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. [ Read Full Post ]

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.
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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,... [ Read Full Post ]

By Bob Stearns

If the bite is hot, the last thing you want to do is quit because of a gear malfunction. One common problem is a dislodged ceramic ring in the rod guide. You can’t continue fishing until it’s fixed, as the ring keeps the guide from fraying the fishing line. But if you carry a small dispenser of waxed dental floss—which holds knots better than unwaxed floss—in your tackle box, you can fix the damage in minutes.

Cut the fishing line above the lure and carefully pull it out of the damaged guide. Now, make 10 to 15 wraps around the ring and guide with the floss. Secure with a knot. The repair will last for at least a week, and it’s saved many a trip for me over the years.

From the April 2012 issue of Field & Stream magazine. [ Read Full Post ]

By Chad Love

A "team" from Kansas State University has won the National Guard FLW College Bass Fishing National Championship. The KSU "team" beat out 24 other teams of anglers from colleges across the nation this week on South Carolina's Lake Murray. That's great, but why do I keep putting "team" in quotation marks? because this "team" consisted of one guy.

From this press release on marketwatch.com:

The National Guard FLW College Fishing National Championship on Lake Murray is a team event. Twenty-five teams from across the country competed in 20 qualifying events and five conference championship tournaments, and the top five teams from each conference competed for the title of national champion in this prestigious three-day nationally televised event... 
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Last week we launched 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.

We want this to be a useful app for the hardcore angler. But we want it to be a source of casual fun, too. That's why any photos users post show up on the main page of the app, where everyone can see them.

You won't be able to see the spot a fish was landed unless you're friends with the person who posted it, but it's still fun to check in and see photos of what people are catching around the country. We think it's a great way to burn a moment when you're standing in the checkout line, or stuck in the lobby at the doctor's office.
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