"HOT ENOUGH FOR YOU?"

July in the Midwest...intense heat, high humidity, and a plethora of outdoor activities from mowing the grass to sports, picnics and more. Take care! Heatstroke kills.

There are many types of heat-related illnesses, but the two everyone should be able to recognize are heat exhaustion and heat stroke. Heat exhaustion typically develops first and, if not treated, develops into heat stroke. Heat stroke, if left untreated, can result in death due to the failure of any of the major organ systems.

Heat exhaustion and heat stroke occur when excessive loss of body fluids inhibit the body's ability to lower the body's core temperature. The body's primary method of cooling itself involves perspiration. As sweat evaporates from the skin, the body cools. As the body runs low on fluid for perspiration, the mthod no longer works effectively. The result? Rising body temperatures. Core body temperatures of 105 degrees can be fatal.

The typical symptoms of heat exhaustion include: hot, flushed, sweating skin; headache; dizziness; and fainting. Without treatment these symptoms progress into heat stroke with the development of confusion, stupor or agitation, seizures, or coma. The person in heat stroke may no longer sweat due to the depletion of body water.

How do you treat heat exhaustion? Take a break from the activity that's making you hot. Find some shade and a breeze so your sweat can evaporate effectively. Fan yourself, squirt yourself with cool water, take a dip in the pool, get a cool drink, etc. Make sure you're drinking proper fluids during activity or exercise, i.e., eight ounces of fluid for every 15 minutes of moderate exercise. (Beer & other drinks containing alcohol have a diuretic effect and will dehydrate you more quickly. You must be drinking other fluids on the side!) Electrolyte drinks like Gatorade can help replace some of the water, potassium and sodium lost during perspiration.

If you suspect heat stroke contact emergency medical services immediately, then start cooling measures. Move the person to a cool place, splash them with cool water or apply cool towels, and encourage them to drink water if they are still conscious.

Although children and the elderly are most at risk, the heat can affect everyone. Invest in a wide-brimmed hat and some loose-fitting, light-colored clothes. Drink plenty of fluids. But most of all, make sure you can recognize heat stress signs and symptoms and know how to help. Don't let your next family get-together turn into a medical emergency!  Maggie B.

As the wild fires in the West start to smolder, families and wildlife are left with ash remains and little reason to believe it won’t happen again. “We’ve lost over 400 homes and half a million acres in our area. A home burned 300 yards from where my family and I live,” said Dusty Parsons, president of the National Wild Turkey Federation’s White Mountain Merriam’s chapter in Arizona. Family homes and wildlife habitat have been the victims of tragic wildfires in the West, and now the importance of fire and habitat management has never been greater. “Over 95 percent of the people here understand that prescribed burns can prevent major fires from happening, but the forest service gets caught up in court so often with groups who are not in favor of proper management,” said Parsons.

The NWTF supports the use of prescribed fire, combined with other forest management tools and techniques, to restore and improve forestland and wildlife habitat. When properly used as a management tool, prescribed fire benefits wildlife and land. Recently, the Colorado State Chapter of the NWTF donated a four-wheel drive all-terrain vehicle to the Colorado Division of Wildlife. The ATV will be used in the application and monitoring of prescribed burns on the 8,000 acres of Mt. Evans State Wildlife Area. Prescribed burns help reduce the amount of plant matter that can easily start and fuel a forest fire. These burns also help the forest to regenerate and develop.

“Prescribed burns and timber management have been the best tools in the toolbox where wildlife management is concerned,” said project originator Ralph Matzner, of the Colorado Division of Wildlife. “A lot of times when we are finishing our cleanup of a prescribed fire, we have elk and turkeys on the perimeter eating in the underbrush.” Matzner says that a number of the forest fires that are raging across the country could have been reduced, even prevented, with a sound prescribed burn program. Excessive amounts of fuels make it difficult to effectively manage fire in some areas. Varying weather conditions make the forest floor susceptible to devastating fires when high fuel levels are present and unmanaged for long periods of time. “It’s important that we allow our public land managers to actively use prescribed fires and other techniques in areas that are vulnerable to the intense and damaging fires we’re seeing out West,” said Joel Pedersen, NWTF wildlife biologist.

The lack of fire in an ecosystem can result in a build up of fuels like pine needles and dead branches. This can lead to unnaturally intense and destructive fires. Over time, pine needles build up on the forest floor and the bottom layers become dry tinder. When ignited, this type of fire is difficult to control. But controlled burns that are carried out when moisture is present, make for a burn with less heat and susceptibility to spread. “If you can mimic a burn that took place naturally in the forest’s history, the likelihood of a beneficial burn is much higher,” said Pedersen.

Harvesting timber is another way to manage controlled burns. Because stands of trees are thinned, fires cannot spread from one tree to another. Controlled burns are just as important in Eastern forests. Trees with less wildlife habitat value such as maple and sweet gum compete with hardwoods like oaks. But Forest Service officials can use cut-and-burn procedures to manage for better oak regeneration. In the past, forest fires benefited the entire forest ecosystem because their frequency and intensity was determined by the systems’ natural readiness to burn. Now, certain special interest groups oppose active management, which includes prescribed fire and forest thinning. Prescribed burns produce smoke and can alter vegetation, which are concerns for residents in forested areas.

“In the past, society was not willing to endure the short-term inconvenience for the long-term greater good,” said David Bunnell, National Fire Use Program Manager of the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise, Idaho. “People like things to stay just the way they are, and so there is a stigma placed against prescribed burns.” But, without efforts to properly manage fuel levels, this trend of uncontrolled, unnatural wild fires will continue. It’s not a question of will the forest burn, but when. “Now is the perfect time to support public land management agencies in their use of prescribed fire,” said Pedersen.

For more information about the NWTF and its support of prescribed burns, call 1-800-THE-NWTF or visit our Web site at www.nwtf.org.

Imagine this, you feel the subtle tap on your most sensitive spinning rod with 6 pound test mono. Then, WHAM! You set the hook with the swiftness of a lion pouncing on his prey. The medium action rod is bent in a full circle, just enough give for the lightest of lines but enough backbone to slam the light wire hook in the steel jaws of a lunker bass. The drag starts singing as you feel the head shaking of a huge bass on the other end of what seems like a thread separating you from your respected quarry. You quickly release the anti reverse to manually fight your prospective catch, relying on skill and expertise to back reel when your mama hawg jaw makes those last minute runs at the boat. Then, PANIC, you feel the telltale sign that your line is hung around a limb you confidently release all pressure. Like a miracle from God your quarry swims free, you gingerly finish the battle knowing your line has some damage from the unsuspected limb. Slowly bending over the gunnel, you grab her with your hand, then unsure you reach with the other lifting that beautiful fish out of the water. Admiring her for a few seconds you gently ease her back watching her slowly swim back to her deep-water lair.

'Rick, with a couple nice finesse bass'
That’s what finesse fishing is all about! You are literally one on one with the bass. I like to call it feel fishing. With a sensitive rod and a soft touch you can detect those subtle bites that most fail to detect. My favorite finesse fishing rod is a custom built rod by Grandt Rods. Jim Grandt makes his own blanks with a 70 million modulus graphite material which are the finest and most sensitive, lifetime warranty, rods on the market. This rod paired with a ultra smooth Shimano Sedona 2000 makes a deadly combo.

Fishing with a instrument like this (retail combo $250) is definitely worth the money. Your fishing line is the most important link between you and the fish. Using a good quality limp monofilament is extremely important for finesse fishing. You need your line to lay down with ease and not twist. Properly spooling your line on your spinning reel is crucial making sure the line comes off the spool the same way it goes on the reel. Spooling your reel this way will help you some of the headaches that frustrate anglers. I use Excel Mono 6# test or 8# test in the green color, which works well in the clear waters of Table Rock Lake. Using green line makes you rely more on your sense of touch since it is hard to see against the clear water.

Your selection of lures can vary, from small worms, French fry’s, bass jigs to 1/4oz. jigging spoons. You can use most anything for finesse style fishing. Probably the heaviest finesse bait I use is a 1/4oz. spider jig. The lightest I trust in is a weightless French fry. Both can be awesome when used in certain situations. Precise presentation of your lure is a must and casting these light lures takes a lot of practice. Most of my finesse fishing is down around boat docks or brush piles. Occasionally I fish deep cedar trees, with a slider rig and a 4-inch finesse worm. Sharp hooks and a good hook set is a key. If the bass gets you down in the thick of things the only thing you can do is give the fish line and pray. Many times the fish will swim out of the tree or dock. Other times "snap" and she’s gone.

Finesse fishing is a style of fishing more than a type. Slow and deliberate concentration a key, the touch a must. A good finesse angler is hard to fish behind unless you watch the anglers every move. Throw between casts, watch his presentation and vary your presentation slightly. That makes the difference between catching a bass behind him or going fishless. The best way to learn is to fish with a finesse style fisherman. Watch the anglers every move and observe his techniques. Any Angler can learn from another, even the best can learn from a novice. A particular instance comes to mind, although not while finesse fishing, but while fishing Zara Spooks in a Mid-West Bass Regional tournament at Lake of the Ozarks. I was on some good bass, fishing a spook. I told my amateur partner to rig up a spook. We arrived at my honey hole, I threw the spook out methodically walking the dog, not missing a beat. I made about 5 casts before my amateur partner reared back and let go, causing a huge backlash in his reel. I ask him if he needed help he said no. After about what seemed like a minute he jerked the spook inadvertently, then WHAM a huge bass swirled at his spook, he jerked the spook back to the boat in one motion. Thinking it was just a fluke I continued fishing. The very next cast, he got another backlash though this time not so bad. He pulled it out and the instant he moved the spook another bass inhaled it this time. Just a little shy of being a keeper I knew it wasn’t a fluke this time. My next cast I let it sit there for what seemed like 30 seconds then before I moved it a good keeper inhaled it. I went on to win the 2-day tournament thanks to my partner's backlash. Although he never fished a spook before this tournament, my partner taught me a great new way to present this lure.

There is a couple of different techniques I use while finesse fishing. The slow crawl method, the jiggle method, (my favorite) and the dead stick method. All have their niches and times they work best. Remember finesse fishing is not a type of fishing, but a style of fishing.

Rick La Point
Rick's Chauffeured Guide Service
www.strikebass.com
Email: rick@strikebass.com

ANSWER TO BACKWOODS TRIVIA:  Balboa discovered the Pacific Ocean. He was the first European to see it. Ferdinand Magellan renamed it in 1520. He called it the Pacific,which means peaceful, because the water was calm.

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