UPDATED–Just match the lakes and spots. 
While looking for a new game I thought a contest that provided the GPS coordinates for the 10 best spots of Kyle Grover, Mike Folkestad and Skeet Reese might be a hot item. But I couldn’t pull it off.
Instead, with the help of pro-staffer Brian Day, I’ve got something almost as good: free codes to access Navionics’ “Freshest Data.” (more…)
DON'T STOP SHORT--go to the end boundary waters to start...
APRIL FEATURE: Much like explorers of centuries past who searched for the very ends of the earth, bass fishermen would be wise to follow a similar path as they search for catchable fish—especially in “new” waters. The reason, as levels rise from spring run-off or increased tributary flows, black bass explore the newest boundaries of their habitat.
Since the beginning of the modern bass fishing era, (more…)
Maybe you’re not attending the ICAST trade show and maybe you’re not entered in this summer’s U.S. Open, but if you were part of the formative years of organized or competitive bass fishing in the West, you are invited to attend a grand reunion, July 15, not far from Las Vegas. (more…)
Given we live in an era where Photoshop is part of every flying saucer pilot’s basic training, you can’t believe everything you see, and in the same vein, not everything you read.
So, despite “irrrefutable evidence” to either sustain or repudiate (take your pick) certain claims, I find nothing incites distrust in humankind like the list of the Top 25 largest bass ever caught. (more…)
UPDATED (3-28) With the San Jacinto River still flowing at near 100 cfs, the DFG added another small deposit of largemouth bass into the expanding Lake Elsinore. Although an official lake elevation is likely forthcoming on Monday, checking “marks” around the lake, it seems the peak will likely top 1249 feet. It’s official: 1249.13.
On the fishery side, where any news is good news, (more…)
THE EGO S2 SLIDER NET in action...
Hey, a net’s a net, right? Doesn’t matter if you’re dipping that 5-, 6-, or 8-pounder from the local pond on a fun trip, or fishing for a big prize, when you desperately need that lightly hooked 1 3/4-pounder in the boat on the last day of the U.S. Open?
Well, maybe there’s a little difference. And ever since I first saw the EGO S2 Slider from Adventure Products (one I saw and voted for in the New Product Showcase at ICAST) I knew this one was a step-up in nets.
Just this past weekend, fishing with guide Gabe Bolivar, I got a chance for a hands on field test. I was so sure this comfortable, slick sliding and retracting handle net was going to perform, I told Gabe to leave his at home. (more…)
UPDATED 3:15 NEW PHOTOS–The just passed “winter’s over” storm hit a lot harder from San Bernardino up to Ventura and Santa Barbara counties, but getting back to watching the gauges in this part of Riverside County, there is another big gain for Lake Elsinore as the terminus of the San Jacinto River.
Upstream, Canyon Lake was running six inches over the spillway on the dam this morning (around 8:15 a.m.) and as you can see my the graph, those flows are still pouring in below at over 200 cubic feet per second. (more…)
CRAWDUDE SCORES for Gabe Bolivar...
Saturday’s “supermoon” event was the catalyst for the trip, but at the end of the day, Lake Sutherland’s performance was true to its vintage afternoon bite. Fortunately, guide and former FLW pro Gabe Bolivar and I had the patience to endure a sluggish morning–and the waiting paid off.
The lake, approximately 23 feet below spill with the streams still running looked very promising. But after several hours and for many anglers, it was the case of very few bites in and around the brush, and not much else. (more…)
Pretty safe to say, we’re experiencing extraordinary times.
Here on the weekend, right on the heels of massive earth and sea movements we’re told a cloud of radiation has made its way here (though minimal in impact) while the first full moon of spring with its attendant wave of spawning bass is expected to be epic. (more…)
WHAT COLOR IS THAT?
Sometimes I get strange notions about techniques and when I do, it’s probably because I have forgotten the foundation of all bass catching: bass are just big, dumb perch and will hit anything.
Sure, there are exceptions to that rule (sometimes lots of them) and that’s why I repeat the rule so often. Every time I get off track, can’t get a bite, or lose faith, I have to remind myself: Hey, you went to college, dang it!) (more…)