It’s simple math really: Zero eggs equals zero fish for future stocking programs.
So, the spring walleye and steelhead egg collections by the Michigan DNR are critical components of the strategy for maintaining world-class fishing opportunities in the Great Lakes State.
Nearly fifty years have now passed since the first paddletail swimbaits splashed down in U.S. waters, the earliest designs having likely originated in France. Today, paddletails have almost singlehandedly rewritten the rules of soft plastics engagement. Fans of catching bass, crappie, walleye and inshore slams nearly always cast these ingenious tail-driven baits, each version capable of different retrieve speeds, actions and the almighty thump.
Gamakatsu has announced a proprietary new finish for their most popular hook styles.
By Louie Stout
Mike Raber and Austin Anderson came within seconds of seeing a $40,000 first-place prize slip out of their grasp in the Payback Bass Super Tournament at Lake St. Clair last weekend.
Thanks to Ohio anglers Cody Gray and Codea McCathran who hustled Raber to the weigh-in after he and Anderson ran out of gas, the Michiana team was able to get their winning bag of 24.46 pounds of smallmouth on the scales.
The duo, who fished in Lake Erie and headed back in plenty of time, miscalculated how much gas they had burned on Erie in Anderson’s 21-foot Phoenix Bass Boat.
“We took Austin’s boat instead of my Nitro because of the contingency prizes,” explained Raber. “His boat holds 50 gallons and mine holds 55 and we didn’t realize fuel would be an issue. It was a gift from God that those Ohio guys saw me waving frantically and asking for help.”
Raber said the Ohioans picked him up with 10 minutes left within a couple miles of check in.
“It was the difference between $40,000 and the worst day of our lives,” joked Raber, who promises to reward the rescuers with gear from the Tackle Shack, where he works.
By Al McGuckin
Team Toyota’s Brandon Lester endured more stress in the final days of August than a lone goby surrounded by a school of fat smallmouth.
Three days after learning he probably would not qualify for the Bassmaster Classic for only the second time in his fantastic 10-year career, his mega-cute young daughter was hospitalized for a horrible stomach virus, and then, just hours after she began to heal, his father was hospitalized over serious pulmonary concerns.
So, here’s to hoping September brings far more smiles, and some time on the water to decompress for Lester. One thing’s for certain, the next time he launches his boat, there will be two time-proven topwaters tied on.
“No matter where you live, September signifies the first month of fall. It’s that time of year when we get our first cool nights, and lots of things start kicking into a bit of a different gear. To me, that means you better key on baitfish imitators and a trolling motor that’s in fairly constant forward motion,” says Lester.
Covering water with baits that appeal to bass looking skyward is the key, so Lester chooses a buzzbait and Super Spook Jr. as two lures all bass anglers should try during the calendar’s ninth month.
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