Inhoudsopgave van June 2015 - Field & Stream

Q & A What is the ugliest thing you’ve ever seen in your career? —JOE MILNER, COLUMBUS, OHIO A: I assume you mean something associated with guns and hunting; there have been some presidential daughters who were pretty fearsome. Sifting through an embarrassment of riches, I nominate the Winslow line of rifles, which were made in the mid 1960s. There were eight grades, each more garish than the last. The most extreme stock design, the Plains master, looked as though it had been conceived after a visit to a meth lab. Winslows were bizarre and grotesque, and yet finely made. Today, the top-end guns are worth considerable money. Q: What’s your opinion of the .220 Swift? I think it’s gotten a bum rap, with washed-out barrel complaints. —BOB ALLISON, VENTURA,…

CONSERVATION THE ALL-IN CONSERVATIONIST RICH WILLIAMS, SCOTTSDALE, ARIZ. In the late 1990s, after volunteering for National Wild Turkey Federation banquets, “a light went off” for Williams about the need to get families and youths involved in hunting to increase participation. Williams, 63, is now vice president of the NWTF’s Arizona State Chapter, coordinates the group’s Save the Hunt program, and runs a youth turkey hunting camp. He’s also president of the Arizona Elk Society, on the board of directors for Arizona Sportsmen for Wildlife Conservation, and on the steering committee for the Hunting and Angling Heritage Work Group. THE HUNTER RECRUITER JAMES PINSKY, REMINGTON, VA. In 2013 Pinsky founded the nonprofit Green Bow Foundation, which provides kids with the education, skills, science and habitat background, and resource-stewardship training necessary to…

INSTANT GUIDE GEAR SMARTS PROJECTS FLY SHOP TACTICS TIPS EXPERTS TACKLE BOX When you think catfish, you probably think bait— live, cut, or stink. But a big flathead will smash an artificial lure, and according to Kansas guide R.R. “Catdaddy” Shumway, this month is prime for casting to these ugly giants. June is the prespawn for flatheads in most parts of the country, and the fish are in attack mode, he says. “You can pretty much drag a dead sock in front of a flathead now and it’ll hammer it.” These cats are also notorious for digging into the thickest snags. If you want to feel the jolt of a monster cat stopping your lure, and you want to put him in the boat, you need to hit the heaviest…

Dry-fly fishing isn’t just for trout guys. If you want to see the surface erupt in warm- or saltwater, just tie on a popper— and use these tricks to drive five notorious topwater crushers downright bonkers. LARGEMOUTH BASS If you’re working a popper through grass or lily pads and it gets stuck, don’t yank it off the snag. Give it some short, gentle tugs instead. Quite often, the subtle movement of the vegetation attracts enough attention to make a big bass remove that popper from the snag for you. SMALLMOUTH BASS In low light, tie on a black popper and pull it across the surface with slow strips instead of hard jerks. The dark color creates a silhouette that’s easy for bass to see from below, and the subtle swimming…

This month, Pickwick Lake guide and pro angler Jimmy Mason (jimmy mason basspro.com) hits river-channel ledges to find huge schools of ravenous postspawn bass. These staircaselike dropoffs offer bass cozy digs with lots of chow as they transition from spawning flats to deeper summer haunts. Here’s how to get in on the action on your lake. STAY NEAR THE NURSERY To find the most fish, target ledges closest to the lake’s best spawning areas. “Look on your map and locate staircases that lead from shallow bays and flats down to deeper water,” says Mason. While ledges are the main deal, points, humps, and creek-channel bends near the mouths of shallow pockets and feeder creeks also concentrate fish, he adds. FIND THEM FAST Mason uses LakeMaster Contour Elite software to study…

ANGLERS 1. ■ Miley Bradford, 5, Carthage, Ill. “I love that I get to catch big fish with my daddy— and we get to eat them! He taught me that if we take care of nature, it’ll take care of us.” 2. ■ Gavin Thompson, 7, Levittown, N.Y. “I caught a 3-pound bass once, and it fought hard. My dad cheered me on, and when I pulled it in I felt like the boss of the water.” 3. ■ Tyler Brumis-Morozumi, 14, Lake Tahoe, Calif. “The best day I’ve ever had on the water was with my grandma and her friend. We caught 80 stripers in a few hours.” 4. ■ Aevlyn Wallace, 8, Canastota, N.Y. “My favorite part about fishing with my parents is telling jokes on the boat…

VIDEO SHARE A few months ago, I looked into what fishy wares were popping out of 3D printers, and happened upon Michael Hackney’s printed fly reel. His classic clickpawl design was made of polylactic acid (PLA), a biodegradable plastic derived from cornstarch. It looked neat online, but my burning question was, how does it fish? Hackney made me a reel, which I put to the test on some giant trout in New Jersey. The result was the world’s first video of a 3D-printed fly reel in action, which you can watch at field and stream.com/3Dflyreel. That this first-generation reel stopped some serious fish without a glitch hints at how good printed reels could become. We’re already seeing the next generation of Hackney’s design. After watching the video, field and stream.com…

THE TOTAL OUTDOORSMAN A BULLFROG CAUGHT in a headlamp beam does something to my brain. It opens up a flood of adrenaline and flips a switch from present-day to pri meval. I scull the paddle carefully, minimizing the wake that spreads out from the canoe, and hold the light steady as I guide Jack to the sweet spot: 6 feet from the shining eyes and 11 o’clock to the frog. The canoe bumps something underwater, and I suck in a breath. The frog blinks with the muffled percussion but doesn’t move. Leaning over the bow, Jack is like an old ship’s figurehead, still as a carved mermaid except for the quiver in his shoulders as he grasps the gig. Closing in on a frog may be the most focused Jack…

Folks in venomous- snake country often carry handguns loaded with so-called rat shot. These cartridges— rimfire and centerfire— replace a bullet with a charge of tiny shot. Should a cottonmouth become ornery, rat shot will do the job. But misinformation about shooting the stuff abounds. Here’s what you need to know before plugging away. BABY-SHOT BALLISTICS These loads are available in calibers ranging from .22 to .45. The rimfires are a hoot when brought to bear on flying carpenter bees, but they’re outmatched on bullfrog- size game beyond nearcontact range. The more serpentworthy of the lot are the .38s and .44s. The beast of the bunch is the .45 Colt; CCI’s recipe punches out 150 grains of No. 9 shot—more than 200 pellets. CRIMP STYLE Some rat-shot loads, depending on…

All you ever hear about the South’s spring squirrel season is “It’s a great tune-up for deer season.” Forget that. It’s a hell of a lot of fun in its own right. And it’s even more exciting if you like to hunt squirrels with a handgun, as this is probably the best time of year for it. Here’s how I get it done with a sidearm. GO SOFT Ignore hickories and oaks now because squirrels are feeding on soft stuff, like buds and berries. A mulberry tree with ripe fruit draws squirrels like nothing else, but if you can’t find one, focus on edge habitat, including fencerows with mature trees and small woodlot fringes with abundant new growth. USE YOUR EYES Between scraping their teeth on hickory nuts and scampering…

Since the dawn of competitive bass fishing, recreational anglers have clung to and leaned on trends set by the pros. Right now, using sensitive spinning outfits, light line, and finesse baits to catch big bass is what’s in fashion, and for good reason. Thanks to modern braid and fluorocarbon, 6- to 10-pound-test is stronger than it’s ever been. Couple that with the fact that prime bass waters see loads of angling pressure, and suddenly you gain an edge by presenting small baits with subtle approaches to fish that no longer want to hit the same spinnerbait being yanked on 12-pound mono that they’ve seen season after season. That’s why tournament pros are getting in the money with techniques like spybaiting, light-line dropshotting, and working micro wakebaits, and understanding these methods…

EDDIE BAUER STARGAZER 2 $369; EDDIEBAUER.COM SPECS Weight: 4 lb. 5 oz. • Size: 2-person, 36-sq.-ft. interior THE LOWDOWN Testers loved the color-coded poles and webbing. “It takes all the guesswork out of pitching,” Young said. He also liked the luminous zipper pulls and the compression straps on the stuff sack, “which reduce the tent to minimum volume.” Cole said that the “sturdy stakes and a loop-and-grommet system make the tent easy to strike and plenty secure for prolonged use.” Davenport liked the “good, high ceiling” and added that “having both a door and a vestibule on either side is nice; one camper can crawl out without waking the other.” HITS “Cutting-edge design.” —Felsch MISSES “The tent’s beach-party colors.” —Young BIG AGNES SEEDHOUSE SL3 $400; BIGAGNES.COM SPECS Weight: 3 lb.…

› PHOTOGRAPHER: BRIAN GROSSENBACHER + LOCATION: SCOTT LAKE, SASKATCHEWAN ✖ Angler Jimmy Kloote was fishing for northern pike last July at Scott Lake Lodge, located on the 60th parallel, when he paused to watch this restored 1949 de Havilland Beaver zoom past. He and photographer Brian Grossenbacher were offshore in the 18-foot skiff with lodge owner Tom Klein at the tiller when the floatplane took off for a smaller fly-out lake, and the pilot “came by to say hi,” says Klein. “It happened very fast,” says Grossenbacher. “I was not prepared for the sound and fury.” He used a wide-angle lens to capture the plane as it roared by. “You don’t hear much until it’s past you,” says Kloote. “It just about knocked the ash off my cigarette.” The day…

“If I’m not in the kitchen or with my family, there’s a pretty good chance you’ll find me fishing,” says Brandon McGlamery, the head chef at Luma on Park and Prato restaurants in Winter Park, Fla., and author of the cookbook 9 Courses. His regular angling destination is the Ten Thousand Islands, outside of Chokoloskee, where he flyfishes for tarpon, snook, and redfish. The redfish he lands often end up slathered in a mix of yellow mustard and hot sauce before going into the frying pan, resulting in a deep, tangy flavor and ultralight texture. The mustard batter will enliven any kind of fish—or chicken, frog legs, shrimp, etc.—you’d think to fry. 1 Make the pickled shrimp: Place the shrimp in a heatproof bowl. Bring the vinegar, salt, sugar, and…

Food-plot implements for ATVs are frequently disappointing for one simple reason: An ATV is designed for riding, not breaking ground. If you’re serious about planting deer food, you’ll be better served with a rig like this, which you can piece together for under $5,000—less than the price of a new 4-foot Plotmaster ATV implement alone. 1 GET A SUBCOMPACT TRACTOR In a contest of tearing up dirt, even a little bitty tractor, like my 16-hp Kubota B7100 (shown), obliterates an ATV with several times the horsepower. While the ATV uses its horses for speed, the tractor is geared to run at low speeds while towing the kind of heavy implement that really digs. Yet the machine itself is lightweight and four-wheel-drive, so it’ll go anywhere an ATV can. • Where…

Since I was a kid I’ve been fishing on party boats—or head boats—for everything from walleyes to tuna. These walk-on charters offer an easy, affordable way to fish big, open waters. The downside, however, is that you can be sharing the rails with upwards of 100 people—some skilled, others not so much. So how do you show everyone on board who’s boss? Try these strategies. 1 BACK IT UP Whenever possible, post up along the stern railing. If chumming is involved, you’ll have first crack at any fish moving up the slick. If you’re bottom fishing, there’s a good chance the sonar transducer is located in the rear or middle of the boat. So when the captain anchors to fish a wreck or reef, the structure usually ends up under…

Now is the time. A new generation is clamoring to hit the outdoors. They see the rest of us—moms and dads, aunts and uncles—charging hard after deer, trout, and ducks, and now they are champing at the bit to hunt and fish. ¶ Your job: Let them run wild. Take your kids to deer camp or the trout stream. Teach them every outdoor skill you know. Nurture this new generation of hunters and anglers, because we need young sportsmen more than ever. Why? Because the world is changing, and because there are some things that simply must endure. The thrill of a first fish on the line. The somber smear of blood on a young hunter’s forehead. That first taste of squirrel. We need to share these experiences because they…

There’s Wednesday night bowling league, and the Father’s Day tourney at the municipal golf club. And then there’s the opportunity to become the best all-around shooter you’ve ever been—all while staying sharp for fall and having a ton of loud, fastpaced fun with your fellow shooters (not to mention preparing for the end of days, just in case). If you’re looking for more excitement this summer, step up to the line: Ready. Set. Start shooting 3-gun. At the horn, you’ll scramble through a timed course that looks like a construction site from the Walking Dead, blasting targets along the way. If that weren’t reason enough to do it, with time you’ll learn to shoot your shotgun, rifl e, and handgun faster than you thought possible, and the tension of competition…