Barb loves to fish when she has an edge and doesn’t have the whole day to hopefully hook a neighbor with shoulders enough for us to spar with!
APtravelnews-May 16th-Crossville, TN.—Goose Holler’ Farm—Bob’s reverie at the farm–I Woke up this morning to chirps from at least a dozen birds: Blue, red, black, gray, mottled, white, yellow, striped black and gray. Their songs and calls were sweet, some raucous, some sounding playful and a few staccato as in three different kinds of woodpeckers including a bright red headed one with a real attitude that come to our feeders and the older trees with lots of dead wood near the fence-line of Goose Holler Farm.
Today was especially auspicious, as the deer with and without antlers and testicles were feeding along a weed whacker line I made near the pond (the pond brings many varieties of ducks and geese over the year to rest and feed) to keep our paths from growing wild and hiding some other unsavory visitors. These serpent critters such as water moccasins come looking for a red- eared, or blue-gilled sunfish, or a bass fish dish alongside the weedy shallows, along with some other potentially poisonous water snakes that we all prefer not to tread on, or brush by, by accident. Sure, I have more squirrels and chipmunks per acre than probably anywhere in our area, as I have at least 150 trees per acre on our ten acre little farmstead, but until they get into our attic, I don’t shoot at them with anything more powerful than a stinging B-B gun to keep them from clearing the bird feeders within an hour or less.
The trees are mostly big trees of nut and flower, oaks, black walnut, maples and almond, the billions of leaves- each one slightly different than the other, keep us shaded and cool in the summer. Together with the blueberry, blackberry, raspberry, gooseberry bushes and a sundry, seed bushes, not to mention our grown fresh veggies and herbs, we have a fine cornucopia. I guess that in the great profusion of wild plants, it would take a true horticulturist to be able to name them all. I love waking and spending my day writing, looking out and on our land and up-keeping and gardening here.
I guess the reason for this post is I really feel blessed to wake up to nature, and the honeysuckle, roses, peonies and lilac bushes blended a sweet natural aroma to a day full of promise that anyone could enjoy if they gave their I phone, laptop and TV a rest for a day or, two a week!
White bass a blast and good eating fish on light tackle.Yellow perch are excellent food fare. They also put up a nice little battle on light tackle. If it moves, they will strike it!
AmericanPressTravelNews -Lake Erie, N.Y.-Bob and Barb “On The Road Again” catching up with some fish!
A relatively small walleye pike, but this lake has some big-un’s too!Mike Sperry is more than a fishing guide. He also creates tackle that he sells for musky and all other gamefish.White perch are prolific in most upstate New York. Many different lures that target musky!Guide and fishing entrepreneur Mike Sperry was a great fellow to fish with. He was quite attentive to his boat mates.
I fished with Dave Barus and Mike Sperry of Chautauqua Reel Outdoors Guide & Tackle, LLC. on Lake Chautauqua-we were looking to pop a musky, but we ended up catching a mixed bag of yellow perch, walleye pike, and silver perch and bass. It was a great day of chit chat, hook photo and release, and a fine waterfront lunch with Dave and his friend and guide-Mike Sperry. Mike has a great personality, loves fishing, makes and markets his own lures and is very attentive to his anglers. His shops number is (716) 763-2947 you can get live bait and buy all manner of freshwater lures including his tried and true lures as well! His booking number for all freshwater species (crappie, perch, bass, walleye, musky and steelhead too, is: 716 969-4633 and he is a licensed fishing guide. www.chautauquareeloutdoors.com
APtravelnews-February 2nd,Provided and shared article by Mitch Eeagan Imagine your home growing darker by the day, to the point you haven’t seen sunlight in over a month. Moreover, your surroundings are growing colder by the day. In fact, it’s so frigid that your muscles have become rigid; to the point it’s all you can do to muster moving a few feet…even to eat. And you’re hungry.
Oxygen is diminishing, too. Some areas are completely void of oxygen, while other pockets have just enough to sustain life. So you migrate to where respiration is still an option. To say life’s registering a zero on the fun-o-meter is an understatement. And with that lowly scenario in place, you now know what it’s like to be a fish living in the Ice Belt during the dead of winter. It’s been a long time since light penetrated the surface and temperatures are at the coldest they will be all year. To boot, the lack of vegetation, rain and wave action have oxygen levels dwindling rapidly.
And it’s this combination of factors that make midwinter a difficult time to catch fish. But if you’re game to put in the time, find those oxygenated zones, rewards are paid in bites and fillets. The safest place to avoid suffocation is sometimes right under the ice. In the bowels of winter, if oxygen levels are critical, crappies, bluegills and perch could be hanging right under your feet. Photo by Bill Lindner
Minnesota Ice-Fishing Guide Brian “Bro” Brosdahl is no stranger to fishing shallow, heavily snow-covered lakes. The Grand Rapids, Minnesota resident moves around a lot. And uses specialized electronics to find panfish other anglers often overlook. “I drill a lot of holes and check every one for any signs of life,” said Bro. “If fish are right under me I’ll see ‘em on the ‘Bird, and, because of the ultra-sensitivity settings on the Humminbird ICE HELIX 5, I can put my jig right in their faces.
“But I’ll also lower my Aqua-Vu Micro DT down every hole, as well; especially if I am not marking anything. Fish might be just inches under the ice during the heart of winter, following the oxygen. The camera is able to spy those fish.” Paying close attention to the underwater viewing system’s screen the moment its camera hits the water, Bro starts spinning the lens right the bottom of the hole. Oftentimes, panfish will be literally inches away, curiously inspecting the corded device. Once fish are revealed, Bro removes the camera, strips off a couple feet of line and lowers his jig—tipped with either spikes, wax worms or mousies. Al’s Goldfish Ice Fishing Wobblers are designed for this job! “A lot of anglers have no idea those fish are even there,” Bro added. “These suspended fish get totally overlooked this time of year. It’s cool when you can see your jig and watch a fish swim over and gobble it up.”
If there are a lot of fish just under the surface, Bro will operate out of his Frabill flip-over. The darkness not only allows Bro to see the fish better, but also camouflages the fact he’s above by muting his silhouetted movements.
When oxygen levels are low, and fish lethargic, Bro uses tiny jigs with a slow fall. His preferences are Northland’s new Impulse Helium Mayfly, Stonefly and Waxyfly. Custom Jigs & Spins’ Nuclear Ant, Ratso and Shrimpo are another trio of lifelike lures that sink slowly.When Walleye Tournament Pro, Mark Brumbaugh targets pike, walleye and jumbo perch late in the season, he searches out river and creek mouths.
“Anywhere water’s flowing into a lake there will be more dissolved oxygen,” the Brownstown, Ohio, resident said. “And because fish spawn in these same rivers, they’ll be here staging to reproduce, too.” Because there’s more dissolved oxygen near inlets, fish will be spread throughout the water column. Subsequently, Brumbaugh likes larger, heavier jigs that can move up and down quickly. Bladebaits are one of Brumbaugh’s go-to lures in stained water, as they produce a lot of vibration. Reef Runner’s Cicada is one of his favorites. He also employs Custom Jigs & Spins’ B3 Blade Bait and new Rotating Power Minnow (RPM) swimming bait. As avid anglers will tell you, late winter can be one of the toughest times of the year. But maybe that’s because they weren’t looking in the right places.
Some fish might be right under foot; literally, mere inches under the ice. If this is the case, use light lures with a slow flutter and fall. In waterways with inlets, search out the entire water column with lures that sink fast so you can get the lure to fish before they turn tail. Al’s Ice fishing lures work great for this!
When fish are tucked tight to the ice, Bro employs Aqua-Vu optics and fishes in real-time with an AV Micro DT in a Micro-Mobile Pro-Vu Case.
Al’s Goldfish set for ice fishing
Al’s Goldfish 3/16 oz Ice Fishing Jig
Our Price: $4.29
The original Al’s Goldfish, one of Field and Streams greatest 50 lures of all time, set with a J hook on the nose to draw the fish in. The lure works great with trout, salmon and panfish. see all lures at www.alsgoldfish.com
Gorgeous Gag grouper surprised us in Paradise, all day long! We released about 75-fish back into the Gulf of Mexico!Minnesota in July! Great walleye and small mouth at Bear Big Lake! Fall clothes in July! sweet and cool air.A cold water halibut! We fished with the Wounded Warrior Project in Kodiak Alaska. Ambassador Bob (yours truly) was the adventure photographer for the 1-week trip. The rocks held a fine kettle of lane snapper, grunts and porgies!Left to Right: Gary Smith, Captain Steve Skevington and Dennis Macalister holding a 25-inch Red Grouper caught in “Paradise.”
APtravelnews-May 16th-Crossville, TN.—Goose Holler’ Farm—Bob’s reverie at the farm–I Woke up this morning to chirps from at least a dozen birds: Blue, red, black, gray, mottled, white, yellow, striped black and gray. Their songs and calls were sweet, some raucous, some sounding playful and a few staccato as in three different kinds of woodpeckers including a bright red headed one with a real attitude that come to our feeders and the older trees with lots of dead wood near the fence-line of Goose Holler Farm. 
