Tri-State Outdoor News

Boy, was I mad.

On Groundhog Day, I took a large group of wildlife enthusiasts to Etna Green to see Pothole Pete climb out of his den and give us the scoop on his six-week weather forecast, but he never appeared.

No amount^{of shout-}g into his hole made_{any dif-} ference. I was mortified.  That overstuffed flea bag about his non-appearance on Groundhog Day, but without success. Yesterday, I was finally able to get the story.

“Hey Pothole, com’on out here, you got some explainin’ to do,” I shouted while kneeing on the ground. After four shouts he made an appearance.

What stood before me was a ground hog with blood-shot eyes, ruffled fur and muddy feet. He was covered with confetti and a brightly colored party hat still covered his head.

“Phew, that was some party ol’ Harvey Moot had Tuesday,” he said while downing a half a dozen aspirin.”

“You mean you passed up Groundhog Day to go to a wild party given by Harvey Moot?”  “Yep, and it was a doozie. Y’ know, You.’” “Chef Arnie Adnoid served up some Southern Fried Jellow Patties with Pepto Bismol Sauce and Winona Carp Jumablia,”  “This was no small party. Deer, turkeys, dogs, cats, squirrels, opossums, hawks, coyotes, beavers, and skunks were all there.  When Harvey throws a woodland bash, it’s the talk of the county.”

“The air was filled with romance and I can tell you when litters start appearing this spring, area residents are in for some big surprises.”

“Yea, and while you were partying, Punxsutawney Phil, General Lee, Chipper, French Creek Freddie, Octorara Orphie, Jimmie and a dozen other ground hogs were making news with their forecasts. We only have one talking ground hog in our county and he decides to party instead of prognosticate,” I complained.

“Well, I say nuts to Groundhog Day. Why should I let some fat ninny in a tuxedo drag me out of my warm home in the middle of winter just to satisfy the whims of information-hungry weather watchers? Let them get their weather information from the Weather Channel like everybody else,” Pothole barked back.

“Furthermore, Punxsutawney Phil’s prediction for the next six week isn’t worth a thing. Just look at what happened at this event. They drag the fat that old fossil really knows how to throw a party. My head is still whirling from the music.

Early spring is a time when the outdoors comes to life and most anglers begin to prepare crappie poles and sharpen jigs for some deep brush jigging or spider rigging. There’s no doubt early spring is a great time for some cruising crappies, but it can be just as good for channel cats as old man winter loses ground.

It wasn’t long after moving to Indiana that I found the lakes around here to be full of catfish. I was amazed at the size of channel cats and quickly began targeting them often – and a great time to pursue these big channel cats is in the spring.

The important thing with early spring cat fishing is water temperature. Finding the warmer water on any lake will be the focus during early spring and just a few degrees can make the difference. Water 1 to 5 feet deep, with a mud bottom, is a great place to look as the sun is drawn to the dark, mud- bottom causing the water to warm quicker in these areas. The warmer water stimulates the cold-blooded cats causing them to feed more aggressively and what brings these fish to these shallow coves is food!

In the winter there is a natural die off of fish that occurs and if your lake has shad, then the amount of food floating below the surface of the lake can be extraordinary. This die off provides catfish with a much needed food source before time to spawn. Instinct will prevail and the catfish will find these wind swept coves with lots of dead shad from the winter-kill taking advantage of this natural occurrence.

Wind to an angler can be a nuisance or a great ally. In the case of early spring cat fishing, wind is your ally. Wind mixes the water helping to warm these shallow coves while at the same time pushing dead shad into these coves. The important thing is to find the combination of a large shallow cove and a wind that blows directly into that cove. If the wind is not blowing directly into the cove then at least locate the bank being lapped with the wind blown water and start there.

The choice of bait seems obvious. Cut shad is the way to go for this time of year but try mixing it up a little. Most of the fish will focus on dead shad so you definitely want a rig with cut shad but you should rig a pole or two with something different just in case it stimulates a fish that might be attracted to something new. I have to say that sometimes the different bait far outperforms the shad but always have cut shad in the boat, as it will work best most of the time. Some other baits I use are shrimp, and where legal, fresh bluegill fillets and heads.

Some will argue that the smellier the bait the better. I can only say that fresh bait has always worked well for me and seems to attract the larger fish. I keep the stinky stuff out of my boat and stick to fresh or fresh frozen. I have caught fish on the rotten stuff but I seemed to waste a lot of time with smaller fish. Since going strictly fresh, the bite action has slowed but the hook-up action on bigger fish has increased as I waste little time worrying with those little fish and more time fighting nice size channels to the boat, which brings us to the tackle you want to use to catch these catfish.

You want to start with a medium heavy rod as big channel cats can put up a great fight.  I set all my rigs to free spool just in case I miss a bite he can keep running until I can get to the rod. If I see the bite I set the hook immediately.  A lot of anglers like to tight line their rigs but it seems as though this results in dropped bites when they feel the rod, leaving no time to set the hook.

One stick is all it takes. A common mistake that I used to make was to stick the bait numerous times and cover the entire hook with the bait for fear the fish might feel the hook and spook. I now leave the hook point uncovered and stick the bait only once so that when the fish inhales the bait the point is exposed, and even if it decides to spit it out, there is a better chance for a hook up. This may seem trivial but really does make a difference in the number of hook-ups you will have.

Terminal tackle should consist of a solid hook and a monofilament leader, 20 to 30 pound test, with a barrel swivel between it and the main line. On the main line, above the swivel, there should be a single bead to protect the knot, and then a slider for your sinker; these sliders are inexpensive and are much less abrasive on your line and allows you to easily change sinker size as conditions dictate. The sinkers ability to slide on the main line is very important as these fish are very sensitive to pressure and if they feel any at all, they will drop the bait. The reason I choose mono for my leader is its ability to withstand the abrasion effects of heavy brush a little better than braided line. My main line is 50 to 60 pound braid, which allows more line on a more compact reel, which I like to use.  I set the hook hard on these big cats so I choose the octopus over the circle as my choice in hooks. Quick hook sets are important to get those big cats away from the cover that they are sure to head for when hooked. This is the reason I use a compact rod and reel, to have more control of the fight.

Spring cat fishing may not be as popular as some of the other early spring fishing but with a little patience you might find an exciting early spring activity for yourself and your family and enjoy some great fishing fun as well as some great fillets for the table.

Rend Lake in south-central Illinois has a wide-variery of camping spots, and plenty of fun things to do while exploring the area.

Besides camping, there is fishing, boating, hunting, shooting sports, hiking, bicycling, swimming, golf, and many interesting places to visit, including shops and eateries.

If you are looking for a new place to camp, Rend Lake ought be near the top of your list. It is close to anyplace in the Tri-State area, and has 1,100 campsites ranging from full-hookups to remote primitive sites. It’s a place you can always find a level campsite, usually in the shade or on the lake shore. More »

It’s HOT, and with the increase in temperatures (especially in the southern reaches of the Tri-State Outdoor News,) it can make it hard to want to get out there and fish. Also, many species of fish have changed their patterns and can be more difficult to catch now than they were a month or two ago when they were up on the beds spawning.

Even though they can be a little tougher, fish can still be caught during the dog days of summer – sometimes in impressive numbers. You may just need to tweak your presentations and locations you fish in order to get on them. More »

Lazy days spent fishing a farm pond are some of the best times afield. Many old timers got their start this way, while today’s kids often follow suit and catch their first fish from a pond. Stock your tackle box with a few wellworn favorites and you can also catch farm pond fish this summer.

“I always try to keep a good supply of some type of plastic worms,” said Andy Mowrey, an avid farm pond angler and stream restoration biologist for the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources. “I also like the good oldfashioned topwaters like Hula Poppers and Jitterbugs. Also, I keep some kind of jig-and-pig or crankbait; something that moves faster than a plastic lure.” More »

Early summer is a confusing time to fish for largemouth bass. Common sense dictates bass would inhale anything resembling food after the rigors of spawning in late May and early June. It seems a Carolina-rigged lizard or spinner bait tossed into places where the fishing was good earlier in the year would be crunched by a hungry, ornery largemouth at this time of year.

However, many anglers may fish long hours just to catch a few 12-inch bass to show for it.

“I have trouble with postspawn fishing because it’s transitional,” said Jeff Ross, assistant director of fisheries for the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources. “The spawn takes a lot out of them. Shallow water fishing declines after the spawn. You may still catch little ones, but the big females are transitioning to their summer habitat.” More »

Bass are the most popular fish in America. More people claim to fish for bass than all other species combined. Even though we all know that we are fishing for anything that will bite, we like to call ourselves bass fisherman.

Just this week I was fishing with my kids and they decided they wanted to throw surface baits for bass. We tied on everything from Jitterbugs to Hula Poppers to some non-descript rubber frogs.

The kids, despite getting plenty of hits, could not seem to land a fish. So I decided to ease the anguish of missing the big ones by baiting up a hook with a tiny red worm and tossing it into the lily pads. Quickly the bobber was gone, but instead of a little bluegill, I found myself fighting a really nice bass. The fish turned out to be a 16- incher and the silly look on my face told my kids I had no idea why it hit the worm or how I landed it on that tiny little hook. More »

Remnants of beautiful and diverse habitats remain in southern Indiana as wetlands, woodlands and cave systems enrich the region.

The wetlands at Hovey Lake Fish and Wildlife Area, the Patoka River National Wildlife Refuge and Goose Pond Fish and Wildlife Area, combined with the woodlands found in the Hoosier National Forest and surrounding parks and wildlife areas along with important cave systems make this a unique place in our state and in our country. Each of these distinctive habitats contain plant and wildlife species that are needed for a healthy ecosystem to be able to meet our endless needs. These large tracts of land are CRUCIAL.

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Ask a dozen fishermen to name the best-eating fish on the stringer and I’d bet six of them would point to the crappie. Six of 12, well, that’s almost half. And if half the fishermen surveyed think one type of fish tastes better than all others, well, that might be something to take a look at.

I never would have guessed just how popular crappie fishing has become. Back when I was a kid we would catch crappies off the rocks in a channel near my house each spring. The best bait was a tiny white fly tied on a cane pole. By stretching out with the cane pole and carefully jigging the fly just above the nose of the fish, you could entice even the most stubborn pre-spawn fish to bite.

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After my solo trip last month to the Brimstone Recreation Area in Huntsville, Tenn., I was ready for a little company on my next voyage, and boy did I get it. We had a total of 13 in our party, nine of whom were all staying in a 3-bedroom, 1-bath rental house. Besides waiting our turn for the bathroom, it worked out wonderfully. For our friends and family spring break trip there was only one logical destination, Evarts Kentucky, where they make you feel like you are part of their family. We were staying again with James White “Po’ Whiteboy” who is not only a great host but a pretty darn good guide as well. Our group consisted of four fathers with five children aged 10 to 14 and two adult couples. More »