The Complete Angler: Extending Your Fishing Experiences

By Jake Bussolini

This book is the sixth in a series of books written by Jake Bussolini. It is the last in his series of books that blend the science of fishing with the sport of fishing. This book is directed at the experienced angler and covers a broad range of subjects that the author feels he has not thoroughly covered in his previous books.
The first half of this book covers some of the more complex questions about fish health, growth, population and nutrition. Then the subject of Sonar image interpretations are re-visited, going deep into the understanding of what screen images really mean. The author also covers less complicated subjects like the strike zone, using sound to catch fish, selecting the right bait or lure including a look at the authors ten favorite lures.
The second half of the book describes several of the fishing experiences of the author including lessons learned from these experiences. The book ends with some brief coverage of filleting your fish, stepping up your equipment and a broad description of the responsibilities of every experienced angler.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Feb 21, 2014
• ISBN: 9781491863183

Jake Bussolini

Jake spent his professional career in the Aerospace Industry. He started as an engineer and retired as a senior executive. He uses his science background in his writing. He has written extensively on outdoor subjects, has won acclaim from the Non Fiction Authors Association and recently ventured into the world of fiction. He is a member of Southeast Outdoor Press Association, Non-Fiction Authors Association and the National Association of Book Entrepreneurs. He lectures extensively on outdoor subjects and runs a monthly fishing seminar in Mooresville NC.

Book preview

THE

COMPLETE

ANGLER

Extending your Fishing Experiences

Jake Bussolini

44864.png

AuthorHouse™ LLC

1663 Liberty Drive

Bloomington, IN 47403

www.authorhouse.com

Phone: [phone]

© 2014 Jake Bussolini. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 02/18/2014

ISBN: 978-1-4918-6317-6 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4918-6318-3 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2014903065

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Contents

Introduction

1.   Gathering Facts

2.   Re-visiting The Bass

3.   A Growing Number of Fish Species

4.   Fish Population and Size are Getting Smaller

5.   Big Fish Small Fish, Why The Difference?

Nutrients in the food and water

Soil Drainage

Major sources of Nutrients in water

Seasonal Weather Variations

Available food Sources

Competition for Food

Fishing Pressure

6.   How Does a Fish Finding Sonar Work?

7.   Correlating Screen Images and Underwater Images

8.   More About Schooling Fish

9.   The Concept of Dentrails

10.   Sound, The Next Big Angling Discovery

Using sound to assist anglers

11.   Is There a Secret for Selecting a Bait or Lure?

My ten favorite artificial Lures

12.   What is The Typical Strike Zone?

13.   How Can I Improve my Loss Rate?

Improve Your retrieve

14.   Fishing is The Best Method of Learning

15.   The Monsters of the James River

16.   Breaking Tradition and the Law, Butterfly Peacock Bass are a Must for Every Angler

A Side Trip to the Everglades

17.   North to the Red River

18.   The Tennessee River System

19.   Lenoir City Tennessee

20.   The Alabama Section of the Tennessee River

Coon Dog History

21.   Tailwater Bait Fish

22.   A 3500 Mile Round Trip to Devils Lake ND.

23.   Fishing Ontario Canada

24.   The Convenience of Southern Ontario

Fishing Kishkutena Lake

25.   A Yankee’s Introduction to Louisiana

Great Fishing in Louisiana’s Sportsman’s Paradise

A Little About Red Fish

26.   Ocean Fishing Offers Some Challenges

Memories Are Made With Marlins

About Marlin

27.   Interesting Salt Water Options

28.   Less Expensive Salt Water Options

29.   Filleting Your Fish

30.   Stepping up Your Equipment

31.   The Responsibilities of Every Experienced Angler

Government Creep

South Florida Water Management

Loons or Loonies

Freedom to Fish and Government Overreach

References

Introduction

There was a time in my life, probably in my younger years, when I thought there were subjects about which I had complete knowledge. As I grew older I realized for most subjects, I had only skimmed the surface of knowledge because the world in which I existed was constantly changing. Every day there were new discoveries, new inventions driven by improved technologies and changing cultures that forced me to think and act in different ways. In my more mature years, I came to realize that there were actually no subjects about which I had complete knowledge. Life became a learning process just to keep up with things around me.

In recent years I have directed a good deal of my energy toward becoming a more complete person. Perhaps the one thing I have learned is there is probably not one question for which there is only one answer or only one solution to any situation. In many cases there may not even be a right or wrong but only a set of alternatives that can be matched to a specific situation. Complete knowledge on any subject is impossible to achieve.

This book represents my last in the series of texts about fishing. I will certainly continue to write about the sport I love so much, but my purpose will be different, it will be more about sharing experiences than about sharing knowledge. This book contains a little of each.

I was once asked to define the complete angler. I didn’t have much time to think about an answer at the time but looking back, I think it was pretty representative on my opinion. I feel a complete angler is one who understands the basics of the sport, the science of the fish and the waters in which they live, and practices the necessary conservation to insure the future of the sport for those who come after us. A complete angler is also one who takes the sport to different levels, practices the skills under different conditions and passes on the knowledge gained to future generations.

Other important aspects of angling are the memories that go along with the angling activities. These memories often last forever and become the basis for passing along the knowledge gained through years of experience.

I recently received a call from a Canadian television production company that was asking to interview me on some local fishing topics. I suggested they might be interested in doing the interview in my memories room where I display all of my interesting fish mounts. As they were preparing for the interview, the producer asked me why I called this my memories room and not my trophy room. I had been asked that question countless times before so my answer was somewhat rehearsed. Trophies to me represent numbers, the biggest this or the heaviest of that, but a trophy always sets a numerical standard that someone somewhere will eventually exceed. Memories on the other hand are very specific to me. No one can duplicate a memory of mine. Every one of my memories that hang on the wall overlooking the lake where I live, have a story attached, something that made them special to me. As an example, I have a nineteen pound blue catfish reproduction displayed prominently in this room. That size blue catfish is far from a trophy size catfish. But, it was the first and only fish my wife and I caught together when we first moved to this lake. We were trying out our new boat on a lazy sunny afternoon. We were sipping some fine wine and nibbling on some crackers and cheese with two lines in the water. Suddenly the fish hit one line and it was game on for both of us. I was using very light line and I knew that this was a fairly large fish so I was concerned about our ability to land the fish with that line. Out of pure instinct my wife grabbed the rod and started to gingerly retrieve the fish. After a lot of instruction, laughing and jumping around, she finally got the fish close enough to the net to capture. As I was hauling in the fish, I accidentally hit the bottle of wine and it spilled all over the boat. That was a memory I knew we would never forget. The wine was replaceable but the memory was not.

Each of the fish in my memories room has a story attached to it representing a small portion of my life that I do not want to forget. We had a long discussion about this memories room concept and after the interview was over and the TV crew had left, I thought, yes there are a lot of real fine stories that are attached to this room, so why not write about some of them. My books have always been texts with instructions about angling. But my real enjoyment from the many fishing trips used to gather the data for those books came from all of the other things attached to the trip. Some had history associated with the areas that I found very interesting. Others produced specific experiences for me that were new and exciting. Many were learning experiences where a guide or local anglers taught me new techniques or procedures. Some of my travels dropped me into different cultures and habits, inherent to the region fished. All of these other things added to the overall enjoyment of my many fishing trips.

I realized that nearly every fishing trip I had ever been on, had a story attached to it, something that set that trip out from the others. I thought, that’s what has been missing from my books. I was always motivated by the science or the catch or the learning when the real interest was many of the other things that went along with those factors. Wouldn’t it be a little more interesting, I thought, if I wrote a book that included experiences and continued to emphasize the science and the learning and also told the story. That is what I have set out to do in this book. I believe that if anglers look at their angling experiences as more than just the size of the catch or the numbers that they achieve, they will elevate their angling game to a much more complete experience.

For several years I have written about subjects that represented questions that I received from other anglers at my lectures and fishing trips. I tried to answer the most often asked questions in my books. There are a few subjects that continue to be questioned, so I have included material on these subjects in the first half of this book. I have also addressed some subjects I believe are important to the future of our sport. Knowledge of these subjects is part of the responsibility of every angler that wishes to be a complete angler and one who defends our rights to participate in our sport without interference from those who chose to destroy the sport.

This book is still a text document and I still try to blend the science with the sport. Gaining more knowledge is part of becoming a better angler. Using that knowledge raises the bar for every fishing experience. So let’s make every new angling experience a much more exciting one by elevating our skills, increasing our knowledge and making every angling challenge a complete experience.

Gathering Facts

Every angler has at one time or another participated in a group discussion where the subject focused on fishing. These discussions were more likely story telling sessions where one angler had a bigger fish or a better story that the other. I have always found that having some unusual facts handy in my memory, helps me introduce some variety in these sessions. Oh sure I also have the big fish stories, but the conversations often get more interesting and sometimes combative when I throw in a fact or two to make a point.

Over the years through my research, I have picked up tid-bits of information that I find interesting. I thought I would pass a few of these along to my readers so that you might have them handy to use as you will. I categorize these facts as did you know items.

Did you know?

Sharks are the only fish that have eyelids.

Electric eels and electric rays can produce enough electricity to kill a horse.

Since the jaw of a fish is not attached to its skull, many fish can shoot their mouth forward like a spring to catch a startled prey.

A fish does not add scales as it grows but the scales that it has increase in size. In this way, growth rings are formed and the rings reveal the age of the fish.

Many brands of lipstick contain material that is taken from the scales of fish. This material adds glitter to the lipstick.

Most fish have taste buds all over their bodies. Catfish have over 27,000 taste buds, humans have around 7000

Fish use a variety of low pitched sounds to communicate with each other. They moan, grunt, croak, boom, hiss, whistle, creak, shriek and wail. Fish do not have vocal cords. They use other parts of their bodies to make noise, such as vibrating muscles against their swim bladders.

Ever heard a catfish trying to talk to you after you brought in into the boat? I bet you thought that noise was made by the float bladder expanding or contracting. This has been the popular belief for many years but it’s not true. Actually the groaning sound that you hear is the result of internal contact between the front pectoral fin tissue and the tissue of the spine of the fish. If you observe he fish as it makes these noises you will notice that the pectoral fin moves forward each time the noise is made.

Fish have sleep periods where they have lowered response to stimuli, slowed physical activity and reduced metabolism but they do not share the same brain waves as humans when they sleep.

An estimated one third of the male fish in British waters are changing their sex due to pollution and human sewage.

The oldest fish hook ever found dates back about 42,000 years.

A fish can drown in water. Like humans, fish need oxygen, so if there isn’t enough oxygen in the water the fish will suffocate.

Fish would suffocate if they tried to chew because chewing would interfere with the water passing over their gills.

The fastest swimming fish is the sail fish. It can swim as fast as a car can travel over a highway.

Scientists have explored only 1% of the ocean depths. They believe millions of new kinds of animals and fish are waiting to be discovered.

Unlike bony fish, sharks and rays do not have a swim bladder. They have to swim all the time. If they stop they will sink to the bottom.

The top attacking speed of a bass is about 12 miles per hour. Their average swimming speed is much slower than that.

Bass, particularly largemouth bass, capture their pry through a suction mechanism that involves quickly opening their mouth with rapid muscle movements that are completed in less than 30 milliseconds. When the mouth is opened it causes a negative pressure engulfing water and prey. When the mouth closes, the gill covers open forcing the water out and trapping the prey in the mouth. The fastest mouth opening is at water temperatures of about 77 degrees F. To be successful a bass angler must learn to quickly detect the start of a bite and react as fast as possible. 30 milliseconds is faster than you can blink your eye.

Biologists tested anglers in one mid western state to see how well they could identify different fish species. Fish were identified correctly only 42% of the time. There were 3000 anglers represented in the sample. The species with the highest recognition were the largemouth bass 73%, bluegill 85%, walleye 70%, channel catfish 70%. The lowest recognition rate was the spotted bass with 9% and the hybrid striped bass with 16%.

When you are casting a lure, it is important to continually vary your retrieve speed. Don’t throw the bait out and retrieve it the same way each time. Try a slow retrieve and then a fast one. Hop the lure or crawl it and change your technique regularly. Change your retrieval speed at the half way point.

The presence of loons is a good sign there is bait in the area. The average loon eats 22% of its body weight each day. Since the average loon weight is about 1100 grams and the average weight of a small bait fish is about 10 grams that means that a loon will eat more than 110 small bait fish each day. No wonder it is considered good practice to fish around where loons are working.

Adding small live bait to a jig will sometimes make it more effective. Generally it is not good practice to add anything to a jig. At times when fish are schooled, adding the smell of live bait will help excite the fish.

Re-visiting The Bass

In all of my previous books I purposely stayed away from writing about bass fishing. I avoided bass not because I am not familiar with fishing for this species because I catch more bass in a year than any other species of fish. I decided not to write about bass fishing because I felt that there was probably nothing that I could put into print that had not already been written many times. Just about every publication that deals even in the slightest way with fishing, contains article after article about the best way to catch bass or the new lure that is a killer for bass, or a new type of bass boat that makes the fish jump on to your lure. What could I add?

After publishing five books about freshwater fishing and fishing on more than 100 bodies of water during my fishing experiences, I came to the conclusion that I was wrong to take this approach. Not discussing bass is like living in today’s society and not recognizing the significance of the smart phone, I pad, lap top, facebook or twitter. Like it or not those are significant elements of today’s society and not recognizing their importance would be an injustice.

The largemouth bass arguably is the most popular game fish throughout the world today. This species of fish has been introduced into waters far beyond its natural habitat and it resides in nearly every warm freshwater body on the planet. Finding these fish and finding new ways to make them take your hook has become a national outdoor pastime with a large portion of our population.

With the exception of the sturgeon species, I have fished for and caught just about every species of freshwater fish in North America. On one of my recent long drives to a distant lake to fish, I got to thinking about this matter in some detail. I realized that my objective of blending the science of fishing with the sport was lacking in some regards by not dealing with the habits of the largemouth bass. How could I consider my instructions about the habits of fish to be complete if I left out the most popular fish on earth? Thinking further about this subject I came to the conclusion that the habits and lifestyle of the largemouth bass are similar to the behavioral aspects of most other freshwater fish. They are motivated by the instinct to survive and to do that they must eat, avoid being eaten and procreate their species. With these thoughts in mind I decided to write this section about the largemouth bass, its lifestyle and its habits. If we understand the life of the bass, we will better understand the habits of most other freshwater fish.

I believe it is safe to say that the largemouth bass is the singular most popular game fish today. It is also one of the most intelligent of the different fish species. Contrary to popular opinion, the largemouth bass does not spend its entire life eating and actually spends a small portion of each day feeding. That is not to say that it will not eat at any time a nice looking meal passes by, it will, but aggressively pursuing food usually dominates its thinking in the morning and early evening.

The bass is perhaps the most adaptable of all fish species. It will usually avoid waters with a muddy bottom or those that are layered with silt. But, it is also very tolerant and if those water conditions prevail, it will adapt to the conditions. The most critical water condition to the largemouth bass is the water temperature. Its desired temperature is in the mid 70’s but again here, it will tolerate much higher and lower temperatures.

There are several different bass species that are discussed elsewhere in this book, bass in general have strong powerful tails, excellent vision, great hearing, vibration sensitivity and can maneuver around under water quickly and effectively. Largemouth bass have bodies that are built for strength not for speed. They will attack a moving lure or bait but will not remain in fast pursuit for a long period of time. Its build is designed to forage around logs, rocks and other forms of protective cover. When this fish is in a feeding mood, it will normally hide and wait for some unsuspecting prey to pass close by or just glide closer to a prey and suddenly open its mouth and inhale strongly, drawing the prey into its mouth.

When the largemouth bass is angered, startled or provoked into attacking a prey, it will strike instantly when the prey or lure passes within close range. After grabbing its prey, it will quickly return to its initial position. Largemouth bass detect their prey mostly by sound (vibration) and sight. As I have pointed out in another area of this book, all of the different senses are great but in the final analysis, sight is the final sense that permits a fish to attack a prey or bait.

The growth rate of a largemouth bass, like other fish species, is a function of the nutrients in the water in which it lives and the length of the growing season each year. In the warmer climates, the growing season is longer and the fish grow to larger sizes. Growth rate is also governed by the amount of competition from other fish in the same waters. This subject is discussed in greater detail in another section of this book. Male bass or bucks grow much slower than the females therefore most lunkers are usually females.

Largemouth bass normally spawn only once each year, in the spring when the water temperature first reaches 65 degrees. In the northern regions this does not occur until April or May. Spawning normally occurs in water depths of three to five feet. An ideal spawning site is where the bottom is made up of hard packed sand, gravel or clay. Beds are normally made in coves and bays adjacent to the main body of water. These are areas where the sunshine will warm the water to the desired temperature. The male serves the most important function during the spawn. The male selects the spawning spot and fans out the nest. When the desired water temperature stabilizes for a few days, the females begin to arrive on the scene. The females will hold in deeper waters close to the nests. The male searches for the female and herds her into the nest. Once the female