Craig Springer, Author at Guide Outdoors

Bass Problems At Skiatook Lake, Oklahoma

When Oklahoma’s Skiatook Lake dam was closed in 1984, the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation stocked America’s favorite game fish, the largemouth bass, to speed up the development of a quality sport fishery. Bass lived in the feeder streams already. But something happened along the way. Nature had different designs than what ODWC intended. Unbeknownst to biologists at the time, a nuisance population of spotted bass was already developing.

Brood-Guarding Smallmouth Bass Vulnerable

Pull a jig across a smallmouth bass nest and hang on for a tail-dancing fight from an irascible fish. It’s arguably unethical to sight-fish for nest-guarding bass. And some states and provinces even prohibit pulling brooders off the nest. The underlying reasoning for the regulation is the potential harm to bass populations. Until Illinois scientists recently studied the question, there was no science behind the regulation.

The River Redhorse

They may be a bottom feeder, but carp they are not. The river redhorse leads quite a different life from their muck-sucking look-alike. A member of the sucker family, this industrious fish keeps a low profile. Even in the clearest water, it goes sight unseen, its olive-green back and sides blending well with the bottom terrain. It makes a living picking from the river bottoms, perusing over rubble and slow-water areas of mud and leaf litter, searching for its favored fare.

Four Mile Memories

A little stream in southern Ohio caught me as a youngster — an anchor point from where I would take all bearings for things to come. I became enamored with the darters and dace, the smallmouth bass, and the green sunfish. And it was angling that brought me to sense the land fully and angling that made the narrative with the land possible.

Forced Swimming Effects On Nesting Smallies

Anyone that’s spent some time at the health club has heard the trite saying: “No pain, no gain.” You have to make those muscles burn if you want to put more muscle on. They burn, then they hurt. And the next morning you can’t lift your coffee cup. Fish have muscle and experience the effects similar to ours from exercise. When and how we play fish could have long-term consequences after release. Take smallmouth bass, for example.

Lake Trout: Slow Growers

They don’t come any bigger. No matter what name you know it by — togue, mackinaw, or fork-tail — the lake trout is the largest North American trout. And it would be an understatement to say that lake trout are slow growers. It might take five years for a laker to reach 12 inches!

The Tenacious Rainbow Trout

They strike hard, leap out of the water, and will strip your line. Their tenacity on the end of a fly rod is legendary. The rainbow trout is by far one of the most popular fishes in the United States. While they are only native to West Coast streams from northern Mexico to Alaska and into Siberia, 100-plus years of domestication have made them an easy fish to culture.

Acid Rain Threatens Brook Trout

If the largemouth bass is a bait-caster’s fish, then the brookie belongs to the fly fisher. As their name implies, brook trout are at home in the stream. Acid rain is a problem in native brook trout habitat, particularly in the upper Appalachians. Wild brook trout populations in the George Washington National Forest in Virginia have taken a hit.

No Gray Area Between Black And White Crappies

There’s simply no gray area for understanding the differences between black and white crappies. The white crappie has about seven dark bands around its side while the black crappie is flecked with black spots. Another sure-fire identification tip is to count the dorsal spines. The black crappie has seven, sometimes eight spines, the white crappie, usually six, but sometimes just five. Not only do they not look entirely alike, scientific research bears out what makes them different.