Month: May 2009

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Can A Mussel Affect Freshwater Fishing?

I was reading an interesting article about quagga mussels and how they’re affecting the Great Lakes and their run-off rivers and creeks. It seems they’re also affecting many lakes in California too! Here’s the article I read:

http://www.record-bee.com/sports/ci_12456316

So I was curious and did a look-up of these quagga mussels on wikipedia:
Quagga Mussels on Wikipedia

There’s even a map on wikipedia to show you how bad the spread of the mussels has become throughout the US. Pennsylvania has 2 known locations; none in New Jersey or Maryland yet.

These mussels are VERY prolific and just one mussel can take over a whole lake within a short amount of time. Seems they clean the water by siphoning off the plankton, but this in turn takes away the food that young freshwater fish need. So the fish population is definitely affected by these non-native intruders.

There is one hope though, it seems that yellow perch have developed a liking to these things and may help in the effort in trying to get them under control.

This is just another example of how mankind’s carelessness can cause great devastation on our environment. Let’s all try to be more conscious of our actions and their effect on our environment – what do you say?

Hope you have a great week and I’ll catch you later.

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Some tips on bass fishing.?

I could use some tips on bass fishing. Thanks = )
What size hook works the best?
What type of bait works best?
Best place to fish in a pound/lake

Bass are fun fish to catch – they fight well, but they aren't terribly smart compared to other sportfish. To catch a bass you need only to introduce an item to it that looks like it might possibly be a good meal, and not startle it in the process. Luckily for you, bass are voracious eaters, so a good meal is usually a smaller fish.

Bass congregate around underwater structure, and will seek out the best spots in their body of water for ambushing prey. This means that in a relatively small lake, the biggest pile of limbs on the bottom is usually where all of the good bass are. Larger lakes offer many different spots to look for bass, but they still prefer whatever structure they can find. Junked-out automobiles, or the remains of an old pier are excellent places to try. Finding some of these spots requires a fish-finder radar onboard your boat, but a well-trained eye and attention to detail – as well as experience on the lake – will help those of us who can't afford or prefer not to use a fish-finder catch fish too.

As for the weather, slightly warm is usually best. If the water becomes too hot, there is not enough oxygen for the fish and they are sluggish. At the same time, colder waters decrease the metabolism of the fish and they are also sluggish. I most prefer to fish when it is between 70 and 80 degrees outside, with a minimum of cloud cover and low wind. This makes for a pleasant day, and the water conditions are favorable for catching fish all afternoon.

Hook-size is based entirely on what size and sort of bass you are look for. Try to find out what species of bass you will encounter, and then determine the average size of this type of fish. Considering how big the mouth is, you can usually eyeball the size fairly well. There is not a hard standard for the sizing of hooks between manufacturer's, so you will need to think in a relative sense. As far as the type of hook, the factors to consider are 1.) what bait you will be using on the hook , and 2.) how big of a fighter your species of fish is. Bass have a lot of fight, so I usually opt for a deep bend and a large barb. Eagle Claw makes excellent hooks for bass, and you can get pre-rigged Eagle Claw leaders at Academy for pretty cheap.

The best thing that you can do for yourself is have a well-stocked tackle box. Depending on water conditions, you may need to use a drab color (clear water) or a bright color (muddy water) of any given lure in order to succeed. Be prepared to fish many different "tiers" of the water until you find the fish. Often, bass are most active during the cool of early morning, and move to deeper and deeper waters as the sun comes up and begins heating the lake. If you take along enough gear to pick from, chances are very good that you will have the correct lure on any given day.

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Springtime Freshwater Fishing Success

After working some OT yesterday, I came home to my younger son asking to go fishing! So of course I was only too happy to oblige!

I decided that we would go to our local lake and try fishing there for a change – rather than going to the creek which is right around the corner.

The usual access to the lake was blocked as the folks who own property adjacent to the lake were doing some construction, so we took the long way around and fished in the coves. My son was using worms for bait and he had his first success using the worms. He caught a nice pumpkin seed sunfish.

After a while, he tried a grub for bait. (We had dug up some worms before we left home and also found three grubs which we threw in for the heck of it.) It was like throwing steak into the middle of a hungry pack of wolves! The bait hardly hit the water before he hooked a nice Roach! (picture below) Another grub on the hook and bam – a nice sun fish. He had a bad cast over some bushes and lost his last grub, but my son’s really excited about using grubs for bait now. Here’s his Roach.


Freshwater Roach

Being the curious 5 year old that he is, he asked me why the fish liked the grubs so much. I showed him how the grubs oozed some of their insides when they went on the hook and explained that the fish could smell that. I asked him if he liked the smell of a nice fresh grilled hamburger? He said “sure Dad”. And I explained that the grub’s oozings smelled like that to the fish! He seemed OK with that explanation and talked about getting more grubs for our next trip. 🙂

After a while, he got tired of fishing and decided he’d sit and watch Dad fish for a bit. So I tried on my old trusty rubber worm and caught a nice Calico Bass – or as southerners call them – a “Crappie”. Here’s a picture:


Freshwater Roach

I tried another cove and had a couple of hits from a large pickerel, but was unsuccessful in setting the hook. (It can very very hard setting a hook with all those teeth in a pickerel!) It was dinner time by then and we headed back home after having a nice successful time freshwater fishing at the lake!

Hope your fishing trip was successful as well!

Catch you later.