Jeff Samsel Outdoors

The Donkey Delivers Big Bass

2012-02-01T17:42:00.009-05:00

If Terry "Big Show" Scroggins is fishing in Florida, you can bet he has the "Donkey" tied on at least one rod -- and chances are fairly good that it's the one that's in his hand. The Donkey refers to a Smithwick Devil's Horse. Scroggins dubs it a donkey because of the way you have to work it, "Slow and steady, like a donkey."

Last weekend it was actually the " Swamp Donkey" because Big Show and Gerald Swindle were fishing Devil's Horses together on Toho, and Swindle decided to add more Florida flavor the name. The biggest fish the two of them weighed attacked a Swamp Donkey.

The Devil's Horse has been a favorite of Florida fishermen for decades. They especially like it because you can create a lot of commotion with the blades without moving the bait very far. It tantalizes big bass that are holding near cover, and they can't resist attacking. Old timers throw it year-round and in all conditions.

Scroggins contends that you really only need one color, which is chrome/black back/orange belly, and when he finds a specific bait that rests exactly how he wants in the water and makes just the right sound, he'll fish that one bait till he loses it or until the bass wear every bit of paint off it.

Florida Update

2012-01-31T21:23:00.002-05:00

Well, tomorrow I hop on the big bird and head back toward Georgia after a great week of fishing and photo work. Blogs are behind, but it's not because I haven't stuff to share. I've been without Internet and had no means of sharing.

First, a past due final word about the PAA Tour Team Challenge. Bobby Lane and Gerald Brown, the Day 2 leaders, held on and won the event. Bobby's brother, Chris, won the previous week's B.A.S.S. Southern Open on the Harris Chain, just up the road from Kissimmee.

After the Toho weigh-in, Lawrence Taylor and I headed north to Salt Springs, Florida, which was our base camp for three days of fishing. We fished a day on Lake George with Tim Mann and then got together with Terry "Big Show" Scroggins and Cliff Prince for a day on the Harris Chain and a day on the St. Johns River. Each day was completely different, but all three were highly productive and lots of fun. I even managed to catch a pretty nice bass (pictured above) on an XCalibur Xt3 Twitch Bait, and added a hybrid to my 2012 species list. I'll follow with more about the fishing in upcoming blogs.

Double-Digit Repeat

2012-01-27T20:56:00.002-05:00

Photo courtesy of PAA

Gerald Brown and Bobby Lane brought a 10-pound-plus largemouth to the scales for the second day in a row today and overtook the lead in the PAA Tour Team Challenge on Lake Toho. The team's two-day total of 49.65 pounds puts them a little more than a pound ahead of first-day leaders Glenn Browne and Chad Morgenthaler with one day of fishing remaining.

Today was rainy and windy. Tomorrow is supposed to be sunny and calm. Will Brown and Lane bring double-digit fish No. 3 to tomorrow's weigh-in and enough pounds of total weight to take the crown?

While the teams are fishing, I'll be traveling, and my plan is to be at Bass Pro Shops with my camera in hand by 4:30, when they begin weighing fish.

Toho Delivers Big on Day 1

2012-01-27T06:58:00.005-05:00

Photo courtesy of PAA

Plenty of pigs were held high for pictures as PAA pro teams brought their catches to the scales yesterday. It was Day 1 of the PAA Tour Team Challenge, and the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes did not disappoint. Glenn Browne and Chad Morgenthaler took the early lead, with a five fish limit that weighed 31.89 pounds. Gerald Brown and Bobby Lane brought in the day's biggest single bass, which weighed 10.59 pounds.

The pros came to the scales as teams and talked about their day on the water -- not only about the fishing but about the unique dynamic of fishing together. For some it was natural, like buddies just fishing together; for others, who are used to always running the boat and making every decision, fishing together was a challenge and required some adjustments.

Today is supposed to be windy and rainy. That could make navigation rough, and it certainly won't favor sight-fishing; however it could turn on a different bite and create some pretty exciting fishing.

For updates throughout the day today and tomorrow, visit the PAA's facebook page. Yesterday, they were able to post shots of some hawgs right after they were caught -- stuff that made it pretty clear that the weigh-in would be exciting for fans. To see great photo galleries and more detailed reports, visit fishpaa.com.

Sights Set on Florida Bass

2012-01-26T06:49:00.004-05:00

"You should be hitting it about perfect," Tim Mann told me yesterday. Considering current conditions, the calendar and the 5-day outlook, Mann believes things are setting up nicely for a big wave St. Johns River spawners to move up between now and our Sunday outing. Things can change, I know, but I like Mann's confidence, and I'm looking forward to peering at some big ones on Lake George flat and hopefully getting to lock horns with a true heavyweight.

I'll also get to spend time fishing the St. Johns with Cliff Prince, a bass pro who will begin his rookie campaign as a B.A.S.S. Elite Series angler in month and a half on the same waters, which also happen to be his home waters. Terry "Big Show" Scroggins has said that Prince knows the river as well as he does -- and that says a lot.

Should be a great week of learning and gathering story material and a good chance to catch some nice Florida largemouths. Lawrence Taylor of BOOYAH Bait Company also assured me that he has some cool stuff to show me and for us to show to the fish. That means innovative tackle and tactics that I'll be able to share in stories.

First stop, though, is Orlando, where we'll attend the final-day weigh-in of the PAA Tour Team Challenge at Bass Pro Shops. The teams will actually blasting off at Lake Toho for their first day of fishing some time very soon. It sounds like the pros were down-talking what they'd seen in practice or not say much at all, so no one knows quite what will come to the scales. The lake is ultra clear now, and seemingly not many fish have moved up, so it could fish tough. But any teams find an early wave of spawners or the right pre-spawn spot, their bags could be enormous.

Georgia Pond Report

2012-01-25T13:50:00.002-05:00

Ice lures and vertical presentations once again paid dividends on a pond near home this morning. Our friend Calvin caught a couple of bass on Rattl'n Flyer Spoons, and we pounded quite a few nice bluegills with Lindy Toads and Ice Jigs, tipped with worm pieces and fished straight below us, right on the bottom.

This Southern-fried spin-off of ice-fishing has worked so well for us that I'm eager to try in on other waters. Of course, if it keeps getting as warm as it has for the past couple of days, it won't be long before the fish start moving out of the deep water!

We'll Miss You, Dave

2012-01-24T21:13:00.002-05:00

Lots of people will ask you how you've been when they haven't seen you in a while. The difference between Dave Meredith and most other people is that he truly cared about the answer. And it didn't much matter who you were. If you were acquainted with Dave, you were a friend, and he genuinely valued what you had to say.

My time spent with Dave Meredith was all at meetings of the Southeastern Outdoor Press Association and the Georgia Outdoor Writers Association, and he epitomized what I would like to be to everyone else at such a gathering. When most of us walk into a big room for a conference meal, we scan the room for friends to join. Dave looked for the people he didn't know -- who almost had to be newcomers to the organization for him to not know them -- and by the end of the meal they'd have a new friend and feel a little more welcome.

Our industry lost a good friend today. I'm going to miss his big smile at future conferences -- and I'm going to try to seek those newcomers Dave won't get welcome and to do my best make them feel at home.

Callaway for Free?

2012-01-24T06:44:00.005-05:00

Right now is a wonderful time to explore Callaway Gardens because admission fees are being waved through the end of February. The gardens are spectacular, even without spring blooms, and several attractions, such as the Cecil B. Day Butterfly Center and the John A. Sibley Horticultural Center, stay in "full bloom" all winter. And the truth is that if you look around, you'll find more than a few early bloomers in the outside gardens -- flowers that will be long gone for another year by the time the azaleas start their show.

February is also a great month for targeting jumbo largemouth bass from Mountain Creek Lake, which is the big lake (175 acres) in the center of Callaway Gardens. You do have to rent a boat as bank-fishing or fishing from private boats is not permitted; however, the fees are very reasonable, and the lake has produced many double-digit weight largemouths over the years. It's also loaded with jumbo bream. The bream fishing gets easier a little farther into spring, but if you don't mind searching a little deeper, you can find them now.
Of course, winter brings another outstanding and unique fishing opportunity to Callaway Gardens. Several of the property's smaller lakes, which are open only for guided fishing trips, get stocked with brown, rainbow and brook trout every winter. The total experience of the garden setting and kicking around a small private lake with a guide in float tubes is cool any time of the year, but when you add in big trout in the central part Georgia, it almost seems to cool to be true.

Toho Practice Begins Today

2012-01-23T06:12:00.007-05:00

The current Kissimmee outlook warns of heavy fog, so the going might begin a little slow as PAA teams launch into first official practice day for the unique team event that begins on Thursday. The good news in the same forecast from a fishing fan's perspective is that the 5-day is full of sun and 80s. That means the Kissimmee Chain's fabulous bass fishing should show itself well and that some of the big girls in the system should be moving up onto their beds.

The PAA Tour Team Challenge promises big fun for fishing fans and for the fishermen themselves, who rarely get to fish together. Most pros have fished countless team tournaments over the years, but not at this level and with so many top names in the field. Add prime time for big fish on the legendary waters of Lake Toho and the rest of the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes...

Terry Scroggins and Gerald Swindle, good friends who travel together and share information during the Elite Series season, ended last year having to compete head-to-head in a B.A.S.S. play-off format tournament. This week they not only get to practice together, they get to compile their shared findings into a single strategy and fish side-by-side as a team come tournament time. Scroggins and Swindle have both won B.A.S.S. events on Toho, by the way.

Pairings also include Shaw Grigsby & Paul Elias; Russ Lane & Derek Remitz; Mike McClelland & Jared Lintner... And then there are the top pros that you can bet have matched themselves with the best local angler whose name I don't know but whose faces are very well known by anyone who ever fishes tournaments on the Kissimmee Chain. Should be exciting.

I'll have to learn all I can and report from home through most of the week, but on Saturday I'm Florida bound to watch the final-day stories unfold live!

Florida Tournaments Don't Disappoint

2012-01-22T05:14:00.004-05:00

James Overstreet photo; courtesy of B.A.S.S.

No big surprise at the Harris Chain. Chris Lane notched his third B.A.S.S. win at the first B.A.S.S. Southern Open of the season yesterday. All three wins have come in Florida, where Lane grew up fishing. The only angler to bring 20-plus pounds to the scales all three days, Lane saved his best for last, weighing 28 pounds, 5 ounces on day three. Lane used a Lucky Strike RC2, which is a square-billed crankbait, to find groups of fish and then slowed down and worked those areas with various soft-plastic baits.

Meanwhile, farther south, at Lake Okeechobee, Florida pro Brandon Medlock won the FLW EverStart Series Southeast event on Okeechobee for the second year in a row. The biggest surprise at the Big O, which has been yielding great catches this year, was the lack of big bags (only one over 20 pounds) on the first day of the tournament. However, Medlock blew that away on Day 2, when he wowed the crowd with a massive catch of 35 pounds, 7 ounces, which was anchored by a 10-8. Medlock, who used a big, specialized jig made by his father in this year's and last year's win, will be fishing the FLW Tour event on the same body of water in a few weeks, so that should be fun to watch.

Next up is the PAA team tournament at Toho. I'll be traveling to Florida to attend the final day weigh-in and then to sample the Florida fishing for a few days. I'll also post news about the event as I learn it so check back often.

Southern-Style Ice Fishing

2012-01-21T12:22:00.003-05:00

Asher Samsel, 7, used a Lindy Toad to catch this bluegill. Photo by Nathaniel Samsel.

Nathaniel decided last week that it was time to try something different, and that something has worked really well.

Following an instinct, Nathaniel, his 7-year-old brother Asher and I began using vertical presentations with ice lures and very light line in the deepest part of the pond and catching fish better than we ever have during the winter in this particular pond. Catches have included plenty of bluegills, which have always just sort of disappeared this time of year. The best lures have been Lindy Rattl'n Flyer Spoons for bass and Lindy Toads, tipped with small earthworms, for bluegills.

We still have a lot to learn about the approach, which is a lot like ice fishing without the ice, but the first few days of experimentation have yielded nothing but positive results.

@jeffsamsel on Twitter

2012-01-20T04:38:00.003-05:00

Be sure to follow me on Twitter. That's @jeffsamsel. Can I make -- or even break -- a baker's dozen followers before the calendar page turns?!

Let the Games Begin

2012-01-19T04:46:00.009-05:00

Excitement abounds about now around a couple of famous Florida waterways. Less than two hours from now, the B.A.S.S. Southern Opens will kick off a new season on the Harris Chain of Lakes while Southeast Division FLW Everstart Series anglers blast off at Lake Okeechobee. Rumor has it that Okeechhobee is red hot and that some big bags should show up at the scales this afternoon.

This weekend's concurrent events begin a month or so of major Florida tournaments and really bring a new season of bass tournament competition into swing.

Next week at Lake Toho, the PAA Tour Team Challenge will bring a brand new look to bass fishing, with two-man teams competing together in a major national-level event. The field will pair some of the biggest names in the sport -- Terry Scroggins & Gerald Swindle; Shaw Grigsby & Paul Elias; Mike McClelland & Jared Lintner -- so it should be fun to watch.

A couple of weeks after the PAA's Toho tournament, FLW will return to the Big O, this time with higher stakes, as the Walmart FLW Tour begins its 2012 campaign on Lake Okeechobee.

Then the focus shifts from Florida to Louisiana's Red River and the 2012 Bassmaster Classic!

Home from the Wintery North

2012-01-18T19:29:00.004-05:00

It seems I left North Dakota just in time. It was -2 and snowing sideways when I got on my airplane early this morning. I just looked at the weather, and it's currently 10 below and dropping, with the wind howling at 25 mph and warnings for folks to stay inside.

I spent two fun days fishing mostly for yellow perch with Jason Feldner of Perch-Eyes Guide Service and learned a tremendous amount about prairie lakes and strategies for jumbo perch and walleyes. Devils Lake has an amazing perch fishery with fish that are ridiculously fat.

I also was able to add three species to the 2012 list: yellow perch, walleye and northern pike. It's early in the year, so that doubled the tally. The next set of travels will be radically different in character as I will be Florida bound.

Wear or Tote

2012-01-15T07:45:00.003-05:00

The internal debate occurs any time my travel plans point me toward winter wonderlands. Do I spend several days in the same bulky pair of boots, which do their job nicely on the ice but really aren't that comfortable on an airplane or in a restaurant, or do I add a bunch of weight and bulk to a duffel that already includes several heavy layers? This time I'm wearing 'em because the trip isn't terribly long, and I won't spend much time doing anything other than ice fishing. Next time? Well, I'll figure that out next time.

2012 Species List

2012-01-13T05:58:00.004-05:00

For no reason other than fun and curiosity, I decided that this year I would keep try to keep track of all the different species of fish I catch. I say try because I could forget for a while (although I will seek to stay updated) and then miss something as I'm thinking back. I might also catch a sunfish or something else that I can't positively identify by species.

It' easy so far: blue catfish, black crappie & largemouth bass. Come Monday, I hope to expand with a few more northerly species as I'll be fishing in North Dakota.

Maybe some day I'll try to compile a life list, sort of like birders do. I'd miss a few, I'm sure, for the same reasons listed above magnified by four decades of fishing. It would be kind of cool to have such a list compiled, though, and to officially add to my life list when I catch some kind of fish for the first time. In February, I might have the chance to catch a splake, which would be a definite first, and I have to think I'll catch something for the first time in Costa Rica in March. If I do ever get such a tally compiled, I'll blog about my findings.

Weather Extremes

2012-01-11T03:59:00.003-05:00

It's well before sun-up on a January morning, and the thermometer shows 55 degrees. Meanwhile, just outside our dining room window, our first daffodil of the season opened yesterday. It's strangely spring-like but I'd better not let myself get too used to the warmth. Four days from now I fly to North Dakota for a couple of days of ice fishing, and the forecast temperature range for the entire time I'll be there is -5 to 12. I suppose I'd better prepare myself for weather extremes because as I look at my calendar, the next four major trips I have confirmed take me North Dakota, Florida, South Dakota and Costa Rica.

The Wind Won

2012-01-08T08:35:00.002-05:00

The wind blew steadily yesterday, making canoe control tough and limiting the number of decent casts Nathaniel and Asher and I were able to manage during a short pond outing. I was able to land one small bass, which absolutely hammered a Road Runner Marabou Pro 2.0. I also missed one other fish on the same lure. I'm glad that I can now say that I have caught a bass this year, but I do hope to upgrade it a bit.

Santee Cats & Crappie

2012-01-06T06:50:00.005-05:00

When I finished 2011 with a little largemouth from a pond near home, I sort of wondered what my first fish 0f 2012 would be. Turns out it was a catfish -- specifically a blue catfish -- and it came from Lake Moultrie, better known as "the Lower Lake" by folks in Santee Cooper Country. Nathaniel and I spent a fun day on the lake yesterday with Kevin Davis, owner of Blacks Camp. We split the day in half, catching catfish in the morning and pulling big crappie off deep brushpiles in the afternoon.

The crappie were using brush along the edge of a hump in nearly 30 feet of water. It is cool fishing because from above the surface it looks like you are in the middle of nowhere, but the boat positioning and depth control must be precise. Davis relies on his electronics, marker buoys and trolling motor to keep the boat where it needs to be. He uses two-foot "pulls" of line off the reels to place minnows and jigs at just the right depth, which normally means barely above the bulk of the brush's branches.

Next stop, North Dakota, for walleyes, perch and pike through the ice. That is unless I find myself back on the pond or waist deep in a trout stream some time in the next week or so!

Maine to Alaska

2012-01-01T07:21:00.010-05:00

Last year's fishing trips certainly spanned the miles. Best I can figure by looking back through blogs, I needed fishing licenses from 17 different states (plus Ontario) in 2011. Geographic range was from Alaska to Maine to Texas. Nine fishing days were on the ice in Minnesota or Colorado. Prior to 2011, I had spent a grand total of one day ice fishing.

I enjoyed the opportunity to spend a quite a bit of time casting for smallmouths last years, including inaugural visits to Maine's Penobscot River and Wisconsin's legendary Door County. I didn't spend as many days trout fishing as I normally do, but a friend and I did get the opportunity to introduce Nathaniel to our favorite river -- the West Fork of the Chattooga River.
My fish-catchingest days of 2011 (and among the most fun) were just a couple of weeks ago, with Frank Campbell on the Niagara River. We literally caught hundreds of pounds of steelhead, brown trout and lake trout. Another favored day included minimal fish catching because the river was low and the bite wasn't happening. That was the day I floated Arkansas' beautiful Buffalo River with Nathaniel and few good friends. I also really enjoyed the two days when then-6 Asher took Nathaniel and me to fish-catching school, catching almost all the fish, and the afternoon I spent with Stephen Browning catching Lake Fork largemouth doubles on tiny tandem rigs.

One of my most noteworthy individual fish came from Fork on the following afternoon when Gary Dollahon and I were trying to catch white bass for photos. Instead of a white bass, my spoon got the attention of an 8-pound largemouth. Also high on that list would be the halibut pictured above. It wasn't even sort of big by halibut standards, but it was still my best halibut, and I was standing in a boat close to a Volcano and in Alaska when I caught it, and that made it mighty memorable!

I'm very thankful for the opportunity to make my living collecting and recording fish stories, and I'm excited to see where the new year's fishing adventures take me!

This Year's Last Bass

2011-12-31T17:19:00.003-05:00

Photo by Asher Samsel

My last bass of 2011 wasn't big, and there was nothing noteworthy about the way it it hit or fought. The best part about it was that I was in the canoe with two of my boys, Asher and Nathaniel. In fact, Asher, who is 7 years old, took the picture that documents my last bass of the year.

The three of us left the house around 10:00 and spent a few hours fishing, with that time split between two ponds on the same property. A few days ago Nathaniel had better success on "the middle pond" than on the pond where we normally start and where the canoe is kept, so we toted the canoe down the hill after we'd fished the upper pond a while this morning. It turned out that the upper pond was better today and accounted for four of our five fish.

I wonder what my first fish of 2012 will be. Nathaniel and I are Santee Cooper bound next week, so maybe it'll be a whopper blue cat!

Christmas Bass

2011-12-26T10:08:00.002-05:00

Green-dominated and sparkly, Bobby Garland's Midnight Sun color has a Christmas treeish sort of a look, so a Midnight Sun Stroll'R seemed like a good choice for a couple of quick laps around the pond on Christmas day. And I'm glad to report that couple of bass thought my sparkly little minnow imitation looked just right for Christmas dinner. Nathaniel and I only caught a few fish during our Christmas outing, but it sure was nice slipping out to the pond for an hour or so after the presents were unwrapped.

Tweet Nothings

2011-12-23T06:30:00.002-05:00

The truth is that I don't really get Twitter. I'm there, though, so if anyone wants to follow, I'm @jeffsamsel, and I'll try to tweet something worth reading from time to time.

Nathaniel, @NathanielSamsel, will probably be more interesting to follow. He's the one with the CD coming out. I just write fish stories.

First Baitcaster Under the Tree

2011-12-22T07:32:00.006-05:00

Bill Dance used a Daiwa Procaster Sm 2A, and he sure caught a lot of fish. Whether I was convinced a matching rod and reel would bring me catches like Bill Dance's I don't really recall. I do know that his weekly program, Bill Dance Outdoors, was by far my favorite thing that the TV brought to our home in Clearwater, Florida, and I wanted to fish with the same stuff that he did.

The Procaster reel and matching graphite rod marked a major step up from simple spinning outfit and the Zebco 404 I had owned previously -- enough so that I had to ask for the reel for my birthday (in October) and the rod for Christmas. I didn't mind, and at first light on Christmas morning, I was standing in the front yard with a weight tied to my line, figuring out how to cast my delightful new rod and reel and how to pick out plentiful backlashes.

It's been a quarter century or so since that Christmas morning, and I still don't catch fish the way Bill Dance does. He got me started early with a good baitcaster, though, and taught me many things that helped me catch more fish at the time and that remain foundational to the way I make my living. And for that I am thankful.

Panfish Through the Minnesota Ice

2011-12-18T07:17:00.005-05:00

A Lindy Toad proved irresistabe to this big bluegill for Minnesota fishing guide Jeff Sundin.

Because I haven't spent an enormous amount of time ice-fishing, every day on a frozen lake provides new experiences and understanding of the sport's strategies. Most recently, I spent a couple of days in northern Minnesota, learning how to target bluegills, yellow perch and crappie (or crappies, as they say in Minnesota) and gathering photos of the same species.

Beyond the obvious need to downsize baits and gear from what you'd use for walleyes, bass or pike, targeting panfish involves picking the right lake and the right part of the lake. We focused on the edges of deep holes in smaller waters and used a run-and-gun sort of strategy, drilling lots holes and doing quite a bit of searching with flashers. We also looked for suspended fish, which were feeding more actively than fish on the bottom. Our most productive lures included Lindy Toads, Lindy Bugs and Micro Slick Jigs, all matched with plastics, fresh bait or both.

My next hard-water outing will be at Devils Lake in North Dakota, with walleyes and yellow perch as the main attractions.

Two Tremendous Days on the Niagara

2011-12-13T22:01:00.004-05:00

I'm not sure how many hundreds of pounds of fish were caught and released in Frank Campbell's boat yesterday and today, but I do know that when we were not running from spot to spot or stopped to take pictures, at least one of us was usually battling a fish. Add the unseasonably mild weather and Campbell's great company, and you just can't ask for much better "work days."

Top techniques today included pulling Lindy River Rockers on three-ways and Shadlings on flat lines, hopping Fuzz-E Grubs off the bottom and dragging minnows on Lindy Jigs and on three-way rigs with Lindy Beads in front of our hooks. Yesterday we combined Lindy Beads with eggs for steelhead.

The Lower Niagara has become one of my favorite fishing destinations in the nation, in large part due to the tremendous variety of quality fish that you can catch any given day. We caught steelhead, brown trout and lake trout, but any given fish that grabbed a lure could have turned out to have been a coho or king salmon or even a big smallmouth bass.

Adding appeal is the delightful riverside town of Lewiston, with its shops and restaurants all walking distance from the Riverside Motel. Town seemed nicer than ever this week because of the Christmas lights and the open-air family skating rink, which is run by the town and free.

I've only been out of town for about seven hours, and I'm already looking forward to my next visit to the Niagara River -- whenever that might turn out to be.

Water & Ice

2011-12-11T04:28:00.002-05:00

Today begins a two-legged northern fishing trip, which will include both open-water fishing and ice fishing. Stop No. 1 is in Lewiston, New York, where I'll spend two days with Capt. Frank Campbell on the Niagara River targeting big and beautiful steelhead and brown trout. Stop No. 2 is Northern Minnesota, where the lakes are well frozen. There, I'll ice-fish primarily for panfish, but you never know for sure what you will pull up through a hole in the ice!

Different Kind of Creek Photos

2011-12-07T14:45:00.002-05:00

Nathaniel and I spent a couple of hours streamside on Sunday to do some photo work, but oddly for us, no fishing rods were involved. We were on our way to Chattanooga, where Nathaniel would spend the first half of this week recording his first CD, and the Tallulah River provided a really nice setting for what we wanted to accomplish photo-wise. Photos from that day will likely be used as CD cover art and for some of Nathaniel's promotional work after the CD comes out.

A Better Friday Tradition

2011-12-01T06:51:00.004-05:00

Marilyn Black displays a Bronzeback Friday "find" from Western Pennsylvania's Allegheny River. Photo by Darl Black.

I must give recognition to my Pennsylvania friends, Darl & Marilyn Black and Dale Black for their "Bronzeback Friday" tradition. While folks everywhere are battling one another in crowded shopping malls on the day after Thanksgiving, my friends look for fights with feisty smallmouth bass on the Allegheny River near Oil City. The river was muddier than they prefer this year and the bite was slow, but conditions don't get in the way of tradition, and they did manage to wrangle a few fish out of the river.

December!

2011-12-01T05:42:00.005-05:00

It's sort of hard for me to believe that the calendar page turned to December this morning. Of course, a few things have reminded recently that winter has arrived. Most notably, I suppose, we had some sleet a couple of days ago. Another good clue should be that I'll be ice fishing in about two weeks and that one fisherman friend I spoke with just this week was sitting atop the ice catching walleyes! I'm also looking at my family's Christmas tree as I write this, and we've been doing Advent readings around the table every evening this week.

I'm looking forward to a couple of ice trips this winter. The first is to Northern Minnesota, with assorted panfish being the main objective. The second (in mid-January) is to Devils Lake, North Dakota, where I'll fish for walleyes, yellow perch and northern pike. I took three separate ice trips last year and really enjoyed the experience. I also got a lot of good story material and photos and have had fun learning about and writing about ice fishing.

Next stop, though, is the Niagara River, where I get to spend a couple of days with Frank Campbell. Steelhead are tops on the list, but it's hard to fish the Niagara with Frank without catching a variety of fish. Winter is an exciting time because the steelhead and trout pour into the river from Lake Ontario. It can be seriously cold, but the fishing can be fabulous.

It seems like I should learn to find trips that begin in an airplane pointed SOUTH this time of year, but I really am looking forward to this winter's great northern adventures.

Faith, Family, Friends & Fish

2011-11-24T05:03:00.012-05:00

It almost seems cliche' to blog about stuff I'm thankful for this morning. Still, I'd rather risk sounding cliche' than show even a hint of callousness about God's tremendous blessings. In truth, I have so much to be thankful for that it sort of hard to know where to start.

I'm writing from my living room couch, so maybe that's the best starting point. It's the same couch where I just sat with my wonderful wife Denise and prayed about the new day. I'm thankful for my wife, for our daily morning prayer time, for Christ's shed blood that allows us to go directly to God the Father and for a home-centered lifestyle. The same couch is also where I begin most workdays when I am not traveling, and I'm very thankful for the opportunity to make my living by writing fish stories from home.

When I'm not at home, I'm often in the sort of place most folks would only get to visit on vacation and often with a fishing rod in my hand. This year's adventures have taken me from Maine to Alaska to Texas and fishing adventures have ranged from ice fishing for trout in the Colorado mountains to casting Road Runners for giant bluegills in eastern North Carolina. I miss my family when I travel, but I am thankful for the wonderful places I get to visit as part of my work. I'm also thankful for Denise taking care of our home while I'm away. I could not do what I do for a living without her complete support.

I'm very thankful for Sarah, Nathaniel, Asher, Autumn and Eli and for what each adds to our home. It's so fun seeing God's gifts developing in our children. This year, I'm especially grateful for Sarah's Lavender Cottage, which is my oldest daughter's new art studio/gallery, and I've had so much fun watching Nathaniel grow as a performer and teacher in the mountain dulcimer community and as an aspiring outdoor writer.

I'm realizing even as I write this that I won't scratch the surface of all I have to be thankful for, so maybe a list of a few things -- a sampler, which will be far from inclusive and in no particular order -- would be a good way to finish:

My Bible, mountain laurel, the West Fork of the Chattooga River, freshly ground wheat, Sarah's Bible memorization, the Gruber family, bird feeders, smallmouth bass, Miss Charle', Mountain View, carrot juice, Mr. & Mrs. Kollock, pictures from Autumn, the Main House at Acorn Hill, Christ Covenant Reformed Church, my parents and siblings, the World Wide Pressed Flower Guild, dulcimer teachers, Asher's army guy wars, my truck, the Wiese family, running with Denise, our fence, the Community Garden, NGFDA, Central Alliance Church, Friday pizza, our Thanksgiving tree, family praise time, SEOPA, home education, fish stories, hymns coming from Nathaniel's dulcimer, Eli's greetings...

"Hometown" Pride at Lake Ouachita

2011-11-17T06:10:00.009-05:00

As fellow guests raved about the wonderful cottages at Mountain Harbor Resort, the striking, undeveloped landscapes around Lake Ouachita and the friendliness of the people, I felt a strange sense of hometown-like pride. I say "strange" because I don't live in Arkansas. In fact, I've never lived in Arkansas, and I've actually only stayed at Mountain Harbor a half a dozen or so times over the years.

Still, I felt a sense of ownership, and I think that goes back to the friendliness of the people. Folks like Chris Elder, a local angler I've gotten to fish with several times, and resort owner Bill Barnes have a way of making you feel so much at home that when you return for visits you're eager to share the area's virtues with anyone who hasn't been there before. When Barnes asks if you need anything at all, you can tell that he really means that question and that he is genuinely pleased that you've chosen to visit the resort that his family has owned and operated for more than 50 years.

I'm back in my real home in northeast Georgia, but I know I'll be back to Lake Ouachita and to Mountain Harbor Resort, and I have no doubt that I'll again feel right at home and will swell up at least a little with pride when someone talks about a great day of striper fishing or the beauty of the mountains that surround the lake.

Hobie Play

2011-11-14T18:16:00.004-05:00

I'd often heard about what great boats Hobie kayaks were to fish from, but until today I'd never had the opportunity to spend significant time in one. The ease of the MirageDrive pedal system and the stability and spaciousness of the Hobie Mirage Pro Angler were everything I'd always heard. Most importantly, though, these boats are just plain fun to maneuver around in and to fish from.

We didn't tear up the fish today, but Lake Ouachita is a great place to spend a day whether or not fish cooperate. I did manage to catch a couple of largemouths on a Super Spook Jr. and a spotted bass on a Rebel Crappie Crank'R.

I'm not sure exactly what tomorrow's plans are, but from looking at the forecast, I'm pretty sure I'll make good use of my Frabill FXE Stormsuit and my waterproof camera!

Destination Arkansas!

2011-11-12T07:17:00.007-05:00

Beautiful Mountain Harbor at Lake Ouachita in Arkansas

My bag is nearly packed, and I'm ready to fly to The Natural State tomorrow. The plane lands in Little Rock, but my final destination is Lake Ouatchita, a splendid playplace in the Ouachita Mountains. The fall color should be past peak, but I suspect the high hills will still show plenty of gold and bronze. The weather looks like it will be mild.

I get to Arkansas as often as possible, but usually I find myself in the Ozarks -- whether enjoying folk music in Mountain View, trout fishing out of Gaston's Resort or floating Buffalo National Scenic River. The Ouachitas rival the Ozarks in beauty and get less attention overall, and I've enjoyed some really fun days of fishing on Lake Ouachita. Probably my favorite was a day I spent with Gary Roach (Mr. Walleye) about 10 years ago. We were officially walleye fishing, but the fish that kept grabbing our minnow-tipped jigs were 10- to 20-pound striped bass. We were fishing with fairly light spinning gear and 8-pound-test line, so every striper was seriously exciting!

One cool element of this trip is that it is co-sponsored by the folks who make Rebel Lures and set at Mountain Harbor Resort, and Mountain Harbor played an important part in Rebel's history. The first Rebel Minnows were "tank tested" in the pool at Mountain Harbor 50 years ago!

Another extra fun part for me will be fishing from a Hobie Kayak. I've played a little with these boats and their unique Mirage Drive foot-control system, but I've never before spent a full day fishing from one.

Better finish packing!

Working Toward a Goal

2011-11-03T22:01:00.005-04:00

Today we moved one pool down from Weiss Lake and fished Neely Henry, which is amazingly different from Weiss for being on the same river and so close. It was my first visit to Neely Henry, so I enjoyed the opportunity to learn more about it.

I spent the morning with Heath Smith, a tournament angler who grew up fishing Neely Henry. A firefighter from Gadsden, Ala., Smith hopes to make a career out of professional bass fishing and has a well thought out plan for working his way into the full-time pro ranks. For now, he's fishing the BASS Southern Opens and making a serious study of tournament bass fishing. Smith also understands that there's a lot more to building a solid career in tournament angling than an ability to catch fish, and he's working hard to build industry relationships and learn all he can about all sides of the industry. From what I saw this morning, Heath Smith is a name to remember and one you'll be hearing more often in the future.

November Color in North Alabama

2011-11-02T21:20:00.003-04:00

Most autumn travelers associate October with fall color, but in North Alabama, the prettiest color hangs on for a week or two into November. I spent today on beautiful Weiss Lake and the color was spectacular. We spent a fun day catching crappie, spotted bass and largemouths. Tomorrow we visit Lake Neely Henry.

Unique Alabama Double Dip

2011-11-01T21:50:00.005-04:00

The fact that I spent time catching crappie on Alabama's Lake Weiss wouldn't surprise most fishermen, but the first half of today's outing might seem a little more surprising. Soon after arriving at Chattokee Lodge around noon today, I hopped in the truck with lodge owner Harlan Starr so we could go trout fishing. Trout fishing? Yep. Trout fishing. The lodge offers and exclusive opportunity to fly-fish private spring waters filled with a fat rainbow trout. My most productive fly today was one known as a rubber-legged dragon.

After a couple hours of trout fishing, I met Weiss Lake guide Lee Pitts at Little River Marina, and we took a short ride to some docks where he thought we could catch some crappie. He was right. In fact, in the short time remaining before sunset, we managed to catch quite a few crappie, along with a couple small cats.

Two fishing trips and lots of success in half a day, and the official trip plan hasn't even began. I can't wait to see what the rest of the week brings!

Sudden Death & Alabama Rig Research

2011-10-31T04:27:00.003-04:00

Photo Courtesy of PAA

One fish was all it took for Keith Combs to win the Toyota Texas Bass Classic and the $100,000 and Legend boat that came with the victory. One fish in a sudden death fish-off, that is.

After three full days of fishing, Combs and Mike Iaconelli had ended up tied atop the leaderboard, each with a weight of 76 pounds 12 ounces. Between Combs and Iaconelli, they had six daily limits of fish that average more than 5 pounds per bass, and they outfished the rest of the field by more than 25 pounds. Still, they were tied, and Combs was able to seal the deal with a 15-inch fish, which he caught on the same Norman crankbait he'd used throughout the week.

A championship event comprised of top pros from the BASS Elite Series, the FLW Tour and the PAA Tournament Series, the TTBC included 50 of the nation's top pros. It was held on Lake Conroe in Texas.

Meanwhile, the big buzz in the bass fishing world has been the Alabama rig, a unique multi-lure rig that's unlike anything that most bass fishermen had ever seen a week and a half ago. That was when Paul Elias revealed the crazy rig he's been using to blow away the field in the FLW event last week at Guntersville and to catch 102 pounds, 8 ounces in four days. The Alabama rig notched another big win last weekend at the Everstart event on Kentucky Lake.

Enough has been reported about the Alabama rig by folks who have seen it for themselves that I'm not going to re-hash it here. That said, I'm North Alabama bound tomorrow for three of fishing on three different lakes (including Guntersville) with four different pros. One of those pros, Chris Lane, was in the middle of all the excitement at the Guntersville tournament. If I get to see the rig and how it works first-hand, therefore, that probably will be my next blog!

White Bass Bycatch

2011-10-26T23:49:00.004-04:00

"Now remember, guys, we're fishing for white bass," Gary Dollahon reminded Jake Bennett and me.

Bennett, who founded Numa Optics, had distracted us from the quest with a couple of fat channel cats, and we'd all caught more than our share of yellow bass.

Then I threw us even further off course when something heavy grabbed my Big Strike jiggings spoon and after a few minutes of slow, heavy tugging, a great big largemouth did a wallowing jump and then surged down, pulling harder. Eventually Dollahon slipped a net under the big bass. The fish measured 23 3/4-inches, which is a slot fish at Lake Fork. We didn't put it on scales, but my best guess that it weighed about 8 pounds.

About 10 minutes after we took photos and went back to fishing, Dollahon forgot his own instructions and caught a 5-pound largemouth on a jigging spoon.

Eventually we did get back to fishing and actually got the white bass we needed for a photo. Mission accomplished, and we sure had fun along the way!

Double Trouble on Lake Fork

2011-10-24T23:06:00.002-04:00

Forget stereotypes. Lake Fork or no Lake Fork, the bass were busting little bitty baitfish so it seemed like a little bitty bait might be the ticket. I had Bobby Garland 1 1/2-inch Stroll'Rs and Swimmin Minnows in my bag, so I put one of each on a tandem set of small jigheads and laid the rig where it would be handy when the next schooling fish that popped up within range.

It didn't take long for schoolers to show themselves, so I grabbed that outfit and fired my little rig toward the breakers. Wham. A hit and miss. Three cranks later another hit, and this time it was hooked.

"Bring it in slowly and you might get another one," bass pro Stephen Browning said, knowing I had another loose jig on my rig. I did as he said, and the bass seemingly had read the script. That largemouth double turned out to be one of four Browning and I landed in an afternoon of throwing "crappie baits" for schooling fish and the first two of 20 or so largemouth bass.

The bad news is that we also lost our share. The 10-pound line on my Lew's Laser SL Speed Stick spinning outfit just didn't let me muscle 5-pound fish, so some found the trees. Browning and I both lost a couple of what we think were really nice bass.

Today was a far cry from what I think of when I think about Lake Fork, but it was a really fun day of fishing with a catch that ranged from catching dozens of barfish (yellow bass) on spoons to watching Browning catch a flathead that ate a football jig to doubling up largemouths with crappie jigs.

We'll see what tomorrow brings!

Different Paths

2011-10-23T08:54:00.008-04:00

As I sit in the Atlanta airport, waiting to fly to Dallas, I find myself thinking about -- and praying for -- my young friend Calvin. Calvin also travels today, but our paths couldn't be much more different. While I'm flying to Texas to spend a few days fishing the legendary big bass waters of Lake Fork and to take photos, Calvin is traveling to Parris Island, South Carolina, where he is about to begin boot camp.

I admire and appreciate Calvin's decision to enlist in the U.S. Marine Corps, and I know he will serve our country well, wherever the Marines take him. I'm thankful to be able to make my living writing fish stories, but I'm also very thankful everyone who chooses to serve in the military.

My daughter observed yesterday that its too easy to forget that every soldier is a person with a family at home and each with a unique set of interests, like riding bikes, fishing and playing musical instruments. She's right, and I'm certainly more aware of that today than I would be on other days.

Calvin - Know I'll be be praying for you as you begin your training.

Leaps of Faith

2011-10-21T04:29:00.006-04:00

As the fall progresses I often debate whether to wear my waders. I prefer wading wet, but somewhere along the way it gets a little too chilly to simply step into the creek.

I chose wet wading this week. The Nantahala River wasn't that terribly cold, and it was so so low that I rarely stayed more than knee-deep for more than a few minutes. In fact, I often stood atop rocks, high and mostly dry.

My friend Calvin took his own approach. He put on neither waders nor wading boots, sticking with jeans and tennis shoes, and each time he came to a place where the rocks were more than a stride apart, he carefully calculated a leap and a landing place and then made his jump with confidence. Calvin fished everywhere Nathaniel and I did without ever getting wet, and he managed to leapfrog his way all the way across the river several times. His leaps were fun to watch and clearly added to my day, but I think I'll stick with short, cautious steps, whether wet or dry!

All-Day Learning

2011-10-12T19:43:00.007-04:00

"How did you get out of school?"

Nathaniel hears that question a lot when we travel, especially when we are together on a weekday afternoon and it doesn't happen to be summer or Christmastime. "I'm home-schooled," he normally answers, with me adding that what we're doing together is part of his education.

Some folks ponder that a moment and affirm that he's probably learning more than others his age who are sitting in classrooms. Others nod their heads politely, probably convinced that he's missing much of what he's "supposed to learn" or thinking that he should be around other people his age.

A big part of our most recent trip was participation in the Southeastern Outdoor Press Association's annual conference. During the conference we took workshops related to writing skills, the publishing business and social and conservation issues. Nathaniel also learned first-hand how a membership meeting runs, shared in business conversations in the halls and around meal tables, sat at the head table for a breakfast, helped with an auction, played a big part in the pickin' and grinnin' SEOPA tradition and much more. Throughout the weekend, he spent time with writers, editors and other industry folks, plus their family members.

For a young man who has an interest in outdoors communications as at least a part of his vocation, it's hard for me to imagine better opportunities for all-day learning. He filled in an application while we were there and will soon become SEOPA's youngest student member. I'm thankful for the way the membership welcomed Nathaniel and got him involved with various aspects of the conference. He's already looking forward to next year's conference.

Buffalo to Taneycomo

2011-10-04T23:15:00.005-04:00

Low water made for slower than normal fishing on Arkansas' Buffalo River, but that didn't make our outing any less fun. Nathaniel and I enjoyed a couple of fun days with friends. We floated the river yesterday and wade-fished this morning. And while the bite was slow overall, we did manage to wrangle of few smallies from the river's beautiful emerald-colored waters.

This afternoon, Nathaniel and I traveled to Lilley's Landing on Lake Taneycomo in Branson, Missouri. We fished two or three hours on our own this afternoon and caught a couple of browns and a couple of rainbows. Tomorrow morning we'll be back in the lake with TJ Stallings and a local guide. Taneycomo is famous for it's trout, so I'm looking forward to seeing more of the lake and its fishy residents.

On the Road Again

2011-10-01T06:07:00.002-04:00

Photo by Alan Clemons

Tomorrow begins an excursion of work, school and play for Nathaniel and me. Stop No. 1 is the Buffalo River, a spectacularly scenic Ozarks river in Northern Arkansas. We'll float the Buffalo and stay in a cabin with friends (with Nathaniel adding evening front porch music) before continuing north to Branson to fish for trout on Taneycomo and then attend the Southeastern Outdoor Press Association's annual conference. At SEOPA, Nathaniel is most looking forward to an event called Breakout and to "Pickin' and Grinnin'" after the final evening's banquet. Our last stop will be Kentucky Lake, where we'll do photo work with Strike King's pro staff.

Learning From the Best of 'Em

2011-09-28T14:46:00.007-04:00

As Rick Clunn cast a topwater plug toward a Table Rock bluff and spoke of the things he likes best about fall fishing, I couldn't help but consider how fortunate I am to be able to make my living writing fish stories. I began this morning watching Brian Snowden pull a 5 1/2-pounder off an offshore hump as I learned about his favorite summer strategies. Yesterday started with an hour in Kevin VanDam's boat doing photo and video work, followed soon after with time on the water with Jimmy Houston, Edwin Evers and Ott DeFoe.

Tournament wins and TV time aside, each of these pros has spent thousands of hours on the water, so the opportunity to ride along, take photos and ask questions allows me to learn so much in such a short period of time. Beyond that, relationships with many of the pros and other writers have grown into friendships, and I'm thankful to get spend time with my friends at a beautiful lodge as a big part of my job.

I'm writing from the Branson airport, and I'm also thankful that I'll be back home tonight. Not for long, though. Nathaniel and I leave Sunday morning for Branson, Round 2.

To Branson & Back & Branson & Back

2011-09-25T06:07:00.004-04:00

Tomorrow I hop on a plane out of Atlanta to fly to Branson, Missouri for a writers' event at Big Cedar Lodge on Table Rock Lake. This is a fun and productive event that I've attended before, where I get the opportunity to do interviews and photo work with top pros like Kevin VanDam, Rick Clunn and Edwin Evers, using the beautiful backdrop of an Ozarks lake and enjoying the comforts of an outstanding resort. The weather forecast looks good, so I expect to get a lot done in only a few days.

I get home from Branson on Wednesday night, and then on Sunday morning, Nathaniel and I hop in the truck and begin driving back toward Branson! Actually, we'll drive first to the Buffalo River in northern Arkansas, where we're looking forward to a couple days of float-fishing with friends. The main objective of the trip, though, is to attend the Southeastern Outdoor Press Association's annual conference in Branson.

While we're in Branson, Nathaniel and I are looking forward to trout fishing on Lake Taneycomo. I've long heard about the fine trout fishing on these waters, but I've never fished there.

Nathaniel's Take on Dry Run

2011-09-21T12:30:00.002-04:00

I posted a quick report from the hotel last week after Nathaniel spent a morning fishing Arkansas' Dry Run Creek. I wanted to pass along Nathaniel's perspective on this special stream.

After all, he was the one doing the fish-catching. All I could do was watch and take pictures!

Dry Run Creek a Gem

2011-09-14T20:04:00.003-04:00

Nathaniel and I just left Dry Run Creek - an amazing special regs stream in Arkansas that is managed for youngsters and fully handicapped anglers. It's all catch-and-release with barbless single hook artificial lures, and Nathaniel caught and released 31 trout (by my best count) in a few hours of fishing. Lots of quality fish in the mix, including the big, hook-jawed rainbow in the photo above. He also lost a GIANT brown, which rolled on the surface and threw his lure -- and an even bigger brown tried to eat one rainbow he was fighting. What a wonderful opportunity for young anglers! He caught most of his fish on Rebel Tracdown Minnows and Teeny Wee Craws.

Fishing Weather

2011-09-08T09:54:00.004-04:00

In a recent e-mail to a friend and fellow writer, I mentioned that this week's refreshingly fallish weather has made me want to go trout fishing. The most recent front that pushed through, the one that collided with Lee remnants and created flooding rains just west of us, brought a refreshing rain to North Georgia and a nice temperature break that so far hasn't fled.

However, even while I was writing to my friend about the fall-like weather made me want to go fishing, I had to acknowledge that winter, spring and summer conditions have the exactly same effect (but only when it's hot, cold or in-between and only if it's sunny, overcast, partly cloudy, raining or snowing).

Knee Deep

2011-08-31T04:46:00.007-04:00

Writing fish stories for a living allows me to spend a lot of days fishing, and my all-species approach has me doing everything everything from casting micro jigs for bluegills to dropping bait to the ocean floor for much larger quarry. Every style of fishing has it's appeals -- as do the many locations -- but if I had to pick a single favorite way to fish, it's probably wading knee deep in a mountain river for smallmouth bass.

On the way home from my recent New River float trip, I spent a wonderful morning stream wading in East Tennessee with a long-time friend, Larry Self. In classic stream wading fashion, we fished with light spinning outfits and worked from "tackle boxes" that fit in shirt pockets. The cool water felt great on an August morning, and the smallies delivered the smashing strikes, strong surges and acrobatic leaps you might expect if you've spent much time casting for swift-water smallmouth bass.

My kind of fishing outing!

Bug Season Bronze

2011-08-29T07:37:00.003-04:00

"The bug bite" was everything Britt Stoudenmire had promised and formed the strategical foundation for two days of float-fishing on Virginia's spectacular New River. A river guide who, along with his wife Leigh, operates New River Outdoor Company, Stoudenmire cherishes "bug season" because it provides some of the best opportunities of the year to catch big smallmouth bass. Every summer the fish feast on falling cicadas, which emerge, live short adult lives and die during the dog days, and the dying bugs dictate where the big fish congregate and how and when they feed.

Stoudenmire commonly uses a variety of flies that imitate cicadas this time of year, and he has even helped develop a lure he calls a spin-bug, which serves the same function for spin-fishermen. He and the bass clearly showed me, however, that making the proper presentations in the right types of places and understanding how conditions affect the bug bite are more important than the actual lure that's tied to the end of the line.

My best fish of the trip, a thick-bodied fish that measured barely shy of the 20-inch mark, took an XCalibur Zell Pop Xz2. Stoudenmire's best, which stretched the tape to 21 inches, grabbed a wacky rigged Senko. Both were in textbook "bug water," as it had been described to me from the onset, and fell for total deadstick presentations, and my topwater fish even took my lure exactly the way Stoudenmire had described smallmouths taking popping bugs and real cicadas after they die and crash land in the river.

The bad news is that the bug bite won't last too much longer. The good news is that the team of guides at New River Outdoor Company stay tuned into what the river's abundant smallies are doing throughout seasons.

Smaller Boat Brings Big Success to Steve Kennedy

2011-08-22T05:41:00.004-04:00

Photo courtesy of the PAA

Forsaking fiberglass and the slick rides normally associated with professional bass fishing, Steve Kennedy chose his aluminum flatbottom to fish the final event of the Bass Pro Shops PAA Tournament Series presented by Carrot Styx. That boat allowed him to snake his way to the extreme head of Neely Henry's Canoe Creek, where he spent all three days of the tournament.

Kennedy, who lives in Auburn, Alabama, only a couple of hours away, threw a variety of baits to coax enough fish from a fairly small area, with the bite growing tougher each day. His most productive lure on the final two days was an old floating Smithwick Rogue, a lure he's long liked to throw in creeks and small rivers during the dog days.

Kennedy's three-day total of 38.12 allowed him to survive a final-day charge by fellow Alabama pro Greg Vinson and to win the event by only a couple of ounces. Vinson brought 17.92 pounds to the scales on the final day by flipping in super shallow water.

South Carolina pro Todd Auten wrapped up the PAA Angler-of-the-Year title with a fourth place finish at Neely Henry.

Classic Minnesota

2011-08-20T12:32:00.001-04:00

Maybe it's something in me (I was born in the Twin Cities), but the more I fish in Minnesota the more I enjoy fishing in Minnesota. I even had fun pulling fish through holes in the ice earlier this year.

Yesterday was a great day of classic Minnesota fishing - Lindy-rigging for walleyes on beautiful Rainy Lake along the US-Canada border. The day on Rainy followed two days of down-rigging on Lake of the Woods, which also straddles the border.

I must not be the only person who likes fishing in the Land of 10,000 Lakes, because I'm sitting in the Minneapolis airport now, and I don't recall another day when I've seen more travelers in an airport with rod tubes in their carry-ons.

I'm blogging from my phone since we're about to board, so I'll have to add a photo of yesterday's fun after I get home.

Rockin' Lake of the Woods

2011-08-17T19:32:00.005-04:00

Today rocked, in more ways than one. For starters, the wind started at about 20 mph and got stronger throughout the day. Trolling the open water of Lake of the Woods, it's safe to say that we rocked more than a little. We also caught almost all our fish on Lindy's new River Rocker crankbait. We tried some other stuff, but the River Rocker was the top producer, by far. The catch of the day was a genuine jumbo perch. It was 13 1/2 inches long and seriously chunky. River Rocker color? Perch.

Scott Martin - Forrest Wood Cup Champion

2011-08-15T07:08:00.004-04:00

Photo courtesy of FLW Outdoors

Congratulations Scott Martin, Forrest Wood Cup Champion. Martin fished offshore, alternating a swimbait, a big Texas rigged worm and a dropshot, to accumulate a four-day weight of 61 pounds, 1 ounce and win the championship event by a 4-pound margin. Martin took home a check for $600,000. Martin is best known as the son of legendary tournament and TV angler Roland Martin, but with four FLW Tour wins, including his new championship title, and nearly 2 million dollars in winnings, the younger Martin clearly is carving out his own important place in bass fishing history.

Prized or Despised?

2011-08-13T14:33:00.004-04:00

The West Fork is the sort of destination that a person will either prize or despise. The same bluffs, boulders, craggy ledges and currents that make it beautiful also make it seriously demanding, and the hike into and down through the river gorge is exhausting. The fish can also be seriously fussy, especially during mid-summer.

Nathaniel's inaugural West Fork adventure included some misadventure, including my friend and I losing the only semi-beaten path at one point and the three of us having to descend a steep ridge a few hundred feet through thick rhododendron. We walked and waded about four miles by day's end, each fell down more than a few times and all left the river totally spaghetti legged. And we didn't actually catch many trout. All that said, Nathaniel now stands firmly in the camp of prizing my favorite river, and I believe he'll be happy to join me again as often as I want to go.

FLW, Favorite Waters & Walleye World

2011-08-11T05:41:00.005-04:00

The Forrest Wood Cup begins this morning on Arkansas' Lake Ouachita. It's the FLW Tour's championship event, and the winner takes home both the title of champion and a half a million dollars. A beautiful mountain-bounded lake, Ouachita reportedly has been stingy during practice. Someone will figure them out, though, and it will be fun to see what patterns and which anglers will emerge during the course of the next few days.

Closer to home, Nathaniel and I will meet a friend at my favorite trout stream tomorrow. Nathaniel title a recent blog "Anticipation," and I agree with him. He's looking forward to exploring the West Fork for the first time, and I'm looking forward to sharing it with him. A trip down this river is a rugged full-day adventure that starts with a mile-long hike and then a creek and ridge crossing and includes a couple of miles of wading down a sometimes-steep mountain river. The scenery is the some of the most spectacular I've seen in Georgia, though, and we seldom see anywhere else.

Next week I head north -- way north -- to Lake of the Woods on the Minnesota/Canada border to spend a few days walleye fishing and taking photos. Mid-60s in Mid-August sure will be nice, and of course I'm looking forward to eating some fresh walleye!

Major League Fishing & More

2011-08-04T09:51:00.005-04:00

Major League Fishing?

Yep. Major League Fishing. The MLF roster contains a short list of very big names in competitive bass fishing, and the format is unlike anything else ever tried. The league was spearheaded by Boyd Duckett and is privately owned by the anglers themselves, and major TV appeal is the No. 1 objective. Interesting stuff, not doubt. Read all about it on BassFan.

Meanwhile, the Forrest Wood Cup begins next week, with 58 of the nation's top pros competing for a first prize of 1/2 million dollars and the title of Champion on Arkansas' Lake Ouachita.

On the B.A.S.S. side, the All Star event concluded last weekend. Congratulations to Tennessee pro Ott DeFoe, who capped of a tremendous rookie season by winning the unique year-end event. DeFoe, who ran away with the Rookie of the Year award during the regular season, had to beat Mike Iaconelli, Gerald Swindle and Edwin Evers in head-to-head competition on back-to-back-to-back days to win the All Stars and the $100,000 check that went with the event. Quite a start to a very promising pro career!

Pigeon Hole

2011-07-25T07:06:00.004-04:00

I never drive past the Pigeon River without thinking about its chunky smallmouths, but normally when I'm on the section of Interstate 40 that parallels the Pigeon, I'm on the way to or traveling home from a far-away destination, and stopping isn't practical. Yesterday afternoon, while driving home from Knoxville, Nathaniel and I decided to get off at the Waterville exit and hit one Pigeon hole.

We didn't fish terribly long because it was already late afternoon and we were still a couple of hours from home, and we stayed on the bank, instead of wading. Despite the quick-hit approach, we did draw a few fierce surface strikes with Rebel Bighoppers, drifted and waked on the surface, and Nathaniel managed to land one pretty fish. A fun stop, for sure, and now Nathaniel is pretty eager to get back to the Pigeon on a day when fishing is the main objective!

Perfect Hot Day Plan

2011-07-23T15:09:00.002-04:00

Yesterday's East Tennessee forecast included severe heat warnings, but Nathaniel and I stayed comfortable all afternoon by wading knee-deep in a tumbling Smokies stream. We caught neither big fish nor big numbers, but we did manage to fool a few wild browns and rainbows and had a wonderful time fishing together in the park.

Alaska Treasure Chest

2011-07-19T06:50:00.008-04:00

"I'd suggest ordering something other than salmon or halibut," said Chuck Smock of Cabela's as we pondered menu options at The Flying Machine restaurant for our last dinner in Alaska. We all laughed in agreement, knowing the four huge boxes in the hotel freezer contained more than a few meals of delightful Alaska salmon and halibut.

One of many great things about spending a week on Alaska's Kenai Peninsula is the opportunity to bring home a portion of the trip in the form of fresh fish. Our treasure chests each contained nearly 50 pounds of sockeye and king salmon and halibut, all vacuum sealed in serving-sized packages and frozen by Ninilchik Outfitters. Staying shy of 50 pounds spares "overweight" charges, and allows you to fly a box of fish all the way home for the cost of an extra checked bag.

From a practical standpoint, that's a lot of fine meals. It's more than a box of meat, though. When we enjoy a meal of halibut baked with garlic butter and chives, I'll think about Capt. Al's funny lines, Colin's cod-catching prowess, the thrill of detecting a telltale halibut pump and the painful but laughable futility of reeling up 4 pounds of lead from 193 feet to learn the bait was not stolen after all. Grilling salmon "on the halfshell" will remind me of Chuck's last casts with the fly rod, Daniel's refined flossing technique, John's relaxed posture as he watched us try to conquer a king and of course the countless fishermen who back-trolled together in amazing harmony.

I'll also remember the bears on the trail, sandwiches from the General Store (incluing the one the dog stole from John), humpback whales, the great tractor launch, 11:30 sunsets, snow-capped volcanoes, stories shared around the dinner table... And as my family enjoys the contents of the treasure chest, one meal at a time, I must remember to share an added taste of Alaska in the form of trip tales.

Farewell Alaska

2011-07-17T17:27:00.003-04:00

Well, we wrapped up the Alaska fishing by all limiting out on fast-running, high-flying sockeye salmon. It was a fun morning with sometimes-furious action.

My favorite part of the morning, though, was getting to fish with outfitter Mike Flores' 16-year-old son Daniel. Beyond showing exceptional skill at the technique we were using, he was quick to share what he knew, run for the net or help anyone else out any way he could, and he was simply great company. No doubt he'll be guiding in a few more years.

We'll stay in Anchorage tonight and start the long journey home tomorrow morning. My first trip to Alaska has been an outstanding experience.

The Great Salmon Show

2011-07-17T01:10:00.002-04:00

It was obvious something special was going on when we arrived at the landing at 5:00 am, and the lot was already filled. Once we got on the river we saw that there were hundreds of boats on the section of the Kenai River where we would fish today.

Everyone was there because the salmon were running. Most anglers, including us, had king salmon in mind. The world record king came from the Kenai. In fact, we started our day in the spot where that fish was caught. A few anglers were after sockeyes, which are just starting to run. We actually caught a few of them today, and we'll target them in the morning.

I missed my chance at a king, which got off right at the boat. Our group only landed one king, but we saw lots of others landed by others around us. It was fun being in the middle of all the excitement and absolutely amazing how the anglers worked together. A raised net means a fish is on, and when a net goes up other boats are always quick to clear space, bring in lines or whatever they need to do to get out of the way.

I suppose I'd better sleep now. Alarm is set for 3:30 am.

Bears

2011-07-15T02:28:00.005-04:00

We'd been warned that the river we planned to explore got a lot of bear use, and signs all around the national forest recreational area said likewise. Then we started talking with other anglers and hikers, and three different groups reported having recently seen black or brown bears. We also noticed that most fishermen were armed with bear spray.

About that time we began thinking we dared not go very far upstream and away from most other fishermen (although that was where we thought we would find the best fishing), and then that idea was confirmed when we looked across the river and spotted two young black bears strolling down a small path we had just been walking along ourselves.

We didn't see any brown bears, which was OK.

Flat-Out Tiring

2011-07-14T19:59:00.001-04:00

We got in a couple hours of halibut fishing before the swells grew into 8-footers, and let me tell you, pulling big flat-sided fish from 190 feet of water, with 4 pounds of weight on the line and strong current, is quite a work-out. And my biggest was only about 25 pounds. I can't imagine what it must be like to catch a really big one. Maybe I'll find out tomorrow!

It was an exciting morning on the water that included a beach-front tractor launch, spotting a couple of whales and a seal, fishing fairly near a 10,000-foot active volcano and nearly constant action when lines were down.

Having rested a bit and eaten at mid-day, we're northbound now to try a little wade-fishing for trout!

Winds of Change

2011-07-14T10:04:00.005-04:00

Last night we were supposed to board a big boat, on which we would sleep, eat and fish for the next 2 1/2 days; however, a call for 6-foot waves inside the bay (we were planning to travel much farther out) dictated a change of plans. Instead we settled into cabin at Ninilchik Charters, from which we'll do all our fishing in day-trips. Dependant on wind along this part of the coast, we'll fish either halibut or salmon today.

Yesterday we saw one moose, plus a spectacular slice of the Alaska landscape.

Reindeer Sausage

2011-07-13T12:50:00.003-04:00

A lot of things on the breakfast menu looked good, but somehow it didn't seem like I could pass on what I would only find in Alaska - reindeer sausage.

Travel yesterday was long but smooth, and we spent night one in an Anchorage hotel with mounted bears and salmon and halibut in the lobby and a float-plane airport on the bay out the back window. We also roamed around a tourist district of fur shops, bear and Eskimo art, wildlife tour companies, reindeer sausage stands and much more Alaska-distinctive stuff.

Now we're headed out of the city and into "real Alaska." By evening we'll be on a halibut boat.

Destination ALASKA!

2011-07-11T20:50:00.003-04:00

The alarm is set for 2:00 a.m., and a big duffel, three cameras and my mini-computer are waiting in the truck. By tomorrow evening -- assuming no travel problems -- I'll be in Anchorage, Alaska. I've never been to Alaska and am really excited about the trip. Of course I'm looking forward to battling giant halibut and fly-fishing for salmon. Just as much, though, I'm looking forward to simply seeing the landscapes. Since 2:00 is only five hours away and sleep is a good thing before a long day of travel, I suspect I ought to save most of the blogging for the other end.

The Catfish Pond

2011-07-10T18:40:00.002-04:00

The Family Fishing Pond on the property of the Burton State Fish Hatchery doesn't look like much, but it's loaded with fun in the form of channel catfish. Operated by the Georgia Wildlife Resources Division for the express purpose of providing a family friendly option, "the catfish pond," as we've always called it in my home, provides great access to easy fishing and normally fast action.

Asher, my 6-year-old, got his first introduction to the the catfish pond this weekend and left four catfish catches richer. We threw back our fish , but anglers are allowed to take home four fish apiece.

We also visited the hatchery and "ooood and awed" over the thousands of trout in the tanks and then dunked bread balls on tiny hooks at mouth of Moccasin Creek in adjacent Moccasin Creek State Park and caught about 20 bream in short order. Had he wanted to, Asher could have gone for the area slam, targeting trout in the same creek in a section that's open only to children and senior citizens. He'd had enough of the July Georgia sun, though, so we packed it up and turned the truck toward home.

I've enjoyed days at the catfish pond with my three oldest children and a few young family friends, and I suspect in time I'll get out there with my other two. I commend the WRD for providing such a nice opportunity for young anglers to enjoy good angling action virtually any day.

Our favorite bait at the catfish pond, by the way, is a little piece of a cheap hot dog. Chicken livers also work very well.

Summer Break Bass

2011-07-07T05:56:00.004-04:00

My nephew Jerred sent me a phone photo of this 5-pound largemouth bass he caught yesterday. That's what I call a summer day well spent. Congratulations, Jerred, on a great fish, and thank you for sharing the photo.

Door County Smallmouth Video

2011-07-06T06:37:00.003-04:00

A little slice of the fun on my Wisconsin trip last month. I got edged out by a couple of ounces in the Kalin's one-grub tourney at day's end!

I Lied

2011-07-05T07:04:00.003-04:00

Maybe that Mayfly on the gas pump stayed stuck in my head, because Nathaniel and I did end up slipping out to our favorite pond yesterday afternoon -- and I even used my fly rod. We didn't get much time - maybe 15 or 20 minutes - before an pop-up summer storm pushed us off the pond. Still, that was long enough for me to catch a couple of bass and miss a couple of bluegill on a Sneaky Pete and for Nathaniel to land a nice one 0n a YUM Dinger. Quick but fun afternoon outing.

If I Was a Trout

2011-07-04T08:16:00.006-04:00

If I was a trout, the Mayfly on the gas pump sure would have made me hungry. Instead it just made me want to go trout fishing! For today -- and maybe all week -- writing fish stories will have to do. This time next week, though, I'll be packing my duffel for Alaska!

St. Clair Smallmouth Bass

2011-06-28T05:31:00.004-04:00

Limited computer access and lots of running have caused me to miss some timely reports. Some stuff warrants noting, though, even if it is after the fact. A good example is the fun day that Nathaniel and I spent with Doug Cummings of Fine Line Guide Service on Lake St. Clair a couple of weeks ago.

Nathaniel and I always enjoy a day on St. Clair with Cummings, who always seems to know exactly what's going on with the lake's hefty smallmouth bass. YUM F2 2ubes and Mighty Bugs were the day's top producers, but we also caught fish on XCalibur Square Lip crankbaits and Rattle Baits. The Xr50 Rattle Bait is Cummings' go-to lure for St. Clair smallmouth bass, and he keeps a couple of them rigged and ready at all times.

We caught a bunch of smallies, with several in the 4-pound range, plus plenty of overzealous rock bass an a couple of small pike. Nathaniel also had fun battling a couple of big drum, but you can read that for yourself on his blog.

Smallmouth Bass the MAINE Attraction

2011-06-26T08:06:00.007-04:00

"Moose!" Doug Teel called out, pointing everyone's attention to the massive, dark-colored animal that was right beside the truck for an instant and then crashed into the thick Maine woods and disappeared.

Teel, who operates Northridge Outfitters & Guide Service, was driving David Hart, Lawrence Taylor and me from the Penobscot River to his lodge after a day of fast-action fishing. Spotting a moose only added to the whole Maine experience, as did the loons we saw and heard on the water, the steamed lobster we'd have for dinner the next evening and the black bear we would also spot while riding Maine backroads.

Smallmouth bass, however, were the "Maine" attraction, and the clear but dark waters of the
Penobscot did not disappoint. Heddon Torpedoes, XCalibur Zell Pops and Rebel Pop-Rs prompted crushing surface strikes for two full days. Top producers beneath the surface included YUM F2 Dingers an XCalibur Square Lips crankbaits.

Teel's two favorite lures, by far, are a Bullfrog-colored Torpedo, which he presents with patient pauses and steel nerves, an a Bumblebee Swirl YUM Dinger, which he rigs wacky style and weights with a small bullet weight. A Zell Pop, fished the same way as Teal works his Torpedo, was the top producer for me.

New Water Important During Trout Outing

2011-06-21T07:44:00.011-04:00

Jim Bedford and I were surprised and disappointed to find another car at the bridge where we planned to slip into one of Jim's favorite Michigan trout streams. It's a small river where he very rarely has company, and we knew that fishing in other anglers' tracks might not be good. We didn't know if the other anglers had waded upstream or down, though, and we could remain hopeful that they wouldn't travel far.

An unusually slow first hour or so on a normally productive river suggested that we might indeed be fishing behind the other anglers, and eventually a group of three appeared on a streamside "fisherman's trail," hiking back downstream to their car. Jim queried them a bit about their methods and success and about how far they had traveled and learned that they were using minnow baits and spinners (same as us) and had caught several trout, and that they had gone about as far as Jim had been planning to wade.

Not long after they continued down the path, Jim determined that it would make sense for us to cut losses by hiking back out ourselves and then walking one bridge crossing downstream and fishing back to the car. He likes the waters we were fishing best, but following three anglers throwing the same types of lures at the same targets didn't seem to be working.

It didn't take long after we got to the "Plan B" waters to confirm that Jim's decision had been a good one. We landed four trout in the first five minutes, which was more than we'd even seen in the other section. The fish were still a little off, relative to what they can be, and we didn't hook any big browns. However we ended up landing several trout, and the difference between the new water and the waters that had been fished was very noteworthy.

We caught most of our fish on Rebel Minnows, with most of mine coming on a 2 1/2-inch Tracdown Minnow in the Slick Brown Trout color pattern.

Cabela's Stop Always a Family Favorite

2011-06-18T07:46:00.014-04:00

For Eli, 2 1/2, it was his first visit to the giant Cabela's store in Dundee, Michigan (at least that he would remember), and his eyes opened as wide as a boy's eyes can open when we walked through the doors. Our other four children had all been there before, but they were no less fascinated by the giant aquariums filled with trout, bass, walleyes and other sport fish; the full body mounts of everything from elephants to polar bears to rattlesnakes; the endless-seeming aisles of fishing, hunting and camping gear; the giant lodge atmosphere...

It's hard to comprehend just how big a moose is until you are standing a few feet from one -- and the one in Cabela's stands shin deep (I guess moose have shins) in natural-looking stream that runs through the store and that is filled with big trout.

Swinging through Cabela's to stretch legs and explore during a family trip always adds an hour or two to an already-long day of travel. No one ever minds, though. In fact, we are always glad that we stopped.

Tour De Bronze Continues

2011-06-11T18:08:00.003-04:00

Travel that begins early tomorrow morning is mostly a personal trip - driving to Michigan with the whole crew in the van to visit family. However, it's hard for me to go to Michigan and not spend a day or two fishing, so I'll spend one day in a creek, casting for trout with Jim Bedford, and one day on Lake St Clair, targeting smallmouth bass with Doug Cummings.

I'd be hard pressed to select a single favorite kind of fish to catch, but smallmouths would be way up there on the list, which might explain while I've already fished for them in Tennessee and Wisconsin this year, and why I have summer smallmouth trips planned in Michigan, Maine, Virginia and Arkansas.

Michigan report to follow!

Welcome to Sunrise Farm

2011-06-09T05:49:00.009-04:00

There's nothing quite like a plate of freshly baked cookies to make you feel welcome, and 14-year-old Madison had baked our cookies to perfection. Madison's family operates Sunrise Farm Bed & Breakfast in Salem, SC, and my wife and I were checking in for an anniversary stay.

Situated on a 10-acre farm in the South Carolina Upcountry -- very handy to much of the state's most spectacular scenery -- Sunrise Farm has much to boast: a traditional farm house, two unique cottages, attention to details, wonderful breakfasts, friendly farm animals... Still, it's the people that make or break a B&B stay, and Jeff, Julie & Madison Pierce have mastered the art of hospitality.

Denise and I stayed in the Corn Crib Cottage, which, as the name suggests, is housed in the farm's original corn crib building. Julie personally showed us the cottage and made sure we were comfortable with everything from how to work the TV's remotes to where we would find drinks and snacks. She also gave us plenty of options for breakfast and had us pick a time. We didn't see the Pierce's again until breakfast, but Jeff and Julie both made it clear that they were happy to help if we needed anything at any time. And we knew they meant it.

Coffee was freshly brewed and waiting to be poured when we stepped into the main house, and the hand-written breakfast menu on the wall included a "Happy Anniversary" note. Julie greeted us and visited just a bit before going to work on breakfast, and she explained each course she brought it, each time asking a thing or two about our family and answering questions we had about the inn and its keepers.

The mission statement of Sunrise Farm says: "Sunrise Farm Bed & Breakfast exists to glorify God by providing a welcoming, peaceful environment where individuals, couples and families will receive rest and refreshment." From the standpoint of the Samsels, mission accomplished, and accomplished well.

Swimmingly Simple & Seriously Fun

2011-06-05T13:15:00.006-04:00

Sure, retrieve speed makes a difference, and long, well-directed casts improve your total numbers most days. Still, there isn't a much more basic approach to catching fish than casting a Kalin's Lunker Grub with a spinning outfit and winding it back slowly and steadily. In fact, when you're swimming Kalin's Grubs though the legendary smallmouth waters that surround Door County, Wisconsin, the most difficult thing is landing the decidedly mean smallmouth bass that are going to attack your grub.

Despite an accurate day 1 forecast of "winds 25 to 35 MPH with gusts over 40" on my recent trip to Door County, we were able to catch some fish while drifting and dancing across big waves in broad bays and to find and catch a bunch more that were piled up in protected canals. Day 2 brought calmer seas and allowed us to work bigger areas with our grubs and to see more of the area's beautiful shoreline. Although I never caught any of the giant fish that sometimes show up in and around Sturgeon Bay, I caught between 30 and 40 smallmouths on the second day, and my best five would have weighed close to 20 pounds without a "kicker" in the mix.

We mostly fished our grubs on 1/8-ounce Spot Stalker jigheads, fished on 8-pound fluorocarbon (or light braid with a fluoro leader), and medium action Denali Rosewood Shadow Series spinning rods. A few fish hit savagely. Most were just there. One minute you'd be reeling in a grub. The next minute you'd be setting the hook into a smallmouth that was suddenly on your line.

It was my first trip to Door County, but I think it's safe to say that it won't be my last!

Birthday Outing

2011-05-29T08:33:00.005-04:00

"Asher didn't get to paddle," Nathaniel remembered, just after we all stepped out of the canoe. "Come on, Asher," he continued, handing a paddle to his 6-year-old brother and turning back toward the beached boat. The leftover pizza we'd brought to the pond for dinner could wait a few more minutes.

Nathaniel held the canoe in place while Asher walked to the back and sat down in the "driver's seat," and then he pushed the boat off and took his place on the front seat, facing backward on the seat to he could better coach his brother.

Once quick lap around the pond with patient instruction from his brother was all it took to give Asher a great sense of accomplishment and a bigger thill than he gained from any of the six fish he had caught. I saw it as a gift from Nathaniel during Nathaniel's birthday outing.

For the second year in a row, we camped at some friends' property on Nathaniel's birthday, fishing that evening and the next morning as well. Asher joined the first part -- fishing, paddling and eating pizza -- before his mom came and picked him up. Then Nathaniel and I moved the boat to a beaver pond on the same property, where we fished till dark and then camped, with him in a backpack tent and me in the bed of the truck.

The weather was as pretty as the frogs' and crickets' songs, and the fish bit well. It was a great outing for all.

Shifting Seasons

2011-05-24T05:48:00.005-04:00

With today's high forecast to approach 90, its sort of hard to believe that only a couple of months ago I was bundled in as many clothes as I could stand to wear, looking at white landscapes, walking (or riding) across the frozen tops of lakes and fishing through holes in the ice. Seasons shift with astounding speed. Soon summer will be fully in place, and it most likely will seem like it will never leave us; however, before we know it, the now-new leaves will be changing colors and falling from the trees. Before I fully settle into summer, I'm headed for Green Bay to catch some big smallmouths, and I'm expecting it to feel like spring. In fact, it's possible that it'll feel downrght winterish. And from where I sit this morning, that doesn't sound all bad!

Gaining a Grasp

2011-05-18T07:26:00.006-04:00

Until I was recently asked about how to grab fish to unhook them, I hadn't really considered the fact that almost every popular freshwater species is different. Most bass fishermen know they can hold their favorite fish by the lower lip, but you'd better not try that with a bowfin or a chain pickerel. Bluegill are easy to grab around the body, as long as you know to slide your hand down the body - not up it - and to push down the spiny dorsal fin in order to spare getting pricked. Then there are channel cats and bullheads, with those three sharp fins that you need to avoid, and white bass and stripers with their sharp gill plates. Trout won't hurt you, but you can harm them, so it's best to handle a trout as little as possible if you plan to release it. The list could go on.

Fish handling is one of the many aspects of our sport that most folks learn by trial and error, by observation or from other anglers, as they go, but it's also one of those things that folks like me, who write fishing stories, could do a much better job of covering in articles.

Asher the Fish Catcher

2011-05-17T10:36:00.004-04:00

Nathaniel, Asher and I just returned from a few days of camping and fishing, and 6-year-old Asher had the hot stick at every stop. He used breadballs to catch five bluegills from Lake Rutledge at Hard Labor Creek State Park, chicken livers to catch four catfish at Marben Farms Public Fishing Area and a mix of crickets and worms to land more bluegills than I could keep track of at Tennessee's Marrowbone Lake. My best guess would be that Asher caught about 25 bream in Tennessee - which was about the number than Nathaniel and I caught together. Asher also baited his own hook throughout the day yesterday and unhooked as many fish as he could.

Promised Nantahala Report

2011-05-11T18:11:00.005-04:00

Just home from North Carolina's Nantahala River. Here's the promised report:

Some days trout want Road Runners dead drifted; other times, swimming the bait is the only way to go. This week the truth seemed to fall somewhere in-between, and it seemed like "the swing" was a critical part of many presentations. When my lure would get slightly downstream of me, if I would keep a loop in the line, stop reeling and lift the rod gently a few times, the result often would be a strike. Key areas to swing the bait, when possible, were the edges of current and slack water, preferably over boulders or broken ledges.

Trout -- especially brook trout -- did not seem as abundant to me as they normally do during May in the Nantahala. On a typical May day, you can't swim a bait through a small pocket along the edge of a big pool without either spooking a brookie or drawing a swipe. I didn't really see many of those pocket-guarding fish in two days of fishing, and the big pools didn't seem as full. Whether that was due to poaching, flooding, a shift in stocking or simply my observation skills, I'm not sure.

Either way, there were more than enough trout in the river for TJ and Ron Stallings, Nathaniel and me to enjoy two fabulously days of fishing, with plenty of catching action spread throughout the trip. Rainbows were the most abundant, by far, but we caught a handful of brookies and a single small brown trout to complete the slam. We caught most of our fish on Natural Science Trout and Panfish Series Road Runners.

Of course the river was beautiful as ever, and it felt great to be standing knee deep in the cool river.

Nantahala Report to Follow

2011-05-09T05:52:00.011-04:00

Later this morning, Nathaniel and will head uphill to spend a couple of days waist deep in North Carolina's Nantahala with TJ & Ron Stallings of Road Runner lures, and prospects look great. By now, the river should have its full complement of spring-stocked fish (single-hook artificials and catch-and-release only for another few weeks), there should be a nice water flow, and the weather forecast looks perfect.

Nathaniel and I enjoyed a great trip to the Nantahala with TJ around this time last spring and got to do some early sampling of the Natural Science Trout & Panfish Series Road Runners, which are new in the marketplace this year. We caught quite a few trout, with all three species in the mix. Among them was a chunky brown trout that couldn't resist a Road Runner Original Marabou.

The 4 miles of delayed-harvest waters at the Nantahala offer a tremendous variety of water types, and a paralleling road makes it easy to hop in and out and sample everything from pockets to riffles to big plunge pools. Easy access and great fishing also attract a lot of fishermen, but it's easy to see where other anglers are already fishing.

This will be my first Nantahala trip of 2011, so I'm looking forward to stepping into the creek! Report to follow later this week.

Pinpoint Patterning

2011-04-28T21:34:00.008-04:00

"If they're here, this should be the cast, Michael Murphy said confidently as he released his thumb and sent a bait sailing. We'd made half a dozen casts apiece since pulling up on this area, but he had told me that we'd start a little off from where the fish "should" be. As if the bass had read his script, Murphy leaned into a chunky fish about five cranks into his retrieve.

He had done the exact thing on the previous spot, making a handful of presentations before calling the cast that should produce, and then catching a fish on that cast. He had then explained what he had figured out based on other fish we'd caught that morning.

From time to time an angler "calls" a fish on a perfect-looking piece of shoreline cover, but we weren't working the bank. Murphy's called casts were off long points and were based upon the slope of the point, the distance out, the depth the boat was over, the direction of the wind... The bass were relating to specific types of points in a very specific way, and by fishing a handful of spots and paying attention to every detail, he truly had figured it out

An FLW Tour pro, fishing buddy and ever-eager source of great information, Murphy was helping me with a specific story project. We spent the biggest part of our day doing photo work but still managed a 21-pound bag from our best five. "We'd have won today," Murphy said with a grin as he weighed the last fish, knowing that most recent local tournaments had been won with weights in the mid to upper teens.

Murphy also figured out what the striped bass were doing on the same day, and he used his knowledge of Lake Murray to run a few key spots, where together we caught at least 25 stripers.

One of the greatest privileges of writing fish stories for a living is having the opportunity to spend time on the water with many of the best anglers out there. If I don't learn a thing or two that I can't pass along in stories, I'm not doing my job very well!

Lake Jocassee Trout

2011-04-26T15:15:00.003-04:00

When the end downrigger rod popped up and then slammed back down with gusto, Sam Jones of Jocassee Charters was pretty sure the sort of fish we were seeking was at the other end of the line. Several intense minutes later, the flashing silver sides of a big rainbow confirmed what we both hoped, and then Jones slipped the net beneath a 21-inch, 5-pound trout.

South Carolina's Lake Jocassee has been one of my favorite places to fish since the late 1980s. The steep and rugged surrounding landscapes and ultra clear and deep waters defy many folks' images of the South, as do the rainbow and brown trout and smallmouth bass that call Jocassee home.

Despite its small size of only 7,500 acres, Jocassee holds claim to five state record fish (smallmouth, spotted and redeye bass and rainbow and brown trout). Because the terrain surrounding Jocassee is so steep, most tributaries come in as waterfalls - among them Lower Whitewater Falls, which tumbles more than 400 feet before settling in the lake.

Having not fished Jocassee for quite a while (too long), I was so excited upon arriving yesterday, that I had to slip down to the bank behind my villa at Devils Fork State Park to steal 10 minutes of casting from the bank before I got ready for dinner. That was all it took to catch a small but feisty smallmouth on a Road Runner and to get me even more excited about today.

Jones and I actually spent much of this morning "touring" several spots for a story I am writing for South Carolina Sportsman, but we did manage to squeeze in a bit of fishing, and a little time was all he needed to help me catch a few trout, including one very nice fish. Jocassee would be a great place to spend a morning, even if the fish weren't biting. But when a mean smallmouth or a big trout wants to latch on, that's OK, too!

On the Fly

2011-04-16T19:34:00.005-04:00

Gusty winds and a big list of needed travel preparations didn't make today seem ideal for reacquainting myself with fly-fishing. However, when I opened my new Cabela's 5-weight LSi/WLx combo, it wasn't long before I found myself putting the backing on the reel and adding the fly line -- and then one thing led to another.

Nathaniel and I limited ourselves to one quick lap around the pond, but that was enough time for me to land six bream. I also broke off a chunky largemouth, which was careless on my part. I sort of forgot I was fly-fishing and had pretty light tippet and tried to get the fish canoe-side a little too quickly.

I'm really excited about the new fly combo. It has a great action and casts beautifully, even with the wind blowing and me doing the fly casting. It's also a 4-piece rod that came with a hard tube that's only a little longer than the sections. That makes it super portable and easy to tote along on fishing forays. In fact it's in the truck, just in case I need it in Tennessee or Arkansas this week!

Cabela's Celebrates 50 Years

2011-04-09T16:10:00.012-04:00

When Plans A & B didn't work, Dick Cabela didn't give up.

The son of a furniture store owner in a small Nebraska town, Cabela had come across a vendor selling bulk fishing flies at a furniture trade show he attended with his father in 1961. He bought a couple thousand flies with plans to sell them in his dad's store. Finding little market there, he tried a classified ad in a local paper, offering a dozen flies for a dollar. That got one taker.

Then came Plan C:

Cabela changed the ad to read "FREE introductory offer!!! 5 popular Grade A hand tied flies. Send 25 cents for postage and handling to..." and placed it in a national hunting and fishing magazine. The response was big and immediate, and Cabela and his wife, Mary, began filling orders from their kitchen table. They also built their new business by reinvesting profits in various hunting and fishing gear and sending a list of offerings with every order of flies.

Within a couple of years the lists developed into the first true catalog, that about the same time that Dick and Mary Cabela convinced Dick's younger brother Jim to join the business. Cabela's, the World's Foremost Outfitter, was on its way. From the beginning, customer service and quality products were top priorities. Fifty years later, Cabela's is a $2.7 billion a year company with thriving catalog, Internet and retail store businesses and more than 14,000 employees.

As a self-employed writer and father of five children, each with unique gifts and interests, I appreciate Dick Cabela's entrepreneurial way and his unwillingness to give up when things didn't turn out as planned the first time.

Be sure to check out the Cabela's website. The company is offering some cool limited-edition 50th anniversary merchandise, doing a "Cabela's 50 Years, 50 Trucks Sweepstakes" and much more! Cool stuff.

Happy 50th, Cabela's

Paul Marks Wins Lanier

2011-04-02T19:59:00.003-04:00

Paul Marks of Cumming, GA took top honors in the PAA Tournament Series opener on Lake Lanier this weekend. Marks, who has a lot of history on Lake Lanier, used a Classic Lanier approach, fishing a Fish Head Spin matched with a Fluke, plus a Lucky Craft jerkbait, to catch suspended bass. Marks' three-day weight of 44.44 pounds was a little more than 2 pounds heavier than that of second place Derk Remitz.

Spring Roller Coaster for PAA Pros

2011-04-02T09:51:00.005-04:00

Pro anglers from all over the nation are getting a big dose of Georgia spring and the ups and downs this season can bring as they take on the sprawling waters of Lake Lanier in the season opener of the PAA Tournament Series presented by Carrot Styx.

Until about a week ago, warm weather had prevailed in North Georgia. Lanier's waters had been warming, and its largemouth and spotted bass had been moving shallower -- all good thing for exciting fishing and big weights. A couple of fronts have changed everything, though, pushing a lot of fish back and causing them to either not feed or to bite tentatively.

Tales of lost-fish woes have abounded as the anglers have paraded to the scales for the first two days' weigh-ins. Another common theme has been constant change. Report after report has told of fish acting different every day throughout practice and the tournament, most likely in response to ongoing changes in weather conditions. Only the top 20 anglers are fishing today, and while the morning started cool, the sun is shining brightly and the day is warming quickly. That will mean more change, but this change might be good, with the fish probably moving up again and feeding more aggressively.

Most anglers either have been targeting pre-spawn spotted bass with jerkbaits and shaky-heads over points in the lake's main body or going way up the rivers and fishing for largemouths in more stained waters. That too is changing, though, as the stain from big rains a few days ago is settling out, leaving the rivers clearer.

One note of interest is that three of the top five anglers, leader Paul Marks, and Troy Morrow and Tom Mann, Jr. (fourth and fifth, respectively) are from North Georgia and are veterans on Lake Lanier. The second and third place spots are held by North Carolina's David Hendrick and Arizona's John Murray.

The top 20 pros will weigh in this afternoon at Bass Pro Shops in Lawrenceville. It will be interesting to see what the day brings.

Ginormous Bluegills & Bonus Bass

2011-03-31T04:40:00.007-04:00

TJ Stallings calls them "ginormous" and I can't think of a better word to describe the coppernose bluegills that inhabit the black waters of the King Fisher Society's Richmond Hill Lake. These gills have shoulders, to say the least, and they are every bit as brutish on the line as you might expect.

I spent a ginormously fun day at the King Fisher Society with a group of friends last week. The crew included Bob Lusk of Pond Boss, whose expertise is behind this amazing fishery, TJ Stallings of Road Runner, Chuck Smock of Cabela's, and longtime fishing buddies and fellow outdoor writers Keith "Catfish" Sutton and Vic Attardo.

So impressive are King Fisher's bluegills that the lake's tremendous population of 3- to 6-pound largemouths hardly gets noticed. In fact, Catfish Sutton yelled at his first 5-pounder, which he caught off the dock before we ever launched boats on the lake. "Get off of there. I'm looking for a 2-pound bream!" The truth is, though, that bass are amazingly fit, power packed and seriously fun to catch. Making a good thing even better, it's a young population, and the bass are getting bigger every year!

We caught the bulk of our bream on Road Runner's new Natural Science Series Trout & Panfish baits. Most bass fell to the same Road Runners (thrown with bluegills in mind) or to various soft plastics. Prior obligations forced me to hit the road earlier than the rest of the crew, missing a late-afternoon photo session, dinner at the lodge and a final morning of fishing. However, my friends were kind enough to send me a camera phone photo of them enjoying their ribeyes together while I was drove into the darkness with a dollar burger in hand.

A Few Inches Deeper

2011-03-30T09:07:00.003-04:00

"I'm not hitting any cover," Nathaniel said, having been thinking about my comment from a few minutes earlier that most strikes were coming after I felt my crankbait bump off a stump.

I'd caught four bass and lost another in pretty short order since Doug Markham had figured out that the bass were using a shallow, stump-covered flat and that they were tuned into crankbaits. Nathaniel was throwing an XCalibur Square Lip Xcs2, just like I was, and was making the same presentations over the same stumps, but so far he'd not had a strike.

Then it hit me. His baitcaster was spooled with 17-pound-test. The one I was fishing was spooled with 10. The lighter line was allowing my bait to go just a tiny bit deeper, and in that specific setting, that gave me just enough depth to hit the tops of the stumps and trigger strikes. Nathaniel didn't want to trade rods with me, and it was too late in the day for a total overhaul. He did pick up a rod that was spooled with 14-pound-test, though, and even that difference allowed him to hit a little bit of cover. Just a few minutes later he was in the game with a bass of his own.

Little things can make a big difference some days, and yesterday was one such day.

YUM F2 Slam

2011-03-21T05:21:00.005-04:00

Photos by James Overstreet; courtesy of B.A.S.S.

One of my favorite things about the time I spent working for YUM Bait Company was the opportunity to work closely with top fishing pros. Time spent together at writer events and photo shoots and behind the scenes at tournaments resulted in great friendships and an ongoing personal interest in these pros' professional success. Therefore, I couldn't help but notice that three of YUM's tournament superstars -- Edwin Evers, Terry "Big Show" Scroggins and Alton Jones -- finished 1st, 2nd and 3rd, respectively, in the B.A.S.S. Citrus Slam on the St. Johns river.

Jones, the 2008 Bassmaster Classic Chamption, also took over the top spot in the B.A.S.S. Angler of the Year standings, with Evers and Scroggins close behind in the second and fourth positions.

Evers, who fished exclusivley for spawning fish thoughout the event, stated that YUM's new F2 attractant formula was absolutely critical to his success, helping fish find his bait in somewhat stained waters. His comments about the importance of the F2 attractant echoed those of Alton Jones, who sight-fished most of the tournament using a 6-inch F2 Yum Dinger and led the event for the first three days. Scroggins combined sight-fishing (undoubtedly with YUM F2 baits, although I've not heard specifics yet) with a strategy of running and gunning ledges with Bomber crankbaits.

Congratulations Edwin, Terry and Alton.

Ice Games

2011-03-17T04:34:00.004-04:00

Having just returned from my third ice-fishing outing of 2011, I'm more intrigued than ever by the game of pulling fish through holes in the ice. It's partly a novelty thing, I suppose. Living in Georgia, where hard freezes and snowfalls are major events, I'm amazed by the fixed white landscapes and by the idea of driving out onto the lake on a snowmobile, a pick-up truck or one of the WWII-looking track vehicles used on Lake of the Woods. My interest goes far beyond novelty, though. I enjoy the many games of ice-fishing.

First there's the cat-and-mouse game. Say I'm jigging a Northland Macho Minnow and watching my bait's every movement on a MarCum Showdown. When another mark suddenly appears beneath my bait and starts moving up, that is a fish that is showing interest. At that point I have to figure out how to prompt that fish to strike. Some ice veterans choose to keep the bait moving slowly away from the fish to cause the fish to chase. Others opt to jiggle the bait more in hopes of prompting a reaction strike. Still others resist any movement at that point in the game. All continue to watch the fish and adjust their presentations based on what they fish show them.

Of course, the way fish's response is an aspect of another game. If it shows interest but never quite commits, I'm forced to consider whether my presentation spooked the fish or whether I'm using the wrong size, color or style of lure. Often it takes a few players to begin to figure out what the fish are wanting that day.

Then there's the "stay or go" question. Some anglers believe in holding tight if they think an area is good - remaining patient trusting fish to move through. Others prefer to do more searching, moving from hole to hole, watching with the electronics and paying close attention to which holes produce the most action.

Of course the most important game is that of choosing the location. Being an ice-fishing novice and having done all my trips with tournament pros and guides who have years of experience, I've stayed out of those decisions. I've asked plenty of questions, though, and it's interesting to hear the thought processes. The fact is that fish relate to the same types of rockpiles, points, weedbeds and such under the ice as they do in the open water, and most holes in the ice that look like they are in the middle of nowhere are where they are for a specific reason.

The list of games could continue, but for me more ice play will have to wait until next winter. For now, the bass and bream are moving up in the ponds near home, and the trout are waiting to be caught.

Photo Help

2011-03-13T06:20:00.005-04:00

Folks who have been on trips with me and my 12-year-old son Nathaniel know that Nathaniel often is responsible for catching the photo fish needed to get the job done well. That's not the only way he helps me with photos, though. Nathaniel has gotten very good with a camera and often takes shots of me on the water. Switching things around, he also holds a lot of fish for photos, and it is very nice for me to have a young angler in many of my shots. Nathaniel also enjoys working the reflector and putting reflected sunlight onto a photo fish and/or the face of the angler holding the fish.

Nathaniel is interested in doing more with outdoor writing in the long haul, so experiencing my job with me in the field provides great training. He also maintains his own outdoors blog, which chronicles some of our travels together, his days on a local pond and other outdoorsy sorts of stuff. His most recent blog is about our big, goofy lab/pointer mix, Melody.

Planes, Trains & Automobiles

2011-03-07T06:48:00.003-05:00

It took a ride in my truck, an airport shuttle and tram, two plane flights, a rental car drive and a snowmobile ride to get to the fishing hole, but the results were great fishing and photo opportunities. And everything about Zippel Bay Resort, from the fine folks to fresh walleye on the table after a day on the ice, makes it well worth the long journey from Georgia.

George L. Smith State Park a South Georgia Gem

2011-02-24T22:57:00.004-05:00

"This would be a great day on the water if we didn't catch a fish," Nathaniel said as he pushed his paddle through the tea-colored water of Parrish Mill Pond, sliding the canoe through a gap between two tupelo trees and giving us both good casts to a pocket off the main creek channel.

I agreed. The 400-acre mill pond, which, along with the mill itself, form the centerpiece of George L. Smith State Park in South Georgia, would be spectacular to explore with no fishing rod in hand. That didn't really matter, though, because we did catch fish, both bass and pickerel, despite it being very early in the year and us knowing little about the lake.

The pond, which is loaded with tupelos and cypress and has some shallow swampy areas, has three blazed canoe trail that together offer several miles of paddling opportunities. Bass, crappie, bluegills, pickerel and channel catfish all provide fishing opportunities, but the pictures on the wall of the park office suggest that really big largemouths are the main attraction to visiting fishermen. One bass weighed more than 14 pounds!

The pond's dam and the combination sawmill/gristmill and covered bridge were built in 1880 and have a rich history. Across the bridge, on a short hiking trail, visitors are apt to spot Georgia's state reptile, the gopher tortoise.

I had visited George L. Smith several years ago, while doing some writing research, and had always wanted to get back down there. Having spent today fishing the mill pond, I'm already longing to return and spend more time in this gem of a park!