Indiana Ice Fun

I met Doug Sikora at a writer event at Lake Chickamauga last summer. He was there on behalf of Bobby Garland Crappie Baits. I was there to get photos and story material. While together, we got to talking about fishing -- as fishermen tend to do -- and realized we had a common fondness for ice-fishing.

"You should come up and fish with me this winter," Doug said.

I agreed that I should.

A lot of conversations like that happen in boats, but despite good intentions on both sides most don't ever amount to anything. Doug remembered that conversation, though, and when the bite got good he called his contact at Bobby Garland to see about connecting with me.

That was a week ago yesterday. Today, Doug, a friend of his and I spent the day on Doug's home lake in Indiana and probably caught a triple-digit tally of fish, including about 30 keeper crappie. Best I can recall, we caught seven species. The first white crappie I caught this morning was both my first ever fish from Indiana and my first white crappie for 2015. Before the day was over, I also added white bass and yellow bass to my 2015 list, bringing the year tally to an even dozen.

Probably my single favorite quality a fishing trip can have is someone sharing a kind of fishing they really love -- especially on home waters. That described today. Doug is passionate about ice-fishing, and his favorite approach is to travel light and walk as far as is needed to get to the best spots and then drill a lot of holes. He is a tournament crappie fisherman, but he fishes for and catches everything that swims, and he especially enjoys the multi-species approach. Today's plan matched his favorite kind of plan, and the fish chose to cooperate. My kind of combination.

I appreciate Doug following up on that summer conversation, and I'm guessing today was the first of many outings together. I also appreciate friends at Bobby Garland connecting the dots!

Gene Larew Baits: See How They are Made

Have you ever wondered how a lure company makes plastic worms, crappie grubs or other kinds of lures? If you'll be at the Bassmaster Classic next weekend, you need not wonder anymore. Gene Larew, which is based in Tulsa, is opening the doors of its 22,000-square foot manufacturing facility and warehouse on the mornings of Thursday, Feb. 21 and Friday, Feb. 22 from 7-10 a.m. for an open house that will include tours every half hour. See for yourself how Larew bass baits and Bobby Garland crappie baits begin their lives in Tulsa.

The open house events, which also will include a "Bass Talk Coffee Shop," visits by bass pros and crappie pros and a live radio remote Tulsa's own  KVOO, help celebrate the 30-year anniversary of the Larew Salt Craw. Visitors will be treated to Daylight Donuts and will leave with a complementary packet of Salt Craws.

For more information, visit www.genelarew.com.

First of '13

Well, it occurred almost three weeks later than I woould have preferred, and I can't claim that it was a very impressive fish, but I'm glad to report that I've finally caught my first fish of 2013. Fish No. 1 (and No. 2, which came on the next cast) were small largemouth bass caught from the bank of a nearby ponds during a short afternoon outing with Nathaniel. Both hit a Bobby Garland Stroll'R fished on a Natural Science Road Runner head. Nathaniel caught one fish, which was a little bigger than mine, on a weightless YUM Dinger.

 

My best guess is that species No. 2 on my 2013 fish list will be a trout. The forecast for the next few day looks good, and the rivers should be settled enough in a day or two for the trout to cooperate. I'm pretty sure that Nathaniel and I will find our way to the North Carolina mountains one day next week to catch some trout.

Bobby Garland Crappie Boat

Anyone who ever fishes for crappie knows about Bobby Garland Crappie Baits, but what about the Bobby Garland crappie boat? Well, that's what crappie fishing pro Dan Dannenmueller will be running this year as he competes in Crappie Masters tournaments and travels to promotional events as the Crappie Masters Team National Team Angler of the Year for the past two years and as co-publisher of CrappieNow online magazine.

 

Dannenmueller's Ranger boat and his F-150 are both wrapped with an underwater crappie scene, complete with a spread of Bobby Garland baits being pulled through the water and a big Bobby Garland logo. As a tournament angler, Dannenmueller does a lot of spider rigging, and the wrap tells that story nicely.

 

Crappie Masters tournaments, which include 17 events this year, begin at Florida's Harris Chain January 25-26.

 

I'll get at least one opportunity to fish from and take pictures of the Bobby Garland crappie boat a little later this spring in Pennsylvania and am looking forward to that already.





Thursday Tips -- Get Vertical

One challenge brought by winter is that game fish of various sorts use deeper water overall than they do during the spring or the fall, and often the best fish-holding spots are separated from any visible casting targets. The good news is that once you find deeper fish, you can position a boat directly over them and drop baits right in front of their noses. Whether the fish are relating to structure, baitfish or both, vertical presentations allow you to be extremely precise, to keep your lure in the strike zone all the time and to use your electronics to watch the fish you are targeting.

Creek-bend holes in the lower ends of a reservoir's major arms tend to hold fish of various sorts during the winter. The fish might not be down in deepest part of a hole, but the range of depths available and protection against wind from multiple directions make hard bends in a channel very attractive to baitfish and gamefish alike. Pick a big bend in a creek and spend some time searching the areas with your graph, looking down in the hole, over slopes and atop adjacent flats or points for bait schools and for larger marks that might indicate game fish. Toss a marker buoy or two over the most interesting areas and then position the boat directly over the fish.

Specific bait and rig choices vary according to the species and size of fish that call a particular body of water home. However, most of the best baits for this style of fishing imitate shad effectively. Good options include a white or chrome jigging spoon and a small, shad-style soft-plastic bait such as a Bobby Garland Baby Shad.

Part of the fun of this approach is that any fish that bites could be a panfish, a largemouth or a jumbo striper or catfish.

Targeting Bigger Crappie

When Kevin Rogers and his dad, Charlie Rogers, head out to go crappie fishing, they're never concerned about finding frenzied action. As tournament anglers, they only care about catching seven fish -- as long as they are the right fish. Even when they are just "fun fishing," though, they have more fun catching a handful of slabs than a whole bunch of slivers. In the video below, Kevin shares some of the things that he and his dad do to attract the interest of larger fish.

Quit Counting ar 100

We'd been fishing about 9 seconds when I hooked my first white bass of the morning, and that fish pretty well set the pace for the day. I stopped counting at 100 fish, and we continued catching fish for another three hours or so. White bass were the main attraction, but between Gary Dollahon and me we caught seven different species of fish.

We caught almost all our fish in 30 to 40 feet of water, which is deeper than many anglers like to fish but which Gary has found to be  the prime zone for several species of fish during the winter. They were in predictable positions over structure and relating big schools of shad and very susceptible to vertical presentation. We caught everything on jigging spoons and Bobby Garland crappie baits, including Slab Doct'R and Slab Slay'R jigs. I was fishing one of Gary's hand-poured spoons with a Slab Doct'R rigged about a foot and a half above it on my line. Interesting, about 3/4 of the fish I caught on the tandem rig were on the jig. Presentations were important at times, and the fish's moods and preferences definitely changed while we were out there.

We'll take some of what we learned today and apply it to tomorrow's approach, but we'll also need to adjust for conditions, with the weather calling for colder temperatures and far more wind.

Oklahoma Fish Medley

Gary Dollahon enjoys catching any kind of fish that wants to bite, including Lake Fork largemouths like this one, but this week's quest will center on home waters in Oklahoma.

Gary Dollahon has been telling me about one of his favorite seasonal bites for a few years now, and we've finally made plans for me to travel his way and try it for myself. Gary I both enjoy catching whatever wants to latch onto the other end of a line, and that's a major part of the appeal of the brand of winter fishing that he and I will be doing. We'll be jigging for fish that pod up together when the water gets cool, and the fish that tug on the other end could range from white bass to colossal blue catfish. Fishing is still fishing, so you never know for sure, but Gary anticipates fast action from a pretty good mix of species.

Beyond being big fun, catching a variety of fish gives me a great opportunity to gather photos, videos and material for magazine stories -- and to put some Lew's rods and reels to the test! The plan also includes time chasing crappie with Bobby Garland pro Kevin Rogers, which will most likely involve some different angling approaches.

I fly to Tulsa tomorrow and will be fishing Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. As always, I'll do my best to deliver fresh reports from where I'm fishing and to convey some of what I learn, so keep an eye on my blog. I also like to add notes and photos to Twitter when I travel and invite you to follow (@jeffsamsel).

Christmas Bass

Green-dominated and sparkly, Bobby Garland's Midnight Sun color has a Christmas treeish sort of a look, so a Midnight Sun Stroll'R seemed like a good choice for a couple of quick laps around the pond on Christmas day. And I'm glad to report that couple of bass thought my sparkly little minnow imitation looked just right for Christmas dinner. Nathaniel and I only caught a few fish during our Christmas outing, but it sure was nice slipping out to the pond for an hour or so after the presents were unwrapped.

Double Trouble on Lake Fork

Forget stereotypes. Lake Fork or no Lake Fork, the bass were busting little bitty baitfish so it seemed like a little bitty bait might be the ticket. I had Bobby Garland 1 1/2-inch Stroll'Rs and Swimmin Minnows in my bag, so I put one of each on a tandem set of small jigheads and laid the rig where it would be handy when the next schooling fish that popped up within range.

It didn't take long for schoolers to show themselves, so I grabbed that outfit and fired my little rig toward the breakers. Wham. A hit and miss. Three cranks later another hit, and this time it was hooked.

"Bring it in slowly and you might get another one," bass pro Stephen Browning said, knowing I had another loose jig on my rig. I did as he said, and the bass seemingly had read the script. That largemouth double turned out to be one of four Browning and I landed in an afternoon of throwing "crappie baits" for schooling fish and the first two of 20 or so largemouth bass.

The bad news is that we also lost our share. The 10-pound line on my Lew's Laser SL Speed Stick spinning outfit just didn't let me muscle 5-pound fish, so some found the trees. Browning and I both lost a couple of what we think were really nice bass.

Today was a far cry from what I think of when I think about Lake Fork, but it was a really fun day of fishing with a catch that ranged from catching dozens of barfish (yellow bass) on spoons to watching Browning catch a flathead that ate a football jig to doubling up largemouths with crappie jigs.

We'll see what tomorrow brings!