Long Beach Marina Sport Fishing

#1- Angelfish
These are triangular shaped fish, which are usually silver in color with black stripes. However, golden, yellow, plain silver and brown colored angel fish are also available. The most beautiful are the:
•Koi Angelfish
•Marble Angelfish
•Gold Pearlscale
•Sunset Blushing Veil Angelfish
These fish can recognize their owner and are known for being intelligent. Costs range from US $10.00 – $80.00, depending on the rarity of the species. The Albino ones are more expensive.

#2- Barbs
Barbs are semi aggressive in nature when left alone, and must always be kept in a group of 6 – 8 fish of the same species. These fish come in a huge variety of colors, are very small, and look very pretty. Here are the popular subspecies:
•Cherry Barb
•Rosy Barb
•Tiger Barb
•Green Tiger Barb
•Hexazon Barb
•Denison Barb
•Gold Barb
•Snakeskin Barb
The Denison barb is by far the most expensive, and can cost up to US $35.00 for each fish. While the rest of the subspecies cost anywhere between US $2.00 – $7.00 only.

#3- Corydoras Catfish Read the rest of this entry »

► Alligator Gars are very slow in growth. Males are ready to breed at 6 years of age and females at 11 years. Not much is known about their breeding and reproductive cycles. The female must release the eggs for them to be fertilized by the male and then the eggs sink and stick to the bottom of a water body. Eggs are bright red in color and are unsafe for human consumption. Eggs must hatch in river floodplains, so that the young are protected from predators.

 
► The silent and deadly analogy seems apt for these aquatic predators. Their mode of attack is lie still and wait, then rush up or ambush their prey, catching them in a sideways grip by lashing their huge heads from side to side. Alligator Gars have been observed, lying dead still on the surface of the water, looking like pieces of driftwood, waiting patiently for a tasty unaware morsel to swim by.

 
► Though their primary prey is fish, they can eat waterfowl and small birds, turtles, small mammals and even scavenge on dead marine animals. Species like blue crabs are favorites of the backwater type of Alligator Gars. Few predators are willing to take on such a big, tough and mean foe. Young ones are relatively easy targets but once they reach maturity, the only enemy for the Alligator Gar is an American alligator.

Perhaps the deadliest enemy of the Alligator Gar is man. In spite of their fearsome size and behavior, there have been no documented attacks of an Alligator Gar on men. But man’s industrial activities, like building dams and dredging have nearly destroyed the natural habitat of these freshwater dwellers. Plus Alligator Gar fishing is a very competitive and popular sport and its flesh is considered a delicacy, so the species population is severely depleted. Alligator Gars can be kept as pets in an aquarium but their large size and eating habits make them difficult to look after. In summation, this aquatic species is a rare and magnificent specimen of nature and should be treated with respect.

There are many leader formulas to be found in the fly-fishing community, and the following is one that was given to me by my friend Mr. Ramón Aranguren, a past Argentinean fly-casting champion. I have used this leader formula over the years, and it has also worked well for many of my fly fishing associates. This leader has a long stiff butt section that will turn over those big bushy dry flies, weighted nymphs, steelhead flies, and will help you to drive a fly into the wind. I call it the 60/40 and here are a couple formula variations of it for different fly-fishing situations.

First, take a piece of notebook paper and draw an 8-inch line. This will be used for writing down your marks and figures for the layout of the 60/40 tapered fly-leader and should be saved for future reference. Starting from left to right at the 5″ point or about 60 %, make a short vertical line that is above and below line. Therefore, everything to the left of this vertical line will be the butt section or 60 percent and everything to the right of the vertical line will be the tippet section or 40 percent of the 8″ line.

Lets say you want to make a 9 ft. leader or 108″: Take 60 % of 108 and you get about 65″, that is how long the butt section will be, so write 65″ above the 8″ line and left of the vertical line on the paper. The butt section will consist of two sections. Take 60 % of 65″ and you get 39″; this is the length of the first butt section, which will be, .019″ diameter leader material. Make a short vertical line below the 8″ line to separate these two sections. The second section is 65 minus 39 or 26″ of, .018″ diameter leader material. Write down these figures under the line on your paper for the 1st and 2nd butt sections.

The tippet section is also broken down into the 60/40 formulas: Subtract 65 from 108 and you get 43″. This is the tippet section; so write 43 above the line on the right side of the vertical mark on your paper; this is 40 % of the line. Now take 60 % of 43 and you get approximately 27″, which is the length of the first section of the tippet section. Mark this with a short vertical line below the 8″ line. The first section will be divided into three 9″ pieces of leader material .015″ diameter, .014″ diameter and .012″ diameter. Write in these figures under the 8″ line for reference. The second section is the tippet, which will be 17″ of .010″ diameter Write these figures under the 8″ line. If needed, you can add extra length to the tippet, or tie on an additional 20″ of a smaller size tippet if so desired.

Hunting is one of the most primitive human activities. There is something like a primordial appeal in the hunting experience. When you learn to hunt, you rediscover the survival instincts which you forget in the civilized world. In times of our caveman ancestors, life was simple. Eat or be eaten. Hunt or be hunted! Hunting is all about getting back in touch with our wild side! So let me give you some hog hunting tips and help you in going for the kill.

Know Thy Quarry
Every hunter must first know his quarry, very well. You need to know the preferred habitat and appearance of wild hogs and you should be able to trail them. Learn to read hog trails through signs like hog wallows and rooting. Accompanying experienced hunters on trips can give you hands on experience and confidence to go on your own. Knowing the anatomy of your quarry and the ‘kill zone’ of the animal is very important. That way when you shoot it, the animal suffers less and gets a quick silent death. Getting the animal with the first shot is also better for your own safety. That brings us to the next important point, which is choice of gun for hog hunting.

Choose a Gun that Carries Power and Speed
The recommended choice of hunting gear by most wild hog hunters is the Winchester 0.243, which is quite a versatile gun when it comes to hunting or a hand gun like 0.44 Magnum. It goes without saying, that you must practice using the gun, before you go in for the real thing. Your shooting skill will distinguish you ultimately, as a good hunter. The ammunition should be such that it should have enough stopping power as well as penetrating power. Hollow tip or hard flat tip bullets are the best choices.

To Track a Hog, Hire a Hound!
Hunting dogs make for great trackers, when it comes to hog hunting. The Mountain Cur, Blackmouth, Catahoula, Dogo and Walker are some of the dog breeds that can be excellent tracker hounds, when it comes to hog hunting. Amateur hunters should take help of trained dogs as they make tracking easier.

•Perch fishes generally swim at the bottom of a freshwater body. Hence bottom of a river can be a great spot to fish for them if you really have excellent angling skills to go about doing this task.
•If you can prepare the perch baits in minnows, cut the heads and tails of the minnows and feed them to the perch. They will dole out to be a great bite for them.
•Big size perch fishes swim in dense waters, whereas ones which are small sized swim in shallow waters. So once you have prepared the bait, depending on the location you are situated at, dip your bait deep down into the bottom of the water or let it remain floating on the surface.
•Today many anglers have advanced equipment and make use of electronics like GPS systems and sonar systems to check the spots for perch fishes beneath the thick ice layers. Some people have even come up with their own techniques of using underwater cameras for perch fishing.
•Perch fishes are very aggressive and finicky when it comes to eating habits and hence they take a while to adjust towards eating the bait that has been offered. The best way to know when they calm down is to be patient and observant till you are rewarded with a big meal on your hook for which you will feel happy about.
•Another tip to share regarding perch fishing is to at least carry more than 2 sets of fishing rods equipped with different lures. Make sure one of the rod is a plain hook and has some weight attached to it. This method is called jigging, wherein, one of the rod is used to bring the perch close to the bait and the other rod attached with minnow as a bait is used to distract the fussy and picky fishes around.
•Under the subject of yellow perch ice fishing tips, make sure you utilize hooks which have a sharp needle-like appearance. It is important because when the perches bite the bait they can easily get nicked to the hooks only because they are sharp and pointed.
•Another technique you can implement is to drill holes in the layer of ice but in a zig-zag pattern. This will give you more space and time to fish for the school of perches instead of sitting around one drilled hole and waiting for those shy creatures to angle your lure.