Friday night I took my two oldest out to Willow Beach to stir up a few shakers. They allowed me one slow pass through my favorite hole but the wind was kicking up pretty good and it was tough keeping the boat straight while going so slow. When I'm out there I'm always looking for that one big fish that eluded my buddy and I so I don't spend much time bait fishing with 'chovies. My kids love to catch fish though regardless of size so I anchored the boat, tossed out some chum and in no time at all we were catching all of the stripers they wanted. My oldest doesn't care much for eating fish so she quickly released everything she caught. The younger one loves to eat them but I convinced her that we should let them go so they can grow up big and strong and we'll catch them again. She agreed which made me happy because I really didn't feel like cleaning a batch of stripers at midnight. The largest fish they caught was just over two pounds and most ranged about a pound to a pound and a half. These little fish are extremely easy to catch and once they hear the dinner bell they just won't leave you alone. No sooner would we have a line in the water more than thirty seconds when a fish would strike. I didn't even bother rigging a rod for myself since I knew I'd be busy helping them. The important key to catching the fish is chumming. Once you get the fish to the boat make sure to toss out a small morsel of chum now and then to keep them interested, just don't overfeed them. By eleven o'clock my ears were ringing since I'm sure my wife was wanting the kids back home and in bed so against the begging and occasional whine we loaded up and hit the road for home. Not two minutes into the truck the were both fast asleep. A few days before that a friend and I did talk to an angler that managed to pull in five nice fish including a 20 pounder at the hatchery. He and his young son caught the fish just after the weekly trout plant on a Z Plug.

Cottonwood Cove saw a very crazy weekend as well with half of California hitting the water on boats and jet skis. Fishing was tough there for most anglers as well and the few that did brave the mayhem saw little for their efforts. There was an occasional striper and even a catfish or two but again, local diehards hung up the rods for this weekend. It'll be interesting to see what next week brings.

The news from Ely is that the fish at Cave Lake are biting pretty good. Anglers fishing the back streams feeding the lake are having some great luck. A friend of ours was there this past week and he and a buddy caught a nice batch of fat fish in no time at all. Sorry, I promised not to reveal their methods or baits but I can tell you it was not the main body of water that they fished. For all of you trout anglers out there I have been asked to try out a new bait that is currently being manufactured right here in Southern Nevada. I can't really tell you much about it since I don't know much about it myself. When it comes to bait it's very hard to wow me but I promised the manufacturer that I would give it a honest couple of days of hard fishing. I plan to take the bait to Ely sometime soon and pit it against none other than Berkleys Powerbait. I don't expect this stuff to out fish Powerbait but if it holds it's own then I'll be satisfied. Once I'm convinced that it does catch fish the next questions will be cost, where can the angler purchase it and how user friendly is it. I'll fill you in on how well it performs as soon as I find out.

The pace has picked up at Lake Mead and Lake Mojave this week since fewer pleasure boats were on the water. The action for striped bass has been decent in most of the typical places such as the Vegas Wash area, Fish Island and the 33 Hole. I didn't hear of any large fish being caught, over ten pounds, but most anglers had no problems bringing in fish averaging two to four pounds. As usual boaters are still having the best luck. Once again, if you're stuck to fishing off shore try the early morning or late afternoon hours for the best action. This pertains to both lakes as well as the Willow Beach area. Another tip for shore anglers, use plenty of chum.

I had a reader email me and mention that although I often mention chumming, I seldom mention what a shore angler can do to improve his odds. Well, chumming is a practice that all anglers can, and should, use to up their catch percentage. There are several ways to do this but one has been proven and works very well. Since most of us are out there fishing for Striped Bass I'll talk about the technique you should use from boat or shore.

Chumming is the act of enticing fish to your area by means of attracting them with food that they just find too good to pass up. Everybody loves a free meal right? Let's start with the anchovies that you're more than likely using for bait. Lesson number one, when you buy your 'chovies purchase at least two or three bags if your fishing alone, more if you're fishing with friends or your kids. Lesson number two, keep the anchovies on ice at all times; this will keep them fresher and keep them from getting too soft. A soft bait will fly off the hook way too easy while casting.

When you buy your anchovies pick up a few large cans of corn. Don't get creamed corn or any of that other fancy stuff, just get regular canned corn. Laker Plaza sells industrial size cans at a great price and you won't have to worry about running out. Take along a sharp knife and cut the tails and heads off the anchovies, this is what you'll use for chum. The center of the anchovy is what you'll use on your hook.

As soon as you get to your location of choice toss out a nice handful of the heads and tails. These will slowly sink and the scent will start to drift through the water. Then get a handful or two of the corn and toss that out as well. Now get your baited hook into the water and wait. Every ten minutes or so toss out another small handful of bait and corn. It's important now not to over feed the fish, just get them to your area and keep them there. The fish should be there soon enough, assuming that you're in an area that they actually visit. I should point out that chumming is not a guarantee that the fish will show up or that you'll actually catch them, it's simply a way of tipping the odds in your favor. Look at it like this; having a fish finder on your boat will in fact help to locate the fish, however, it will not hook the fish for you. Once you've found them it's up to you to find the way to make them bite.

So, let's say your tossing a swimbait instead of fishing with cut bait - will chumming work for you? Of course it will. Remember, you get the fish to your area with a free morsel, toss out a plug and chances are the fish will hit it. Okay, here's another catch though; if you're tossing out an 'Ol Henry 2x4 and the fish coming your way are in the two pound class don't expect one to hit that lure. But you never can tell when his Papa is cruising along and gets a whiff of your offering as well. An entire book can be written and probably has been about the art of chumming. I can share with you what works in these waters and the rest is up to you.

Chumming works for every fish, or for that matter animal, on the face of this planet. We use live bait on the ocean for tuna, cut bait for stripers and blood for sharks. Hunters use various scents and calls for attracting prey to them. Yes, a call can be an act of chumming. People use chum to attract their prey as well. Think about it, the night you met your wife you think she put that perfume on because she liked the smell. Nope, she wore it knowing that you would find it, and in turn her, irresistible.

Next weeks story, "Local Yocals ruin an otherwise great day of fishin'". Until then, keep the hooks sharp and take a kid fishin'.

Ken Marlow, pappystackleshack@yahoo.com

Ken Marlow has lived in the Las Vegas Valley since 1973. He began fishing at Willow Beach for trophy trout soon after moving there and has been hooked ever since. Ken currently fishes twice a week and travels across the Dam to Willow Beach about four times a week to interview anglers and to see what the conditions are like.

Ken writes the weekly fishing column "Let's Go Fishin'", which appears in the Boulder City News, Henderson Home News and, from what he hears, two or three other HBC Publications.