Appreciation: The Captain’s Column (5.1.14)
By angelamontana

Posted: May 1, 2014

In my column last week I addressed the importance of being prepared to adapt to a changing conditions when fishing area lakes in Montana, if the fish are not biting. You can do something as subtle as vary your trolling speed faster or slower by point 3 miles per hour for example. If you are interested in gathering more information on how to catch fish and you want to hear from some real experts then plan on being at Bretz RV and Marine in Missoula this Saturday May 3rd. “Our customers love the outdoors so we recruit fishing experts to do free fishing seminars once a year for them,” said Mark Bretz the owner of the dealership. It is all part of Bretz’s annual customer appreciation day.

This year Saturday gets going with a 9:30am seminar from Montana Walleye Circuit angler Bob Hickey. Jason Mundell and Hickey teamed up to win the 2013 Montana Walleye Tournament Circuit team of the year. “This year I want to give folks some tips on tactics that we use on the water to put more fish in the boat”, said Hickey. Every year Hickey tells me that he learns a few more tricks and during his seminar he loves passing those effective fishing techniques along to folks who just want to catch more fish.

The “Macman” Dick Zimmer from Zimmer’s Tackle will be conducting a fishing seminar at 12:30pm that not only will give you information on how to catch fish but also he will demonstrate how to prepare your catch for the dining table. “A lot of folks have indicated to me that they don’t know how to fillet a fish or prepare a fish after they catch it to eat”, added Zimmer, “so I have put together a short demonstration on how to do just that”. In addition to preparing fish to eat Zimmer will also give you pointers on how to catch perch on Flathead Lake, techniques on how to catch kokanee salmon out of Lake Mary Ronan and what to use, how to fish lake trout in the summertime on Flathead Lake including some of his hotspots. Zimmer will also reveal his new favorite lake to fish.

Then the popular father son team from Kit’s Tackle are on at 2pm. Kit and Trevor are always fun and informative to listen to as they pass on their latest fishing adventures while they jigg the dream for monster trout and walleye . Last year Trevor teamed up with Kris Keller of Wolf Point to win the Hell Creek Walleye tournament on Fort Reservoir, of course the Johnson’s won the Canyon Ferry Walleye festival in 2012. “We have some interesting new jigs that we think will be gangbusters this summer,” said Trevor whose main business is manufacturing jigs that are sold all across the state, including Bob Wards of Missoula. In January, I had the opportunity to fish with Trevor and Kit on Hauser Reservoir, not only do they know their way around the water, but they make a great tortilla soup too!

So if you love to fish then make plans to be at Bretz in Missoula this Saturday. You will learn how to catch and prepare fish in the great outdoors and the best part, it’s all free.

(Written by the Captain)

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