With E15, Boaters, Anglers Will Need Extra Vigilance When Filling up at the Gas Station

With the EPA's recent decision to allow the use of gasoline with up to 15% ethanol (E15) in 2001 and newer model cars and trucks, Boat Owners Association of The United States (BoatUS) says that trailerboaters will need to remain extra vigilant when filling up their truck and trailered boat at the local gas station. That's because while E15 could be fine for the tow vehicle, it's not good - nor authorized by the EPA - for use with boats. A strong solvent, ethanol has been known to degrade marine fuel systems, damage engines, add safety concerns, and lead to expensive repair bills.

Toyota Share Lunker 508 Sets New Record for Lake Austin

T.J. Nissen of Austin holds the new record for Lake Austin after catching a 16.03-pound bass late in the day on January 27.

Nissen was fishing in four to five feet of 49-degree water when the fish took his crankbait. The fish is 28.25 inches long and 21.75 inches in girth. Only three other fish entered into the Toyota ShareLunker program have been that long.

Federal Consideration of Bottom Fishing Closure Suspended

The Secretary of Commerce has agreed with recommendations of NOAA Fisheries Services and the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council to suspend consideration of the potential large bottom fishing closure in the Southeast. Economic impact information generated by the American Sportfishing Assn. (ASA) in cooperation with the Berkley Conservation Institute (BCI) and Big Rock Sports led to the decision. Keeping the zone open protects potentially thousands of jobs and industry retail sales in the impacted areas.

"I believe that two things primarily impacted this decision," said BCI Director Jim Martin. "First, the Council and NOAA Fisheries heard loud and clear that risking such an economic impact in a time of economic recession was the wrong decision. While we are all committed to the full rebuilding of red snapper in the South Atlantic, closing the entire bottom fishing complex for so long…perhaps over a decade, was going to have a devastating impact on the economy, our jobs and the industry as a whole. We have ASA and Big Rock to thank for doing the exceptional survey of potential economic impacts.

"Secondly, the new stock assessment for South Atlantic red snapper showed what anglers have been saying all along….that the stock was stronger than was originally reflected in previous stock assessments. The good news is that the most recent assessment showed several younger year classes have moved into the catchable population. With the continuation of prohibition on targeting red snapper, it is believed that most of these fish will recruit into spawning populations to help rebuild red snapper to levels without the drastic measure of closing all bottom fishing."

It will still take many years to fully rebuild red snapper, even with the prohibition on target fishing this species. Once this happens, a sustained yield of many times the current catch is expected if management is careful not to overfish red snapper.

There is still the issue of the incidental mortality of red snapper that are caught in recreational fishing, and are brought to the surface and released. Pure Fishing is working with ASA and others to examine techniques to resubmerge these fish back to the depth that they were caught before releasing them.

Added Martin, "In the short term, an economic disaster has been avoided by the wise decision by the Secretary of Commerce. The longer term good news is we expect to be able to rebuild South Atlantic red snapper without having to close the whole bottom fishing complex."

About Pure Fishing

Pure Fishing, Inc. is a leading global provider of fishing tackle, lures, rods and reels with a portfolio of brands that includes Abu Garcia®, All Star®, Berkley®, Fenwick®, Gulp!®, Mitchell®, Penn®, Pflueger®, SevenStrand®, Shakespeare®, SpiderWire®, Stren®, Trilene® and Ugly Stik®. With operations in 19 countries and a dedicated workforce conversant in 28 languages, Pure Fishing, Inc. is part of Jarden Outdoor Solutions, a leader in developing outdoor and active lifestyle products and a subsidiary of Jarden Corporation. Additional information can be found at www.purefishing.com.

About Jarden

Jarden Corporation is a leading provider of niche consumer products. Jarden operates in three primary business segments through a number of well recognized brands, including: Outdoor Solutions: Abu Garcia®, Aero®, Berkley®, Campingaz® and Coleman®, Fenwick®, Gulp!®, K2®, Marker®, Marmot®, Mitchell®, Penn®, Rawlings®, Shakespeare®, Stearns®, Stren®, Trilene®, Völkl® and Zoot®; Consumer Solutions: Bionaire®, Crock-Pot®, FoodSaver®, Health o meter®, Holmes®, Mr. Coffee®, Oster®, Patton®, Rival®, Seal-a-Meal®, Sunbeam®, VillaWare® and White Mountain®; and Branded Consumables: Ball®, Bee®, Bicycle®, Billy Boy®, Crawford®, Diamond®, Dicon®, Fiona®, First Alert®, First Essentials®, Forster®, Hoyle®, Kerr®, Lehigh®, Leslie-Locke®, Lillo®, Loew Cornell®, Mapa®, NUK®, Pine Mountain®, Quickie®, Spontex® and Tigex®. Headquartered in Rye, N.Y., Jarden has over 25,000 employees worldwide. For more information, please visit www.jarden.com.

The Mental Side of Bass Fishing – Don’t Panic!

Recently, Zoom pro staffer Gerald Swindle won his first B.A.S.S. tournament at Lake Toho in Kissismee, Florida. The video above is Gerald, in his own words, describing how he dealt with his co-angler catching back-to-back nine pounders early on day three of the tournament. Wow!!

The mental side of bass fishing tournaments is so important because it involves confidence and decision making. Gerald talks about how he didn’t get “rattled” and took back control of the situation. Congratulations Gerald!!

Give Your Reels a Blast

While a dry cloth will remove the obvious dust, Ardent's Reel Blast is a pressurized dirt remover that can get in those hard-to-reach places, removing excess dust and leftover debris from last season. Simply point and shoot the pressurized spray, and it will remove remaining particles of debris without requiring disassembly of your equipment.

Plano says "don't let the groundhog overshadow February tackle duties"

Whether Pennsylvania's famous furry little butterball saw his shadow today or not, most anglers across the country have already accepted the fact they are in for six more weeks of winter because it is only February. However, the groundhog sighting still offers encouragement since the plump little rodent looks to be about a 10-pounder, a size that stirs illusions of a double-digit bass or walleye on the line during a nice warm outing that surely will occur just a few weeks from now.

Texas Parks and Wildlife Department Releases Video on Fizzing Bass

The Inland Fisheries Division of Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) today announced the availability of a seven-minute video detailing the results of a two-year study to determine the best method of treating largemouth bass suffering from barotrauma.

Mr. Walleye's New Favorite Line

Mr. Walleye® Gary Roach has made a career out of rigging, jigging and bobbering walleyes with livebait. Meanwhile, walleye anglers are still confused about which fishing line to use in different situations, especially given the surplus of “extra-this,” “super-that” lines currently crowding the aisles. Thousands of dollars and countless tournament wins later, there’s no one more qualified to design and test a “Walleye-Specific” fishing line than Mr. Walleye himself. Now, thanks to Roach and the walleye wizards at Northland® Fishing Tackle, choosing a great walleye line has become a no-brainer.

Lake El Salto & Anglers Inn Heating Up

Anglers Inn International at famed Lake El Salto has become famous for its phenomenal service and giving anglers a once-in-a-lifetime experience never to be forgotten.

Lake El Salto went through some water level growing pains, which caused fishing conditions to cool by the end of 2010. The hot summer months concentrated piles of fish around timber, giving anglers the perfect opportunity to catch high numbers of fish. As usual, the water level dropped and in 2010 the lake level was at a near all time low. When the rain approached, it caused the lake to rise over 40-feet in a very short amount of time. This caused the level of the water to suffocate the vegetation, which caused the fish to suspend in hopes of finding higher levels of oxygen.

Winter Fishing is Incredible if you Dress Correctly

In 1996 I bought my first Gore-Tex rain suit and can honestly say it was the best fishing/winter gear I have every paid for or owned. That may seem unusual if you every get a chance to look in my closet at all my winter clothes. The weather where I live is usually pretty nasty for about a month in the winter. One of my best days fishing a few years a go was a cold/wet day in February with my fishing bud, but we were dressed for success that day.

B.A.S.S. Backs Wildlife Federation Conservation Efforts in Louisiana

The 2011 Bassmaster Classic, to be held February 18-20 in New Orleans, will showcase more than 50 of the world's best bass anglers. It will also draw attention to important efforts to revitalize what the National Wildlife Federation calls a "Vanishing Paradise."

B.A.S.S. LLC, which conducts the annual world championship of bass fishing, is partnering with the Louisiana Wildlife Federation (LWF) and National Wildlife Federation (NWF) in campaigns to promote the restoration and protection of Louisiana's imperiled coastal wetlands and reconnect the Mississippi River to its delta.

While the Louisiana Delta is rebounding from devastating hurricanes and a massive oil spill, a continuing and more destructive force threatens the long-term survival of the coastal wetlands, according to Land Tawney, NWF's senior manager for sportsmen leadership.

Levees and navigation projects along the Mississippi River have isolated Louisiana's wetlands from the freshwater and sediment that once built them while allowing saltwater to penetrate far inland, destroying once healthy coastal forests and freshwater swamps, Tawney said. As a result, more than 2,300 square miles of coastal lands and estuaries, an area nearly the size of the state of Delaware, has washed away or subsided in the last 80 years. An area of land the size of a football field becomes open water nearly every half-hour along the Louisiana coast.

River diversion projects already in place have dramatically improved delta bass fishing since the Classic last visited New Orleans in 2003. LWF's Sportsmen for the Coast campaign and NWF's Vanishing Paradise effort are aimed at gaining federal approval of additional projects to restore the vast marshland.

"B.A.S.S. supports these efforts to protect and improve this great fishery that is so important to bass fishermen and other sportsmen," said Jerry McKinnis, an owner of B.A.S.S. "Unless something is done to protect these coastal wetlands, the fantastic fishing we have now won't be around for our children to enjoy."

The LWF and NWF campaigns are being promoted through Bassmaster Magazine, B.A.S.S. Times, www.bassmaster.com and other B.A.S.S. media. In addition, LWF and NWF will host Bassmaster Classic Media Day on Thursday, Feb. 17, and will have representatives available to answer questions and distribute information to angling enthusiasts attending the Bassmaster Classic Outdoors Expo presented by Dick's Sporting Goods at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center, Feb. 18-20.

"The best bass fishing and, arguably, even the best saltwater fishing in Louisiana over the past 10 to 15 years has been in the coastal areas near the Caernarvon and Davis Pond diversions," said LWF Coastal Outreach Coordinator Chris Macaluso. "Bringing the river back into those areas has increased the aquatic vegetation, made the food chain healthier and made both the bass fishing and the saltwater fishing much better. The Mississippi River built this delta, and it only makes sense that it needs to be used to restore and rebuild it."

More information about both LWF's and NWF's efforts to involve anglers, hunters and all outdoors enthusiasts in the restoration of Louisiana's coast can be found at www.vanishingparadise.org and www.lawildlifefed.org/coastal.

Youth Reels in State Record with ShareLunker Catch

Nathan Peña-Alfaro did not expect to catch a Toyota ShareLunker when he went fishing with his family at O.H. Ivie Reservoir New Year’s weekend, much less a fish that would garner him two junior angler records.

The 13.59-pound largemouth bass he landed became the new water body record for O.H. Ivie and the new junior angler state record for largemouth bass caught from public waters as well as Toyota ShareLunker 506.

A video interview with Peña-Alfaro is at www.facebook.com/sharelunkerprogram.

Peña-Alfaro’s catch was not the largest ever landed by a junior angler in Texas. In 1993, Chris Leslie, age 13, of Emory caught a 14.27-pound bass from Lake Fork, but at that time separate records were not kept for junior anglers.

In 2007 Jesse Roberson, age 9, of Goldthwaite caught the current junior angler record for private waters, a 15.54-pounder from Lake Merritt.

Peña-Alfaro, a student at Western Hills High School in Benbrook, attributes his catch to the fact that he did his research before going fishing. “We heard they were catching big fish from O.H. Ivie on live sunfish,” he said. Bobbie Gayle of Millersview used a live sunfish to catch the season’s first Toyota ShareLunker, also from O.H. Ivie, on December 15, 2010.

Both fish were caught from about 15 feet of water.

Researchers with rods and reels might want to take notice.

The Toyota ShareLunker Program is made possible by a grant to the Texas Parks & Wildlife Foundation from Gulf States Toyota. Toyota is a long-time supporter of the Foundation and Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, providing major funding for a wide variety of education, fish, parks and wildlife projects.

Dallas Youth Sets New Records for Blue Catfish at Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center

Ten-year-old Wyatt Ciccarelli of Dallas set two junior angler water body records for the casting pond at the Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center (TFFC) December 30.

Ciccarelli used cut bait and the rod and reel he got for Christmas to catch a 34.3-pound blue catfish that measured 43 inches in length and 34.5 inches in girth.

In addition to earning a Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) big fish award, Ciccarelli also set new junior angler water body and junior angler catch-and-release water body records for Lake Zebco, TFFC’s 1.5-acre casting pond.

TexasParksand Wildlife Department recognizes fishing excellence through its Angler Recognition Program. The program maintains state record lists for public and private waters and water body records for all public lakes, rivers, and bays. The program also issues certificates for other types of angler achievements.

For state and water body records, junior anglers (under 17 years of age) compete in a separate division. If a junior angler’s catch beats an all-ages record, the young angler will receive recognition in both divisions.

For more information, lists of records and a downloadable Angler Recognition Program application, visit http://archive.tpwd.state.tx.us/fishboat/fish/programs/fishrecords/.

Arkansas River Fish Kill Investigation Continues

Anglers and residents along the Arkansas River near the Ozark Lock and Dam wrapped up 2010 witnessing more than 83,000 dead and dying fish on the surface of the river.

According to Chris Racey, AGFC assistant chief of fisheries, the fish kill was reported on Dec. 29 and covered about 17 miles of river from the Ozark Lock and Dam downstream to River Mile 240, directly south of Hartman, Ark.

Bob Limbird, district fisheries biologist for the Russellville area, said, “We started receiving reports on Wednesday night. (AGFC Fisheries Management Biologist) Frank Leone and Wildlife Officer Ben Sisk arrived at dark and scanned the water with a spotlight. They saw a lot of dead fish on the shore and decided to come back with more manpower Thursday morning to properly assess the situation.”

On Friday, 17 AGFC personnel loaded into six boats and surveyed the stretch of river affected by the kill.

“We sampled the south bank along the river channel,” said Limbird. “Most of the fish were concentrated from the dam to Okane, with a few here and there stretching almost to Horsehead Creek.”

About 99 percent of the dead fish (about 82,680 estimated fish) were freshwater drum. A few yellow bass, white bass and sauger were found in sampled areas, but may be unrelated to the drum kill.

“Most of the fish were freshwater drum between 6 and 11 inches long,” said Limbird. “We picked up five drum that were dying and submitted them to the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff for testing.”

The fish samples are being analyzed, but it could take up to 30 days for full test results.

Northland Fishing Tackle LIVE-FORAGE

Take a few minutes of your time (actually a brisk 7 minutes and 35 seconds) to be dazzled by Northland Fishing Tackle's new LIVE-FORAGE Replica Baitfish Series in action, both agitating fish under the surface and stuck in the maws of some real lunkers. Seeing is believing...

FYI#39- World Record Tuna, Roland Martin & JVD, New Bassmaster Emcee

Georgia Lowering Fees for Hunting and Fishing License Purchases

In news that is sure to be welcome in the current economy - some of the transaction fees for recreational licenses are being reduced, according to the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Wildlife Resources Division. The internet transaction fee is going from $2.75 to $2.50 and the in-store transaction fee will go from $3.25 to $3.00. The telephone transaction fee will increase, going from $4.00 to $5.00. These fee changes will go into effect on Jan. 3, 2011.

Two years ago, hunters and anglers were introduced to a new system for purchasing their recreational licenses including internet transactions, telephone transactions and in store transactions. This new system incorporated transaction fees for purchases. Fees are applied to each transaction (not each individual license, unless purchased at different times). License buyers also should remember to take advantage of a special discount of $2.75 on transactions if an annual license or a 2-year license is renewed before it expires.

"Per our agreement with the license vendor that we would be able to reduce the amount of transaction fees for internet transactions, we were able to determine that a reduction in fees would come at a future date," says Michael Spencer, Supervisor of the Division License and Boat Registration Unit. "So, I am pleased to announce that the time is now - there is a transaction fee reduction for both internet and in-store purchase of hunting and fishing licenses."

Licenses can be purchased online (www.georgiawildlife.com ), at an authorized retail license agent (find a list of retail agents at www.georgiawildlife.com) or by phone (1-800-366-2661).

All licenses that currently are free continue to be free and do not require a transaction fee. This includes: Harvest Information Program (H.I.P.) licenses, deer harvest records, senior licenses (65 and older) and honorary licenses. No credit card? No problem. Most retail locations take cash for transactions. Also, a prepaid credit card may be purchased at a variety of locations and used to complete transactions over the Internet or telephone.

Sales of hunting and fishing licenses and boat registration provide key financial support for fish and wildlife conservation.

For more information, visit www.georgiawildlife.com.

PENN International Reel Brings in Giant 405.2-Pound Yellowfin

Few world-fishing records have been as elusive as the yellowfin tuna, standing since 1977 – until now. Fishing on December 6th, Mike Livingston of Sunland, Calif., never thought it possible to hoist up a yellowfin that would potentially topple the previous 33-year old world record of 388 pounds, 12 ounces. However, Livingston caught a giant 405.2-pound giant yellowfin tuna, making good use of the PENN International 30SW, and threatening the 33-year old record.

“I got him on a sardine,” said Livingston, “and a 9/0 Owner Super Mutu hook. I used my PENN reel, which was a gift from a buddy and was blueprinted by Cal Sheets. I custom-wrapped the rod myself. It’s a five and a half-footer, a no-name. After all those years, since 1974, I’ve been out fishing on many boats, and I get this one on a no-name rod! My best yellowfin before was about a 100-pounder.”

“When he struck I had 26 pounds of drag pressure on the reel. I’ve never had a big one hooked before, so I listened when (crewman) Timmy DePhilippis said to put the lever all the way up to full drag. Boy, that took me to my toes! I used all that the reel had and my fingers.”

If the fish is accepted by the International Game Fish Association (IGFA) as an official record, it will be the all-time, all-tackle tuna for the yellowfin species. The International Game Fish Association approved the application for the record. Because it was caught in Mexico, the organization's records coordinator says it will take at least 90 days to proclaim it as a record.

Woo Daves Tube Tips Part #1 and #2

Joe Thomas Talks Jerkbaits and Spring Patterns