Company Fishing Day

My job last Thursday was to go fishing. Simple as that. And the same was true for every other employee of PRADCO-Fishing, which owns and operates Rebel Lures, YUM Bait Company, Bobby Garland Crappie Baits, Heddon Lure and a host of other great fishing lure companies — all found at Lurenet.com

Quite a few people get to tie in fishing with work, whether regularly as a guide or tournament angler or on occasion for entertainment, gear testing or maybe some as aspect of marketing in the fishing industry. 

I’m one of those folks, as a content producer. Part of my job is to get photos and video of fish, fishermen and fishing lures and to write about the same subjects. Consequently, I get to spend a reasonable amount of time in a stream or someone’s boat, “researching” and gathering content.

Thursday was different, though, as is one day around this time every year. It wasn’t about gathering content or trying new lures. It was all about enjoying a day of fishing. 

Every year, the company has “PRADCO Fishing Day,” and everyone in the company, whether they work on accounting, manufacturing, sales, marketing or somewhere else, leaves the regular job behind and goes fishing. For some, a couple of hours is enough. Others fish all day. Either works. The only requirement is for everyone to send in a photo of themselves fishing.

Fishing day is always scheduled near a holiday weekend to allow for a nice long break. For PRADCO, this day is important for a couple of reasons. First, it’s a gift to employees that shows appreciation. Second, it makes sure that everyone has a least a little exposure to what we do as a company.

I had spent the first half of the week out, doing some of the kind of on-water stuff that’s more common to me, and had spent time in a few different creeks and small rivers and on Lake Guntersville. In short, I had already gotten to fish quite a bit and had been away from home for three days. Therefore, I chose a simple and close-to-home plan, wading a section of the Chattahoochee River and fishing for whatever bit. 

I caught a handful of fish of four different species and had a delightful time. Sincere thanks to PRADCO for offering a fishing day!

If you want to see how I spent my morning, visit Fishing on Foot on YouTube and check out “My ONE JOB was to go Fishing.”

Autumn Farewell

My phone tells me it's 21 degrees outside my house, and yesterday's rain knocked off many of our late-clinging leaves. Seemingly, autumn has fled North Georgia, and days that have that wonderful autumn-like feel and appearance won't return for another 11 months or so. 

I'm glad to say that on Monday (the day before the rain arrived) it fit well with work needs for me to slip out to one of my favorite Georgia streams to do a bit of fishing and lure photography. I didn't venture far from the care or hit the fishing super hard. Various lure pics were my main priority. Even so, the trout were cooperative enough that I was able to catch and release several pretty little brown trout. Rebel Teeny Wee-Craws and Tracdown Ghost Minnows earned all the day's catch credits.

The stream was low and clear, and the steep slopes that bound it sported the rusty colors that define late autumn. Making a good thing even better, I had the stream to myself, despite fishing very close to an easy access point.

Time to start thinking about winter fishing!

Favorite Fishing Destinations Countdown: No. 4 - White River, Arkansas

The Bull Shoals tailwater is about a 12-hour drive from my house, and there truly is no practical flying option for most travelers. (If you happen to own a small plane, you fly directly to Gaston's!) Despite the long drive, I've always visited the White River as often as have had the opportunity, and if such an opportunity were to arise, I'd happily hop in my car and make the trek as quickly as I could pack my bags and load appropriate gear!

The trout fishery below Bull Shoals Dam extends approximately 100 miles, and more than 1 million trout get stocked in these highly productive waters every year. Stocking efforts and excellent fishing continue 12 months a year, and the fishery is as diverse as it is large. It can be fished from the shore, from various kinds of boat, or by wading (dependent on water levels), and fly-fishing, lure fishing and bait fishing are all popular and productive on the White River. Rainbows far outnumber other species, but any given cast in this river could produce a rainbow, brown, brook or cutthroat trout (along with a few non-trout species, which become more plentiful as you move downriver).

Many anglers travel to the White primarily for fast action from stocked rainbows, with expectations of taking home a limit each day. Quite a few of those plan annual fishing vacations to riverside resorts like Gaston's White River Resort, going out in guide boats in the morning and spending the balance of each day simply enjoying the river. For some, it's the only fishing they do all year, but a trip they wouldn't miss for anything.

By far my favorite way to fish the White is from a boat with a jerkbait at the end of my line, casting to shoreline cover and over midriver gravel bars for hefty brown trout. Unlike the rainbows, browns in the White are river-bred, and a very restrictive limit makes it a virtual catch-and-release fishery. Average size is outstanding, and any given fish that hammers a jerkbait could turn out to be a genuine trophy.

Jerking for the big browns works best with at least a few generators running. Browns are pretty cautious by nature, but higher flows put them in ambush mode. On lower water, I like to wade the river with light spinning gear and small plugs like a Rebel Middle Wee-Crawfish or TD47 Tracdown Ghost Minnow. That approach produces mostly rainbows, with an occasional brown in the mix.

Because the river is so large, the rainbows spread out, and many don't get caught right away. Because stockings are spread through the year and fish grow quickly in the White's fertile waters, you don't catch all "cookie cutter" fish like you do in many stocked trout streams. Common rainbow catches range from about 10 to18 inches, and they vary substantially in fatness and coloration.

Of course, as good as the trout fishing is, the White River's appeals extend far beyond fishing action. It's a beautiful river bounded by high bluff banks and is thick in Ozarks culture and simply a great place to be. From fabulous shore lunches with good friends at Gaston's to riverside camping in Bull Shoals/White River State Park to days of catching jumbo browns with Donald Cranor and his team of trophy trout specialists, I've enjoyed so many extraordinary times at the White since my first visit, which was more than a dozen years ago.

Most of my experience on the White has been in the first 20 or so miles downstream of the dam, so I know I've only skimmed the surface of what this amazing river has to offer. You can trust that my intent is to continue White River exploration for many years!

Upcountry Kayak and Wading Excursion

Asher and I had a big time exploring waters in the South Carolina's Upcountry not too long ago. We fished mostly from the kayaks, but also spent part of a day wading the Chattooga National Wild & Scenic River.

The kayak element was extra fun because it represented somewhat of a test run. It was the first time I had loaded up both Vapor 10 Anglers for an outing to nearby waters since I brought the second one home from Old Town. We hit three different lakes by kayak, meaning 13-year-old Asher and I loaded and unloaded both boats multiple times in a couple of days, and doing so was every bit as quick and simple as I had hoped. Of course, I knew both kayaks would suit my needs well on the water because the new one is the same model as the I already had -- just a different color.

We spent time in the kayaks fishing Tugaloo Lake, Lake Jocassee and Lake Oolenoy, all tucked in the mountains and beautiful, but each distinctive in character. All three yielded some fish to go along with great paddling opportunities. 

We began on Tugaloo, which straddles the South Carolina/Georgia border and is fed by the Chattooga River and by the Tallulah River at the extreme lower end of Tallulah Gorge. We launched on the South Carolina side and spent the morning hitting pockets off the Chattooga River arm. We didn't end up traveling far because we began catching bass and bluegills almost immediately and never had need to do much searching. That said, I want to return some time soon with a whole day available to paddle down Chattooga and all the way up the Tallulah arm to fish inside the gorge section.

Next we visited Lake Jocassee, which is arguably the most scenic lake in the Southern Appalachia. Located at the edge of the Blue Ridge Escarpment, Jocassee is crazily rugged, steep, clear and deep. Most tributaries enter the lake as waterfalls, and it's nothing to be sitting over 200 feet with the boat a cast's distance from the shore. 

Our Jocassee exploration was greatly aided by Jocassee Lake Tours. Owner Brooks Wade welcomed kayaks, Asher and me onto one of the company's pontoons and took us to a few select areas of the lake that he knew would be extra cool to explore, would lend themselves to great photo opportunities and might produce a few fish. Jocassee Lake Tours

doesn't do guided fishing trips, and ultra-clear lakes can be challenging in mid-summer, so he made no promises on the fishing part. That said, we managed to catch several bluegills while paddling in some seriously beautiful areas. 

The third kayaks stop, Lake Oolenoy, is in Table Rock State Park, and the park's namesake rocky-faced mountain provides a spectacular backdrop to many parts of the lake. Only electric motors are permitted on Lake Oolenoy, and the lake is a nice size for a day of kayak fishing. It's small enough to fish your way around in a modest day, but large enough that there is room to explore and for several anglers to fish it at the same times. The bass bite was good at Oolenoy. We didn't catch big fish, but we caught quite a few bass. Making a good thing even better, the bass were coming up and blasting Pop-Rs on the surface!

We capped off our summer Upcountry tour by wading the Chattooga in a few different areas and catching both redeye bass and trout. Little is more fun in my mind than wet wading a cool mountain stream on a hot day and throwing little lures like Rebel Crawfish on ultralight gear for a mixed catch, so doing just that made for a fine trip finale.

Fishy Start to Spring

Spring officially got underway last week, and I'm delighted to have gotten to start the season with four days of fishing (and catching!) I spent the first three days of the season on Arkansas' Lake Ouachita, fishing mostly a bass and a bit for crappie to take photos for work. I then strayed farther west, to a small lake in the Oklahoma portion of the Ouachita National Forest, to do a bit of bass fishing from my kayak for videos.

It was definitely a spring bite on Ouachita. The largemouths were shallow and in a pre-spawn mode, and spinnerbaits produced the best action. We mostly caught males, so the bigger females were most likely staged nearby. We also got some good spotted bass atop rocky points and sunken islands that were close to deeper water by dragging Carolina rigs and by swimming a Flash Mob Jr..

The best crappie action occurred in less than 3 feet and around buckbrush. We caught them by suspending curly tail grubs a couple of feet beneath Thill floats, casting close to the buckbrush and twitching rod tip just enough to rock the float and make the jig dance. They were hitting the jigs hard, more like what I'd expect from a bass, ripping the float out of sight in an instant. Big fun!

I only managed a few bass at the little lake, which was pretty busy on the first Friday of spring and with beautiful weather leading into the weekend. However, two of three were way up the lake's most significant creek arm, on a very shallow flat, and hit a Rebel Bluegill, which is a shallow crankbait that looks like you would expect it to based on the name.

Delayed Harvest Troutfest

Nathaniel, Asher and I had a big time catching trout in the North Carolina mountains last week. With photos being our main objective, we went for easy pickings, hitting Delayed Harvest waters on the Nantahala and Tuckasegee rivers and Big Snowbird Creek. All had gotten an initial spring stocking, so the trout were plenty plentiful, with a few large fish in the mix.

We experienced weather ranging from ice in line guides and snow falling to sunshine and high 50s, and generally enjoyed just exploring the areas. Adding intrigue, the three stream stretches we fished are all quite different from one another in character.

North Carolina's DH waters are open only to catch-and-release fishing with single-hook artificial lures from Oct. 1 until the first Saturday in June. For folks who enjoy fishing with artificial lures and don't mind putting them back, waters managed this way in several Southern states offer great trout-catching opportunities. Fly-fishermen make the most use of these waters, but spin-fishing is completely fine, as long as each lure in your possession is equipped with only a single hook, and no soft plastics have any scent or flavor.

My boys and I do our trout fishing mostly with hard baits, especially Rebel Crawfish and Tracdown Minnows, sometimes mixing in some small jigs or spoons when the fish want something different. Rebel Crawfish were easily our top producers last week. The most productive specific Rebel Craw model was a Deep Teeny Wee Craw, although Asher got on the big fish really well with a Middle Wee Crawfish one day.

One thing worth noting about DH waters. Because they are so productive, they are also extremely popular. If you decide to visit, do so on a weekday, if possible, and arrive early. By midday during the spring, accessible spots tend to fill up and the fish get much more wary.

They're Not All Big

They can't all be big, right? That's OK. Sometimes I'm delighted to just get something to cooperate.

Such was the case a week or so ago in Arkansas. Storms were rolling through the area, and rivers were swelling and turning chocolatey. A little lake with public access beside the highway I was traveling caught my eye, and the rain had paused for the moment. I decided to stop and walk the bank a bit, toting nothing to the water but a single rod and the lure that was already tied to the line.

Nothing happened for the first 10 minutes, and I wasn't far from turning back toward the car when I saw a flash behind my lure at the end of a presentation. I repeated the cast, and sure enough the fish swiped again and this time connected. I only caught that one bass, and it wasn't very large, but in my mind one is far better than none, and it certainly justified a quick stop to make a few casts from an unfamiliar stretch of bank!

A Bigger Ghost Minnow

Rebel's 2 1/2-inch TD47 Tracdown Ghost Minnow has long been one of my absolute favorite lures, especially for trout streams, but also smallmouth streams, ponds and assorted other settings. It casts crazily far, offers super versatility in terms of how it can be worked and has a narrow profile that matches a minnow and looks like an easy meal. It's pretty small, though, so it's limited to settings where I'm content with a fairly small offering.

Last year, Rebel delivered a bigger version of the Tracdown Ghost Minnow. Everything about the TD57 matches its little brother, including the six colors it comes in, but this Ghost Minnow is 4 1/2 inches long. I snatched some up as soon as I could get my hands on them, and have been using them ever since. So far, I've been delighted and have used the bigger Ghost Minnows to catch a lot of fish in wade range of situations. They cast great, even on baitcasting gear, and the weighting allows them to manage current extremely well.

I'm actually the most excited about throwing one of these dudes during high flows in a big cold-water tailwater that's home to big brown trout. I haven't gotten to do that yet, but I have caught a couple of bass on them from the tailwaters of Wilson and Kentucky dams, so I've seen how nicely they perform in the big water.

Either size of Tracdown has a tight wiggle with a straight retrieve but gets very erratic when you jerk it, so the possibilities for presentations are virtually limitless.

I leave today for a trip that will include several days of fishing, and you can bet that I'll have plenty of TD47s and TD57 in the car!

Just in Case

A few pack rods, reels to match, and a small selection of lures and terminal tackle live in the back of my car. Just in case. Because I never know when I might notice a bridge crossing right-of-way beside an intriguing looking stream or a park with a little lake in it and have some extra time. I don't use them that frequently on trips where fishing wasn't already my objective, but pack rods really don't take up much space in the back of a wagon, and when I do want to make a few casts, I want to be prepared. Plus I'm a step ahead on packing the car for a planned fishing trip, when those rods are right for the task.

I can't claim to be prepared for everything. The rods and reels I regularly tote are pretty light, so I wouldn't cast a weedless bass lure across matted vegetation or cast out in a marshy area where I think the most likely fish to bite would be a redfish. However, if I'm around those kinds of waters, I'm farther from home, and often it's a larger fishing trip, and the back of the car is loaded with all kinds of fishing equipment. The pack rods are more for local outings or for sampling a stream I might pass on the way to some non-fishing destination, and more often than not, fairly light tackle gives me a good option for sampling those types of waters.

I discovered how much I like pack  rods when my then-10-year-old son Asher and I traveled across the country on a tripped dubbed the RebelTroutTrek. We traveled for nearly a month in a Ford Fiesta, so we had loads of gear, and simple pack rods stayed out of the way but were always handy, and though we carried a handful of rods, he and I mostly used one rod each for the entire trip.

The rods I currently carry are Fenwick Eagle Travel Spinning Rods. I've had them for a few years and use them quite a bit in trout or smallmouth streams and on ponds for my regular fishing, and have been happy with their performance. They cast smoothly, despite being three or four pieces (depending on model), and they are priced reasonably for the quality at about $70.

Gazing at the picture as I write this reminds me that my car gear is just lying their awaiting a call to action. I wonder if it will get used before the day is over?!

Little Red Trout Stop

Remnants from overnight rains and an approaching bigger system caused me to question my idea of a travel detour to the Little Red River on the way home from Fort Smith last week. However, a window of only sprinkles appeared that it would last through the morning, and the swing wasn't that far off my travel path.

Upon arriving, I found completely low water. That makes for easy wading it but can make the fishing tougher, especially with artificial lures. A bit more flow definitely makes tailwater trout more aggressive and causes them to hold in predictable positions. The low flows eliminated ideas I'd had about throwing large minnow bait for the Little Red's famous big browns, but I remained hopeful that stocker rainbows (and maybe a brown or two) would show interest in smaller hard-bait offerings.

Story shortened, they did. It took a bit of looking to find the best spot, and I experimented a bit with lures and colors before finding what they wanted most on that morning, but once I figured it out, the action was good. I lost count, but I'd guess I ended up catching between 15 and 20 trout in a few hours before beginning my travel toward home. All except one were rainbows. Most were fresh stocker size. A few were a bit longer and stouter and looked like they'd been in the river longer. I also caught one brown trout and had one slightly bigger brown (maybe 16 inches) roll on top and throw the hook.

My best lure, by far, was a Rebel TD47 Tracdown Ghost Minnow in a Brown Trout color pattern, worked steadily with just an occasional twitch to trigger strikes. That's not surprising. The Ghost Minnow has a slender profile creates a subtlety that's good for fussy fish and it can be swam close to the bottom. The Brown Trout color and tends to produce well on dark days.

It was a fun few hours in the stream, and the 2018 fish list is officially underway, with rainbow trout and brown trout being the first two listings. I'd actually done a bit fishing in bass waters the day before I visited the Little Red, but I didn't catch anything that day. My next stop is also to a trout stream, so maybe I can add brook trout!

2017 Species List Ailing

I've kept an annual species list for the past several years, tracking species of fish caught. This year's list is ailing. It's not the catch that's the problem. Instead, it's the list an my lack of attention to it. This summer, my old laptop decided it had done it's job long enough, so I had to buy a new computer. I did salvage my files, for which I'm thankful, but the 2017 species list file has just sat there on a portable hard drive, untouched since June.

This list was pretty solid for half a year, with 33 species, including a good mix freshwater and saltwater species from various regions. It even included a few oddballs, like the mullet pictured above, which hit a Rebel Crawfish. Less likely catches like that, of course, are good for the tally.

The way I keep the list is that I record the first fish of any given species that I catch during a year, noting the species, location, state and month. I'll look back at my calendar and then pour through some photo files and should be able to update list to some degree. I'm almost certain I'll forget some, though. Nevertheless, I'll post an update of where I think I ended up at the end of the year, which is approaching very quickly!

Catches & Catch-Up

There's no denying it. I've been woeful with this blog. The gap since the last post is the longest since I began the Jeff Samsel Fishing blog. I won't make excuses. I'll just move on. I also won't make any big promises, except that I'll try to do a better job of keeping things fresh.

That stuff acknowledged, I've gotten to do some good fishing since the last post. Not much local stuff, but trips to Texas, Florida and Alabama. The Florida trip in particular put a charge in the new year's species count because we did both freshwater and saltwater stuff and because a couple of the days produced a good mix of panfish species. The species tally through mid-March is at 21.

My most surprising catch of 2017 is pictured above. While fishing in Florida's Santa Fe River, I caught a mullet on a Rebel Crawfish, and the fish was hooked inside the mouth. Despite having grown up in Florida and having spent a lot of time around coastal waters over the years, I'd never before seen a mullet caught on an artificial lure, so when I realized what I had, I was pretty surprised.

My favorite fish this year has to go to big speckled trout I'll caught from a kayak in Texas. It took a YUM Swurm fished on a Bomber Shad-Head Jig-Head.

White River Return

First of the week, I'm loading up the fishing car and pointing it toward the Ozarks for a few days of chasing trout in the White River region. It's a bit of a haul -- 11 or 12 hours -- but a very familiar route. There's no practical flying option to the region, so I almost always drive, and I'm sure I've driven there at least 20 times. Predictably good fishing and very good services for anglers make this area a chosen destination for many media events, and it's somewhere I gladly drive to on my own because the fishing is outstanding and simply because I like the rivers, the people and the culture.

I fished the White last year around this time with a team of guides headed up by Donald Cranor, who I'm fishing with next week, but conditions were radically different. Last year's weather was classic January. Next week, highs are forecast to be in the mid-60s. We also had flood conditions last year, with eight spill gates at Bull Shoals Dam running around the clock, forcing some innovative drifting tactics. This year it's more likely to be unusually low for the season, based on what they have been doing with the water and on the mild forecast, so I'm guessing we might be casting Rebel Tracdown Minnows.

I don't actually know whether we'll fish the White, the Norfork or both from the boat, but I'm certain Donald will pick the best section for conditions. I'm also to plan a little fishing on my own the day I get to town and the morning before I start toward home, so I'd be surprised if I don't spend a little time on both rivers (plus maybe the Spring River, along the way).

What I do know is that I'm look forward to getting back to the White River area and catching some trout! I don't leave for a couple of days, but my gear is already gathered and ready to toss in the car.

Favorite 2016 Fishing Accomplishment: Crawfish Bass Slam

Guadalupe bass, Guadalupe River, Texas, Teeny Wee-Crawfish

2016 provided many amazing fishing opportunities, including chances to fish in a few states where I had never fished before and a few new species catches. I'll have to think more about specific favorite destinations and specific catches, but my favorite fishing accomplishment of the year is easy, and the story began in February with the bass pictured above. It's a Guadalupe bass, a black bass species found only in select Texas waters, and I caught it from the Guadalupe River in a state park of the same name. I only caught one and it wasn't very large, but I was thrilled because it was a species I'd never before had the opportunity to catch.

Suwannee bass, Santa Fe River, Florida, Deep Wee-Crawfish

In March, I got the chance to fish for Suwannee bass in Florida's Santa Fe River and to catch a few on Deep Wee-Crawfish. Having then caught two black bass species I'd never caught before by March and having caught both on Rebel Crawfish, I wondered how far I could carry that in a year. To shorten the story, I ended up catching seven species, which at one time would have been considered  true black bass slam, all on the Rebel Crawfish. Biologists have fairly recently defined a couple of other bass that are very similar to spotted bass a distinctive species in select watersheds, but the seven I caught represent what traditionally has been seen as a slam.

Interestingly, the last one I caught, which came late in the summer, was a shoal bass, and it came from the section of the Chattahoochee River that is less than 1/2 hour from my house. See photos below for species three through seven, each with a caption telling the species, location and kind of Rebel Crawfish.

Largemouth bass, Ouachita River, Arkansas, Middle Wee-Crawfish

Smallmouth bass, Ouachita River, Arkansas, Middle Wee-Crawfish

Spotted bass, Ouachita River, Arkansas, Middle Wee-Crawfish

Coosa redeye bass, Chattooga River, South Carolina, Deep Teeny Wee-Crawfish

Shoal bass, Chattahoochee River, Georgia, Wee-Crawfish

Thinks it's a Truck

I really debated taking my Expedition on my most recent trek with Asher because I was a bit concerned about clearance with my Fiesta on some logging roads in Maine. I was told that I "should be OK," though, and decided to hope for the best.

Just as it did last summer, carrying us 8008 miles and conquering mountain roads all over the West during the Rebel Trout Trek, and just as it has on so many Southern Appalachian back roads, the little car performed nicely as we added another 3000+ miles to its odometer. It got seriously dirty, threw a few rocks and bumped bottom once on a New Hampshire logging road, but it kept trucking along and never flirted with getting stuck anywhere.

What I like most about my little car, not surprisingly, is its fuel efficiency. At 40 mpg, it's mighty practical for long drives. What impresses me, along with surprising toughness, is how much junk fits in such a small car with a good hatchback design. Much larger sedans and even some small SUVs would carry less or make gear much harder to access.

Asher and I have learned how to pack the Fiesta so the stuff we need the most stays pretty handy. Not that we don't sometimes lose that order in two weeks on the road with too much junk. We do. But it doesn't take long to get it back in place.

There may be a 4WD or AWD need somewhere in the future, but for now we'll let the little car keep pretending it's a truck!

Droppers

One of my favorite ways to fish from late spring through fall is to rig a Rebel Micro Pop-R or Crickhopper with a fly a couple of feet beneath it on a dropper. It provides a double appeal, and I'll catch some fish on the surface lure and some on the fly. Often when a fish hits and misses my popper or hopper, a moment later the lure will dart under like a bobber, and I think it's often the same fish that spotted a simple meal hanging in front of it after having been drawn in by the surface lure. The technique works well for bass, panfish and trout.

With such things in mind, I spent a little early-hours time today tying a few bugs to take with me to New England. None are specific patterns (at least not intentionally). The main common denominators, I suppose, are that they are at least a little ugly and crudely tied. With a few, I'm hopping to suggest grass shrimp or tiny light-colored minnows. The others are generalists, simply meant to look like some kinds of aquatic insect, tiny fish or critter of some other sort. Most are streamer sorts because I move the top bait a fair amount, but I'm kind of wishing now that I'd tied a few that looked a bit nymphier.

It's hard to say if I'll even break out the bug box, but I figured it couldn't hurt to have a few dropper flies handy, and if I'm going to use a fly, I'd certainly prefer to use one I tied.

#CatchFishAnywhere #NortheastAdventure

Whole Lot of Packing Going On

Asher and I are in full packing mode because tomorrow we leave on this summer's biggest adventure. We're pointing the car north this year, instead of west, and headed for New England. I suppose the primary targets would have to be the beautiful brook trout that live in the ponds of northern New England, but we'll be hitting a variety of waters in New York, New Hampshire, Vermont and Maine for brook, rainbow and brown trout, along with smallmouth bass, pike and whatever else wants to cooperate, and we'll even spend a day or two saltwater fishing on the Connecticut coast. If you followed last year's Rebel Trout Trek, this one won't be quite that grand. We were gone nearly a month and traveled all the way to Olympic National Park just outside of Seattle on that trip. I think we'll end up being on the road a little less than two weeks on this summer's trip.

At one point I thought we'd fly and get a rental car, but the more I thought about all the junk I wanted to tote and the scheduling freedom that comes with driving, the more I became convinced that the hours behind the wheel would be well invested. Now I just have to decide which wheel. My Ford Fiesta has been a mighty fine "trout car" and handled last year's cross-country trek, and it is the most likely choice. I need to check logging road conditions in one area of Maine, though, to make sure ground clearance won't present a problem. If that's too iffy we'll spread out more in the Expedition, and I'll just have to spend a little more time squeezing gas pump triggers.

I'll be sharing stories and photos from the trip on the Rebel Lures website and Facebook page beginning Aug. 1, which is around the time we'll likely be returning home. In the meantime, I'm sure I'll post a few travel updates here, on my Facebook fishing page and on Instagram and Twitter (@jeffsamsel on either).

Knee Deep For Redeyes

I don't know that I can quite state a certain favorite style of fishing, but it very well might be wading wet in a free-flowing mountain river and casting ultralight lures for either trout or stream bass. Last week, I spent a fun day with a friend from Colorado doing exactly that in the cool, clear waters of the Chattooga National Wild & Scenic River.

We cast for Coosa redeye bass, which are native to the Chattooga and fairly plentiful in the lower river. We didn't catch crazy numbers (five or six, I think), and none were huge. However, we got just enough action to keep things interesting while wading a couple of beautiful sections of river. All the redeyes and one big chub came on Rebel Teeny-Wee Craws.

Both the redeyes and the chub were new catches for me for this year. The 2016 tally is now at 23 species. Of those, six are different black bass species (Guadalupe, Suwannee, largemouth, smallmouth, spotted and Coosa redeye bass) caught this spring on Rebel Crawfish. I still need a shoal bass, but fortunately some of those swim in waters that are close to home.

Ouachita Variety

Last week's travel to the Ouachita Mountains delivered wonderful variety, not only in species caught but in the types of fishing experiences I got to enjoy in short order.

The species variety would be hard to argue. I added green sunfish, spotted bass, smallmouths, walleyes, pumpkinseeds and both black and white crappie to this year's catch list in three days of fishing. Experience-wise, I got to spend an afternoon and a morning on Lake Ouachita bass fishing, an afternoon wading the Ouachita River for stream bass, and a full day on the lake fishing Lindy's new Livebait Jig with crawlers and minnows for walleyes, crappie, bluegills and whatever else bit.

The bass fishing was made extra fun by the fact that I got to spend time in the boat with Alton Jones. That always equates to a lot of learning and great opportunities for gathering photos and story material. Far beyond that, I simply enjoy spending time with Alton and he invariably encourages me in many ways.

The jig/bait fishing was similarly fun because I got to spend a day with longtime Minnesota guide Jeff Sundin. I've spent several days fishing with Jeff, but mostly on the ice. He taught me a new approach, and based on all the fish we caught, you'd sure never know that he'd never been to Lake Ouachita before last week. I look forward to experimenting more with the Lindy Livebait Jig.

The highlight of the river outing had to be standing in a single spot and catching three species of bass (largemouth, smallmouth, spot) on the same Rebel Crawfish. None were big, but all were big fun!

Fish Species Firsts

Twice in this year's travels I've gotten opportunities to target and catch localized black bass species that I had never caught (or seen in person, for that matter) before. In Texas, a couple of months ago, I caught a Guadalupe bass, which looks a lot like the Coosa redeye bass we have in some of the rivers around here. Last week in Florida, I got to add a Suwannee bass to my lifetime list. Both were caught on Rebel Crawfish.

As you can see in the photo above, Suwannee bass look a lot like smallmouth bass, and they act like smallmouths, too. They definitely favor current, they hang out around rock, and they feed heavily on crawfish. Different from smallmouths, Suwannee bass have turquoise coloration on their cheeks and undersides, their eyes tend to be a bit bugged out, and they are notably smaller (record is less than 4 pounds). Oh, and they live in Florida and a couple of rivers in South Georgia.

While in Florida, I also got to catch my first butterfly peacock bass. I'd caught peacocks previously on two different trips to Brazil, but none were butterfly peacocks, which is the kind that lives in the canals of South Florida. The butterflies are beautiful colored and brutally strong, just like their larger cousins.