How plastic shims can fine-tune your gun—and make you a better shot
The 98 cents’ worth of plastic shims that came with your new $1,800 semiauto might be the most important part of the whole shotgun. Stock shims let you fine-tune cast and drop to get a perfect fit—and make your new gun almost a part of you. This is a big deal. Before shims, altering a wood stock involved a gunsmith and real money, and changing the dimensions on synthetic stocks was pretty much impossible.
Now, many shotguns come with shims, including such affordable standards as the SuperNova pump and the Mossberg 930. No longer is the off-the-rack shotgun a one-size-fits-all proposition. That little bag of plastic shims can make you a much better shot, if you know how to use what’s inside.
Mount Up
The first thing to do with your shim kit is…nothing. Put it someplace where you will not lose it, and start with an honest appraisal of your gun mount. If you practice it on a regular basis and are already dialed in, you can skip this step. Otherwise—and here I am talking to the vast majority of you—listen up.
Your head is the rear sight of the shotgun, but think of it as a scope for a moment: There’s no point in sighting in a gun if the mounts and rings are loose and the scope wiggles. Likewise, if your head doesn’t meet the stock consistently, your point of impact will wander and gun fit becomes a moving target. You need to crank down the screws. With a real scope, you use a Torx wrench. With a shotgun, you practice your gun mount until the “sight” (your head) comes to the same place on the stock every time.
I’ve written ad nauseam about how to mount a shotgun correctly, but it really matters, so let’s review: Practice at home by first checking and then double-checking that your gun is unloaded. Pick a spot on an opposite wall, fix your eyes on it, and bring the gun up so that the muzzle points to the spot without your looking at the bead. Do this by pushing the muzzle toward the target while raising the stock smoothly to your face first, not your shoulder. Don’t crush your head into the stock, because you won’t do that in the field. If you practice this drill with a Mini Maglite AA in the muzzle, the beam will tell you if the gun is pointing where it’s supposed to. You can also check your work in a mirror. When you mount the gun on your reflection, you should see your eye centered over the rib. Do that for 10 to 15 minutes a night for a couple of weeks.
Drop shim shotgun illustration Robert L. PrinceCast shim shotgun illustration Robert L. Prince
Dial In
Once you are mounting your gun consistently, take it to the range and shoot “groups” with a tight choke while standing 16 yards from the target. Use paper, a steel pattern plate (no steel ammo with steel plates, though) if you have access to one, or a hanging bedsheet with a mark painted on it. Mount the gun, neither rushing nor aiming, and shoot at the mark. Don’t correct if you’re off target. You’re trying to shoot a good group, not hit the bull’s-eye.
If you hit the same place every time, you’re ready to consider shims. (If you don’t, keep on practicing your gun mount.) Look at the center of your group. If it’s on or less than 2 inches off the mark, you’re probably good (depending on where you want your point of aim to be; see below). Otherwise, for every 2 inches off, you need a 1⁄8-inch adjustment to the stock in the appropriate direction.
The shims go where the buttstock meets the receiver, so you’ll need a Phillips screwdriver to remove the pad, and a long flat-head screwdriver or extended socket wrench to take off the stock. (Some kits also include a plate that goes over the stock bolt after you put the stock back on.)
If you want the gun to shoot higher, use a shim that gives you less drop; in the case of Italian shims, it’s a lower number of millimeters. With U.S. shims, it’s usually something like +1/8. (Check the manual.) To lower your point of impact, which is the most common adjustment, use one with a greater number of millimeters or –1/8. Move the pattern right with cast off, left with cast on. Italian shims are marked D for destra (“right” for cast off) and S for sinistra (“left” for cast on, or “evil,” which is completely unfair to us left-handers). Repeat the pattern process and change out shims as necessary until you’re satisfied. When that’s done, I like to go to station 7 on the skeet field and shoot low-house outgoers with a low-gun start to be sure the gun hits where I’m looking.
Where you set your point of impact is up to you. Most hunters and many sporting-clays shooters prefer a gun that centers the pattern on the point of aim, giving a 50/50 pattern that prints half above and half below the aiming mark, and a sight picture that’s flat along the rib. Some upland hunters and target shooters prefer to “float” the bird over the barrel, and therefore like a gun that shoots a little high—about 55/45—and lets them see a little bit of rib. Trapshooters like guns that shoot 60/40 or even higher. However you prefer to shim your stock, you’ll have made it a perfect fit for you, and that’s time and 98 cents very well spent.
GEAR TIP: Beware the Floating Gun Case
Floating gun cases have become standard equipment among waterfowlers and many other hunters. They’re convenient and offer peace of mind should the boat swamp. But they have one huge drawback: They don’t breathe. If you put a damp waterfowl gun in a floating case after your hunt, it might be orange with rust by the time you get home a couple of hours later. It has happened to me. Take the time to wipe your gun down with an oiled cloth before you put it back in the case. By the way, the best method for drying the inside of a floating case is to stick it on a boot dryer.
Written by Phil Bourjaily for Field & Stream and legally licensed through the Matcha publisher network. Please direct all licensing questions to legal@getmatcha.com.
How to catch more walleyes, bass, pike, and muskies on spinner rigs and bucktails
Why do blades adorn so many different lures designed to catch so many different types of fish? Three reasons: flash, vibration, and sound. It doesn’t matter if it’s the tiny teardrop of a walleye spinner or the massive bangle on a muskie bucktail, blades of all shapes and sizes send thumping underwater signals that make big fish hit. All kinds of big fish. Spinnerbaits win bucketmouth tournaments and pull monster pike from northern bays. Bucktails catch more muskies than every other lure combined. Spinner rigs are the classic choice for trophy walleyes, and blade baits dupe the biggest smallies.
While blades work year-round, their ability to draw reaction strikes in the spring is unmatched. With northern lakes just past ice-out and southern ones yet to warm, lethargic fish can be incredibly difficult to catch. They need something to wake them up, get their attention—even piss them off a little. And nothing agitates big spring fish more than a vibrating, flashing, annoying piece of spinning metal. With so many ways to run so many different bladed lures, we asked four of the country’s top trophy-fish hunters to reveal their No. 1 spring blade tactic. Here are their secrets.
Northern Pike: Roll the Cabbage
Steve Scepaniak pike fishing guide Steve Scepaniak
The Expert: Steve Scepaniak, pike and muskie guide Home Base: Lake Mille Lacs, Wahkon, Minn. Contact:Predator Guide Service
Go-To Lure: Ruff Tackle Rad Dog Spinnerbait
Lake Mille Lacs is renowned for its toothy predators, and while longtime area guide Steve Scepaniak focuses mainly on the lake’s muskies in summer and fall, he turns his full attention to huge pike early in the season. “There’s no better time to score a giant than in the spring,” he says.
And there’s no better lure to catch them with than a big spinnerbait. “Of the 700 or 800 pike over 40 inches I’ve had in my boat, I’d say three-quarters of them have come on spinnerbaits.” For every one of those spring spinnerbait fish, the lure was allowed to sink in the water column for a few seconds before the retrieve. “This is the most important detail for catching pike now,” Scepaniak says. Other times of year, a fish may come up to grab a lure, but not in the spring. “Getting it down to them is the key.”
By now, pike are done spawning, but they haven’t left the shallows. “In April and May, large post-spawn females will hang in back bays before moving out as the water warms,” says Scepaniak, who starts targeting these fish when water temps are in the low 60s. “The first thing you have to do is find the cabbage,” he stresses. Keep your boat around 12 feet deep, and look for the vegetation in 4 to 6 feet of water. Almost any cabbage bed will hold at least some pike in the spring, for a couple of reasons. “First, the structure of cabbage provides optimal ambush sites for pike,” he explains. “Second, the broad leaves of cabbage produce lots of oxygen, which attracts zooplankton and phytoplankton, which attract baitfish, which then attract northerns.” Scepaniak works large spinnerbaits low and slow in the water column to ply the deeper cabbage leaves. “Run it just fast enough so that the blades are barely spinning—no faster,” he says. The lure only needs to give off a little vibration. “The pike will home in on that, and eat.”
Rough Tackle rad dog lure Ralph Smith
Pro Tip: Switch Blades
Scepaniak uses a number of commercially made spinnerbaits at this time of year, but every one of them, including his favorite Rad Dog, gets one mandatory alteration. “I switch out every blade on every spinnerbait to a No. 8 Colorado,” he says. “The immense vibration of that big round blade is essential to catching big pike.” Most pike and muskie spinnerbaits have a small split ring where the blade is attached, making it easy to change them out. “All it takes is some spare No. 8 Colorados and some split-ring pliers to get more vibration—and catch more fish.”
Muskies: Burn a Buck
Mike Hubert muskie fishing guide Mike Hubert
The Expert: Mike Hulbert, muskie guide Home Base: Lake St. Clair, Roseville, Mich. Contact:Mike Hulbert
Go-To Lure: Joe Bucher 700 Series Bucktail
Running bucktails for muskies often involves huge, double No. 10 Colorado blades. But not at this time of year, says Mike “MJ” Hulbert, who’s known for boating trophy muskies. “In spring, I throw small, weighted bucktails at stupid warp speed to get reaction strikes from fish that aren’t yet fired up,” he says.
Regardless of where you are, muskies will spawn in the weeks after ice-out in back bays and shallow flats—and that’s where they’ll stay for a while, recuperating in a lethargic post-spawn phase. “I try to pick them off before they head back out to open water,” Hulbert says. “I focus on rocks, riprap, and newly emergent green weeds in 3 to 6 feet of water.” Weather can be a huge factor too. “I’ll start targeting these fish when the water creeps into the 60s, but I also pay particular attention to warming trends, when the water may spike a few degrees,” he says. Southwest winds and rising humidity usually mean better action too.
No matter what the conditions, the real key lies in getting these torpid, zoned-out, post-spawn giants to wake up and react. That’s where burning small bucktails comes in—but there’s a trick. In order to achieve warp speeds while still keeping these relatively light baits under the surface, Hulbert puts some weight on. “No factory bucktail is heavy enough for this application,” he says. “If you’re a tinkerer, you can cut the shaft of the bucktail, slip on a 3⁄4-ounce egg sinker, and retwist.” If not, just attach a 3⁄4-ounce bell-shaped bass-casting sinker with a small split ring, placing it near the skirt where it won’t impede the blade action or hookup ratio.
Butchertail bladed lure Ralph Smith
As a side benefit, that extra weight greatly improves casting distance. Covering a ton of water is key to this tactic, so making bomb casts is a must. Or as Hulbert puts it: “The one who casts the farthest is the one who gets bit.”
Walleye fishing spinner bait with crawler Bill Lindner
Walleyes: Spin the Spawn
Ross Robertson walleye guide Ross Robertson
The Expert: Ross Robertson, walleye guide Home Base: Lake Erie, Toledo, Ohio Contact:Big Water Fishing
Go-To Lure: Silver Streak Crawler Harness
Lake Erie is synonymous with donkey walleyes, and no one is better at catching them than guide Ross Robertson. “In April and May, I’m buying nightcrawlers and fishing spinner rigs,” he says. “Crankbaits can smoke fish under certain conditions, but trolling a spinner rig gives me the versatility to catch fish all day during various stages of the spawn.” The spinner’s blades get a walleye’s attention, but even if that fish is finicky, the scent of live bait combined with a slow presentation often seals the deal. “The crawler is the closer,” says Robertson.
On big lakes, he targets walleyes that spawn near the main reefs. On smaller lakes and rivers, he keys on tributaries and smaller reef structures. In both areas, fish will trade to and from the spawning ground, and Robertson nabs them on the move. “I focus on the first transition to deeper water,” he says. “In this zone, fish can be anywhere from 12 to 40 feet deep, so it’s important to use your electronics to pinpoint fish.”
Walleyes are slow-moving now and often glued to the mud. “Spinner rigs can be trolled on or just off the bottom to reach them,” Robertson says. “The key is to make very subtle changes in boat speed to vary the depth and get your rig where the fish are.” Speeding up or slowing down even 0.1 mph can have a huge impact. “As a rule, 1 mph is a good place to hover,” he says. Then just add or subtract. But not too much: “At any speed lower than 0.7 mph, the blades stop spinning; faster than 1.4 mph, and the rig lifts too high off the bottom.” The trick is to find the sweet spot. You’ll know when you get it right, Robertson says, because you’ll start slamming walleyes.
Pro Tip: D.I.Y. Spinner Rig
For over-the-counter spinner rigs, Robertson likes the Silver Streak Crawler Harness, but for optimum success, he suggests that you take the time to make your own. “I start out with 20-pound Sunline fluorocarbon because it’s durable and stiff, which means fewer tangles, and because it runs better at slower speeds.” The most important element of the rig is a super-sharp hook, he says. “I go with a No. 2 Gamakatsu octopus for the front hook and a No. 8 round-bend Gamakatsu treble hook as the trailer.” For the hardware components, Robertson prefers Dutch Fork quick-change clevises and No. 5 Spro power swivels. “Finally, I get plenty of No. 5 and No. 6 Colorado blades and No. 8 Indiana blades in a large variety of colors and finishes so I’ve got plenty of options with my finished rigs.”
Bass fishing blade baits Lance Krueger
Bass: Be a Blade Runner
Dave Lefebre bass elite pro Russ Scalf
The Expert: Dave Lefebre, BASS Elite pro Home Base: Lake Erie, Erie, Pa. Contact:Dave Lefebre
Go-To Lure: Steel Shad Blade Bait
It’s not every day a BASS Elite angler shares his secrets, but longtime pro and Pennsylvania native Dave Lefebre told us that he’s been using blade baits in the early season on the sly for years—and that he’s zeroed in on a spring pattern that slams trophy bass during their spawning transition. Throughout most of the country, both largemouth and smallmouth bass are in some phase of the spawn in April and May, but their exact location and activity level varies. “You can’t pick a more complicated two months to fish,” says Lefebre. You need a versatile lure to score. “My go-to now is a Steel Shad blade bait in any natural baitfish color.”
When targeting smallmouths, he looks for steep breaks adjacent to spawning flats. “Any irregular features such as small points or humps will sweeten the spot.” Early in the spring, he pinpoints fish on these deeper structures with his graph, and then vertically jigs the bait right under the boat. As the spawn progresses, he moves up onto the spawning flats and makes long casts with the same bait to cover lots of water quickly. “I use a fast, straight-line retrieve to pull reaction strikes.”
Steel shad fishing lure Ralph Smith
For largemouths, Lefebre focuses on structure in 2 to 5 feet of water. “Old dead grass from the year before or new emergent grass will attract spawning fish,” he says. He starts with the deepest grass first, focusing on any irregularities. As the water warms, he again moves up and dissects the flats, looking for holes, sand, and grassbeds. His approach here is similar to that of working a bass jig. “I pitch the blade out to the target, let it fall to the bottom, snap it up a few times, and repeat,” he says. If the bait catches grass, give it a sharp pop to clear the hooks and continue your retrieve.
Bass are not actively feeding at this time of year, so the key is to goad them into striking. “Blades are the best reaction baits on the planet,” Lefebre says. Their ability to sink fast, produce high flash and vibration, and closely imitate a minnow are a proven combination for inactive fish. “You can fish a blade anytime of year, but it’s my deadliest bait in the spring.”
Pro Tip: Add and Subtract
Lefebre makes his blade baits even more effective on spring bass by making a pair of tweaks. First, he likes to introduce a little extra flash. “Models like the Steel Shad are available in a ton of different colors, but adding a bit of reflective tape is quick and easy—and it can make a huge difference,” he says. His second tweak is to remove the front hook. “This is the one that snags most frequently. For covering a lot of water around docks, logs, and vegetation, having only a back hook makes life easier, and it doesn’t seem to affect my hookup ratio.”
Written by Mark Modoski for Field & Stream and legally licensed through the Matcha publisher network. Please direct all licensing questions to legal@getmatcha.com.
The tips, gear, and hunting strategies you need to have your most successful and wildest turkey season ever
On the cutting edge of turkey hunting, the most obsessed gobbler fanatics are pushing the boundaries to be more successful and have more fun. Today’s trendsetters are toting crossbows and .410s, pressing their own mouth calls, tackling tough public birds by choice, busting birds on purpose, and generally doing whatever they can to make the madness of spring last a little longer. If you want in, these are the hot tactics, tricks, and gear you need to try.
Game Changer: Carry a .410
Yes, carrying a .410 to the turkey woods is now a thing. Guys do it to prove they’re good, and the successful ones can teach you a thing or two about getting super-close to gobblers.
Even with quality loads, a .410 shotgun forces you to get pretty tight to a tom. But a couple of springs ago, Realtree’s Phillip Culpepper took the small-bore trend to the extreme and set the online turkey crowd abuzz when he killed an Osceola longbeard on camera with a Taurus Judge .410 revolver. “Shooting at a pie plate, the pattern started getting sketchy at seven steps,” he says. “So I knew I’d have to get close.” For that, he used a specialized reaping tactic. All the usual open-field safety rules apply.
Beat It
Culpepper uses a Flextone Thunder Chicken, which is a compact reaper-style decoy. In addition to a real fan, he zip-ties dried turkey wings to the fake. They provide extra concealment—but they also allow Culpepper to employ another trick.
“Michael Waddell showed me this,” he says. “If you’re crawling in close but the gobbler’s not breaking, you can pop the decoy stake hard against the ground. It makes those wings beat against the decoy, and it sounds just like turkeys flogging in a fight. Do that while making a fighting purr, and it’ll drive him nuts.”
OnX Hunting App OnX Hunt
Get Ready
When the bird does break, Culpepper stakes the deke in front of him, sits back, and pokes the barrel through the tail fan or eases it over the top of a wing. “When a tom is locked in, he won’t notice that movement.”
Culpepper killed his Osceola at two steps. “I love to see how close I can get to them,” he says. That’s the whole appeal of the small-bore trend. “Still, I think I’ll leave the Judge home and go with a shotgun from now on.”
Trending: Breeder Hens
Decoy companies have been making “breeding pairs” for some 20 years. After all, if a jake decoy just standing there upsets old gob, then the sight of one on top of his girlfriend should really create issues. Problem is, those decoys have historically looked so fake that I doubt some manufacturers have ever witnessed a real round of turkey coitus.
Today’s top makers must be more voyeuristic because they are now making highly realistic breeder-hen decoys that can be used with or without a jake. Late in the season, I leave the jake home and add a breeder to several feeding and alert hen dekes. I position the breeder for my best shot. The other decoys help draw gobblers in from a distance, and when they finally spot that hen on her belly, they’ll strut right in to do God knows what. Be ready to shoot—or cover your eyes.
Game Changer: Go Public (On Purpose)
Believe it or not, some top gobbler killers hunt public land because it’s harder. On some pressured Tennessee public land that I hunt, the seasoned locals swear that all the gobblers wired to go to hen calls have been culled out of the flock. I’m not sure I believe that, but I know these toms are tough. Here’s how I’ve managed to bag a few.
– Brian Grossenbacher
Fools Rush In
Most public-land hunters hear a gobbler and rush to sit down, eager to make the first yelps and “claim” the bird for themselves. But pressured birds learn that a hen calling from one spot means trouble. Instead, I call occasionally while sneaking ever closer. You’ll bump some turkeys, but you’ll kill some too, if you still-hunt along at the speed of fungus. Use your binoculars to glass constantly for a fan. Don’t be afraid to make him gobble with aggressive yelps and cutts, but keep them infrequent. Be safe, of course. And never utter so much as a cluck without a setup tree and shooting lane in mind. know when to Shut Up
Once the turkey gobbles at you inside 50 or 60 yards, sit down and be quiet. Don’t bother with a decoy, and put your call in your pocket. The bird assumes that he’s about to see a hen walking to him, and when he doesn’t, he’ll get anxious. Don’t scratch in the leaves. Don’t cluck. Make him think his hen is gone. Keep watch with your gun on your shoulder, and if he quits gobbling, don’t move for a full 30 minutes. Odds are, he’ll sneak in silently before then.
Trending: D.I.Y. Mouth Calls
– Kerry B. Wix
“A serious flyfisherman doesn’t want to buy flies at Walmart. He wants to fool a trout with a fly he tied himself,” says Tennessee turkey nut Kerry B. Wix, who’s been pressing his own diaphragm calls for the past five seasons. Wix says the first yelper he ever made sounded awful. But the learning process has paid off.
– Robert Harding / Alamy
Virtually all mouth calls consist of just an aluminum frame, latex reeds, and tape. “The big differences in sound come from the call’s side and back tension, layering, and reed cuts,” Wix says. “Increasing side tension by a ten-thousandth of an inch can completely change the sound. Everyone blows a call a little differently, so finding your perfect combination of reed cut and stretch off the shelf is random. But when you’re making your own, you can tweak the numbers to get them just right, and then build your perfect call over and over again.”
Wix says that his calling improved dramatically once he learned to build his own calls. “I enjoy making them for myself and my hunting buddies,” he says. “When they choose my call to kill a gobbler—well, there’s a lot of satisfaction in that.”
Game Changer: Carry a Cross
If you’re one of the many hunters who’s jumped on the crossbow train recently, take it turkey hunting. A crossbow provides the point-blank thrill of bowhunting with the run-and-gun capability of shotgun hunting. And in some states with archery-only seasons, like Nebraska and Kansas, it’ll get you extra time in the woods too. I’ve killed a slew of gobblers with a crossbow. Here’s what I’ve learned.
– Kerry B. Wix
Set a Ruse
To kill a turkey with an arrow, you want the bird standing still inside 25 yards. Good decoys are the name of the game. I place a DSD 3/4 Strut Jake or Avian-X 1/2 Strut Jake 15 yards out and quartering to me. Then I stake a hen deke at 18 yards. Aggressive gobblers will walk past the hen and square off with the jake head-on, giving you a 12-yard shot. Passive birds that strut just beyond the hen are still easy pickings for a crossbow.
Rest Easy
When you fidget, the wide limbs of a crossbow will move enough to spook any turkey. A rest, like the Primos Trigger Stick Monopod, is essential for keeping comfortable and still while working a bird, and for 10-ringing a turkey’s small vital area.
Cut Big
I’ve killed a bunch of birds with fixed-blade broadheads, but I’ve come to prefer hybrid heads with a fixed bleeder blade and two big mechanical blades, like the Bloodsport Gravedigger or Muzzy Trocar HB. Even the slowest crossbows have the oomph to push those heads through a gobbler, and they open devastating holes.
Wild Tactic: Bust a Move
pack of pesky jakes Donald M. Jones
There are days, often late in the season, when we promise to spend the rest of the year becoming a better person if only we can get a shot at a turkey. A jake with a beard just long enough for the game warden to see would work fine. Problem is, jakes and even 2-year-old gobblers tend to bunch up late and can be surprisingly difficult to kill. Unless you bust them up first.
The key is to actually scatter them, not just spook them. You need individuals to fly away in multiple directions. I’ve had my best luck by getting within 100 yards of a flock and then running at them head-on. Yelling and cussing, a lot, seems to help.
Next, sit as close to the break site as you can and stake out a single jake decoy. Give the woods 10 minutes to settle down, and then make long, loud strings of jake yelps, kee-kee runs, and gobbles. And when that turkey is finally flopping at your feet, remember your promise about the rest of the year.
Written by Will Brantley for Field & Stream and legally licensed through the Matcha publisher network. Please direct all licensing questions to legal@getmatcha.com.
What effects will this have on Hunting and Fishing?
With the global economy grinding to a halt, numerous flights cancelled, and people staying at home, atmospheric scientists are paying close attention to satellites and industry data to see how the response to COVID-19 has impacted our planet.
It’s obviously a terrible situation, with more than 34,000 deaths worldwide at the time this story was published. And experts say that the real impact to climate change is what we take away from the pandemic—the choices we make in our recovery. It does, however, provide scientists some insight as to what happens to our atmosphere when our lifestyles and economy undergo major change. “It’s an unwanted atmospheric experiment,” says Helen Worden, an atmospheric scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR).
A few analyses have shown that emissions from China dropped in the weeks following the Chinese New Year, when the country was hit hard by the new coronavirus.
Lauri Myllyvirta, an analyst at the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air, looked at industry data to determine the country’s emissions. During that period, coal consumption dropped, oil refining slowed, and numerous flights were cancelled, among other impacts. Based on such industry information, he calculated in an analysis posted on Carbon Briefthat China’s carbon dioxide emissions were down by about a quarter from 2019 in the four weeks following the Chinese New Year.
Meanwhile, satellite data from the NASA OMI instrument showed that nitrogen dioxide was down by an average of 36 percent over China in the week after the Chinese New Year, Myllyvirta reported. Nitrogen dioxide irritates the respiratory system and contributes to asthma, and also reacts in the atmosphere to form ozone, another major pollutant.
In a report posted on the NCAR website, Worden describes her findings, based on observations from the NASA MOPITT instrument, which measures pollution in the lower atmosphere. After the Chinese New Year, the instrument measured drops in peak nitrogen dioxide up to 70 percent below levels recorded for the same period last year. For carbon monoxide, a pollutant that in high concentrations reduces the amount of oxygen entering the bloodstream, levels dropped as low as 30 to 45 percent from last year. The smaller decrease in CO is partly because the molecule lives longer in the atmosphere, so older carbon monoxide from before the crisis was already in the air during the measurements. Also, a lot of carbon monoxide also comes from residential wood-burning, which is used a lot in rural areas. “In nitrogen dioxide, we definitely see a lot less,” says Worden of her findings. “In carbon monoxide and aerosols, we see less over Beijing, Wuhan, and Shanghai. But then south of there, we actually see an increase because there were more wildfires this year in Southeast Asia.”
Worden adds that it’s important to keep in mind that the weather can affect how much pollution settles over an area, so further analysis is needed to tell how much of that decrease is due to the coronavirus response and how much is just variation in meteorology.
Now, as China is emerging from the virus-caused shutdown, emissions are starting to tick back up, notes Myllyvirta. “Just in the past few days or week, things have more or less returned to normal levels of pollution,” he says. “We might even be seeing a bit of rebound above those levels as factories make up for lost time.”
As the virus has spread across the world, other economies have also shut down, reducing fossil fuel consumption and carbon pollution. An analysis by the European Space Agency shows that nitrogen dioxide emissions over Italy are down. “Although there could be slight variations in the data due to cloud cover and changing weather, we are very confident that the reduction in concentrations that we can see, coincides with the lockdown in Italy causing less traffic and industrial activities,” said Claus Zehner, manager of the agency’s Copernicus Sentinel-5P satellite mission, in a statement.
Myllyvirta says the pollution drops in Europe aren’t as dramatic as those in China were, but they're still substantial. Electricity use in Italy is down by about 20 percent, and down by about 10 percent in Spain and France. “There’s definitely a notable reduction in urban air pollution levels,” he adds. “The biggest impact is on car transport … Traffic-related air pollution in northern Italy, France, and Spain is down quite a bit.”
Myllyvirta adds that during India’s first day on lockdown, pollution monitoring stations had their lowest nitrogen dioxide readings on record.
In New York, carbon monoxide levels were down by nearly 50 percent from the previous year, according to analysis by Columbia University scientists. This is likely due to a drop in traffic, as cars and trucks are the main source of carbon monoxide in the state. As the situation worsens across the country, air pollution and carbon dioxide will likely also decline from other urban areas.
But this short-term stall of our fossil-fuel burning society is just a small blip in our overwhelmingly upward trend in greenhouse gas emissions. If anything, the reduction in aerosols—fine particles that include soot from combustion—might even cause a tiny bit of warming this summer, an article on Weather Underground explains. While particulate matter is undeniably bad for our health, those aerosol particles in the atmosphere actually provide a slight cooling effect. (It’s likely any effect would be unremarkable and within the natural variation in climate, though).
What does matter, however, is what we do next. Economic downturns in general tend to lead to brief drops in emissions. During the 2008-2009 Great Recession, global carbon dioxide emissions went down by about two percent from previous years. But after that, we went straight back to polluting carbon, with global emissions growing in subsequent years. (Although that rate might now be slowing down a little.) After the downturn, Myllyvirta points out that China invested heavily in infrastructure as part of its stimulus, producing massive amounts of steel and cement—big sources of greenhouse gas emissions.
But economic growth and stimulus packages need not necessarily be tied to ramping up carbon pollution. Research by the Global Carbon Project team has shown that at least 18 countries have been able to grow their economies over the past decade while cutting back on greenhouse gas emissions. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 included provisions for what amounted to the largest clean energy bill in the United States’ history. In the decade that followed the recession, stimulus money helped renewables become affordable and rapidly increase their share of the market.
Now, as legislators worldwide work on rescue packages, the planet may hang in the balance. “Do you support industries that are viable and actually have a future?” says Myllyvirta. “Or do you support fossil fuel industries that were failing already before the crisis?”
Written by Ula Chrobak for Popular Science and legally licensed through the Matcha publisher network. Please direct all licensing questions to legal@getmatcha.com.
Cabin fever driving you crazy? Our early season fishing guide is here to help. These expert tips will help you catch more bass, trout, bluegills, crappies, catfish, walleyes, and more
Winter’s grip is loosening. You’re dying to fish. Unfortunately, those super-early-season bites can be the toughest to score thanks to cold, dirty water and sluggish targets. Have no fear. This quick-hitter guide to early-spring fish locations and habits will get you on the fast track to a bent rod. Just remember to check local regulations, because season openers for many species vary state by state.
Blue Catfish
Where: Virginia guide Chandler Puryear says that some of his biggest James River fish fall in the winter and very early spring. During these times of year, he’s targeting depressions within shallow flats as well as shallow structures, often in less than 10 feet of water.
Why: Blues remain active when the water is cold. Since forage like shad and herring become scarce now, they won’t pass up an opportunity to feed when they get it. Though Puryear still catches fish in deep holes, many cats slide shallow where the water will be slightly warmer.
How: It’s hard to beat soaking forage native to the body of water you’re fishing. For Puryear, that’s gizzard shad. The fresher and bloodier the chunk, the more likely it is to get sucked up.
Bluegills
Where: According to Wisconsin guide Tim Hyvonen, if some green weeds survived the winter in your home lake, you’ll find bluegills concentrated in and around them. If all the weeds died out, the fish will often suspend in 8 to 15 feet of water.
Why: Hyvonen says that at this time of year, bluegills just want to be in the warmest water they can find, so don’t overlook areas with green vegetation as shallow as 2 feet. Since the north ends of any lake or pond often receive the most sunlight, Hyvonen says they’re a good place to start.
How: As the water temperature ticks up, bluegills will start to feed heavily in preparation for the spawn. Hyvonen sticks to the tiny ice jigs he has been using all winter, tipping them with wax worms, but now he presents them under a slip float.
Brown Trout
Where: Early-spring conditions often mean high, cold, and dirty water for trout anglers. Under those conditions, veteran New York guide Joe Demalderis knows that he’s going to find browns tucked in tight to the bank. If the water happens to be flowing at more normal rates, he concentrates on slower water with some depth.
Why: Demalderis says that browns are pretty shut down until the water temperature begins climbing into the 40s. Since browns don’t want to expend energy, soft banks and holes are where they flock. What’s important to remember, however, is that the fish won’t be overly aggressive.
How: Nymphs that mimic early stoneflies and Baetis mayflies are always safe bets; however, Demalderis cautions not to rule out streamers. The trick to success with them is to make precise casts to likely holding areas and work slowly. Jigging the streamer in place is very effective in cold water as well.
Cold Calling: In most early-season fisheries, particularly in the North and Midwest, success with any given species hinges on slow presentations and finding water a degree or two warmer than the main body. Brian Grossenbacher
Chain Pickerel
Where: When the ice melts on lakes, bogs, and ponds loaded with chains, it’s hard to go wrong targeting shallow water that has access to deep water close by. If there are remnants of milfoil or decayed lily pads in the area, that’s a plus. If not, concentrate on stumps and deadfalls.
Why: Pickerel will slide shallow to soak up the extra bit of warmth the sun provides during the heat of the day. Their forage will be shallow at this time of year too. Don’t be shocked to find them waking after your lure in less than a foot of water; however, deep edges near shallow flats are also prime.
How: Stickbaits, jerkbaits, and in-line spinners are all top lure choices. Cast them around any shallow structure and over the drop, working them back from deep to shallow.
Channel Catfish
Where: Early-season channel catfishing can be some of the best of the year as long as you’re strategic about where you wet a line. In rivers, focus on slow eddies and soft banks. In lakes, sheltered coves or the lee sides of points are often productive.
Why: The winter months are hard on channel cat forage. Species like shad often experience some level of die-off when temperatures drop. However, decomposition slows in icy water. This means that come early spring, cats waking from the cold have lots of dead baitfish on the bottom to eat. These dead forage species often collect in areas with little to no current.
How: Although matching local forage is always wise, hungry channel cats are not likely to snub baits like chicken livers even if they’re predominantly feeding on winter-killed baitfish.
Crapshoot: Looking for early-season crappies? Start your hunt in deep creeks. Tom Martineau / The Raw Spirit
Crappies
Where: According to Kentucky-based tournament pro Tony Shepherd, it’s hard to beat a creek with depth and plenty of structure in the early spring.
Why: Crappies move to shallow flats to spawn when the water reaches the upper 50s, but they tend to congregate in creeks prior to making that shift. Shepherd says water clarity is a big factor, noting that in clear to lightly stained water, he’ll find more fish around stumps and stake beds along the creek banks. If the water is dirty, they’ll be suspended in deep water within the creek.
How: Shepherd predominantly relies on tiny jigs at this time of year, noting Jenko’s Fringe Fry as a favorite. He’ll fish them on a 1⁄16-ounce jighead and run them 2 or 3 feet behind a 1⁄2-ounce sinker. He says this rig gives the jig the best action when slow-trolling, which he leans on to cover lots of water.
Flathead Catfish
Where: Early spring is far from a peak time for flatheads, but according to Pittsburgh-area flathead ace Joe Gordon, if he had to hit the river in March, he’d go straight to the nearest warmwater discharge.
Why: In any water that’s below 55 degrees, flatheads are pretty comatose. Gordon says early-season success relies solely on finding the warmest water you can—even if it’s only a degree or two warmer than the rest of the lake or river—and hoping for one or two bites.
How: According to Gordon, although flathead fishing is a nighttime game most of the year, hunts now should happen during daylight hours. Live baits might score a bite, but fresh chunks are likely to produce more hits, especially if you downsize them a fair amount and use smaller hooks to make the morsel as effortless as possible for a cold cat to suck up.
Lake Trout
Where: Veteran Colorado lake trout guide Bernie Keefe says that when the ice comes off, you’ll find lakers very close to their food source, which often means shallower than you’ll find them for most of the year—a big plus for shorebound anglers.
Why: Lakers don’t have to retreat to the depths to find the colder water they prefer in early spring. Subsequently, during this time, forage like suckers and smaller trout will be shallow, looking for warmer water. Though the scenario is fleeting, it’s during this window that Keefe scores monsters in as little as 3 feet of water.
How: Early spring is arguably the best time of year to hook into big lake trout with many methods that would be impractical later in the season. Keefe casts soft-plastic swimbaits and crankbaits in areas where deep water transitions quickly to shallow shelves and flats. Catching lakers on big streamers in these areas is also possible for the devoted fly guy.
Largemouth bass won’t move into shallow water until it begins to warm up to 55 degrees. Tom Martineau / The Raw Spirit
Largemouth Bass
Where: Depending on where you live, largemouths could be very shallow or very deep. It all hinges on water temperature, making anything from shallow flats to deep channels and offshore bowls likely hotspots.
Why: Largemouths move shallow to spawn when the water hits 55 degrees. In the South, that can be as early as late February, in which case early spring can be prime for hunting bass on beds. In the North, bass are often suspended in deep water and chasing shad schools after ice-out. In the places in between, pre-spawn fish gravitate to and feed in deeper channels and along drop-offs close to where they’ll eventually spawn.
How: For suspended fish, vertical-jigging slab spoons and bladebaits can be highly effective. True pre-spawners often fall to squarebill cranks banging off cover, while bedded bass will attack almost any swimbait or soft plastic you drop on the bed.
Muskies
Where: To find early-season muskies, you’ve got to find water that’s warmer—even if only slightly—than the main lake or river. This makes protected bays and back eddies excellent places to hook your first of the season.
Why: Forage like suckers, carp, and bluegills gravitate to the shallows following ice-out, and muskies know where to find their food. Muskies are also cold-blooded, so the warmer their body temperature, the more likely they are to feel the urge to feed.
How: Slow presentations can be most effective in the early season. Opt for lures like Bull Dawgs, crankbaits, and glide baits that can be worked with a wide range of speed, as opposed to bucktails that have to be cranked quickly to maintain their action.
When panfish and suckers move into shallow water after ice out, big muskies looking for a meal will follow. Jason Arnold
Northern Pike
Where: Early spring can be a riveting time to target pike. In many areas, sight-casting to giants is a real possibility, and you’ll often find them in shallow, weedy water. Trophies can fall in 5 feet of water or less.
Why: Shallow water heats up a lot faster than deep water, and once the ice is gone, big pike know they can warm up by sliding into coves and onto flats. All the forage species they crave are doing that too, which means you can experience a true feeding frenzy in hardly any water with high-caliber fish that will spend the rest of the year down deep.
How: If it moves like food, there’s a good chance an ice-out pike will try to kill it. Anything from huge streamers to topwater lures to glide baits and soft plastics that skim enticingly over the shallow weed tops is worth casting.
Rainbow trout begin thinking about spawning when water temperatures hit 40 degrees, so watch for fish migrating up and through riffles. Sam Zierke/Lance Krueger
Rainbow Trout
Where: Assuming the river is running high and cold in the early season, rainbows are going to move to the banks to get out of the heaviest flows. However, if the river is running at a normal level, rainbows are more apt to hold in faster water than browns at this time of year. Classic riffle water and choppy runs with medium speed and depth can both produce.
Why: Rainbows spawn in the spring as soon as the water temperature breaks 40 degrees, often making redds in the riffles above pools. It’s largely frowned upon to target these fish. However, because spawning can occur in waves, you’re still likely to hook some in less spawning-friendly areas.
How: Black stonefly nymphs are hard for rainbows to resist, but sometimes a juicier meal like a Woolly Bugger makes the play faster. Fish it slowly like a nymph, letting it wave and breathe in the current. Running an egg fly or San Juan worm ahead of it is never a bad idea.
Redfish
Where: Early-spring red locations vary depending on where you are in the country, though as a general rule, expect the big bulls to be well offshore. Smaller reds, however, often school up in the backcountry shallows, providing some of the best sight-fishing opportunities of the year.
Why: With the exception of the Mississippi Delta and a few other locations, genuine bull reds can be tricky to find. Along the Atlantic Coast, however, cold water temps often force the smaller nonmigratory reds to seek out warmth en masse. That means in places like North and South Carolina, it’s possible to find dozens if not hundreds of reds together in one cove or channel.
How: A piece of fresh shrimp on a jighead or plain hook will rarely get snubbed. If bait isn’t your game, opt for jigs and weighted crab and shrimp flies. Work slowly for these often lethargic fish, letting your offering puff sand and mud as it moves.
Seatrout
Where: Many speck hunters roll their eyes when you mention March. Although it can be a tough time of year, huge opportunities exist on skinny flats if you know how to time a mission just right.
Why: Seatrout spend the winter in most of their range holed up in deep water. Come March, those first few warm days of the year will prompt them to feed, and they’ll move onto the flats, even if only for a brief window during the day. Because forage can be scarce at this time of year, it’s not uncommon for them to hit anything that moves.
How: Topwater Spook-style baits and rattling baits draw these sound-oriented predators in like a magnet. If you want to add some scent to the equation, a fresh shrimp worked under a loud popping cork can be downright deadly.
Smallmouth aren’t overly aggressive until the water temperatures warm, so work baits along the bottom. Tom Martineau / The Raw Spirit
Smallmouth Bass
Where: In swollen, dirty rivers, smallmouths will congregate in the paths of least resistance, which is typically tight to the bank in areas with slower current and moderate depth. In still waters, target deep holes with quick access to shallow feeding grounds.
Why: Smallmouth bass don’t spawn until the water reaches the low 60s. Prior to that, they’re often grouped up, so if you find one, you often find a pile. These pre-spawn fish are ready to feed, though they’re not always overly aggressive, often making finesse tactics critical.
How: In lakes, a bladebait can work wonders for fish hugging the bottom in deep water. A slowly dragged tube will also score in this scenario. In rivers, forcing chilly bass into a snap decision can be the ticket, making spinnerbaits and swimbaits prime choices.
Snook
Where: Late winter and early spring are tough times for snook, according to Port St. Lucie, Florida–based Capt. Zach Miller. During this seasonal transition, it can be difficult to come up with a consistent pattern. Bites can come anywhere, from under shallow docks to on the bottom in deep water. It all depends on temperature.
Why: Miller says that all the snook will ultimately make their way to inlets to stage before running the beaches to spawn. When they stack up in those inlets, the fishing can teeter on too easy. Prior to that staging, however, the snook are in limbo and often change location throughout the day. As a general rule, if the water temperature is below 70 degrees, finding them shallow is unlikely.
How: According to Miller, if you find a snook tucked under a dock or along a seawall now, it’s probably not going to pass up a live shrimp or pilchard. If the temperatures are too cold for them to be there, he’ll switch to flair jigs or weight those live baits and probe transitional areas along channel edges in anywhere from 8 to 30 feet of water.
Steelhead
Where: Not nearly as many anglers play the spring steelhead game along the Great Lakes shoreline as do the fall. That’s a mistake. To bow up now, concentrate your efforts on deep pools, tail-outs, and runs with moderate flow, particularly at the low ends of rivers.
Why: While some Great Lakes tributaries experience a spring run of inbound steel, most are holding fish that have been in the river all winter. These “drop-backs” will feed heavily on their way back to the lake. The trick is timing your attack. A quick jump in water level is often the catalyst that gets these fish pushing downstream.
How: Spring steelhead will eat egg beads, egg flies, and spawn as quickly as they did in fall and winter. However, drop-backs can be more aggressive than they were during the cold months, and therefore much quicker to smack a swung streamer or in-line spinner.
Striped Bass
Where: Although it’s possible to connect with migratory stripers in the ocean in very early spring, the majority of anglers hunting stripers now are after the resident fish that post up in back bays and rivers throughout most of their Northeast range. Depth and water temperature play the most vital roles in their success.
Why: Pre-spawn stripers often congregate in deep holes at the low ends of rivers, or in channels adjacent to shallow tidal flats. If the mud on those flats is dark, all the better, because it will absorb more sunlight and warm the water on the flat faster. While early-season bass may not be super-aggressive, they do need to feed, often giving anglers a quick window of opportunity as they turn on during tide changes or sometimes during slack tide.
How: Stripers can be lazy at this time of year, which is why bloodworms, clams, and sandworms are some of the most productive baits. These are the natural menu items these fish find on the flats, and it takes little effort to eat them. Soaking these baits is the fastest route to your first striper of the year, but don’t rule out smaller soft plastics around warmwater discharges or any time the water temperature jumps above 45 degrees.
Walleyes spawn in the spring, so look for fish congregating around tributary mouths. Lee Thomas Kjos / The Raw Spirit
Walleyes
Where: Walleye guide Ross Robertson fishes the ice hard, but as soon as that ice is gone, he wastes no time firing up his boat. In the early open-water season, he’s concentrating most of his efforts on mudflats adjacent to deeper water and around river mouths.
Why: Walleyes spawn in spring, and while they won’t get busy until the water rises above 50 degrees, they stage and stack close to where that action will eventually happen. In closed bodies of water, that’s in areas with transitional depths and a soft bottom. If there’s a river entering your home lake or reservoir, you’ll find walleyes stacked at the mouth prior to running up to spawn. Likewise, in large rivers, the fish will run smaller tributaries to spawn, making creek mouths prime targets for early action.
How: No matter where you target your walleyes, Robertson says, slow presentations are key. He’ll often anchor and, using vertical ice-fishing tactics, drop a jig tipped with a minnow. Slow-trolling crankbaits close to the bottom can also be highly effective.
Yellow Perch
Where: Ready for that first fish fry of the season? To get things sizzling, target shallow areas of the lake right after ice-out. If the shallows in your local water feature some rocks and vegetation, odds increase that the perch are piled in.
Why: Unlike other species, yellow perch don’t develop their eggs until right before they spawn. That means they have to feed heavily to keep up their weight and help those eggs grow. Their food sources are going to hang shallow, which is also where the perch will spawn.
How: When the water is still ice-cold, lean on jigs and spoons, and work them very slowly near the bottom. You may find that a more aggressive presentation scores more bites, but start slow and increase your speed until you dial in exactly what flips their switch.
Written by Joe Cermele for Field & Stream and legally licensed through the Matcha publisher network. Please direct all licensing questions to legal@getmatcha.com.
