It;s Not All About Fishing

I do take some time off from fishing to get involved in other outdoor activities. My regular new York State deer hunting took place last week and I spent a few days with my son John. We hunted on his acreage in Sullivan County and saw several nice deer. I got this 6 point buck the first day.

I spent the rest of the week taking photos of all of the other bucks that were in the area including this nice 7 pointer that is waiting for me next year.

Now I can return to my writing about fishing along with my days of frustration concerning out country's political situation. At least when I fish and write I can get something done right. That's more than the Government seems to be able to do.

Families enjoy outdoor activities

Once again last Saturday the Duke Energy Explorium sponsored their annual Family Outdoors Program.The Harbour Fishing Club and Boaters Warehouse joined me in putting on a fishing event for the kids and their parents. The weather had a slight chill, but we had great participation with the kids program. The fish were not too cooperative but the kids did manage to get a few Bream and many won prizes in our casting contest.Here are just a few photos of the event.

Louisiana Red Fishing

I had the occasion to do some red fishing at the Grosse Savanne marsh south of Lake Charles Louisiana. It took me a little time to get the feel of the bite but once I did it was game on for me and the fish. Most of the reds that I caught were from 28 to 30 inched and weighed 12 to 14 pounds. I caught them on frozen and thawed shrimp, on a light jig head. The water was fairly shallow by my standards so the big fish couldn't go down but they sure fought 360 degrees around the boat. Each one was a pleasure to catch. Also caught flounder,trout an black drum. very exciting fishing that ended with sore arms.

Never Too Young

Someone once asked me what the proper age was to start a youngster fishing. My answer was that as soon as the child can wear a life jacket that fits, they are ready. My three year old granddaughter Gemma kept asking me to take her fishing.I gave her a couple of  incentive challenges which she accomplished and I took her out on the lake on her third birthday. The bite was kind of slow but she showed surprising patience, which is rare for youngsters. Finally after about 20 minutes she hooked this nice three pound spotted bass. Once she got over her initial surprise, we took this picture and she returned the fish into the lake. She not only got her first fish but also a lesson in conservation when she asked why we were putting the fish back. I told her that it would let the fish grow and give another child the chance to catch it again and receive the thrill that she had.

Jake is now a regular writer for The Angler magazine

In addition to his staff writers position with Outdoors Unlimited (ODU) magazine, Jake is now a regular for the Charlotte section of The Angler Magazine. Starting in October he will also have a 5 part column dealing with sonar image interpretation. One element of this series will be included in each issue for the next 5 months. The Angler can be obtained free at most local fishing supply stores.

Youngsters Enjoy a Few Hours of Fishing

Thirty one youngsters and their parents showed up for this years fishing program for the kids. I conduct this program each year under the sponsorship of The Harbour Fishing Club of Mooresville. The program is supported annually by Boaters Warehouse of Mooresville and this year we added Bass Pro Shops since they agreed to allow us to use their outdoor pond for the event. The weather was cloudy but the rain held off just long enough for the kids to catch more than 50 fish.

More than eight rod and reel combinations were given out to winners in several categories. 15 boys and 16 girls attend the event t his year with the girls taking the prize for catching the most fish. For some youngsters, this was the first time they had an opportunity to fish and certainly the first time they caught a fish. Gracie Caminiti shown here with her dad Keith was excited about her first fish, and she was the youngest girl to catch a fish.

The kids caught bream, bass and catfish, all of which were returned to the pond. The real reward of this program is to see the smile on the faces of the kids when they pull in their first fish. More important, this gives the youngsters an opportunity to spend some quality outdoor time with their parents.

Finally, A Trophy Peacock Bass

It took me three years of hard work and hot sweaty days on the water in Miami, but I finally got my 5 pound trophy Peacock Bass. This year I set aside three days, hoping that I could boat a trophy the first days and spend the rest of the time fishing other Florida waters. It didn't work quite that way. I did manage to catch 51 peacocks, but it wasn't until the afternoon of the second day that I landed the big one.

As usual, I recorded all of my caches on this trip and again they were consistent throughout the daytime hours, as shown in this plot of my catch rate.

I did notice that the waters of the Miami canals are now much cleaner than they were three years ago, with the bottom and many of the fish in clear view. BUT! I also observed that the Peacocks are getting smaller as the water is cleaned. 

I fished the everglades on the third day and made the same observation. Southern Florida has spent millions of dollars cleaning up the canals and the waters of the everglades, but the everglade bass were still biting in large quantities but the bass are smaller than I had ever before observed. This may be another example of my concern that there is a conflict between those who want clean waters and those who want to catch big fish.

Again this year I fished with my friend Chuck Westlake who guides these Florida waters.

350 pound Blue marlin at Hatteras

You might not believe it but I spent a few days at Hatteras doing some salt water fishing. That's right, me the freshwater guy fishing in salt water. A few of us from the Harbour Fishing Club spent a few day there to try and fill our freezers with fish. I'm going to make a long story short here, I caught a 9 foot, 350 pound Blue Marlin. We were fishing on the Hatteras Fever II, looking for Mahi Mahi and Tuna and whatever else was running and legal. We took the 53 foot boat out 30 miles off shore to the west edge of the gulfstream. It was nearly time to return when I was in the fighting seat and got a tremendous hit. Short story, two hours later, after fighting this monster for two hours, with wind and driving rain, 12 foot breaking waves and a 30 know wind, I had the beast close to the boat. Nearly all of the 1100 yards of line had been retrieved. All of the sudden the fish made a tremendous run and took out over 1000 yards of line. I was exhausted and decided that I could not go another round.I let Rich Doering take the seat. he fought the fish for another hour and 40 minutes, when suddenly the fish made two hard pulls and the fight appeared to be over. Rick brought the fish to the surface but a shark had killed it by taking two large bites out of its stomach. We did manage to get a couple of photos. Marlins are not a fish that we eat, so we simply left it for the predators. Marlins are normally returned live after being caught and photographed. The mate got hold of the fish for a quick photo shown here. This was a life's experience that I will not soon forget.

James River Catfish

Mac Byrum and I visited one of our favorite catfish facilities last week, The James River in Richmond Virginia. overall fishing was slow but we did manage to land a couple of 40 pound fish and a few 20's and 30.s. The morning was cold and foggy but it cleared in the afternoon for a pleasant fish. We were using large pieces of cut shad as bait so we were not interested in catching any small fish. It all worked out well. The small cats stayed away from the big baits, but we did manage to temp a few big boys.

Finicky Fish With Weather Changes

This is a great time to fish Lake Norman for bass if you adjust for the weather changes. Last weeks warm spell brought the bass out in droves. The shad are seeking the warmest water, which is in the back of the coves and channels. The lake water temperature at the surface is about 52 degrees, but back in the coves it rises to 54 to 55 degrees. The shad seek that water and  the bass follow. I have not found the bass to be schooling but they are actively feeding, preparing for the spawn. Spawning should start at the next full moon which will be on April 10th.
The fluctuating weather creates a problem for anglers. On the colder days, the fish move to the slightly deeper water at the mouth of the coves. As the weather warms, they will return to the more shallow water. I have been catching bass on live bait, medium shiners. Crank bait lures are also working but they need to be selected for the right water depth. I have caught crappie, trolling for bass, and I also caught several nice blue catfish trolling with the same bait. Don't let the cooler days discourage you, just fish a little different and you will have success.

New Lecture on March 20th

Come on over to Gander Mountain in Mooresville on March 20th at 6:30pm. Gus and I will present a lecture on how to find the fish in Lake Norman. my new book will also be available for purchase at that lecture event for $20. The title is Jakes Fishing facts.

Come over to Bass Pro Shop for lecture

Gus and I will be lecturing at Bass Pro Shop in Concord as part of their Spring festival of events. We will be providing tips about fishing Lake Norman with emphasis on jigging for bass and perch. lectures will be delivered on Friday Feb. 22nd at 6:30pm and again on Saturday Feb. 23rd at 1:30 pm.

New Study Validates my Findings about pain in Fish

An Australian blogger named Martin Salter, recently published a fine blog,  illustrating the results of recent studies by a research team from the University of Wyoming. This latest study, once again showed that fish do not feel pain. In one of my early books, "Freshwater Fighters", which I published in 2009, I included my studies, using some of the early work of Prof. James Rose. My book concludes that the absence of the brains neocortex, in the brain of all fish, prevents the fish from feeling pain. Fish do have nociceptors, as do humans, that detect pain in the nerve endings. In humans this information is transmitted to our brain and our neocortex processes that information telling us that we feel pain. The absence of this neocortex in the brain of fish, prevents that feeling from ever being realized.

Prof Rose and his expert team of researchers, completely concurs with these findings. In addition,in my book I described the work of a British team of researchers, that tried to validate the belief that fish do indeed feel pain, as a farce. The test methodology that was used in that study, bordered on fraud.The latest studies also validate my conclusion on that study..

PETA (people for the Ethical treatment of Animals) has been arguing for years about the pain issue. Their objective is to have all fishing banned as a casual sort. I commend Dr. Rose for his work.