Kayak Fishing on the Pit River

The Pit River is one of the premier fly fishing rivers in California for Rainbow Trout. The canyon area of this river has always been difficult to access, because of rugged terrain and private property issues. Once one is on the river, the Federal Government gives recreational users the right to use the river up to the high water mark.

The latest re-licensing of the Pit River Hydroelectric system put certain requirements into place.

1. Higher river flows. The old regime was 150 cfs (cubic feet per second). The new requirement is a minimum of 450 cfs and in the Pit 5 area the average flows are 520-550 cfs.

2. Campgrounds and access points. Pacific Gas and Electric has completed the campgrounds and access points on the Pit 4 section. See an earlier article I wrote. The link is below. I notice that they have installed a restroom and parking lot at the kayak boat removal point above the Pit 4 Powerhouse.

The good news is that Pacific Gas and Electric is currently building a campground and boat launch below the Pit 5 Dam. The campsite is on a bluff overlooking the river, deep in the woods, and there is a road to a smooth part of the river that will make launching a kayak, swimming and wading easy and enjoyable. The campground access road is just before the Pit 5 Dam.

The Pit 5 section enjoys many rapids, chutes and drops. While the Pit 4 section takes 12 miles to drop 400 feet in elevation, the Pit 5 section drops 400 feet in just 3.5 miles. At the lower flows, tubing the river was a favorite for the children. At the current flows it is very gnarly, with helmets, flotation vests and shoes required. The surface speed is between 5 and 7 mph with many large boulders as obstacles. Wading the river is impossible.

This brings up the idea of fresh water kayak fishing. The Pit River rainbow trout's favorite haunts are in front of rocks in the whitewater. When hooked, the fish immediately swim downstream into the fastest currents. The only way to get to where the fish lay is by kayak or float tube and to land the fish one has to be able to go downstream with them. These fish are excellent fighters and chasing them through rapids is Exciting! The Pit River has been opened to year round catch and release fishing (with single barbless hooks, artificial lures). and a limit of five fish during normal fishing season. Check the California Fish and Game Manual.

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Fishing Charters Provide Safety and Save Money

How many times have you watched the news or read the newspaper and you saw or heard about a boat accident? This has probably occurred more time than you think. In actuality these types of accidents occur every day. Many times, it involves people who were only intended to go out and enjoy a day of catching fish. This isn't to say that this particular activity should be banned. However, people should take better precautions when they are out on the water. The fact of the matter is, that many people won't take heed. On the other hand, many people just aren't equipped to properly protect themselves. They may not have the proper knowledge, equipment or even the right boat. This is why fishing charters are so essential.

They allow people to go out and fish while being guided by a licensed professional. So, anything they don't know, the professional will be there to help. For instance, the amateur fisherman may not realize when the winds are too strong for them to be out on the water. Therefore, they may underestimate the amount of danger that they are in. So, instead of making their way to safety, they may decide to stay in the water and enjoy the wind. However, what they don't realize is that they are putting their lives in danger. They may also be unaware that boat accidents due to high winds are quite common.

Another thing that's great about fishing charters is the fact that they provide the proper safety equipment such as life vests. On the other hand, an amateur may purchase one for themselves. However, it may be inadequate. So, if they ever needed to use it, it wouldn't be able to provide them with the proper assistance. This could be extremely tragic.

Not only can fishing charters provide safety. However, they can also help people save money. That's because things such as the boat are already provided. Buying a boat can cost thousands or even tens of thousands of dollars. This would be extremely difficult or even impossible for the average person to afford. So, someone may spend their entire lives trying to save up for a fishing boat. Others may take out loans that they can barely afford, just to purchase a boat. Patronizing one of these businesses, however, can save the money and the hassle.

Fishing charters do more than just allow people to catch fish. However, the safety net that they can provide can actually end up saving someone's life. Not to mention, the amount of money this service can save someone. Instead of getting into depth or missing out on this extremely enjoyable activity, people can solicit the help of fishing charters.

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Choosing A Speargun For Use In The UK

When you look to purchase your first speargun the sheer choice of guns on the market can be quite daunting. When spearfishing in the UK our needs are quite different to when fishing in other parts of the world. In this article we will look at the different types of speargun that are available and what features they offer.

Firstly, there are two main types of speargun available, Rubber powered and Air powered. Rubber powered spearguns are similar to catapults and crossbow guns in that they power the spear by use of rubber bands that are stretched back then released to fire the spear. Compressed air spearguns are powered by compressed air behind a piston that sits inside a barrel. When the trigger is pulled the compressed air forces the piston up the length of the barrel pushing the spear out at the same time.

Today we are going to look at the rubber speargun variety as this is the most popular type of speargun used in the UK.

Price.

Spearguns (like most things in life) vary greatly in their prices. It is fair to say (on the whole) that the more you spend on a gun, the better the quality and refinement will be. Guns priced up to around £70 are generally of lesser quality. They will probably use thin rubber (13 or 14mm is common) and use poor quality spears/trigger mechanisms.

The £75-£150 range is where great value guns generally live. These will normally use thicker (16 or 18mm) rubbers to provide more power, along with using a higher grade of metal for the spears, thicker barrel on the gun, maybe even a "rail" guide to assist the aim of the spear and higher quality better design trigger mechanisms.

Once you go over the £150 bracket, whilst the guns are normally still a very high quality, I believe that the value for money gets lost. If you take a gun that costs around £150 and compare it to a guns that is say £250 - you have to ask yourself, "am I going to catch more fish with the dearer gun?"

The step between the entry level guns and the goods guns is one well worth taking, just be weary of some of the pricy guns that may not offer any benefit to your fishing.

Size

Spearguns come in a range of sizes. They are generally made from as small as 35cm up to 1.4 meters in length. Please note that when talking about sizes of spearguns the size relates to the length of the barrel of the gun, not the complete overall length of the gun.

For example a "75cm" gun will be approx. 1.3m when measured with the spear. It is the barrel section that is 75cm.

So what difference does the length make?

Simply put:

The shorter the gun the more easier to move under the water it will be. This can be an advantage in poor visibility, or when fishing up against rocks or in gully's/weed. The downside to this is that the gun does not have the sheer power that a larger version would provide. Larger guns, whilst they offer better power and more accuracy, they can be unmanageable in confined areas.

The most popular gun for use in the UK tends to be a 75cm. This size is big enough for fishing in more open water and also manages OK in more confined conditions.

If you only own one size of gun there will always be times when you wish you had a bigger or smaller version, sadly the only answer to this problem is to own a selection of sizes and use the most suitable at the given time.

Other features a gun may offer include, reels, bungees, filament line.

As to how beneficial the above are will depend on your personal preference. Reels are useful when shooting larger fish as it gives you the opportunity to "play" the fish. You can release the reel and return to the surface once the fish is shot. The fish can the tire and you can reel it in easier. Also reels can be used if your spear gets jammed in rocks. As before you can release the reel and swim back to the surface with your gun in hand leaving only the spear below.

Bungees are a simple "add on" if they are not standard with your gun. Costing around £7 they act as a shock absorber as well as making it easier to re-route your line when setting up your gun after a shot. The bungee gives you some "stretch" with the line which you will not have without one.

Filament line is both stronger and acts better in the water than the "string/line" used on some guns. A set containing the crimps used to fit it (you can't tie knots like with string) will cost around £4-5.

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10 Ways How To Catch Bigger Bass - Be Smarter

You have to resort to some clever tricks yourself if you are hoping to catch the bigger 5-6 pounders more wily bass that you know are hiding in the lake. Try to think like them and also employ some of the tricks listed below to outsmart them.

Tackle

1) If fishing at night use big swim bait or ten to twelve inch worms. Maybe you will not get any bites or you if you lucky you hit the jackpot.

2) Plastic baits like Lizzard or Senko are known to produce great results.

3) You should use a heavier rod and a round reel with at least 50# monofilament line. If a big bass strikes you will have a great fight on your hands. You will appreciate the heavier tackle because you will be glad for all the help you can get.

Survey

4) Concentrate on fishing in deeper waters especially where deep cannels or holes have formed because that's where the lunkers like to hang out. Use a depth finder to locate these places or you if you don't have any electronics use a jig to find the deeper water. If the lake is your favourite fishing spot and you fish there often then it will be worth your while to take soundings by using a long enough length of thin weighted line.

Tie a knot every 5 or 10 foot and then do a rough survey from your boat recording depths and their position of the lake floor. Use a hand held GPS remote to find these positions. Plot this information on some graph paper and you will end up with your own personal depth chart that will give you a good idea of the shape of the lake floor, enabling you to work out a strategy of stealth fishing.

Tricks

5) In the deeper spots try spots to find out what the bottom is made up of. Clean grass and mulched leaves create a good healthy aerated bottom which the big bass love.

6) Do not bother to fish in algae covered soft mushy bottoms.

7) Other good spots to look out for are where streams enter the lake. It is here where deeper holes are often formed that the bass love to hang out in.

8) A great favourite with successful big bass fishermen who prefer fishing with jigs, is using Rage craw or Rage chunk as the trailer. According to them big bass cannot resist this setup. If you crave for more exciting top water action then the - 3:16 no bull frog - is well worth casting around.

Stealth

9) When fishing in steep sided pit lakes that have very clear water aim for the deeper weed beds that are far away from the shore. Stealth fishing using a boat with an electric trolling motor will definitely help you gain the upper hand. The big bass in these lakes a are very aware of what is happening around them so you can be sure that they know you are coming. You have to blend in and try to become part of the environment to have any success catching these clever customers. Your prey may well be hiding in isolated structures so always approach them silently.

10) Try to catch big bass in low light or at night when they are roaming about looking for prey. This is when they are hungry and less weary giving you a better chance to hook one.

Somewhere out there is a big bass with your name on it so persevere and that lucky day will arrive a lot sooner than you think.

I wish you -Tight lines.

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Different Options To Steer An Electric Trolling Motor

Electric trolling motors can be steered and controlled in many different ways. These different steering options give fisherman greater manoeuvrability and freedom to move about on the boat thereby allowing him extra time to catch many more fish.

From The Transom

The transom hung motors are all controlled by using a tiller handle that is fixed to the motor. The most popular trolling motor is the one used for small boats and kayaks and has a thrust of 30 lbs. and a shaft length of 30 inches. You do get different variations with the tiller, some of which you can tilt, twist and extend. In a smaller boat you pretty much stay in one position so this type of steering is more than adequate.

From The Bow

With bow mount motors you have a far greater choice and the type you purchase can depend on quite a few factors i.e. the size of boat, the type of boat, if you use it for fishing, leisure boating or rafting up for partying. These are only a few points that can influence a buying decision.

Hand Steer

The first and cheapest option available is the hands on tiller version. These come with the same variations as your transom mount type, but you steer the boat from the front (bow).

Foot Steer

As the motors become more expensive the steering methods also become more sophisticated. Bow mount motors which are designed to be steered with foot pedals come with 3 options depending on which type of motor you choose. Some foot pedals are used only for steering and others include a speed control switch.

1) You get the standard foot steer cable type, where the pedal is connected to the motor with a cable. You do sometimes hear complaints that the cable which is quite stiff can get in the way when moving about the boat, but for most people this is not really a problem.

2) With an electric steer foot pedal you have a long electric cable connected between the motor and foot pedal. This pedal is not fixed to the floor of the boat so the skipper can place it in any convenient steering position from where he wants to steer the boat using only his foot.

3) Another great and popular option is to use a wireless foot pedal available with some motors. Place the foot pedal anywhere on the boat and foot steer it completely cable and wire free, so now there is nothing to trip over.

Wireless Remote

Then there is the co-pilot option where you use a wireless remote with which to steer the boat and control the propeller speed. This gives you complete freedom of movement and will allow you to present your lure from anywhere on the boat. With the remote on a lanyard around your neck or hanging from your belt you are in complete control.

Finally, if these different steering options do not get you fired up then there is the new wireless i- pilot remote for total accurate GPS positioning. With the i-pilot you can "lock" the boat onto a busy fishing spot, kind of like anchoring electronically, and also by steering on auto get the boat to retrace a previous recorded favourite fishing path, plus many more really cool functions.

So now there is really no reason left for not boating and fishing without using an electric trolling motor.

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Bass Fishing: How To Think Like a Fish

Ok, you have arrived at a new lake, and are ready for some high productivity bass fishing. You back the boat into the water and away you go. One question haunts you: where, pray tell, are the fish? You can arbitrarily work your way around the lake. You can navigate in the vicinity of other fishermen on the theory that they must know something you don't. Or you can think like a fish and head towards the sweet spots on the lake thus increasing your chances of landing a bite or two or twenty.

Look for Rip Raps. These rock wall formations along the bank of a lake are notorious hubs for prey fish that bass are attracted to such as bluegills, baitfish, and crawfish. Use lures that resemble the color and type of prey fish in those areas. A crank bait with a color scheme that is environment oriented, or a green pumpkin twitch work on a screw ball jig head should work in catching bass.

Unable to locate such structures? Head to the docks. Bass constantly loiter near boat docks. This provides the opportunity for you to circulate close to and around these docs with a mega weight jib and fork craw trailer or a baby hyper freak on your line. Spend a good amount of time throwing your line under docks and on the edges of docks, and probing for brush piles. You will find that this is an area for easy pickings. Experiment with your rig and try a spinning rod with braided line, a hyper whack'n worm on a weedless wacky jig head.

Another option is to head to areas of a lake where a shallow section of water extends out into deeper water. These are known as points and represent areas of higher bass population. It is in these areas you will find bass migration patterns from shallow to deep water and is where you should spend some time. You may need a topographical map or depth finder to locate such spots of course. They may be right in the middle of a lake or in coves. Make sure your lure is appropriate to the depth of the water. Use subsurface lures like spinners or spooners in shallow water. Then switch to deep diving lures in the deeper areas. Make a pattern out of this by patrolling from point to point and back. Notice which areas you seem to have luck with and linger there longer.

Of course if these points are in the middle of a lake with no easily identifiable navigation points nearby, it can be hard to remember which those great points lay. Enter technology. The Minn Kota i-pilot will make your life vastly easier. Think of it as a tape recorder. You push record path, throttle up your trolling motor and move out from point to point, all the while the i-pilot is recording your path. When you come back in a couple of months, you can replay the i-pilot and your trolling motor will self guide you through the same path you recorded. Using gps technology it will self correct for wind and current conditions. It is truly a convenience you must have.

Look for areas where a river or creek streams close to the shore in a cove or main lake. Known as channel banks, these are great places to find bass as they provide transitional areas from deep to shallow water. A good indicator for these channel banks is to look for sheer bluff banks. Use a topographical map to locate channel banks and zero in on where the channel approaches and leaves a bank. Also look for rockslides or pockets along the bluff. Throttle up and down these areas with the bait of your choice and see what happens.

Some lakes will have wide areas of barren water with no depth change, docks, rock or weed formations. Consequently you may not find many bass in these areas. Therefore try to find a lone object in the middle of this barren area such as a clump of underwater vegetation, pylon, or tree. or even garbage in the water. You will notice that bass tend to congregate near such areas. Launch a spinner bait, crank bait, baby fork creature, or flipper to catch bass.

Most of all think like a fish. With these ideas in mind you will look at your lake in a whole new light and approach the art of fishing in a more, say, scientific method. With persistence you will establish yourself in the fishing community as an expert. OK maybe not an expert but at least someone who knows what he or she is doing.

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How Fishing Can Teach Important Life Lessons

Fishing is something that is seen as a sport to many people. In their eyes, it is an opportunity for them to showcase their competitive side and even make money. Others use this activity as a hobby or a way to relax. However, this activity can actually be used to teach children some valuable life lessons.

One of the things that fishing can do for a child is teach them patience. That's because most of the time, a person has to wait a long time before they catch anything. In some cases, they may spend an entire day out on the water and not catch one fish. Having to experience this type of situation as a child, would force a young person to have to learn the art of waiting. That's because they wouldn't be able to just run away and quit easily. This is due to the fact that they would be in the middle of a body of water. Therefore, there's nowhere for them to instantly escape to.

On the other hand, if they were at home waiting for their favorite movie to come on or for their favorite meal to be prepared, things would be much different. That's because they could easily go run off to do something else like play video games, to pass the time. So, instead of learning to be patient, they just learn how to fill the time with other activities.

Another important thing that fishing can teach a child is the importance of teamwork. When it comes to this particular activity, there's usually more than one person involved at a time. That's because one person is there to provide support or assistance when needed. That is when they aren't trying to catch fish themselves, of course.

Having assistance during this type of activity is extremely beneficial in many cases. For example, a child could catch a fish that is very difficult to pull in. Without the proper assistance, the child could lose a hold of the fish or they could even be pulled in. By experiencing a situation where they would have to work together with someone else, they would be able to see just how important teamwork can be.

Not only can fishing teach a child the importance of patience and teamwork. However, it can show them how to master a way to catch their own food. This activity, allows people to go out and get their own food. Therefore, they know exactly where it is coming from. This is something that's important to many people.

Fishing is more than a sport or a hobby. However, it provides a great opportunity for young people to learn valuable lessons.

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