing trees out in the lake. They are catchable by the thousands. Best baits? Again, extremely light line with three or four small drop-shot rigs tied in stages down to a Road Runner at the terminal. It’s better than minnows because you get to present the bait to

more crappie than fooling around with live bait. Use a red hook and try and keep the bait still. I know you can’t, but it’s better that trying to send action down the line. Simply hold it still. I was taught this by a friend years ago. He took me to Lanier, arranged permission from a dock slip renter at Bald Ridge who had anchored brush under his leased space, and we caught a 35-count each limit in less than three hours with a few crappie over 2-pounds. Also, when you hook one, because you have multiple lures on the line about 12 inches apart, don’t be in such a hurry to reel him in. Many times a second or third will hook up because of the activity of the first.

COASTALANGLERMAG.COM • THEANGLERMAG.COM

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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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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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.

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• 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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