Top Four Bass Fishing Baits for March

Top Four Bass Fishing Baits for March

When I think of the best months of the year for bass fishing, March is at the top of the list. Of course, the bass are doing different things in different parts of the country, but almost everywhere, they’re big and they’re biting. North of the Mason-Dixon Line – from Virginia on up – the bass are still in their pre-spawn movements. They’re coming shallow, closer to their spawning grounds, but not yet spawning. South of the line, March means spawning fish. They’ll have moved shallow, crashing the bank. Either they’re setting up on shallower cover or actually on the […]

Colors for Cold Clear Water

Colors for Cold Clear Water

Last time we talked about cold muddy water baits and colors. This time we’ll talk about the exact opposite, cold clear water baits and colors. Before we get into that, though, we need to define clear water. In my world it’s water with 10 to 14 inches of visibility. But there’s also ultra-clear water. That’s water with clarity down to 10 feet. The difference between the two is mostly academic. They’re both tough. I deal with both conditions the same way. My colors don’t change regardless of how clear the water is that I’m fishing. I will admit, however, that […]

Colors for Cold Muddy Water

Colors for Cold Muddy Water

Is there anything more challenging than cold muddy water? I don’t think so, but that doesn’t mean you can’t catch a few. You just have to approach things a little differently. When it’s cold and muddy the fish have to use their senses, just like when the water’s clear — vibration, sound, scent and sight.  All those senses are important but the one that’s not talked about enough is sight. It’s like anglers think that the fish are blind in muddy water so there’s no reason to take that into consideration. Well, they aren’t blind. They just need a little […]

My World, with Jim Miller

My World, with Jim Miller

The show this week was with UFC fighter Jim Miller. He’s a tough dude. I’ve been a fan of his for a while now, but I really didn’t have any idea of what it was all about, how technical mixed martial arts is when it’s practiced correctly. When he’s actually fighting, he looks completely disorganized. It’s like it’s just a bunch of arms and legs flopping around. In reality, though, it’s a number of carefully choreographed moves that he practices over and over so that when he needs one he’s ready to do it right, and his record shows he […]

My World, with Keyshawn Whitehorse

My World, with Keyshawn Whitehorse

I worked with professional bull rider, Keyshawn Whitehorse, in the episode this week. It was interesting and might have been the most difficult physical activity I’ve ever tried. Staying on a bull is not for the weak or the timid. Keyshawn is currently ranked fourth in the country and 11th in the world. He’s a man of faith and a man who hasn’t forgotten his Navajo roots. He is someone we should all admire before we even consider his professional accomplishments. He describes riding a bull as a dance. He points out that they’re bigger, stronger and faster than we […]

The Mighty A-Rig

The Mighty A-Rig

It won’t be long and the water will start to cool. That means early in the cycle the bass will have a tendency to suspend. Later on it’ll get really cold. A lot of anglers struggle under these conditions. But, that is not necessary. Success is all about fishing with the right lure combination and setting it up correctly. One of the best ever lure combinations for suspended bass and cold water conditions is the A-Rig. Nothing puts them in the boat like it. They look crazy when you first see them. There are wires and spinners everywhere. You’d think […]

Suspended Bass in Rivers?

Suspended Bass in Rivers?

Life’s crazy, man! A few weeks ago on the Upper Mississippi River I had an experience that might help you sometime in the future so I’m going to tell you all about it. Usually you find river bass shallow. That didn’t happen to me, though. They were deep and they were suspended. It sounds crazy but it’s true. I caught them in two types of places and with two different lures. Here’s how it went down… The first place I found them was out in the main river over the channel. They were suspended anywhere between 10 and 30 feet […]

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 […]

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 […]

Fall Bassin’ Calls for a Plastic Minnow-like Jerkbait

Fall Bassin’ Calls for a Plastic Minnow-like Jerkbait

I fish a plastic minnow-like jerkbait under almost any conditions from now until the water gets real cold, and even then one will get you a few bites. The only time I don’t fish one is when the water’s real cloudy or muddy. They don’t work very well for me under those conditions. Basically, I rig my bait one of two ways. The first is with a 4/0 or 5/0 offset worm hook in the usual manner. If I want the bait to ride high and touch the surface occasionally, I’ll push the hook into the plastic all the way […]