George Van Zant on Outdoors: A new waterway menace

This is my chance to pass on some very important education to all my fellow fishermen.

In this week’s Weste Outdoor News, there was an article about the invasive Quagga mussel, making its way into Califoia’s lakes and waterways. The potential environmental problems that these critters can cause is covered thoroughly. This is a relatively new problem transferred from the faraway lands of Ukraine via interoceanic transport ships into the Saint Lawrence Seaway.

They are called Quagga and zebra mussels. The Department of Fish and Game has determined the best way to fight this invasion will be to prevent the spread of the invasive mussel by an inspection prior to launching of boats by the waterbody management at the destination.

Quagga and zebra mussels are a serious threat to our aquatic environment before and after water recreational use. These animals multiply rapidly to encrust watercraft and infrastructure. They compete for food with other species. These mussels can quickly spread from one body of water to another from infested water entrapped within the engine, bilges, live wells and buckets. Travelers are advised to be prepared at Califoia Department of Agriculture Border Protection Stations.

Inspections can include not only a check of boats, and persoel, but also trailers and all onboard on it. Contaminated vessels are subject to quarantine or impound.

Whenever you leave freshwater, take the following actions:

1. Remove the boat from the water and away from the launch ramp for vessel inspection and cleaning.

2. Thoroughly inspect all exposed surfaces on your vessel and trailer. If you find any mussels, scrape them off and kill them by crushing them. Dispose of the remains in the trash. Alert the Department of Fish and Game at 866-440-9530.

3. Remove all plants and mud from your boat, trailer, and all equipment. Dispose of all material in the trash.

4. Carefully feel your boat’s hull for any rough or gritty spots, which may be young mussels that have settled on your vessel and caot be seen. Microscopic Quagga/zaebra mussels will feel like sandpaper.

5. Away from the waterway, wash your boat’s hull, trailer, equipment, bilge, and any other exposed surfaces with high-pressure hot water. When possible, use water at a temperature of 140° F (60° C) at the hull – or about 155° (68° C) at the nozzle – which will kill the mussels. Dry the boat as much as possible.

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6. Drain all water from your boat (pull all plugs) and dry all areas, including the motor, motor cooling system, live wells, ballast tanks, bladders, bilges, and lower outboard units. Make sure that all life jackets, water skis or other items that have been in the water, including anchors, ropes, etc., are inspected, cleaned, and dried.

7. Empty and dry all buckets and dispose of all bait in trash receptacles before you leave. Do not take bait home, or leave it on the ground or dump it in any waterway.

8. Thoroughly clean all fishing and recreational equipment (fishing nets, etc).

9. Clean and dry personal belongings, clothing, and footwear that have come in contact with the water.

10. Wash, dry, and brush pets that have been in the water.

11. Keep your watercraft dry for at least five days in warm, dry weather and up to 30 days in cool, moist weather before launching into a freshwater.

With the Quagga dealt with, we now resume our weekly look at George’s 10 rules of being an ace fisherman.

Rule No. 8: Rods and Reels >> When the big Ma Moosa Tuna continue on their quest to break up your fishing stuff, there is no guarantee though that all hook-ups will be landed but you can deploy tactics that will increase the catch ratio.

That’s what this rule is all about. The newer hooks on the market are really doing the job (as previously mentioned). Ask any angler why they lose a hookup and most will say the same “It’s because of dull hooks that don’t penetrate correctly.”

That’s not really the reason but it actually continues to be a very good reason. Old-timers all confess the real reason for fish dropping off the hook is hooks that haven’t penetrated to the bend of the hook. The new breeds of hooks like the Gamagatsu, Owner, VMC, Eagle Claw etc. are sometimes chemically sharpened to further increase the sharpness of the hook point.

Hooks are built to use with particular baits. Worm hooks are stout shanked and longer shanked fly hooks are so skiy they actual flex. A number 16 fly hook stuck into a trout seems to take forever to land because you can’t put any pressure off the rod or reel without bending the hook to straight and losing the hook up. Conversely some of the larger tuna hooks are so strong it’s impossible to pull them out of hook up.

How do you land them? You land them with constant adjustable pressure by towing them back off the reels’ drag system that‘s controlled by adjusting constant pressure. When the hookup gets tired and stops ruing, pull him back as far as the last run distance and repeat the “pumping procedure” back and forth until he stops swimming. The use of the drag is all important.

Sometimes with light drags applied you can lose all your line as the fish are a lot bigger than you thought and you caot stop them. That usually happens when the fish being caught are in the 12-pound class and suddenly a 100-pounder swims by with your hook in his mouth. The only hope is to cut him off and save a $400 reel. Meantime it is all-important to keep the rod bent and always reeling like crazy to keep that slack out of the line keeping the drag continually tight. Most anglers back off the drag to zero as they wait until the next fishing trip.

Rule No. 9: Avoid contempt from fellow anglers >> Our SoCal fishing lakes are so crowded it’s easy to step on toes and also to fish from a boat that’s halfway out of the water and other distractions. If you want to fish the crowd of elbows-packed fishermen plan on either making new enemies or casting your bait out into the shoreline beyond the nearest sinker. Competition can be very stiff on the ocean too. The sport boat fleet can also be very possessive about their private fishing spots. If you head out and pass through the favorites, clearly you are asking for it. Keep going! The captains clearly are fishing one of their hot spots and all the recreational boats have to wait.

Rule No. 10: Tell us all about it >> I never knew a good fisherman who couldn’t prevaricate with great skill. Good anglers all have good stories to pass on to their listeners but may not be forthcoming with the correct details of where they had there success nor the techniques they used. Jed Welsh was the Guru of fishing tales.