Taking a Better Fish Photo

Oh the disappointment.  You just caught a monster, and your buddy running the camera found a way to make a massive fish look small, blurry, and blown-out overly-bright.  The hours and waited days of anticipating a great shot that speaks for itself, are suddenly broken by an image that begs explanation, excuses, and sometimes even expletives.  The aim of this article is to help you never be “that-guy.”  It’s not for photographers, promoters, or pro-anglers, it’s for EVERYONE.  You don’t need a high-end SLR camera or big-dollar glass to take a great photo, and you don’t need to be an expert.  At some time in your fishing career, someone will shove a camera in your face, or make you be on the taking end of the shot.  Here are some tips that can help anyone to properly honor the experience, whether you’re posing with the fish, or punching the shutter.

Preparation truly is the key to great fish pictures.  Big fish come quickly, at unexpected times, and are most often released in the boats that I fish out of.  These factors put un-ready anglers at a distinct disadvantage, and create the temptation for quickly devised and delivered snapshots that most often will leave you wishing you could do it over again.  Of course, the health and vitality of a trophy fish you plan to release holds the utmost importance, which is all the more reason that a bit of planning goes a long way.  When the fish does come, it’s often best to keep it in the net, in the water, and out of the boat, especially for larger predator species.  Good nets aren’t as hard on fish-fins, and keep the fish from injuring itself on harder and less-forgiving items inside the boat. 

Keeping your fishing vessel in order is top priority for a number of reasons, but also leads to a better fish picture.  A boat that’s free of clutter keeps the process rolling smoothly, and prevents random and distracting objects from getting a chance to ruin a good shot.  It’s also good to designate someone in the boat as a camera person, particularly if they have an interest in it or are detail-oriented individuals.  This person is in charge of the camera, stowing it, and knowing where it is.  That way, when you get a great photo fish, everyone knows their role in the process. 

Even if you’re not fishing trophy-waters for upper echelon species, know your tools.  Increasingly, our cameras are our cell phones, but no matter what your weapon of choice, make sure you know and understand the controls.  With the ease of digital transfer these days, if your friend is taking a picture of you, let them use both their phone and yours.  Chances are they’ll know their own far better and produce more appealing results, even if their camera’s capability is less than your own. 

If you’re holding the fish, your job is to make the photographer’s job easy.  Make sure your clothing is on straight, is clean, and you’re not holding, wearing, or otherwise have on your person anything that might take away from the shot.  That includes beverage cans, cigarettes/cigars, and bulky or “loud” clothing with a great deal of text on it.  Look presentable, and care about your appearance by quickly changing into a different hoodie, hat, or jacket should you need to.  Smile and look the part of a happy angler, even if some of the shine has already worn off and this is old-hat to you. 

If you’re taking the shot, you’re the quarterback.  You call the plays, make the big decisions, and at times need to take control of the game and call the shots.  Your eye is what’s seeing that which will ultimately be a long-lasting memory, so your view is the one that counts most.  Be decisive and tell your subject exactly how you would like the fish to be held.  Use your words, and take your time.  Your ability to direct the person with the fish will often determine how well you preserve the moment, and rushed, non-specific motioning and hand-gestures only confuses the situation.  Seconds matter to a released fish, but time slows down a bit here, and as long as you’re prepared and ready, you often have more time than you think. 

Take photos from multiple angles and positions, as well as zoom levels.  Get a face and fish-head only shot, then back up to get the whole enchilada.  Make sure to fill the entire frame of your view with the fish and the angler.  Scenery is great, and you can work in good backgrounds, but the focus should always be the fish.  Set your focus on it.  Snap a million pictures, especially if your format is digital.  There’s no penalty for more photos except the seconds it takes to delete a few here and there.  Be flattering to your friend’s appearance.  Think of yourself in the shot, and what you’d be proud to show everyone you know.  At this point, have the subject hold the fish in a different manner and recreate those same variations with that hold.  If you perform this process quickly and correctly, the fish has been out of the water less than a minute.  My goal is to not make that fish hold its breath any longer than I can.  Get the fish back in the water, and while your angler is reviving it, get a great release shot.  Often, those sequences are some of the best photos taken.         

Be prepared, take the time to do it right, and know your role no matter which end of the camera you’re on to turn the fish of a lifetime into a memory that lasts for generations.  

Time for a Mid-Winter Road Trip?

A combination of paper maps and digital mapping as seen on the Navionics-capable Marcum RT-9 make all the difference when traveling to any fishing destination. Photo Credit - Ben Larson - In Depth Media Productions

It's that time of the season when your ice-fishing interest level may be fading as fast as your bites.  Trucks, permanent houses, and lake-wide mobility has been the norm for the northern part of the ice belt, and even in the southern part of it where ice typically forms, we're long-past first-ice.  Community spots have been established, and the fish among them grow weary of the pressure with the bite showing it.  Before you send off ice-fishing for the winter or at least until late-ice, consider a mid-winter trip to boost morale and get back into the swing of things.  Here's a few quick hints on getting the most from a destination ice excursion.

Anglers for the most part are well-traveled souls.  More and more often, we travel to destination lakes, for specific species and patterns that offer us something different.  A break, an excuse, and a chance to perhaps do something we've never done or only do once in a great while.  It's been my experience that even when the fishing may be sub-par, getting together with family and friends for an ice-adventure is about far more than just the fishing.

Still, catching fish in these scenarios is our intended goal.  If you've never visited an area that catches your interest, consider booking a guide for the first day or two to get the lay of the land.  Ice guides are frequently more value-priced than an open-water equivalent, and can truly offer a distinct leg-up on hitting the ground running.  Even in the best fisheries in the world, it's not difficult to struggle at first to just find fish, let alone catch them.  This would be considered the premium and most preferred option if you're willing to spend the cash.

Another option yet is to work with a resort to fish in a permanent house.  You're forced to do a bit more leg-work in making sure you're fishing with a reputable outfit.  Recommendations from family and friends, web and Facebook reviews, along with references from area tourism or guides are great ways to find the best of the best.  Failure to exercise due diligence here can result in getting you on the ice, but nowhere near fish.  It can be difficult to get honest advice, so detailed questions that are answered with ample responses in a friendly manner are what you're looking for.  

If you're in the DIY-crowd, information is your ammunition.  Social media, web forums, and a great deal of intel gathering before the trip makes for a much more enjoyable weekend on the ice.  Consider booking lodging in an area rich with lakes, or with access to various parts of the same lake well in advance, then stay flexible with your planning such that you can reach out and hit wherever the best information takes you.  Local bait shops can be invaluable sources of information, but again, being a stickler for the details usually rewards.  

For example, asking a vague question like "How are the panfish biting?" Will typically result in something like "they're biting well on green glow teardrops tipped with waxies."  The overall goal for these shops is to show you a good time, but is also to sell bait and tackle.  That could've meant crappies in the deep holes, or even perch in small sloughs less than 10 feet of water.  Instead, try during a less busy time of the day mid-week, and start with something more like "I've heard this area is great for panfish, are guys getting perch on the bigger lakes or small sloughs?"  Be prepared for follow-up questions like, "what's a typical outing been bringing for both numbers of perch and average size?"  Also, ask if they have been second hand reports or if they have talked directly to the anglers and have seen with their own eyes how it’s been.  Then, ask if they could recommend a few lakes, depths, and general areas to start while finally asking about pressure and whether or not you'll need to stay away from the groups or if the bite has been strong despite angler numbers.  

Lastly, once you're confirmed on going, take a deep dive into the stats and maps.  Many states, like the Dakotas, publish detailed reports on exact lakes, specific species dynamics, year class information and rankings.  This can shorten the search drastically, yet I give pause for even writing it as I've personally seen the exploitation which can result.  Treat those fisheries with the same respect you'd have for your own, and exercise selective harvest to ensure success of future trips.  Even where that data isn't available, you'd be surprised what you can learn with a quick phone call to area fisheries managers or just cruising the web.

With today's detailed contour mapping, destination fishing is easier and more rewarding than ever.  Consider investing in map chips and GPS technology for the trip if you'll likely be back, or look to free options on state fish and game pages and the Navionics free web mapping.  Utilize all of your intel to eventually formulate a plan and area you'd like to fish.  Focus on either several small spots you can investigate and move on from, or a large piece of structure that you can search many types of spots on like inside turns, points, reef tops, or deep mud.  Don't be married to any one particular area in this scenario, and don’t be satisfied to hunker down unless you’re marking fish or the weather demands it.

Take a chance with the weeks we have remaining to fish somewhere new, even if it’s just down the road.  You’ll be surprised by how much better it can make you as an angler, and how much fun you’ll have tackling a new challenge.

How To Catch Anything - A Multi-Species Approach

Photo Credit - Ben Larson - In-Depth Media Productions

Have you ever gone fishing and caught something completely un-intended?  A few years back we were headed to a small lake in northern MN to film a purported basin bite for spoon-eating crappies.  Excited to tie into the 14”+ brutes we’d seen pictures of, we drilled out the small basin area and found nothing.  Zero.  Not a single fish marked.  As we pushed shallower, we saw on the flasher what looked like a weedbed absolutely loaded with them, or so we thought.  For the first half hour, our spoons and any other hard bait were repeatedly denied, with the exception of several unusually large bass.  Getting ready to leave our newfound largemouth hotspot on a well-known crappie lake, I decided to drop a small teardrop and euro-larvae combination, and the rest is history.  It turned out to be one of the better late-ice bull bluegill bites I’ve been on, and ended up being a great show.

One of the keys to catching more fish is simply to fish in a way that includes more potential species, but that can be tough to do.  We hit the ice with pre-determined conceptions about walleye-lake this, good-crappie-population that, and forget that each spot is a new adventure and potentially a “new” fish.  It makes sense, as we’ve specialized a great deal in the last decade.  We use ultra-sensitive noodle rods for finicky gills, consider line choice based on what size and species we’d like to target, and even fish particular areas that are considered “classic” for walleyes, crappies, and any other range of fish species.  Whether you’re parked in a wheel-house over a crappie-hole or you’re punching holes in the shallows looking for weed-bed bluegills, here are some great ways to be an equal-opportunity angler once you start marking fish on the graph.    

Top-Two Lure Types

Not any one bait can target everything well, but you’ll do yourself a great favor in fishing lure types and sizes that work well in a variety of situations, for a number of different species.  An 1/8 oz. spoon in about any variety, provided the hooks are not too large, will catch nearly everything that swims in most freshwater lakes during the winter.  Another top pick is the #3 Jigging Rap, as it’s something I have tied on at least one rod full-time.  No matter where I fish and for what, each of these lure types are nearly always in play.  Choose attractor type colors and patterns for general appeal in pinks, reds, and greens, and you’ll simply catch more fish wherever you go.  

Down-Typing

Downsizing has become almost cliché in fishing advice columns, but so often anglers won’t go far enough to ensure they get bit.  Switching from ¼ oz. spoons to 1/8 oz. varieties may work when trying to cover both Perch and Walleye bites, but what if the walleye you think you’re marking is really a crappie?  In that case, switching to a tiny glow jig and plastic combination may be much more appropriate.      

Know Thy Fish

I tend to start with larger aggressive lures, but closely study the reactions and aggressiveness of the first few fish that come onto the flasher.  Walleyes and perch that are actively feeding will often rise, retreat, and revisit the bait quickly, several times before eventually eating.  Crappies tend to school in the winter, and even when they come in as singles will often simply appear at the same height as your offering.  Good bluegills will rise and back away very methodically.  I could go on and on, but the point is that each species has its own calling card. 

Seeing is Believing

Nothing prepares you for the above tactic like watching fish with an underwater camera, and species-specific identification will help you to select the best baits and methods to catch them.  Especially in river-systems, fish are very often assumed to be a species they are not.  More diversity offers simply more opportunities to get it wrong.  Even in lakes, or within the same species, there’s a big difference between large marks that can either be wads of bait perch, or a single tiger of the 11-12” variety we’re all interested in catching more of. 

Bait Selection

When targeting species of all types, it pays to have a variety of bait.  Often, a detail as small as minnow size can inhibit a crappie from inhaling the overly large fatheads you’re presenting.  Similarly, walleyes in the 20” plus category often prefer a more substantial snack in the form a light-pike sized sucker minnow or larger shiner.  However, fish only those baits, and you’re actively selecting against smaller walleyes and other species that may not be willing to eat something that large. 

Diversify Your Spread

Large groups in permanent shelters though immobile, have a distinct advantage to running more lines in that they can offer a wider array of baits.  When fishing for action and numbers, here is my typical lineup. 

·         Active jigging rod with a search bait – Rattlebaits or any other noisy offering that puts vibration or lots of flash in the water column

·         Active jigging rod with a #3 Jigging Rap

·         Active jigging rod with an 1/8 oz. flutter or flash spoon tipped with minnow head

·         Active panfish jigging rod with a tungsten and plastic

·         Active panfish jigging rod with micro tungsten and bait

·         Stationary setup #1 – Free-swimming fathead on a small glow jig

·         Stationary setup #2 – Free-swimming crappie minnow on a small fine wire hook

·         Stationary setup #3 – Free swimming light pike sucker or

Be prepared to adapt on ice, switch to the productive tactic of the moment, and use multi-species techniques to bring more fun and success to your mid-winter fishing.

GPS On-Ice - Uses and Abuses

Photo Credit - Ben Larson - In-Depth Media Productions

Featured - The Marcum RT-9 Sonar/GPS/Camera Combo

GPS On Ice – Uses and Abuses   

“Quit fishing a memory Joel,” quipped a grinning Brad Hawthorne, who in his own right is an incredibly successful ice guide and general thorn in my bibs.  That stung, because he was right.  Trading jabs down the break, we both punched holes relentlessly from sand to rock near some forgotten island on Lake of the Woods.  No matter how high in the air I held my GPS unit, or whether I shook it, smacked it, or pressed all the buttons, it wouldn’t seem to put me right between the two truck-sized boulders we smacked walleyes on mere weeks ago.  Furthermore, when we did find the “spot on the spot,” my hand-held GPS unit wouldn’t put fish back there either. 

We’ve all been guilty of letting a waypoint somehow distort our real-world thinking, causing us to ignore everything right in front of our faces in favor of some digital confidence.  Obvious evidence, along with at times general courtesy, is thrown to the wayside so we can attempt to reclaim the “spot” that once was ours.  Eventually, the very things that make such a location great for fishing are forgotten in the effort just to get back to that prime piece of underwater real estate.

So take it from someone who has learned the hard way, on-ice cues and clues will trump rose-colored GPS screens just about every day of the week.  Your GPS unit is nearly worthless without sonar and many times an underwater camera, to verify depth, substrate, and a host of other variables that aren’t directly or otherwise visible.  The valuable information you gather from each of these tools work in concert to give you more than just a spatial location, but great intel about that specific spot.  Baitfish presence, weed-growth, slope direction, visibility, and other factors will cue you in on current conditions, which are far more important.        

Still, there’s something to be said for areas that continually produce because of a perfect train-wreck of factors all combined to predictably draw fish year after year.  Still, we need to up our GPS game, and here are a few tips to doing just that:

Collecting Waypoints – Many issues start here, and are based solely on operator error.  The process sounds simple, but not so fast.  GPS technology requires ample satellite coverage first and foremost.  In fact, for survey-grade accuracy, many technicians that collect GPS data for a living do so during a planned part of the day with the best satellite coverage, thus having the best accuracy.  While you don’t need to head to the lake at a pre-ordained time of day, you can do yourself a favor by giving your GPS unit enough time to acquire satellites and reduce the EPE (Estimated Positional Error) or PDOP (Position Dilution of Precision), both of which are often listed on your screen.  A GPS unit that’s powered up, then taken to immediately drop a waypoint, tends to suffer poor or higher EPE, meaning that when you go back to find that exact spot on the lake, you’ll likely have a hard time because you were never accurate in your digital collection of it to begin with.

Finding Waypoints – Similarly, trying to navigate to a waypoint with a degraded signal only makes finding it that much more difficult.  Additionally, moving, then stopping, then moving again creates issues with many GPS units’ tracking abilities.  Moving at a reasonable pace, either on foot or by machine, in a constant manner allows for the best tracking and representation of where you’re actually at in relation to a waypoint of interest.

Managing Waypoints – I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had to re-learn, even recently, that poorly labeled and saved waypoints can distract and confuse you.  While out on the ice, every year, fishing trip, and associated details tend to blend into one as you try to determine the difference between waypoint “328” and waypoint “rock.”  Famed guide Tony Roach once told me that his dad used to save waypoints on Mille Lacs mud flats such as “Arnies8pounder” and “Tonys10pounder.”  Given the success of the Roach clan, eventually even all these points start to look like noise and become difficult to assess from afar.  Point being, be descriptive about the spot, maybe even indicating depth, while deleting points that turn out to be false leads.

Refining the Spot – Here’s where sonar/GPS and camera combos become incredibly useful.  Use GPS to get you close, sonar to get you closer, and the underwater lens to put you right at the heart of it.  How often have you been fishing where the guy in the house over is pounding them, while your sonar screen is blank?  This type of precision is especially useful when parking on a significant but small piece of structure, especially for a longer period of time.  I know I wouldn’t plop down a wheel-house or other permanent without being extremely confident of what I was sitting on.  Of course this involves at times a serious hole drilling session, especially in stained water with its limited camera visibility.  That said, of all the very best ice bites I’ve ever been a part of, this kind of digital finding then mechanical drilling and checking, has always just been a part of the game. 

Our generation’s crutch has become the GPS unit, though there’s still so much great information to glean and explore, especially from a safety and navigational perspective.  The generations before were ultra-concerned with depth, thinking that if they found fish in 14 feet of water on one part of the lake, then naturally they’d be at the same depth on the other end of the lake.  Often, they were right, just as we are to assume that fish caught on one spot today, may be there in years to come.  That said, it’s best to treat our GPS information as just another piece of the puzzle and give equal weight to our sonar and visual, in the quest to repeat the bite.  

Shelters Simplified - Straight-Forward Advice on How to buy

Photo Credit - Ben Larson - In-Depth Media Productions

In the ice belt, there are two types of anglers.  One type owns a shelter, and the other that waits until spring to wet a line.  Visit your local fishing hole, and you’ll see only a handful of folks out on the open ice sitting on a 5-gallon bucket.  Pick a day where the mercury flirts with zero, and you’ll see nary a soul out and about.  Much of that phenomenon has to do with the technological advances in portable flip-style shelters, along with the advent of more economical hub versions all with the same goal; to keep you more comfortable while out fishing.

Permanent houses certainly have their place on the ice-scape, but can be limiting in terms of mobility, ice-thickness, and price.  For those of you interested in a portable option, there’s a big fork in the road these days between the flip-over type of shelter and the hub-style ones, with the latter definitely leading in terms of price point.  That said, don’t let cost alone be the factor that decides what you fish out of when the wind howls and temperature plummets.

Both styles are effective at keeping the wind off of your back, but that’s where the trail splits.  Flip-style shelters, and their built-in sled, provide a means of transport for all of your gear, as well as a home-base for hole hoppers.  Whether you slide out the extendable supports of the shelter and set-up shop at a single location, or you simply use the shelter portion as a means to park on fish only once they’re found, flip-style shacks offer the ultimate in flexibility while out on the ice.  They’re also the more durable solution overall, especially if you’re towing your equipment with a snowmobile or ATV.  For those that traverse great distances with an ice machine, it’s a compact unit that aids in your mobility and flat-out offers more features.  Hence the higher price-tag.

Hub-shelters, while being price leaders, are also more lightweight without the attached sled and hardware.  If you will be hand-towing your shelter, especially any distance, there’s a lot of weight savings to be offered in a small hand sled holding your packaged hub house.  They can also be quite spacious, and great solutions for families.  If you need to hold as many bodies as possible in a shelter, a large hub-style house may be in your future.  You supply the sled and seating, but get a great deal of square footage for the money.  However, with no attached sled or supports, ice-anchors must be deployed in windy conditions to keep it on the ice.  Given their relative low cost, I know a good deal of anglers that keep a hub-shelter in their towable flip-style while out fishing.  They have it on hand for larger groups and can split off from the main group while still maintaining comfortable fishing conditions.

No matter which type of shelter has your attention, there’s a few guidelines to purchasing a quality one:

Structure – Look closely at the framing within your shelter of interest.  If a hub, does it feel sturdy and fittightly into the hub devices?  Can you rotate the hub device left or right to effectively tighten or loosen the fit of the shell over the frame, or is it fixed in one position?  For flip-style shelters, what kinds of frame materials are being used?  I prefer those with square aluminum frames to prevent binding, twisting, and collapse, while shaving weight from the final product. 

Shell – The highest quality hubs these days have high loft insulation standard as part of their shelter.  For both flip-style shelters and hubs, you’re looking for as few seams as possible, and very little light penetration.  Pin-holes and see-through spots on seams equal more moisture transfer and condensation, all while providing less loft and air trapping capability.  Avoid this at all costs, and look for a shell that has high loft and floating layers that ultimately equal better insulation and a warmer end product.

From here, those interested in a flip-style shelter should look a little further:

Seating – Look to the overall comfort of the seating system by first sitting in it, but don’t stop there.  Look underneath and see what it’s made of.  Heavy steel options are durable and cheap, but add precious pounds to the final product.  Bench seats are great options for adding kids or smaller fishing buddies along for the ride, while bucket seats provide the ultimate in individual comfort.  Bench seats should fold and stow conveniently, while bucket seats should swivel a full 360 degrees, do so quietly, and also flip up to be able to get at your gear underneath.

Sled – This is going to be the foundation of your entire shelter, so don’t skimp for something flimsy.  Roto-molded sleds are considered more durable than those thermally stretched over a mold, as they have even thickness of plastic distributed at all points of the product.  That’s especially important for the corners or front of the sled that attacks the ground.  Also, look to how items are attached to the sled.  Tow bars that are bolted through the sled create pressure points and individual opportunities for failure, with molded hitch pockets being a more premium option. 

Though we’re very used to products these days with life-cycles measured in months, there’s every reason to expect that a quality product should last you as many as 10 years or more if properly cared for.  Stick to those 4 S’s in your selection process and you’ll be rewarded no matter which style of shelter suits your way of fishing best.