WESTERN CHOICES from Rusty Brown…X Pops, Skitter Walk, Skitter Pop

Just two and a half months until the U.S. Open and 2013 Open champ Rusty Brown was talking topwater–especially following a successful trip to Minnesota, where he fished Mille Lacs Lake for smallies.

While you could argue, the difference between the natural lakes on the northern tier of the country and the arid desert of Arizona and Nevada are worlds apart, it’s hard to argue the methods are similar.

Even the wider availability of smallmouth bass at Lake Mead and the September U.S. Open connect the two extremes. (more…)

The monthly Diagnostic Discussion from NOAA is out and the percentages continue to climb–now a 70 and even 80 percent likelihood–for the return of El Nino condition, typically associated with wetter winters. So, if the banks on your local reservoir look like the bottom of the Grand Canyon, the prospects for future rainfall are pretty tantalizing. (more…)