Home Tomorrow

Today was my last blast at Port Mansfield, and I spent a fun day wading flats and catching redfish and trout. My first fish of the day - a trout -blasted a Badonk-A-Donk on the first cast I made after tying on the bait. Most hit Mud Minnow Paddle Tails. Another great trip to Get-A-Way Adventures Lodge, but I'm glad that the plane will be pointed toward home tomorrow.

All Trout

Well, the trout weren't looking up today - at least not for me - but they were cooperative nonetheless. Of course, the biggest one got away, but I had a fun time wading in the bay and catching speckled trout. Most hit a Bomber Saltwater Grade Mud Minnow Paddle Tail.

Digging Deep

No wading today. We started the day fishing in 110 feet of water and finished "shallow" in about 60 feet. The waters off the coast of Port Mansfield served up plentiful and varied action throughout the day. Red snapper were the main attraction, but we also caught king mackerel, triggerfish, Spanish mackerel, grouper and a big African pompano and had encounters with ling (cobia) and barracudas. The highlight for me came in the afternoon, when I set down the heavy gear and picked up a medium-action All Star Inshore rod matched with an Abu Garcia Revo Inshore reel and used it to wrestle several hefty red snapper out of 60 feet. Tomorrow I'm wading and expecting to catch redfish and trout on Badonk-A-Donks.

It's a Start

Today was a travel day, and it started at 3:00 a.m. I arrived in Harlingen, TX around noon and at Get-A-Way Adventures Lodge early this afternoon. Other writers, editors and tackle manufacturers arrived today, too, and we spent the afternoon getting settled in and trading fish stories on the docks and the back deck. The dock behind the lodge has lights under it, and when the trout showed up in the lights after dinner, some of us couldn't resist making a handful of casts. The trout weren't huge, but we did manage to catch some. I caught three, all on a YUM Money Minnow fished on a 1/8-ounce Bomber Saltwater Grade Bullet Jighead. Tomorrow I'm headed offshore for king mackerel, red snapper, cobia or whatever else decides to bite - assuming the wind lets us out. Now I suppose I ought to sleep. I left home 21 hours ago.

Almost South of the Border

Next stop, South Texas - WAY south Texas - where big specks and often-angry reds cruise the shallow flats of the Laguna Madre. Hopefully the fish will be looking up to feed, because we'll have Bomber's new Badonk-A-Donks to put to the test! Base camp is Get-A-Way Adventures Lodge, a beautiful waterfront lodge, where if you fail to make yourself at home or go away hungry, it's nobody's fault but your own. It'll be my fourth trip to Get-A-Way, and I can hardly wait!

A Walk in the Grass

Looks like a Spook. Walks acts a Spook. Must be a Spook. Right? Actually, no. However, the new YUM Money Hound comes from the makers of Heddon Zara Spooks and has been designed to walk the same way. The difference is that the Money Hound is constructed from soft plastic so it can be rigged weedless to walk over mats of grass and through other thick stuff. Color names, like Pooch and Ole' Yella, are cool and fitting. The Money Hound was introduced to the fishing world at ICAST last week and will be more widely available in another month or so.

Too Much to Digest

It's a good thing that I don't have to provide a complete report about all the coolest new tackle on the market tonight. After a full day of roaming from booth to booth at the ICAST show and talking with engineers, PR folks and fishing pros about innovations and applications, I feel like I need a day or two to wrap my hands around it all. I saw lures that I know will be awesome producers, like Strike King's new Sexy Swimmer (pictured above) and YUM's Money Hound, which is like a Zara Spook, except it's made from super buoyant soft plastic and is made to be rigged weedless; and rods and reels that are incredibly light in the hand or innovative in their design. From fishing kayaks to waders, there's an amazing representation of products at the show, and I'm having fun taking it all in. Maybe tomorrow I'll feel better equipped to report more specifically. For now it's time to get some rest for another day on the floor.

What's New?

That's the question I'll be asking repeatedly this week as I walk the floors of the International Convention of Allied Sportfishing Trades in Orlando. ICAST, as the three-day show is much better known, is the place where fishing tackle manufacturers reveal all their nifty new offerings for the upcoming tackle year - the place to get first looks at all the newest things. It's where tackle shops and other dealers decide which new items they want to carry. For me, as a writer, it's a place to find story ideas, learn about new products and get to know folks in the industry. The show begins tomorrow evening with a media and buyer's preview of the New Products Showcase - a collection of what manufacturers consider their most innovative new offerings. The main show floor, which includes hundreds of manufacturers' booths, opens Wednesday morning. I'll report back - hopefully tomorrow night - on some of the cool new stuff I find.

1-2 Punch for Trout

Jim Bedford does most of his trout fishing with two types of lures - and he always keeps both handy. The first is a simple in-line spinner; the second a minnow-style plug. A long-time outdoor writer who spends dozens of days annually knee deep in Michigan streams, Bedford uses a clip to facilitate quick changes, and continually goes back and forth between the two offerings. He'll commonly work a run thoroughly with a minnow bait and then probe the exact same waters with his spinner.

The plugs yield a little bigger class of fish on average, but the spinners produce more than their share of heavyweight trout, and they show him whether any fish are willing to cooperate. No matter what's on the end of his line, Bedford nitpicks the waters around him, making precise pitches into very tight spots and often pulling out a trout. He'll try a cast anywhere he thinks a trout might be lurking, and he loses surprisingly few lures. Although the nature of his lures and the cover he casts to cause a fair number of snags time has taught Bedford patience and tricks for getting those baits free.

Bedford enjoys the streams themselves and he likes to win the battle with any trout that bites. However, his prizes are the big orange-bellied brown trout that lurk in many of his favorite Michigan streams. That is until the fall - when the steelhead begin their runs!