12-Year-Old Lands Record Bull Shark

Congratulations to 12-year-old Dalton Taylor of Foley, Ala. for catching the Alabama state record bull shark. Taylor's fish weighed 175 pounds, 14.4 ounces. Not too surprisingly, Taylor said the record shark is the biggest fish he has ever landed by himself. Photo courtesy of the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources.

Michigan Meanderings

My current location in Michigan has nothing to do with fishing. I'm here because of a family illness. It's nice to think about other things though, and in Michigan it's easy to daydream about fishing.

From St. Clair smallmouths and muskie to Grand River steelhead to giant brown trout in Lake Michigan and its tributaries, Michigan's fishing has to be some of the best and most diverse in the country -- especially for a state with no salt water.

In recent years I've done a fair amount of Michigan fishing -- mostly for trout and smallmouths. I've not even scratched the surface of the state's magnificent offerings, though. In fact I've never laid a foot on the entire Upper Peninsula.

Maybe the next time I'm here circumstances will be better for broadening my Michigan fishing horizons.

Frogs and Beavers

Photo courtesy of the PAA.

Frogs and Beavers. Sounds like a story about pond play, I know, but it's actually about Lake Neely Henry, an riverine Alabama lake that impounds the Coosa River. You see, Fred Roumbanas worked a Snag Proof Bobby's Perfect Frog across the top and flipped a Reaction Innovations Sweet Beaver to win this weekend's PAA Tour event at Neely Henry.

Roumbanis targeted shallow banks with scattered water willow and credited fellow Oklahoma pro Gerald brown with helping him hone in on the pattern. The beaver produced the bulk of his weighed fish, but the frog yielded a couple of important bass.

McSludge

I suppose I knew I was taking chances, buying coffee at 2:30 am. However, I sort of figured that a 24-hour McDonald's that was by the interstate probably sold coffee at odd hours and that the old Joe would occasionally be dumped and replaced - or at least that unknowing customers would be warned.

Nope.

Some of the thickest and most burnt flavored I've had from anywhere other than a small gas station at midday, when I truly knew better.

Oh well. I still liked having the warm cup in my hand and even bad coffee probably helped carry me through the final hour of a 700-mile drive.

Welcome, "Southern Trout"

It's always fun to learn about a cool new resource. I just discovered Southern Trout, an electronic magazine and website devoted to trout fishing in the Southeast. The main site has a place for news, a blog and a cool photo gallery, so the content should be quite dynamic. The magazine has a clear focus on trout in the South, blending tradition and innovations, and covers everything from outfitters to fly patterns to destinations. The emphasis is on fly-fishing, but the content is not fly-exclusive.

Southern Trout is published by Don Kirk, a long-time Southern writer and trout fisherman and author of a classic book about trout fishing in the Smokies. The staff is made up of family member, each using unique skills to gather and deliver quality content. Contributors, based on the first issue, include many of many of the most knowledgeable trout writers in the region.

Living in Georgia, I often get blank stares returned when I mention trout fishing, waterfalls or mountains near home. Most folks picture peanuts, pine plantations, swamps or downtown Atlanta when they think of Georgia. Few think of rhododendron tunnels around tiny, tumbling branches loaded with spectacular-colored brook trout. I think much of the South shares similar stereotypes, so I'm thrilled to see a magazine that celebrates our Southern trout fishing tradition and provides good practical information to fishermen.

Welcome, Southern Trout!

Minnesota Mid-Summer Bronzeback Madness

It's been a month or so since I was in Northern Minnesota, smallmouth fishing on the Vermilion River with Billy Rosner of Wild Country Guide Service, and it sounds like the bite has progressed exactly as Billy had expected during that month.

Not that is seemed like it needed to progress. We caught smallmouths like mad for two days, with Day 1 being a topwater show, and Day 2 featuring a bunch of big fish. Relatively speaking, though, the bite was off, which Billy attributed both to the fact that many big smallmouths were spawning
and to the fact that the river was very high from a rainy spring.

I talked to Billy today, and it sounds like the fishing in the river is borderline crazy now, with angry smallmouths behind every boulder and logjam. Significantly lower water makes the fish's locations more predictable and the best spots easier to reach with casts and work with good presentations. Billy fishes some sections of the Vermilion in a small V-hull and floats other sections in a canoe, portaging around falls. On float trips, he also likes to wade the lower ends of shoals.

Although it has only been about a month since my visit, I'm already planning my next trip to the Vermilion. Next year (or whenever I'm able to make it back up there) I will plan it for just a little bit later in the summer. If I experienced "off" fishing, I can't imagine what it's like when it is on. I suppose it's a little early to start packing my tackle!

Interesting Twist in Bassmaster Classic Plot

Jason Christie of Park Hill, Oklahoma, who won the B.A.S.S. Open out of Detroit this weekend, earned a spot in the 2013 Bassmaster Classic, which will be held on Oklahoma's Grand Lake. B.A.S.S. photo by David Hunter Jones.

Of the seven BFL tournaments that Oklahoma's Jason Christie won before he began touring nationally as an FLW pro, five of them were on Oklahoma's Grand Lake, which will be the venue for the 2013 Bassmaster Classic. By winning this weekend's B.A.S.S. Northern Open in Detroit, Christie qualified for the "home waters" Classic.

Christie, who worked grass patches at the mouth of the Detroit River with YUM 2ubes and Salleemanders throughout the Detroit event and brought 20-plus pounds to the scales all three days, has only fished half a dozen B.A.S.S. events, so his name is not super well known on the B.A.S.S. side. In only five years as an FLW pro, though, he has become known as one of the top competitors on the tour.

Oklahoma tournament anglers at all levels know Christie's name very well, and B.A.S.S. pros from all areas who anticipate making the Classic almost certainly have taken note of Christie's Classic qualification. Every qualifier brings unique strengths to a Classic field, and various anglers will be worthy of watching closely for one reason or another. Christie, though, clearly will be a popular pick as favorite to win the 2013 Bassmaster Classic.

Of course, Christie can't dwell too much on what he'll do in the Bassmaster Classic a half a year from now. In less then three weeks he will be competing in his fourth consecutive Forrest Wood Cup, and the venue is Lake Lanier, which is only about 50 miles from Lake Hartwell, where he notched his first FLW Tour win last year.

The Bug Bite

Having had not caught many fish last time we fished the pond and having seen a lot of fish sipping insects on the surface, Nathaniel, Asher and I toted a couple of fly rods along with the other gear when we  headed to the pond last night. In fact, I didn't carry another rod.

It seems like the bug hatch might have been the problem last week because fly-fishing produced several bream and bass last night even without the fish feeding on an obvious hatch.

The most productive specific rig was a Sneaky Pete rigged with a small Tellico Nymph as a dropper about a foot and a half beneath the floating offering. Most of the fish took the nymph, but the Sneaky Pete produced one and drew a couple of other strikes. It also served nicely as a "strike indicator"and probably got the attention of a few of the nymph fish by darting and spitting on the surface.

Asher actually started with a big fly rod popper cast with an ultralight trigger-spin outfit, but the fish wouldn't come up for the popper. Eventually he switched to a YUM Dinger, nose-hooked on a Daiichi Circle Hook and fished weightless, and caught a couple of bass before dark.

Full Day of Learning

August 4 promises to be a day filled with learning for Nathaniel and me because I just registered us for a full-day hunter education class. I actually took hunter education once before, but it was 25 years ago and the course was somewhat broken and distracted as Hurricane Hugo was fast approaching the South Carolina coast, and the Class was in Charleston. I've not really hunted much since then, and things have changed substantially in a quarter of a century. Therefore, much of the learning will be as new to me as it will be to Nathaniel.

I've fished for as long as I can as I can remember, but I never hunted as a boy. In college I spent occasional fall Saturdays in doves fields with friends, and my first job out of school was for a waterfowl conservation organization, which led to a few duck hunting trips. While working as an editor for Game & Fish Publications I took a few writer trips that involved time in the deer or turkey woods or in a dove field.

That's about it. Hunting just hasn't had the same appeal to me as fishing, and between the great fishing that occurs during fall and winter and the fact that my established writing markets are virtually all fishing oriented, I've just never taken the time to do more hunting.

The renewed interest comes through Nathaniel, my 14-year-old son. Last year's Southeastern Outdoor Press Association conference sparked a significant shooting/hunting interest in him so we're ready to start learning together. The hunter education class, which is in Spartanburg, S.C., will be the first important step. At this year's SEOPA conference, which is in late September, I look forward to lots of good learning for both of us from friends on the shooting/hunting side of the outdoor writing industry.

The next step will be to plan a few forays for this fall and winter where we can get out in the woods for squirrels or sit together in a duck blind. Maybe I can figure out some cast-and-blast plans! 

Backyard Treasures

As my daughter and I began hiking the Hurricane Falls Trail at Tallulah Gorge State Park this afternoon, I realized it had been a few years since I'd hiked in the park and that Sarah had never hiked to the suspension bridge that spans the gorge above the falls' main drop, let alone continuing to the base of the falls. How easy it is to forget about the beautiful places that are so close to home.

A narrow 1,000-foot-deep gorge that flanks the Tallulah River as it pours over four major waterfalls, Tallulah Gorge is only 15 miles from my house, and the spectacular hike to Hurricane Falls really doesn't take long to complete. I'm blessed to live at the edge of the Appalachian Mountains, to enjoy the schedule control that comes from self employment and to have a wife and children who enjoy exploring God's creation. It's pretty silly, therefore, to not spend more time exploring places like Tallulah Gorge, Amicalola Falls and the Chattooga National Wild and Scenic River.

Even today, we only ended up planning a gorge hike because Sarah wanted reference pictures of Hurricane Falls for a pressed flower picture she hopes to do at some point. We gained much more than a few pictures from the hike, though, and I'm thankful for the motivation to get on the trail and the reminder about the treasures that are so close to home.

Water for the Pond

If the little pond the boys and I often fish is much of an indicator, water levels may be improving in North Georgia from recent summer rains -- including a seriously heavy shower this afternoon.

I suppose Forrest Wood Cup competitors are paying pretty close attention to rainfall reports and water levels in North Georgia. In three weeks they'll be competing for 1/2 million dollars on Lake Sidney Lanier, and the amount of rain that falls between now and then could have a major impact on the behavior of the fish and on the best fishing spots and patterns. Even on the pond, where structure fishing is not a big factor, we see a lot of changes in the fish's behavoir based on water levels.

Detroit Decisions

All eyes will be on Joe Balog, a Great Lakes expert who lives by Lake St. Clair, when Balog brings his fish to the B.A.S.S. Open scales on Thursday.





You can bet there's a lot of noodling happening now on the waters closest to Detroit. Pros are currently practicing for a B.A.S.S Open that begins on Thursday. Any bass tournament out of the Motor City begins with the basic decision about whether to fish St. Clair, massive Lake Erie or the Detroit River, which connects the two waterways -- a decision impacted by where pros get the most bites and catch the biggest fish during practice and by the weather outlook.

Anglers who are unfamiliar with these waters must first find stuff they like and then decide what strategies make the most sense. However, decisions aren't necessarily easy for the pros who know these waters best because an angler's two best areas might be 75 miles from each other. Weather is a factor in any bass tournament because it affects fish behavior, but the forecast has an extra big impact on Great Lakes fisheries because it dictates where a pro can and cannot run or fish effectively and the practicality of moving from one spot to another during a day.

Big-water specialists like Joe Balog, who won a 2006 Northern Open on Erie and who now calls the St. Clair area home, enjoy advantages that stretch way beyond knowing how the fish behave and where they go on these waters (although that knowledge is important, too). They know how to run big water and how to set up over offshore structure and fish it effectively, even when the lake is rocking.

I haven't looked at the 5-day forecast for Detroit, but in truth what it says now about Thursday may have little to do with what actually happens. The pros may have have to take one final peek up a flagpole on Thursday morning and then decide which way to point the boat!

3 Paths to Mid-Summer Trout

Sizzling summer days have an impact on trout habitat in many Southern streams and can push fish into survival mode. At the same time, many flows run low and streams turn extra clear. That can make for tough fishing. Don't despair or abandon trout fishing for the summer. Just alter when and where you fish. Here are three specific suggestions:

*Head Up Creeks - High-elevation tributaries generally stay much cooler than the streams they feed and are therefore less impacted by mid-summer conditions. Pick national forest streams with plenty of overgrowth to provide constant shade and sufficiently steep beds to form plenty falls and plunge pools. Know going in that stream cover gets seriously thick during mid-summer and that you must be willing to climb and crawl for your reward.

*Hit Tailwaters - Because many tailwaters get their water from deep in the lower ends of reservoirs, they often remain cold even during the summer, with little change in the behavior of the fish. Dissolved oxygen levels become an issue in some tailwaters very late in the summer and into fall, but many produce well during July. The big variable in any tailwater is the level of the water, which impacts both the behavior of the fish and the ways you can access the river and fish effectively.

*Follow Storms - Vigorous afternoon storm, which happen quite a bit during the middle of the summer, often will usher in a couple of hours of good fishing action. Hard rains bring a blast of fresh nutrients, stained water and at times cooler temperatures to trout streams, and the fish tend to feed really well at that time. Just be sure to wait till the thunder and lighting have finished before venturing astream!

Slower Saturday Evening

Should have brought a fly rod, I suppose. The bite last night was much slower than it has been for the past two Saturdays, with Nathaniel, Asher and I each catching only one fish in our final-hour Saturday outing. Fish were out in the middle of the pond, sipping tiny insects from the surface from the time we arrived until dark, so I think they had bugs on the brain.

We couldn't tell if it was a mix of bream and bass or all bream, but since the bass weren't on the banks hitting the offerings that normally produce well, I'm quite certain most of the fish on the pond were keyed in on the bug diet. At least one other time, a summer or two ago, the water almost seemed like it was boiling with fish feeding on the surface and we couldn't draw a sniff with our normal lures.

If we get back out to the pond some evening soon (which we probably will), I'll definitely bring a fly rod and some tiny dry flies and nymphs so I can test the theory.

Saturday Evening Forays

The last two Saturday evenings have found the boys and I at a nearby pond for the last hour or two of the day, and I sort of feel like we might find our way there again before today is over. A simple final-hour outing puts a nice cap on a hot Saturday spent mostly at home.

We keep it super simple, carrying only a few rods and very little spare tackle. We make a few casts from the dock, flip Nathaniel's johnboat, slip it in the pond and make one or two laps around the perimeter, fishing until dark.

Both recent evening forays have yielded good action. Two weeks ago we caught all bass, with most of them hitting topwater lures. Last week's trip yielded a mix of bass and bream, with a handful of lures yielding at least one fish. Last week's most productive lure was a Lindy Watsit Grub rigged on little spinner harness.

Why Wait for Ice?

The new MarCum LX-9 combines digital sonar, high-definition underwater video and DVR functionality in one portable unit.

One inevitable effect of ICAST and all the reports that come from the world's largest sportfishing trade show is a surge of anticipation in the fishing world. Anglers everywhere read stories and watch reports, but most of the best stuff hasn't hit full production, and some may not be available for several months. And so we anticipate.

The waiting is even worse when it's stuff made for ice-fishing. No matter how quickly the manufacturers get production up to speed and make their products available, it's tough to ice-fish without ice. You can jiggle a new rod, hold jig between your fingers or even set up a shelter in your yard, but somehow it's not the same as really putting it to work on the hard water.

Such is the case this year. One of the coolest product introductions I'm aware of from this year's show, the MarCum LX-9, was designed primarily for ice fishing, so my guess is that some Minnesota lake will have to freeze before I'll actually get to see one in action. This portable unit combines digital sonar readings and high-definition camera, visible together on a split screen, and adds DVR recording capabilities. Talk about getting a seriously good picture of what's below you as you fish and being able to truly study the fish's behavior!

The more I think about these units and all their functions, though, the more I wonder why they should be only for ice. I realize most boating anglers rely upon in-dash units, and my guess is that changing bottom depths and a moving boat could create some challenges for the depth setting of the camera. Still, so much boat fishing is from a stationary position, with a lure or bait dropped straight down from the rod tip. It would seem like an LX-9 would be be immeasurably valuable to a drop-shotter working a school of suspended bass or a crappie fisherman jigging spoons beside a bridge piling. Or what about a scouting angler who is slowing going over a hole and is trying to figure out of he's seeing stripers, catfish or something else on his electronics?

What about dock fishermen, small-boat anglers or even back-of-the boat fishermen? Serious ice fishermen all carry their own electronics from hole to hole on every lake they visit. It seems to me like we might be "missing the boat" in the open-water world, and that the LX-9 is too seriously cool to only use when it's seriously cold.

All You Can Catch Buffet

Road Runner Reality Shad Buffet

I suggested in an earlier post that multi-lure rigs would be a major trend at this year's ICAST show, and from everything I've seen while tracking the show through fishing websites, facebook posts, press releases and such, that clearly is the case. I'm not at the show this year, so I admittedly haven't seen them all. However, one such offering that catches my eye and that seems different from most is the Road Runner Reality Shad Buffet.

The biggest thing that sets this one apart is that it really is a lure, not a rig. The pieces are all in place, from line tie to hook points, and everything except the tails is permanently affixed. What that means to the average angler is that a Reality Shad Buffet is ready to use, right out of the package. More importantly, the wire has been cut and shaped and the heads and blades chosen so the lure will swim balanced and straight in the water column. Also, because the Reality Shad Buffet has only two heads and hooks, it will be legal to use in most states.

The Buffet is also a compact package, with the whole thing being less than 4 inches long. That means you can cast it on light or even ultralight gear for bluegills, white bass, trout, stream smallmouths and more or troll it with crappie gear. Little being a plus is partly a personal bias, I suppose, because I'm a huge fan of light gear. I enjoy casting diminutive offerings on light tackle for whatever chooses to bite. From a practical standpoint, though, I've also found that you catch more fish overall by erring on the small side with offerings.

I'm eager to see a final Reality Shad Buffet tied to my line and to put it to work in some of my favorite creeks and ponds.

Phillips Reconition Well Deserved

John E. Phillips, recipient of the 2012 POMA/ASA Homer Circle Fishing Communicator Award

"Hey World's Greatest!"

Outdoor writers, magazine editors and PR folks know that enthusiastic greeting well. Most have heard it through the phone more than a few times, often when John E. Phillips has had a new idea to help that person or his company make a little extra money.

One of the most prolific writers in the hunting/fishing industry, Phillips is an idea person like few others. However, Bubba, as Phillips is best known by industry friends, doesn't just have ideas. He carries them to completion and often makes them work. Unlike too many of us in the same industry, Bubba also stays ahead of the curve as the media world continues to changes. He's putting out e-books and promoting them on Pinterest while the rest of us are just trying to figure out what those things are.

Last night at the ICAST New Products Showcase preview reception, Phillips was presented the 2012 POMA/ASA Homer Circle Fishing Communicator Award. I cannot think of a more qualified recipient for an award that "recognizes a journalist who exemplifies, the spirit, dedication to fishing, extraordinary talent, and commitment to mentoring the next generation of sportfishing communicators as displayed by outdoor journalist legend Homer Circle, AKA Uncle Homer, during his storied career."

Bubba's productivity is incomprehensible to me. He's published tens of thousands of magazine, newspaper and Internet articles and photos, plus 42 books, along with working at times as an editor, lecturer and radio host, to name a few things. More importantly, though, Bubba is a friend to everyone in the industry, views fellow writers as colleagues not competitors, and is the first to offer advice or help to any young communicator who will receive it.

I've benefited from Bubba's advice on several occasions. In fact, when he learned that I was leaving my steady job as an editor to write full-time more than 15 years ago he was quick to call me, both with a strong dose of reality and with sound, practical direction if that really was what I wanted to do. I had no doubts about God's direction for my career or about his provision, but I valued Bubba's advice and appreciated his frank and well qualified warnings.

Most folks in the industry have their own "Bubba help" stories.

The Homer Circle Fishing Communicator Award is cosponsored by the American Sportfishing Association, which puts on the ICAST show, and the Professional Outdoor Media Association, a professional association in the traditional outdoor sports industry.

New & Really Exciting

Many of my friends are in Orlando this week, gathered for the world's largest sportfishing trade show. There, folks will get first looks at all kinds of new fishing products. Rods, reels, lures, fly vests, rod holders ... You name it.
Today I got my first look at my new baby girl, Holly Joy, who was born at 5:00 pm. That's something new and really exciting! Holly is our sixth child, and each is a wonderful gift from the Lord. I normally travel quite a bit, mostly to fish and gather material for stories, but I'll be staying close to home for the rest of this summer!
The goofy bow on her hat, by the way, was the hospital's doing, not ours. 

Ice Gear in Orlando?

Folks don't set up ice-fishing shelters in Florida during January, let alone July, but the shelters will be going up tomorrow. At the same time everything from ice lures to augers will being coming out of their packaging. Orlando is the host city of the International Convention of Allied Sport Fishing Trades (ICAST), and all segments of the sportfishing industry -- including ice-fishing -- will be represented at the show.

One new name in the ice world at this year's ICAST show will be Ice Force, which is not a new brand but instead a new marketing alliance of several classic ice brands. Otter, Strike Master, Mora Ice, MarCum, Rapala, VMC and Sufix together make up Ice Force. Collectively, these brands offer ice-fishing shelters, augers, electronics, lures, hooks, line and more.

You can bet these brands will break out some new stuff that will have northern anglers seriously longing for colder days. One I've heard about is an ice-specific version of Sufix 832, a high-performance superline.

Set-up for the three-day show begins tomorrow. ICAST activities begin with a New Products Showcase preview reception Tuesday night. The show runs Wednesday through Friday, so look for lots of buzz about new fishing stuff.

ICAST Preview: Square Lip Fat Free Shad

"What if you..?"

Lure manufacturers hear countless questions that begin with those three words as pro staffers and customers dream about variations of existing lures that would do something a little bit different.

Occasionally such a question makes too much sense to not create a bait that provides the answer."What if you combined the deflective values of a square-lipped crankbait with the shape and swimming action of a Bomber Fat Free Shad?"

Meet the Square Lip Fat Free Shad, which will be introduced in two sizes and eight colors at the ICAST show in Orlando next week. In most ways, this is the same Fat Free Shad that changed the crankbait world forever when Mark Davis used one to win the 1995 Bassmaster Classic. The main difference is a squared-off diving lip, which allows this Fat Free Shad to walk through brush or rocks 10 feet beneath the surface. The square-lipped version is also weighted to swim slightly nose down for the same purpose. That helps the lip and not the hooks to hit snaggy cover first.

This new Fat Free Shad will allow you to crank those classic spots where offshore structure and cover meet: thick brush on a point, a rockpile atop a hump, laydown branches at the edge of a channel...  Stuff you only used to be able to fish with worms or other weedless offerings.

I'm looking forward to putting the Square Lip Fat Free Shad to work some time soon!

New Spin on Multi-Lure Rigs

Typically at the ICAST show, several new-product trends emerge: hollow-bodied swimbaits, micro eyes on rods, a new material for waders, better-equipped fishing kayaks, square-lipped crankbaits... Something that has been hot or has shown signs of getting hot typically draws multiple manufacturers to develop some version of a certain style of product or something that goes with that type of product.

Anyone who follows the fishing business at all knows that one major trend at this year's show will be multi-lure rigs and all sorts of stuff to go with them. Following the trend started by Alabama Rigs on the bass tournament trails last fall, there will be many types of multi-lure rigs for fresh and salt water alike, rods designed for casting and presenting such rigs, baits made specifically to go on the ends of the wires, specialized boxes and wraps for storing them...

YUM, which quickly emerged as a leader in this category with the YUMbrella rig, is introducing an entire line of multi-lure offerings under the collective dubbing of Bait School Technology.

One of the coolest offerings in this line, from my perspective, is the Flash Mob Jr. As the Jr. part of the name suggests, it is downsized from the original YUMbrella rig and can be cast on most fishing gear. The flash part is what sets is apart, though. Four spinnerbait blades positioned halfway down the arms create a bunch of attention-getting flash just ahead of the grubs or swimbait bodies or whatever you choose to put on the jigheads.

The folks in Fort Smith, Arkansas, where YUM Bait Company is headquartered, have been had huge fun testing the Flash Mob Jr. and the results have been seriously good!

All That's Cool & New for Fishing

Photo courtesy of the American Sportfishing Association.

In a little less than a week a huge segment of the sportfishing industry will gather under a single huge roof in Orlando for the International Convention of Allied Sportfishing Trades -- better known simply as ICAST. At ICAST, which is the world's largest sportfishing trade show and is produced by the American Sportfishing Association, tackle manufacturers will reveal their new products for the 2013 model year.

Rods, reels, lures, hooks, waders, ice augers, fishing hats, fly vests, pliers, kayaks, electronics...  You name it. If a product is used for fishing, it's probably represented with some new twist at ICAST. Manufacturers primarily use the show to highlight new offerings for sales to distributors and retailers (who travel to the show from all over the world); however, it's also the time when media folks like me get to see all the new stuff for the first time. For that reason, you'll soon begin to see lots of stories about cool new stuff on the web, on TV, in tabloids, newspapers and magazines and more.

I typically attend ICAST, both for the chance to see all the new products, which helps me tremendously with story ideas, and for the opportunity to visit with many manufacturer representatives, fishing pros writers and editors in a single place. It really feels like the whole industry gathers at ICAST, so it's a great place to build relationships.

I won't make this year's show because the Samsel family is due to expand very soon. Holly Samsel is due July 10. I'll be watching reports from manufacturer and media friends, though, and will report about some of is happening and what is begin revealed. I've already begun getting quite a few e-mails previewing the new stuff that will be shown.

Most manufacturers will travel to Orlando over the weekend. Set-up begins Monday, and the show kicks off Tuesday evening with a New Products Showcase preview reception.

Thankful for Freedom

Birds chattering outside my open front door remind me that I live in a great place, and on this Independence Day morning, I feel extra grateful for the opportunity to work independent of a formal employer, making my living by writing fish stories from home and traveling to many wonderful places in search of story material. In many countries, such opportunities would not exist.

I'm also thankful for our home-school, where prayer is permitted, God's Word is central, education occurs around the clock and the calendar, and pocketknives are viewed as tools, not weapons. I believe it's my Biblical responsibility to teach my children, and I'm grateful for the freedom to do so legally.

I'm thankful too that my wife and I can pray together in the morning, and that my family can attend church, talk about the scriptures at the dinner table and sing hymns together -- all without fear of legal persecution. We'll talk about those freedoms together today as we celebrate Independence Day. Let us never take such things for granted.

Back to Back Championships

Bill Braswell and Dan Dannenmueller won the Crappie Masters "Angler Team of the Year" title for the second consecutive year in 2012.

When you fish a tournament trail that hits 10 different waterways in nine states, earning an "Angler Team of the Year" title calls for serious consistency. Now think about doing the same thing two years in a row.

That's exactly what the Gary Yamamoto Custom Baits team of Bill Braswell and Dan Dannenmueller have accomplished, winning the Bass Pro Shops Crappie Masters points race in 2011 and 2012. to put the points race in better perspective, in 2012 more than 300 teams participated in Crappie Masters tournaments.

Like many competitive crappie anglers, Braswell and Dannenmueller favor spider rigging for tournament fishing because they can cover a lot of water, keep several baits in the water at one time and effectively pattern the fish as they go. With a large part of the field is using the same general strategy in several events, finishing close enough to the top of the standings to accumulate and maintain a points lead becomes extra challenging.

"The keys to our back-to-back wins were consistency, teamwork and our spider rigging efficiency," Dannenmueller said.

Familiar Names Top Tournaments

David Dudley and his family celebrate a win at Champlain, which was Dudley's second FLW Tour win this season. FLW photo by David Brown.

Dudley and VanDam. No surprises in the names atop the leaderboards at the end of the FLW Tour and B.A.S.S. Elite Series tournaments over the weekend. Except the Elite victory didn't go to Kevin VanDam. Instead, it went to KVD's newphew, Jonathon VanDam (JVD), and Kevin actually got to hand the trophy to his newphew .

David Dudley, who was already the top money winner in FLW history and currently tops the BassFan World rankings, added his second FLW Tour win of the season by topping the field at Champlain, along with locking up his second consecutive (and third total) FLW Angler of the Year title. Dudley fished for all largemouths in the northern end of Champlain and edged out friend and fellow Virginia angler Jacob Powroznik in both the tournament and the Angler of theYear race.

VanDam's win was his second with B.A.S.S., but his first on the Elite Series. In 2010 he won a Northern Open on Lake Erie enroute to qualifying for the Elites. This weekend's Elite Series win at Green Bay ensures VanDam a place in the 2013 Bassmaster Classic.

Although JVD is by far the lesser known of the VandDams and the victory was his first on the Elites, his win was no suprise to folks who closely follow professional bass fishing. In fact, he was one of the most popular picks among his peers as a favorite going into this event because of his prowess with Northern smallmouth bass and his familiarity with Lake Michigan. VanDam caught most of the fish he weighed with a drop shot rig, using Strike King Dream Shot worm. The color? KVD Magic!

Jonathon VanDam earned his first Elite Series win and a place in the 2013 Bassmaster Classic field by topping the field at Green Bay. B.A.S.S. photo by Seigo Saito.

Final-Hour Topwater Fun

 "I'm trying to keep it from popping," I told Nathaniel half jokingly. I had broken a backlashed line just above my reel and was hand-lining my Zell Pop back toward the boat. Apparently open-water skittering was too much for one bass to resist, though, because it attacked before I could get the bait back to me, and I ended up fighting the fish by grabbing loops with one hand and holding the rod with the other. I'm not complaining. It was fun and funny and capped off final-hour lap around the pond.

Well, it almost capped off the trip. Nathaniel did add one final bass with his Zara Pup after my broken-line popper bass.

Given yesterday's heat, we spent most of the day inside, so Nathaniel and I figured a quick lap around the pond at dark might be fun. Fun indeed. Of the nine we caught in about an hour of fishing time, all except two were on surface lures. We also missed a handful of fish, including a couple that hit really hard. We didn't catch any big fish, but that didn't matter.

Most of the fish were right on the bank, and they hit our baits almost as soon as the lures landed on the pond's calm surface. I wonder whether they'd laid low all day and were just gearing up for a night of hunting or whether all the activity is occuring at first and last light right now. Or maybe they fed all day, and we just weren't out there to find out about it!