Sportsmans News

Decisions, decisions, decisions; it seems like all we do is face decisions in life. To make matters worse, most folks don’t really like making decisions. And while some of them are trivial, many are not. In fact, some are downright important to your success in life, or at least your success in the outdoors. Come to think of it, life and the outdoors are pretty much the same for many of us.

Specifically speaking, successful angling is nothing more than a continuous series of good decisions, which when combined with physical execution, lead to catching. Poor decision-making leads to poor catching, which is equally true about poor execution. Since I’ve already written an SN column about successful execution and the practice there-of, let’s keep this one focused on the decision-making process. Continue Reading

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By Chad LaChance

What’s your goal for 2012’s angling season? What, you don’t have a fishing goal? New Year’s Eve has worn off and “The Ball” has dropped, yet you have no angling goals? Talk about dropping the ball!
I know, I know, it’s very cliché to be talking about goals for the brand new year, but somehow I can’t escape it. People are talking about all the great things they intend to do in the next 12 months and I’ve been sucked into the hype. I guess it’s okay really, because everyone’s doin’ it, and besides, there is certainly some validity to the concept of planning for positive change. Since I’m just a lowly fisherman, I’m going to stick to angling goals; we’ll leave the life changers to those with a higher purpose than just teaching people to fish. Continue Reading

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I’ve been doing my scouting, prepping my weapon, and sharpening my skinnin’ knife. I even made an appointment at the taxidermist. Now I just need to set up my blind…on the roof. Oh yea, I drew the elusive reindeer tag and word has it a dozen or so nice bucks are on the way!

OK, so I didn’t really draw a reindeer tag, and we won’t be stalking Santa’s crew, but the jolly fella is on the way so it’s time to do some shopping. If you’re reading this, chances are pretty good that you have a fisher-person or two on your list, so rather than talking smack about hunting antlered creatures of holiday lore, perhaps I ought to suggest a few things to help make your shopping a little easier on you, and Christmas morning a highlight for those on your list.

Personally, gift giving is all about the kids, so let’s start with them. The first thing I’m going to tell you is don’t buy them a two foot “snoopy pole”, which is exactly what lots of people do. After all, it’s cute, right? Well, yes, until you try to actually catch fish with one.  If you think I’m kidding, try to catch a trout in open water with your ice rod. Continue Reading

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By Chad La Chance

Admit it, at some point you were sitting on the couch watching some fishing show and thought, “ I could do a better job than that guy if I had my own show” or perhaps “Geez, that’s a gig I could get into!” I know this, because I used to think those thoughts all the time – even blurted them out to others in the room and discussed them over brews with my fishin’ buds. They all admitted to having the same thoughts at some point and I bet you have as well. It feels natural when watching someone else do what you love to do for fun, only they’re getting paid for it. Continue Reading

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By Chad La Chance

Quick, when you throw a party at your house, where does everyone hang out? When you go out on a date, where do you go before the movie?  Or, where is usually the most consistently crowded place at the mall? If you’re like most people, your answers would likely be the kitchen, the restaurant, and the food court respectively. And the obvious common denominator is food.

It’s no secret that food, water, and shelter are the building blocks of survival in the natural world and the analogy above references that concept as it relates to humans. That’s great and all, but this is a fishing column…what gives?

Well, in a nutshell, fall gives; as in gives fishermen fits a lot of the time. There’s an old adage about fish putting on the “feedbag” in preparation for winter, and they do, so they should be easy to catch, right? Yeppers, and they are…if you can find them. Continue Reading

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Despite what you may have heard, size does not always count…at least in fishing. Sometimes, little fish can be great. Sure, bigger is better in most cases, but for sheer giggles per hour (a barometer by which I often measure fishing trips), the little guys are hard to beat. Call it big fun with little fish and one of the best little fish for this concept is the brook trout. Continue Reading

Bass fishing is taking over the world! Well, maybe not the whole world but a major percentage of the American angling demographic, due in part to the boom in televised coverage of major bass derbies and the spectacle they have become. Rocket fast boats with Vegas paint jobs, two tons of high tech tackle, and flamboyant anglers chasing ever-increasing purses have built the sport of bass fishing into a big time show and anglers are taking notice. You may be one of them.

Before those pro’s made a living on The Tour, most began working their way up the bass fishing food chain in a common evolutionary process. It is the growth of a bass angler to go from ponds to lakes to giant impoundments in an endless search of more and bigger bass. In this, the second installment of a three part series, we will chronicle the slightly evolved Bassman. Continue Reading

By Chad LaChance

You’ve been watching too much Saturday morning TV. The constant bombardment of BASS pro’s blasting around the pond in their NASCAR-looking rocket boats yanking hawg after hawg, screaming and yelling and then cashing equally hawgish checks has finally gotten to your inner angler. Now it’s time to put down the trout gear and figure out what all the hype is about. You too could be the next hero of the bass wars. Continue Reading

By Chad LaChance

I have an admission to make; I don’t have a Facebook page. I’m barely LinkedIn to anyone and I’ve never Tweeted anything. Come to think of it, I don’t even like computers, and the time I spend working on one is the worst part of an otherwise great job I’ve created for myself. In fact, my favorite quote these days reads something like “calling social networking on the Internet socializing is like calling reality TV reality”. Don’t know who said it or where I heard it, but it’s a great concept that fits my beliefs to a T. Continue Reading

By Chad LaChance

Let’s get one thing straight – I’m no ice fisherman. Didn’t do it growing up; being raised in South Florida did nothing to motivate me to venture out on the frozen lake.  In Florida, ice is for cocktails and keeping your catch fresh until you can enjoy it with said cocktails. Sitting on a frozen lake peering through a six-inch hole, holding a ridiculous little rod and fishing with ridiculous little baits seemed…well, ridiculous. Surely it’s a pastime reserved for Eskimos, or so I thought.
Last winter I finally took the plunge – which leads me to my other misconception. I figured I’d fall through the ice for sure, or if not that, I’d slowly freeze to death waiting for a ridiculous little fish to bite my ridiculous little bait suspended on ridiculous little line spooled on a ridicu…you get the point.

Art Tang, client of Cats on the Red, with another great Lake Winnipeg Greenback.

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