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Spring Boat Checklist Catch and Release Tips How to Measure a Fish Combating Murphy - Rob Brewer Choosing a Fishing Guide - 2 Perspectives Basic Fishing Equipment: Tackle	Printable Fishing Log Boat Positioning - Roger Lee Brown Animated Fishing Knots How to Fillet A Striper Choosing a Fishing Guide - 20 Questions
Fishing Basics Videos with Steve Chaconas: Learning Baits & Lures Spinner Baits Top Water Lures Crank Baits Soft Plastics How to Save a Gut Hooked Fish

Spring Boat Checklist

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

Catch and Release Tips

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:

• 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.

• 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.

• 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.

• 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.

• 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.

How to Measure a Fish

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.

Combating Murphy
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.

How to Fillet a Striper
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.

	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.
	3. Cut along the dorsal fin starting at the head, holding the blade edge tight against the backbone.
	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.
	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.
	6. Cut along the dorsal fin and backbone on this side the same as step 3.
	7. Continue to the tail the same as step 4.
	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.
	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.
	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.
	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.
	12. Turn the fillet over with the side that was attached to the skin up.
	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.
	14. Cut the same way along the other side of the dark meat.
	15. Your fillet will now be in two pieces.Trim the remaining dark meat that you missed from the fillet.
	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

Keep A Record of Your Catch

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.

Boat Positioning
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

Animated Fishing Knots
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

Basic Fishing Equipment: Tackle
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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