Field and Stream - Fishing for Bass During the Spawn RSS

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.

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.

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

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

How to Catch Large and Smallmouth Bass During the Spawn

Online Editors — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 10:05:21 -0400

by Will Ryan

The Scenario
Smallmouths spawn when the water temperature reaches the low 60s; largemouths, a bit later, when the water temperature climbs into the mid 60s. Largemouths select spawning coves with sand, gravel, or mud bottoms, depths of 2 to 4 feet, and borders of bulrushes or weeds. Smallmouths, for their part, choose gravel flats in 5 to 10 feet of water, though in clear water, depths can reach 20 feet or more. In both cases, the males, having formed the nests, nip, bump, and push the females to them and, once there, do the same to stimulate the females to release eggs, which the males fertilize by releasing milt. The females then drift off, leaving the males to guard the nest.

The Strategy
The single-mindedness of the actual spawning act leaves little time for or interest in feeding. But in any given spawning population there will be some preparing to spawn and others having already completed the act. To target those that have yet to spawn, comb the transition water near spawning bays with soft plastics and spinnerbaits. To tempt those that have spawned, cast to the nests, where the males will be guarding against panfish. Those bass will hit topwater baits or soft plastics—lizards in particular. Special regulations typically cover this period. And the conservation ethic encourages catch-and-immediate-release; otherwise the nest may be destroyed.

From the April 2012 issue of Field & Stream magazine.

How to Catch Large and Smallmouth Bass During the Spawn

Online Editors — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 10:05:21 -0400

by Will Ryan

From the April 2012 issue of Field & Stream magazine.

Teen's First Striper: A 66 lb NC State-Record Monster Bass

Dave_Maccar — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 15:01:25 -0400

Seventeen-year-old Tyler Shields of Murphy, North Carolina, thought he was fishing for largemouth bass when he visited Hiwassee Lake on March 31. What he boated instead was a 66-pound striped bass that shattered the state’s freshwater record—and topped by 2 pounds the North Carolina saltwater striper record as well.

15 Reasons an Early Spring Makes Fishing More Difficult (And How To Catch Fish Anyway)

Dave_Maccar — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 09:16:26 -0400

Spring has sprung. Actually, it sprang a month ago in much of the country. With the unusual weather pattern setting record-high temperatures on a near-weekly basis, many of you are no doubt scratching your heads and asking, what’s this going to do to the fishing?

The 50 Best Field & Stream Reader Photos from March 2012

Dave_Maccar — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 15:00:43 -0400

Submit your photos here!

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

January 2012

February 2012

Catchbook Fishing Reports: A Social Fishing App from the Editors of Field & Stream

Online Editors — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 14:37:45 -0400

If you're an angler, you know that keeping a detailed journal of your time on the water is one of the best ways to up your catch rate. That's because, over time, your journal will show you patterns in when and where fish bite, and what lures and baits work best under different conditions. The more detailed your journal is, the more of these patterns you'll see. But keeping a detailed journal requires time and dedication that most anglers can't afford.

Not anymore. Field & Stream's FREE new Catchbook app, just released on the iPhone, is designed to take all the work out of keeping a fishing journal. The app does this by taking photos of fish you've already shot with your phone and automatically converting them into detailed fishing reports that include the weather and water conditions present when those photos were taken. The app pins each report to a map, then lets you share them exclusively with trusted friends and fishing buddies. The more friends you have, the more reports you see on your map, and the easier it becomes to pattern your spots!

Our editorial team has been working for nearly half a year on the project, and it finally launched last week. Now we're looking for feedback from the people we designed it for. You! If there are bugs, we want to know about them. If there's something you think we can improve, we want to know what that is. And if you love something we've done? We want to know that, too.

We'll incorporate your comments into updates to the app, which we're planning to roll out regularly. You can give us your feedback by commenting on this post, or within a new "Catchbook" category in our online Answers section. And, right now, exclusively for readers of this site (and for a limited time only) if you sign up and request user "Field & Stream" as a friend within the app, we'll add 5,000 points to your F&S Online username.

Click here to view the app in the iTunes store, or follow the jump for more details on how Catchbook works. Thanks for checking it out! -- The Editors

POST YOUR PHOTOS
Catchbook lets you turn any fish photo you’ve ever taken with your iPhone into a detailed journal entry that includes the time, date, location, and weather present when you caught each fish. Upload your old fish photos to get started, then make sure to snap away with your camera the next time you’re out on the water. Add records to your journal by choosing the photos you want to upload and telling us the species of fish in each photo. The app does the rest! Add optional information (such as the size and color lure you were using) to create even more detailed records to share with your friends.

POOL YOUR RECORDS
The more friends you invite into Catchbook, the more catches you’ll see on your map. And the more catches you see, the easier it will be for you to pattern your spots. Inviting friends is easy. Invite people you’re already friends with on Facebook, or send your fishing buddies invites by email. You can also find new people to fish with by searching for other Catchbook users who fish in the same places you do.

PATTERN YOUR SPOTS
Every time you (or one of your friends) posts a photo to Catchbook, that photo gets pinned to a spot on your map. Filter your map to show only fish caught at specific times of the year, at different times of the day, under specific weather conditions and water temps, and much, much more! You’ll quickly see patterns in which spots work best under different conditions. Then use the app’s “Best Baits” features to learn which flies, lures, and baits caught the most fish under the conditions and areas you’ve selected.

Map filtering options include:
-- Fish species and fish size
-- Time of year and time of day
-- Moon phase
-- Wind speed and direction
-- Water temperature, water clarity, lake/river level, and tidal stage
-- Barometric pressure and barometric trend
-- Air temperature, cloud cover, and precipitation type

WATCH CATCHES IN REAL TIME
Keep an eye on what people are catching around the country by clicking on the “Catches” tab. You’ll see all the latest fish entered into Catchbook (photos only — no spot burning here).

SEE WHERE YOU RANK!
Find your name in a list of top users by species.

X-Ray Fish Photos: 41 Incredible Shots From the Smithsonian Institute

Sarah Smith — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 17:44:31 -0400

X-ray Vision: Fish Inside Out, organized by the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History and the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service (SITES), is an exhibit traveling to museums across the country through 2015. Visit www.sites.si.edu/exhibitions/exhibits/ichthyo/index.htm for the tour itinerary.

SHARK!: A Preview of an Artistic Tribute To The Ancient Apex Predators of the Deep

Sarah Smith — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 16:07:05 -0400

Millennia before humans first appeared on this planet, sharks were cutting their way through Earth's seas. They come in all shapes and sizes and are found in every ocean in the world as well as in many rivers and lakes.

A major multimedia art exhibition, SHARK!, organized by the Ft. Lauderdale Museum of Art and curated by acclaimed wildlife artist, author and environmentalist Richard Ellis, brings together art and science in documenting the fascination people have with these apex predators of the sea. In addition to drawings and paintings, the exhibition contains photos, sculptures, and video as well as a section devoted to the sensational impact of the 1975 film Jaws.

Ellis was good enough to give us these photos of pieces from the exhibition as a sneak peak. SHARK! opens on May 13.

For more information on the exhibit, click here.

The 45 Best Field & Stream Reader Photos of February 2012

Dave_Maccar — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 10:46:15 -0500

Submit your photos here!

Here is the gallery of the best reader photos from January 2012.

How to Catch a Wall-Hanger: 7 Tips for Locating, Fighting, and Landing Giant Bass, Walleye and More Big Fish This Season!

Online Editors — Tue, 06 Mar 2012 14:13:27 -0500

Make this the year to catch a fish so huge you’ll want to admire it for the rest of your life. We found the best lures and baits, the hot lakes and rivers, and the trophy hunter’s top strategies. After this, all you’ll need is a hammer and nail.

Find A Spill or a Fish Kill? Get This Card And Know Who To Call

Sarah Smith — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 09:55:51 -0500

by Tim Romano

A number of months ago Hal Herring reported on the "Toxic Petroleum Sludge" that was infiltrating the waters of our beloved carp fishery here on the South Platte River in Denver. Local angler and fly fisherman Trevor Taner was fishing for carp in the river on November 27 when he noticed, "weird milky chocolaty sludge", and after fishing for a while noticed his "fly and fingers smelled like gasoline". He also mentioned that he could "see micro-currents and upwells in the water column that you usually can't see."

After talking to Tanner he told me that he spent a very long time trying to figure out who to call about the situation. After multiple phone calls to friends and anglers he finally reached what he thought were the proper authorities. This unfortunately took many hours and didn't really provide the response he had hoped for. They basically told him he was crazy and there wasn't a spill.

Long story short, Trevor was right. There was a pretty serious petroleum "spill" and it was most certainly in the river. Leeching into a tributary of the Platte through layers of soil and sand. It was most likely coming from a local refinery on the east banks of the river. The EPA finally got involved and to my knowledge the cleanup continues.

All of this would have been made much, much easier for Trevor if he knew who to call. Now -- thanks to him I do, and I wanted to share it with all of you. Since the event Trevor was given an award by his local Trout Unlimited chapter and they also did a pressing of some "Spill or Kill Cards" in his honor. Spill for well, a spill of any kind. Kill, for a -- fish kill. You know, lots-o-dead bloated little fishies floating belly up in the water. Duh.

The business sized card fits in a wallet and has the National Spill Response Center's phone number (800-424-8802) as well as the twitter hashtag of other local TU members that can keep them up to speed on what's going on. The National Spill Response Center's duty is the "sole federal point of contact for reporting oil and chemical spills". Supposedly it is the fastest way to get something done if you have an experience like what Trevor went through and have the gumption to do something about it.

So do you and your watershed, lake or coastline a favor and pop that number above into your phone's contact list. Label it something that you'll remember and hopefully never have to use. Someday you might be very happy you did.

Field & Stream Picks the Best New Fishing Gear of 2012

Online Editors — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 15:48:27 -0500

What's new in tackle this year? Plenty--and we fished with it all. Field & Stream testers hit the water with more than 100 pieces of the latest gear, from humble hooks to the top-of-the-line high-definition sonar units. We winnowed the list down to 16 standout products that clearly are the Best of the Best.

The 50 Best Shots From The 2011 Field & Stream Fall Trail Cam Contest

Online Editors — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 08:03:25 -0500

Here are the editors' picks for the 50 best entries in our 2011 Fall Trail Cam Photo Contest. Congrats to KSwhitetails who took first place with his "Bobcat catches a turkey in flight" shot and will receive the grand prize: a pair of Steiner 10x42 Predator Xtreme binoculars.

Congratulations to all this year's winners and thanks to everyone for the hundreds of great submissions.

You can check out the top photos from each round of the contest here:
ROUND I
ROUND II
ROUND III
ROUND IV

The Best Field & Stream Reader Photos From January 2012

Dave_Maccar — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 12:06:52 -0500

Submit your photos here!

Here are the monthly Best Reader Photo Galleries from last year:
January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November

On the Spot: Guide, Author Pat Dorsey

Sarah Smith — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 11:20:44 -0500

by Kirk Deeter

John Merwin's blog post the other day referenced a book by Pat Dorsey (Tying and Fishing Tailwater Flies). So I thought I'd follow up with an "On The Spot" interview I did with Pat at the recent International Sportsmen's Expo in Denver.

Pat and I are old friends. In fact, back when we were in our early thirties, I was co-authoring a book on fishing guides, and Pat was one of our first "volunteer" subjects. He showed me Cheesman Canyon, the Williams Fork, and Dream Stream section of the South Platte in South Park. And he did it for gas money, despite the fact that we didn't have a publisher committed or anything (it was an excuse to go fishing). The book turned out to be Castwork, which boosted my outdoor writing career. It's out of print now, but you can read excepts at MidCurrent.

Pat is one of the best guides in the world. He makes his living whacking out trips on the highly technical rivers in and around Colorado's Front Range. I don't know anybody who has tailwater fishing more dialed than Pat does. You can fish any of Pat's rivers, and recognize legions of "Dorsey Disciples," just by watching how they fish (the brown Holly Twist yarn strike indicator is a dead giveaway). He's an author of high esteem (if Merwin reads you, you're doing something right). He's one of the best fly pattern developers in the country (if you don't carry things like Pat's Rubber Legs and the Mercury RS2 in your box, you should). Most of all, he's a heck of a good friend and a great guy.

Some of his "on the spot" answers might surprise you:

FlyTalk: What's the one species of fish that you have never caught, that tops your bucket list?

Dorsey: Tarpon. I'm long overdue to catch a tarpon. And I can only imagine what that feels like.

FlyTalk: What's the most common mistake you see anglers make?

Dorsey: Lack of observation and looking around you would be one of them. But I'd say that the number one mistake is lack of preparation. There are a lot of things you can do to make your fishing go well, before you ever get to the river.

FlyTalk: What's the one piece of gear you carry that some of us would be surprised to discover.

Dorsey: A hook hone. I try to keep my flies as sharp as a (SOB). I don't think a lot of anglers pay attention to that detail, but it matters when it comes to hooking and landing fish.

FlyTalk: What's your goal for 2012?

Dorsey: To become a better angler, and a better steward for the environment. Ultimately, to be a better guide.

FlyTalk: Of all the flies you've created, what's your favorite, and what fly do you wish you created?

Dorsey: The favorite fly I've made would have to be the Paper Tiger. And the fly I didn't invent but wish I had is the Copper John. Who doesn't wish they made the Copper John?