When summer is in full swing, and the surface water temperatures begin to soar into the upper 80’s and 90’s, gamefish are going to do what we do…look for a place that’s comfortable and cool. Stripers especially, prefer flowing cold water, over hot stagnant water. And as anglers, our challenge is to find those areas…
Summer has arrived! Outside temperatures are hitting the 90 degree mark by mid-morning. Bottom fishing and downlining baits on a breezeless ocean or lake has your favorite fishing shirt drenched with sweat while you wait for a bite. Isn’t fishing supposed to be fun? Here’s a tactic to help keep you cool, and probably put…
In a very literal sense, we fish with Sticks. Rods, even with the high tech composites used today are still basically..Sticks. A couple hundred years ago our forefathers used a stick, some twine and a crude hook to catch dinner. Our grandfathers, and many of us, used cane poles with a bobber and a worm…
The High’s and Low’s of Fishing By Capt. Cefus McRae, Nuts & Bolts of Fishing The recent winter storm had me sitting by the fire for a full day, watching the sleet and freezing rain accumulate on the trees. Over time, the limbs began to sag under the weight, and occasionally I would hear what…
Our southeastern impoundments are awesome fisheries. They hold a cornucopia of piscatorial critters, from bass to bream, and stripers to gar. As a guide, my clients expect to hear a drag scream and experience the thrill of wrestling with a finned foe, and maybe putting a few in the box for dinner. Some days the…
Summertime is here! It’s hot for us humans, and it’s hot for the fish too. For us two-legged critters, we can seek the comfort and cooling of indoor air-conditioning. For fish, that’s not exactly practical, so they have to look for cooler water temperatures that deep water can provide. First, let’s get down to the…
Look in my tackle boxes, and you’ll find a lot of lures, hooks and rigs that have been catching fish for decades…or longer. Those unimpressive purple plastic worms rigged on a Tru-Turn bass hook with a bullet sinker still fools bass. The WhoopAss Bucktail jigs continue to catch stripers, hybrids, snapper, grouper, cobia and a…
If you fish virtually any of the southeastern impoundments, you’ll notice the birds have returned for the winter. Seagulls and loons are getting fat on the abundance of bait available right now, and they will typically stay around for another month or so. For us anglers, the birds give us a lot of insight on…
The other day, Buck The Wonder Dog told me he wanted to do a little fishing. So we loaded up the boat and headed out to chase down a few stripers. I knew the general area where I wanted to start trolling, so I really didn’t pay a lot of attention to my chartplotter on…
By Capt. Cefus McRae, Nuts & Bolts of Fishing Series It’s been a long time since I got a hook stuck in me. I try to be careful when tying on a lure, when landing fish, and when removing hooks from fish. But if you do enough fishing, at some point, you’re probably going to…