The rise of fish farms has resulted in a rise in fish viruses. The most recent is the marine viral disease, Infectious Salmon Anaemia (ISA). Salmon that have this disease can be detected as they have pale gils. They often swim towards the surface and gasp for air. However, any fish show no signs of illness other than sudden death. Outbreaks were first detected in Norway in 1984 and have since spread to British Columbia, Chile and Scotland. What is concerning to many anglers is that these diseases are spreading to fish outside of fish farms. As such, be careful of where you are fishing and the location of... Read On

I stumbled across this fish the other day. I was discussing it on a popular forum but was surprised when all the information did not line up. Well, I guess I should not have been surprised after all. It is a fishing story after all. The Mean Mouth Bass is a name given to two hybrid bass: a spawn of the largemouth and smallmouth and the smallmouth and spotted bass. However, the spotted bass and smallmouth bass hybrid is most often identified with the name. Read more here: http://bassfishing-gurus.com/mean-mouth-bass.php Read On

I can’t remember such a run a bad weather, the whole of April has basically been a write off. Sure, there was the odd short weather window, often measured in hours, though work and family commitments failed to coincide with these rare opportunities. It was pleasantly surprising when an improvement in the weather was forecast over the forthcoming weekend. Plans were hatched to travel to Wales in the hope of catching a Tope. I’d considered travelling up late on Friday evening, though it would have been a rush job, so the decision was made to leave early on Saturday morning. I’m not sure if I’d been off the water... Read On

Around the Clock Largemouth bass feed at all hours, but most often in the early morning or late in the day. Studies have shown that if there is a lot of noise from human activity during the day, especially from a lot of boat activity and swimmers, there is a greater feeding of the Florida Largemouth Bass at night. However, this is most common in smaller lakes and rivers where the bass do not have anywhere else to migrate. Largemouth Bass feed in low light conditions as they do not like direct sunlight. They have trouble differentiating between lure colours in low light or night fishing, but colour can play a... Read On

We waited anxiously.  More than a few phone calls exchanged theories on moon cycles, water temps, past seasons, weather windows, family commitments and of course the unforgiving work schedule.  By the time I got my stars lined up, Kayak Kevin and Jay Brooks had already clocked in a couple days earlier in the week and both had a notch on their belt to show for it. My turn. Kevin was waiting for me when I pulled up to the launch and as I got things ready, he quickly “branded” my kayak.  Holes were drilled, rivets got popped and before I knew it, I had one of his big DVD... Read On

  Recently I bought a new kayak paddle and it got me thinking about the differences in paddles and how to decide which is the perfect one for you. If you have not realized it yet, a good paddle makes a world of difference. The first thing to understand is that there are two types of paddles, high and low angle. Traditionally high angle paddlers are those that paddle in sit inside kayaks, paddling rapids, rivers and other rough waters in very narrow kayaks. Low angle paddles are mostly used for sit on top kayaks that tend to be a lot wider, working great on pretty much every body... Read On

Last summer was a difficult summer for me in terms of kayak fishing, or lack of it as the case may be. We had very little rainfall since the end of last winter and low rivers and lakes around the country bore testament to this. I recently listened to a radio programme that detailed the fact that we had the coolest summer for forty eight years and while the lack of rain and high temperatures never deter an ardent kayak angler, one other feature of last summer did – the frequency of strong winds. I am well practised now in emergency techniques but having said that, kayak angling should... Read On

It’s almost time for YakAttak’s annual fishing tournament that benefits Heroes On the Water. This is a freshwater tournament held each year in Farmville Virginia. It starts on Friday night where dinner is served and everyone enjoys sitting around the fire swapping fishing stories. The captains meeting is also held on Friday night. If you can’t make it to the meeting show up to Sandy River Reservoir at 6:00 am on Saturday and Tina Shank will give you a ruler and identifier. There will be camping available on Friday Night. If you would like to camp please contact Luther luther@yakattack.us and let him know so he can have an idea of how many to expect. Once... Read On

The Guadalupe Bass is considered a rare species, and until recently was classified as vulnerable. We highly recommend practising a catch and release program with this species until sufficient numbers have removed their status from rare. One of the reasons for its rarity is its limited distribution. The Guadalupe Bass has a very limited distribution, being limited to the Edwards Plateau in Colorado and Texas. More specifically, they can be found in the San Antonio, Guadalupe, Colorado, Lampasas, Leon and Brazos rivers. It prefers gravel beds, runs and flowing pools and creeks. The Guadalupe Bass can also be found in small and mid-sized rivers and they can tolerate a... Read On

Vibrating Lures The line between vibrating lures and other jigs can be difficult. However, their vibrations are enough to consider hem for a separate sub category. They are made with plastic and are often slab shaped. They are designed for trolling, casting or even used to deep diving by allowing them to sink. They don’t have much swimming action. The only way to make them move is through the angler’s twitching on their rod tip. Tight movements will emit high-frequency sonic waves similar to those in stunned baitfish, which easily captures the fish’s attention. Popping Plugs Poppers are excellent lures, but take some experience to get the result that... Read On