Backwater Buzzbaits

Backwater Buzzbaits

I had another experience fishing the Upper Mississippi River that I want to talk to everyone about. It was late summer when it happened but I think it’ll be pretty much universal as long as there are bass back in really skinny water. There were some places in the backwaters and sloughs that were super shallow — I’m talking less than 2 feet of water — that were holding a good number of keeper bass. The thing was, though, that they were so choked with thin, slimy vegetation and drift that had washed into the water that it was hard […]

The Soner Euro Cup

The Soner Euro Cup

After some street fishing in Paris late this summer, we moved on to Spain. We — Becky, myself and the youngest kids — spent a couple of days in Madrid before I fished the Soner Euro Cup on Lake Cigara near Madrid. My partner and I won it! How cool is that? The Euro Cup was a really exciting experience for me. There were something like 125-130 boats with two man teams in them. As best I can remember there were something like 25 or 30 countries represented, some of them from thousands of miles away. And, as you might […]

How I Modify Lures on the Fly

How I Modify Lures on the Fly

No matter how many lures you carry in your boat there’s always a color you need but don’t have. That’s a problem that plagues professional anglers just as much as recreational anglers. You just can’t carry every color combination of every bait out there. I’ve solved that problem with a few quick tricks that allow me to change or alter colors quickly and efficiently. Here they are… First of all I mostly carry just the basic colors in every lure. I’d rather have more shapes, sizes and actions than colors, especially when it comes to my hard baits. I can […]

Save Plastics, Save Money

Save Plastics, Save Money

One of the questions I get all the time is how to keep a plastic bait from sliding down the hook. I get it. Ruined plastics don’t catch bass and they can get to be expensive over time. Here’s how I’ve learned to solve that problem: Use a screw-type, spring looking bait keeper when you thread your plastic on your hook, but not in the way you might think. You know what I’m talking about. It’s a screw looking, spring-like bait keeper with a ring on top. Some people call it a hitch hiker. The way it’s supposed to be […]

Should I Neko Rig or Wacky Rig?

Should I Neko Rig or Wacky Rig?

That’s a question I get all the time, and it’s a good one. They’re both similar at first glance but they behave very differently and they should be used under very different conditions. Here’s how I make the decision… If I want my presentation to look vertical, I go with a Neko rig. This is typically in deeper water and along some kind of vertical cover or structure. The kind of places I’m thinking about are deep docks, deep and steep riprap and along bluff walls. My bait for the Neko rig is mostly a straight tail worm or a […]

How to Fish a Squarebill

How to Fish a Squarebill

A bait that’s really started to shine over the past few years is the squarebill crankbait. Their shine is well deserved, too. They catch bass in heavy cover when they’re shallow, and there are always a few good ones shallow regardless of the season or the weather. Squarebills will create a true reaction bite and often catch bass when other lures won’t. My favorite is a Rapala Balsa Xtreme BX Brat Squarebill. It’s made from balsa, and that’s a good thing. It floats high and has that unique vibration that only balsa can produce. But because it’s covered with a […]

Rising Water, Rising Fish — Falling Water, Falling Fish

Rising Water, Rising Fish — Falling Water, Falling Fish

This spring has been unbelievably wet. It seems like it rains every other day, sometimes not even every other — just every single darn day. The lakes and rivers are high. The fishing is tough but it’s still possible to catch them if you keep a few basic things in mind. First, when water rises the fish will rise with it. They’ll follow it all the way in as far as they can go. They don’t care about houses, campgrounds or baseball fields. But, the good side of that is that their locations are predictable. They’ll usually be found in […]

The 2019 Bassmaster Classic Part 4: The Ike Foundation

The 2019 Bassmaster Classic Part 4: The Ike Foundation

We had a huge success with The Ike Foundation at the Bassmaster Classic Expo presented by DICK’S Sporting Goods. I couldn’t be happier with what Becky said about things. (I wasn’t there because I was fishing all three days.) As I’m sure most of you know, The Ike Foundation is a charity set up to get kids fishing early. The idea is that if we get them started early, when they’re little, they’ll fish all of their life. But, even if they don’t, they always have positive memories of fishing and the outdoors. That’ll keep them on our side even […]

The 2019 Bassmaster Classic, Part 3: The Afterparty

The 2019 Bassmaster Classic,     Part 3: The Afterparty

After the 2019 GEICO Bassmaster Classic presented by DICK’S Sporting Goods was over the Ike Live! Afterparty got underway. It was maybe the best ever.  It lasted from about 8:00 pm until 11:00 pm, or I should say that was the official time for it.  The truth is that they finally ran us out of the hotel in the wee hours of Monday morning, and I didn’t want to leave even then. That’s saying something because I’d just finished three days of grueling fishing and media events. Nevertheless, I was having so much fun that I didn’t want to stop […]

The 2019 Bassmaster Classic, Part 2: Lure selection

The 2019 Bassmaster Classic, Part 2: Lure selection

Last time we talked mostly about the conditions and where I fished. Here’s the scoop on what I fished with, and why. My best spot, among equals, was the natural flat rock I talked about. My lure choice for that was a Rapala DT 6 in Caribbean Shad. It’s a fairly small crankbait — 2-inches, 3/8-ounce — and it’ll dive in the 6 foot range which was perfect for what I was doing. Remember that I said the rock was between four and six feet deep. I wanted something that would strike the rock easily and deflect off of it […]