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Rambling Angler Outdoors Issue 1 Spring 2024

DEPARTMENTS COOP’S CORNER

EDITORIAL

ALASKA CONNECTION

EDITOR & PUBLISHER Ken McBroom

tells from afield 6

stories from the last frontier 14

THE FLY

EDITOR AT LARGE Bill Cooper

OUTDOOR READS

CONTRIBUTORS

ENJOY THE HARVEST

Bill Cooper Troy Seal Benjamin Stevens

at the bench & on the water 16

reviews and suggestions 17 recipes from afield 24

TACKLE

tips and techniques 32

On The Cover Nice crappie Old Hickory Lake.

BACK IN THE DAY

at the bench & on the water 48

Photo Ken McBroom

FEATURES Project Redear

Hunting Big Redear

Springtime Bushytails

Planer Board Crappie

Breaking Down Brush

Turkey Gun Setup

Project Redear is my personal quest to learn more

Reelfoot Lake Crappie

Stockton Lake

Slow Rollin Heavy Spinnerbaits

Turkey Tips

Garmin Was a Drifter

dos and dont’s for more bites

childhood excitement rekindled

dos and dont’s for more bites early spring spinnerbait bite

get your boat away from the boat

breaking down brush for more crappie

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when to go small

where to look for big redear

bag more gobblers

Finessing Big Smallies

to use this spring

an enlightening story about livescope (fiction)

Editor’s Note

This is the first edition of Rambling Angler Outdoors. This digital magazine is years in the making starting as a dream as a young man, more than 30 years ago, in Juneau Alaska. I was hunting bears alone and remember the evening that I decided that one day I would create my own magazine. At the time I had not even written an article much less had one published. It would be many years later before that would happen. In the meantime, I wrote fiction and articles for my website to sell custom fly rods and hand-tied flies as I traveled throughout Alaska as a helicopters mechanic in the bush. For twenty years I would enjoy Alaska for the summers then come home to Tennessee and Indiana to bow hunt, turkey hunt and fish. Our mission is to promote the outdoor lifestyle. Fishing, hunting, camping and cooking will be the main focus, but anything outdoors is fair game. My connection to Alaska will never go away, there will be Alaska stories for sure. I now live in Kentucky but grew up in Lynchburg Tennessee where I hunted, fished, trapped and of course hauled hay and tobacco in the summers. This magazine will evolve, and my hope is to gain input from readers and create a magazine with your stories and ideas. As a storyteller, I have always enjoyed the stories behind the catch or the harvest. Our mission is to convey these stories in ways that entertain, teach, and stimulate thought about ways to enjoy the outdoor lifestyle. Learning to fish, hunt, cook and camp is a never-ending journey and much can be gleaned from the articles and images that outdoor communicators love to share. Spring is my favorite time of year. Much like the fall, spring is a time when it’s difficult to choose just what to do. I have never been one to settle on one thing and it will show here. I love hunting gobblers as much as I love catching bass or crappie. While we will mainly focus on the Midwest and southern states we will include destinations and travel articles to wherever our adventures take us. If you would like to contribute content to Rambling Angler Outdoors, feel free to contact me at ramblinganglermedia@gmail.com SPRING - 2024 - 3

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About Project Redear Project Redear is my personal quest to learn more about the redear sunfish. The mission is to learn the habits and different ways to catch these elusive, hard fighting, and excellent eating panfish. Personally, I like to put these fish in a league of their own. In a pound-for-pound fighting ability, flavor, and beauty. To consistently catch the redear sunfish is a challenge. For some, it’s the challenge that makes them so alluring to those that live the struggle every year to locate and catch these fish. I hope that with Project Redear fellow anglers can come together to share their knowledge of techniques and where and how to find these masters of the vanishing act, here today gone tomorrow. If you would like to be a part of Project Redear email me here ramblinganglermedia@gmail.com for more information or to share your Redear tactics. As I work on my book Redear Project I am using the information from anglers across the country. As I know the Redear on my home lake there’s so many other tips and techniques for different bodies and types of water. If you want to be a part of Project Redear and learn more about the Redear Sunfish feel free to sign up here SIGN UP to be notified when the book is complete and recieve Redear information as I learn more.

Are You A Redear Angler If you’re an avid redear angler and would like to help others learn more about them we welcome your input. Project Redear is for us all to gain kowledge about the redear sunfish. We welcome any myths, rumors, grandad’s tactics or modern techniques that work. Do you know any legendary redear anglers? We would love to interview them for their valuable information to pass on. SPRING - 2024 - 5

ince I started using forward facing sonar for catching big crappie, I found out that while most brush piles I find have fish, many of them are small or at least not as big as I want to catch. By hitting as many brush piles as possible with Livescope I can locate more big crappie. Small brush piles are easy enough to fish effectively. Since they are small you do not have to break it down like you do with a bigger brush pile. When a big brush pile is found I always Spot-Lock my trolling motor on it. I start at about 40 feet out and let the boat find its point. I might cast to the edge of the brush pile at this time. I want to fish the brush pile as quickly as possible so this initial cast can get the front of the brush pile fished before moving in to break it down. One thing I learned, first as a fly fisher in Alaska and then during my bass tournament days, was to break down a piece of cover like a tree or a brush pile to catch more fish. You want to always start at the front of the brush pile and work your way into it. You never want to cast your bait all the way over the brush pile initially. By starting at the front, you can catch a crappie without spooking the others that might be in the brush pile further back. Start by throwing your bait to the front edge and work it over the top letting it dip just into the brush or stake bed tops. When little deeper. During this time, I might hit my jog the crappie are biting good, they will come from feature on my Ultrex trolling motor and move the bottom to chase your bait down and engulf in a little closer. You will learn that not only are it. When the crappie are this aggressive it can be you able to work your bait a little easier, but that an enjoyable day without many hang ups. Do not crappie sometimes prefers a certain angle on the be discouraged if you do not see a crappie with presentation. By moving in closer the angle of your Livescope. Oftentimes, they will be buried your retrieve changes slightly as you work your at the bottom of the brush pile and not visible bait back to the boat. with electronics, always be ready. I have been After working the middle of the brush, it is surprised by giant crappie coming from out of time to go deep. This is when you might hang up, nowhere to aggressively strike and snapping my but it can often produce big crappie if they do not line when I set the hook too hard, startled while want to leave their station for whatever reason. watching my screen. Be ready. Usually when a big crappie will not chase your If working your bait over the top of the bait and you must get in there with him it means brush does not get a response, it’s time to go a that he is not hungry or has been pressured and 26 - RAMBLING ANGLER OUTDOORS

This sounds like it might take a lot of time. However, you can work a big brush pile with Livescope in just a few minutes and move on to find another. Sometimes you can catch a few crappie from one brush pile but most of the time, I have found that catching one big crappie will shut the other crappie down. They might follow or they might lock down but either way they are done biting for the moment. You can return later to the same pile that you caught the big crappie in and pick up another one. You especially want to do this when you see a good one or two in the brush pile that are worth returning to try and catch. Locating brush piles and other cover using forward facing sonar is a highly effective way to catch a lot of crappie. When looking for big crappie you need to work the brush pile as described and not only ignore the smaller crappie but even keep your bait away from them because if you catch a small one it might lock down the big crappie and they become even harder to convince to eat your presentation. One tip for working a brush pile as efficiently as possible is to consider getting a Loc N’ Knock by Leland Lures. With this tool you can fish deep in the brush and when you hang up you can move up over the brush pile and drop the Loc N’ Knoc down onto your jig to dislodge it. This saves lures as well as allowing you to move on to find another brush is just reluctant to bite. So, work your bait slowly pile or drop back and continue fishing. If you through the base of the brush pile. Many times, I have thought I was hung and when I pulled, I saw are careful, you can dislodge your bait without spooking the crappie within. This little tool never on my Livescope that I had a big crappie hooked leaves my boat, even when I wash it. I have left up. Once you have worked the front edge of the it at home a couple of times and soon realized brush pile it is time to go deeper and work the mid- how often the Loc N’ Knoc comes in handy. dle. Work the middle of the pile or tree the same CONCLUSION sequence as the front section. Top, middle then botCrappie fishing is changing all the time. tom. Again, by doing this you reduce the chances of As more and more anglers release crappie, somespooking any crappie in the other parts of the pile. thing you never heard of in the past, crappie beWhen fishing for pressured crappie they will stop come educated and harder to catch. By learning biting when they see one caught. After working new tactics like breaking down a brush pile, you your bait through the middle section, you can go to can catch a lot more crappie. the back and work it the same way.

Breaking down

Brush

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Slow roll a big spinnerbait for some good springtime largemouth. Photo T. McBroom 44 - RAMBLING ANGLER OUTDOORS

Spring is here and the bass are slowly migrating towards their annual spawning grounds. The

migration has actually been going on for longer than you might think. The more adventurous anglers, adventurous could be substituted with crazy if you like braving the cold weather and relentless cold fronts but they have been rewarded with those early pre-spawn bass that tend to move to the spawning areas sooner than other bass. This staggering of the spawn is intentional as a way to be sure that there is a successful spawn. The numbers are few early on, but it can be a great time to catch a giant.

When Bass Come Shallow During March and April, the water is beginning to warm and the days are getting longer triggering a wave of bass to move shallow. It is at this time that the spinnerbait shines and when properly applied can get strikes from otherwise lockjaw bass. The good thing about April, here in Kentucky and Tennessee, is that there are about as many days when bass are aggressive and active as there are days that they are lethargic and not so aggressive. The following paragraphs I hope will shed some light on a few of these situations and how to apply a spinnerbait tactic to catch more bass.

Herron and divers on a main lake point leading to spawning grounds. Better throw a spinnerbait. Photo RA Staff

Rising Water With spring comes fluctuating water levels. The spring rains can cause the lakes water levels to rise a foot or even more in just a day or two. When the water is rising look for bass to move up with it. Bass love to get shallow during rising water. I have caught bass in 6 inches of water in March when the water is rising. This is true even when the water is still cold. Casting a spinnerbait to shallow cover during rising water can be deadly. Pulling the spinnerbait through the cover can trigger some SPRING - 2024 - 45

to use this spring

PUTTING GOBBLERS TO BED

to take advantage of the fly-down. Survey the Locating the tree where a big tom roost at night area around the roost and mark a good spot for your set-up before you leave. The next morning is not just a good way to get a jump on him ease into your spot well before daylight to get the next morning but it’s also just plain fun. into position to call when the gobbler flies Locating a gobbler’s roost will put you within call range come sunrise and help you bag a tom down. Once into position and the sun begins to early before he gets henned-up which can make light the horizon give a few subtle clucks and success rates plummet for the turkey hunter, yelps. These subtle calls let the turkeys know unless you have a backup plan. where you are. He could respond with a gobble The best way to find a roosting gobbler while still on his roost. This is your sign that the is to keep moving in the evening, looking and gobbler has acknowledged your location and is listening for turkeys flying up to roost. You interested. When this happens, stop calling. If will know when you hear a flock of turkeys you call too much the gobbler might think the flying up to roost. If you never have it’s an hen is on the ground and he will stay on roost obvious disruption to the still evening woods. waiting for her to come to him. Get the gobbler Turkeys have a fly up cackle and the flapping to acknowledge you then wait for the fly-down of wings, as they settle into the tree limbs are unmistakable, even if it’s just one turkey. When before calling again. When you hear the gobbler fly down and a flock flies up to roost, it’s noisy. Oftentimes for hit the ground immediately call to the turkey several minutes, as they reposition themselves with your best fly-down cackle. A great addition for the night. This can help you locate a roost to your fly-down cackle is to flop your hat or a from a good distance away. turkey feather erratically on the ground. This When a roost is located it’s important to sounds like a turkey flying down and really gets get as close as possible the next morning. The gobbler will still be on the same roost if it wasn't a turkey’s attention. More times than not this disturbed during the night. Getting close is vital is more than enough to get the gobbler heading 48 - RAMBLING ANGLER OUTDOORS

straight for your position where he thinks there’s will yelp and cluck to keep track of the flock. a hen waiting. Get your gun up and ready for a Whenever you hear a young gobbler shot. A mature tom is looking for a hen and will doing this and it’s off to the side of the flock, see any movement you make. you have a chance. Slip in as close as you can and try to make the subordinate believe one of FOOLING SUBORDINATE TOMS the dominant gobbler’s hens is calling to him. With the turkey population at an all-time high The best way to do this is by using a subtle across America, you have a pretty good chance yelp call. He will usually come in quick and of coming across a dominant gobbler traveling confident with his guard down. He thinks he’s with hens, jakes, and subordinate gobblers. It finally getting the attention he deserves. Don’t can be next to impossible to call a dominant risk gobbling at this time because he’ll think the gobbler away from his hens. However, it can dominant gobbler is onto him. This will put him be pretty easy to call that flock’s subordinate on alert and he will avoid your calls and the hen gobblers into range. Subordinates are usually he thinks is just inside the wood line. 2-year-old birds that have gotten beat up by Some turkey hunters only want to hunt the dominant gobbler a few times. To keep mature gobblers. For those that just want to fill from upsetting the dominant gobbler these their tag and put some fresh wild turkey on the subordinate gobblers will rarely gobble, but they table remember this tip. You might find a little

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