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Spring
is an exciting time; the ice and snow finally disappear and it's
time to get the boat ready to be put back in the water. Now is the
time to use a simple checklist to help make sure your spring boat
launch is a successful one. While this checklist is an all-purpose
one for any boat, it's a good way to start your fishing season.
NOTE:
Now is also the right time to double check your rod holders, tackle
boxes, and fishing gear for wear and tear. Click
Here to Read More and Print Out a Checklist

The advent
of catch-and-release has been great for the sport of fishing. It
has literally re-cycled fish/opportunity for other anglers. However,
there is a proper method to returning fish to the water after you
catch them, that assures the fish's chances of survival.

Here
are some basic tips:
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Don't play or fight
a fish any longer than necessary. This way when you do catch
and release the fish, it's not fatigued or stressed.
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Do not touch or handle
the fish any more than necessary. Doing so removes a protective
slime coat that helps protect the fish from disease. It might
be a good idea to wet your hands before handling the fish.
NOTE: For the same reason the use of dip nets
is not encouraged with fish you plan to release. And if you
do use nets, those with rubber webbing seem to be less harmful
in this regard than those made of twine.
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If a hook is swallowed, cut it off as closely
to the eye of the hook as possible and release the fish, rather
than trying to remove the hook. Studies have shown fish have
a better chance of survival if you do this.
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There is nothing wrong
with taking photos of a catch, but consider that the fish cannot
breathe out of water. Take the photo and return the fish to
water as soon as possible.
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Fishing with barbless
hooks aid in the survival rate of caught and released fish.
The same is true of anglers using circle hooks. These hooks
are designed to turn when taken by the fish and hook it in the
corner of the mouth rather than be swallowed.


The above
image depicts the most commonly used measurements for fish.The total
length is the maximum length of the fish with the mouth closed and
the tail fin pinched together. The best way to obtain this
length is to push the fish's snout up against a vertical surface
with the mouth closed and the fish laying along a tape measure,
then pinch the tail fin closed and determine the total length, DO
NOT pull a flexible tape measure along the curve of the fish.
Conversely,
most marine (saltwater) regulations refer to the "fork length",
and scientists often use "standard length" which is to the end of
the fleshy part of the body. "Standard length" has the advantage
of not being affected by minor damage to the tail fin, nor does
it give too much credit to a fish for the relatively light weight
tail when calculating a fish's condition.
"Girth"
is best measured with a fabric ruler, such as tailors use. It can
also be determined by drawing a string around the fish at its widest
point marking where the string overlaps and then measuring the distance
between the overlapping points on a conventional ruler. Knowing
the girth is important when trying to certify a fish for a record,
and provides useful information to biologists about the relative
condition of a fish.
Using
total length and girth you can get a rough estimate of a fish's
weight using various formulas. Length-Weight Formulas to
Estimate Fish Weights:
Log (weight
in grams)= -4.83 + 1.923 x Log (total length in millimeters) + 1.157
x Log (girth in millimeters).
Image
and information courtesy of the US Fish & Wildlife Service and
Duane Ravers, Jr.

By Rob Brewer
Murphy’s
Law- If it can go wrong, it will go wrong. We’ve all heard
it before and experienced it at one time or another. I’m not
certain just who the infamous Mr. Murphy was, but I do know this,
he’s not welcome in my boat, ever. A saying I’m prone
to use is “Luck favors those who prepare”. While I didn’t
coin the phrase, I certainly agree with what it is implying. If
you’ve ever experienced an equipment failure out on the water,
you remember how it affected your game plan. It may have cost you
the tournament jackpot or maybe you had to be towed back to the
ramp. How often was it a simple fix that made you say to yourself
“Man, if only I had a widget, I’d be back in action”?
Lets look at some items that could potentially save the day.
On-board
spares
Fuses
- keep a pack of the same ampere rating as those in your fish-finder
and any other electrical items (livewell timer, nav lights etc.)
Spark
plugs - Keep one or two pre-gapped plugs on hand. I have a
two-stroke and I sometimes go a little heavy on the oil, risking
a fouled plug.
Spare
Propellers - This is the most costly item in the kit, but consider
its value out on the water. Lose or destroy a prop and the day is
done. I have been on both ends of the towrope. Spend enough time
on the water and so will you. Keep both a trolling motor and outboard
prop onboard.
Shear
Pins - These are too vital (and cheap) not to carry. The funny
thing is I’ve never had one do its job. If you’re unfamiliar
with a shear pin, it’s the little pin that goes through your
propeller shaft and propeller seats against. The purpose of this
pin is to shear or break when the prop strikes and object hard enough
to damage the prop. I started carrying only shear pins, since they’ve
never worked; I’ve added the spare props.
Starter
rope - These rarely fail without neglect on your part. You
should replace it once it begins to show signs of fraying. Next
time you see a lawnmower in the trash, stop and cut off it’s
starter rope. It’s free and it works.
Basic
tools - I keep a #1 flathead and Phillips screwdriver, spark
plug wrench, crescent wrench, pliers, emery cloth, electrical tape,
small can of WD-40 and a few miscellaneous hardware items (cotter
pins, solderless connectors, wing nuts, washers etc.) onboard as
well.
Storage-
All of the previous mentioned tools and parts fit into an empty
Army surplus .50 caliber ammo can with room to spare. The can is
waterproof, durable, requires minimal space and weighs only a few
pounds.
Tacklebox
spares
Rod
repair kit - I keep a Fuji rod repair kit on hand. It has 5
or 6 different size rod tips, and some ferrule cement to install
them.
Reel
repair kit - I keep some oil and grease along with some small
screwdrivers. I also have a small vial of screws and washers from
old reels. I do not carry spare reels with me. Be sure to have some
spare mono on hand too. You never know when the “bird’s
nest” will appear.
Vehicle
spares
Drain
plug - Mine is fastened to my trailer’s tie-down strap.
That way I CANNOT launch my boat without noticing it. You may laugh,
but I’ve seen more than one boat launched and sink before
anyone noticed. I keep a spare in my glove box just because of the
vital role (and cheap cost) this item has.
Spare
bulbs - Carry spares for your trailer in the glove box. The
cost of these is negligible when compared to a traffic ticket. I
found that if I unplug my trailer’s lights just prior to launch,
I rarely ever have to replace a bulb.
Vehicle
and trailer tires - Check the condition of your spares periodically.
Check the compatibility of your vehicle’s jack and lug wrench
with your trailer. Waiting until you have a flat is not the time
to discover your trailer’s lugs are different than the tow
vehicles.
Barring
catastrophic failure, these items will keep you out on the water
until you want to come home.
Courtesy
of Striper.net
There
are many different ways to fillet a Striper. We feel this method
yields the best tasting meat.
When cooking in a foil packet, you need the skin and dark meat removed.
I also think that if you ice the rockfish well, and fillet it as
soon as possible in this manner, it maintains better flavor.
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1.
I highly recommend that you wear a steel mesh glove. I had
to have an operation and 3 months of therapy before I learned
this step.
2.
Make sure
your knife is sharp. If you are going to skin the fish, you
do not need to scale it. Simply rinse the fish and make your
first cut along the edge of the head down to the backbone. |
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3. Cut
along the dorsal fin starting at the head, holding the blade
edge tight against the backbone. |
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4. Continue until you reach
the tail. The cut along the backbone should be about half
way to the lateral line of the fish at this time. |
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5. Turn
the fish over. (It is easier if you get both sides started before
completing either side.) Make the cut along the head on this
side the same as step 2. |
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6. Cut
along the dorsal fin and backbone on this side the same as step
3. |
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7. Continue to the tail the same as step
4. |
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8. Using
the forward curved part of your blade, slide it along the backbone
until it reaches the skin at the tail end of the fish and until
it reaches the ribs on the head end of the fish. |
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9. Slide the blade part of the way up
the ribs on the head end of the fish. Then cut the skin pulling
the fillet away from the fish. Do not cut the skin where it
is attached to the tail. |
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10. Flip
the fillet over the tail, using the attached skin to help hold
the fillet stationary. Position the fillet at the edge of a
cutting table, so that the knife blade can be held parallel
to the table with part of your hand below the table. |
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11. Slide your knife blade along the fillet
maintaining slight downward pressure on the forward part of
your blade to keep from leaving too much meat on the skin. |
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12. Turn
the fillet over with the side that was attached to the skin
up. |
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13. Cut along the dark meat all the way
to the cutting board. Be careful to follow the dark meat closely
to not lose the white meat. |
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14. Cut
the same way along the other side of the dark meat. |
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15. Your
fillet will now be in two pieces.Trim the remaining dark meat
that you missed from the fillet. |
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16. Repeat
steps 8 thru 16 to finish filleting the other side of the fish. |
To
keep that fresh taste without freezing for a few days before
cooking:
a.
Wash the striped bass fillets good and put them in a sealable
refrigerator bag.
b. Place the sealed bag in a bowl, covering the fillets with
water.
c. Fill the bowl the rest of the way with ice cubes, making
sure the bag is completely covered with ice.
d. Place in the refrigerator. Replace ice as it melts.
This keeps the striper
fillets as cold as possible without actually freezing them.
The fish can still spoil, so cook them within a few days.
Wash them thoroughly again before cooking.
Click
Here for Fish Recipes |
Keeping
a record of your catches can help you improve your angling skills
by allowing you to spot patterns and determine which baits work
best for different itmes of the year.
Click
here to go to a printable Fishing Log
Click
Here for the PDF version.

By "the
Bass Coach" Roger Lee Brown
When
it comes to bass fishing, boat positioning is probably just as important
as having your rods and reels on board with you. Using your boat
properly while bass fishing can definitely make the difference between
catching bass or not catching bass, especially when certain circumstances
prevail during the course of the time spent on the water. For example,
let's say that you were fishing for bedding bass during the Spring.
Many anglers are aware of the sensitivity nature of the bass during
this time of the year, they can be very skittish and frighten (or
you can spook them) very easily right? Now, you certainly wouldn't
want to motor the boat right up on top of the beds and scare the
bass before you had a chance to fish for them would you? of course
not! In this article I hope to help you understand the importance
of boat positioning by giving you a few scenarios that many anglers
encounter during the course of their time they spend on the water.
Many
of my Bass Fishing School students are amazed when I teach them
the importance of boat positioning, especially when they're actually
shown How and Why one would position his or her boat a certain way
while learning to fish the many different environments offered by
many bodies of water through out the nation. As important as I feel
this subject is, I always teach my students and even my bass charter
clients how and why I would position my boat certain ways when fishing:
drop-offs, fall-downs, gradual slopes, rip-rap, steep bluffs, current
conditions, vegetation, channel contours, rocky areas, points, windy
conditions, etc. just to name a few, and when the students and charter
clients begin to start understanding the whys and hows of boat positioning,
they can't help but to increase their angling skills, confidence,
and ability to become better anglers.
Fishing
beds - Now, let's go back and start with the Spring beds
(or Spring bedding bass.) Many anglers that fish bedding bass usually
will have trouble fishing them because they really don't understand
how to approach these beds when they do find them. There are several
factors one might consider before making a approach before fishing
these bedding bass such as; what the daily conditions are (sunny,
overcast, windy, calm), what the water depth is, how much vegetation
(and types of vegetation) is in the area of the beds, what types
of structure or obstacles may be in these areas (such as rocks,
pilings, docks, etc.) and there are more, but lets just take a few
of these factors I just mentioned and try to draw a picture of why
boat positioning would play an important role when it comes to fishing
beds.
Click
Here to Read More on Boat Positioning

from the
website "Animated
Knots by Grog"
Fishing
knots are designed to be tied in monofilament line and to run through
the eyes and rings of a fishing rod or rig. Compared to rope, fishing
line is cheap. The emphasis for fishing knots is on compactness
and reliability with no interest in being able to untie them.
Click
Here to use the Animated Fishing Knots page

courtesy
of Ohio
DNR
Thinking about buying your own tackle? If so, you have two choices:
pay a little extra and shop at a fishing specialty store with the
help of professionals, or save a few bucks and go it alone at discount
department stores or through fishing tackle direct-mail catalogs.
Either way, the most important purchase you make will be your rod
and reel.
For
beginners, spin-casting equipment is the easiest to operate and
causes the least problems. A spin-casting reel spooled with 6 -,
8 - or 10 -pound test line and mounted on a light- to medium-action
5 1 /2 - to 6 -foot casting rod will work well for most types of
Ohio fishing. Rod and reel combinations, already spooled with quality
line, can be purchased pre-packaged. More experienced anglers may
prefer spinning or baitcasting tackle.
Next,
you will need hooks, sinkers (weights), and bobbers (floats). Hooks
and sinkers can be purchased in variety packs that include many
sizes and styles. When purchasing bobbers, keep in mind that smaller
tends to be better. The amount of resistance a fish feels on the
line when taking a bait is directly related to the size of the bobber.
More
experienced anglers may enjoy trying to catch fish on artificial
lures. Smaller baits are attractive to more kinds and sizes of fish,
so choose lures in the 1/8- to 1/4-ounce size range. Also, choose
colors that mimic what the bait is supposed to imitate. For example,
if the lure is a minnow imitation, either silver or gold would be
a good color choice. Finally, remember that some lures are made
to catch fishermen rather than fish. If you don't know the difference,
ask a knowledgeable angler before you buy.
Buying
the Basics:
• Spin-casting rod and reel combination (with 6-, 8-, or 10-pound
test line)
• Hooks (sizes 10, 12, or 14 for panfish; 6 or 8 for bass and catfish)
• Sinkers (in various weights)
• Bobbers (usually the smaller the better)
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