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Getting Ready for Open Water Fishing by Bob Jensen, courtesy of The Fishing Wire
There
are still some anglers on the ice in my area of North Iowa, but
they won't be out there much longer. The ice is turning dark on
the lakes and the rivers are breaking up. It's time to start seriously
thinking about the open water fishing season of 2010. Following
are some things we should be doing to get ready to go fishing.
Simple Ways to Bring Old Lures Back to Life by Steve Chaconas, Dec/Jan Issue of BoatUS ANGLER Tacklebox Newsletter
Is your tackle box a tangled mess of rusty hooks, scarred lures, and melted rubber skirts? Don’t toss them out! Lures today cost anywhere from $5 - $15 and more. It pays to take a little time to bring your baits back to life. They might not look like the originals when you are finished, but they’ll be close enough to be effective, and different enough to catch more fish. For just about everything you need to revive your favorite lures, check out jannsnetcraft.com and lurcraft.com.
Spinnerbaits
show their age the most. Skirts become discolored. Rubber bands
holding skirts in place disintegrate and blades become tarnished.
A little TarnX will put the shine back on, but be careful not to
rub “gold” finishes too much, because they might rub
off. If they aren’t salvageable, paint the blades. I like
white and chartreuse. Or you can give your spinnerbait a makeover,
replacing worn blades and skirts. Upgrade spinnerbaits you don’t
use with a skirt or blade best suited for your fishing needs. If
you have a lot of a particular spinnerbait, change blade shape and
size to give your more of a variety to cover other conditions. To
keep new skirts in place, a few wraps of nylon thread will secure
them. They’ll make it through the season and won’t slide
down coming through heavy cover. A bit of touch-up
After getting slammed by fish, tossed into rocks and put away wet,
topwater lures and crankbaits need love too Start with the hooks.
If they can be sharpened, do it. I prefer to replace mine I’ve
been replacing the belly hooks with a RED
Vinyl lure touch up paint, fingernail polish and even marking pens restore baits and let you stylize your own. I even add black dots on the sides for contrast or orange to the bellies for more visibility. Buy some small brushes. If you’re on a budget and aren’t artistic anyway, try using a good old-fashioned pipe cleaner for your brush (Q-Tips work too). The fine hairs on the Q-Tip can drag color across a bait, leaving contrasting lines. A spray of “clear coat” will keep your lures from chipping as easily. After removing paint from jigs, heat them and dip into powder coat or hand paint for a new finish. Attach a new skirt and secure with the same nylon thread used on the spinnerbaits and that jig is back in business! Use markers on the white nylon thread to dye, matching skirts. Don’t forget to sharpen these hooks too!
by Rob Brewer, Oct/Nov 2007 Issue of BoatUS ANGLER Tacklebox Newsletter I’ve been asked a lot of live well questions lately. Seems to me maybe more of you are considering building one, or perhaps it’s the only thing keeping you from tournament fishing. I built my own from scratch for next to nothing. I’ll talk you through the process step by step, hitting on some highlights I think are worth mentioning. There’s no need to build one that’s going to kill your fish.
Figure your going to fill the live well only half full, if you want it to aerate properly after all the water is displaced from that 30 pound limit inside it. 90/2 = 45 quarts = 11.25 gallons. That’s only 2.25 gallons per fish. More is better. Next is the pump. This is the “heart” of your system. Set out to buy a 750 GPH pump. Settle for no less than a 500 gph. You want a considerable volume of water moving through the spray bar in order to achieve sufficient aeration. More is better.
Along one of the lines, drill two 1/8” holes. These will be “pilot” holes for the screws when you mount the bar inside the cooler. Along the other line, you’ll drill “aeration holes”. Drill 8 to 12 1/8” holes along this other line. The small 1/8 holes will ensure there is sufficient pressure in the streams flowing to “inject” tons of tiny bubbles into your live well. More is better.
You ready to start putting this thing together? Chose a location inside the cooler, close to the very top and on the side opposite the hinges, to mount your spraybar. Mount it in the center, so you can easily remove the end cap or the 90º elbow if needed. Now before you start screwing it in place, make sure the aeration holes are pointing towards the bottom of the cooler and not the lid. Also make sure the elbow and the end cap are already on when you crew on the spray bar. Screw the spray bar in place with the two stainless screws. Don’t screw it down super tight. You want it tight, but too much. Again the tightness of the screws affects the ease at which the fittings may be removed.
Another great feature about this design is it’s removable. You can leave the cooler at home if not fishing in a tourney. The only thing that’s “stuck” in the boat is the pump.
Selecting an Ice Fishing Shelter by Bob Jensen, courtesy of The Fishing Wire
Ice
fishing is different things to different people. Some folks are
out there with very serious intentions of catching fish, as many
as possible. Your
choice of an ice fishing shelter is often determined by the kind
of angler you are. If you like hanging out with friends and playing
cards while waiting for a fish to bite, a permanent shelter might
be more to your liking. You walk in, light the heater, and before
long you're in shirt sleeves. That's fun stuff.
New
this year from Frabill is the R2-Tec. The R2-Tec is the warmest
portable shelter ever created. The additional warmth is created
by an innovative shell that keeps warmth in the shelter, yet adds
very little to the weight of the unit.
RX:
Long Life by Bruce W. Smith, from August-September ANGLER Newsletter
Technological advances have made life so much easier than it was just a decade ago when it comes to maintaining our tow vehicles. Batteries are maintenance-free, fan belts and sparkplug's are good for 100,000 miles, sealed bearings never need greasing, special radiator coolants never need replacing, and even oil changes can exceed 10,000 miles. You basically drive and forget. Unfortunately, there are a lot of boaters who view four stroke outboards the same way and they snooze right through anything related to preventive-maintenance. That type of attitude is a fast track to shortening the life of a very expensive outboard.
THE
GREASY TOUCH
points on an outboard. Check and lube each one until a little of the old grease oozes out. Use a towel to wipe up the excess grease. It’s also good to put a dab of grease on all the shift and throttle linkages to extend the life of the moving parts. It also makes shifting and throttle control smoother. Pull the propeller off, grease the splines and remove any fishing line that might be wrapped around the shaft at the seal. (Monofilament has a nasty habit of cutting into the seal, which, in turn, will allow water into the gear case.) FULL
LUBE JOB
That’s
because “high spots” on the gears get worn down during
that time, leaving a little bit of metal floating around in the
gear oil. Remove the drain plug, drain the oil, refill according to your service manual, and clean off the drain plug magnet before reinserting. Changing the gear case oil is not a big chore on smaller outboards. But the V-6/V- 8 four-strokes are a much bigger mess that’s best left to the dealer. Dealers usually charge around a $100- $125 to perform an oil change and to fill the gear case with fresh lube. The dealer is also the one to replace the water pump if the engine is more than two years old, and to handle any valve adjustments that may be required. The rubber vanes will take a set and loose their effectiveness after a couple years, and running an outboard in muddy water or where sand is kicked up accelerates the wear on the impeller.
FUEL SYSTEM SERVICE Don’t forget the fuel system. Replace the fuel filter and the water/fuel separator filter if your outboard has one. The latter looks a lot like a little oil filter-type cartridge with a paper element inside the canister. This filter’s job is to catch water, so, if you see water in it don’t be alarmed-it means the system is doing its job protecting the fuel system. When you replace the filters, write the date on them with a permanent felt marker so a year from now you know it’s time to change them again. FUEL
STABILIZERS CLEAN
& PROTECT
Anchoring
for Anglers
The main use for an anchor - besides safety - is to place the boat over, or near, structure or bottom that holds fish. “Not necessarily so,” says Joe Bassboat, “I can do the same thing with my bow-mounted electric motor.” And, so he can, and he can have some mobility around the structure, but ‘ol Joe is constantly working. Sadly, many folks who use the electric motors don’t carry an anchor; if they have a breakdown, they could drift all the way across the creek, river, or lake to a place where they’d be hard to find. It’s my belief that all anglers should carry an anchor suitable to their craft and to the type of fishing they do. I have a mushroom anchor tied to a 50-foot 1/4-inch rode on my 14-foot aluminum jon boat. The anchor swings over the bow and its rode is tied to a cleat aft where I can reach it. It drops by gravity. It’s good enough for the shallow waters I fish, small creeks and ponds, for bass and crappie. For 18 years, I had a 20-foot center console outboard-powered boat equipped with a 13- pound Danforth anchor on a 150-foot 1/2-inchnylon rode. The rode was tied directly to the anchor, which meant it would pull out of the bottom in a strong wind. I made a quick fix by tying a large galvanized snap in the rode about 6 feet above the anchor; I could easily snap on a sash weight when I needed more holding power. The sash weight allowed a horizontal, instead of a vertical, pull on the Danforth which helped it dig into the bottom.
Now I have the same anchor and rode on my 22-foot walkaround hull, but I’ve substituted a 6-foot piece of chain to make the anchor dig in. In rough waters, many saltwater anglers pick up their anchors with a float-buoy combination (available from West Marine or at BoatUS-store. com). Snap the ring around the rode at anchor, start up the engine, and power ahead at an angle; the rode slips through the ring and “floats” the anchor on top where it is easily picked up.
If I know it will be rough out on the water, I get the rode out and spread it on the rear deck. Then I clip a snap attached to a separate line, twice as long as the boat, around the rode and secure it to an aft fitting. To pick up the anchor, one angler runs the boat ahead at an angle so the prop won’t tangle in the rode. Meanwhile his partner pulls in the clipped line until he can get hold of the rode and bring the anchor aboard. The captain is safe behind the wheel and the mate is safe in the cockpit.
Retrieving a hung anchor can be simplified by using one with a ring welded at the bottom of the tines, to which is attached a buoyed trip line. Get the anchor loose by pulling on the trip line, and backing it out of the snag. That’s the way we anchor at a local structure called “The Airplane Wreck” for obvious reasons. You could also use a wreck anchor made of welded rebar, or aluminum bar, tines. When hung in structure like rocks or wrecks, simply power the boat away and bend the tines out; rebend them back later to resemble an anchor.
Batteries
and Trolling Motors
To use an example, a 55 lb thrust motor unit has a peak power draw of 40 amps. If you use the trolling motor for 6 hours at average 50% load of 20 amps, the trolling motor will then require a battery load of 120 Ah. (6 hours X 20amps=120 amp hours). A battery bank of a 240 Ah capacity rating selected as deep cycling should be kept to 50% to ensure maximum battery life. The deeper the cycling of the battery the less overall life you will get. In this case the nominal battery bank rating should be around 20 amps at the 10 hour rate.
John C Payne is author of the Marine Electrical and Electronics Bible, the Fisherman’s Electrical manual and several other books. Log onto his website at www.fishingandboats.com.
Jig
Magic
Yes, plastic worms may account for more numbers of fish, but a jig will net more pounds per bite. Why? I honestly don’t know. But I do know from experience that it is fact. There’s something magical about jigs and big bass. Of course you can use a jig right out of its package and still catch fish. But there are also numerous little enhancements that will increase its success ratio. Here’s how I “doctor” a jig: Leadhead- Don’t use those commercially manufactured “eye-busters” to remove the paint in the line tie. These put burrs inside the line tie. Use an ice pick or old hook. Now tie on a foot or so of 30 or 40 pound test. Draw it down tight and work it back and forth to clean all the paint from the eye. Weedguard- Trace every bristle from the leadhead to the end of the fiber. Often these get fused together in the manufacturing process. Make certain each fiber stands alone. Don’t hesitate to remove a few using nail clippers or side cutters. Keep in mind if you shorten the weedguards, they become stiffer. Hook- Using pliers, bend the hook open about 2 degrees more than it was manufactured. Now bend it to the right or left 2 degrees as well. Just be certain not to exceed the protection of the weedguard. Some jigs (such as Arkie brand) have an insufficient barb on the hook. Take a triangular file and “deepen” the barb some. Now hone the hook to a razor’s edge if it isn’t already. Save all your old Berkley Power Worms and other powerbaits. Take 11/4” to 11/2” pieces and slip these on the shank of your hooks. These will give the jig some body when the skirt strands are flared out in the water. Furthermore, the scent will permeate the skirt and the worm itself will make the bass hold the jig longer. Add a trailer and the jig is ready to fish. I prefer pork to plastic. But each to his own.
Making
Suspending Lures It’s time for a fish story. When I was around seventeen years old, a friend and I were fishing a stump field in a clear Pennsylvania reservoir. I remember it as though it were yesterday. It was one of those times when a light came on. And on it has stayed. I was targeting bass using a Heddon River Runt. I was catching a few bass, and every so often, a pickerel. Eventually, my lure got enough holes from the pickerel’s teeth, that it absorbed enough water to become neutrally buoyant. Instantly, my catch rate skyrocketed. Now every time I reeled up to a stump and paused, the bait just hovered in place. The fish would appear out of nowhere and slam it during the pause. I realized the bait now better mimicked the movements of actual forage. Ever since, I’ve had this affection for suspending baits and it continues to this day. Let me tell you, they’re not only for cold water bass! About the only time I won’t use one is when I’m cranking cover and I want a bait that will float out after impact. Over the years, I’ve tinkered with lots of lures trying to make them suspend. I’ve also destroyed several in the process. Here’s the voice of experience talking about what works (and what doesn’t). For the purpose of this article, there are three types of baits; floating, sinking and factory made suspending models. I don’t really like too many factory made suspending lures. I don’t know if it’s the manufacturing process or what, but rarely do they suspend to my standards. I find they either sink or float. Granted, it will be very slow, but I want it to hover in place. Because it’s easier to sink a floater than float a sinker, we’re only going to work with floating baits. There are several lures that maintain original action and lend themselves to suspension modifications. To name a few, there’s Poe’s Cedar series, Bagley’s DB series, Original Rapalas and several plastic baits like Bomber A’s, Rebel Shad R’s and Excalibur’s Fat Free series. Odds are good one of these methods will work on your favorite bait too. Different baits require different methods, but some can be used on more than one type of lure. These methods vary from super simple to time consuming. You will need to make some sort of a test tank. Try an aquarium, bucket, bathtub or swimming pool. Read on, one of these methods should appeal to you. Heavier Hooks - Often, just changing to heavier hooks alone will make a bait suspend. If this works, great, because you can always restore the bait to it’s original condition. Be aware that you may have to experiment with several hook sizes to accomplish the buoyancy desired. Solder Wire - The addition of fine solder wire (.032 diameter) wrapped around the shank of the front treble’s shank is another removable modification. I use this diameter because it does not clog the bite of the hook, as thicker solders will do. When heavier hooks alone won’t work, start adding solder wire to the hook shank. You can also crimp a small split shot on to the shank instead. Suspend Dots/Strips - These are commercially manufactured by Storm Lure Company. These adhesive backed weights and strips are yet another removable modification. You can fine-tune these with a few strokes of a file. The draw back with these is the possibility of them falling off with heavy use and their lack of adhesion to some baits. Drilling & Weighting - Here’s where things get tricky. Also there is no going back from this one. These baits are permanently modified. Don’t let that scare you. This method is for wood lures like Poe’s and Bagley’s. I suppose you could use this on a plastic bait, but I wouldn’t. Choose a worm weight and set it on the hook of the bait you want to suspend. Pick a weight that will sink the bait. Now remove the hooks and bore a small 3/32” pilot hole on the underside of the bait between the diving bill and front hook attachment. Poe’s baits are easiest to do this modification to because they use screw eyes instead of internal wiring to attach the hooks. You must be very careful not to foul the wire when drilling a Bagley. Now bore a hole in the pilot hole that is big enough to accept the weight, but tight enough to hold it in place with friction alone. Reattach the hooks and push the weight into the hole. Now test float the bait. It should still sink. Now remove some lead one file stroke at a time and test float between strokes. Once you attain the desired buoyancy, remove the weight and allow the bait to thoroughly dry. Once dry, reinsert the lead and seal with two-part epoxy or RTV. Drilling & Syringe - This is the method for the plastic baits like Excalibur, Bomber etc. The good thing is this is another reversible method. Remove the hooks and bore a small 1/16” hole in the top center of the lure’s air cavity. Using a hypodermic needle, inject some water into the cavity. Plug the hole with a round toothpick and cutoff almost flush. You will probably have to remove this a few times. Reattach the hooks and test float. Add or remove water until the desired buoyancy is attained. Now either cut off the toothpick flush or plug with a small dab of RTV sealant. To undo this procedure, simply pierce the RTV plug with the syringe and vacuum out the water or remove the toothpick and do the same. If you take your time and don’t rush things, you can be pretty certain of a successful modification. Accept the fact that you may ruin a few lures if you attempt the drill & weight process. Otherwise, the rest are pretty simple and foolproof. If you do mess something up, try to learn from it so you don’t repeat it. Rough
Water Boat Rigging
As you may suspect, Balog has endured countless white-knuckle boat rides on treacherous water to reach smallmouth hangouts on this inland sea. Pounding through 3- to 4-foot waves is the norm on Lake Erie, and sudden, unexpected storms have assaulted Balog with 8- to 10-foot waves. Balog has learned the hard way how to rig a boat that holds up to the abuse. He is able to continue fishing when other anglers break down. More importantly, his boat withstands the elements and carries him safely to dry ground. Though no one purposely ventures forth in dangerous water, every bass angler invariably takes a beating due to windy weather or heavy boat traffic. These bone-jarring rides also take their toll on your boat and tackle. Big waves can break trolling motors, rip depthfinders from their mounts, and swamp your boat, just to name a few perils. Even a single rogue wave from a big cruiser can be damaging if you inadvertently hit it at speed. Every bass angler would be wise to implement Balog’s tips for rough water boat rigging. These precautions will prevent breakdowns and save money. They could also save your hide. The Electric Motor - The electric motor, perched on the very nose of the boat, takes more pummeling than any other piece of equipment. If it isn’t rock-solid secure, the mount may loosen or break, and internal brushes and control boards can fail. “Most electric motors come secured with only four bolts and some have plastic nuts,” Balog says. “That’s asking for trouble. I fix my electric motor to the bow with six big stainless steel bolts, oversized washers and lock nuts.” When Balog lifts the motor out of the water, he turns the motor’s head toward the middle of the boat to give it more support. In addition to the nylon hold down strap that comes with his electric motor, Balog installs a second strap just behind the motor’s lower unit, and a third up near the motor’s head. He positions the straps so the Velcro lies on the inside portion of the shaft where it won’t be loosened should he spear a wave. A RAM mount secures the head of the electric motor and also serves as a shock absorber. Balog replaces the stock bolts that come with the mount with longer bolts that make it easier to tighten the mount in tight quarters.The foot control pedal must also be permanently secured to the floor with large screws or bolts. Electronics - RAM mounts secured to the deck with bolts and lock nuts support all sonar and GPS units not mounted in the dash or bow panel. If the unit’s mount has a horizontal slot, Balog faces the slot’s opening toward the bow to prevent a wave from ripping it out. “I remove my bow electronics and store them in a rear compartment before making long runs,” Balog says. Rods For long runs, Balog stores his rods in the rod locker. For short runs, Balog fastens the rod strap around the reels, especially spinning reels, to prevent them from beating on the deck. Batteries - Given the compact weight of batteries, battery boxes must be held in place with screws and the batteries strapped in place. The batteries should also be situated so they balance the boat for a level, stable posture on plane. Since Balog is lighter than many of his partners, he stores three batteries on the driver’s side and one on the passenger side to even the load. Balanced Load - “The boat’s balance influences how it runs on big water,” Balog says. “An unbalanced boat beats you to death and will destroy itself and your equipment.” Balog stores everything heavy in the rear of the boat such as batteries, a spare prop and anchors. He once made the mistake of putting a spare battery in a forward compartment. When the boat started slamming into waves, the battery crashed through the bottom of the compartment and into the hull. Outboard propellers sporting four or five blades generally grip the water better that three-bladed props. This is a huge advantage when running at slow speeds on rough water because the boat is less inclined to fall off plane. Balog favors Mercury’s High Five prop. A spare prop is locked in place with a holder in the bilge area. Anchor and Rope - A 20-pound Richter anchor and 150 feet of anchor rope are needed to hold Balog’s Rangerin place on rough water. He sometimes fishes from an anchored boat, but the anchor would also prevent his boat from drifting for miles should his engine fail. Spare Bilge Pump Cartridge - These days some bass boats come with bilge and livewell pumps that feature quick change, replaceable cartridges. Balog always carries spares. For boats not equipped with this feature, he recommends that you carry a spare bilge pump and extra hose clamps so you can replace the entire pump, if need be. Emergency Bilge Pump - Just in case his boat’s electrical system goes on the fritz and kills his regular bilge pumps, Balog carries a spare 1,000 gph pump rigged with a 6 foot hose and 6 feet of wire with alligator clips.He can clip the pump to any of the boat’s batteries and pump the water out. Waterproof Boxes Balog stores flares, tools, spare parts, a first aid kit and other items not directly related to fishing in waterproof marine boxes made by Plano. He stores his lures and tackle in Plano 3740 waterproof Stowaway utility boxes. Double-Nut Outboard Bolts Whenever his boat has been subjected to a rough ride, Balog checks the outboard’s transom nuts to insure they are tight. On one occasion, the nuts were finger loose. Now he locks the nuts down by putting a second lock nut on top of them.
Five
Cleaning DONT'S A boat
is like a home away from home but that doesn't mean it should be
cleaned the same way. Household cleaning products can be damaging
to a boat's surfaces and harmful to the environment. Here's a list
of the most common mistakes owners make with boat care. #5 Bleach : Products containing bleach have a tendency to discolor fabrics and break down their integrity. As well, they cause irreversible streaking if allowed to dry on gelcoat.
For more information about services, Click Here To request a free information
packet about |
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Before
you run out and buy all the supplies listed, let me talk about them
a little. First is the cooler. Don’t skimp on size. If you
are planning on keeping a five fish limit alive all day get at least
a 90 quart cooler and don’t hesitate to buy a 130 quart job
(we used a 50 quart cooler for
Now that your spray bar is in place and you are happy with it, attach
the hose to the elbow. Mine is threaded. I just twisted it into
the hose. You may need an additional hose clamp. Now attach the
pump to the hose, using the hose clamp. Leave the pump “freestanding”.
Don’t fasten it in the cooler. This so you can hang it overboard
to fill your live well.
When
it comes to innovation in portable ice shelters, Frabill is the
leader. Their new Glide Trax units can be compared to a pontoon
on ice. They pull much easier and straighter than traditional portables,
and the pontoons double as storage.
Spring
is coming and getting your boat ready to go fishing is a must. A
trolling motor is now becoming one of those hard-to-live-without
equipment items but getting the most out of it is a challenge. The
key to trolling motor performance is the battery, and this
While
there are flashier, more appealing lures to fisherman, few, if any
lures have greater appeal to big bass. The venerable jig n pig has
been duping bass consistently for more than half a century.
Ohio
angler Joe Balog excels when he fishes bass tournaments on Lake
Erie, which he regards as his home water. He’s weighed in
many five-fish limits of smallmouth bass in excess of 20 pounds
by fishing deep, offshore smallmouth structures, some of which were
40 miles or more from the takeoff point.
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