Quick Quip...

Increase your catch by bird-watching. Oftentimes, gulls, cormorants, ospreys (fish hawks), albatross and even pelicans can be a much better guage of where to fish than a sonar. These birds prey on schooling fish which are often driven to the surface by predatory species underneath. So let your bait drop slightly below the school to maximise your chances. And we all thought ornithology was strictly for the birds (-;

What's New...

We've made arrangements with Sierra Online to have our own permanent TFN - Trophy Bass 2 Gaming Room on their Internet-Play Site (Trophy Bass 2 has built-in options to play over a modem, network or the Internet). Once the room is up, we'll be running some test tournaments to figure out the system and then start running some real events -- with prizes even! So if you have the game, sign up for more information and to be notified of tournament schedules!

This Issue...

Bass season is now opening up in the last northern reaches, so we thought we'd concentrate on bass tips and techniques in this issue. Of course, much of the information on locating fish is equally applicable for most freshwater predators and, indeed, for many reef-dwellers as well.

Comment...

Here in southern Ontario (also much of the northern continental U.S.), this is the second year in a row that Mother Nature has unilaterally decided to forego spring. Winter stopped about 3 weeks ago when summer started. Temperatures rose from the low 40's to the 80's, and we had little if any buffer between the two. Last year, when not only the spring, but the first half of the summer was also cold, many bass did not spawn. This year, due to the hot temperatures of the last month or so, the water has warmed to the point that the bass are now on the beds. The problem is that bass fishing seasons are either opening now or are already open, and many fish will be caught off those beds by anglers who either don't know any better, or don't care.

If the current spawn is interrupted by fisherpeople 'hitting the shorelines', the compounded effect of two concurrent years of few fry can result in depleted stocks of bass for years to come. And just practising Catch and Release is not the answer. You see, just because you release a fish to return to its nest, it doesn't mean the damage hasn't already been done. Wherever there are fish raising their young, there are numerous other predators in the area, ready and anxious to dine on a fine buffet of unprotected eggs and fry.

If it takes you 1 minute to catch a fish, 2 minutes to boat it, snap a picture and release it back to its watery home and another 30 seconds or so for the fish to return from whence it came, a single perch, crappie, walleye, gar, catfish, or even another bass, could gorge on thousands of eggs or dozens of fry while the nest is vacated.

So if you live in an area where there's a great deal of fishing pressure, or in the northern climes -- where it takes three to five times as many years for a bass to grow to the same size as a three year old in the south -- give the fish a break this year and stay away from the spawning beds. You and your children will reap the benefits in the long run.

Until next issue...
(tight lines, get it wet, good fishin', see you on the water, etc., etc.).

Scott M. Binnie, Managing Editor