Spotty Start

My fishing year is off to a very spotty start in a couple of different ways.

First, I simply haven't fished that much. I've made trips to Florida, South Carolina and Alabama to fish a bit and gather content, but for a couple of different reasons, two of those got cut short and only amounted to one day on the water. I haven't done much local fishing on days between trips, so to say my fishing time has been spotty, when compared to a normal year, would be an understatement. Plans, as of now, are to fish all next week and plans are brewing for several other angling adventures, so by theory, that is about to change.

Second, you could say my early efforts have been "spotty" because all the bass I've caught this year have been on a Cotton Cordell Super Spot. A handful of saltwater fish fell to different offerings while I was in Florida, but all of my bass have been on a Spot.  That's not too surprising, I suppose. A Spot is a fabulous early-season bass lure and one I throw quite a bit during late winter and early spring. That said, assuming next week's fishing plans remain in tact, I'm going to try to add a little variety!

First Fish of 2019

I'm not sure which is worse: that I didn't catch my first fish of 2019 until the about the third week of January or that it took a two more weeks to finally mention it in a blog post. Both are true, so I suppose it doesn't matter.

Fish No. 1 for me this year was the redfish pictured above, caught on a Bozka Salt Runner from Florida's Nassau River while I was fishing with Chris Holleman. It was in a high marsh area along the edge of the main river that you have to get into (and back out of) while the tide is pretty high or you'll be there till the next high tide! We managed to catch a couple of reds from that area and got out while we could. The same trip, which included time in the boat with Chris and with Nathan Johnson and Tim Mann, produced some more redfish, quite a few speckled trout and a few largemouth bass, although I didn't catch any of the bass, thus leaving my 2019 species list tally at two.

Next on the agenda is Santee Cooper, followed by Lake Guntersville, so it would seem I should start to get some freshwater species on this year's list. I would say, "reports to follow," but based on my recent blogging history and how it has compared to my intentions, I probably shouldn't state that as a fact quite yet.

Jacksonville Jaunt

One more update is due before I get back to the favorite fishing destinations countdown because just a few days after returning from Maine, I pointed things in the opposite direction and blasted down to Jacksonville for a couple of fun days of inshore saltwater fishing with Chris Holleman and Nathan Johnson. It was a quick trip: Southbound on Thursday, and home late Saturday night. However, that was enough time to enjoy some fun action and get plenty of the photos that drive my travel plans.

I always have fun fishing the Jacksonville area with Chris and Nathan, and we always catch fish. Along with redfish and speckled trout (which are pretty much a given, any time), the species mix from the most recent trip included jack crevalle, flounder, sheepshead and kind of weakfish that's locally called a yellowmouth trout. We hit settings ranging from very urban stuff on the St. John's river in downtown to some pretty remote feeling marsh and fished quite a few different ways. Part of the plan also was to play with some not-yet-released Bomber Lures, which preformed exceptionally well!

My original plan had actually been to do some exploring on my own along the Georgia coast on the way home, possibly doing some pier or surf fishing at Jekyll Island, and to return home Sunday. Big storms brewed up Saturday afternoon, though, and they were forecast to continue until dark, so I decided to continue toward home and save that exploration for another trip.

Of course, Chris, Nathan and I have already started talking about "next time" for Jacksonville, and the working plan is to aim for the fall mullet run, when the fishing tends to be wide open for everything. I'm looking forward to that trip already!

This Year's Fish List

Well, I went back and updated my fish list, best I could. I could only think of seven additional species from the second half of the year. Diminishing returns are common with my annual list because I only list first catches of any given species. Still, I most likely missed one or two obscure panfish or pier catches. So it goes when you don't keep up with stuff when you should.

It may be a little premature for summing up the year as it is certainly possible that I'll find water at least one more time before Sunday. If I do, though, chances are pretty good that the catch will only include fish already on this list -- most likely rainbow, brook or brown trout. And if I'm wrong, I can always make an update. List includes one marginal listing, obvious by the fact that I called it a mystery fish. I don't even remember what it was, but I obviously recognized it as something I didn't recognize that was clearly distinctive from other fish on the list. And Pier 60, where I caught it, was a favored destination when I was growing up, so I'm familiar with a lot what is commonly caught out there.

Tally was 40. Florida was by far the top producing state last year. March topped the month tally. Enough discussion, though. Here's the list:

Rainbow Trout, Norfork River, Arkansas, January

Brown Trout, White River, Arkansas, January

White Bass, Colorado River, Texas, February

Largemouth Bass, Colorado River, Texas, February

Speckled Trout, Texas Bayou, Texas, February

Flounder, Texas Bayou, Texas, February

Peacock Bass, Lake Ida, Florida, February

Bluegill, Tenococ Fishing Area, Florida, February

Hardhead Catfish, Charlotte Harbor, Florida, February

Ladyfish, Charlotte Harbor, Florida, February

Butterfish, Big Pier 60, Florida, March

Pinfish, Big Pier 60, Florida, March

Stingray, Big Pier 60, Florida, March

Mystery fish, Big Pier 60, Florida, March

Warmouth, Rodman Tailwater, Florida, March

Spotted Sunfish, Rodman Tailwater, Florida, March

Killifish, Rodman Tailwater, Florida, March

Redbreast Sunfish, Santa Fe River, Florida, March

Striped Mullet, Santa Fe River, Florida, March

Mudfish, Santa Fe River, Florida, March

Smallmouth Bass, Tennessee River, Alabama, March

Shoal Bass, Flint River, Georgia, May

Longear Sunfish, Flint River, Georgia, May

Walleye, Lake Erie, Ohio, May

Drum, Lake Erie, Ohio, May

White Perch, Lake Erie, Ohio, May

Channel Catfish, Reelfoot Lake, Tennessee, May

White Crappie, Reelfoot Lake, Tennessee, May

Yellow Perch, Lake Rabun, Georgia, May

Sucker, Main Stream, Maine, June

Chain pickerel, Pushaw Lake, Maine, June

Chub, brook in Maine, Maine, June

Brook trout, brook in Maine, Maine, June

Redfish, Mobile Bay, Alabama, September

Yellowtail, Gulf Shores Pier, Alabama, September

Spotted bass, Lake Ouachita, Arkansas, October

Skipjack, Kentucky Lake, Kentucky, October

Blue Catfish, Lake Moultrie, South Carolina, November

Black Crappie, VIP Adventures, South Carolina, November

Striped Bass, Lake Guntersville, Alabama, December

0 for 1

The final morning of my recent Florida trip brought tough fishing in a place where the bass action can be very good. After a couple of hours of having no fish come up for topwater, I tied on a Cotton Cordell Big O amd started cranking.

I'd probably been cranking the Big O for 10 minutes when I felt resistance that I at first thought was from grass. Then the grass started moving toward me faster than I was pulling it, so I snapped my wrist and announced, "Fish."

That word had barely escaped my mouth when a big head emerged, followed by the rest of a hefty bass. With one big head shake it tossed my cranking before returning to the water, and in a moment my opportunity was gone.

I realized too late that with the fish swimming toward me, I should have done much of a hookset. We guessed that bass, which turned out to be the only one to have bit that morning, to have been in the 6- or 7-pound range. Not a Florida giant, but a stout fish and one I sure would have liked to have landed.

Instead it was just another "big one that got away," but I suspect I'll be replaying that jump in my head for a very long time.

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.

A Somewhat Surprising First

I've shared in a couple of places that I caught the first snook of my life last week. Actually, I caught of a couple of snook while fishing with Chris Holleman, and I believe he caught three during the same afternoon. Both that I caught were brutally strong and a load of fun, matching everything I've always heard.

The fact that I had never caught a snook before seems at least a little odd because I grew up in the Tampa Bay area, which is in the heart of snook country, and I've traveled to Florida to fish many times over the years. I'd hooked a couple of other snook that I know about and maybe a coupe of others, but for whatever reason, I really haven't been in situations where I've seriously fished for them very often over the years. Other folks used to fish for snook and occasionally catch one off Big Pier 60 on Clearwater Beach while I was growing up, but I normally was locked in on the trout that I could catch all night instead of thinking about the one or two big snook that lurked in just a couple of pier lights.

If I've remembered to tally all, the snook brings me to 38 species for 2016, and it's seeming unlikely at this point that I'll add more before the year is over. That's the highest number since I began counting, definitely aided by the fact that I did more saltwater fishing this year than I had done in many years.

Southbound Fishing Travels

My most recent blog post spoke about ice fishing and my odd interest in traveling north to fish during the winter. Still no ice plans in place for this winter, but tomorrow I'm hopping in my car and pointing it in the opposite direction, and I'm pretty excited about prospects. Plans include coastal fishing near Jacksonville for speckled trout and redfish with Bomber pro staffers Nathan Johnson and Chris Holleman and then moving slightly inland to catch bass with Tim Mann. The picture above is of Tim, from Lake George, earlier this year. Tim has a few ideas about stuff we might do, and all sound really good. We'll likely start at Rodman, which I'm really excited about, because it's spectacularly beautiful and one of finest bass lakes in the nation, and I've only been there once. Stay tuned!

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.

Florida Fishing

When I spoke with Tim Mann and Chris Holleman about possibly getting together to fish later this spring and they both said they could make something work just a few days later, I couldn't pass on that chance, so a few days later I was in my car and had it pointed south. I fished Lake George one day, sight-fishing for largemouths, and spent two days chasing redfish and speckled trout in the Jacksonville area.

Sight-fishing with Tim is always fun and a learning experienced, and while the wind chased us around some in the afternoon, conditions, plentiful fish on beds and Tim's direction allowed even my untrained eyes to see several fish and catch a few. While we didn't land any real giants, we caught a lot of good fish, and our best limit would have easily weighed more than 20 pounds. Hard to say how big a bag Tim would have caught if he had just been fishing instead of mostly trying to help me! It's not uncommon for he and tournament to bring 30 pounds to the scales this time of year.

The saltwater days were extra fun for me because I haven't done a lot of that recently. In fact, my species list from last year didn't include any saltwater species because I never made it to the coast. This year's list now includes both specks and reds, and I hope to keep adding to that. I was actually supposed to be saltwater fishing in Texas this week, but the weather blew out that trip. However, my next two trips are to Louisiana and Florida, and plans for both include some saltwater fishing.

Naturally, I like the way a redfish crushes a lure and the fight that follows. Beyond that, though, I simply enjoy being out in the marsh, smelling the salt air, and watching the changes brought by rising and falling tides.

Salt-Infused Plans

I've fished mostly on fresh water in recent years, but that's certainly not due to any lack of interest in saltwater fishing. In truth I like the salty stuff a lot. It just hadn't been as good a fit with my writing markets.

That changes with my new role as a content specialist for PRADCO-Fishing because there are many great saltwater stories to be told about the Bomber, Rebel, Heddon and Cotton Cordell brands. During March alone I have coastal fishing plans in Texas, Louisiana and Florida.

Those places are also all warm, which is mighty nice during a month when we typically get a lot of cold weather in Georgia. Often I'm headed north to fish late ice this time of year, so the headstart on spring will be quite nice.

ICAST Prep

This page has been way too quiet, which I don't like. Days have been filled with catch-up efforts on magazine work from so many days on the road this summer, and I just haven't found my way here to post updates. Not a good excuse, especially right now, as I get word about so much cool fishing stuff coming out next year, but still the way the week has gone.

This weekend I transition from catch-up mode to get-ready-again mode because on Monday I'll be driving to Florida for the ICAST show in Orlando. If you look at many fishing websites, you probably see the name ICAST quite a bit. It's the fishing industry's primary trade show and the place where much of the new stuff for the following model year gets revealed to tackle distributors and retailers, and to the outdoors media. Lures, rods, reels, fishing kayaks, clothes, electronics, lines, rigs... You name it, it's there. You've likely seen quite a few peeks at stuff already.

I go to ICAST both to learn about and report on the new stuff and to catch up with folks from the industry, including other writers, editors and various folks who represent fishing tackle manufacturers. For me, it's three days of walking a big show floor, looking at stuff, taking photos, asking questions and talking fishing. This year, I'll also be doing a lot of on-the-spot writing because I'll be reporting about new fishing line and rod introductions for FLW's website and magazine, along with other stuff I'll report here, on the Jeff Samsel Fishing facebook page, on Twitter and on Instagram.

So priorities today are gathering notes, clearing camera cards, charging batteries, packing and generally doing stuff at home that's good to take care of before returning to the road. I suppose I'd better get to it.

Watch here for updates on cool new stuff!

Shiner Lessons

As a boy growing up in Central Florida, I did quite a bit of shiner fishing, but maybe not the kind of fishing that comes to mind when you hear that term. Golden shiners weren't my bait. They were my targets. A creek within walking distance of my house had plentiful shiners up to about a foot long in it, and I'd sit there as long as my parents would let me be away any given day trying to outwit overgrown minnows.

I learned a lot through shiner fishing, and when I look back, I realize that many of those lessons have helped me be a better fisherman. I wasn't seeking to learn, necessarily. I was just trying to figure out how to catch as many fish as possible. Here are four important lessons that come quickly to mind:

Tackle Selection: I figured out over time that shiners have tiny mouths and that while I could catch some on a typical No. 10 or so panfish hook, I'd catch way more with a tiny No. 16. I used long-shank No. 16 hooks because they were easier to get out of the shiner's mouths. Related to tackle, I also learned about the importance of the right line of size. Anything bigger than about 8-pound test was tough to manage with a No. 16 light-wire hook and a breadball for bait.

Bait Care: I found nothing more effective than a tiny wad of white bread for catching shiners, and I learned pretty quickly that I needed fresh, sticky bread to make good balls that were sufficiently small and would stay on the hook. It didn't take many trips that were necessarily shortened by hard bread to teach me to carry my bait in a sandwich bag and to keep the bag sealed and out of the sun.

Presentation: You wouldn't think a shiner would be terribly fussy, but at times they really were. (Maybe I caught the same school of fish every day; I'm not sure.) When the fish were fussy, either a split shot, which made the bait sink too quickly, or a float, which made it suspend unnaturally and added resistance when the shiners picked at it, would keep the fish from taking the bait. The ONLY good presentation was to flip nothing but a breadball on a hook into the hole, let it fall naturally to the bottom and then repeat the process.

Strike Detection: Finally, I had to learn to watch my bait, which was fairly visible in the clear but dark water, as it sunk, and to resist setting the hook even when I could see that fish were batting at it. Shiners are bad to pick at the edges of bait and just knock it back and forth. When one actually would put the bait in its mouth, it would disappear for a moment, and I had to set the hook very quickly to catch the fish.

I probably could come up with a much longer list if I thought about it longer. A creek makes a very good teacher.