THE ANGLERS

According to Idaho Fish and Game, as of Sunday, July 3, an estimated 1,413 adult Chinook had been harvested on the Salmon River and 987 on the Little Salmon River.

The total available sport harvest share has been upgraded to 9,000 for all hatchery Chinook bound for Rapid River Hatchery and the Little Salmon River.

Fish and Game's Southwest Region will publish weekly updates regarding local Chinook fisheries until salmon seasons close on the South Fork Salmon and Little Salmon Rivers.

More information regarding salmon fishing can be found on the Idaho Fish and Game website at:
http://fishandgame.idaho.gov/cms/fish

source: Idaho Fish and Game

The following article offers tips for recruiting new clients to fishing guide services or similar businesses. Many of these methods are applicable to existing businesses as well as those that are in the start up phase.

Build a basic website. Websites should be easy to navigate while providing essential information about guiding services.

Once a website has been established, it should be submitted to an online fishing guide directory that allows anglers to search for fishing trips by country and region.

Blogging is an excellent way to attract new clients. Most guides publish some form of online fishing report and blogs are usually the simplest ways to do this. Fishing report blogs can be integrated with the website, or reside on a free blogging platform.

When possible, fishing report blogs should include pictures of recent catches. Other blog content can include comments from recent clients, short stories, news, events, special pricing or other business announcements.

Guides can also guest blog on an online fishing news site, wildlife blog, or other specialty site. Most outdoor blogs welcome content from professional guides and other stakeholders.

Press releases and media releases are another way to promote a guide business. These tools reach online resources as well as traditional media.

Brochures are essential for attracting new clients. Tri-fold brochures can be purchased or made and placed in areas that are frequented by visitors.

Local and national guide associations can be sources of new clients. Membership in these organizations is often an important part of being a professional guide.

State and local chambers of commerce are also important for fishing guides. Most chambers provide listings for members which can be sources of new clients.

Fishing shows and other events usually offer fishing seminars. Being a speaker at a seminar can reach hundreds of people which can pay off in terms of new business.

Custom fishing merchandise can be a valuable tool for attracting new clients. A catchy t shirt or coffee mug often gets noticed, sparking conversations about successful fishing trips with a local guide.

During Mid summer, grasshoppers and crickets become abundant around freshwater ponds, creeks and rivers. For anglers, these insects can trigger outstanding fishing for largemouth bass, sunfish, crappie, perch, catfish, trout, and other species.

Grasshoppers and other insects often attract fish in areas where tall grass lines the banks of farm ponds, small creeks and river banks. To find these fishing spots, an angler needs only to walk through grass, watching for grasshopper or cricket movement.

When grasshoppers and crickets jump, they often land in the water and begin struggling. Usually the hapless insect will disappear in a swirl almost immediately as a hungry fish rises to devour its meal. Witnessing a fish feeding on grasshoppers is a sign that more fish are likely nearby, waiting for the next casualty to happen.

Live bait specialists often seek out and capitalize on the productive fishing when grasshoppers or crickets become a major part of fish diets. In many of these situations, there is an endless supply of fresh bait available in nearby patches of grass or other plants.

To catch grasshoppers, a few simple tools and a little assistance is all that is required. Adult anglers wait patently in the shade while energetic children or grandchildren catch these fast moving insects and carefully place them in the jar.

Once a supply of grasshoppers is gathered, anglers (including the kids) can catch a few fish. Small live bait hooks seem to work best, rigged about 18-24 inches below a slender bobber. The bobber is only required to help aid in casting as the insects naturally float. Baits should be hooked thru the mid-section, being careful not to break off the hind legs.

When fishing live grasshoppers, it is important watch the baits. When the insect struggles on the surface, it will attract fish from quite some distance. A swirl nearby may signal an impending strike. Some fish may take the grasshopper delicately, while species such as largemouth bass may explode on it. 

When grasshoppers become plentiful, fly fishermen have the advantage as fly-fishing tackle allows anglers to present artificial lures which appear almost identical to the real thing. Fly anglers use a variety of patterns to represent grasshoppers, with most patterns being fairly simple. 

The Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries (VDGIF) State Record Fish Committee recently confirmed that a 143-pound blue catfish is a new state record. This is the second time the state record for blue catfish has been broken in 2011.

The enormous blue catfish was caught by Richard Nicholas "Nick" Anderson in John H. Kerr Reservoir (Buggs Island Lake) on Saturday, June 18.

At 143 pounds and 57 inches in length with a girth of 43.5 inches the new state record blue catfish is noteably larger than the previous Virginia state record blue catfish.

The monster blue catfish is the third confirmed freshwater fish over 100 pounds caught in the Commonwealth of Virginia.

If certified by the International Game Fish Association (IGFA), the Virginia blue catfish will shatter the previous world record, a 130-pound blue catfish caught in the Missouri River in 2010.

source: Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries

bull trout      (photo credit: USFWS)

As part of an overall recovery strategy for bull trout, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife will reintroduce the species to the Clackamas River, a major tributary of the Willamette River.

Beginning in the summer of 2011, bull trout of different life stages will be reintroduced into historic bull trout habitat in the upper Clackamas River, within the Mt. Hood National Forest.

The project is expected to include additional fish transfers annually for at least seven and possibly up to 15 years.  The goal is to reestablish a self-sustaining population of 300-500 spawning adult bull trout within 20 years.

Bull trout are primarily threatened by habitat degradation and fragmentation, blockage of migratory corridors from hydroelectric and diversion dams, poor water quality, the effects of climate change, and past fisheries management practices, including targeted eradication through bounty fishing and the introduction of non-native species such as brown, lake, and brook trout.

Bull trout have been extirpated from four sub-basins in the Willamette River Basin, including the Clackamas River. Once widely distributed in the Clackamas River, the last known bull trout was documented there in 1963.  The species is highly unlikely to re-colonize the area naturally due to the geographic distance to existing bull trout populations.

Once plentiful throughout the coldwater rivers and lakes of the Northwest, bull trout populations in the U.S. are now scattered and patchy in portions of Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, and Nevada.

Bull trout occur in the Columbia and Snake River Basins, extending east to headwater streams in Montana and Idaho and north into Canada, and south into the Klamath River Basin in south-central Oregon.  Though still wide-ranging, many of the remaining populations are small and isolated from each other.

Some bull trout populations are migratory, spending portions of their life cycle in larger rivers or lakes before returning to smaller streams to spawn, while others complete their entire life cycle in the same stream. Some bull trout in the Coastal-Puget Sound population migrate between fresh- and saltwater.

Bull trout require extremely cold, clean water and specific habitat features, as well as connectivity from river, lake, and ocean habitats to headwater streams for annual spawning and feeding migrations.

source: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

In 2011, Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency established a walleye stocking program in Watts Bar Reservoir, releasing over 220,000 fingerlings in the lake.

According to the agency, the decision to replace the sauger stocking program with walleye is based on reoccurring issues with the sauger's low natural reproduction, challenging hatchery propagation, and the management of the sauger as a sportfish.

A TRWA official explained that: "Walleye, on average, live longer than sauger. They obtain a larger size, more conducive to year around fishing. The brood fish are less of a challenge to obtain, and walleye require fewer man hours to produce in TWRA hatcheries."

Walleye and sauger have several parallel characteristics and are closely related. Both migrate up rivers to spawn, share similar feeding patterns, and are good night feeders because of they have a light reflective coating located behind the eye. Both fish are highly sought after as table fare by anglers.

source: Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency

The Arizona Game and Fish Department is increasing stocking rates at select lakes and one stream in the Show Low and Pinetop-Lakeside areas in order to make up for angling opportunities lost due to the Wallow Fire.

AGFD plans to stock a variety of areas, including:

 - more than 7,000 rainbow trout Scott Reservoir and Show Low Lake:

  - more than 9,000 rainbows in Fool Hollow Lake

 - Silver Creek will begin receiving more than 3,800 catchable-sized Apache trout weekly through much of the summer.

source: Arizona Game and Fish Department