If you’ve got the winter blahs right now, don’t let it get you down, because you may have noticed the days have gotten longer since the winter solstice on December 21. And trust this: bass have noticed, too! But when those photons fire in the big helium sphere we orbit, striking Earth eight minutes later, something profound happens – – chemical reactions start to stir the primordial instinct in bass to procreate.
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It’s not at all uncommon for state DNRs to put blanket statewide regulations on all lakes or all streams. The motivations vary. It could be a matter of convenience, an attempt to effect a change in some fisheries, or it could be purely sociological — to show the angling public the DNR is doing something.
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Are some fish inherently easier to catch than others are, and could there be a genetic basis for it? New research by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department says yes. The results were confirmed by good old-fashioned hook-and-line, backed up by leading-edge science — DNA analysis.
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The benefits of catch-and-release fishing are self-evident — you keep fish, big and small, in the fishery for the next time around. And science has shown proper handling ensures the fish will be there for the next tournament. Next, professors of fisheries science at Texas Tech University, Gene Wilde and Kevin Pope, took the science a step further. They asked: how do largemouth bass growth rates respond to catch-and-release?
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Texans are proud. They grow everything big in their big state — except Guadalupe bass. Though little is known about this agile, spirited fighter, Texans have every reason to be proud of their official state fish.
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The orangespotted sunfish takes up housekeeping in Midwestern waters some might not expect to find such a colorful fish. Slow-flowing, sluggish and turbid waters suit the orangespotted sunfish just fine. Where other sunfishes are at home in the clearer, cleaner, … Continued
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I’ve crossed swords with smallmouth bass from Minnesota
to Vermont, Missouri
to Ontario,
and each time it is a discovery of strength.
Having trouble getting smallmouth to smack offerings? Sometimes the only way
to get fussy fish to bite is by downsizing. Here are some tips on this simple,
but often ignored technique.
Smallmouth bass spend a lot of their lives looking down. They’ve got good reason to though because a lot of their food lives on the floor of lakes and rivers. When smallmouth bass are in a down-view trance the best way to catch them is with bottom-contact baits. Here are three proven producers.
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