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By Louie Stout
If you simply like to catch fish and don’t care what species, Kyle Hammond has some advice for you.
Try fishing for gar.
Gar record-holder Kyle Hammond
“I’ve never met a fish I didn’t like and I’m always chasing something different,” says the Fort Wayne angler who holds TWO Indiana records, the spotted gar and the shortnose gar.
He’ll fish for them from the bank, a kayak or a canoe, and has caught more than 15 this past summer.
But why gar?
“Because they are different from any fish out there,” he explains. “They have a mouth of teeth, a hard, armored body and they can breathe even when the water has low oxygen.”
He likes fishing for them in quiet, off the beaten path waters. The Maumee River around his home is a good place, but so are the small pothole lakes around northern Indiana.
Gar fishing lure
Surprisingly, he only uses artificial lures and generally ones that he makes himself.
He sneaks around, looking for the gar to hover on or just below the surface and will cast to individual fish.
“It’s like sight fishing,” he describes. “Watching them strike is really neat. They don’t fight hard but make fast runs and jump.”
Gar rope rig
For longnose gar he uses rope flies made from frayed, small diameter nylon rope sections. He unbraids one end of the rope piece then combs it out then attaches a large split ring on the other end.
The split ring is secured by pushing the rope through the split ring twice and then tightened with either a fly fishing wrap or a zip tie.
“It has a ton of action,” Hammond offers. “It shimmies and looks like a school of baitfish.”
And get this – no hook required. The moment the gar latches on, the fibers get tangled in the fish’s teeth.
He casts a foot or so in front of a gar that he sees then eases it towards the fish.
“If they see it they will bite it,” he insists. ”There’s no need to jerk hard; just add pressure. If you do it right, you will land nearly every fish that bites.”
Gar fishing lure rig
For spotted and short-nose gar, he uses a 3-inch soft plastic minnow bait. He pushes a screw-in spring lock into the nose of the bait and attaches a split ring and a treble hook. He then ties a piece of fluorocarbon line to the split ring and attaches it to another treble on the back of the soft plastic bait so that there are hooks fore and aft on the bait.
“Those types of gar have solid bone in the mouth,” Hammond says. “You need something small and sharp to get the hook into them. I will have 10 fish strike and land only 2 or 3.”
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By Louie Stout
You gotta give Indiana DNR credit for thinking outside the box with its unique project at the Tri-Lakes Chain located north of Columbia City, Ind.
The lakes consist of Round, Cedar and Little Cedar, where area anglers complain about the abundance of small bass and lack of quality.
While the DNR often considers reducing the size limit on these types of fisheries, District Fisheries Biologist Tyler Delauder wants to try something else – remove 1,000 small bass and relocate them to Roush Reservoir, better known as Huntington Reservoir, where bass populations are low.
“We’ve got an abundance of 8-13.5 inch bass in that lake,” he explains. There are eight-year-old bass that average only 13.8 inches,” explains Delauder. “On our other natural lakes, a fish that old averages 17-18 inches.”
The multi-year project will be the topic of discussion at a public meeting tomorrow (April 25) in Columbia City. The meeting will be held at the Thorncreek Township Fire Department, 821 E 500 N. From 7-8:30 p.m. ET, DNR fisheries biologists will introduce the project, explain its goals, share data and anticipated results, and then answer questions.
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By Louie Stout
The forward facing sonar (FFS) controversy is heating up with some state agencies looking closely to determine if regulations are required.
Wisconsin, for example, is considering a proposal to ban it. Other state agencies are expressing concern of its impact on panfish populations.
B.A.S.S. has a committee studying its impact on Elite tournaments this season and will likely offer a ruling later this year. Don’t expect a total ban, but perhaps some limited use. There are rumors of Major League Fishing considering a total ban, but don’t believe rumors until you’re dealing with facts.
While most of the debates are over unfair tournament advantages and affordability, perhaps we should consider impact on fisheries. Not everyone practices catch-and-release.
Eventually the price will come down to where it’s as affordable as inexpensive traditional sonar and more anglers will be using it. While I think a total ban is unnecessary at this time, we should all support studies to measure its impact on fisheries.
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By Louie Stout
These big smallmouth that Neil Vande Biezen caught were likely 10 years or older. It takes Michiana fish longer to reach quality length than most people realize.
Regardless of the kind of fish you pursue, it takes years to produce keeper sizes in Michiana waters.
Indiana and Michigan fish researchers maintain charts listing average fish lengths at various ages based upon historical records. Charts are used to compare growth rates of fish in a given lake with state averages. In Indiana, those comparisons are based on northern Indiana glacial waters and not the impoundments found in the southern half of the states. Although not an exact science, it gives researchers a means to determine the health of fish in a given lake. Faster growth indicates a balanced fishery with a good forage base. Slower growth could indicate overpopulation or inadequate forage base.
Fish are aged by collecting scale samples and examining them under a microscope. Rings seen on the scale are much like rings on a tree. Each ring represents a year of growth.