Outdoorsmen Adventures.com

When I’m doing in store promotions and fishing seminars, I get a lot of questions, the one that’s asked the most often is “how can I catch fish”?

It’s not really all that complicated; first you have to understand why fish do certain things and when they’ll do it!

What you need to do is to think like a fish.

In order to understand fish, you first need to understand the senses a fish uses to survive.

One of the most misunderstood senses of the fish would be its lateral line.

A fish’s lateral line is made up of a bundle of nerves whose projecting hairs is enclosed in a gelatinous substance located on either side of the fish.

The lateral line is sensitive to changes in the water pressure and as the pressure changes either by a change in depth or an approaching fish or creature causes the hairs to vibrate, sending signals to the brain allowing the fish to detect movement that they may not have see.

The lateral line also helps fish to swim in tight schools with out running into each other.

The eyesight of a fish is similar to that of we humans, they’re able to detect both brightness and color.

Fish that roam the shallow water, such as bass have excellent eyesight.  In bright light, bass see many of the colors that humans are able to see.

Other species of fish won’t have the full line of color perception that humans do.

Since water filters out colors, fish located in deeper water can’t detect all the colors that shallow water cousins can.

Walleyes for instance see primarily orange and green, with all other colors appearing as different shades of gray.

Fluorescence hold their color longer in deeper water, what this means is that the fish are more apt to see a florescent colored lure better in deeper water.

Fish that feed in deep water aren’t able to distinguish the different colors so instead of responding to color, they respond to vibration and the flashes of light coming off predators, prey fish or your lure.

All species of fish have an excellent sense of hearing.  Part of the reason that a fish hears so well is because water conducts sound better than air.

Fish don’t have ears like other animals; they pick up sound through the bones located in their head.

The way one species of fish will relate to sound varies from one species to another.  The vibration made by an angler walking along a bank can spook trout, but panfish don’t seemed to be bothered by noise.

I can attest for this first hand as a few years ago, we were SCUBA diving in Lake Francis Case, most of the fish in the area that we were working, moved away when from the bubbles coming from our gear.  The panfish weren’t afraid at all and came closer with the more racket we made.

Taste is another sense that fish have.  Taste is not one of their primary senses and not many fish rely heavily on just this sense when feeding.

The exception to this rule is the bullhead and catfish family.  They have very poor eyesight and rely heavily on the taste receptors located on the outside of their mouth in their barbells or whiskers to help locate food.

The sense of smell is excellent in most species of fish.  As they move through the water, their sense of smell is continually being used, checking out the surrounding body of water.… Continue reading

Reprinted from the Sioux City Journal

WEBSTER, S.D. — Our plan was to hit two lakes a day and take full advantage of the variety of fishing to be found in the Glacial Lakes area of northeastern South Dakota.

Mother Nature threw us a curve, however, and rather than fight 25 to 30 mile-an-hour winds, we fished mornings and motored off the water pounding against a spray of white caps each afternoon.

The first morning was the worst.

A south wind was blasting at 20 miles an hour by 10 a.m. We parked at the boat ramp on Reetz Lake, just south of Webster.

“We won’t last long, out there,” I said to Fran. “We might be able to get out of the wind along that west shoreline.”

I had not planned to fish Reetz. Less than a month earlier I had fished it and caught several walleyes over 20 inches there. But, with the wind I thought our chances were better here on a lake where all walleyes under 28-inches have to be released.

We lasted about an hour and a half and boated two nice walleyes on bottom bouncers and spinners fished in 12 to 14 feet of water.

The rest of the afternoon we spend prospecting other lakes and checking out boat ramps for the next day.

With the wind forecast to blow again, we launched the next morning on Enemy Swim Lake, long one of the northeast’s glacial gems.

It’s a beautiful lake. Clear water, wooded shorelines and a couple of islands. It’s 2,150 acres with a maximum depth of 24 feet. All bass between 14 and 18 inches must be released with only one over 18 allowed in the daily bag. That just about guarantees good bass fishing and that is just what we found.

We started on one of the main lake points casting crankbaits and spinnerbaits in water nine feet and less, but never brought up a bass. We moved deeper on the same point and switched to bottom bouncers and spinners with crawlers.

Again, nothing. Only perch.

We left that spot and headed for a small rocky island nearby and that’s where we found the bass.

Smallies were laying in the shallow, boulder-studded water and were more than willing to take our Big O crankbaits.… Continue reading

“Your bobber is down. Start reeling. Hold your rod up. There you go. Nice fish.” Remember those words? I do. As a young boy my dad took me fishing. I looked forward to those times, which fortunately, were quite often for me. My dad loved to fish. Even when he had a buddy or relative that he was going with, he would often include me. He started a love of fishing in me that has lasted a lifetime. I have four brothers who are avid anglers. Is it just in our blood, or something else?

It was the time we got to spend with our dad that was as important as the activity. My dad was a pretty good fisherman. His passion for the sport rubbed off on us. He invested in good fishing equipment and a safe boat. Dad seemed to always know where the fish were biting, how deep, and on what bait. He took us fishing for walleyes, his favorite pursuit. I remember my first big walleye, where I caught it, what I was using, and what the weather was like. I was shaking when dad got that fish in the landing net. I was forever hooked.

There are lessons to be learned from the story I have just shared. First, obviously, you need to make time to spend with your children. No children? Mentor someone else’s child. There are many agencies that will connect you. The local YMCA is a good place to start.… Continue reading

When I first moved to north-eastern Nebraska, I was anxious to learn about the outdoors and fishing in the area.

At that time, I didn’t own a boat and my only alternative was to fish the river from shore, which sounded like a good idea at the time.

There’s nothing wrong with shore fishing, except that I had never been a river fishermen, little alone one that fished a river from shore.

Needless to say, I wasn’t equipped to fish from shore and was loosing more tackle each week than the local bait shop stocked.

Good for them, bad for me as I’ve never been a quitter and refused to quit trying until I came up with a better plan.

The only alternatives that I could come up with were to:

1. Somehow, figure out how to fish the lakes, the larger bodies of water without a boat.

2. Find some smaller bodies of water that would allow me to fish from shore.

I like many other people think that order to catch big fish; I needed to be fishing huge bodies of water such as Lake Oahe, Lake McConaughy or Waubay Lake.

The truth is you don’t need to have thousands of acres of water to have a trophy fishery.… Continue reading

Reprinted from the Sioux City Journal

I’ve always maintained that when fish, any fish, are in shallow water, there is no more effective way of taking them than with the fly rod.

That was brought home to me once again when Gary Howey, Hartington, Neb., and I were guests at the Big Blue Ranch and Lodge just south of Burchard, Neb., recently.

The lodge overlooks a 25-acre lake and from the first time I laid eyes on it I couldn’t wait to baptize a fly upon its waters.

I didn’t have long to wait. Gary and I filled our turkey tags in less than two hours and we were on the shoreline by 3 o’clock, rods in hand.

Gary doesn’t fly fish so he was hurling a number 3 Mepps spinner and soon connected with a three pound bass, the first of many.… Continue reading

It was early morning as we relaxed on the deck at Big Blue Ranch & Lodge near Burchard, NE.

We ‘d just come outside to relax and enjoy a cup of coffee when the gobbling of a turkey disturbed the morning silence.

Nothing unusual, since we’d been at the lodge for a couple of days and whenever we’d been on the deck we not only heard turkeys, but also coyotes, prairie chickens and Canada geese announcing their presence.

It was both Larry and my second hunt of the spring turkey season; Larry had tagged one bird in Northeast Iowa while I had put down two birds in Northeastern Nebraska.

We were in S.E. Nebraska as we’d been invited down to film and hunt the 2,000 acres owned by Scott and Billie Kay Bodie.

I’d met them last fall while hunting in the Nebraska Governor’s Pheasant Hunt, which was headquartered out of Beatrice, NE.

Southeastern Nebraska is a beautiful place as not only is there an abundance of game in the area; there are numerous ponds and small lakes dotting the countryside.

The property we were hunting had several lakes, one, located just below the lodge was 25 acres and was stocked with bass, crappie, bluegill and pike.

When we arrived shortly after lunch, we met with Scott who directed us into the lodge and gave us a brief description of the land we’d be hunting and the birds that called the area home met us.… Continue reading

Reprinted from the Sioux City Journal

These two jakes came running into our hen calls at the Big Blue Ranch and Lodge near

Burchard, Neb. (Journal photo by Larry Myhre)

BURCHARD, Neb. — Like so many times before, it was a gobble that first alerted us that a tom turkey was coming in.

Gary Howey motioned that the bird was downhill in front of us just in case I hadn’t heard.

I had the video camera running and began looking for the bird.

The first indication was the tip of his tail, spread in full strut, and slowly rocking back and forth as the bird stepped forward.

Then he was there, all puffed up and drumming. It was a glorious sight and one that sets a turkey hunter’s heart to pounding.

He was 15 yards out when Gary “putted” sharply on his diaphragm call to make the bird come out of strut and stick up his head.

Just like that it was over.

Less than two hours into our hunt on the Big Blue Ranch and Lodge south of Burchard, we had both filled turkey tags.

Gary, from Hartington, Neb., and I were guests of Scott Bodie and his wife Billie Kay. Their 2,000-acre working cattle ranch is the backdrop for a retreat for hunters, fishermen, horse enthusiasts, bird watchers or anyone just seeking relaxation.

Their cedar log lodge sits above a 25-acre, spring-fed pond stocked with largemouth bass, crappies, bluegills and northerns.… Continue reading

Reprinted from the Sioux City Journal.

The guy who showed me how to fish 4-inch plastic worms on a jig head was my longtime friend and excellent fisherman Bob Brown of Fort Dodge, Iowa.

“Brownie” as we all call him can recognize a good thing when he sees it and when Berkley came out with their four-inch Power Bait twister tail worm, he was all over it.

We always made sure we had an ample supply on our annual trips into the wilds of Manitoba in search of walleye.

Sure, we used twisters, too, but the days were many when a 4-inch worm on a jig swimming over the bottom took walleyes like there was no tomorrow.

Bob used to have a trailer near Pequot Lakes in Minnesota. He’d spend most of the summer up there and I’d join him just about every year.

Pequot Lake is near Brainard in Crow Wing County. There are 308 lakes in that county and it is a fisherman’s paradise.… Continue reading

Best crappie fishing of the year is right around the corner.

Reprinted from the Sioux City Journal

Crappies are among the first game fish to bite well right after the ice goes out.

It’s a pre-spawn movement to the shallows and the fish will stay there through the month of April in our area, through May in central Minnesota and into June in northern Minnesota.

Spawning crappies need some sort of structure to spawn on. In natural lakes that is often last year’s reed beds or downed timber along the shoreline. In ponds and small reservoirs they will be attracted to submerged trees or other woody structure. If the lake does not have trees or wood, rocky shorelines along the face of the dam will attract them. I’ve even found them along glacial rocks on the shorelines of South Dakota lakes. Also, don’t overlook boat docks, boat hoists or other man-made structure.

For the earliest fishing, think warm water. Warmest water right after ice-out will be found in canals, boat channels or around stream inlets.… Continue reading

Reprinted from the Sioux City Journal

It was a quiet, late November afternoon when Ron Peterson, publisher of the Journal walked into my office in the newsroom.

He sat in the chair across from my desk where, as editor of the newspaper, I was scanning our news budget before heading up the meeting with the floor editors to decide what the next day’s paper would look like.

“What would you think of producing an outdoor tabloid which we distribute free throughout our area?” he asked.

As the paper’s outdoor writer since 1973, it didn’t take long for me to answer.

“I think it would be a great idea,” I said.

And so it started, a free tabloid devoted to teaching Siouxlanders more about hunting and fishing in our area and throughout the upper Midwest.

The first issue, one of six to be published each year, hit the streets in late January of 2004.

The cover photo was of Dave Genz, known as the father of modern day ice fishing. He was on the ice holding a walleye. I had taken that photo a year earlier on Devil’s Lake in North Dakota.

The whole issue was devoted to ice fishing .… Continue reading