Can Spring Be Far Away
Can spring be far away if we are talking about putting in for spawning Sand Bass and planning a turkey hunt?
HawkEye FishTrax Fish Finders - A New Generation of Portability and Versatility
HawkEye® Electronics announces the newest addition to its family of boating and fishing electronics—the ultra-versatile FishTrax™ Fish Finder series.
HawkEye FishTrax Fish Finders are the Perfect Addition to any Kayak
Kayak fishing has been gaining popularity over the previous decade among serious anglers and having a quality, waterproof fish finder is now just about required equipment.
Fall to Winter Transition
The next couple of months we will see the majority of the fish make some transitions from the fall to their wintertime patterns. To stay with the fish, the smart angler will make adjustments in their techniques to give them the best chance for success.
When is the Best Time to Fish?
Just like us humans, fish do sleep (although they do not have eyelids). They sleep at night, they sleep in the daytime, and believe it or not, they take naps just like us!
How to Properly Use a Depth Sounder or Fish Finder
Advances in bass fishing the past few years has been nothing short of astounding. The boats are bigger and faster, rods are more sensitive and lighter, troll motors have as much thrust as small outboards, and lures are more lifelike and effective than ever.
How Many Ways Can You Fish?
Whether you believe fishing is a sport, or just a hobby, fishing requires patience, dedication, and a lot of skill! You’ve probably gone fishing once or twice, or maybe even 103 times, but chances are you are dedicated to one or two types of fishing. Just how many types of fishing are there? Have you even heard of all of these?
What to Pack on Your First Fishing Trip
Fishing for the first time can be exciting! You wonder how many fish you might catch, or what kind. Fishing is really all a big surprise. Although it can be a fun and memorable trip, it can turn sour quick if you are unprepared for the unexpected.
HawkEye Heads to the Great White North
I recently ventured to the great white north, but since I was headed there in mid-June the only squalls I had to look out for were those made up of mosquitos or black flies. Luckily I had that covered and we enjoyed a wonderful week away not worrying about the buzz of the bugs nor the buzz of my cell phone.
HawkEye and the Sailfish Smackdown
HawkEye and NorChill were associate sponsors of the fourth annual Sailfish Smackdown February 18th and 19th, 2017 in Pompano Beach.
Best Ways to Mount Fish Finders on Canoes, Kayaks, and Boats
When discussing our line of fish finders with potential customers and dealers I am often asked: “What makes these FishTrax units better than what is currently out in the market today?” The answer is very simple--versatility.
How to Tune Sonar Sensitivity for a HawkEye FishTrax Fish Finder
A lot of people have asked us to provide more information about the sensitivity settings for our FishTrax Fish finders.
What I Learned About Legacy When Fishing on a Tennessee River
I was king of the river, all the freedom an 8-year-old boy could ever dream of at the wheel of Pop’s pontoon boat chugging down the Emory river to our favorite fishing hole.
Chasing the Schoolers in September
September, can you believe it? Where has our year gone? Why it seems it was just yesterday that I was getting ready for spawning bass and now the fall fishing has just begun.
The Hazards of Boating: Fire on Boats
Fire on boats has always terrified seamen. But in recent years, with more safety equipment and rescue assets available, there seems to have been less thought about it. Here are some reasons why it's just as serious as ever and why, arguably, we may have more to fear from boat fires in modern times than did seamen of old.
Late Ice, Little Tigers
Late winter brings about opportunities. Certain species begin lining up like 2-for1 day at "Old Country Buffet." Yellow perch, in particular, become extremely active during the final weeks of the ice season.
Tale of the Gale: Fishing in a Storm
Dropping right out all the time, announces a familiar voice from above and behind me. The captain squints into the gathering breeze at a traffic jam of small scud clouds that have been piling up for several hours along the horizon to our southwest.
Kayaking - A New Frontier in Sport Fishing
Gliding across calm waters in silence gave me the opportunity to smell, touch, and feel the pleasures of nature in its most intimate form. The air was clean and pure, the water cool and alive to the touch with the sights and sounds of nature in its most natural form both stunning and breathtaking.
Tips About Parking Afloat
If someone comes into harbor and anchors too close, try to discuss it with him by a dinghy visit so that you don’t have to yell across the water. Yelling, no matter how intended, is often interpreted as hostility or anger and you’re less likely to get good results.
Tuna Time: Trolling the Edge of the Earth
As you prepare for your maiden run to the edge, keep in mind that you can run up a whopping tab on fuel alone. You’ll also need seven or more 30- to 50-class stand-up rods, trolling gear, hooks, sinkers, leader material, gaffs, gimbal belts and a couple of kidney harnesses.
Pondering a Canyon Run? Let's Think it Through
Maybe you’ve painted yourself into a corner, promising your nephews a shot at a fish thrice their combined weight. Maybe after a couple of months of hard scratching inshore, you need a change of venue.
Death By Docking
You can usually tell when the dock master is paying attention by whether he notices the piling that you just knocked over floating away. The last time I knocked over a piling, he noticed. He was leaning on it.
Watch and Learn: Know Your Commercial Fisherman
I’ve always liked the saying that fishermen were the original conservationists — folks whose intimate connections to the lay of the stones, the reefs, the sands, the churn of advancing seas and tide give them a vested interest in the continued bounty of their home waters.
Live Bait: Unfair Advantage or Labor-Intensive Art Form?
As Charley Soares noses the bow of his 18-foot skiff toward the edge of the boulder field, I glance quickly at the near-2-pound scup dangling from a treble at the working end of my line and brace my knees under the coaming in preparation for what I know will be an ugly lob, at best.
Bridges
When approaching a bridge always monitor the local bridge frequency on VHF, as well as channel 16. These change as you enter different states. For example, Virginia, North Carolina and Georgia use channel 13, South Carolina and Florida use channel 09.
5 Tips from the Pros to Catch More Fish
If you’re like me, you rely on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram to see who among your friends and colleagues is catching all the fish. Keep up this intel-gathering activity with any regularity, and you’ll see patterns emerge.
Boat Emergencies: What to do When Something Happens Onboard
People buy a boat to fulfill a dream. Usually that's what happens. But sometimes the dream can turn into a nightmare in the form of an emergency at sea. Here are a few tips for handling "stuff" when it hits the fan.
Seamanship and Anchoring
I indicated in my last column here that there are at least three inherent problems with absolute anchor protocols. (1) Anchoring well requires old fashioned seamanship which, in my opinion, is far more complex than that which can be defined by any one protocol.
All Mud Isn't Created Equal
I'm not a scientist (as is obvious, I am sure) but I've been testing anchors for almost 60 years in every kind of bottom, in hurricanes, in "storms of the century" and even in two tornadoes. Of those 60 years around 35 included anchoring out almost every night.
The Collapse of Cod: Will We Fillet the Last Fish?
We Americans have what we see as a long set of traditions — cultural, ecological and, of course, economic — with codfish.
From the trine to the Broiler: The Right Way to Handle Fish
Among the many reasons I take up the rod and reel, foremost could be the satisfaction of feeding myself, my family and friends the world-class protein I’ve harvested from the wild with my own hands.
The ICW From on High
And I looked down from on high... Sounds like it's from the Bible, doesn't it. Actually I kind of felt like that, but not because I have an exalted image of myself (well, maybe a little).
Show Some Love for the Blues
I have hooked, fought, boated, beached, gaffed, unhooked, revived, released, bled, filleted, skinned, gutted, scaled, weighed, photographed, iced, toted, sorted, netted, stacked or otherwise handled a staggering number of bluefish
Moving Out for January Eyes
Timing is everything when you’re trying to hook up with walleyes during a slowdown and having your lines in the water just before and just after dark is imperative.
A Fly Weight Rod and Some Heavyweight Fish
As I brace my knees against the transom and adjust the “drop” between my rod tip and the little whip eel, I scrutinize the plot of water where it appears that a body of substantial bass or gorilla-sized blues has been erupting in the dim 3 a.m. calm.
How Old is Too Old to Boat?
My current "Chez Nous" was launched in 1975. She's fiberglass. Some would say she's old. Let them. What do they know? She's tugging at her line ready to get underway as I write this. She's a Gulfstar 53' motorsailer.
Science VS Gut Instinct: How We Learn to Fish
If there is one recipe that reliably yields top-flight fishermen — in terms of basic human traits, talents, root skills — I’m reasonably certain that a hard-wired scientific bent is the key ingredient.
Waves Can Sing Boats Even When It's Calm
Picture a good fishing day. You're trolling along the drop off, they're hitting and you're taking them in over the stern or quarter.
The Beauty of Boats that Look and Work as They Should
Boats should look like boats, and churches like churches. At their best, boats are an outward expression of an inner conversation about beauty and purpose (to paraphrase a furniture maker).
Are We Headed for Another Bass Crash
Five years ago, give or take, when the first rounds of known striper strongholds began to dry up in the Northeast — spots on Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard, the Elizabeths, Fishers Island, the Sluiceway in eastern Long Island Sound —
A Classic on Top
Several years ago, at a fishing expo, I passed a booth where a video showed a topwater plug I had used as a kid, but hadn’t seen in decades.