iFish Magazine - Summer Fishing 2013

Boat Prep Tips6A guide to getting your boat ready for the

fi shing season.

Kevin VanDam Feature14An interview with the best pro fi shing has to

offer -- Kevin Van Dam, in a league of his own.

The Original Mantracker20Backcountry Fishing tips from Terry Grant --

The Original Mantracker.

#AppsForAnglersFishing Pics10

36

iFish App Tricks and Tips12

Pike Recipe & Information18

Topwater Fishing9Twitch, pop, walk the dog, buzz, these are the most

popular techniques for topwater angling.

Pavlov’s Walleye38A guaranteed system to catch more fi sh this

fi shing season.

Holding Big Fish26Anglers need to educate themselves on the need

to handle big fi sh differently than small fi sh.

&

EDITOR Randy Chamzuk

DESIGN Marcel Schoenhardt

CONTRIBUTIONS Gord Pyzer, Robin Amyot, Terry Grant, Stephanie

Wakelin, Candace Chamzuk

iFish Magazine™ is published by:QDI Group of Companies9320 49th StEdmonton, AB T6B 2L7Tel (780) 466-2535

COPYRIGHT INFORMATION

All Contents copyrighted. All rights reserved.Reproduction of any material without prior written consent from the publisher is strictly prohibited. Printed in Canada. IFish Magazine™ is not responsible for researching the accuracy of the contents published in iFish Magazine™.

Readers are advised that the use of the information contained within is at their own risk and neither party assumes any risk or liability for it.

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iFish Magazine ™ - Volume 1, Issue 2Summer 2013

THE PREVIOUS ISSUE...Take a look at our inaugural issue of iFish Magazine!

A note from the Editor...

Some of the best childhood memories are those fishing with friends and

family. I often get asked the question, “Where is your favorite place to fish?”

Most often, my response is, “It’s not any particular lake or location, it’s who

you’re fishing with that makes it a favorite”. While building our iFish Apps,

we’ve always kept in mind the younger generation and novice anglers using

it to learn more about fishing; whether it’s the latest lake reports, learning

techniques or simply where to go. This summer try and take a kid fishing, it

doesn’t matter if the fish are biting, or if its the perfect lake, one thing I can

guarantee you catch, is memories. Enjoy the second edition of our magazine

and have a fantastic summer!

BEHOLD. THE LONGEST SPLIT SECOND

IN THE UNIVERSE.The big one? Or the one that got away?

What you do with your wrist in the next fraction of a second decides it.Tick, tock.

ONLY WHOLESALE SPORTS IS AS OBSESSED WITH FISHING AS YOU ARE.AND WE HAVE THE PEOPLE AND GEAR TO PROVE IT.

FIND YOUR LOCAL STORE AT WHOLESALESPORTS.COM

What you do with your wrist in the next fraction of a second decides it.

ONLY WHOLESALE SPORTS IS AS OBSESSED WITH FISHING AS YOU ARE.

Besides the annual tune up on the motor which is of the more

important things to make an adventure turn into misfortune,

the boat itself needs well for a lack of better description a

tune up itself.

Let’s start at the obvious, the batteries: make sure they are

charged and load tested, all tied down, connections tight

and clean, ensure fuses are in good shape. Now turn the

key for that first roar of the engine and… nothing or just a

simple click. Those words come out “What happened? I do

this every year and it starts fine.” Well, just check things out,

check connections, they are good, batteries good, look more

closely at the wiring seems to be fine, keep checking things

out. Then your memory kicks in and OH YA! I remember just

before end of season had a small intermittent issue with

starting. HMMMMMM! Where could it be you start looking

more closely up under the gunwale where the wires run

from back to the front console you see some shredded paper

towel and remnants of foam, well I’ll bet it’s a mouse nest

and the wiring harness runs right through the middle of it.

It seems one of Mickey’s relatives has decided to take up

squatting and build a homestead. Now that you’ve gotten

the nest removed and made sure no more residents of the

rodent kind are still residing, the wires repaired, turn key

engine starts fine.

With this inspection done are we ready for the water? I think

not! Its time to take a look at the outside of the hull, whether

it’s fiberglass or aluminum, start looking for dents, chips,

dings, gouges all of these can lead to water intrusion and

boat performance. On Aluminum boats dents and scrapes

will affect how the water slides down the hull underneath,

as the water travels past one of these scrapes its flow is

interrupted and changes direction causing a deflection

then you get turbulent flow enough of these will give you

disturbed water going to the prop and cause cavitation at

the prop which in turn can burn the blades.

A few dings don’t look like much but after a few years they

add up and take their toll and loss of performance.

iFish Magazine : : : 6

Glass hulls are the same with chips in the gel coat, although

these chips create small negative pressure areas in which a

bubble of air with negative pressure starts to spin around

in the chip hole, water boils very rapidly in a vacuum and in

turn this eats away at the fi berglass making the chip become

more pronounced. The more the chip gets worked away at

the weaker the coating and fi berglass gets over a period of

time the layers of fi berglass get weak and start to separate

allowing water to seep in and saturate the hull.

Small chips can be taken care of easily, most marine dealers

have someone employed that can repair and match up

colors, without a major cost. Larger chips should be taken to

a gel coat specialist who can rework the area to look as if it

was never there.

The best prevention for chips is to make sure the hull is

waxed and good mud fl aps on the tow vehicle these will

take care of the chips from the roads. Other chips are from

beaches, banging into docks and such, most of these lighter

dings can be protected with a good coat of wax right after

they happen. Worn keels have to be one of the areas that

are the easiest of areas to be protected. Keel guards are now

available for a variety of hulls and easily installed at home by

a dealer for the cost of one they will save you huge dollars in

the long run.

So take the time in the spring to take care of your hull and it

will give you years of enjoyable fi shing and boating.

Handy checklist from DiscoverBoating to

get you prepped for the season!

Husband and father of 4, Robin has spent 30 years

in the Pro Fishing game, including circuits such as

ProBass Quebec, Michigan B.A.S.S, Indiana B.A.S.S

and over 200 other events. Through the years, he has

picked up a number of techniques & expertise.


Twitch, pop, walk the dog, buzz, these are the most popular

techniques for topwater angling.

Most anglers have heard, seen or used the baits associated

with fishing on the surface and trying to succeed at the art of

top water, all of these types of presentations are good and

have a place and time when the action will be great, then

there are those times you would swear on a stack of bibles

that fish don’t live in the area that you are fishing. Don’t

despair, patience will prevail; in my opinion, on the surface

is one of the best ways to locate active cruising predators

looking for an easy meal. The preferred bait just moving

along skimming the surface and Mr. Hungry waiting for the

opportune time to EAT, or just be curious as to what’s all that

racket up there.

The types of baits are plentiful in size, shape, action, from

rubber frogs, to buzz baits, stick baits, poppers, crawlers,

chuggers, cigars bodies, torpedo style, prop baits, the list

goes on, you walk into a bait shop and its mind boggling as

which one to choose. Each one has caught a fish at one time

or they wouldn’t be on the market for sale, so which one is

the right one? Well they all work a little experimentation in

presentation and retrieve action will entice a strike.

Now that I have wrote a good description and said not much,

let’s get into the art of top water: start off with a common cigar bait no bill just a body with a few hooks, you cast it

out and it lands just in front of that eel grass, let the ripples

dissipate, wait for it, nothing yet - twitch of the rod and the

bait moves forward with a smooth glide. To get the bait to

walk the dog side to side movement: twitch the rod tip in

short soft jerks the bait will start to move forward with a

side to side gliding, don’t be in a hurry, a few glides then stop

and let it sit a second or two, the water explodes with splash

and a boil, now here is the most important part, wait until

you feel the weight of that hungry beast before you set the

hook or you’ll pull the hook out of his mouth.

Stick baits have to be one of my favorite’s strait minnow

imitations, short, or long I use them all trying to look like a

wounded minnow, a series of quick rod tip jerks then stop

and let it sit 5 seconds then repeat the process , this has

produced more fish for me than most of the others. I guess

you could say this is the presentation that is in my comfort

zone.

Top water frogs are a great way to fish heavy cover and

not be bringing in a vegetarian meal each time you cast, with

hooks turned upwards, and a skirt hanging out the back

to look like legs, gliding a frog over pads and stopping at

openings in the weed matt will entice strike from the quarry

that you are seeking, a good stiff rod and strong line will help

to get that trophy out of there.

Buzz baits can be an interesting bait to call fish up from

deeper areas; I have had smallmouth bass come up from 20

feet deep to that noise making surface prop and pounce on

it. A slow steady retrieve just fast enough to keep it gurgling

along on the surface, ran parallel to an edge that drops off

into deeper water will get the curiosity of a bronze back

waiting for a good meal.

Whatever your confidence level , or comfort zone give top

water a try next time you’re out looking for that trophy or

excitement of a water exploding strike bring on the arsenal

of topwater and wake up those species to the surface.


Want your photo featured? Tag your Instragram pics with #AppsForAnglers

and we’ll re-post the best ones!


Backing up & Restoring Your Catches

If you have catches on one device, and want to

transfer to your other devices (other iPhones,

iPads), simply go into the “Backup/Restore”

option in the Catch Log or GloveBox. Sign in to

your iFish account and follow the easy steps to

backup and restore up to 3 different slots.

Sharing With Friends and Family

Want to make sure those around you know just

how good you are at fi shing? You can share the

catches in your catch log via Facebook, Twitter

& Email! Really confi dent in your lunker? You

can even Brag to iFish, and if we like your fi sh

enough you might end up in the next issue of

iFish Magazine!

Change your Username and Password

If you’d like to change your

username or password, simply go

to the website of whichever iFish

App you have purchased, and sign in

to the Members Area. There you’ll

be able to change your profi le info,

browse HotSpots & Lake Reports

and even view your backed up

catches & GloveBox items!

Restoring Purchases

You only need to buy the Catch Log or GloveBox once per

app! If you have an app on multiple devices, you can go into

the More screen and tap “Restore Purchases” and sign in

with the same Apple ID you purchased

with, and the features will be unlocked. You

can also just tap buy again on the purchase

pages, and as long as you’re using the same

Apple ID, you will not be charged again.

Happy Fishing!

Sharing With Friends and Family

Backing up & Restoring Your Catches

Restoring Purchases


iPad Retina :::

We’ve optimized the full iFish Series of Apps to be iPad Retina ready, putting

stunning high-res graphics in your hand to further enhance your iFish

experience!

Updated Regulations :::

Alberta & Saskatchewan users received the latest fi shing regulation data

at every lake, while Ontario & BC users see their app updated with new

downloadable regs to keep you fi shing legally!

Android Versions :::

Alberta, Saskatchewan, Ontario, BC, Texas & USA are already available with

many more on the way!

State Specifi c Versions :::

We hope to have all individual states released by the end of the summer!

Our iFish Community :::

A shout out and thank-you to our 23,000+ Twitter followers! Happy Fishing!

@scottblundell: “Give a man a fi sh and he eats for a day... Give a man the iFish App and he’s set for life” I love this app for the community!

@Kuch1: “Superb app, a must have for anyone fi shing in Saskatchewan waters. Best fi shing app on the market, worth every penny!”

@Moose1917: “I love it because it gives me new spots to fi sh that I haven’t been to before”

@TomEYYC: “loving this app! Makes it super easy to fi nd locations. Wish it could make the fi sh bite my lures though!”

Canada :::

iFish AlbertaiFish British ColumbiaiFish OntarioiFish Saskatchewan

America :::

iFish USAiFish AlabamaiFish ArizonaiFish CaliforniaiFish Florida

iFish GeorgiaiFish IllinoisiFish KentuckyiFish MichiganiFish Minnesota

Improvements, Updates and What’s Yet to Come...

iFish MissouriiFish New YorkiFish OhioiFish PennsylvaniaiFish Tennessee

iFish TexasiFish Wisconsin


Only once or twice in a lifetime does an athlete come along who so dominates his sport that he is tagged and recognized by a nickname, moniker or epithet alone. In baseball there was The Babe. Hockey had its Great One, and golf its Tiger.

In fishing it is Kevin VanDam.

Photo Credit: B.A.S.S

KEVIN VANDAM INTERVIEW

Gord Pyzer: Kevin, what makes you such a dominant angler? Luck, obviously, has nothing to do with it. And what can iFish readers learn from your approach?

Kevin VanDam: That is a tough question for me to answer.

The one thing I would say is that I love what I do and I put a

lot of time and effort into it in terms of preparation.

Because of my sponsorship commitments, however, I don’t

get to practise as much as a lot of other competitors, but I

spend plenty of time thinking about upcoming events. And

when I am at a tournament I give 110-percent. I get up early,

I stay out on the water late and I go after every win.

In other sports you see people that are naturally talented.

Others are successful because they train hard and go for

the win. With me it is a combination. I’ve got good talent

and I match it with preparation and that gives me a lot of

confi dence. I mean, it is what I am doing right now before

the tournament. I am sitting here changing fi shing lines,

sharpening hooks and rigging baits. And the whole time

I am rehashing in my mind what I did in practice. I am

thinking about how everything went. Mental preparation is

important for me.

I spend a lot of time concentrating on the variables I can

control. A big part of this sport is mental and I’ve been doing

it for a long time. I don’t make the mental mistakes I think

some of the other people do.

I’ve also learned that experience can be your best ally and it

can also be your worst friend, because the fi sh don’t always

do the same thing from one lake to another. They don’t

always read the rule book. There are so many variables that

you have to keep an open mind.

A good example was the Classic on Lake Hartwell in 2008. I

chose not to go down there and look at the lake before the

... when you have a shot to get yourself into position to win you have to go for it and make the most of it. That is hard for some people to do

Story by Gord Pyzer

To put it simply, there are all the other professional anglers

touring all the professional fi shing circuits, and then there is

Kevin VanDam, alone at the top, in a league of his own.

In a sport once dominated totally by good old boys from

the southern United States, where it is expected that you

would fi rst pay your dues before winning a major event, Van

Dam appeared out of the north country and turned the bass

fi shing world on its head.

The skinny upstart from Kalamazoo, Michigan had the

audacity to cash a cheque in every event he fi shed and then

capped off his rookie season winning the B.A.S.S. Angler of

the Year award, considered by many to be the toughest prize

in professional fi shing. He repeated the feat again in 1996

and 1999 and captured the same honours on the rival FLW

tour in 2001.

But it is Kevin VanDam’s Bassmaster Classic Championship

victories that stand out most prominently. VanDam’s won

his fi rst Classic in 2001, repeated four years later in 2005

and then won back-to-back Classic crowns in 2010 and

2011.

I have had the distinct privilege of hopping into VanDam’s

sleek Nitro bass boat, zipping up my life jacket and fi shing

with the multi-million dollar tournament winner several

times over the past few years and every time I have climbed

back onto the dock at the end of the day with more awe

than the fi rst. The guy is pure bass fi shing genius. Poetry in

motion.

Because of those experiences I was perplexed – terrifi ed

might be a better word – when I set out to write about the

greatest bass angler of all time. Like Babe Ruth, Wayne

Gretzky and Tiger Woods – how do you put perfection

down on paper? There is only one way I thought, through

Van Dam’s own words.

With that in mind, I spoke with Kevin as he readied his tackle

recently for another event. Here are my questions and Van

Dam’s candid answers....


off-limits period. I could have gone down in early December

but I didn’t want to have any preconceived notions. I knew

the lake was 10-feet lower than normal because of the

drought. I knew there was a good chance the lake was going

to be at a different level when the tournament began. And

sure enough it was.

Over the last three offi cial days of practice I tried to see it all.

The conditions weren’t the most conducive but I felt good

about my chances. (Editor’s note: VanDam fi nished third

in that event and almost won the tournament.) I fi shed my

way. Nobody fi shes the same way as me, so talking to other

anglers or getting outside information just isn’t the way I do

it.

I have my own system for following the seasonal patterns to

locate fi sh and that is what I use everywhere I go. I knew

I was taking a chance not going there before the off-limits

period. And it could have backfi red on me. We had really

bad weather and I could have been behind the eight ball.

It can happen when you only give yourself three days to

practise. But I am pretty effi cient covering water and I wasn’t

too concerned about it. I could easily have spent several

many more days there learning the lake but sometimes it

is good not to see too much. It is better to fi sh the current

conditions than have something in your mind about the past

or the future.

GP: Kevin, you’re noted as being a “power” angler. Someone who turns the trolling motor on high and fi res reaction-type lures like spinnerbaits and crankbaits. Yet fi nesse techniques and fi shing slow is the rage these days. How do you rationalize the discrepancy?

KVD: I have had to change a bit. These guys are so good

these days that you have to be able to fi nd the right fi sh. My

style is real good for covering water and getting yourself into

the right area, but once you fi nd yourself in the right area or

on a spot that has fi sh, you also have to be very effi cient at

catching them. Because the days of running and gunning

back and forth between spots are over. These guys are so

good that if you hit a spot and then try to come back later,

there’s going to be someone else on it. So you have to be

prepared to catch everything that is there when you get

the chance. I am not afraid to throw a shaky head or a drop-

shot-rig.

You also have to learn how to maximize the fi sh on a spot.

And sometimes you can power fi sh. I won two major events

recently and didn’t back up a thing with fi nesse. I totally

power fi shed those bass. I read the conditions that were

going on and felt that was the best decision. Instead of

staying on a spot and trying to fi nesse a few more fi sh after

I’d hit ‘em with a crankbait and a spinnerbait, I moved on,

then came back later and hit ‘em again with the same lures.

But there is no question, other times fi sh are still sitting there

and you can catch four or fi ve more throwing a Carolina-rig,

a jig or a drop-shot. You have to be able to differentiate

between the two situations.

The Strike King King Shad is something I’ve had a lot of success with and some heartbreaks too.


Continued on Page 23...


PREP TIME 10 minutes

COOK TIME 25 minutes

SERVES 4 servings

DIFFICULTY LEVEL Easy

WHAT YOU’LL NEED

3-4 lbs Northern Pike fi llets5 tablespoons butter1 medium onion1 medium green pepper6-8 slices bacon2 teaspoons lemon juiceSalt and Pepper

DIRECTIONS

1

2 Melt Butter; Pour in a 9x13 inch cake pan (for easy cleaning line pan with aluminum foil)

3 Place fi llets in the butter; season to taste with salt and pepper

4 Slice onions and green peppers and place over the fi llets

5 Sprinkle the 2 teaspoons of lemon juice over the fi llets

6

7 Bake at 350 degrees for approximately 25 minutes. Enjoy!

Looking for an alternative?

Try replacing the butter with grape-seed oil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Cover the fi llets with the 6-8 strips of bacon


Northern PikeAlso Known As: Esox lucius, pike, Northern, jacks, jackfi sh, ‘gators

When mixed with a muskellunge, fi sh is called a tiger

muskellunge.

Pike eat mostly fi sh smaller than themselves & consume

3-4 times their body weight over a year

Northern Pike generally enjoy

sluggish streams and shallow,

weedy places in lakes, in cold,

clear, rocky water.

Pike spawn in spring, right after the annual ice melt and will

put up a good fi ght for anglers.

Pike are the most widely distributed

freshwater fi sh in the world -- found

in Asia, Europe and North America

Todd McNaughton ::: 44”, 24lb Pike caught at Flanagan Lake, Saskatchewan, Canada

World Record – 55 lbs 1 oz.Germany - 1986

Alberta Record - 38 lbsKeho Lake - 1983

Saskatchewan Record -42 lbs 12 oz.Lake Athabasca - 1954

Ontario Record - 42 lbs 1.92 oz.Delany River - 1946

Record Pike Fish

Tips for catching Pike:

» Use red lures in clear water and yellow lures in murky

water. Spinnerbaits, crankbaits & bucktails also work well.

» Pike are aggressive and have a big appetite, making

them easier to catch than many other fi sh.

» While they will bite almost anything, bigger lures work

best as Pike enjoy large prey.

» Use smaller lures when in shallower waters (this will

also attract smaller pike).

“For big pike, the

most important water

temperatures range

between 64˚ F and 68˚ F

(18˚ C and 20˚ C)”

See More on Pg 29


We had the opportunity to chat with Terry Grant, better known as The Real Mantracker, at a Boat and Sportsman show this spring. We were excited to learn that he uses our app too! During one of our discussions, the topic of angler safety came up and we asked Terry what he would want to pass along to his fellow anglers if he had the opportunity. His answer began with a story of a fisherman’s outing…

The sun is just coming up as he starts up the

path. He has never fished this high mountain

lake before but he was told the fishing is great.

He has a new rod because his last one got in a

fight with a car door, and lost. He also replaced

his old waders, and as he dodges the piles of

mud on the trail he is thankful for the new

tread.

He rounds the last corner of the trail and there

is the lake. Just like his friend had said, right in

front of him is a big pine tree lying in the water;

a little stream comes in from his right.

He glances from right to left at the small trail

that follows the edge of the lake. He cleans

his boots on the grass before stepping into the

clear cold water. He starts to pull line off his

reel as he slowly wades deeper into the water.

Just in front of him, in about 4’ of water, he

can see the shelf his friend told him about. It

follows down this side of the lake about 40’

from shore.

His first few casts produce nothing, then he

feels that familiar tug and the fight is on. The

fish heads for the old pine tree on his right and

out of the corner of his eye he catches some

movement. There on the bank is a black bear

and 2 cubs! All thought of fishing vanish, as his

mind races on what to do next.

So many people ignore the ground we walk on. The ground

will tell you a story if you take the time to look at it. All of

those piles of mud on the trail, that was bear poop, and had

he actually looked at the little trail beside the lake he would

have seen lots of bear tracks.

Bears are no different than us, they use the trails too. Most

of the trails we use in the backcountry were most likely made

by animals. Bears also like the fresh new grass that grows

along the edge of the lake, right were we want to fish. Bears

will also check out these high lakes to feast on any unlucky

animals that might have been caught in an avalanche.

Bear tracks are different from all other tracks. The front

foot of a bear has a big oval pad with 5 smaller round pads

up front. The back foot of a bear has a pad in the shape of a

triangle, with the big end of the triangle at the front and then

5 smaller round pads in front of that.

The claw marks very seldom show up on a black bear track

due to the claws being shorter than that of a grizzly. The

claw marks just about always show in a grizzly track.

If our fisherman had of noticed the tracks and known what

they were, he might have done things a little different, like

moving 50 yards away from the main trail that the bears

were obviously using. We all like to be quiet and enjoy the

sounds of nature, but sometimes, like when your fishing

alone, it’s better to be like your noisy neighbor, and let

everything know you’re there. Now I’m not suggesting you

bring your own marching band, but a few whistles, and a few

yells, now and then, can make all the difference.

Take some time to look at the ground this year as you go

to and from your favorite fishing hole, you just might come

back with a fish story instead of a bear story.

Backcountry Fishing... is so much more than just fishing!

Grizzly BearBlack Bear



GP: Speaking about different approaches, both hard and soft swimbaits have become increasingly popular these days. Have you incorporated them much into your repertoire?

KVD: I spent a lot of time with them and I have worked

them it into my style of fishing. The Strike King King

Shad is something I’ve had a lot of success with and some

heartbreaks too.

Swimbaits are along the same phenomenon as the soft

plastic Senko-style baits. You can throw a plastic worm out

there and let it sink to the bottom and it is just not the same

thing. It doesn’t have the same wiggle and quiver the other

baits do.

The King Shad is a lure I can fish fast and cover a lot of water.

It is the only swimbait I’ve ever seen that you can fish fast.

Most of them are made to be waked and reeled slowly but

that is a hard way to get a bass to react. I throw the King

Shad on a high speed Quantum 7:1 ratio baitcasting reel so

I burn it, stop it and jerk it. You can almost rip it like a dang

jerkbait if you want. I mean I’ve just annihilated them on it. I

am still learning with it but I like what I see when I throw it. It

has the reaction capability of a jerkbait or a spinnerbait. The

King Shad has been a sleeper for me. It is one of the lures

that I wish I could have kept a secret. I wish I could have kept

it off the market.

GP: It is amazing when you think about the number of hot baits and bass fishing techniques that have been developed over the last few years. It makes you wonder what the next new tactic might be on the horizon.

KVD: I can’t tell you what the next big thing is going to be,

but I can promise you it is going to be here. The Bassmaster

tour drives guys to come up with new things. To build better

mousetraps. To come up with variations that are going to be

more efficient and effective. I’ve been fishing professional

tournaments now for 21 years and it is a never ending

process. Just when you think nothing new can come along,

somebody comes up with something.

GP: When you first broke into the elite leagues various lures dominated the fishing scene. Many of them, however, seem to have fallen out of favour. Yet, when you won the Bassmaster Classic in Pittsburgh in 2005, you dug way back into your tackle box, found an out-of-date Smithwick Rouge and won the world championship. Do you think other legendary lures might make comebacks?

Very few, because the technology and engineering that

goes into the design of our lures today is so much more

sophisticated. Crankbaits are a good case in point. We now

know how water flows over a crankbait. We know how to

balance them, use weight-transfer systems, circuit-board

bills and tungsten. The technology is state-of-the-art.

There are a lot of old baits I used to catch fish on that I don’t

even throw anymore because there are better baits. When

I started fishing, the 7A Bomber and Bomber Long A were

staples for me. I don’t even have any in the boat anymore.

I have a lot of other things I have more confidence in. That

is not to say something won’t come back. The Rouge that I

used to win the Classic was unique because it was something

that I used for a certain situation. It was built to go super

shallow and that is how I was fishing it at Pittsburgh.

Kevin VanDam Continued...



There is a chance something will pop back onto the radar

screen. And there are lure categories that I think will come

back. Buzzbaits, for instance, are going to be one of those

things. Prop baits are going to be another. There will be a

big tournament won somewhere on a prop bait. These are

baits that have been around for a long time but people are

designing them better now and they work more efficiently.

It’s going to be a variation of one of these lures that we’ve

been using for a while.

GP: After you won the tour event at Grand Lake, you said that, “Fishing to win and fishing to do well are two different things.” You also said that you spend considerable time in practice looking for the kinds of fish that will put you in the Top 10. What do you do differently when you’re looking for big fish versus numbers of fish?

KVD: Because fishing at the professional level is so expensive

and the demand from sponsors is so high, the reality is that a

lot of guys say they’re there to win but they’re there to have

a good showing. That is not what I am out there to do. When

you’re truly committed to winning you’re going to be able to

accept failure because it is going to happen a lot more than

not. You have to go out, swing for the fence and miss. That

is just the nature of competition. You have to fish with that

attitude. Until you’ve won it is hard to get to that mentality.

But once you’ve won, you know what it is like. Finishing

tenth doesn’t satisfy you anymore. It is no different winning

the Bassmaster Classic or something else. You win once and

you want to win again.

A lot of it is your decision making. You can’t have any fear

of failure. Because of their financial situation, a lot of guys

on the last day of a tournament find themselves in 15th or

16th position, five or six pounds off the lead. They go out

with the attitude, “I am probably not going to win, but I can

have a good finish and cash a good cheque. So, first thing this

morning I am going to go to my limit spot, make sure I catch

five fish, and then try to upgrade from there.”

My mentality in that situation is to say, I am going to take a

shot and see if I can’t catch a couple of big fish early and not

worry about failing. Believe me there is a lot of times that

I do fail. As a matter of fact, you’re going to lose a lot more

times than you’re going to win. There can only be one win-

ner in the sport. So you have to take chances.

In the beginning, I definitely fished not to miss a cheque. I

wanted to be sure that two days into a four day event that I

was doing okay. Instead of taking the big chance and trying

to move way up in the standings, I would lay up a little bit and

go for the sure thing. Catch a limit and try to have a decent

finish.



And that is important when you are trying to win Angler of

the Year. You can’t afford to have a single bad tournament so

there is a balance. You can say you’re going to swing for the

fences and fi nish 85th. You can’t bomb so bad that it is going

to take you out of the race.

On the other hand, when you have a shot to get yourself into

position to win you have to go for it and make the most of it.

That is hard for some people to do.

The competition is better than it has ever been. I mean it

is tough out there. These new guys, they’re out there to

catch ‘em. They’re fi shing for big fi sh. They’re fi shing big fi sh

techniques. They start out with a big wooden swim bait and

they’re fi shing that way all day. That is a tough transition

to make for a lot of guys who have fi shed for a lot of years.

We’re fi shing much better bodies of water that have huge

populations of big fi sh, so you have to fi sh now for seven or

eight quality bites a day instead of going out and catching

25 or 30 bass and culling up like we used to do. You have

to target those big fi sh from the get go. That is not easy to

transition to. We are fi shing toad lakes and they are hawg-

swinging contests.

GP: If you could give iFish readers 2 or 3 things to focus on to become better anglers what would you suggest?

KVD: The more accurate you are, the better you can present

a lure where it needs to go, whether that is underneath a dock

or into the centre of a brush pile with a quiet presentation.

The better you can cast, the more fi sh you’re going to catch,

because you still get a lot of reactionary, shock-type bites. It

is still the basis of all shallow water fi shing.

The second thing is that the amount of information at the

hands of Just Fishing! readers is so much better now than it

was even a few years ago, what with the magazines, things

like Bassmaster television show and the internet. But you

still have to be able to apply the knowledge. That is where

a lot of anglers go wrong. They’ll read in a magazine or get

on the internet and say, hey, I am going to a certain lake for

a spring trip. Then they’ll hear that guys are catching them

on red Rattletraps. But things change so quickly. The red

Rattletrap is a good starting point, but you still have to go out

there and apply the information and make the adjustments.

There is still no substitution for time on the water.

GP: Kevin, thanks so much for candidly sharing your thoughts with the readers of iFish. I know I speak for everyone when I say that we wish you the best in the future.

KVD: Thanks, Gord. Well, we’re sure gonna’ give it a run. I

am not here to lose, I can tell you that!

B.A.S.S on Social Media

BASS_Nation BASS


Story by Gord Pyzer

Is there scientific evidence to suggest that holding a big lake

trout, muskie, northern pike or catfish by its jaw or gill plate

… without supporting its belly … can be injurious? There

isn’t. But only because the problem has never been studied.

Ask some of the top fisheries’ biologists if the practice is

prudent, however, and they’ll tell you it isn’t. There is simply

too much anecdotal evidence to suggest that the typical

“vertical fish hold” is a “smoking gun”.

Rob Swainson is one of the most vocal fish managers. And

for a good reason. Swainson is responsible for managing

Ontario’s Lake Nipigon and Nipigon River. The latter is

home to the world record brook trout, while the gigantic

lake feeding the rambling river is managed on a trophy basis.

As a result of the special regulations, it may be the best

drive-to lake trout fishery on earth. Swainson says anglers

need to educate themselves on the need to handle big fish

differently than small fish.

“Most people are just not used to catching big fish,” Swainson

says, “so they don’t know how to handle them properly when

they finally do. I know I certainly wasn’t. I moved here from

eastern Ontario and was used to catching lots of fish, but

nothing of a size that required anything more than a one

handed lift into the boat.”

That changed when Swainson landed his first Lake Nipigon

lake trout. He gloved it by the tail and started lifting it

out of the water for a picture. That is when he heard the

unmistakable popping sound as the vertebrae separated in

the trout’s backbone. He says the resonance sickened him.

“The trout only weighed about 18-pounds,” he remembers,

“but I can tell you it is one fish I have never stopped thinking

about.”

If holding a heavy fish vertically by its gill plate, without

supporting its belly, can result in so much damage, why is it

we catch so few fish with obvious injuries?


Even Swainson is quick to point out that he has only seen

one or two large lake trout with deformed backbones. The

reason is they likely die.

“I am not surprised I haven’t seen many,” Swainson explains,

“because the sound of popping vertebrae is likely the death

knell for the big guys. Yes, they swim away. But do they

survive? I doubt it.”

Indeed, Swainson says he is more surprised that he has seen

any healed survivors. Just as in humans, back and spinal

cord injuries can be devastating. He calls the few fi sh with

deformed backbones that he has handled … “the lucky ones”.

“I have spread the word as much as possible locally,” says

Swainson, “and many of the folks who fi sh for big trout on a

regular basis now handle them properly. But the majority of

anglers still don’t know that the big lads need that extra body

support. If someone were to lift you up,” he asks rhetorically,

“would you want to be held by the neck or would you rather

they lifted you up by putting both arms under your body?”

As a retired assistant hatchery supervisor, Ohio DNR staffer

Elmer Heyob has seen more fi sh with deformed backbones

than most fi eld biologists. Heyob says most of the fi sh he has

seen with crooked spines are survivors of genetic defects.

You don’t see them in the wild, he notes, because they would

never make it past the fry stage.

Like Swainson, Heyob is also an avid angler. Muskies, in

particular, are a passion. He says a “problem” with holding a

big fi sh in a vertical position is that it appears to “calm” down.

As a result, many anglers think it a safer or preferred method

of holding them. Ironically, Heyob says he would have to

agree that the fi sh appear calmer. But only because they are

nearly paralyzed from the strain on their vertebrae.

“I can give you a great example of what the weight,

unsupported by water, can do to one of these great fi sh,”

Heyob explains. “An Ohio based muskie club holds an annual

summer tournament at which Ohio Division of Wildlife

personnel often attend. We keep a redwood measuring

board handy that we also use in our research work. One of

the contestants caught a big muskie that they hung from a

hook at the Marina. When they measured it with a tape it

was 51-inches long. We then measured it on the board and

it had shrunk back to 49-inches.”

“In a perfect release-world”, Heyob says, “we would just look

at the fi sh in the water and remove the hooks. But how many

anglers do you know that don’t want at least a picture or two

and a near exact weight of a 50-inch fi sh?”

If you must lift a large fi sh out of the water, it is essential

to support most of its weight with one hand fi rmly placed

under its belly. Heyob is also critical of the way many anglers

use the new tools that grip a fi sh’s mouth and contain a

built-in weigh scale. The constant swivel on the tool makes

it diffi cult to control a spinning fi sh and more dangerous to

remove the hooks. The other problem, of course, is that the

tools encourage anglers to vertically hang the fi sh by its jaw.

A much better and more fi sh-friendly method, explains

Heyob, is to place the fi sh in a knotless net turned on its side.

Then use the gripping tool to hang onto the hoop and weight

the fi sh. You can subtract the weight of the net later to get a

precise measurement.

Catching big fi sh is one of life’s great pleasures. Landing,

measuring, photographing and releasing them correctly are

not diffi cult tasks. And doing those things properly means

more big fi sh in the future.

HOLDING BIG FISH PROPERLY

Anglers need to educate themselves on the need to handle big fi sh differently than small fi sh


Combine state-of-the-art science with today’s hot new swimbaits, then fish one of the best pike lakes on earth and you’ll find yourself knee-deep in ‘gators.

Gord Pyzer

At the end of the Second World War, Winston Churchill described the Soviet Union as “a riddle wrapped inside a mystery inside an enigma.” Churchill could just as easily have been talking about northern pike because no other fish bewilders more anglers.

GIANT ‘GATORS GALORE

Part of the reason pike puzzle fishermen stems from their

extraordinary potential size and gleaming dental work.

When a fish can grow almost five feet long, weigh in excess

of 30-pounds and slice a walleye in half, it is easy to assume it

is a bully doing whatever it wants, whenever it wants, wher-

ever it wants to do it.

Yet, that is so un-pike like.

“Fully one-third of the giant northerns we catch up here,”

says Kesagami Lake Lodge manager, Charlie McDonald, “are

hooked accidentally by our guests when they are fishing

for walleye. I am talking about pike in excess of 50-inches

in length and 30-pounds in weight. Usually, the anglers are

fishing with spinning gear and 1/4-ounce jigs tipped with

twister tails.”

McDonald’s observations are insightful, in part because

he is a talented angler in his own right as well as a skilled

taxidermist who has studied the prodigious predators inside

and out.

But he also has plenty of first-hand knowledge, managing one

of the most unique fly-in pike fishing operations in Canada.

Fifteen hundred square mile Kesagami Lake, located in

northeastern Ontario’s vast Hudson Bay Lowlands is a

wilderness paradise that, for a number of unique reasons,

is packed with pike. This makes it an exceptional place to

carefully study northern pike behavior as well as test some

leading edge pike presentations.

Think Late Spring / Early Summer –Year Round

Case in point: It will surprise you to learn that Kesagami

Lake Lodge is only open for a short eight week window each

year, from ice out in mid-May until early summer in mid-

July. That is about half as long as it could operate weather-

wise, but the giant lake’s super shallow waters warm up

quickly, dialing down the pike frenzy and if McDonald can’t

guarantee his guests optimal conditions, then he’d rather

they waited until the following season.

Embedded in his thinking is the knowledge that every

aspect of a northern pike’s behaviour is associated in one

way or another with the water temperature. It is a principle

that renowned pike scientist Dr. John Casselman has been

advocating for years. Northern pike are heat-seeking

missiles that actively search for areas in a lake, river or

reservoir where the water temperature is optimal for their

growth.

This penchant for perfect water conditions, by the way,

supersedes everything else. It is remarkable when you think


about it, but northern pike will seek out hospitable water

conditions before they’ll worry about food or eating. Ignore

that principle at your peril.

For big pike, the most important water temperatures range

between 64˚ F and 68˚ F (18˚ C and 20˚ C). For smaller

pike, they vary between 68˚ F and 72˚ F (20˚ C and 22˚ C).

Take a second look at those temperatures. The range is

incredibly narrow and the spread between the highs and

lows is separated only by a few degrees. So you don’t have a

lot of leeway, especially in a giant lake or reservoir covering

hundreds of thousands of acres.

Something else that is self-evident is these temperatures

are traditionally associated with the shallows during the

peak late spring and early summer calendar periods across

much of the northern pike’s range.

Indeed, in late May last year when I fi shed at Kesagami,

giant post-spawn pike were staging in traditional late spring

locations along deep weedlines and pencil reed edges, on the

fl ats at the mouths of the many shallow bays and beneath

the cavernous undercut peat shoreline banks.

To understand what was happening – and what occurs on

every northern pike lake on the continent – picture a large

kitchen table on which you’ve dumped thousands of lead

shavings. Now, place magnets on all of the key structural

and cover elements that coincide with the optimal water

temperatures and watch how the shavings are rearranged.

Even this far north, in picture postcard wilderness, you’ll

fi nd ninety-percent of the fi sh crammed into ten-percent of

the water.

The concept is just so critical to keep in mind, especially

if you’ve set your sights on catching huge northern pike.

Optimal water temperatures – NOT FOOD – are the key

factors governing northern pike location.

He Who Adapts, Wins

And you have to be able to adapt on a daily as well as

seasonal basis. Again, a critical case in point: Last spring, a

freak snowstorm dumped several inches of the white stuff

on the fi rst day on our parade. It chilled the knee-deep

shallows and the pike reacted immediately and predictably

in two ways.

For big pike, the most important water temperatures range between

64˚ F and 68˚ F (18˚ C and 20˚ C)

Running a Fishing Tournament, or other event? Let us

know and we may feature it!

[email protected]



First: The shallow bay-, reed- and weed-oriented fish

vanished, dropping down to the bottom, sliding out to

the mouths of the coves and playing hard to get. The

temperature drop clearly impacted them in a negative way.

The thermal shock, however, wasn’t felt by the gargantuan

beasts associated with the hard bottomed, bouldery, main

lake structures. The huge amount of main lake water simply

sucked up and absorbed the minor one-day snowfall and

buffered the temperature change. And it had no impact

whatsoever on the fish.

So, back to the kitchen table. Remove the magnets from the

shallow cover features, place them now on the rocky main

lake structures and watch how the lead filings reorganize

themselves.

Had I not seen it first hand I wouldn’t have believed it.

When the water temperature dropped, you had to leave the

traditional, shallow, weedy, prime-looking spots in favor of

the main lake points, bars, shelves and rock structures. It

is an adjustment many pike anglers, especially those who

mistakenly believe the fish are always in the weeds, simply

refuse to make.

Of course, later in the season, especially in mid-summer in

the central and southern portions of pike country, this is

the normal pattern as prime water temperatures are found

around these deeper main lake locations. And the further

south you go, the deeper you need to probe. Again, much

deeper than most pike anglers are accustomed to fishing.

So, you might wonder, why doesn’t McDonald do that later

in the season? Why doesn’t he keep the lodge open through

the latter half of the summer and poke around deeper water?

Surprisingly, it doesn’t exist.

Kesagami Lake is a huge, shallow, body of water on an

otherwise flat featureless plain known as the Hudson Bay

Lowlands. Indeed, the lake resembles, and more importantly

functions, like a giant prairie pothole lake, albeit with black

spruce trees substituting for wheat fields. And since summer

days this far north are especially long, with 18-hours or

more of daylight, the water warms to temperatures much

higher than pike prefer. Without a significant number of

deep-water refuges, the northerns sulk on the bottom.

It is typical of what happens in many lakes and reservoirs

across the northern pike’s range, although again, many

anglers are oblivious to the event.

“When I was guiding on the St. Lawrence River in southern

Ontario,” Dr. John Casselman says, “we couldn’t catch pike

at certain times in the mid-summer and all the old guides

use to say that the fish were losing their teeth. Of course,

that wasn’t the reason. Water temperatures were above the

optimal. It was too warm for them. So they weren’t feeding.”

When summer water temperatures become too warm,

you’d think pike would simply move away and relocate to

more hospitable areas. Casselman says they do, especially

the bigger pike, but only when the shape of the lake allows

for it. In other words, when the shallow, weedy, shoreline

and backwater areas abut the deeper main lake basin. Think

of complexly structured Canadian Shield-type waters.



Swimbait Insurance

It is essential to use a proper leader when fishing

swimbaits for pike so as not to dampen and

negatively affect the side-to-side motion of the

lure. When using the Aaron Martens Scrounger jig

head, which requires a snap to function properly,

I’ve found the hair thin, almost invisible, titanium

wire leaders made by Stringease Tackle (www.

stringease.com) to be without peer. With belly-

weighted EWG hooks and standard jigs, it is best

to make your own leaders using the pliable 13- or

20-pound test Surflon Micro Supreme knottable

stainless steel wire made by American Fishing Wire

(www.americanfishingwire.com). Simply use back-

to-back uni-knots to attach the leader to your main

line and a Palomar or double improved clinch knot

to tie it to your jig or hook.

But, in what Casselman calls the linear context of an

extremely large, shallow and weedy area (sometimes

several miles long) in a much flatter, less structured lake, the

pike often don’t get out quickly enough. Or, as in Kesagami’s

case, there is simply nowhere to escape. As a result, many

fish remain trapped in the shallows where rising water

temperatures are considerably higher than optimal. And

they simply stop eating. Enough, says Casselman, that when

he examines calcified tissue samples from these pike under

a microscope, he can’t distinguish the mid-summer warm

water phase from the mid-winter starvation period. The fish

actually lay down a false annual growth ring.

Sweet Swimbait Success

Fortunately, our trip to Kesagami coincided with peak water

conditions and temperatures, even if it did entail a minor

adjustment and shift toward hard-bottomed main lake

structures.

Here we were able to combine McDonald’s practical on-

the-water-knowledge, with Casselman’s state-of-the-art

research and our own years of pushing the pike envelope.

Indeed, the most prophetic thing McDonald related during

dinner the first evening, as I mentioned earlier, was that fully

one-third of the giant pike caught at Kesagami each year are

hooked accidentally by walleye anglers using spinning gear

and 1/4-ounce jigs tipped with twister tails. All I could think

was that this surely is no accident.

Indeed, In-Fisherman editors have written extensively

over the years about how small, dark, bass-style flipping

and pitching jigs tipped with soft plastic and pork dressings

have often crushed pike at lakes and reservoirs across the

continent. And we’ve documented several times, how black

leech-like patterns have routinely excelled, especially in the

far north, over more traditional pike presentations.

Over the past several years, I’ve seen a similar non-

traditional pattern evolve using swimbaits, especially the

newer soft hollow belly baits that you’ll find in every bass

angler’s tackle box. In fact, I’ve yet to see a lake where, in

side by side comparisons, swimbaits haven’t matched or

exceeded the catch of traditional presentations. Usually

they have left them choking in the dust.

The pattern initially started with large fluke style baits – the

biggest Zoom Flukes, YUM Houdini Shad and Castaic Jerk J

minnows – rigged Texas style on large 6/0 or 7/0 EWG hooks,

so you can slide them over the tops of weeds and walk them

through the center of shallow growing vegetation.

It has continued unabated with the introduction of the new

hollow bodied baits, like the Berkley Hollow Belly, YUM

Money Minnow, Bass Magnet Eye Catcher and a unique

jig rigging method for the fluke style baits that transforms

them into true swimbaits.

Part of the attraction of the new hollow bodied swimbaits

is undoubtedly their lifelike appearance. But I think it is far

less important than the way they swim through the water,

whether skewered onto a ¼- to ¾ -ounce jig or adorned on a

belly-weighted extra wide gap hook.

Swimbaits, as In-Fisherman Editor-in-Chief, Doug Stange

has been preaching for years now, are one of the few lures

you can retrieve in a two-dimensional manner. In other

words, you can make them rock side-to-side like a crankbait,

while at the same time, up and down thanks to their

paddletail – there is something about this distinctive dual

action movement that appeals to pike.



Optimize Food

While it would be easy to conclude that all you needed to do

to tangle with Kesagami’s gargantuan pike was to retrieve a

hollow bodied swimbait in 8- to 12-feet of water, off a wind

swept rocky structure, it would also be simplistic.

I mean, in the end it really was that simple, but there still was

a reason for the heightened frenzy. It is the pike’s amazing

ability to optimize food resources. It is something Dr. John

Casselman has studied extensively and he still marvels at

the animal’s ability to do it.

According to Casselman, food is rarely a limiting factor for

pike, no matter where we find them across their range. In

the far north, if they want to eat a big whitefish, lake trout

or grayling, they rarely have far to go to catch it. Ditto in the

far south, where they can feast on shad, perch, bass, catfish

or whatever.

But that is not how they behave, nor how they eat.

According to Casselman, pike optimize their feeding strategy

by dining not on the most abundant prey or on the easiest

prey to catch. They also don’t necessarily feed on what they

prefer. Instead, pike eat what is most available to them in

the optimal water temperatures in which they swim; hence,

in some waters, it is the attractiveness of the black leech and

bass jig presentations.

In the case of Kesagami, however, where we found the pike

sharing their preferred open water temperature zone with

walleye, a properly presented hollow bodied swimbait was

devoured. The key was using a heavier than normal jig or

belly-weighted hook that forced you to retrieve the lure

relatively quickly through the middle of the water column

using baitcasting gear. I stuck with 7’ 2” long medium heavy

action Shimano Cumara rods and Calcutta reels spooled

with either 35-pound test Spiderwire or 25-pound test

Maxima Ultragreen mono.

The slightly heavier than normal weight also allowed you to

stagger and sporadically pause the lure during the retrieve,

which was almost always when a pike would overrun it and

eat it with headshaking ferocity.

Which in the end, was a fitting way, I suppose, to solve a

riddle wrapped inside a mystery inside an enigma. Although

casting the lures in one of the finest pike lakes on earth

certainly didn’t hurt matters.

Mend It Magic

If you think bass chew up pricey soft plastic

swimbaits in a hurry, wait until you see what a big

pike can do. Fortunately it is a non-issue if you

have a bottle of Mend-It. Mend-It is not glue. You

can splash it on your fingers and they won’t stick

together. The active ingredient in Mend-It is the

same chemical catalyst used to make soft plastic

baits in the initial manufacturing process. Indeed,

when you use it to repair soft plastic bait it initiates a

reaction that welds it back together. Do it carefully

and you’ll neither see nor feel the initial rip. I have

several swimbaits that I have used to catch a dozen

or more pike and the baits, though bruised and

scarred, still swim perfectly.

More info at www.menditglue.com

Kesagami Lake

Kesagami Lake is managed under a strict catch-

and-release, single barbless hook protocol. Every

year northern pike in the 52- to 55-inch range are

caught and released. The largest pike approach

40-pounds in weight. As good as the pike fishing is,

the walleye angling may be better. I was impressed

with the average 20-inch plus walleyes.

Contact:

Charlie McDonald

Manager

Kesagami Wilderness Lodge

www.kesagami.com, (800) 253-3474




Tips for taking a great fi sh photo!

Try to fi ll the whole frame, avoid using zoom

To get the best color of the fi sh, take it right after being caught, with no dirt or blood on the fi sh

Make sure your hands are wet and use both hands, make sure you don’t squeeze it’s stomach

Hold the fi sh horizontally, supporting near its head with one hand and the other near its tail

Extend yours out in front of you, hold the head slightly closer to the camera, this makes the fi sh appear larger

Face toward the sun, take off sunglasses & smile

Try to fi ll the whole frame, avoid using zoom

To get the best color of the fi sh, take it right after

Make sure your hands are wet and use both hands,

Hold the fi sh horizontally, supporting near its head

Extend yours out in front of you, hold the head

Face toward the sun, take off sunglasses &


PAVLOV’S WALLEYE

Story by Gord Pyzer

Other than actually fishing, presenting fishing seminars

is what I enjoy doing the most. It gives me a chance to

demonstrate some of the things I’ve learned over the

years from some of the world’s finest anglers. It is also an

opportunity to meet some mighty nice folks, young and

old alike, experts as well as novices, and to address their

questions and concerns. Sometimes, though, the tables are

turned.

As they were at the Mid Canada Boat Show recently. Had

I not witnessed it with my own eyes, I would never have

believed it. The walleye and sauger swimming in the

Hawg Trough provided a powerful lesson about the critical

decisions we make every time we open our tackle boxes

and select a lure. And while walleye and sauger were the

instructors this time, the course could just as easily have

been taught by bass, muskies, pike, trout or salmon.

The crux of the seminar was that choosing the colour of a

lure is never the most important decision you make when

you begin fishing. I demonstrated this point by casting out

several superb walleye lures in various ideal shades and not

getting a response from the fish. The reason is that depth

control is always the most important selection criteria and

I was careful to pick presentations that intentionally rode

above the fish.

Indeed, the walleye and sauger were all wild fish that local

anglers had several days earlier. They were, then, hauled in

livewells to the Winnipeg Convention Centre and released

into the Hawg Trough where the crystal clear water was 30˚

F (15˚ C) warmer. The glass walls and bright lights – not to

mention the thousands of spectators – all further served to

drive the fish to the bottom of the tank. If ever one might

encounter negative, unenthusiastic walleye, this was it.

Lesson number two: speed control is the second most

important decision you make when you begin the day fishing.

You have to determine if the fish want your lure retrieved


PAVLOV’S WALLEYE

quickly, slowly or some speed in between. I knew these

walleye, lying with their bellies on the bottom wouldn’t

move far to hit even the most exquisitely coloured lure if it

was swimming quickly past their noses. And when I ripped a

bait that way they proved me right. Even when I suspended

a lure above them they would not rise up to eat it. Given the

conditions, could you blame them?

Even when I incorporated the third and fourth elements (the

size and profi le of the lure) and pitched out fi ne fi ve-inch

long, lean lures that perfectly mimicked tasty smelt, ciscoes

and shiners, the walleye and sauger refused to budge from

their lairs.

Stephen Spielberg could not have scripted any better what

happened next.

Tube jigs are not noted as being good walleye lures. Some

folks may throw them for walleye but I don’t know many.

And I can’t recall a single major walleye tournament in which

tube jigs factored into the winning pattern. Furthermore,

Junebug is not a popular walleye colour. Biologists have

demonstrated that walleye respond most positively to the

colours red, green and yellow.

They also react enthusiastically to natural bait fi sh patterns.

But I had a point to prove.

Casting out a lure that walleye are not noted for hitting, in

a colour that walleye are anything but fond of eating, I let

the tube jig spiral down to the bottom and lay there. I didn’t

move it an inch. And in every seminar for four days straight,

a walleye ate the bait on the very fi rst cast. As well as the

second, third and fourth. I was stunned.

Even though I knew that speed control, depth control,

size and profi le of your lure are all more important than

its colour, I never imagined it could be demonstrated so

profoundly. Every time those correct decisions were made,

like one of Pavlov’s dogs, a walleye bit the bait. And don’t

forget these fi sh were in the most unnatural and unnerving

setting imaginable. Yet they could not let the lure pass by

without snapping at it.

Which is precisely what you’ll experience this season, once

you determine the depth the fi sh are using and the speed at

which they want you to retrieve a lure in the most tempting

size and profi le. Only after you sort out those four essential

criteria do you need to worry about the colour.

The other guaranteed system for catching more fi sh...


iFish Magazine - Summer Fishing 2013

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Transcript of iFish Magazine - Summer Fishing 2013