Casting for a winner

Courtesy photo Bernard Donnelly holds up his Hall of Fame Trophy Catch largemouth bass he caught in Columbia County. It's 13 inches long, weighs 17 pounds, one ounce. Anglers must tell Freshwater Fisheries coordinators where they caught their bass, details of the Ôhoney hole' will not released.

published: Wednesday, December 05, 2012

By CHRISTOPHER TUFFLEY

christopher.tuffley@newssun.com

SEBRING -- Florida anglers should prepare for a challenge, and they have their work cut for them.

According to sdfish.com, in 1932 George Perry landed the largest largemouth bass in the United States, while fishing in Georgia -- a 22-pound, 4-ounce monster. That record still stands.

Florida's record fish weighed 20 pounds, 1 ounce. Caught by Fritz Frielbel at Big Fish Lake in 1923, it stood as the country's record until Perry came along. It is still is the state's largest documented catch.

In October 2012, the Freshwater Fisheries division of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission initiated its Trophy Catch Program aiming to lure anglers onto the water. The program has several goals: To break Perry's record, promote Florida's bass fishing and tourism, encourage conservation through catch-and-release fishing, and exciting younger generations to take up the sport.

Trophy Catch also adds vital information about the largemouth bass itself.

"It's really neat program," said Bill Pouder, administrator of Freshwater Fisheries in the FWC southeast region. "It's basically a program with incentives to get anglers out looking for fish 8 pounds and over. Part of the Black Bass Management Plan, the goal is to ensure Florida is the undisputed 'Bass Fishing Capital in the World.'

"There is a biological component," Pouder added. "Traditional, standardized samples do not pull in the bigger fish. But big fish are a good sign of a healthy lake, showing the right balance of water quality and vegetation. With this program, we can track which lakes produce the best and most fish. That way we can better manage fisheries in the future."

The rules of the game are straightforward.

First and most important, Pouder said, "the program is strictly catch and release."

Pre-register at www.worldfishingnetwork.com/florida/trophy-catch. Scroll down to the clearly marked icons.

There is no registration fee. Get a fishing license, go out and start flipping. Submit entries and that's it.

Bass fall into one of three size tiers called clubs. The lunker club bass are from 8 to 9.99 pounds; the trophy club from 10 to 12.99 pounds; 13 pounds or greater belong in the Hall of Fame.

To document lunkers and trophy fish the bass must be photographed on a scale with the weight readable, and photographed on a measuring board or alongside a ruler. The entire fish must be visible. Lunkers and trophy fish may be caught year round.

Rules for the Hall of Fame are stricter. Their weight and size must be documented by the FWC, so must be held -- alive -- until a coordinator arrives with a certified scale. Call (855) 358-7674 and a coordinator will arrive as quickly as possible.

Submissions of bass over 13 pounds may only be made from Oct. 1 thorough April 31. That is because summer is a stressful time for the fish. Any bass submitted outside those dates will be treated as the smaller class.

Anglers receive incentives, which rise in value with the size of the fish. They range from gift cards to tackle and more. Pouder said as more business partners sign onto the program the prizes will change, or become even more generous.

Everyone pre-registered is eligible for an end-of-the-year grand prize drawing of a bass boat, motor and trailer. Because the program began in October, the drawing occurs in 2013.

The entire state is taking part in the Trophy Catch program. Bass from any Florida lake are eligible. The Highlands County Tourism Development Council provided a grant for advertising costs outside the county.

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Rigged eel-skin plugs always a winner for striped <b>bass</b>

There are probably as many methods of fishing for striped bass as there are striped bass anglers. Everybody does it a little differently.

For some, it's a big swimmer or nothing. Some cannot get enough of tossing lightly weighted soft plastic shad. The proponents of putting chunks of fresh bait on the bottom are devoted to that system. Tube and worm trollers have an almost religious fervor for that method, while sand worm drifters are another band of true believers.

When it comes to fishing for big bass, it's whatever floats your dinghy (and puts that trophy on your wall).

But if there is one sure-fire technique for hooking striped bass that gets almost unanimous agreement from all segments of the fishing population, it is probably the rigged eel-skin plug.

The trouble is eel-skin plugs, despite their deadly day or night effectiveness on bass, are sparingly used by anglers. Why? Probably because they require quite a bit of preparation before they are ready to load into a surf bag. The idea of getting the skin off of a live eel and onto a lipped plug can be daunting.

But as Jimmy Orifice demonstrated to the assembled members of the Westport Striped Bass Club last week, once the work is done, eel-skin plug fishing is no more of a hassle than tossing a six-inch Danny straight out of the box. Once rigged, a few eel-skin plugs can last at least an entire fishing season and in some cases for multiple seasons as long as they are carefully stored between outings.

I won't attempt to give a step-by-step account of Jimmy's demonstration here; for that, you can go see Jimmy in person or there are several excellent illustrated tutorials on the Internet. One of the better, we found, was by our own Lordship Lure Company (www.lordshiplures.com).

The first requirement for making a rigged eel plug is, not surprisingly, obtaining an eel, and plenty of the slimy wrigglers converge on this area. Jimmy caught his the previous night in the Housatonic River in Shelton, but Southport Harbor or Saugatuck River in Westport are "loaded," Jimmy said. Although they can be caught on a fishing line, an eel trap (available at any tackle shop) baited with just about anything that smells is Jimmy's choice. It is important to retrieve the trap in the early morning; eels are not dumb, and after a while, they figure out how to escape. The eels are killed by putting them in a bucket filled with a solution of water and kosher salt.

Getting the skin off the eel is perhaps the trickiest part of the entire process. The skin is sliced all the way around the base of the head with a razor or very sharp knife. The skin is peeled down like a wet sock using pliers and some muscle. When done, you have an inside-out skin, which is then slipped over the plug of your choice. Jimmy highly recommends the Atom 40 or Junior Atom, depending on the size of the eel. The skin is secured to the plug with either wire, waxed line or -- Jimmy's choice -- simple rubber bands. Treble hooks are attached and the plug is ready to cast. Between fishing trips, eel plugs must be stored in the refrigerator or a cool place in jars or sealed plastic bags filled with more kosher salt.

Fishing the eel-skin plug is the easiest part of the process. Just cast it out and reel back in very slowly. Stripers cannot resist the plug's sensuous undulations.

Get ready for some jarring strikes.

cwalsh@ctpost.com

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