Musky Fishing the Ozark Mountains of . . . Illinois!

I once had a musky jump and spin while I was holding him, breaking my finger and landing on the bottom of my boat — not good for him.  For this reason I sometimes use a jaw gripper to maintain control of the fish while lifting him for a picture.  It’s a good idea to compress the gripper before grabbing him rather than just jamming it into his mouth.  I know some people disagree with handling them this way but I think it’s better than having the fish lose it’s slime coat all over the carpeting.

Lake Kindaid is near Murphysboro, IL .  It’s southeast of St. Louis in the Shawnee National Forest and the Ozark Mountains of Illinois.  I was suprised to find that IL actually shares part of the Ozarks!  Cool.

The fishing is great for Musky, Bass and Walleye, especially in the late fall.  There are several inexpensive motels in the area with electric hookups and parking for your boat.  A smallmouth stocking program was initiated a couple of years ago and promises to add yet another great sport-fishing opportunity.  There were 10 people (5 boats) in the group that I fished with on this trip and in 2 days we landed 23 Musky, 30+ Bass 5 Walleye and several Crappie.  I’ll be back for sure.

Bass Fishing on Lake Chetek, Wisconsin

If you’re looking for a great place to fish for Crappie, Northern Pike, Bass and even some Perch you could try a visit to one of the many small resorts on the Chetek chain of lakes in Chetek, Wisconsin.  Located Just East of US Rte 53 between Eau Claire and Hayward, the six lake chain offers 3800 surface acres and 61 miles of shoreline.  You can also visit nearby Potatoe Lake and try to raise one of its’ many Muskie.

The Spawn is Coming!

It’s October.  Along the west coast (East too) of Lake Michigan that means it’s time for Big Brown Trout and King Salmon in the bays and tributaries where they can be caught from small boats or by wading, even bank fishing. This nice 12 lb Brown Trout took a “Clown” patterned Storm Thunder Stick. 

Salmon Fishing Techniques

Effective Salmon Fishing Techniques
By Clifford Young

There are a lot of people who are very interested in fishing, and among these are those who are especially keen about salmon fishing. However, not all who are interested in this game are adept in what should be done. As such, if anyone wants to enjoy as well as succeed in salmon fishing, then specific salmon fishing techniques should be learned beforehand.

Anyone who has tried salmon fishing will know firsthand that getting a salmon to bite is really very tricky. While there are times when they do bite hard, there are also other times when fishers hardly get a bite at all. There are many fishing experts who reason out that salmon don’t bite during periods of spawning, as this is when they lessen their feeding activity; there are others who state that these fish bite every time, spawning or not.

This is actually where salmon fishing techniques come in handy. As there is a theory that salmon are quite responsible fish, up to the point that they look after each other’s eggs, there are a number of fishers who use salmon roe for bait. There are many fishers who believe that this is a winning technique, as most salmon could not resist taking a roe into its mouth so it can be brought to safety.

However, the first among the many techniques that anyone should learn about is to know where these fish can be found. There are excellent fish-finders that are now available in the market, which can help in knowing the location of these fish, like the Hummingbird Matrix 87. These sonar devices are quite outstanding in showing which crevices these fish use to hide, among other details of the sea depths.

The next tool that anyone should learn is the use of colorful jigs. This is because when migrating salmons get ready for spawning, their vision is more sensitive than most. They are most keen on sensing the color of green, thus getting green-colored jigs should increase anyone’s chances of getting a salmon to bite.

Another of the salmon fishing techniques available that you should know of is water skimming. This technique is particularly effective on flat water surface fishing. With this, all that needs to be done is casting the bait and then retrieving it steadily and deliberately using the rod or reel, even before the jig has sunk. This causes the jig to smoothly skim through the top of waters just like a minnow, thereby attracting a possible bite from the fish.

So, anyone can really have a chance to catch some salmon if they follow the techniques stated above. Probably the most important things that anyone should remember about salmon fishing is to know where they lay and how to attract them.

Clifford Young is an accomplished niche website developer and author.

To learn more about salmon fishing, please visit
Fisherman Online for current articles and discussions.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Clifford_Young
http://EzineArticles.com/?Effective-Salmon-Fishing-Techniques&id=1325807

Hello world!

Welcome everyone! This is my first post on the new reeldealdirect weblog. More to come . . .

Here’s a video clip from Lake Ste Joseph, Ontario Province, Canada.  There aren’t any fish in it and I forgot the name of the lake; I was ad libbing the script.  The point I wanted to make was just how beautiful and peaceful the country is up there.  This is my first attempt at video. Hopefully, I’ll improve with practice.