Bow Hunting

An Overview of the Blue Lakes/Pine Forest Range

Online Editors — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 11:36:28 -0400

Situated in far northwestern Nevada just south of the Oregon border, Blue Lakes are the only alpine lakes in the region, and their value to anglers in the area is immeasurable. But, perhaps more importantly, is the value to the region for sportsmen all over America—it’s perhaps the best region to visit if you’re a chukar hunter, and if you’re interested in mule deer, pronghorn or bighorn sheep hunting, this is the corner of Nevada you’ll want to hit in search of big game.

Presently, the Pine Forest Range, including the Blue Lakes, is dotted by Bureau of Land Management wilderness study areas. Some of these areas might warrant that wilderness designation, but others are likely better off being released from WSA designation to allow for some much-needed conservation work that is simply not allowed in WSAs.

This is prime sage grouse country that is threatened now by invasive vegetation—primarily cheat grass, which is the first vegetation, native or exotic, to establish itself after a disturbance, like a fire, for instance. Recovery work in WSAs is limited, which means a WSA impacted by an exotic vegetation invasion can’t be adequately treated.

The lakes themselves provide a high-quality backcountry fishing experience in a designated wilderness study area, with rainbow trout and the unusual tiger trout (a sterile hybrid of a brook trout and brown trout) on the angling menu. An open shoreline lends itself to sight-casting to surprisingly big trout, and it’s a modest hike, meaning toting a float tube into the lakes is not unheard of. Presently TU and Field & Stream are working with local sportsmen, elected officials and agency staff to reconsider the WSA situation in this region, with the hopes of protecting Blue Lakes and the watersheds that drain off the Pine Forest Range—many of these streams have the potential for Lahontan cutthroat trout reintroduction.

As it is, the area is a destination for upland bird hunters who love to chase the wily chukar, and for many, that’s enough to warrant protection. Throw in the fishing component, and Blue Lakes and the Pine Forest Range are high-quality sporting destinations that deserve long-term protection.

What’s in Blue Lakes and the Pine Forest Range?
Fishing assets: Rainbow trout, brown trout, Lahontan cutthroat trout, brook trout, tiger trout.
Hunting assets: Chukar, sage grouse, mule deer, bighorn sheep,
pronghorn.
Other: This is a recreational paradise for desert-loving hikers, cyclists and off-road enthusiasts.

Threats: This area is threatened by a cheat grass invasion that has surpassed epidemic proportions. Additionally, unsustainable populations of wild horses and burros overgraze the fragile desert flora.

Also, limitations on what can be done to improve or recover wildlife habitat in designated wilderness study areas hinder any large-scale efforts to make habitat more welcoming to important game animals.

An Overview of the Cabinet and Yaak Mountains

Online Editors — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 11:31:28 -0400

It might be tough to believe, but Montana hasn’t protected any of its pristine backcountry fish and game habitat as wilderness in over a generation—the last attempt to create wilderness in the Treasure State was vetoed by President Ronald Reagan over 25 years ago. That’s not to say wilderness doesn’t exist outside those areas already protected in Montana —far from it. But politics and a host of factors have come into play, leaving some of the most deserving fish and game habitat in the state essentially unprotected and exposed to various forms of incursion, be it from mining, oil and gas or even just unneeded road construction.

Field & Stream and Trout Unlimited, sensing an opportunity, have rallied behind U.S. Sen. Jon Tester’s Forest Jobs and Recreation Act, the product of a collaborative series of negotiations and meetings that will hopefully result in the creation of new wilderness across Montana, including areas in the state’s northwest corner in the fabled Cabinet and Yaak mountains.

To make the effort even more palatable to a vast array of public lands users, the bill also includes a logging component that will put Montanans to work salvaging quality lumber from managed, low-country forests that are feeling the full brunt of the West’s mountain pine beetle infestation, as well as concessions to off-road vehicle and snowmobile enthusiasts who use public lands in the region as well. By protecting new wilderness in the state, Sen. Tester is ensuring the long-term viability of hunting and fishing—these areas are healthy and populated with native west slope cutthroat trout, trophy herds of elk, moose, mule deer and pronghorn, as well as upland game birds like ruffed, blue and spruce grouse. Wilderness, it turns out, is a great place to fish and hunt, and by setting aside irreplaceable public lands under our nation’s highest protective status, we’ll protect our rights to access, fish and hunt in these remarkable places now ... and for generations to come.

What’s in the Cabinet-Yaaks?
Fishing assets: Native west slope cutthroat trout, native bull trout, brook trout, brown trout, rainbow trout.
Hunting assets: Elk, deer, moose, bighorn sheep, bear, wolf, lion, ruffed, blue and spruce grouse.
Other: This region rests along the Montana-Idaho-British Columbia border and includes high-priority recreational country for sportsmen as well as off-roaders and snowmobilers. Designating this land as wilderness while conceding other, lower-quality public lands for extractive uses, like logging, makes this effort unique.

Threats: Protecting as wilderness these and other high-quality backcountry areas will prevent unnecessary hard-rock mining and segregate important fish and game habitat from future road or motorized trail incursion. Protecting this area also protects downstream water quality.

An Overview of the Gila Mountains

Online Editors — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 11:26:31 -0400

Situated in far southern New Mexico, the Gilas boast some of the most remote backcountry fish and game habitat in the Lower 48. More importantly, this range of rugged mountains is home to one of the nation’s most rare salmonids, the native Gila trout.

Once on the verge of extinction, TU and other conservation groups, in cooperation with state and federal agencies, have worked to restore these beautiful native fish to their home waters.

Additionally, the area provides outstanding opportunity for anglers pursuing a host of game fish in the middle and lower reaches of the Gila River. Fortunate anglers can catch smallmouth bass, largemouth bass, rainbow trout, brown trout and even catfish in the warmer, lower reaches of the river.

Hunters, too, have reason to visit the Gilas—huge elk and deer populations grace this country, as does a prime population of wild turkeys. On the Gilas dryer and lower slopes, quail are common and provide excellent sport for the upland bird hunter.

The mountains, too, shelter some of the region’s priceless cultural artifacts, including remote cliff dwellings from an ancient Native American civilization that to this day puzzles modern archaeologists.

Unfortunately, the area is being impacted by excessive and illegal off-road vehicle use. Pioneered trails are bisecting big game habitat and contributing silt and sediment to the Gila’s trout streams.

Cross-country travel is creating a spider web of improperly maintained trails that wash out during storms and rut deeply, permanently scarring otherwise habitable land for game and fish.

Properly maintaining legal trails is important to the Best Wild Places project—there are no efforts to close legal routes. But illegal and unofficial routs that impact habitat—and hunting and fishing opportunity—must be closed and reclaimed.

It will fall to sportsmen and ORV users themselves to police bad actors and protect this place forever.

What’s in the Gilas?
Fishing assets: Native Gila trout, smallmouth bass, brown trout, rainbow trout, brook trout, largemouth bass, catfish, suckers and various warmwater species in lower reaches of the Gila River drainage.
Hunting assets: Elk, deer, turkey, quail, varmints.
Other: Remains of ancient Native American civilizations, ample camping and touring opportunities, hiking, geocaching, cycling, etc.

Threats: Increased presence of illegally “pioneered” off-road trails that impact habitat and hunting and fishing opportunity.

An Overview of the Outlaw Triangle

Online Editors — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 10:34:02 -0400

The Outlaw Triangle is one of the most unique sporting regions in the lower 48. It's actually composed of two special places, the Little Mountain region of Wyoming, and the Green River below Flaming Gorge Dam in far northeastern Utah. It's called the Outlaw Triangle because Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid used the area as a hideout in the late 1800s.
The trophy trout fishing in the Green below Flaming Gorge Dam actually extends all the way downstream into the way to the Colorado border, but the first 20 or 30 miles or so of this prized tailwater could rightfully be included in the West’s “top 10 list of best trout fisheries.” Huge brown and rainbow trout chase flies and lures in the three “sections” of the river, giving the Green the reputation as a trophy fishery. Couple that with the splendor of the canyon, and the need to protect this special place is magnified. Trout Unlimited and Field & Stream are working to achieve “Scenic” designation for this stretch of the Green, simply to ensure that it remains the pristine angling paradise it is today for generations to come.

Currently there is a proposal to pump 250,000 acre-feet of water out of the Green River annually, then to pipe it across Wyoming and down to the front range of Colorado. If this were to happen, both the fishery on the reservoir, and the tailwater would be dramatically threatened.

If the Green is vital as an irreplaceable fishery to anglers, the Little Mountain region of Wyoming, just a stone’s throw to the north of the river, is just as important to hunters. Home to trophy herds of elk and mule deer, as well as the occasional moose and thriving herds of pronghorn, Little Mountain is one of the Intermountain Region’s most-prized destinations for big game hunting. In addition to its massive herds, the region also boasts sage grouse and, in its aspen-cloaked slopes, ruffed grouse, making it an all-around destination for hunters.

Little Mountain isn’t without its attraction to the backcountry angler, either. Several populations of native Colorado River cutthroat trout swim in hidden streams on Little Mountain, making for some unique adventure for the “cast and blast” sportsman interested in a truly special experience in a remote, yet accessible public lands paradise.

Unfortunately, Little Mountain has captured the interest of the natural gas industry—proposals exist that would transform this sportsmen’s dreamscape into something significantly less. Trout Unlimited is working with local stakeholders in the communities of Rock Springs and Green River—many of them industry workers themselves—to craft a plan that would allow for responsible natural gas drilling while protecting the unique resources of this treasured landscape.

Even with a glut of natural gas on the market, however, and with prices reflecting that, industry in the West, and on Little Mountain in particular, is aggressively pursuing new “inventory,” presumably to ensure a long-term future for drilling on public lands in the West. While TU and Field & Stream aren’t opposed to developing our domestic resources, there is legitimate concern that irresponsible planning and extraction will continue to erode our sporting opportunity, which is a huge part of the Western culture and heritage.

What’s in the Green?
Fishing assets: Trophy rainbow and brown trout, a few lake trout a few cutthroat trout, and native whitefish.
Hunting assets: Big bucks and big bulls haunt the rims of the canyon. Ruffed and blue grouse, excellent fall waterfowl hunting.
Other: The Green is one of the best backcountry floats in the nation, winding through a largely inaccessible canyon, apart from just a handful off put-in and take-out points.

Threats: Continued development in the region is stressing the viability of the resource. Keeping it like it is today is becoming a larger priority for all sportsmen and women in the region. Currently there is a proposal to pump 250,000 acre feet of water out of the Green River annually, then to pipe it across Wyoming and down to the front range of Colorado.

What’s on Little Mountain?
Fishing assets: Native Colorado River cutthroat trout.
Hunting assets: Deer, elk, pronghorn, sage grouse, ruffed grouse, bear, lion.
Other: It’s a recreational retreat for surrounding local communities.

Threats: Oil and gas drilling on Little Mountain could sully otherwise healthy native trout streams and bisect irreplaceable big-game habitat, infringing on opportunity for all who fish and hunt.

An Overview of the Roan Plateau

Online Editors — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 10:21:50 -0400

The Roan Plateau in western Colorado is the “line in the sand” for the Western sportsman who values intact fish and wildlife habitat and a unique sporting opportunity amidst a sea of industrial development. The Roan, which comprises only 1.5 percent of the entire Piceance Basin, rests above significant reserves of natural gas, but also provides refuge for trophy mule deer, elk, grouse, bear, mountain lion and pure strains of Colorado River cutthroat trout.

Unfortunately, against the wishes of sportsmen, surrounding communities, and Colorado’s federal delegation, the Roan was leased for gas drilling in 2008. Trout Unlimited and a host of conservation groups who recognized the value of the Roan for future generations, immediately challenged the leases in court, and that’s where the issue rests today—in the hands of a judge.

One important note: Trout Unlimited and Field & Stream have never opposed drilling for the gas beneath the Roan. Instead, we’ve proposed several ways to drill for the gas using state-of-the-art directional drilling techniques, phased in leasing, drilling and reclamation and plans to protect the Roan’s fragile streams. In these streams swim a unique strain of Colorado River cutthroat trout that has evolved isolated above an impassible waterfall. These fish are pure-strain cutthroats, and their environment is already pretty austere. Drilling for natural gas, particularly in this area, where industry oversight when it comes to safety and environmental protection has been lax, might be the one thing that would wipe out these priceless fisheries.

Working with hunters, anglers and guides and outfitters, Field & Stream and TU will not give up the Roan to wholesale drilling without a fight. With a glut of natural gas on the market today, and with technology available to ensure drilling won’t harm fish and game habitat, we see no need to sacrifice any further.

In addition to its fisheries, the Roan is home to excellent big-game hunting opportunities for deer, elk, bear and lion, as well as grouse and wild turkeys. It truly is a sportsman’s oasis in a sea of industrial activity.

What’s on the Roan?
Fishing assets: Native Colorado River cutthroat trout, brook trout.
Hunting assets: Elk, deer, ruffed grouse, blue grouse, black bear, mountain lion.
Other: The Roan is important for recreation, not only for sportsmen, but for hikers, campers and others. It’s also used by area cattlemen for grazing, and by hunting outfitters and guides as a deer and elk base camp.

Threats: Unnecessary and intrusive natural gas drilling threatens the water quality on the Roan, as well as the big-game habitat atop the plateau.

BREAKING NEWS: Recent Signups Keep CRP Acreage Near Cap

Online Editors — Fri, 25 May 2012 12:01:04 -0400

by Bob Marshall

Fish, wildlife and sportsmen got good news Friday when Tom Vilsack, the Secretary of the Department of Agriculture, announced recent and future sign-ups of 5.65 million acres in the Conservation Reserve Program, keeping that keystone conservation program close to its current authorized cap of 32 million acres.

But in an interview with Field & Stream, Vilsack also urged sportsmen to keep the momentum going by urging their congressmen - particularly House members - not to swing the budget axe on conservation funding in the new Farm Bill currently under consideration.

"(Sportsmen) should take some confidence or relief in the numbers we're announcing today, because it shows this administration is committed to CRP and to the outdoors recreational opportunities CRP creates and enhances," Vilsack said.

"(But) they ought to be engaged in encouraging members, especially in the House, not to reduce our commitment to conservation in the future - mainly because it works."

The Conservation Reserve Program, which pays farmers who enroll in the program to not plant marginal acres, is widely considered the most effective federal conservation program ever. The resulting grasslands not only provide essential upland nesting cover for waterfowl as well as numerous terrestrial species, but it also helps reduce soil erosion and improves water and air quality. It has also been a popular economic boost to the agricultural community, pouring $1.8 billion dollars into farmers' pockets annually.

But the program has come under stress in recent years. First commodity prices soared, drawing some farmers back to planting that non-tilled land. The USDA said it expected to see up to 6 million acres pulled out of CRP this year as contracts expired.

Sportsmen were still reeling from the impacts of that shock when some in congress targeted conservation spending as a way to trim federal spending.

Working with conservation groups, the administration found a way to fund an additional 1.75 million acres in two sign-ups set for this summer. The first will be targeted at highly erodible acres, the second at sensitive grasslands, wetlands, and wildlife habitat.

"When you add what we've just enrolled with the 1.75 million we'll get this summer, that will give us 5.65 million, pretty darn close to the 6 million we're losing, and right at 29.2 million - not far from what the cap is right now," Vilsack said.

He also urged sportsmen to tout the broader economic and environmental benefits of the CRP when pushing congressmen to preserve funding.

"In 2011 we were able to calculate the reduced nitrogen (because of CRP acres) going into streams (from farm fertilizers) by 623 million pounds, and reduced phosphorous by 124 million pounds," he said.

"When you look at carbon sequestration, we calculated that CRP is equivalent to taking 10 million cars off the road.

"So, this program doesn't just help wildlife, and outdoor recreation, and the farming community, it also has a very significant positive impact on the environment."

Announcing the Results of the Bowtech Insanity Buck-Scoring Contest

Online Editors — Fri, 25 May 2012 10:24:50 -0400

by Dave Hurteau

Is that the hum of a delivery truck you hear? Getting closer? Carrying a new Bowtech Insanity CPX just for you. Well, let’s see now…

The actual gross B&C scores of this contest’s four bucks are as follow:

Buck #1, taken by Daniel Gissendaner: 163 4/8.
Buck #2, taken by Darrell Bozarth: 159 7/8.
Buck #3, taken by Mitch Stroble: 149 3/8.
And Buck #4, taken by Joe Dampier: 154 2/8

The total gross B&C score for all four is therefore 627 even, which means we have a tie. Both IND_NRA and lamphere29 guessed 627 1/8, just 1/8 off. (Incidentally, there was also a tie for the runner-up position with stickbow13 and jman22 both off by just 2/8s, which entitles each to a kiss from his sister, or if they can work it out, a kiss from each others’ sister.)

Congratulations to our finalists, IND_NRA and lamphere29. You two are going head-to-head. I will post your tiebreaker buck on Monday.

Nonsense Product Names: WEN Will it All End?

Online Editors — Thu, 24 May 2012 11:25:55 -0400

by David E. Petzal

Well, there I was sitting at the old Mac, trying to work instead of listening to bluegrass, when I got a press release announcing that Redfield now has a scope out called the “Revenge.” I thought this was a pretty odd name to give an optical sight, but then I remembered that last year, Winchester came out with an all-copper bullet called Power Core, which has no core, so I guess the rules about product names have been relaxed.

But then, just a moment ago, I received word of a new crossbow called the Barnett Vengeance. Vengeance on what? The last time a crossbow was used in an act of vengeance was on March 25, 1199 when Richard the Lionheart, King of England, was killed by crossbow bolt to the neck that was fired by a French boy who claimed that Richard had killed his father and brothers.

Will we now see bumper stickers that read “Payback is a bodkin head?” or “That bolt from the blue is meant for you.”? Will we have to listen to Rachel Maddow screeching about crossbows you can sneak past metal detectors?

As if this weren’t bad enough, there now are ads running on the various cable channels I watch for a shampoo called WEN. I don’t know what marketing genius thought this one up, but “wen” is an archaic English word for a cyst, usually on the neck or face, as in “Will you look at the wen on King Richard’s neck? That thing’s big enough to hit with a crossbow bolt.”

On the other hand, maybe I should just listen to bluegrass more.

The Total Outdoorsman: Hunt Better, Fish Smarter, Master the Wild

Sarah Smith — Thu, 17 May 2012 09:09:26 -0400

by T. Edward Nickens

A little bit here and a little bit there. You keep your eyes open. That’s how you learn. You pick up a new knot from a new fishing buddy, or try a decoy trick you saw in a magazine. You make mistakes. And if you’re lucky, like I was, there will be a mentor along the way. An unselfish someone who cares enough about you that he wants you to know everything he’s ever learned.

That’s the good thing about hunting and fishing and camping: You can never know it all, and you’re never as good as you could be.

Over the years, I’ve learned from the best—mentors, buddies, guides, story subjects, and some of the most dedicated outdoor-skills competitors this world has ever seen. Put them together, and they’ve got a half dozen different ways to shoot a double or cast a fly rod. Here’s the best of what I’ve learned from them, and on my own, in 35 years of hunting and fishing. And this is what all sportsmen should do with such knowledge: Pass it on.

HUNTING
Good Dog

The best trick I ever taught my dog was to sit and stay for practically forever. A quiet, rock-solid sitter will be quickly forgiven for other minor trespasses.

A Predator’s Pace
My earliest hunting memory was of a squirrel hunt in the snow. We found where a fox was trailing a rabbit, and I saw how the fox placed its hind foot almost on top of the front track to make a single line of tracks and preserve energy. That’s called perfect stepping, and I’ll never forget how the trail ended perfectly in a scuffle of dirt and leaves and blood-speckled snow.

My Do-It-All Winch
A come-along can haul your ATV up a steep hill, free a stuck truck, winch a boat to a trailer when the trailer winch fails, help straighten a smashed gunwale, and get a deer out of the creek gully. Mine is stashed behind the truck seats, so I always have it.

Fear the Chigger

Translate a Quack
When I asked a world-champion duck caller what he said into his call, he simply turned the call around and blew a routine with the call backward. I could hear every grunt and tone change. Beautiful.

Know Your Guns
It’s important to know guns, period. You never know when a buddy is going to hand you his shotgun while he tightens his bootlaces. Know how to check the safety and chamber on every conceivable action—bolt, semiauto, pump, double gun, double-action handgun, six-shooter, whatever.

Practice the Long Shot
On an archery antelope hunt, I missed twice at long range. I finally took a nice goat at 37 yards, but I’ve learned to practice shooting my bow at long ranges. At 50 yards and better, little technique snafus show up. Fixing them tightens groups even at shorter ranges.

The Elk of Your Dreams
Elk antlers in velvet can grow an inch a day, which makes sleep impossible throughout the summer if you have drawn a Montana elk tag.

Get Sneaky
When jump-shooting ducks, how many times have you closed the last 20 yards at a glacial pace only to find that the ducks were swimming just out of range? That’s because they heard you when you were 40 yards from the pond edge. When you’re sneaking on ducks—or squirrels or turkeys—stalk them from the truck. Start getting quiet and sneaky long before you think you need to.

Eat it Now
Don’t save wild game for later, for someone else, or for something special. Grill a chunk of tenderloin or fry a slice of deer heart right now, while everything is still earthy and your face still smarts from the briers and the sound of the gun is ringing in your ears.

Be Your Own Rangefinder
Know the length of your normal stride. It’s fun to test your range-estimation skills, and my stride comes out to 39 inches, from heel to tip of toe. I know that every 10 strides equals approximately 32.5 feet, so I call that 11 yards.

Don’t Fart in Your Waders
That gas is lighter than air—and it can only go up.

Share your Bounty
Share your kill. I take a wild-game appetizer to every party and label it proudly. (O.K., the big bowl of “Rudolph chili” at a church Christmas dinner might have been over the top.) But I give game away to anyone curious about the taste of a duck. I’m a one-man public relations team for eating wild meat.

The Semiauto Sin
Boy, did I screw this one up. I turned my son loose on a semiautomatic .22 rifle way too early. Nearly ruined him for a single-shot bolt action, which is the best tool for learning rifle-shooting mechanics.

The Forgivable Sin
No, I can’t move the gun slowly when the deer is kinda sorta looking my way.

Whistle While You Hunt
It worked for me once, so I know that running whitetail bucks will stop at a loud whistle often enough to make it worth whistling every time.

It’s the Little Things
Once I spread a bunch of bird-feeder thistle seed in front of a two-man deer stand. My young daughter couldn’t believe all the birds she saw a couple of mornings later. And she couldn’t wait to go hunting with me again.

Make the First Shot Count
Keith Gleason taught me how to hunt. He was a Marine sharpshooter just back from Vietnam. I was 13 years old and knew next to nothing, but when we hunted groundhogs with his heavy-barreled .22/250, we traded shots, one for one. I sometimes whined—to myself—that it wasn’t fair to be held to the same standards as a sniper. But I learned early to make every shot count. I have a feeling that was Keith’s plan all along.

Let Kids Have Their Fun
Other parents might disagree with me, but I’ve learned to let my young son blow the duck call whenever he wants, stretch whenever he feels like it, and play Angry Birds in the deer stand whenever he’s bored. I want him to think that hunting with his dad is the best thing ever. The other stuff can come later.

Listen to This
I buy a bunch of cheap foam earplugs the first day of the season, every year, and stash a pair in every place imaginable—shell bags, daypacks, coat pockets, wader pockets, my binoculars case. I once hunted ducks with a guy who held a foam earplug in his mouth like a cigar stub, ready to deploy at a moment’s notice. The older I get, the smarter that seems.

Wake Up Earlier
Much as I love to hunt, I hate getting up. But I’ve learned to get up 15 minutes earlier, and stay in the woods 15 minutes longer. The missed winks are more than made up for by not having to rush to get settled in before shooting light. And that last quarter hour is equal to 900 seconds—900 extra chances for something amazing to happen.

Just Fold Already
Don’t bluff a Cajun in camp poker. Even if he’s only 8 years old.

Take No Hunt for Granted
My most memorable hunting partner was George Bolender, a quadriplegic bowhunter who hunted from a wheelchair outfitted with a bow holder his buddies jury-rigged from an electric screwdriver. He released arrows by puffing into a tube. He got no more than one shot a day. “Don’t ever forget that it’s a privilege,” he told me.

FISHING
Hammer a Bream Bed
There’s no finer way to usher in spring than with a floating foam spider tethered to a sinking ant. Start with formal attire: Tie on a black foam spider with white legs. Using an improved clinch knot, tie 4-pound tippet to the hook bend on the spider; it should be just long enough to reach the bottom of the bedding area. Add the sinking ant, and you’re in business. It’s a deadly tactic with spinning tackle, too. Just add a casting bubble a few feet up from the spider.

Family Matters
This was a hard lesson to learn: I can’t mix fishing with family vacations. Other people have no trouble with this, but it’s all or nothing, one or the other, for me.

Build a Predator Rig
Gather your tired, your lipless, your scarred and rusty Rapalas, the wretched refuse of your ancient tackle box. And make of them an awesome predator rig. Remove the hooks from a plug. Tie it to your line, and tie a short stout dropper between the trailing eye and a big in-line spinner or spoon, such as a Dardevle. (If fishing for toothy predators like muskies, use wire.) Now you have a rig that looks like one fish chasing another fish, which can trigger a bite like nobody’s business.

See the Spots
It is easy to be bedazzled by all the colors, but it’s pretty simple: Brown trout are light with dark spots. Brook trout are dark with light spots.

Trash Your Yard
Any angler worth his mealworms knows that old logs, scraps of plywood, and pieces of ripped-up utility trailer tarp do not constitute untidy yard debris. These are natural bait habitats and will produce at a moment’s notice a free bounty of earthworms, crickets, and beetle grubs.

Fish in the Dark
Growing up, I was a good boy who gave his mama little trouble mostly because I developed a love of the Jitterbug instead of the 12-pack. And I don’t mean the swing dance. My idea of a hot Friday night was, literally, a hot Friday night, ushered in with an Ugly Stik rod, a Mitchell 300 spinning reel, and a gurgling Jitterbug.

The same tactics still produce: Standing 10 feet back from the water, I’d make a few searching casts along a shallow shoreline. Next I’d ease into the water just fished, and fire long casts parallel to the cover, working every inch of the banks. I used black Jitterbugs that showed up against starlit skies, retrieved them slow and steady, and didn’t set the hook till I felt a solid smack.

Nothing teaches discipline as well as learning to keep that Jitterbug in the water after a slashing miss, giving a midnight bass a second crack.

Don’t Hog the Bow

Excuse Me, Mr. Perfect
No, I should not have leaned my favorite trout rod against the open truck door.

Know Your Blades
I used to think a spinnerbait was a spinnerbait, until I read an interview with bass legend Hank Parker that parsed the different varieties. Colorado blades produce lots of vibration for muddy waters and lots of lift for shallow shorelines. Willow blades are better for cold water or clearer water where sunlight can penetrate and flash off the thin metal.

And Parker is a huge fan of tandem blades, especially in heavy cover. If the first blade bumps a rock or treetop, the second one keeps spinning to attract fish and also prevents the lure from toppling to its side and snagging.

Protect Your Catch
Avoid running rapids with a stringer full of fish hanging off the canoe. Trust me on this one.

Pick Your Paddlers Wisely
If you are going to flip a fully loaded canoe in an Alaskan rapid hundreds of miles from civilization, paddle with a bulldog-shaped former hockey player from the Dakota plains who does not know any better than to grab a swamped boat and swim it through the trees. Again, trust me on this one.

C’mon, Respect the Truck
I know they are your favorite fishing snack, but please do not open your jar of pickled eggs in my pickup while we are driving down logging roads.

Hold Firmly
Develop a taste for beer in cans covered in fish slime.

Raise Expert Swimmers
Ours is a water-loving family. Powerboats and canoes, freshwater and salt, moving water and calm. Our kids have been taught to swim by coaches and experts, because accidents happen, and we want our kids to not just float but be able to swim their way out of trouble.

Fish Are Everywhere
Isotope analysis of songbird feathers reveals nutrients derived from salmon flesh. Works like this: Bears eat salmon. Bears poop. Berry-rich shrubs grow lush with poop fertilizer. Songbirds eat berries. Everything is connected.

Dig Out a Stuck Boat
If you push a grounded boat backward, the transom will dig in. How do you escape? If you are an American outdoor writer, you might wait for another boat to tow you to freedom. If you are an Athabascan native who hauls everything from whitefish to moose down northern Alberta rivers, you dig a trench beside the boat, parallel to the boat’s keel. Then you rock and push and shove the boat sideways into those extra few inches of water. Now you can back out, or extend the trench to deeper water. And you try not to smirk at the outdoor writer riding shotgun.

Tie My Fly
Boy, was I a whiny, impatient beginning fly-tier. In the depths of my petulance I whipped up a one-material fly that could only be described as unartful. I lashed lead dumbbell eyes to a hook, built up a garish thread snout, and wrapped the whole kit-and-kaboodle with pearl Krystal Flash chenille. Offensive? A cheap trick? Yes and yes. But it is hot snot on fish. In various sizes, with or without a gaudy Flashabou tail, it has caught shad, stripers, bluegills, crappies, bass, Spanish mackerel, bluefish, and false albacore. It is known by at least three people as the Nickens Know-Nothing. I couldn’t be prouder.

Eat More Pike
I love the taste of northern pike. Sure, the bones are a pain, but here’s a work-around. Chunk fillets into 1-inch cubes, which makes the bones easier to pick out. Boil for three minutes and drain. Dredge through melted garlic butter. Some call it poor man’s lobster. I call it a snack fit for a king.

Fix Any Flat
I’ve used a Springfield Quick-Change Trailer Jack to change tires on everything from a utility trailer to a small johnboat trailer to a double-axle saltwater boat trailer. It’s the size of a Frisbee, and you can stow it anywhere, so I take it everywhere. One of my best $40 investments, it also makes greasing bearings go easier.

Keep Fishing
I have never caught a fish with my line out of the water.

Fish the Bass Breeze
I watched reservoir-challenged Total Outdoorsman Challenge competitors learn this lesson the hard way: On a windy day at Table Rock Lake, the inexperienced big-water anglers hightailed it to calm waters or anchored up in the lee of protected points. Bad move. A stiff breeze pushes the entire food chain downwind, from phytoplankton to fingerling fish. Predators stack up along rock riprap, underwater ledges, and other structures to ambush disoriented bait. Calm-water competitors suffered low scores.

Shine a Light for Walleyes
Walleyes, like deer and cats, have an extra light-gathering structure inside the eyeball called the tapetum lucidum, which reflects brilliant pinpoints of light. You can shine a strong light in shallow waters to find walleyes, which you should do as often as possible just because it’s cool.

Bring Home Supper
When my kids were little, the first thing they said upon catching a fish was “Can we keep it, Daddy?” To which I nearly always answered, “Yes-siree-bob.” As long as it was legal, it was headed for hot iron. I’ve battered and fried many a 3-inch-long fish finger, and the smiles on my kids’ faces have helped keep them going back for more.

Save That for Breakfast
Don’t throw away leftover fillets from a camp fish fry. Store fish, boiled potatoes, and other goodies in a zip-seal bag and place it in a cool creek, weighed down with a rock, overnight. For a quick breakfast, heat a tortilla in a fry pan, then reheat the leftovers.

Just One More Cast…
My biggest bass ever was a 10-plus-pound beast that sucked in a small white Woolly Bugger 15 feet from the boathouse. I was fishing for crappies with a 4-weight fly rod. You never know.

CAMPING
Sleep Under the Stars
Growing up we slept under the stars—without a tent or tarp—to prove how tough we were, but now I sleep in the Big Scary Open because I get a huge kick out of nodding off to shooting stars and waking to the first rays of the sun. And it’s super cool to sleep with frost sheathing your sleeping bag. If you’re squeamish about dozing off without the protection of a nylon cocoon, try it my way: Spread out a space blanket, followed by a sleeping pad. Having a couple of feet of ground cloth between you and the bare ground is a mental comfort, yes, and it also means you can spread your arms and thrash around a bit without actually wallowing in the dirt. I wear a fleece cap to hold in extra body heat and keep a flashlight tucked in a boot near my head so I can find it quickly. If it makes you feel better, the other boot can hold a knife, pepper spray, or ninja stars.

Two By Two
The old-timers are right: You need two handfuls of tinder and enough kindling to fill your hat twice.

Trip-Proof Your Tent
In 30 minutes you can replace all of your old tent guylines with reflective cord, and never again trip over them while stumbling around during a middle-of-the-night pee—during which you stub your right big toe so badly that the nail splits and the toe swells and you can’t wear wading boots for two days. Listen to me.

The Snore Solution
Forget the earplugs. Pack your own solo tent.

Cut On a Clean Surface
I always bring a couple of flexible cutting boards on camping trips. They weigh next to nothing, stuff anywhere, and make slicing, dicing, and cleaning fish easier. share the case load Bringing beer should never be the responsibility of a single individual.

Home Turf
A piece of indoor-outdoor carpeting makes a fine front porch for any tent. It keeps the dirt out and doubles as a changing-room floor if you have a large tent vestibule.

Carry It All
I thought I knew how to pack a canoe for portaging—then I took up with a few Canadian friends. Made me look like some dipstick pioneer peddler hawking fry pans in the backcountry. I’ve since dialed up my act, eh? Now when my friends and I take a trip, we start with a couple of monstrous portage packs, such as the indomitable Boundary Pack (cascadedesigns.com). Loaded like a standard backpack, it still has room for tackle bags, daypacks, maps, and all the other crap that winds up strewn from bow to stern.

Unless we plan to use our paddles as makeshift hiking staffs, we lash them, along with fishing rods, to the underside of the canoe seats. Next, it’s Canadian clean-and-jerk time: One paddler shimmies into the lightest portage pack and single-mans the canoe on his shoulders. The other paddler doubles up—wearing the heaviest pack on his back and carrying a lighter one in front by threading his arms through the shoulder harness in reverse. To be honest, with such a load I sometimes peter out halfway down the trail. But there’s a substantial psychic reward in humping the bulk of the gear in one giant effort.

Get Yourself a Barrel
My favorite piece of camping gear is a canoe barrel. These barrels are waterproof. They will swallow a stove, pots, and food for a week. They make a nifty camp seat. Best as I can tell, they are mostly available in Canada and the Boundary Waters region of Minnesota, which is like Canada. Google “canoe barrel” and convert CAD to USD.

Get More Firewood

When the Party’s Over
Nobody likes the drive home after a fun camping trip. Use the time wisely by planning the next trip. Right now. Have the outline of another adventure sketched out by the time your tires hit the driveway. Nothing makes the bitter pill of unpacking gear go down easier than the promise of another great trip to come.

From the May 2012 issue of Field & Stream magazine.