Of angling’s many positive elements, near the top of the list is that it is a great way to spend time with friends that are so close they might as well be family. My buddies and I try to make it a regular thing to meet up at the cabin, at someone’s house, back home or even just somewhere that is rumored to be on a run for whatever the season allows. It doesn’t matter what’s biting; walleyes in the springtime, bass in the summer, or panfish through the winter ice – fishing is a common bond that brings us together, no matter how different we are or the distance that separates us.

This weekend, undoubtedly our last of the hardwater season, was another of our meet ups. But it was unique, not for just the successful crappie fishing, but also for the combination of anglers. With my usual fishing buddy, Holmes, an old friend new to the sport of angling, Marty, and my brother in law, Adam, I hit the rapidly-deteriorating ice in search of slabs and some more memories, with each of my friends bringing their unique characteristics along for the trip.
Holmes has been my buddy since high school and my frequent partner-in-fish for the better part of the last decade. From smallies on the Sheyenne River, to largemouth in Minnesota on Memorial Day weekend, you’d find Holmes’ picture next to the definition of fishing buddy. He’s an all-business angler, a walleye-centric outdoorsman and one heck of a camp cook. Underneath his gruff exterior is a friendly grin – when I threaten him with multiple after-catch pictures if he doesn’t smile – and a library’s worth of knowledge and bulletin board wisdom. Quick on the hookset, and light on the chatter, he tempers my outlandish excitement over just about any fish with a stoic nod.

Marty’s younger brother and my younger brother played basketball together, and when we’d travel to watch their tourneys we’d often talk about our shared interests while the game played out. We’re hockey fans, particularly of the late 1990s Detroit Red Wing teams led by Sergei Fedorov and we have a shared appreciation for Metallica’s music. The one thing we didn’t have in common was fishing. That is, up until this summer when I threw my big book of bassin’ tips at him and the rest was history. In an even quicker transition, Marty became a full-gear ice angler in just under a month after his first outing at our meet up in February. Ten days later I received a text message from him saying he’d bought a Vexilar. Proof positive that 13-inch crappies can change the world.

My brother-in-law Adam, who was my friend well before I was engaged to his sister, has been a faithful comrade in arms and rods, accompanying me on my do-it-yourself wild goose chases into the woods of Superior National Forest and the streams of the north shore of Lake Superior. When a bolt needs cutting, an engine needs fixing or something mechanical needs engineering, he’s the guy I call. I hope the misguided service I provide is a suitable payment for his friendship, because I know he knows that many times I don’t know what I’m doing, but I’m glad he lets me do it anyway. Then, when I try to whip the water into a froth with my fly rod, he’s content to catch fish after fish with his spinning gear. I’m sure I add some notes to his mental checklist of what not to do, but hopefully every now and again, I provide a tip that helps him out.

With rain, fog and one brief glimpse of sun for the first time in more than eight days setting the backdrop for our weekend, we chased eater-sized crappies and some serious slabs over four different lakes, sleeping a total of ten hours over the two days. We swapped stories, electronics, lures, jokes and curses at missed hooksets in our twenty hours on ice, filling the weekend with as much fishing time as we could.

In the end, as we digested a fryer full of crappie fillets and shook hands in the driveway at my grandma’s cabin, it wasn’t so much the great late-ice angling that made the weekend a success as it was the people I was fishing with. We planned for our next meeting in May and bid each other good fishing until that time.

Holmes headed back to Valley City, a place where we terrorized the fish from March to ice-up every year. Adam returned to his studies and his impending graduation with honors in Chemical Engineering at the University of Minnesota-Duluth in May and promised me he’d keep an ear out for the first booming ruffed grouse. Marty fired up his Jeep and headed a couple of miles away to his new home in Detroit Lakes, a drive we all envied not only for its shortness but also for its proximity to the lakes we had found recent success on. And I fired up the blue Ranger and headed down the highway, replaying the weekend in my head and my fond memories of my time spent with these fishing buddies…in our outdoors.

With the possible exception of a first driver’s license, few people spin a nostalgic tale about buying a license “back in the day.”

In fact, I struggle trying to come up with any story associated renewal of my North Dakota driver’s license. Same goes for my fishing license, except perhaps buying a trout stamp when they were required, pasting it to the back of my hunting and fishing certificate, then heading off to Moon Lake where trout were abundant and sometimes large.

Nowadays, a lot of anglers and hunters are bypassing the rather unremarkable stops for licenses at bait shops, sporting goods outlets or convenience stores and purchasing their licenses in even less memorable fashion at the home or office computer.

Since April 1 marks the new licensing season for angling, general game, habitat, small game and furbearer licenses, it’s a good time to promote the benefits of buying online at the Game and Fish Department’s website, gf.nd.gov.

It’s been nearly 10 years since Game and Fish first offered license sales over its website. While I had always enjoyed a sort of nostalgic connection with the annual ritual of filling out the paper form, the reality is that a couple of times I had to struggle to find a license vendor conveniently located on the way to the water. Who hasn’t found themselves on a bright spring day when the stars align and an afternoon opens up for that first outing, but you spend more time looking to buy the license than actually fishing.

A few years ago one of those day’s materialized, not just for me, but for my wife and kids as well. While my wife was organizing the snacks, hats and jackets, I sat down at the computer and bought our fishing licenses in a matter of minutes, printed them off, and we were out the door and on our way.

Shopping online for licenses doesn’t prevent me from stopping at gas stations, hardware stores and sporting goods retailers. While for several years now I have purchased my licenses at the Game and Fish website, I still need bait and bobbers, a soda and my pork rinds. It’s just that having a license in my pocket already when I head out the door for that first trip of the year, means I don’t have to spend any time searching for a license vendor if one is not located on the direct route to my fishing destination.

These days, I should also note that some places that sell paper licenses also provide electronic licensing. It just takes an Internet connection and a printer. In fact, any business that has a computer is a potential license vendor.

In addition to convenience, the choice to purchase license online has a practical side. If you wash, lose or misplace the old yellow fishing license, you have to apply for a duplicate, which costs a few dollars, in addition to the few days it takes to get a new license back in your hands.

Now, if I lose my license I just go back online and print another one. Some people I know print several to start with, so they have a license in their tackle box, vehicle and wallet.

Do I miss some of the connections to fishing routines of the past? Sure, but given the choices available now, I’ll trade those for the convenience modern technology allows. And I’d venture to guess that anyone who switches to buying licenses or filling out applications online will never want to go back to the paper way.

Leier is a biologist with the Game and Fish Department. He can be reached by email:dleier@nd.gov

Since the late 1990s a number of North Dakota lakes have lost their fisheries because of declining water levels. Now, after near-record snows last winter and abundant rain this summer and fall, many of them are “topped off” again and have the potential to support fish.

This is part of the natural cycle of the prairies and we don’t know whether next year will keep adding to the potential, or take water off with heat waves that evaporate the potential before it ever really gets started.

Salmon being re-stocked into Lake Sakakawea

Last spring, North Dakota Game and Fish Department biologists jump-started many of these recharged lakes with stocked fish. But not all of them are ready. Several months from now they’ll get another look when the ice goes off, to determine if it’s yet worth the investment of time and money to try to rebuild the fishery.

In the meantime, Game and Fish biologists are concerned about the potential for well-meaning anglers to try to speed up the process by illegally dumping in a few fish on their own.

Living in North Dakota my entire life, I’ve been involved in a conversation or two when the fish are biting–almost jumping into the bucket– when someone suggests ”why not take some fish from here, bring them with and just dump them into that slough and see what happens?”

It would be easy enough for me to simply state that such a practice is illegal – kind of like a parent saying ”because I said so,” when questioned as to why one child can’t put their sister’s dolly in the microwave.

But I’d like explain a little more. Good-willed fish stockers need to understand the hazards of “bucket biology” and the examples can be downright scary. Who would like to be the first person to accidentally put carp into Devils Lake, transport spiny water fleas into the Missouri River System, or introduce a zebra mussel into North Dakota?

While some anglers might say what’s the harm with dropping a few perch or walleye into a new waterway, I ask, where do you draw the line? In my college fisheries courses, I proudly earned a “C” in classes identifying minnow-sized fish. As an angler I would rarther put my trust in the biologists who pushed the “A” category when determining what lakes should hold fish and what needs to be stocked.

Fisheries Division Chief Greg Power explains this phenomenon is nothing new, either. ”In the early 1990s we were trying to increase public awareness about the problems of illegal baitfish. We had invested resources and money in eradicating rough fish in many lakes and at the same time stressed the need to understand the differences in baitfish. and it helped.

“Years later I do think the collective efforts are working. However, the problem has evolved away from illegal bait or rough fish and toward game fish. In some cases, even though the introduction was illegal, we can make the best of it and live with it, but most of the time it has caused us some real problems, compromising a fishery.”

I know of countless requests in the past by anglers to have a favorite fishing hole stocked, and our fisheries biologists respond with integrity. They will look into the potential, but we also need to understand that not every lake or slough is capable of becoming a strong fishery.

Water quaity issues, habitat, forage availability and other issues will be taken into account, and if criteria are met, the Department has a strong history of working with local fishing enthusiasts and groups to determine how fishing and area waters can better meet the expectations and needs of anglers.

Even then, some stocked fisheries take off and thrive for a few years, only to face a future drought that dries up water and the fishery. It’s the cycle of nature and in the coming year we’ll find out if 2009 was just a temporary blip on the upside, or the start of another positive trend.

Leier is a biologist with the Game and Fish Department. He can be reached by email:dleier@nd.gov

Shortly, hardwater will change to open water

Did you feel that? It felt like spring.

Yesterday was that first warm day of the year, reminding us that winter can’t last forever and that there is a lot of work to be done, and a lot of work left undone.

Arsenal inspection

Days like yesterday have me doing two things; checking my tackle situation and surveying the earliest fishing spots to see if any fishable open water is available. Doing both, I realized that I’m not quite ready to hit the water, but then again, the water isn’t quite ready for me either. Bit by bit, from Christmas on, I’ve loaded up on soft plastics for bass, yet neglected the basics of tackle, especially for spring walleye fishing.

The drought of 1/8-ounce jigs and three-inch curlytail grubs in my tacklebox has me concerned. These two components, when connected, have more power than Voltron when it comes to early season fishing. An angler should not be without these prime lures as the river opens.

Another item on the agenda that must be addressed is new line. Two new reels to spool, and two old reels to spool makes for a lot of Fireline.

Cleaning the ratty gray color off of all my combos is important entering spring, when new line busters such as fallen trees, washdowns, and ice are prevalent on the still-frozen shores of the river.

The remainder of the tackle can wait, I won’t be throwing spinnerbaits until June, and larger soft plastics will come in May, right now simple tackle additions and some new line are needed; but it is always a good idea to plan ahead!

Flying feathers

The first four Canada geese have landed at the hospital bridge, well before the ice has opened up. Certainly, these living fly-tying material dispensers are a reminder that I didn’t get all the tying in that I had hoped for this winter. I’ve made a quick list, especially with new fly fishing opportunities around Valley City, for those essential fishing patterns that need to be completed. Some more woolly buggers, a few more wet flies and nymphs, leech patterns and some worm patterns are needed.

Hopefully, that will be enough, I guess it depends on how the bite goes at ice-off. I’m pretty sure I will not get the dry flies in that I had hoped for. Needless to say, any cold nights or rainy evenings will be spent filling up the fly boxes once March nears completion.

Some other beginning’s end

There seems to be about a million things that I wish I could do, and a thousand things I have to do in order to be ready for spring; the first of which is bringing this year’s ice fishing chapter to a close. The ice fishing gear must be prepped and stowed, as all my weekends until the end of the month are booked with weddings, conventions and reunions.

Despite what is looking like an excellent time for late-ice pike; sadly, I must bid farewell to one of the most exciting ice fishing seasons that I have ever had. I learned so much, from spring bobbers to tip-up riggings, and have many pictures to remember this season. Seven species, and never a skunk made for an entertaining and rewarding year on the hardwater, where I broke through the ice twice (four times if you count late-season pheasant hunting) and learned the value of a good pair of boots!

As the water washes down the streets during this first warming trend of spring, I think of the natural gutters in the hills – the rills and gullies funneling water toward the river, or to the back areas of our local lakes, slowly eating away at the ice – and say to myself what I’ve been saying since February 1, “it won’t be long now.”

And if the last few years are any indication, it really won’t be long until my friends and I stand shivering in the twilight after work, casting after the first walleyes of the year…in our outdoors.

“Putting together the fishing pieces of the puzzle”

Use a fishing log to keep track of your fishing memories

Fishing, no matter how good a person gets at it, is still the grandest puzzle of all. There are so many elements that have to be put into place such as weather, season, bait, lures, and so on. When looked at in hindsight, these puzzle pieces provide a picture of past successes and give the angler a chance to take black-and-white facts, as opposed to blurry season-to-season memories and apply them on the water. To help put the pieces together, a fishing log can be an impressive tool.

Written Record – Printable Fishing Log

The primary benefit of having a fishing journal is based on the fact that ink on paper is always clearer than sifting through memories on the shoreline. Sure, you could remember that those late-March walleyes you caught two years ago were slow biters and needed some real work to catch, but having it written down for review in a fishing log for the seasons to come will help jog your memory with greater ease.

For me, that benefit of having things in writing seems to be the biggest downfall of my fishing logs. I tend to get verbose, and looking back at my old incomplete fishing records, I see they don’t make it much further than May. Adding pictures and drawings turned fifteen entries into 20 pages of rambling. Something simpler is definitely needed that won’t take up a whole lot of time.

So to help myself, and hopefully to help you, through researching log making on the internet and elsewhere, I have created a free fishing log page that can be downloaded here (Click for a Printable Fishing Log) and re-printed or copied to make more entries for a fishing log that is concise and organized. My plan is to use a three-ring binder to store not only the fishing log entries, but at the end of the season, pictures of those same outings.

In putting together my first page of the year (a successful March 12 outing where I landed five walleye and a perch on the recently-ice free Sheyenne River) it took me all of five minutes to get the information transferred from brain to paper. A quick three-hole punch and my new journal is now underway.

Fishing Log Basics

Use our free fishing log to help you track patterns which will improve your fishing

In doing some research, I realized that I do not need to tell a story with every outing, but rather just get the basic information written down so that I can use it in seasons to come. The fishing journal form starts with a highlighted area, with date, time and location information. Added to that is a box that helps me keep track of who my fishing buddies were that day. These primers help set up the rest of the fishing log page.

Next in line on the form are the “Weather” fields that help set the stage for the record. Was it hot, cold, windy, in the middle of a cold front, or during a full moon? All of these questions can be answered, and when coupled with the results of the outing, they help establish how fish bite in certain conditions. Information such as water temperature, moon phase, and barometer readings might not always be available to the angler standing streamside, but when they are, these pieces of the puzzle help make for better fishing decisions in the future.

Get Catching

Next on the log page are entries that tell the tale of the tape. What was biting? What was being angled for, how many were caught, how big were they, and how was it done? The “Results” area lists the target species being fished for along with a secondary entry for other fish that are being caught. As it is not uncommon to catch other fish while angling for your primary quarry, these fields further add to the in-depth review of the process. I have also drawn in the fields of “Memorable Fish,” and Hatches/Baitfish” to flesh out what was being caught and seen. If mayflies are hatching, or there are minnows or crayfish present, these are just more pieces of the puzzle to put into place. Fields dealing with terminal tackle, presentation, bait and depth round out this area of the journal page.

The final two fields are for a more personal touch. There’s a small area for notes as to what was observed and to add some information to the bare-bones workings of the fishing log page. To the right of that is an area for drawing maps of where fish were being caught. Test your artistic skills if possible, as every bit of information helps. The drawings can be tailored to a small section of a river or a whole lake or pond, whatever works for you.

Remember that fishing logs are not completed overnight, and one entry does not make for a pattern. A fishing log is an ongoing process, and similar to a fishing diary, is designed to show growth and knowledge of the past with each piece of knowledge helping to complete the grand puzzle.

Try making your own record using these forms this season, or draw one up for hunting next fall or ice fishing in the winter. You’ll find they are very adaptable to whatever activity you pursue, and will help bring things into focus… in our outdoors.

This is continued from last week, The Best Dressed List.

In keeping with last week’s “award show” theme, it’s now time to focus on those fisheries fashion faux-pas. As with Hollywood, even local lakes and streams have their worst-dressed individuals, and much like US magazine or some other tabloid that makes its money off of awards-night no-nos, Our Outdoors highlights the heinous fish that live in our area.

No bull

They’re small, slimy, stinky and scary looking. Most every angler has dealt with them and probably got their start catching them. Bullheads somehow seem to draw the ire of anglers from an early age. Most people quickly get over the excitement of a wriggling, writhing, coating-your-line-with-slime bullhead, and move on to better looking quarries. Who could blame them? With a coloration that runs from bile-yellow to muddy black, the various species of bullheads within our waters just don’t share in the trend of fashionable river wear. Add to their bodily appearance a beard of long gangly whiskers and they take the award from Tom Hanks in his Castaway days as most unkempt, and that’s no bull.

That’s sooo Jurassic Era

One finned celebrity that should get with the times is the sturgeon. Its thin shark-like frame is pretty much out on the fisheries scene, replaced by more fashionable scaled colleagues. The addition of bony plates and scutes along the body shows that this fish is truly living in the past. Those tiny eyes and down turned mouth give it a look of perpetual sadness; and that pale skin, especially in the pallid members of the family, just adds to the isolationist aura of this fish. Apparently, this prehistoric Pisces is a blast to tangle with, despite not being very attractive. The battles are intense, especially when the fish can top ten feet in length and weigh several hundred pounds. At least it has that going for it.

Carpe don’t-em

A fish that has never been known for its looks, or its ability to win a popularity contest, is the carp. From large scales and huge lumbering frame to its suction-type mouth designed for feeding on the bottom, a carp just doesn’t embody that perfect fish every angler looks for. Usually an accidental snag, these denizens of the muck-covered bottom keep anglers in suspense until they see exactly what it is on the other end of the line. Such a hooking most likely ends in disappointment. One thing the carp does have going for it is a wave of popularity in Europe, the origin of great fashions. This love of carp however, is one trend that will take some time to catch on in the states.

Cat’s meow

Catfish must have a great personality, because angling for them has been on the rise throughout most of the region. However, their looks make them number two on the list of scary appearances, especially the flathead members of the family. Those beady eyes, gaping mouths and slime-covered bodies make for a fish only a mother could love, or a die-hard cat angler. Living off the dead and dying, catfish don’t have the most appealing choice in fare, but they have to take what they can get. With some specimens eclipsing 25 pounds, the chance to tangle with a big cat is something anglers will remember, perhaps specifically for the fish’s looks.

And the “winner” is…

This week’s award for worst-dressed fish goes to a species of many names. Lawyer, bourbot, eelpout, call it what you will; the ling is a spooky looking fish, which always appears out of its element. This only freshwater member of cod family is a fish-out-of-water with the many saltwater characteristics it has brought to the lakes and streams of the area. Long, slimy and snakelike in appearance with an over-sized head, the ling hides its tasty fillets under a gangly body. Most often mistaken for a walleye or pike of similar size when first hooked, the ling is a disappointment to many anglers, especially ice fishermen. The city of Walker, Minn. has taken ugly to a new level each year with a week-long celebration of the ling, showcasing the inner-beauty of this fish, which is used as a bowling ball, croquet mallet or golf-club once caught. Talk about appreciation!

Hopefully these fish realize in some way that every angler enjoys them for some aspect; but what they lack in popularity and good looks is exactly what has helped them earn their spots atop the list of the worst-dressed fish…in our outdoors.

With awards show season in full swing, it is not unusual to flip on the tube and see celebrities parading down the red carpet wearing fancy suits, elaborate dresses, and sporting more bling than in every Nelly video combined. For a few nights each winter they dress to the nines, promoting fashion designers and posing for the paparazzi, trying to be the best looking person in Hollywood.

Flipping the channel, there are others who beg for attention – fish of every shape, size and color populate this planet. From saltwater to fresh, the array of patterns is astounding. Bland to beaming, hues and iridescence vary greatly. In this area of the world, we are lucky to have some great-looking fish which prove that there is one fashion designer above all others. What follows are some of the best looking fish that a person can catch and admire in our region of the world – the “red carpet” so to speak, for the finest of fishes.

Beauty is in the ‘eye

Few fish can compare to the walleye in popularity; its table qualities and elusiveness make it a favorite sportfish. Some of the allure must also come from the physical appearance of the fish as well. With a golden saw-toothed pattern intermixed with black vertical stripes, the fish has one of the most notable appearances in the angling world. Especially when caught from clear water over rock or gravel bottoms, the walleye has a place of it’s own in the spotlight with vibrant golds and blacks intermixed throughout.

Top the body off with two gleaming eyes, and the walleye’s ensemble is set to be one worthy of photographs.

Basstastic

Similar to the walleye, very few fish can compare to the appearance of a smallmouth bass caught from a rocky shoal in gin-clear water. The dark olive bars radiating from the eye and running up and down the lateral line are a sight to behold, a true testament to protective coloration. However, even when a smallmouth is not sporting stripes, the shimmering olive hue of this bass is a wonderful sight. With their bright red eyes, smallies always leave a lasting impression on an angler well after they’re returned to the water.

Golden-green

A great panfish picture is one of a slab crappie held high in the sunlight on a summer’s day. The blacks, greens, teals, golds and whites all mix together to form the scaling of one of the most popular panfish. Several times, I’ve stopped and stared in mid-release to look closely at the “specks” of color that give this fish its nickname in the southern part of the country.

Similar to one of those posters made out of smaller pictures, it is tough to break down exactly what colors make the crappie so attractive. Anyway an angler looks at it, the black crappie is an attractive fish.

Something with color

The pumpkinseed sunfish has an incredible array of hues. With the greens, blues, purples oranges and reds, it’s as if the fish walked through Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon album cover. This fish shimmers in just the slightest amount of sunlight, and as it is looked over, colors fade and rise shocking the senses and making the angler look twice. Certainly, when the Creator was handing out colorful outfits to fish in our region, the pumpkinseed was first in line.

And the winner is…

I  can recall the first time I ever laid eyes upon a brook trout. That is because it was the ONLY time I have ever seen one. While fishing a small pond in southern Idaho, my brother finally landed the fish that had been nipping at his Worden’s Roostertail spinner. The back of the fish glistened between dark and light green. His side sported spots of blue that seemed almost unnatural and within those were tiny red dots burning like four dozen eyes down the length of the body. Intermixed with the blue-red dots were nuggets of gold, shining like the mother lode of all time. Finally, the lower part of the body burned red-orange like a western sunset. We didn’t have a camera that day, but I’m quite sure I’ll have the picture of that beauty pinned up on the wall of my mind forever.

In next week’s edition, look for the worst-dressed specimens that can be found in area waters, but until then take some time to admire these fish, and maybe this weekend you’ll have your picture taken with one of the celebrities…in our outdoors.

It's the slow time of winter

What a tease this winter has been. Knowing full well we’re at least two months from open-water fishing, Ma Nature gives us days with highs above freezing, frequent melts and not much in the way of severe weather. She sure makes it feel like spring is just around the corner.

This is still North Dakota however, and despite the apparent global warming, winter can still drag on, especially during the early nights. So whether cabin fever is brought on by flirtations with spring, or simply the frustration that it isn’t the end of March yet, here are some activities to help you keep your sanity.

Surf’s Up

The internet is where real outdoorsmen go to trade photos and stories, compare tactics, and shoot the cyber-breeze with other anglers when they absolutely cannot be outdoors. It is a great way to get the feel for the future of the outdoors, to debate and learn more about various aspects of hunting and fishing. Do a Google search (www.google.com) for your favorite type of fishing, or for an area of hunting you would like to know more about, and visit some of the top sites. Get involved in a new online community or on an outdoors message board this winter. Expand your knowledge about various aspects of the outdoors, or take some time to look into new outdoors activities, such as birding or bow hunting.

Book Smart

Winters in North Dakota are like the first year of law school. In those first two semesters, one is assigned large textbooks to read through and learn the basics of the law. The last four semesters allow a student to apply those things learned in the first year to a courtroom setting, be it through mock trial or other hands-on classes.

This year, read up on some new walleye tactics, bass presentations, or other outdoors-related topics. When winter comes to an end, take those things you learned from the pages of a book and apply them to the waters around your area.

Some personal recommendations include the series of freshwater fishing handbooks published by In-Fisherman magazine. These paperbacks can usually be found for more than half off the cover price on sites like eBay (www.ebay.com) and Half.com (www.half.com). Furthermore, these books cover nearly every major species of freshwater fish, so whatever your distant spring quarry might be; there is ample ammunition available with the turn of a page.

A Touch of Flash

Lure making, is not nearly as hard as it seems. Through some basic fly-tying and some help from the Internet, it is possible to make all kinds of fish attracting lures. Perhaps one of the greatest advantages taken from this new passion is insight into improving standard freshwater lures.

Try tying some red bucktail to the back treble of that Rapala Floating Minnow. The addition of some crystal flash is a great way to turn standard 1/16-ounce jigs into some incredible crappie killers. Your imagination is only limited by the materials in existence so check out distributors such as Cabela’s (www.cabelas.com) and order up some attractive adjustors to help brighten up your springtime offerings.

Fantasy Island

If openwater fishing still seems too far off to you, get in on the excitement of fantasy bass fishing. ESPN and BASS bring the Bassmaster tournament trail to life this spring with their fantasy bass fishing league.

From the season-opening Bassmasters Classic on Florida’s Lake Tohopekaliga (say that three times fast), to the largemouth-filled waters of Arkansas’ Table Rock Lake, track your five anglers through the series of events leading up to this summer’s Bassmasters Classic. All it takes is a trip to the Fantasy BASS homepage (games.espn.go.com/basschallenge/bass/frontpage) and a quick registration and you’re in. Before you know it, you will be the one casting for bucketmouths and bronzebacks.

Scrap It

Finally, if you have lots of great memories and pictures from the hunting season or from summer fishing, put it all together in a scrapbook for the year. Stick a picture or two on each page and add a little story beside them. The books are inexpensive and provide a great way to preserve memories for years to come. Tape your licenses, trout stamps, and other memorabilia to the inside covers to show where you went. Add a few feathers from your pheasant or grouse hunts this fall to spruce the book up some and personalize it even more.

There’s always something to do that is related to the wild, no matter how long winter is…in our outdoors.

Fish during dawn and dusk hours to reduce your time in the sun and improve odds of catching fish.

Too hot to fish?

Nah, it’s never too hot to fish, at least for me.

Many anglers, however, commonly blame hot weather for a reduction in fishing success as summer wears on, and they tend to slow down because of that perception. Is that perception based in reality? Do fish stop eating, or
just slow down as water temperatures reach their peak? Or should the blame
rest more solidly on the shoulders of anglers?

High temperatures, higher humidity, mosquitoes … the list of reasons to not
even fish is long and varied. However, there are ways to beat the heat, so
to speak.

When you do venture out, arm yourself with the self defense for fighting hot
summer sun or various insects. With proper preparation, you can enjoy
successful fishing trips under most weather conditions.

A hat, sunscreen, bug spray and cold water are useless sitting at home. You
can enjoy the bounties of summer longer if you don’t have to risk sun burn
to catch another walleye. It’s one variable of the equation you can control.

While protecting yourself from the elements is important, catching fish also
adds to the experience. First, keep in mind that natural food sources for
fish are abundant during mid-to-late summer. The current year’s crop of bait
fish and young game fish are active and big enough to serve as a meal for
adult fish, so even the best anglers have increased competition. There’s
just more options for big fish.

A bit of advice is to beat the heat and improve your odds of catching fish
by working hard both ends of the day around dawn and dusk. You not only
avoid the hottest part of the day, but fish are more active during these
periods, and this will help increase your chances.

While it’s generally overlooked, another tip is to use fresh, cool bait.
Catching fish with dead minnows or crawlers is more due to luck than skill.

Keeping minnows and other bait fresh is of utmost importance during hot days

With water temperatures rising throughout summer, many successful anglers
will change bait preference rather than changing bait bucket water every 30
minutes to keep minnows alive.

If you’d rather not switch to leeches or crawlers, the best method for
keeping minnows alive is using a livewell in a boat. If that’s not an
option, try a adding a few ice cubes to the minnow bucket and keep the water
moving so it doesn’t become stagnant.

As far as location, give attention to underwater cover such as weed patches
and work the edges. Also keep in mind that as the water heats up, many fish
will be moving toward deeper water.

Fishing the dog days of summer can be enjoyable and successful. And even if
you don’t catch anything, as far as I’m concerned a bad day of fishing still
beats a good day of golf, hands down.