Topwater blast

While any sensible angler knows there is no such thing as "The Magic Bait", there are some types of lure that have a magical quality by their application, action, and dynamic response of the prey the user is seeking, that can almost qualify them as supernatural in their ability to produce memorable, if not mind blowing strikes. Enter the Topwater Plug. While it is arguably not the best bait in many situations, in the right place, time, and light conditions there are few that can claim it's awesome power to call fish to the chow line, sometimes with violently acrobatic results. In my experience, never pass up a chance to throw a topwater bait early in the a.m. before the sun is over the treetops, on a cloudy day, especially if there is a medium breeze or light rain, and as night falls. If you have some loud lures even night fishing can bring success.

Above are six examples of one of the most popular topwater plug of all time, the Heddon Zara Spook. Introduced in 1939 these floating, rattling lures have a long history of grabbing Bass, Largemouth and Smallmouth, Pike, Pickerel, and even Catfish once in a blue moon. The Zara Spook is 4 1/2" long and weighs 3/4 oz. making it a bullet to cast with reasonable accuracy. This size comes with two 1/0 treble hooks that will hold once properly set. The trick to properly securing a hook set is staying calm and patient for about two seconds after the strike, once the fish hits and the water surface is splashed you need to be able to be sure the bait has been taken. You need to see the line move ( if there is any slack in it) , or feel the fish pull. This may seem easy in the reading, but when your heart skips a beat and your breath catches at the unexpected strike it is easy to jerk the rod, find the fish just slapped the bait and find you and your fishing buddy ducking a steel hook-laden missile. This will take practice and will result in some lost fish, but remember the two second rule. Train yourself to wait, and when you feel the fish on, apply steady, hard pressure to the rod keeping the tip down so the fish will be less inclined to jump and free itself with an aerial head shake, and do not let up on the pressure until you have the fish lipped or in the net. A word to the wise, with multi-hook lures, always have a good set of stainless steel needle nose pliers handy. For your sake as well as the fish's.

The four baits on the left are Berkley Frenzy Walkers, 1/2 oz. and 4" they rattle, and have a thicker body diameter than the Zara Spook, come with similar size dual hooks and because of their formed body shape, have a different action than the Spook. The two on the left are called 'pencils', the black one is by Tsunami, the silver scale is by a new company who's name escapes me at the moment. These pencils have a sharper side to side action than Walkers or Spooks by virtue of their tapered tail. More on the pencil later. By action I mean how you 'walk' the lure over the surface of the water, a technique that is not hard to learn with a little practice. Cast the bait out far into open water and let it rest a few seconds. Hold the rod tip at between 7 and 8 o'clock with a little slack in the line, then snap your wrist away from the direction of the lure about 2" or 4" at a time, and crank the reel handle 1/2 to 2/3 of a revolution. Sounds simple, and may take a few tries but picture the bait snapping from side to side as it retrieves. Learn a steady pace first, then you can vary the return, sharp rapid snaps with a fast retrieve if the bite is aggressive, a slower cadence and crawl if the fish are spooky or you are fishing a pressured body of water. Advice, a baitcasting reel is superior for topwater lures as the slack line for the snapping motion that makes the lure 'walk' does not translate to fouling loops as it will in the spool of a spinning reel! Authors note: The Berkley Frenzy line of lures was discontinued last year. About the only place to find them now is in the discount bin, or Ebay where they can still be had for a fair price.


There are more varieties of topwater baits available than I can count. Different shapes and sizes have appeal to different species, and the same species at different times of the year or spawning cycle. Above left, a Heddon Excaliber Spit n' Image in Bass pattern, with a wide deep body and rattle that while only a little over 3" long, displaces a lot of water as it moves. Below left is a Rapala Skitterwalk in bluegill colors, 3 1/8" long, and 7/16oz. For its size it is the loudest rattling surface bait I own. The next three on the right are 'pencil' baits, the top two are Spro Dawg 100's, with rattles and dressed rear trebles, the bottom in black and red is a Yozuri pencil walker, with a fine high pitched rattle. The Spro and Yozuri lures are both 4", and 1/2 oz.. The allure of the pencil bait is it's delicate movement, the tail being thinner and less buoyant sits lower in the water and allows for better hookup. These finer body baits also have their application in hi pressured waters where the fish see the same shape swimming overhead all day. These walkers take a very supple wrist and a little less retrieve speed for the most consistent action.

Presented here are six examples of the Heddon Super Spook jr. A smaller cousin to the Zara Spook, these measure 3 1/2", and weigh 1/2 oz. They cast just as well as their larger counterparts above, with the exception of some distance depending on the line you use. For this size and smaller topwater I use a 12 lb. copolymer or monofilament. ( avoid fluorocarbons as is sinks and will hinder the action of the plug) For anything larger I like braided line for the long cast and damage resistance, from 20 lb., 35lb., to 65lb. test.


Here are some of the most productive size baits of this genre. The top two rows are various patterns of the Heddon Zara Puppy. They are 3" and only 1/4 oz. so need to be handled with finesse. I love to throw them into 6" of water near shore cover, to the edge of lily pads and over openings in submerged weed banks and let them sit for a few minutes, this alone brings curiosity strikes from fish you might not have expected to be in the vicinity. These require more care and skill to 'walk' than even pencil baits and do not rattle. They are a true stealth bait, but do not think larger fish will not pay them attention, they seem to appear much like a tasty snack looking for a consumer. Bottom left, a 2" version on the Heddon Excaliber Spit n' Image with rattle. Bottom middle a modified bait, a Heddon Teeny Torpedo, with the propeller (usually found on the screw holding the trailing treble hook) removed for a sneakier retrieve, this little bait is 1 1/2", and only 1/8 oz. Bottom right is a Baby Zara, now discontinued this 2" non-rattling plug 'walks' in a more twitchy fashion than its longer brothers, giving the fish a new picture to look at.

Authors note: Ebay is still the best source for older and discontinued baits. If you intend to fish them, as I do, bid on the used lures, and leave the perfect condition baits with matching boxes to the collectors. One day one of those classic specimens may be reproduced for retail sale for your grandchildren to enjoy!



Now for my personal favorites. I have come to appreciate the long casting ability, noise, and displacement of water endemic to larger topwater lures. Granted they catch fewer fish as they can be intimidating to some species, but when you are hit hard on a bait that weighs over 1 1/2oz. and is 6" to 9" long you know you may be in for the fight of your life, and possibly the biggest fish you have ever hooked. Surprisingly price varies greatly with larger lures. The top lure in this photo is an Evergreen Amazon Pencil. At over 6" and 1 2/3 oz. it is a bulky lure, and has two sets of rattles and three black chrome 1/0 hooks. From Japan a special order will cost $24.99 US., I got mine on Ebay for $4.oo. The two Renegade lures below are 5", over 1oz. and have very loud rattles and a metallic scale finish. These can be had for less than $3.00 US in some retail stores and on Ebay. As they are excessively loud, they make good bait for night fishing.



Below are some of my next favorites. The six cigar shaped lures are Heddon Super Spooks, 5" long and 7/8 oz. with good rattles. They have 3 No.2 treble hooks, some anglers remove the first set back from the nose, as on occasion it can foul the line during a cast. This is a matter of preference, I leave mine on and seldom foul. Let your experience be the judge. These also cast a mile and make a lot of commotion on the water. While generally sold as saltwater baits I have had little problem getting interested Bass, pike, and pickerel to take a turn at the attack. The plug at the center of the photo is a custom I painted to replicate the Tiger Salamander, a native amphibian here in Massachusetts. While not a regular part of Bass diet, all Bass seem to have a genetically encoded hatred for salamanders of any kind as they eat Bass eggs , so you can imagine the animosity involved in a strike on this lure. On the upper left is a bait common in the Northern-Midwestern US called a Suick, primarily used for Muskie and Pike it is a wooden bait that one pulls in snaps across the water, the underside of the front portion of the lure is concave so sends water splashing to the sides. The flexible metal 'tail' can be bent up or down to make the bait dip into the water or pop out of it on the snap retrieve. The Suick is 7" long and about 1 1/2 oz, and comes with 2 No.3 heavy duty hooks. So ends this first installment on lures, over time there will be more on a wide variety of what we fish with here in New England. Feel free to post any questions, I am sure I missed points, and hope to hear any tips, and accounts of the baits you use where you fish.

Good fishing and God bless, Mike.

Fishing Quabbin Reservoir, Massachusettes

Well, the deep sea trip was canceled due to 30 to 40 mile-an-hour winds, and 16 foot seas. So that post won't happen until after Sept. 29th, hopefully we will have better luck with the weather then, the new date for the trip.
But the quest for fish continues! June 2nd my buddy Bob and I went to Quabbin Reservoir for the day. Quabbin is the largest body of water in Massachusetts. Built between 1930 and 1940, four towns were flooded in it's making and now covers an area of 38.6 sq. miles with 118 miles of shore. At it's deepest it is about 150 ft. and the water is very clear and clean as it is the drinking water supply for the city of Boston.
Fish species include Lake trout, (some of which are estimated to be over 40 lbs. by state divers) Rainbow and Brown Trout, Pickerel, Largemouth and Smallmouth Bass, Rock Bass, Perch, and Landlocked Salmon. Pike are rumored here, but we have never caught one. We started out at launch at 6am, we rented a boat, $30.00 for 13 hours, gas and personal floatation included. We hit fish within the first hour. Pickerel and Largemouth were the order of the morning. Bob hit the first fish of the day, a Pickerel under 2 lbs. that did not stick around for a photo.(pic#3) My first fish, a bass under 2 lbs. came shortly after. Next I bagged a 3 lb. 12 oz Largemouth on a custom painted bait. (pic#1) Bob bags a Bass on a Cotton Cordell Spot, bronze crayfish color(pic#2) a pattern he did well on all day and I soon tied one on as well. The sun was hot and there was only nominal cloud cover, wind was only about 7 miles an hour. We did get some Bass early on in flooded cover on Yum Dingers, a senko type straight plastic worm about 5 in. long in a chartreuse/pumpkinseed pattern fished Texas rigged and weightless. We saw several female Bass in the weeds and shallows over 6 lbs. but being in a confused spawn mode due to erratic weather they were spooky and hard to entice to bite. The males were not so hard to convince.
All total we landed about 35 fish, and lost about 10 before we got them to the boat. Most were Largemouth, several aggressive Pickerel, a few Smallies, and for the first time on a Quabbin trip four Rock Bass, a panfish that resembles a large Bluegill, and attacks lures like a Smallmouth. We usually fish a lot of topwater on this lake, but the shallow crankbait, and lipless crankbait dominated the fishing this trip with good success.
Our next scheduled trip to Quabbin will be in two weeks when once again we will be looking to bag a big fish, hopefully over 5 lbs. We know they are there, and we will not be deterred!
Until then, We will continue to hunt the big ones in our local waters, and bring you the accounts.
I am still working on a tackle post, featuring awesome old lures, personal favorites, and custom painted lures I have made to show the fish something new. Good luck and God bless, Mike.

Fishing Kezar Lake, Maine.

'Fishing Kezar Lake' By Mike.

I am a recently added coauthor to Men's Fishery Zone, courtesy of the original author. Please have patience as I learn to navigate uploading photos and editing.
My first post is on a fishing trip to Kezar Lake, (pronounced Kee-zer) in west central Maine, USA. The lake is about 9 mi. long and a mile or so wide, orientated north to south five miles from the New Hampshire border. Depth ranges from a few feet to over 200, it is a clear cold water lake with several gamefish species including Largemouth Bass, Smallmouth Bass, Lake Trout, and pickerel over 3 lbs.
My hosts were Tim and Bruce who have fished this lake most of their lives, and knew where to find the fish. This was a great benefit as local knowledge is the best way to learn a fishery. We fished Saturday and Sunday, April 28th and 29th of this year. This photo shows the overcast skies that were with us both days and how calm the water was. Water temp was 48 F. on the north end and 51 F. on the south, average air temp. was 55 F. There was light rain

Our first fish were in open water, but most of the catches were in flooded brush, in the inflow of a river, and in a small connected pond. Most fish were found shallow and close to cover the first day, scattered and a little away from shore the second.
We fished primarily with black 1/4 oz spinner baits, double and single Colorado blades. These were custom made by Bruce and have a tremendous vibration in the water due to a flexible wire modification that I may elaborate on in a future post, if I get permission to publish from Bruce as he and his brother win tournaments on them.
Largemouth, 2lbs.+

We caught some of the fish on Case Plastics Salty Sinking Shad, Watermelon green, rigged weightless on 4/0 wide gap worm hooks. I got one on a Zoom Super Fluke, Alewife, rigged the same.

We fished with Rapala, Berkley, and Cotton Cordell lipless crank baits with only little success for Smallmouth Bass in deeper water, Tim and Bruce caught one each, both over 3lbs. unfortunately the photos are to dark to post. I still have some things to learn about the digital camera.

Tim with a 4lb.+ Largemouth Bass.

Tim had told me while we were planning this trip that there would be the potential to catch big Bass here, and he was right!
Photo left, is my largest fish to date at 6.2 lbs. It hit softly, as so many big fish do, especially in cold water, and only began to fight when it was a few feet from the boat.
The fish stripped drag and took line a few times until Tim was able to get hold of it's lip and bring it on deck.
Bruce hooked into two fish over 7 lbs, one struck right at the boat and came off a second later.
The second we saw 'finning', swimming slowly at the surface, so the dorsal and top of her tail cut the surface like a shark with some males following her, we did not think she would hit a lure, but Bruce threw his spinner bait a few yards ahead of her and she went right after it, ran with it and hung him up in a brush point. We all felt the loss, it would have been nice to get her to the boat and weigh her.


Largemouth, 6.2 lbs.

We caught 18-20 fish on Saturday, and failed to land about 12. On Sunday the Barometer had stabilized at about 29.89 millibars and held +/- .02 all day making the fish less responsive. We totaled about 10 fish to the boat, and 3 to 5 lost from the hook. The last photo is Bruce holding a 5 lb. + Largemouth Bass caught on a spinner bait. The Trip was a lot of fun and my hosts were humorous and good natured. I have been invited back for a future trip, I hope to fish topwater baits and frogs in the late spring. Until then I will fish my home waters, and work on the next post which may be on lures and equipment, or on an upcoming deep sea trip out of Glouster, Massachussettes for Cod and Haddock with my church, whichever come first.

Crappie Fishing Tips

Whether you are new to Crappie fishing, or an avid fisherman, it never hurts to other opinions and tips from both professional and amateur fisherman alike. Some fisherman have a habit of finding one certain style of fishing, and sticking to it. While doing what makes you most comfortable may allow you to fish without any surprises, many times that style of fishing may now work in all situations and conditions. By trying different things, you may find that you increase your catch.

Fishing for Crappie in Winter

During the winter, water temperatures can drop below 40 degrees. When the water is this cold, look for schooling crappie in deeper areas from 18 to 30 feet. Most areas water stay below this temperature from late November to early march. Concentrate on sharp bends or points and work both directions with a slow presentation until you find the right depth and color combination. Professional fisherman prefer to start with darker colors of red, green, or orange in combinations with yellow or chartreuse tails. Pre-tie your rigs and setup. By having the rigs already tied we can spend more time fishing, and much less time changing baits. It also beats attempting to tie new bait on when the temperature is low and your fingers are numb.

Fishing for Crappie in Fall

Fall is literally the hardest time to fish for Crappie. During the fall, crappie may seem to disappear completely. The truth is they do not disappear, they just change the area in which they frequent. One day the crappie may be found in shallow water around submerged weeds, and may be schooling in 30 foot open waters the next. The trick is attracting the more illusive Crappie to your bait. This can be accomplished several ways.

1) Fish slower. Give the Crappie more time to see the bait.
2) Use bright colored baits. Orange/chartreuse, yellow/chartreuse, and green/chartreuse Crappie Pro jig bodies are favorites among professional fisherman.
3) If you are using artificial bait, use bait scents. tip out jigs with a piece of minnow or Berkley Crappie Nibbles.
4) Allow for more bait movement. While moving the bait requires more time and energy, it attracts the Crappie by giving the illusion of live bait.

Fishing for Crappie in Spring

Fishing for Crappie during the spring may be the easiest, because most Crappie are spawning during this time. The male Black Crappie construct a large nest by fanning out small depressions around the bottom of brush, various vegetation, rocks, or submerged boulders, in water anywhere from 1 to 5 feet deep. The female Black Crappie then come in and lay eggs in the nest. Concentrate on these types of area

Dan Eggertsen is a fishing researcher and enthusiast who is commited to providing the best crappie fishing information possible. Get more information on crappie fishing tips here: http://www.askcrappiefishing.com

Why Fish For Crappie?

Crappie fishing is one of the most popular types of fishing among anglers in the United States due to the plentiful supply of fish in lakes throughout the country. However, without the right information, it can still be difficult to catch a sufficient amount to make your trips worthwhile. This article will go over some general information on crappie fishing that will make your trips more efficient.

Depending on the time of year that you strike out to take a fishing trip, tactics used to catch crappie can be very different. For example, if you take your weekend crappie fishing excursion in the middle of June or July, you won't find the crappie near the surface or in shallow waters as you would in early spring. Instead, you'll have to fish deeper, usually closer to fifteen feet where the waters are cooler more consistently.

In general, crappie fishing is inconsistent mostly because these fish have a personality that requires very specific conditions for fruitful reproduction. For example, it seems that activity increases as the full moon nears, and some anglers find that the best crappie fishing can take place in twilight or at night about four to five days prior to the full moon. However, they seem to become sluggish as the full moon hits, so this is perhaps the least productive day of the month in which to go fishing for crappie.

If you are going to go crappie fishing during a full moon, you should try using live bait, as it is more likely to catch the attention of lethargic crappie. Also, be sure to use a slower technique, such as slow trolling. However, in the days prior to the full moon, crappie fishing will be most productive with a fast troll using jigs. Because the fish are active, it takes more movement to catch their eye and get a hook in on a nice slab. Different anglers will recommend different bait overall in the summer months; however, using a 1/16 ounce green or chartreuse jig tipped with a minnow seems to do the trick every time.

Crappie fishing can be found at hundreds of thousands of lakes and streams throughout the United States, so there is no easy answer as to where you'll find the most productive lake at any given point. Although they tend to be some of the smallest fish sought out by anglers overall, crappie is one of the most abundant types of fish in the country, meaning that they can easily be found and caught, even be inexperienced fishermen. In fact, because crappie fishing can be so easy, if you go out in the spring for a fishing excursion, it doesn't much matter what equipment you use; you are almost guaranteed to find crappie and have a decent catch. by Daniel Eggertsen

Dan Eggertsen is a fishing researcher and enthusiast who is commited to providing the best crappie fishing information possible. Get more information on crappie fishing here: http://www.askcrappiefishing.com

From: http://sports-offline.blogspot.com

Wow! Fantastic!

38 kg!!

'Only 50 years left' for sea fish

There will be virtually nothing left to fish from the seas by the middle of the century if current trends continue, according to a major scientific study.

Stocks have collapsed in nearly one-third of sea fisheries, and the rate of decline is accelerating. Writing in the journal Science, the international team of researchers says fishery decline is closely tied to a broader loss of marine biodiversity. But a greater use of protected areas could safeguard existing stocks. "The way we use the oceans is that we hope and assume there will always be another species to exploit after we've completely gone through the last one," said research leader Boris Worm, from Dalhousie University in Canada. "What we're highlighting is there is a finite number of stocks; we have gone through one-third, and we are going to get through the rest," he told the BBC News website. Steve Palumbi, from Stanford University in California, one of the other scientists on the project, added: "Unless we fundamentally change the way we manage all the ocean species together, as working ecosystems, then this century is the last century of wild seafood." This is a vast piece of research, incorporating scientists from many institutions in Europe and the Americas, and drawing on four distinctly different kinds of data. Catch records from the open sea give a picture of declining fish stocks. In 2003, 29% of open sea fisheries were in a state of collapse, defined as a decline to less than 10% of their original yield. Bigger vessels, better nets, and new technology for spotting fish are not bringing the world's fleets bigger returns - in fact, the global catch fell by 13% between 1994 and 2003. Historical records from coastal zones in North America, Europe and Australia also show declining yields, in step with declining species diversity; these are yields not just of fish, but of other kinds of seafood too. Zones of biodiversity loss also tended to see more beach closures, more blooms of potentially harmful algae, and more coastal flooding.


We should protect biodiversity, and it does pay off through fisheries yield
Carl Gustaf Lundin Experiments performed in small, relatively contained ecosystems show that reductions in diversity tend to bring reductions in the size and robustness of local fish stocks. This implies that loss of biodiversity is driving the declines in fish stocks seen in the large-scale studies. The final part of the jigsaw is data from areas where fishing has been banned or heavily restricted.

To view the rest of this story, please visit the source