I only used this name because the first day I had the Cuda 5.25” Titanium Bonded Mini-Snips on the boat, the first thing they were used for was to decapitate a sea lamprey that came aboard on one of the fish we caught. Also, I called them lamprey cutters because the long name given this tool by Cuda seemed a bit cumbersome.
When I first saw the cutters, using them to cut monofilament or fluorocarbon line didn’t pop into my head, either. What I thought of was that they’d make a perfect tool to snip the gills in the fish I planned to keep just after I caught them so the fish would bleed out as it died. Fish treated that way taste better in the long run, partly because they don’t have any blood coagulating in the meat and partly because the fish don’t have to be rinsed as thoroughly after being filleted. Bleeding the fish also makes clean-up at the fish cleaning station much easier.
A pair of sturdy scissors is often the tool of choice for me and other anglers to cut through the gills but it takes a pretty hard squeeze to make the snip with most scissors. Notice how on the “lamprey cutters” the handles are large-hand-sized and the blades on cutters are relatively short. That delivers more power with less grip-strength needed. In use, (whether on the gills of a walleye, salmon or when beheading a lamprey) and easy squeeze does the job.
They also do a perfect job of cutting mono and fluorocarbon line (and do a pretty good job cutting braid, as well.)
All the Cuda-brand tools I’ve ever used were well built and so are these. Cuda says the stainless steel parts of the tool are titanium bonded with zirconium blades. That means they are tough and sharp and will stay that way through many lamprey beheadings, gill clippings and years of cutting fishing line.
Cuda’s 5.25 Mini-Snips are widely available in retailers’ fishing tools sections, at online sellers or direct from Cuda at www.cudabrand.com.
Other than when I’m ice fishing in extreme conditions, when I’m fishing I always have a long sleeve shirt or hoody made of what has become known as performance cloth as my base layer – or only layer. In the summer, these shirts keep me cooler than if I were wearing a short sleeve shirt and give me 50 UPF sun protection against UV radiation. In the earliest part of thefishing season and late fall fishing, these same shirts are a part of my layering system that allows me to add or subtract coats, vests or jackets as the conditions change from morning chill to midday levels. It all has to do with the moisture and water vapor wicking properties of performance cloth.
Basically, the fibers of performance cloth is woven from is made of some sort of plastic. The HUK Waypoint shirts I own are actually made from recycled water bottles. Others, like the Apex Vert ICON are made from other forms of plastic, but the fact the base material is poly-something or other means it can’t get wet. Each thread can get wet on the outside, but unlike cotton, woolor other blends of natural threads, the base materials won’t soak up wetness. Instead, because of the tight weave, when moisture is produced from perspiration or from the natural production of water vapor escaping from a person’s skin, none of that wetness is captured by the material. Instead, through capillary action, it’s pulled into the cloth next to the skin and wicked outward. In the summer, it evaporates, cooling the cloth and cooling the wearer better than just sweaty skin or wet tee-shirt material will do. In cold weather, as a base layer, it still wicks moisture away from the skin and passes the moisture on to the next layer – hopefully all the way through each layer, where it leaves the wearer warm and cozy inside.
I’ve had the Waypoint shirt for over a year and it’s still one of my favorites. This shirt looks and feels more cottony-soft and I like this, especially in the morning chill. Once the temperature climbs, the fabric still performs with moisture wicking and cooling effects. Many of these performance fabric shirts are slick-feeling, more like silk or satin than familiar feel of cotton.
Most of HUK’s performance shirts come emblazoned with the HUK logo on the front, back or sleeves. Some people don’t like wearing shirts with logos or emblems.If that’s you, take a look at HUK’s Waypoint line.
One of HUK’s newest versions of the performance cloth shirts is the Apex Vert ICON is an upgrade to their popular ICON shirt line. It is one of those “slick” feeling materials which I think enhances the “cooling” feel on hot summer days and the AVI has special panels on the sides and backs that accelerates the moisture-wicking and the cooling feel. I prefer the hoody versions of these shirts since it gives me more neck protection from the sun and eliminates the need for me to wear neck gaitors most days.
I used to shy away from “hunter” pattern camoshirts, but I now embrace the gray and blue shaded nautical camos. I’m not trying to hide from the fish, but I’m a sloppy angler. It’s not uncommon for meto end up with fish slime, fish blood and other stains by the end of a day onthe lake – stains that show up like a blood trail in new fallen snow on pastel, solid-colored fabric. I still get the stains, but I don’t look like a serial killer by the end of a fishing trip.
Both of these HUK performance shirt lines are available in both solid colors and camo versions. HUK performance wear is widely available at many retailers and online sources including Amazon.com. See all the choices or purchase directly at www.hukgear.com.
If there’s a perfect storage solution for trolling flies, I’ve not seen it. I’ve tried a few that come close, at least for certain sizes but where I fish, we start our season using “peanut” flies about an inch or so long, move up to two-inchers and by summer we are using full size flies for salmon and trout. Each size needs separate storage needs, it seems, to keep the leaders, hooks and flies themselves from coming out of the box as a giant-sized mess.
In the southern states, Texas-based Academy Sports is as big or bigger than Bass Pro/Cabela’s in the north and it’s moving north into the Great Lakes states. There’s one not far from where I live in Indiana and that’s where I spotted the H2OX Bait Locker. Sized to fit most tackle storage systems that accept 3700-sized StowAway boxes, the thing I picked up on quickly was the overall build of the locker. Compared to the basic Plano StowAway, the H2OX is made from a more rigid plastic, as you can see in the photo, it’s bright translucent blue and more importantly, the hinges and closure latches are solidly built with metal hinge pins.
Inside, it has removable dividers that can create 46 separate compartments inside the box roughly 1/1/4” X 2” X 2”, each compartment is perfect for tucking a one to two-inch fly, hook and leader. That’s plenty for my use since I only use about eight or ten basic patterns. If you need more, Academy does make a double–sided bait locker with similar dimensions inside but twice as thick.
If there’s not yet an Academy Sports store close to you, they do have an online ordering department that will ship straight to your home. Check out the H2OX Premium Bait Locker at www.academy.com and while you are there surf around on the site to take a look at their other products that make Academy Sports one of the fastest growing fishing and outdoor recreation equipment outlets in the USA.
If you ever watch a professional at work you’ll see that he or she usually has all the usual tools organized and close at hand. That goes for heart surgeons to electricians. The doctor probably has the scalpels, clamps and other tools arranged on a tray next to the operating table, the electrician often has a tool belt holding the screwdrivers, wire pliers and the needed tools for the job at hand.
It’s equally important for anglers to have the tools they will or might need close at hand and considering the excitement and uncertainty of fishing on the Great Lakes, it’s also important to not have pliers, lures, line snippers and other cluttering the working area. “Scotty” as in Scotty Downriggers understands this and has added a variety of products to their line of ‘riggers and rod holders to help with the clutter. Newest of these is the 452 Gear Caddy.
It’s an organizer that attaches solidly into tracks or Scotty rod holder mounts, or it can be fastened in a convenient location with mounting screws. It can be a permanent fixture or can be repositioned depending on the style of fishing happening.
It has three recessed cavities, one is obviously a cup or beverage container holder, the other two are rectangular to hold any number of necessities, from bug spray to scent products. Add to this is multiple slots to hold knives, pliers, screwdrivers and other tools, or use the slots as lure hangers to keep the lures probably going to be needed or the ones just pulled at bay to allow them to dry or at least stay in one place before they are stowed away in the tackle box. A part of the caddy is magnetized, a great place to temporarily set hooks or swivels and keep them from disappearing onto the floor or elsewhere until they are needed.
If you want to fish like a pro, be organized like a pro. Pick up a 452 Gear Caddy at retailers handling Scotty Downrigger products, at Amazon.com or at a variety or other online outlets. Check out the Gear Caddy and other Scotty products at http://www.scotty.com.
I don’t know how long ago metal trolling dodgers were invented, but it was long before salmon were introduced to the Great Lakes. With minor variations these relatively flat slabs of thin brass or steel all looked similar and were built with nearly identical proportions. A six-inch dodger was about two inches wide; an eight-inch long dodger was a bit less than three-inches wide.
That’s why I noticed several of the bright orange dodgers dangling on the rods being readied for action on the boat being preparing to launch just ahead of me. I don’t know if the word, “stubby” is what I thought, but I did notice the dodgers were out of proportion compared to every other dodger I’d ever seen. They were proportionately wider than any dodger I’d ever seen – roughly only twice as long as they were wide.
A few hours later I returned to the marina to find the angler with the “stubby” dodgers just finishing his chores at the fish cleaning station and the pile of fillets being packaged showed he’d had a successful trip. When I got home that day, the mailman had delivered my latest issue of Great Lakes Angler magazine and it was in this issue I noticed the advertisement posted by Gold Star for Stubby Dodgers.
Due to the time-zone difference between the Great Lakes and Washington state, I was able to call Kelly Morrison, owner of Silver Hoard Fishing Supplies (who makes Gold Star dodgers), to ask about them. Long story short, Morrison said their Stubbies had earned a solid following by West Coast salmon trollers and they were betting their advertising dollars they’d be a hit in the Great Lakes.
By the end of the week, I had some Stubby Dodgers on my boat and about three minutes after I’d slowed to trolling speed I had a coho thrashing on a trolling fly trailing 18-inches behind one of the Stubbies. About three minutes after coolering that coho, there was another coho on the same dodger and fly pulled under by a Dipsy Diver. If that wasn’t convincing enough, though it took about 10 minutes, the same set-up caught the third fish of the day – and that set-up continued being the “stud-rod” for the rest of the morning.
There’s no better lure for early season cohos in Southern Lake Michigan than a six-inch flame-red metal dodger trailing a half-sized tinsel fly. Most of these cohos are caught within a few feet of the surface, but the dodger fly set-up will continue to work as the surface warms and the fish seek deeper water. Often, once the fish start foraging 30 or more feet deep, many anglers move to eight-inch dodgers to provide more “flash” attractant.
This was the condition when I started fishing Stubby Dodgers. I think the Stubbies boosted the flash to attract the fish but still imparted the same snappy action to the fly as the six-inch regular dodgers. I’m sold! I haven’t had the chance to use them in the early spring when the fish are shallow, but I think these might be a solid choice on those gray-spring days when a bit of extra flash could be helpful.
If you only want to try a couple of them, stick to the 077 Flame color, but they are available in over a dozen traditional colors including one which is quite novel. For me, my second-favorite “coho” dodger color is chartreuse with fire dots. The Stubby does come in that pattern, but there’s also one that’s painted Flame on one side, chartreuse/fire-dot on the other.
There’s no reason a bland looking knife can’t be the best knife you’ve ever used. Whether the handle is black, white, or any color of the rainbow is about 99 times less important than how it fits the hand gripping it. Fillet knife blades are usually stainless steel and have either a bright, polished finish or perhaps a duller, brushed finish. Older fish cleaning knives I’ve used were high-carbon steel and sometimes had a blued look; but again, the color or finish of the blade takes a distant backseat to other factors like sharpness, shape, flex and length.
But recently, I have been using some “colorful cutters” when I show up at the fish cleaning table. They are all great knives. If they only looked cool but under-performed, they wouldn’t have “made the cut” and ended up on these pages. These knives do look great and more importantly, they do the job.
MERCER SPORT KNIVES
The first couple of knives I used late last summer sported a bright orange, textured non-slip handle with a comfortable feel when holding them. I used the 9” “regular” blade for large trout and salmon and found it to be perfect for this purpose. The blade was razor sharp and stayed that way fish after fish. I haven’t had to sharpen it yet, but I steel my fillet knives regularly when I’m using them – like after every couple three fish. Most of my knives only get sharpened on a whetstone or other abrasive sharpener once a season, or until I loan it out to someone who uses it until it gets dull.
The other Mercer knife I used was the Utility Slicer with the same exact handle and blade length. The difference is this blade is serrated which makes it a specialty knife for fish cleaning.
Several years ago I switched to electric knives when cleaning lake trout and walleyes because I’m a “cut through the rib bones” fillet maker. Once the fish is slabbed, step two is to remove the ribs by cutting just under them and lifting at the same time. I find that technique much easier, quicker and I get more of the “rib meat” doing it that way than to cut around the ribs when separating the meat from the bones.
Walleyes and lake trout have ribs that seem to be made from steel wires when trying to cut through them with a smooth bladed fillet knife. The electric knife snips them off effortlessly. So does the utility slicer. I make the first cut behind gills down to the backbone with a fillet knife, then switch to the Utility Slicer. The serrated blade acts like a saw and easily cuts through the wiry ribs, then I switch back to the fillet knife to finish the chore, removing the fillet down to the tail, removing the ribs and skinning the fillets.
I also use the Utility Slicer to make both lake trout and salmon steaks from larger fish. My wife and I think these bone-in, skin-on steaks have a better flavor than skinless, boneless fillets when grilled or in other recipes. In this case, I use the Utility Slicer to “saw” through the backbone with just a couple of strokes. Check them out at www.mercersport.com.
TRUE 7” SYK FILLET KNIFE
The handle of this seven-inch fillet knife is a pleasing, if not gaudy bright blue handle. It too has an easy-to-grip textured, well contoured handle. What makes this knife colorful is the avocado green blade – True says it was inspired by one of the colors on a yellowfin tuna. Other than in ceramic knives, I’ve never seen blades of this color. The color is actually a special corrosion preventing, micro-coating often used in firearms called Ceracote. Under the coating is hard, high-carbon stainless steel that will sharpen to a razor like edge. The hardness makes it a long lasting edge, as well.
Available in a 9” version, I found the seven-incher a good all-around size and I cleaned perch, coho, cisco and walleyes with it handily. It has a medium flex which I like better than a more flexible blade since I try to leave as much of the red-meat lateral line on the skin as possible when skinning trout and salmon. It also has a bit more sweep to the cutting edge which makes it easier to cut out the ribs whether cutting through them or cutting around them. Check them out at www.true.acgbrands.com/en-US.
Most anglers know they need to change their line on a regular basis and most fishermen know quality fishing line is expensive. The two things that can help cut those costs is to purchase line in bulk spools instead of reel-filler amounts and don’t remove all the line on each reel every time it’s time to swap it out.
Few anglers use all the line spooled on a reel. If that happens you probably need a bigger reel. That line at the bottom of the spool may not be as good as new, but since it is never subjected to the subtle degradation by UV light and it’s never brutalized by being stretched, cast and other normal wear and tear of just being used, why change it?
If you buy a bulk spool, how do you know when you have removed enough line? If you buy a 300 yard spool and you want to split it between two or three reels, how do you split it equally? The only way to do it with precision is to measure the line. There are tools to do this.
One of the tools is not a line-counter reel. LC reels only measure the number of revolutions the reel’s spool makes and the changing numbers on counter are approximations – at best! A revolution of a half empty spool will only hold a small amount of line compared to a nearly full spool.
One of the tools that will accurately measure the line spooling on or peeling off a reel is KastKing’s Kalibrate Line Spooler. (It’s designed to measure line being spooled on, but can easily be reversed to measure outgoing line.) There are a lot of moving parts on this tool allowing it to be used for spooling with both spinning reels as well as revolving spool reels and on rods from heavy trolling to light carbon-fiber models – but it’s not complicated.
There are lots of line spooling tools available. Before I got the Kalibrate, I normally used a screwdriver punched through the arbor of a spool of line and clamped between my knees. There are a few line-counter tools that clamp onto a rod as well but the ones I’ve tried ranged from horrible to barely okay at best, for both ease of use and accuracy. The Kalibrate is the only model I’ve found that does both things and does both of them well.
Fenwick rods have been around almost as long as I’ve been fishing. The rod company was founded in the 1950s and sold to a new owner about the time I graduated from high school. Fenwick quickly became one of the leading innovators that changed fishing rods basically from fiberglass sticks to high tech fishing tools demanded by the increasing numbers of competitive anglers.
They were the first company to produce an all-graphite rod and for a time Fenwick captured almost half the fishing rod market in the US and Canada. During that time, they branched into fly fishing rods, rods specialized for a variety of fish and even paired their rods with a line of reels that paired perfectly with some of their rods.
Pure Fishing added Fenwick to their stable of rod and reel brands like Abu Garcia, Shakespeare, Berkley and others some time ago and there are plenty of anglers who still look to Fenwick when they are shopping for a new rod. If it’s not broken, don’t fix it, seemed to be their marketing plan.
However, over time, rod technologies changed with rod makers producing new models using lighter, tougher, more specialized materials that better met the specialized needs of modern anglers. The rod engineers at Pure Fishing turned their attention to the Fenwick line and the result was a new line of rods at last summer’s ICAST show. I’ve had the chance to fish with both the casting rod and spinning rod models. Both performed flawlessly for me. I own a World Class spinning rod which I used for a variety of species and techniques, from dock fishing for sunfish with my grand daughter to deep jigging for ciscoes in Grand Traverse Bay. Walleye, bass and lake trout have also “volunteered” to help me evaluate this new rod.
It’s extremely light, but according to Fenwick their proprietary Powerlux 500 resin (whatever that is) makes them 30 percent stronger compared to similar rods produced by other companies. The cork handle on all of the rods I’ve used were flawless, there are quality guides and I’ve not had any issue with the reel seats not gripping the reel firmly.
Whether or not you are a long-time Fenwick fan, if you are a looking for a high-end, long-lasting rod which will match up or exceed the performance of any brand on the market, give these a look at a tackle shop near you. To see the entire line-up of Fenwick World Class Rods check them out at www.purefishing.com/fenwick.
When I’m at the ICAST show or in tackle emporiums when I’m on away-trips to “salty” destinations, I’m often looking at a variety of saltwater gear. That’s not because I fish saltwater often enough to warrant owning a full set of ocean-fishing gear. It’s because there is a lot of stuff designed to be used in the salt that plays quite nicely in the Great Lakes. That’s what I was doing at the salty-section of the Penn booth at last year’s ICAST.
What I found was a line of rods called the “Mariner III Boat Conventional.” The display started with short little brutes-pretty much what I consider to be saltwater “boat” rods – but at the end of the display was a 9-footer, rated medium (by saltwater standards) that caught my eye. Most of the saltwater boat captains I’ve been with would have viewed a 9-footer as a pole vault stick. As a Great Lakes captain, I viewed it as a diver rod. I hefted it, wobbled it, gauged the bend and pronounced it diver-worthy.
Let’s look at a few of the details in this rod. First off, the rod is made of graphite and fiberglass. An all fiberglass rod would be heavy with a slow action, but it would be as tough as a pole vault stick. But by engineering it with both glass and graphite, the rod’s weight is reduced, it’s action is faster and it’s still plenty tough. That’s important for a diver rod since when the diver is being trolled, there’s a constant heavy strain on the rod and when a fish strikes the rod has to go from heavy strain to extreme.
Penn has fitted this rod with their own one-piece stainless steel Dura-Guides. Dura-Guides eliminate the need to fuse a ceramic or other type of insert to protect the frame of each guide. The extra-hard stainless is plenty durable for years of use with mono, fluoro or braided lines.
The EVA Torque grips (another Penn exclusive) are substantial, plenty long to fit comfortably in any rod holder. The feature I’ve come to embrace is how the foregrip is triangular in cross section. That gives it a comfortable feel in hand and helps eliminate the rod from twisting when being gripped and the reel’s handle is being cranked.
Penn Mariner IIIs are mostly available at retailers who handle saltwater tackle but you’ll find them at Amazon.com or at www.purefishing.com as well as at other online outlets at surprisingly affordable prices.
For Great Lakes salmon, steelhead and trout, using affordable rods is certainly possible, but skimping on the reel you clamp onto that rod can be a heart braker – and that’s even more important for diver reels than those used for ‘riggers or planers. Most “affordable” (spelled C-H-E-A-P) reels can’t hold up to the constant strain of pulling a full-size or magnum diver into the depths and then be able to smoothly become a fish fighting machine when a big king or an energized steelhead is at the end of the string.
I could cut this review short by saying the Fathom II is up to both tasks. There’s more to it than that. I’ve never had a reel with a drag so sensitive. On too many reels, you can dial a drag to go from near zero to full strength in less than a half rotation of the star-wheel on the handle. That means if you need to loosen or tighten it just a bit, the star needs to only rotate a few degrees and especially, when in the middle of fighting a “big one” it’s easy to over-correct. Not so on the Fathom II. Backing off the reel from the setting I was using to near zero required 1 ½ revolutions of the star wheel.
I like to adjust my diver reels so the drag is just holding firm as we are trolling, then give it a tiny bit more so when the fish strikes, the diver will trip and the fish can make it’s initial run on a smooth, medium drag setting. Tighten it up halfway through the battle and a bit more as most of the line is regained and the fish is pulled close to the boat.
The handle is oversized, compared to most other reels and exceedingly comfortable to grip. With a full spool, one turn of the handle will crank on more than 30 inches of line. The clicker mechanism is solid, but not overly loud. The reel’s frame and housing is metal, not composite, so it looks, feels and is rock solid.
I spooled-up with mono for early season fishing, then switched to braid as the fish went deeper. In early summer, when the fish headed to the depths, I respooled with 19-strand wire and switched to magnum divers to put them down to or below the thermocline. With a solid season of using this reel on every trip and catching countless fish, it’s still delivering “out of the box” performance and I have no doubt I’ll be able to say that again next year (and the next, and the next….). Check out the Fathom II at www.pennfishing.com. They are available at many retail outlets and through many online outlets including Amazon.
FISHING TOYS 