Wednesday, May 6, 2009

GPS technology and fishing

by: Angela Carter



What type of fisherman are you? Are you satisfied go out and drop your fishing line and be totally unconcerned about if you catch anything or not? Is the time that you spend with your family, friends or even by your self enjoying nature what your trip is really all about? If you don’t caught anything that’s fine-you can always stop at the fish shop on the way home, but it would be nice if you caught something. Or do you feel like your trip’s been ruined because you didn’t caught anything, and go home frustrated. Or is fishing how you make your living, either by catching fish or taking customers out to fish? If you take a customer out to do some deep sea fishing, it would be much better to bring home a happy customer with his catch, who could be possibly a repeat customer or tells his friends about how great his trip was bringing you additional work. A frustrated customer will think twice about using your services again and when planning his next trip, might go elsewhere and may be steering other potential customers away from you. What if there was a way to make sure you go where the fish are? What if there was a way to guarantee that you would catch your limit, to be able to ensure that your customers will go home happy and raving about your great service.

With GPS technology it is now possible to go where the fish are and to remember the spot so you can relocate it. The other good thing about using a GPS while on the water is safety. You can enter the spot where you put your boat in the water in the memory of your GPS unit. Most GPS units hold at least 500 landmarks or areas where you want to get to. If you run into fog or bad weather you should be able to find your way back. Also if you stay out longer than expected you can find your way back in the dark. If you run into an emergency while on the water, you can call someone and let them know your coordinates, and then they could find you. If someone falls overboard a GPS unit can pinpoint the exact area where the incident happened and helping rescue crews with their rescue. This allows you to enjoy your day and not worry about getting back to land safely.

A chart plotter GPS with a map chip can give you your position relative to land features, water depth, and harbor entrances. Using a GPS with a water depth can allow you to follow the bottom looking for fish. It is also possible to let others know about a spot that you have found by using GPS coordinates.

Often people like to fish around a wreck, with a GPS unit you can enter the location of the wrecks to be able to find them easily. Plus knowing where a wreck is only part of the scenario, you need to know how deep that wreck is and if there are any areas you need to avoid. Often a fishing trip starts out before daylight, with a GPS you can pinpoint where you are going.

No matter what your intent is when you go fishing. A GPS can enhance that experience.

Three Good Reasons To Take Up Fishing

by: Dog Lane Fishery



For the non-angler fishing can seem like a strange sport. It involves lots of waiting around on a river bank, possibly for whole days and nights, and the likelihood of getting cold and wet is very high. After all that, you may not even be rewarded for your patience and you might go home empty handed and disappointed. So why on earth would anyone be tempted to go fishing?

Every angler will all have his own theories as to why the sport is so popular, but it’s likely that they will include some, if not all, of the following aspects:

Weather

You can fish in any weather. In the summer, you’ll be hard pushed to find a more glorious way of spending your time. It’s hot, the birds are singing, and the countryside (and hopefully, the water) is teeming with wildlife. Even in the winter, however, fishing can be immensely enjoyable. You can get a feeling of man against the elements. How well you are prepared for the weather can make or break your fishing trip. If you’ve come well wrapped up, with plenty of food and hot drink, then you’ll get a lot of enjoyment out of it.

Escapism

Going fishing allows you to have some time to yourself. We all lead busy lives and now and again it is important to take a break, do something for ourselves and forget about the daily grind. With only your own thoughts for company and possible a radio or a good book, fishing gives you time to reflect on recent events.

Camaraderie

Just as fishing is a good time to enjoy your own company, it’s also a good excuse to get together with some mates. You’d be surprised how many new friends you can make as well, especially by visiting the same venue regularly. Competitions are also great fun because you’re pitting your wits against other anglers. There’s obviously an element of luck involved, but it’s also about using your skills and techniques in such a way as the situation demands.

Maine Fishing Landlocked Atlantic Salomon

by: Ronald Moody



Landlocked Salmon Atlantic Salmon are know only in the State of Maine. Some of the other names are Sebago Salmon or Quananiche and the scientific name is Salmo Salar. The average size is 16-18 inches and 1-2 pounds, but 3-5 pound fish are not uncommon. Adults are generally silvery wiyh a slightly forked tail and small x-shaped marking on the back and iper sides. Juvenile salmon have a dark red spot between each pair of parr marks. Mature males develop a kype or hooked jaw, during the spawning season.

Landlocked salmon are a freshwater form of the sea run Atlantic Salmon. Prior to 1868, landlocked salmon populations occurred in only four river basins in Maine, St. Croix including West Grand Lake in Washington County, the union, including Green Lake in Hancock County, the Penobscot, including Sebec Lake in Piscataquis, County, and the Presumpscot, including Sebago Lake in Cumberland County.

Today, landlocked salmon provide the primary fishery in 176 lakes comprising nearly 500,000 acres. They are present and provide incideatal fisheries in an additional 127 waters comprising about 160,000 acres. Maine supports one of the larges sport fisheries for this species in the world. Landlocked salmon also provide good fisheries in 44 rivers and streams totaling about 290 miles.

Hatchery stockings are needed to maintain fisheries in 127 lakes. These lakes do not sufficient amounts of suitable spawning and nursery areas to produce wild salmon. Without regular stockings, salmon in these lakes would disappear entirely, or their numbers would be very, very low. About 123,000 salmon were stocked annually in Maine lakes from 1996 to 2000.

Natural reproduction supports salmon fisheries in 49 lakes. These are lakes that have sufficient spawning and nursery habitat to produce enough salmon to support good fisheries. Most of these waters are located in western and northern Maine. Salmon spawn in lake outlets or inlets during the period from mid October to late November. Eggs are buried in gravel from 4-12 inches deep and remain there until hatching early the following spring.

Young salmon spend from 1 to 4 years in a stream environment prior to migrating to a lake. Recent studies in Maine show most wild salmon spend 2 years as stream dweelers. In wild salmon populations, most males spawn first at ages 3 and 4, although a few spawn at ages 1 and 2. Females usually spawn first at ages 4 and 5. Spawning runs of wild salmon may be composed of fish ranging in age from 1 to 10 but 3, 4 and 5 year old individuals make up the bulk of most runs. Landlocked salmon may be repeat spawners, but most fish observed on spawning runs are spawning for the first time. Salmon may spawn in consecutive or alternate years, some may spawn in consecutive years then skip a year, and some may skip 2 or 3 years between spawning.

Salmon populations sustained by natural reproduction often more older age fish those supported by stocking, wild salmon usually exhibit slower growth do hatchery salmon, so they reach legal size and harvested 1 or 2 years later. The oldest landlocked salmon on record in Maine was years old.

Rainbow smelts are the principal forage species for salmon in Maine lakes. Without adequate numbers of smelt, salmon growth and body conition will be poor, markedly reducing value as a sportfish. Maintain adequate numbers of smelt for forage is the most important element of salmon management in Maine. Extensive studies conducted in Maine clearly show that salmon growth rates, and consequently the size of fish available to anglers, is best in lakes with excellent water that do not have large populations of other smelt predators, particularly lake trout.

From 1996 to 2000 Maine open water anglers voluntarily released over 60% of their catch of legal salmon, ice anglers released about 25% of their legal salmon catch. Catch and release of salmon has improved fishing in many lakes, but in others it has resulted in depressed smelt populations and smaller salmon, because there are too many salmon. Maine fishery biologists have responded by reducing stocking rates by implementing fishing regulations designed to restore a reasonable balance between numbers of smelts and salmon.

Hatchery salmon generally provide fisheries for larger fish than do wild salmon because the number of smelt predators can be strictly controlled. Therefore, precise management for particular types of fisheries, such as those emphasizing trophy fish, is usually best achieved with hatchery stocks rather than wild stocks.

From 1996 to 2000, the average size of salmon harvested from all Maine lakes was 17.4 inches and 1.7 pounds, the largest since department fishery biologists began conducting scientific creel surveys in the 1950’s.

Boat Fishing Tips and Tricks

by: Steve Dolan



Boat Fishing

If you're keen to find a fun family activity, then give boat fishing a try. There's nothing better than heading off on your boat with the wife and kids, talking about the fish you plan to catch that day.

It's important to realize, though, that there are lots of different types of boat fishing, and each one has specialized boat requirements. You can do everything from dangle some bait on a string over the side of a canoe, right through to high-tech rods and a powerful cabin cruiser. It just needs to be seaworthy - the rest is up to you! But if you're keen to buy a boat, you need to do some homework first. It can be very confusing walking into a boat show or dealership and seeing so many choices. You need to think about what you're planning to do with the boat before you can decide which one to buy. Here are some popular boat fishing choices.

Freshwater Boats

If you enjoy fishing in freshwater lakes, rivers or streams, then you don't need a massive boat. Instead, choose an aluminum or fiberglass boat. Make sure it's easy to transport and lightweight. Popular choices include bow riders, runabouts or walley boats, with either a small or dual console. These boats are fine for family freshwater boat fishing outings.

Offshore Saltwater Boats

Fishing out on the open sea is the most common thing people think of when you mention boat fishing. Most people enjoy fishing offshore because they get the chance to catch huge fish and use heavy tackle. It's important to have a dependable, heavy boat for this type of fishing. You'll encounter plenty of different weather and situations on the open sea, so you need to be able to rely on your boat. You can choose twin or single outboard motors, and you definitely need a cuddy cabin or a center console. If you want to spend a bit more, you can start to look at the more luxurious boats, including a bluewater or convertible with luxury quarters, and maybe even an elegant living area. Bigger boats generally have powerful inboard diesel engines as standard.

Inshore Saltwater Boats

If your tastes run to tarpin, snook, trout, bonefish or redfish, then you will want a boat suitable for inshore saltwater fishing. It's best to have a light boat that is smaller than a 25-footer. All you need is a single outboard motor. You're likely to be in shallow water at least some of the time, so something like a flat or baby boat works well. These have a spacious deck you can use for casting, and are still float well in shallow water.

Bass Boats

This type of boat is generally suitable for tournament and sport fishing. They're colorful, fast, and ride low in the water. It's preferable if the bass boat has a trolling motor mounted on the bow. Generally they have a platform at both the bow and stern ends, which makes casting much easier. You can choose from aluminum or fiberglass.

Float Tubes

These don't really qualify as boats, but fly anglers find them very handy for fishing in mountain streams, ponds and lakes. A float tube is simply a flotation device containing a seat. The angler is partially submerged when seated in the float tube, and uses fins on his feet to navigate around on the water. They're tricky to handle, and fly-casting requires lots of practice. You can choose between round float tubes, which are similar to an inner tube, and pontoon float tubes, which have an air chamber either side of the fisherman. The pontoons are slightly eiasier to maneuver, as their v-shaped design reduces the amount of water resistance.

It's always a good idea to speak to experienced anglers who either have their own boat or use one regularly. They can give you lots of help in deciding which type of boat is right for you. Read magazines, guides, and talk to your local boat charter service. Fishermen generally love to talk about boats, and you can learn a lot to help you select the perfect fishing boat for your needs.

Saturday, May 2, 2009

Place-Based Ecosystem Management in the Open Ocean

Elliott A. Norse, Larry B. Crowder, Kristina Gjerde, David
Hyrenbach, Callum Roberts, Carl Safina, and Michael E. Soulé


Our modern human brain evolved in the African sa-vanna, where our ability to learn the rewards and per-ils of its vast landscape was the key to our survival.
Now that humans have expanded far beyond our motherland, our success depends on our ability to
handle the rewards and perils of ecosystems very different from the one that shaped us. Of these, none is larger, more complex, nor more difficult for people to fathom than the blue and black waters of the open ocean.
Our terrestrial species pays little attention to the open ocean for several reasons:
1. It is remote from human observers, out of sight, hence out of mind.
2. To our unattuned eyes, its wavy surface seems impenetrable, featureless, and trackless.
3. Conducting research there is much more expensive and requires more labor, expensive equip-
ment, and logistical coordination than doing research in intertidal, estuarine, and inshore areas.
4. In contrast to marine biologists’ in situ research
..............

MODELING UPWELLING WITH A COUPLED ATMOSPHERE-OCEAN MESOSCALE MODEL

João P. Ferreira, Instituto de Meteorologia, Portugal
Pedro M. A. Miranda, University of Lisbon, Centro de Geofísica, Portugal


In order to study the interactions between the sea breeze and the coastal upwelling, the use of a coupled ocean/atmospheric model is required. This model must have a very good temporal and spatial resolution, to be able to realistically reproduce the upwelling regime and the sea breeze, over a limited area of the Atlantic Ocean, between SW Europe and Africa near the entrance to the Mediterranean Sea. Two mesoscale models were coupled: an atmospheric model (MM5, Anthes and Warner 1978, Dudhia et al. 1993) and an ocean model (HYCOM, Bleck 2002). The coupled parameters are: the sea surface temperature, computed by the ocean model, and wind, rainfall, short and long ....

Fishing Secrets Of Nuts

by: Tim Richardson

If you are looking for something different to boost your catches, you can never be stuck for choice and there are some very effective ones too. Nuts are one very special ingredient and bait that has caught fish reliably for ever. There are many reasons why such an often ‘foreign’ food item produces fish. But fish just love them!

One important mention is nut preparation. Unless nuts are used as finely crushed or flour form, they need correctly soaking for at least 12 to 24 hours to ensure they have fully absorbed water. Many fish have died as a result of fish eating nuts thrown in as ground bait or chum, and then had nuts swell up as they absorbed water, but inside the fishes’ own digestive tract! In the States nuts dumped directly into rivers do not seem to decimate carp however. Why I do not know especially as much of this waste is not ‘human grade’ and likely to have toxins as a result of fungi or bacterial activity. Perhaps resistance has been developed as a result of this seasonal activity of dumping?

Let’s focus on ground baits. Frequently anglers use loose nuts or seeds like sweetcorn, or maize, tiger nuts or peanuts, pellets or boilies for ground bait. Some use live baits like maggots or bloodworm. Nut oils like tiger nut oil and peanut oil and pellet type oils like marine halibut oil are being used with great effect to enhance baits. But one often overlooked method is using homemade ground baits and these can be so successful! They can incorporate the ingredients used in your pellets or boilie mix. They can contain the flavours and oils used in your hook baits among many other components.

You can even add live elements like bloodworm, maggots or worms to stimulate your fish and get them digging in the silt for far longer, giving your more time and chances of successful bait pick-ups. Besides this point, many fish love to feed on tiny particles of food and this is often more natural for them. Often this type of baiting will produce fish successfully whereas ground baiting with ‘whole baits’ like boilies, big pellets or cut meat or fish baits will not. Even the addition of cracked corn, soaked corn flakes or maize flakes can bring your swim alive, adding corn steep liquor is an obvious edge here.

Ground bait traditionally in the UK was made from bread crumbs. Bread crumb ground bait is very effective for carp and many other species even catfish, because it is a great carrier of liquids, for example liquid liver, blood, corn steep liquor, all manner of flavours, liquid fish protein, liquid amino acid and vitamin / mineral additives. I’ve caught many big carp and catfish using ground bait. How you use it and what you combine with it regarding your hook bait, and near hook proximity attraction all play a part in your individual success on a particular water and the way you need to fish there.

Making a boilie from various nut meals is not uncommon. Even a simple recipe like the following can be the basis of your ground bait and be ‘tweaked’ to attract all kinds of species if not carp or catfish:

Peanut meal (roasted is often higher in protein.)

Crushed tiger nuts.

Crushed almonds. (Especially high in vitamin E and very good on waters hard hit by high fish oil baits like pellets and fish meal boilies with bulk oils.

Crushed brazil nuts.

Tiger nut flour.

Brazil flour.

Eggs or gelling agent.

Sweetener. E.g. Molasses, fruit sugar, brown sugar, icing sugar, Talin, Betalin, Thaumatin B etc.

Ground nut or tiger nut oil.

Amino acid containing additive.

‘Super sweet’ taste enhancer or similar.

A teaspoon of nutmeg or cinnamon per pound of dry powders is optional. So many taste and smell options are available. Fenugreek is another good additive, especially if you use natural and synthetic maple syrup as the flavour.

Some may prefer using an essential oil component like geranium terpenes. If you add crushed hemp, then hemp oil with fennel essential oil is a good combination. (Including fennel seeds and black pepper add another dimension for example.) Aniseed is well proven for holding fish in a swim, but is used so much it can lose its edge, but with so many other choices who needs it?

A flavour is desired by many anglers. Well very many are good, but I’d go for Rod Hutchinson’s “Chocolate malt.” Dynamite bait’s “Fish Gutz” is another good one. This is the much whispered about coffee flavour of recent times, although Rod Hutchinson’s Coffee flavour from the past was brilliant.

Adding a small amount of chocolate powder or coffee powder adds a different dimension to this bait in certain stimulating ways. Fish detect certain compounds like caffeine, and stimulatory phenols in the case of peanuts and almonds especially, which create a ‘I want just one more’ effect. Carp have proven to possess dopamine neuronal systems. These can be very much linked to preferential behaviours and ‘the feel good factor’ in the brain. This doe not mean that this response is always good for you or for carp either!

Too much chocolate or crisps, biscuits, candies or cookies are not nutritionally good for you, but give you a temporary ‘lift.’ Sugar, fats, opiates in milk and wheat, salts etc are addictive to humans and carp love them too. But too much of these and it either means disrupted physical health and mood and even diet or behaviour-induced diseases like fatty liver, fatty heart, heart trouble, obesity etc. Activated dopamine neurons are powerful aids to learning and repeated behaviour. The ‘just one more’ syndrome is a great thing to exploit in your bait any way you ‘ethically’ can without harming fish health. You can see the links between our love of curry and the use of chilli powder in baits. Hemp and the abuse of cocaine and similar substances. Even tobacco and alcohol are fish stimulators at the correct level and in the right dose.

(Please note nicotine is fatally poisonous even more toxic than cyanide... Smoking this stuff is insane. We used to use it as a kill-all insecticide in glass house plant production using nicotine shreds. Even this has caused human fatalities. Funny that nicotine is a naturally produced insecticide and we should choose to smoke it. Incidentally Indigenous American Peoples use pure willow leaf tobacco in sacred ceremonies, but knew all about its power and how not to abuse it! Anyway, virtually all drugs of abuse use activation of dopamine neuronal systems.)

In the case of carp, in some fishing situations where anglers fish predominately with certain nuts introducing huge amounts, carp get hooked on these baits like peanuts and tiger nuts. They can eat them at the exclusion of anything else, resulting malnutrition and weight loss. Although nuts contain healthy omega oils, protein and vitamins, iron, they are not particularly digestible and not especially high in protein. (Some roasted peanut products excepted.)

Nuts are very attractive baits in their own right, but their attraction can be enhanced.

Now if you cannot get any of these ingredients you can replace them with many others. Even ground rice, corn flour, semolina or ordinary wheat flour can be used. Desiccated cocoanut is very good too. Many commercial ground baits contain this. The trick is to ensure your finished bait has added soluble attraction and feeding stimulation. For example, you could add a teaspoon of sea salt per pound of dry powders. Peanut butter is a great additive.

I read an amazing story as a kid once about a young boy who landed a stupendous uncaught giant carp from a nearby lake by using a homemade peanut butter sandwich. The irony was that it was laced with cocaine and the carp had a ‘fatal attraction!’ Fortunately the story was made-up, but it really got me thinking about making baits ‘addictive!’

Various seeds can be added to your nut baits too and roast sesame and pumpkin seeds are higher in protein being 30% protein or above. Hemp seed and crushed hemp seed or powder have always been good as is hemp oil. However, how many anglers have used hemp protein?

Nut milks instead of ‘conventional flavours’ are well proven, coconut milk combined with condensed milk is a tasty combination for example.... Milk powders can be very useful in ground baits improving solubility, nutritional attraction and even binding as with Vitamealo for example. ‘Tahini’ or creamed sesame seeds when sweetened make a brilliant base for an alternative paste or dough bait.

Malt extract is very useful proven additive too. Another water attracting or hygroscopic ingredient to attract catfish in particular, is LO30 fish protein. The spray-dried form can be incorporated into ground baits, pellets, boilies or dough or paste bait mixtures and is highly effective. The popular liver powder, green lip mussel extract and blood powders and green corn steep liquor and even Vegemite, Miso soup, are all proven nutritional ground bait additives to add. Betaine HCL is another and many betaine products are now available, and combined with added amino acid type products are excellent.

Making hook baits with crushed nuts and seeds impregnated into the surface provides a different texture and leak-off rate of attractors to your baits which can be more productive than ordinary round skinned boilies. I like to use a mix of crushed nuts and seeds in high levels in my paste baits and air-dried pastes and ‘just skinned’ boilies in a PVA bag along with fresh paste. The irresistible effect of this lot ‘melting’ around the hook bait is fantastic. I have often used a slower melting paste actually on the hook alongside pellet or boilie or nut bait or baits on a hair (or hairs) to trip-up those warier fish.

You can make a sweet nut bait with an added proportion of ‘creamy’ squid liver extract, and fully expect big catfish and carp with this unusual combination. Nut baits go far beyond a chopped or skinned or glugged tiger nut or flavoured humble peanut. Creative bait making, even simply mixing proprietary base mixes and ground baits together works wonders. The added bonus is you can make those more expensive products go much further by additional nut meals and bird seeds. So why not make some homemade baits, go nuts and land more crackers!

The author has many more fishing and bait ‘edges’ any of which can have a huge impact on your catches.