AUGUST, "THE DOG DAYS OF SUMMER"

This has been a really warm summer! A person doesn't want to be too far from an air conditioner these days let alone think of spending the day out on a lake in the baking sun and heat! If you enjoy fishing as much as I do, you suck it up and take plenty of liquids with you and hit the lake! Naturally, the best time to fish is the early morning hours and again in the evening. The lower light provides more shaded areas and the fish will be more active. The warmer water also increases the metabolism of the fish and makes them want to feed more! This can be a huge advantage for us fishermen! On bright sunny days, head for the weeds. This is an important source of cover for the fish as well as for their food sources. If the weed beds are close to deeper water, so much the better. Try to fish the irregular structure of the weed beds such as weed breaks, points, cuts etc.. Watch the formation of the weeds. If the weed stems surface and the main foliage spreads out on the surface, fish will be hiding underneath this coverage. Try dropping jigs through any openings in the weeds, the smaller the openings the better! Fish the weed edges. If the weeds generally thin out before disappearing there propably is a soft muddy bottom under the weeds. If the weeds have an abrupt ending the bottom is either sandy or rocky which both are excellent to hold fish. Again, jigs work really well here but any plastic baits such as worms, grubs or tubes would be ideal to use. However you go about it, it might be down right nasty to be out there fishing but a few nice fish will work wonders at easing the discomfort!

FISHING ON A HOT AUGUST DAY

My buddy and I went fishing today in the mid-day sun and heat! We started out at 10a.m. and fished until 2p.m.. Man was it HOT! We were fishing buzz baits, crank baits, C.P.Swings with yellow and white fly strips, and small jigs. The fishing was slow for the most part however, we did manage to catch about a dozen Largemouth Bass with the biggest being around 14"-15" long. We found Crappie and nice Bluegills on the small jigs and spinner/fly strip combination. My friend Bill, has been using a newer product, put out by GULP FISHING PRODUCTS, that resembles maggots. He has been adding these to his flies (when using his fly rod) and today he added them to his C.P.Swing. He has also used this product on a bare hook and has had good success catching Crappie and Bluegill. The product is actually a soft plastic that has been impregnated with a very strong fish attracting scent. This is an excellent product to have handy when you don't have live bait. It is very effective. Bill also had a container of 2 1/2" emerald shinner GULP that looks like small minnows. They come in a plastic container filled with a liquid scent solution. I added one of these to a 1/32oz. jig and caught some 8"-9" Bluegill. I was quite immpressed with this product. If you can find it at your favorite outdoors store, pick up a couple of containers and give it a try. It might just save your fishing day!

FISHING FOR CRAPPIE

As you can see from my photos, I love to fish for Crappie! The top photo, I'm holding a nice Black Crappie and in the bottom pic I have a very nice White Crappie! These fish are actually two different Crappie species but both are excellent fish to catch. The difference in the two is in the markings and in the dorsal fins. Notice, on the Black Crappie, its color is generally darker with dark spots on its sides that have no apparent pattern. The White Crappie is a lighter color and its side markings run in a vertical bar pattern. The White Crappie seem to grow to a larger size and weight. As mentioned earlier, both are an excellent fish to catch! They are agressive hard fighters and "OH" so good to eat! Both these fish will range in a shallower water level than other fish but, like all fish, will need to search out deeper areas due to weather conditions. Notice that their eyes are situated on top of their heads which shows that they feed on object above them. When fishing for Crappie I generally do not fish deeper than 6-9 feet. The most popular method of fishing for Crappie is to use minnows for bait. Rig your line with a light and thin gage hook and add some light weight, such as split shot, about a foot above the hook. I prefer to use a stick bobber rather than a round one. The stick bobber gives less resistance to the fish and is easier to pull under than a round bobber. These fish have a tissue thin mouth area so there is no need to "CROSS HIS EYES" when setting the hook! Being gentle will help to prevent the hook from tearing out and give you more opportunity of taking more fish home! Another effective method is to use small jigs in the 1/32 to 1/8 oz.size. Either soft plastic tails or maribou work really good. Use these either under a bobber or just cast them on light weight tackle. These fish travel in schools so once you find them you should be able to catch a bunch in a short amount of time! These are great fish for the kids to catch so take them out and have a blast!

FISHING A BUZZ BAIT

Every year there is a new fishing bait to hit the stores that is advertised to be the "NEW BASS CATCHER of THE SEASON"! "If you don't have some of these you might as well stay home!" Of course, I have to buy as many as I can! Several years ago, I was fishing with a friend who owned a tackle store. He had all the latest "STUFF" and I was anxious to see how some of the things worked. I remember it was a warm day in July and he wanted to catch a few Bass to display at a sportsman's club outting later that day! The first thing he tied on was a form of a spinner bait but instead of having spinners on the shaft, it had a propeller shaped blade. It was also very noisy and I thought no way would this thing catch fish! Boy, was I wrong! He began casting and started his speedy retrieve as soon as the bait hit the water. The bait rose to the surface and began its noisy chop back toward the boat. The bait hadn't traveled five feet, when a Bass smacked the living daylights out of that lure! I was totally awed by the sight! After watching this happen time and time again, he finally threw a buzz bait to me. Today, I never go out without a good supply of buzz baits. So many companies make these lures today and they are still one of the most exciting lures to fish! A word of advice, for the most part, a Bass will only hit a buzz bait once on a retrieve so it's a good idea to have a back up bait such as a plastic worm or a soft swim bait to cast back to the area of the strike. It's a good chance the Bass will hit this follow up technique! A good casting outfit is the best to use with a buzz bait and a high gear ratio reel for a rapid retrieve. Smaller buzz baits, in the 1/8th oz. size, can be worked with a spinning outfit easier than with a casting rod. Don't be afraid to use these baits in the middle of the day. They make such a commotion that a Bass will hit it just because it's there! Good fishing!

FISHING IN THE RAIN

I love to fish no matter what the weather but my favorite time to fish is on an overcast day with a chance of showers! There are a lot of people who are, lets say, "FAIR WEATHER FISHERMEN", that would no more think of being out on a rainy day than the "MAN IN THE MOON"! I have had some really successful days while getting my LARGE BUTT wet! I think the best days are a rainy day following a long, hot dry spell. The rain helps to "Wake Up" the water and cause better fish movement. I also think the fish stay active for longer periods of time which leads to more success! One such day comes to mind. My fishing buddy (Bill) and I decided to head out and get wet, I guess for lack of anything else better to do! We put on our rain gear and headed for the lake. After dumping out the water that had partially filled the boat, we pushed off. We headed to some weed cover and started throwing top water baits. We had found the right spot right off the bat and started catching Bass as fast as we could cast. The fish weren't large but the fishing was fast and furious! After about 45 minutes we realized that the boat had 2"-3" of fresh rain water in it and our feet were soaked. We didn't care. We bailed the best we could and kept right on fishing! You know you've been in the rain too long when you notice your fingers look like prunes! We had a blast that day and still talk about it and hope to repeat that experience sometime in the future. The moral of this story is to not pass up any opportunity to go fishing! You may find that a rainy day while give you the experience of a life time!

THUNDERSTRUCK JIGS AND THE WOUNDED WARRIOR PROJECT

On my last post I mentioned some good web sites to view. There is one that I wanted to make a special post on. "Thunderstruck Jigs" have made an amazing looking series of skirted jigs. They are made with football heads or rounded heads and come in various shapes, colors and sizes. The skirted material is made of silicon for durability. Jigs have become a very necessary weapon for fishing for various species of fish. They are so popular that you can find them anywhere and they are made by dozens of lure manufactors. The most intriquing aspect of the THUNDERSTRUCK JIG CO. is a special program that they have become involved with! It is the "WOUNDED WARRIOR PROJECT"! This project was founded on the principle that VETERANS are our nation's greatest citizens. The "WWP" seeks to assist those men and women of our armed forces who have been severely injured during the conflict in Irag, Afghanistan and other locations around the world! Thunderstruck Jig Co. has produced a special football headed jig and named it the "FREEDOM JIG". It has a red,white and blue skirt and sells for $5.00 with 100% of the profits going to the "WWP"! I think this is an extremely patriotic idea and I encourage everyone to go to www.thunderstruckjigs.com and purchase some of their products. Their web site is full of material, how to videos and a catalog of their products. Please, check them out. You won't be sorry!

The Advantage Of The Internet

Years ago there was no internet, so in order to find information one had to do it the hard way, ask questions, read about it in the newspaper or witness it! During the fishing season our local newspapers would run outdoor columns dealing with up dated fishing reports. Not anymore. The papers need all their space for ads to bring in money so they can continue to publish the every day news. Being 60 years old has been a major disadvantage for me in working with computers. If you can imagine, just think how big a computer was back in the 60's, when I was in school, and then look at the one that is in front of you right now! When I graduated from high school I had an opportunity to attend a computer programming school. I was so intimidated at the idea that I chickened out! Who would have thought that today if you didn't have a computer in your home or a laptop to carry with you, you would be considered to be from the back hills! Well, it's fairly obvious that I have one now, and even though I have to "hunt and peck" to type anything, I LOVE IT! I spend so much time on it searching for "STUFF", it has create a few arguements in the home live! Getting back to where this was heading in the first place, I have found so many "NEAT" web sites dealing with fishing! I thought I would list a few here today! Most of them have a forum that can be joined or just read if you don't feel like joining! Some have great videos and how to information. Some are for the sale of their products but are interesting to view, so here goes! 1) SPORTSMANSLIFE.com 2) OHIOSPORTSMAN.com 3) OUTDOOROHIO.com 4) PONDBOSS.com (if you need information on building or working on a pond) 5)LARRYSLURESandCRAFTS.com 6) NORTHSTARCUSTOMBAITS.com 7) AMERICANBASSOUTLET and my favorite 8) MYOUTDOORTV.com. If you cann't get out fishing, maybe you can at least key up some of these sites an have a look around! Good Fishing!