Field and Stream - Bass Fishing RSS

Huge 74lb. Striper Pulled From Long Island Sound

Dave_Maccar — Thu, 24 May 2012 13:43:28 -0400

Captain Blaine Anderson, owner and operator of Anderson Guide Services pulled this monster 74lb. striper from the Long Island Sound on Wednesday, May 23. Check out his amazing photos plus a video of the fight here!

For more information on Anderson's guide services, which include one or two person light tackel charters, visit his website, call 860-667-4523 or visit his Facebook page.

Video: 20,000 Trout in a Bucket

Online Editors — Fri, 18 May 2012 10:15:37 -0400

by Tim Romano

The title of this post is a little misleading. While in theory these little guys are in a bucket, what you're actually seeing here is 20,000 freshly hatched cut bow trout (a hybrid between a cutthroat and a rainbow) in what's called an egg jar.

This is where the little guys get blown around in freshwater at the hatchery before being let loose inside in small raceways when they get a little bigger and have consumed their egg sacs. After that, they are transferred outside and fed until they're ready to be stocked in a river or lake. I found watching them to be pretty mesmerizing. I hope you do too.

The CatchFeed: 50 Top Photos from Catchbook, Field & Stream's New Social Fishing App

Dave_Maccar — Thu, 17 May 2012 12:43:40 -0400

These 50 photos are our editors' picks for the best shots posted so far by users of our new Catchbook app!

About Catchbook Fishing Reports
Catchbook is a free social fishing app we built for the iPhone to help you share photos of your fish while recording the spots where you caught them. Check out more great fish photos from around the country (and start posting your own catches) by downloading the app from iTunes! Visit fieldandstream.com/catchbook for details on how the app works, and why it'll help you catch more fish.

Catchbook Photo Contest
We're giving away a Columbia PFG Blood and Guts™ Ball Cap, for the best photo posted each week (as chosen by our editors) from now until then end of July. At the end of each month we'll pick our favorite overall shot and run it in the magazine! Each monthly winner will also receive a Columbia Airgill Chill™ Long Sleeve (men) or Ultimate Chill™ Long Sleeve (women). Click here to learn how you can enter this contest. Click here for the official rules.

Smallmouth Jerkbait Tips from Bass Pro Bill Lowen

Joe_Cermele — Tue, 15 May 2012 12:00:37 -0400

by Joe Cermele

Last week I spent some time chasing smallmouths up in Buffalo, New York. If you're a smallmouth freak like I am, at some point you have to fish Lake Erie. Even the small fish are footballs and the shear number of bass is insane. One day I shared a boat with Elite Bass Pro Bill Lowen, who proceeded to crush me in the numbers of bass category. It seems every time I fish with a bass pro, I'm like Baby Huey. Case in point, at the end of this video featuring some great jerkbait tips from Lowen, you get to watch Billy yank a treble hook that's buried to the bend out of my hand. It was bound to happen sooner or later while I was rolling a camera. Enjoy.

Step-by-Step Photo Instructions on How to Tie "Banksia Bug" Fly

Online Editors — Tue, 15 May 2012 11:47:55 -0400

Tie Talk: Tying the Banksia Bug (Step-by-Step Photos)

Online Editors — Tue, 15 May 2012 11:19:23 -0400

by Tim Romano

Here's another sweet little bug from our friends at flyrecipes.com. It's called the Banksia Bug (formerly known as the Patchouli Pupa) and was created by my friend and warm water fly fishing guru Jay Zimmerman.

"I began tying this fly to imitate the masses of free-living caddis larva in all my home waters here in Colorado and elsewhere in trout streams all over the West.

I have rarely found good commercially available flies that can fill this niche. Its a very productive fly because this particular caddis larva is a notoriously poor swimmer, often getting swept away in the current, making it an easily recognizable food organism and makes up a large portion of a trouts diet," says Jay.

"I have found this pattern to work well in rivers with an abundance of small to medium-size stonefly nymphs leading me to believe my fly is suggestive enough for trout to mistake it for any number of long-bodied aquatic insects as well. With this in mind, I am now using this fly in lakes with equal success! I was hoping it could double as a case maker caddis larva, but have found it works exceptionally well in lakes with a lot of active damselflies."

You can purchase the fly at your favorite fly shop that carries the ump qua brand or follow these instructions and tie it yourself.

Our 20 Coolest and Strangest Fish Stories

Online Editors — Thu, 10 May 2012 14:05:51 -0400

The Best F&S Online Record Fish Stories and Photos

Online Editors — Tue, 08 May 2012 11:57:23 -0400

Catchbook Contest: Photo of the Week!

Dave_Maccar — Thu, 03 May 2012 14:41:44 -0400

Congratulations to Austin Bockwinkel, whose spring Iowa largemouth bass takes top prize in our weekly Catchbook Photo Contest! Austin gets a PFG Blood and Guts™ Ball Cap from Columbia, and also qualifies to win our monthly prize, a Columbia Airgill Chill™ Long Sleeve fishing shirt and his mug in the pages of our magazine. Click here to learn how you can enter this contest by. Click here for the official rules.

Catchbook is a new fishing app for the iPhone that automatically turns photos of fish you've caught into detailed fishing journal entries that show up on your map, then shares those entries exclusively with trusted friends. Our goal is to help you and your buddies learn more about the spots you fish. You can download the app from iTunes here.

Tie Talk: Tying The Dirty Rat (Step-by-Step Photos)

Online Editors — Thu, 03 May 2012 10:13:59 -0400

by Tim Romano

Despite what it says on its Flyrecipes.com page, I'm pretty sure that this week's Tie Talk bug, The Dirty Rat, is not by Jackie Treehorn. Don't get me wrong, I love the character reference to one of my favorite movies of all time, as well the pattern itself. It IS damn dirty…
As "Jackie Treehorn" says, "One evening while enjoying some Glenfiddich 21 year old Gran Reserva... I noticed a small mouse swimming in my pool. He struggled and fought for dear life, nose barely breaking the surface, legs kicking like bunny. I was inspired by his heroic efforts and chose to create a fly that mimiced his final death dance. Most mouse patterns have the mouse floating on top of the water, while this is great at imitating a mouse which is dead and bloated, I wanted something that would fire up the bass and cause the most vicious of strikes, so my good friends, I present to you... THE DIRTY RAT..."

Click here for step-by-step instructions with photos.

Holy Mackerel: 2nd-Grader Hooks 68 lb. King Fish

Dave_Maccar — Wed, 02 May 2012 10:10:38 -0400

Andrew Quinn, a spirited Michigan second-grader who wrestles in the 77-pound weight class at his school, is no stranger to grappling with heavyweight foes.

But even Andrew almost met his match when he hooked this 5-foot king mackerel during a deep sea fishing trip in the Gulf of Mexico in late March. At the end of a 30-minute fight, Andrew had just enough strength left to boat the giant king, which weighed 68 pounds, 3 ounces—a touch lighter than Andrew but 4 ounces heavier than the current Alabama state record.

The 50 Best Field & Stream Reader Photos from April 2012

Dave_Maccar — Wed, 02 May 2012 09:25:49 -0400

Each month, Field & Stream editors review the hundreds of photos submitted by readers to our Trophy Room. If your photo is chosen to be printed in the Game Faces section of the magazine, you’ll win a Rapala Fish ‘N Fillet knife!

Submit your photos here!

Here are the other best reader photo collections from this year:

January 2012

February 2012

March 2012

Step-by-Step Photo Instructions on How to Tie "The Dirty Rat" Fly

Online Editors — Tue, 01 May 2012 12:12:16 -0400

Freak Out a Skipjack for a Striped Bass Wall-Hanger

Sarah Smith — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 11:22:18 -0400

by Joe Cermele

Wall Size: Whether you’re after a landlocked freshwater striper or one cruising along a salty shoreline, the fish anglers covet is that first 40-pounder. Stripers are a slow-growing species, so a fish that size can be 20 years old or older. In that time it almost certainly has encountered plenty of hooks. If you fool a 40, you’ve duped one wise fish.

Special Case: You should score a replica if you can score a 25-plus-pounder on the fly in fresh- or saltwater. If you’re into surf casting, your first beach bass weighing 30 pounds or more should also be considered for the wall.

Trophy Towns:

✖ Cumming, Ga. With nearly 40,000 acres of water and ample bait, Lake Lanier is a prime hunting ground for heavy stripers.
✖ Rogers, Ark. In 1999, angler Holt Holyfield stuck a 57-pound state-record striper in Beaver Lake. With a strong shad population and plenty of deep, cool summering spots, Beaver still gives up 40-pounders every season.
✖ Seaside Park, N.J. The Jersey coast has experienced epic spring runs of giant stripers in the past few years, thanks to tighter restrictions on menhaden fishing, which is prime forage for trophies.

The Guide: Lance Sasser

Home Waters: Sasser has been a guide on Kentucky’s Lake Cumberland and Cumberland River for 21 years, and his rods have come to know the strain of many 40-plus-pound stripers. Given Lake Cumberland’s deep, cold water that keeps big bass thriving during the hottest summers, abundant shad and herring, and easy access to the Cumberland River for spawning, this is one of the best inland watersheds for trophy stripers in the U.S.

Trophy Hunting: “You can catch one in Lake Cumberland, but a 40-pound fish will be easier to find from mid May to mid June in the river,” Sasser says. “That time of year, the fish in the lake are moving upstream to spawn.” These egg-laden females seek out shallow areas less than 10 feet deep, and gravitate to the many logs and snarls along the Cumberland’s banks. Find a spot like this at the mouth of a feeder creek and make sure you’re there at first or last light.

Top Bait: “Nothing gets a predator to react like a struggling baitfish. Gizzard shad are docile on a hook. That’s why I prefer 14- to 18-inch skipjack herring. They go crazy.” Sasser uses a sabiki rig to collect bait, then runs a 7/0 Octopus hook through the herring’s top jaw and hangs it 10 feet behind a planer board on a 30-pound fluorocarbon leader with no weight. He’ll slow-troll through the shallows, running the bait close to structure.

Top Lure: “My favorite, bar none, is a 7-inch Cotton Cordell Red Fin,” Sasser says. “That bait mimics a gizzard shad or skipjack better than any others I’ve ever used.” He likes a Red Fin in chrome and black, and will pitch one in the shallows and around current-breaking structure. “When you retrieve slowly, the lure makes a perfect V wake across the surface that big fish seem to like.”

From the April 2012 issue of Field & Stream magazine.

Freak Out a Skipjack for a Striped Bass Wall-Hanger

Sarah Smith — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 11:22:18 -0400

by Joe Cermele

The Guide: Lance Sasser

From the April 2012 issue of Field & Stream magazine.

Whip Walleye, Trout and Bass With These 4 Tailor-Made Rods

Online Editors — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 11:42:12 -0400

Target: Walleyes
Lure: Jig
Rod: St. Croix Eyecon Snap Jig

The 18 offerings in St. Croix’s Eyecon series include everything from trolling rods to live-bait rods, and the Snap Jig model is dialed in for anglers chasing walleyes in rivers. A bit longer than other jigging rods, the Snap Jig provides more leverage when you need to work a heavier jig along the bottom in an area of swift current. $120

Target: Trout
Lure: Marabou jig
Rod: G. Loomis GL2 Trout Jig

Marabou jigs may not be staples for trout fishermen in all of the country, but G. Loomis thinks they should be, because they catch hog browns and ’bows. That’s why the company developed the GL2 Trout Jig with a soft midsection, an extra-fast tip, and a powerful butt. This rod will get a marabou jig dancing like no other in any kind of flow. $175

Target: Smallmouths
Lure: Tube, jig
Rod: Fenwick Elite Tech Smallmouth

With a high-modulus graphite blank that detects the subtlest pickup, and titanium guides that reduce weight, Fenwick’s new custom smallmouth rod can effectively fish everything from a light tube to a heavy football jig. Though the rod is sensitive, its low-end power will beat the biggest bass you can find. The hidden-handle reel seat makes the rod more comfortable to grip. $130

Target: Largemouths
Lure: Crankbait
Rod: Quantum Tour KVD

This crankbait rod designed by Kevin VanDam might not win you millions, but it can help you score more largemouths on hard plastics. Made with E-Glass, the rod has a softer action that will help plant hooks without tearing them free. Quantum’s E-Glass is mixed with graphite to keep the weight (and arm fatigue) low. $150

Whip Walleye, Trout and Bass With These 4 Tailor-Made Rods

Online Editors — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 11:42:12 -0400

Target: Walleyes
Lure: Jig
Rod: St. Croix Eyecon Snap Jig

Target: Trout
Lure: Marabou jig
Rod: G. Loomis GL2 Trout Jig

Target: Smallmouths
Lure: Tube, jig
Rod: Fenwick Elite Tech Smallmouth

Target: Largemouths
Lure: Crankbait
Rod: Quantum Tour KVD

If Someone Grew and Caught a 27lb. Largemouth, Should It Become a World Record?

Joe_Cermele — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 11:17:16 -0400

by Joe Cermele

To the best of my knowledge, Jason Covington's new book, "American BeheMouth," is a work of fiction. However, the science laced throughout the story is supposedly legit. This a chronicle of a couple that spent many years growing a largemouth bass to the 27-pound mark in a 70-acre, man-made, temperature controlled lake in Kentucky. "American BeheMouth" is so new, I haven't gotten the chance to read it yet, but according to Covington's website:

The book is much more than a fishing story; it is a metaphor for many other things: life, family, sacrifice, commitment, and dreams. In addition, it raises ethical questions about modern American sports, American businesses and consumerism, and our quest for the elusive.

Though I look forward to checking out this book, none of us have to read it to discuss the premise (which, by the way, was actually attempted and written about in Monte Burke's "Sow Belly"). Let's say someone actually did grow a 27-pounder in a man-made lake, and then caught the hawg and claimed it as the new all-tackle world-record. Do you believe it should count? Before you answer, here's some food for thought.

If you look at state trout records, mostly in the Northeast, Southeast, and Mid-West, you can almost count on those fish as having been hatchery raised. To give an example, the current New Jersey state-record brook trout weighs 7 pounds, 3 ounces, and was caught in the Rockaway River. I promise you it didn't get that fat sipping emergers and crawfish. That fish was grown in a metal tank, pellet fed, and dumped in the river. Yet no one balks at the record. The current world-record rainbow trout, all 48 pounds of it, is a mutant strain of hatchery fish. Many anglers may not have like it, but there was no public outcry or protest over it becoming a world-record.

Lean on Red for Wall-Worthy Largemouth Bass

Online Editors — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 17:05:34 -0400

Wall Size: Most anglers stricken with bass fever agree they can die happy having caught at least one fish weighing 10 pounds or more. For the most part, genetics and a good forage base play the most vital roles in growing bass this size. There are certainly many big lakes in North America that produce 10-plus-pounders frequently. Yet, what also makes this trophy so appealing is that, unlike any other of these six species, there is the possibility your 10-pounder is lurking in a small farm pond right up the street, having spent years outmuscling smaller fish to become top dog.

Special Case: A big late-night largemouth is a memorable trophy. One reliable tactic: Take a buzzbait to the lake in the middle of the night. Cast. Retrieve. Listen for the lure’s gurgle to be interrupted by a bass crushing it on the surface in the pitch dark. If that bass weighs 5 pounds or more, you’ve got one heck of a nighttime catch.

Trophy Towns:

✖ Guntersville, Ala. The largest man-made impoundment in Alabama, Lake Guntersville is rife with aquatic vegetation, shallow flats, and creeks that provide excellent spawning habitat for trophy bucketmouths.
✖ Oak View, Calif. Every year, California stocks Lake Casitas with thousands of pounds of trout. It is this high-protein, high-fat forage that lets Casitas bass reach epic weights.
✖ Mazatlan, Mexico Mazatlan is where you’d land before driving north to El Salto—a lake in the Mexican sierra loaded with double-digit largemouths that dine on jumbo tilapia.

The Guide: James Caldemeyer

Home Waters: When Caldemeyer isn’t on the road fishing the FLW tour, he’s on Lake Fork in Texas. A guide since 2004, Caldemeyer has led clients to more than 50 bass that hit or broke the 10-pound mark. It’s not surprising, considering Lake Fork has been well groomed to produce lunker largemouths. The Florida-strain bass introduced in the 1980s have a genetic makeup that allows them to get beefy, and the strict enforcement of a no-kill rule placed on bass 16 to 24 inches has helped them flourish. Lake Fork also supports multiple shad species and has a wide and expansive array of hawg-hiding hydrilla beds and standing timber.

Trophy Hunting: “I’ve always been a big fan of early spring for really big bass,” says Caldemeyer. “It also helps that the females will be at their peak weight during the prespawn.” In late February and into March, Caldemeyer goes on the hunt when the water temperature reaches the mid 50s. He’ll often find the big girls in water between 2 and 8 feet deep, nestled down in the hydrilla. The grass flats are a prespawn staging area, and a shallow, weedy spot close to a dropoff or deeper channel edge is ideal.

Top Lure: Before bass make beds, Caldemeyer is stuck on one lure color: red. “Females crave crawfish during the prespawn,” he says. “They need the iodine in their diet because it helps with egg development.” Caldemeyer relies on a 3⁄4-ounce red Bill Lewis Rat-L-Trap to mimic the mineral-rich crustacean. “I’ll just work this bait over the top of the grass, and the bass will rise up to eat it. Ripping the Trap off the grass works well, too. When it gets hung, jerk hard. The bass will strike as it pulls free.”

Top Bait: Caldemeyer is strictly a user of artificials, but if you want to tempt a Lake Fork trophy on live bait, he says a water dog is the way to go. These 4- to 8-inch salamanders are available in bait shops around Lake Fork and should be hooked through the top jaw and out of one nostril. (Check your local regulations before using water dogs as bait.) Naturally, the bigger the dog, the more enticing it will be to big largemouths. The salamanders are most frequently fished weightless under a float, Caldemeyer notes. Toss one over the hydrilla during the prespawn—big females hate water dogs because they raid beds—and hang on.

From the April issue of Field and Stream magazine.

Lean on Red for Wall-Worthy Largemouth Bass

Online Editors — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 17:05:34 -0400

The Guide: James Caldemeyer

From the April issue of Field and Stream magazine.

Catchbook Contest: Photo of the Week!

Dave_Maccar — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 15:21:10 -0400

Congratulations to Connor Brazell, who's early-season pike photo takes top prize in our weekly Catchbook Photo Contest! Connor gets a PFG Blood and Guts™ Ball Cap from Columbia, and also qualifies to win our monthly prize, a Columbia Airgill Chill™ Long Sleeve fishing shirt and his mug in the pages of our magazine. Click here to learn how you can enter this contest by. Click here for the official rules.

Tips from a Bass Pro: Work a Rattle Bait Fast for Coldwater Bass

Sarah Smith — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 15:08:20 -0400

The rule of thumb for prespawn, coldwater bass is to fish slow. But like every other rule, this one is made to be broken, and bass pro Kevin VanDam does so with a lipless rattling crankbait.

VanDam concentrates on points and submerged grassbeds, as well as 45-degree banks and flats adjacent to creek-channel bends. Early in the season, he’s a big fan of crayfish patterns, particularly those that are bright orange-and-red in stained water and green-and-brown in clear water. VanDam prefers to fish a lipless rattling crankbait in one of those color combinations at a fast clip.

According to VanDam, Strike King’s 1⁄2-ounce Diamond Shad runs deeper than other lipless rattlers, which is an advantage in cold water during the prespawn. With 8-pound monofilament, he’s able to run his unmodified lure down about 7 feet. Rather than using a deliberate stop-and-go retrieve, which many anglers employ now, VanDam keeps the nose of his bait quickly tap-dancing over the bottom.

The faster retrieve covers more water, he points out, increasing the odds of running the rattler through the strike zone of a bass. In the cold water, VanDam notes that the fish’s strike zone is going to be significantly smaller. “If you get the lure in its face, the bass just has to bite,” says VanDam. “It can’t help itself.”

From the April 2012 issue of Field & Stream

Tips from a Bass Pro: Work a Rattle Bait Fast for Coldwater Bass

Sarah Smith — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 15:08:20 -0400

The rule of thumb for prespawn, coldwater bass is to fish slow. But like every other rule, this one is made to be broken, and bass pro Kevin VanDam does so with a lipless rattling crankbait.

From the April 2012 issue of Field & Stream

Wallhangers: Tips for Locating, Fighting, and Landing Big Smallmouth Bass

Sarah Smith — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 11:52:55 -0400

by Joe Cermele

Wall Size: Guides and bass pros agree that 5- and 6-pound smallmouths are respectable fish, and there are thousands of waters in North America that hold fish this size. But it takes the right mix of habitat, conditions, forage, and bass genetics to produce a jaw-dropping and mount-worthy 7-pounder. Don’t expect to bump into a fish that big in the local creek where you rail on 12-inch bass. Catching a 7-pounder requires dedication and often the willingness to trek to the right body of water.

Special Case: Seven pounds might be the goal of a conventional angler, but if you get the right conditions with the right feeding scenario and stick a 5-pounder on the fly, pat yourself on the back and get a replica made. It doesn’t happen often.

Trophy Towns:

✖ Barrie, Ontario This city sits on the shore of Lake Simcoe, which is world-renowned for growing bass to the 8-pound mark, thanks to a wide variety of structure big fish crave and a healthy forage base.
✖ Celina, Tenn. Dale Hollow Reservoir gave up the 11-pound world-record smallmouth back in 1955. It was no fluke. Today, the 28,000-acre reservoir (which also stretches into Kentucky) remains famous for trophy bass.
✖ St. Clair Shores, Mich. Lake St. Clair has the perfect mix of prime spawning habitat and cool summer water temperatures that sustains a good number of 7-pounders.

The Guide: Frank Campbell

Home Waters: Operating on the eastern end of Lake Erie out of New York’s Buffalo Harbor, Campbell has been guiding clients to trophy smallmouths for 20 years. He also fishes in local and national tournaments. Though there always has been a good smallmouth fishery in Erie, in the last decade the number of true giants has been on the uptick, thanks largely to a reduction of pollution. Erie now ranks high among the best smallmouth waters in North America and even has an early trophy smallmouth season, with a bag limit of one fish measuring 20 inches or better.

Trophy Hunting: “If you want a 7-pound smallmouth, late April into early May is the time to catch it,” says Campbell. “The magic water temperature is 40 degrees.” That’s when he focuses on areas 30 to 50 feet deep with a soft bottom where there is slow current or none at all. Such places are classic smallmouth wintering haunts; while smaller bass begin to move shallow, the big fish stay hunkered in the depths longer. The trick is making the right presentation at the right speed.

Top Lure: “When the fish are still fairly lethargic in early spring, I have the best success dragging a tube,” Campbell says. “I’ll let out extra line and slowly drift or power over the areas where I know fish are holding.” His go-to plastic is Yum’s 4-inch F2 2ube in a dark green or brown tone.

Top Bait: If the fat females aren’t responding to a tube, Campbell will switch to an emerald shiner dip-netted on the morning of a trip. “I’ll run a 5- or 6-foot length of 6- or 8-pound mono to an Octopus hook and connect that to a three-way swivel. Then I’ll use a short length of 6-pound mono to connect the weight to the three-way.” Campbell drifts slowly along, letting the shiner rig tap the bottom.

From the April 2012 issue of Field & Stream magazine.

Wallhangers: Tips for Locating, Fighting, and Landing Big Smallmouth Bass

Sarah Smith — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 11:52:55 -0400

by Joe Cermele

The Guide: Frank Campbell

From the April 2012 issue of Field & Stream magazine.