North Platte WU
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chapter banquet The 2004 North Platte Walleyes Unlimited Banquet is set for March 20th at the Holiday Inn. Doors open at 5 p.m. Guest speaker at 6 p.m. is Ron Gazvoda, PWT, RCL Pro Fisherman. Dinner at 7 p.m. will be all-you-can-eat walleye. Live auction begins at 7:45 p.m. Lots of great prizes. Ticket are $25 per person. Only 250 tickets available. Call 307-472-9887 for tickets. Alcova, Kids fishing January, 2004 Call for photos, reports December, 2003 Ice fishing info November, 2003 Pathfinder autumn eyes |
(Read carefully)
The next meeting will be held at the Sandbar Lounge, corner of Ash and Yellowstone; "Wednesday" February 4th at 7:00 PM. John Green will be giving a presentation on fishing with Crankbaits. Banquet tickets will be handed out.
ALCOVA EYES:
Bruce Parker has been asking me for months to write an article on Alcova Walleyes for the newsletter. So here we go...
I am going to start out by talking about catch and release. First the best or most prolific spawners are 4 to 8 pounds. These walleyes are in their prime. So obviously these are the most important fish to release. One thing you have to consider is that most lakes in Wyoming rely on the spawn to replenish the fish in the lake. So, if we want to keep the great fishing we have, catch and release is important. Alcova has one of the poorest spawns. Personally, I let 90% of the Alcova walleyes go.
OK, enough of that! The first thing about Alcova is that there is structure all over the lake. So walleyes can be anywhere. And you know what they say about reservoir walleyes, they move a lot. So you have to move with them. From my experience, usually if there are fish to be caught in a particular area and he or she is hungry they'll bite. If not, you need to move. There is someone hungry somewhere. I like to fish edges whether it's a 5 to 10 foot edge close to shore, or an edge where sand and rock meet.
In the spring and fall I like to use a jig and minnow. As summer moves in, I go to harnesses and fish slow along the windswept shores. When this slows down, I like to go to fishing crank baits in the same areas. Some of my best luck on Alcova is during some pretty strong winds.
So, give some of these tips a try. Good luck and don't forget "catch and release"! -- John Green, NPWU secretary
ICE OUTING:
The NPWU get-together at Boysen was a "HUGE" success. OK, maybe not huge success but the chili was hot and the hotdogs hit the spot. Several of us showed up just south of the Tough Creek Penninsula in typical Boysen sub-zero weather. The fellowship was great, however the fish did not cooperate. I must take the blame because I picked an area that would be easy to find instead of an area where I felt the fish would be biting. If we do this as a formal event next winter, I will supply a phone number for folks to call within a week of the event so we can get a location where the chances of catching fish are better. Oh well, guess a lesson learned!
KIDS AND FISHING:
From time to time, I have listened to various medias regarding how to make kids grow up to have the same love for fishing that most of us have. One professional fisherman suggested, "Once a youngster has been exposed to fishing, leave him/her home once in a while to fire the hunger." Well, I don't know about that, but I have learned a few things regarding my two boys.
Younger kids have short attention spans. If you want to turn a youngster "off" to fishing, take him/her out in the boat and fish from dawn till dusk on a cold miserable day. Kids want to catch fish and they want to enjoy the experience.
It doesn't matter what species of fish you target as long as the kids are catching fish at a fairly fast rate. Make sure other interesting play opportunities are present when they tire of catching fish. In other words, if they start getting bored or fidgety, find something else to do. As children grow older and their sense of "patience" begins to develop, they will be able to tolerate longer fishing periods, less action and more adverse weather conditions.
Use the opportunity to teach kids about the natural way of things. Talk about the wildlife present, how things interact to make natural systems work, etc., etc… You will find that you can't instill a love for fishing without instilling a love for the great outdoors at the same time.
This is also one of those times when parent/child talks about "life in general" are remembered as being extra special. Use the time to strengthen bonds that will be so important later in life. If we do things right, our children will take their children fishing and make that experience as special for them as it has been for us.
With the above philosophies in mind, I recently took my nine year old son (Aaron) ice fishing. Anticipating that the fishing would be somewhat slow, I told him to invite his buddy "Xain" (pronounced Zane) along to play with. Xain is also nine years old and the product of a broken family. When we got to Boysen, I found a spot where someone had built an igloo on the ice. What could be more ideal?
As anticipated, fishing was fairly slow that day, and when the kids weren't chasing flags, they played on their sleds, and had an absolute ball playing in and on the igloo. Both boys caught fish that day, but for Xain it was extra special because he caught his very first fish, an 18 inch sauger. Xain has been to the house several times since then. That special day, on the ice, comes up often in conversation and is recognizably burned deep into two young memories. -- Bruce Parker
NEWS FLASH:
The 2004 North Platte Walleyes Unlimited (NPWU) banquet is set for March 20th at the Holiday Inn in Casper.
Doors open at 5:00 pm.
Guest speaker at 6:00 pm -- Ron Gazvoda, PWT, RCL, Professional.
Dinner at 7:00 pm (ALL YOU CAN EAT WALLEYE)
Live Auction at 7:45: Lots of great prizes.
Tickets are $25.00 per person. (250 tickets available)
Call (307) 472-9887 for tickets; (don't miss it) -- Billy Brenton, NPWU president
FISHING REPORTS:
Based on what I have heard, the ice has thickened but fishing is sluggish everywhere.
Tight Lines -- Bruce