Indholdsfortegnelse for April 2023 i Game & Fish

No matter where you live in the country, at some point this month spring will be in the air. It’s safe to say that every angler will agree there is no better way to greet a new season than with new tackle. Game & Fish editors certainly won’t argue with that, and it’s one reason we have included our annual Tackle Test in this issue. Before you spring (yeah, I meant to do that) for a new rod and reel, turn to page 66 and do some research. The 15-plus pages that compose the Tackle Test represent weeks of analyzing the features and technology at work in more than 50 baitcasting and spinning rods and reels. Better than that, the results listed in the score charts come from on-the-water experience…

One of the annual rituals enjoyed by anglers across the country is the springtime movement of panfish—bluegills, crappies and perch—into the shallow, protected waters of lakes, rivers and reservoirs to form spawning colonies. This can concentrate hundreds of aggressive, protective fish into a very small area, making for some fantastic fishing action. In many ways, finding panfish spawning colonies may not be more difficult than cruising the shorelines of your favorite body of water, as many fish will bed up in water that is 2 to 4 feet deep with a firm bottom. Hard bottom is preferred over silty substrates, as nests built in the mud and muck tend to fill in quickly from wave action. However, you’re sure to face one significant challenge when looking for bedding panfish along…

The summer of 2022 was one of the driest on record on the southern plains. In southeast Kansas, Oklahoma and northern Texas, Thanksgiving finally broke the long drought. Rain was still sluicing down two days later when I drove south toward Truscott, Texas, and the historic Lowrance Ranch, which I had been hearing offered amazing whitetail hunting. With the ground hard as concrete, my Kansas food plots were scorched earth. I was so happy to see the rain that I didn’t give much thought to the immediate impact on deer hunting. Well, I couldn’t; I’d never hunted deer in north Texas and had no knowledge of the conditions. The rain slowed me down, sure, but I traveled good highways all the way. When the rain and blacktop ended just west…

The first day of April signals the start of a magical stretch in the Midwest. Turkeys begin gobbling across the region. Light geese wing their way toward the tundra, and the conservation order asks that you kindly knock some down before they get there. Open-water fishing starts to pick up in every state, with many species preparing to spawn. Think of April as spring’s version of October. Your greatest challenge may be choosing one outdoor activity over another. This month often also offers great weather for sleeping outside, and you can easily combine a camping trip with any of the hunting or fishing hunting adventures listed here. 1 SODAK COYOTES Coyotes thrive in nearly any environment, under nearly any set of circumstances. They’re smart and elusive, making them fun…

KINKAID LAKE This scenic, 2,750-acre reservoir in southern Illinois consistently produces numbers of crappies, with slabs frequently in the mix. Deep weedlines and brush piles are high-percentage options and perfect for vertical presentations, including spider rigging. Nearby Lake of Egypt has crappies aplenty, too. KENTUCKY LAKE Crappies continue to thrive in this legendary lake in the Bluegrass State, despite the challenge of invasive species in recent years. Vertical presentations with live bait, plastics and combos are popular and productive, but you’ll find plenty of obliging crappies by casting jigs with baitfish or curly-tail plastic trailers, too. Just about every favorite technique, including crankbait trolling, has its moment. Neighboring Lake Barkley can be equally generous. BOWSTRING LAKE Yellow perch and a richly golden breed of black crappies are the draw at…

Property lines can be a private-land turkey hunter’s worst enemy. You strike up a spring tom strutting in the neighbor’s creek bottom, he cuts the distance quickly, but hangs up on the wrong side of the fence. It happens to all of us, particularly on small farms (40 acres or less) that turkeys don’t often roost on but will travel through. The trick is enticing them to cross onto your property, but it’s not easy. In the Midwest, it’s quite common for turkey hunters to be confined to just a few acres of private property. There simply aren’t as many never-ending expanses of public land here as there are out West. Plus, corporations are increasing their stranglehold on farmland, which makes it difficult for the average hunter to door-knock for…

Winter gusts whistled across the phosphate pits of Bienville Outdoors in north Florida, pushing an endless parade of whitecaps onto the leeward shore. The big two-stroke belched blue smoke as we inched through a labyrinth of tight canals, most no more than a hand’s width wider than the boat’s beam. The hull’s wake washed against the banks, sending baitfish and other forage scurrying. We chugged from one skinny quarry to the next, searching for clean water and northern banks with direct sunlight, hoping the sun would thaw the cold front’s tight grip and nudge some bass into biting. With a couple miles and a few dozen pits behind us, we idled into one that held promise. Here, the algae-stained water we’d been slopping through turned a promising tannic color. With…

Who doesn’t want less competition, bigger deer, more trout, or countless coveys? Our holy grail is high adventure, returning with a story or, better still, photos of the buck-of-a-lifetime or trophy rainbow. Sure, getting there might be half the fun, but getting back in one piece is where the rubber meets the road, literally. It’s your truck that will spirit you to magical places where grouse cavort and bass jump in the boat. Or will it? Trouble can be just around the next bend, your trip of a lifetime dribbling away like coolant from a punctured radiator, unless you’re ready. My rig has been called a four-wheel-drive Swiss Army knife and rolling garage sale. But nine times out of 10, it has the needed repair piece, part or tool, or…

For many anglers, tinkering with tackle is one way to extend the fun of fishing to off-the-water hours. And now is a great time to do it, especially if you live in the northern reaches of the Midwest and are waiting for gamefish seasons to open. One excellent do-it-yourself project to tackle in your downtime is creating your own spinner rigs for walleyes. This is not only a lot of fun but also a great way to catch more fish this spring and summer. This process allows you to bring your own vision to the table and build the exact rig you need. And, as an added bonus, the ones you create are usually less expensive than those off the peg. WHAT YOU NEED You only need a few items…

For many anglers, nothing is more satisfying than flinging flies for trout on wide-open rivers. However, there are many more miles of small trout streams and creeks in the Midwest than there are larger, fly-fishable rivers. These streams—where fly-casting is difficult if not impossible due to trees, brush and other features—can still be fished with light spinning tackle. In fact, anglers plying these areas often use small lures to attract browns, ’bows and brookies that can grow to similar sizes as those found in the larger rivers. On these small, tree- or vegetation-lined streams, you just need to find productive stretches of water with the right features, choose a suitable lure and make the proper approach, cast and presentation. SMALL-STREAM STRATEGIES The same overhanging vegetation that makes fly fishing difficult…

Winters in the Great Lakes region are noted for being exceptionally long and brutal. Often, the most popular public-access sites on the big lakes are frozen before Christmas and remain iced-in until late March. Open-water anglers eager to put winter behind them and cash in on southern Lake Michigan’s fantastic trout and salmon fishery routinely take matters into their own hands. These hardcore anglers will use their boats as battering rams to break up the remaining ice around access sites and kick off the open-water fishing season. Often, what they find on the other side of that ice is some of the year’s hottest trout and salmon action—all taking place in relatively shallow water. SALMONID SWEET SPOT Southern Lake Michigan has been a trout and salmon destination for decades and…

Pure Fishing graciously provided our test team with a selection of baits and line to use during our on-the-water rod and reel evaluations. These were some of our favorites. The Berkley PowerBait Speed Boss Worm 1 is a large-profile worm that the Bienville bass inhaled whether we fished it on the bottom or swam it weightless. The twin turbo tail emits a large amount of vibration, drawing fish to investigate the commotion. The PowerBait-infused scent keeps fish holding on longer than with other unscented baits. ($5.99/8-pack; berkley-fishing.com) An advanced vibrating jig with a twist, the Berkley PowerBait Slobberknocker ($13.99) 2 is capable of being fished at any depth and at any retrieve speed. We amended our vibrating jigs with the Berkley PowerBait PowerStinger ($9.99/7-pack) for extra enticement. Berkley Spiderwire Durabraid…

Introduced in the spring of 1993, the Shimano Stella is widely regarded as the pinnacle of spinning reel design and engineering. For 2023, Shimano has unveiled the Stella 2500HG—the culmination of three decades of intense development and focused refinement. The brand sent us a sample to test, but we chose to exclude it from the field since it would be like testing a Lamborghini alongside a crop of mid-size sedans. We realize, too, that its price tag will give most readers the vapors; however, it is completely justified. The Stella 2500HG possesses every conceivable cutting-edge option, including what’s arguably the finest gear box in the industry, with a drive that syncs and turns silky smooth. The drag is unimaginably fluid and incapable of binding no matter how much force is…

Turkey hunters often disagree about what delivers the best results on birds. The gauge question is the easiest to answer. A 12-gauge shotshell contains more shot than a 16- or 20-gauge, or a .410-bore, and the more shot you throw at a turkey, the better your chances of killing it. That, as they say, is pretty much settled science. But when it comes to the best loads and chokes for killing turkeys, things quickly get cloudy ... and complicated. LOAD MATH Following the gauge logic, you could argue that small shot is better than large shot. This is because when shells with the same weight payload are compared, the shell with the smallest shot size will contain the most shot. A single No. 7 lead shot pellet is .10 inch…

The song of this season around the country is the booming gobble of the wild turkey. Our waking hours are consumed with calling one into range, and our too-short nights are full of dreams of longbeards strutting right into our camouflaged laps. How many of us think about hen turkeys in April? If we do at all, it’s to cuss them for pulling otherwise interested toms away from our calls, or for offering gobblers the real thing instead of our unconvincing plastic decoys. But we should hold hens in higher regard, because the engine of prosperity for any turkey population depends on hens pulling off successful nesting attempts. And we’d be wise to recognize that the feats of patience, elusiveness and grit of hen turkeys are responsible for all our…

Manufacturers small and large are quickly tooling up for the 7 mm PRC, but Mossberg’s Patriot Predator was the first production platform chambered for the new cartridge. The rifle I used was the basic model with a Flat Dark Earth synthetic stock and matte-blue metal. Also available is a camouflaged model in TrueTimber Strata with Patriot Brown Cerakote metal. The Patriot Predator has always been a lot of gun for the money. The receiver is topped with a Picatinny rail for easy scope mounting. The 24-inch barrel is threaded (5/8x24) for a muzzle brake or suppressor. More features include a flush-mounted detachable polymer magazine that holds three rounds, spiral-fluted bolt with oversized handle, and Mossberg’s adjustable Lightning Bolt Action trigger. I put a Leupold VX-6HD 3-18x44 mm scope on the…

Come spring, anglers are often restless for open-water action and hungry for fresh fish. It’s a great time to pull out the pan-fish tackle and get after obliging crappies, perch, bluegills and other sunfish. Unfortunately, many anglers chasing panfish add unnecessary burden to what should be a simple labor of love. They impede their own efforts with baits too large and tackle too heavy, too cumbersome and too complex for the job. On the other hand, some very successful panfish anglers rely on lighter, more straightforward methods, drawing inspiration from the same principles that served them while ice-fishing weeks or months earlier. The finesse qualities of ice-fishing baits, rigs and techniques continue to produce strikes well into spring and summer. And many tactics have been refined with the help of…

A light-action, 6- to 7-foot spinning rod coupled with a quality, small spinning reel with a gear ratio of at least 5:1 makes an ideal small-stream trout outfit. A fast taper from a near ultra-light tip to a butt section with some power allows you to cast light lures accurately but still steer big trout away from roots and logs. My experience with modern rods and reels is mostly nonexistent—Zebco Cardinal reels made in Sweden by Abu in the 1970s spoiled me, and I also build all of my rods. (New-in-the-box and lightly used Cardinal reels are still available online, though.) Spooling up with a fine-diameter castable line like Trilene XL will allow you to use 8-pound test and have a chance to keep big trout out of the wood.…

Let’s play out a scenario. You’re fishing a clear-water lake and you toss out a jig with a lithe silicone skirt and a small plastic grub. Below the surface, near bottom and out of sight, a large female bass takes in the subtle sounds and vibrations of this invader, and her hunting instincts kick into gear. She turns, finds the target, then follows slowly, finally stopping when the light, undulating lure up ahead flutters to a halt on bottom. The big female stares. She waits, fins rippling. She’s been fooled before. What you do next will determine whether this specimen will strike or not. You give the jig a pop, as you often do, and it hops several inches off bottom before falling back down. Beneath the water, the big…

Anglers interested in visiting the southern Lake Michigan region will find there is no shortage of critical services in the area. Port cities will have well-maintained public-access sites, marinas, motels, diners, bait shops, casinos and gas stations. For anglers interested in booking a charter fishing trip, the Michigan Charter Boat Association maintains an active list of charter captains based out of many popular southern Lake Michigan ports. You can also access a handy charter captain directory at michigancharterboats.com. For do-it-yourself anglers, essential fishing gear includes trolling rods, line-counter reels, premium monofilament line, in-line planer boards and a good assortment of both wobbling crankbaits and trolling spoons. Downriggers are a bonus, but not strictly necessary since the fish are routinely found in water less than 20 feet deep. Limits on trout…

If this year’s Shooting, Hunting and Outdoor Trade (SHOT) Show is any indication, the brands serving hunters and shooters continue to grow in both numbers and variety. The 45th SHOT Show, owned and operated by the National Shooting Sports Foundation, saw a record amount of exhibit space spanning The Venetian Expo and Caesars Forum in Las Vegas, Nev., Jan. 17 to 20. The show included more than 2,500 companies showcasing products and services across 816,000 square feet of exhibit space stretched along nearly 14 miles of aisles. Although it was virtually impossible for Game & Fish editors to see every product at the show, we were on the floor to cover the most noteworthy. Our coverage comprises the “SHOT Show New Product Premiere,” an in-depth look at the latest trends…