Trying To Fish So Much I Wear Out and Don’t Rust Out

I always said I would rather wear out than rust out, but sometimes I overdo it.  In the past three weeks I have camped at and fished club tournaments on Lanier, Oconee and Bartletts Ferry and spent a day on Seminole for a Georgia Outdoor News article. Sixteen days camping and on the lake out of the first 21 this month was almost too much!

    On November 1 I went to Don Carter State Park, one of my favorite campgrounds in Georgia, and set up my slide in pickup camper. The next day I met James “Lanier Jim” Harmin and he fine-tuned my Humminbird depth finders and showed me how to use them to find deep fish. He installs Humminbird electronics and is an expert on them as well as catching Lanier spotted bass.

    Friday I looked around some of my old fishing spots but did not find anything that looked good. Saturday I got up and drove to Bolling Mill ramp, it was closed to my surprise, then on the way to another ramp my brake caliper tore up a rim and two tires.  It took the rest of that day getting back on the road and back to camp.

    Sunday seven Flint River Bass Club members showed up to fish our tournament, but two had trolling motor problems and went home. After seven hours of casting two more went home early.  I caught two keeper fish the last hour of the tournament to win with 3.86 pounds and my 2.62-pound spot was big fish. Don Gober had two at 3.05 for second. That was it!

    After getting a lot of help from Oakwood Tire finding a rim and getting a tire mounted so I would have a spare on my trailer, I came back to Griffin, dropped my camper and boat off and took off to Big Jim’s Fish Camp on Seminole.  I had a nice cabin there and a great fried shrimp dinner that night and Tuesday night.

Tuesday morning I met guide Chris Taylor and got the information and pictures I needed for my article. After a good nights sleep, I came home Wednesday, got up Thursday morning and wrote the article, then loaded camper and boat and headed to Oconee.

I camped Thursday through Sunday at a great Georgia Power Campground, Lawrence Shoals, and went out for a few hours on a miserable day Friday. Saturday in the tournament 18 members of the Potato Creek Bassmasters fished for eight hours to land 48 keeper bass weighing about 96 pounds.  There were six five bass limits and four people didn’t have a keeper.

Mike Cox won with five weighing 12.40 pounds and Kwong Yu had five at 10.21 pounds for second. I came in a close third with five weighing 10.14 pounds, Doug Acree came in fourth with five at 9.66 pounds and Tom Tanner had big fish with a 5.36 pounder.

I rested at home Sunday through Thursday morning then went to Bartletts Ferry to stay in another Georgia Power campground, Blanton Creek, where they do not allow boats in the camping area.  It was miserable cold so I fished very little Friday and Saturday.

Saturday practice messed me up, though. I didn’t go out until 11:00 and went exploring in a creek I seldom fish. In a little over an hour I caught four bass on a jig on the two bluff banks I fished in that creek. One weighed close to four pounds. 

At 3:00 I went to a local tournament weigh-in and the winner had just over ten pounds with five bass. He told me he caught them off bluff banks in the creek I had caught mine.

I had a plan for the Sportsman Club tournament the next day – fish bluff banks in that creek all day rather than fish the usual places there.

In the tournament eight members landed 28 bass weighing about 36 pounds in seven hours of casting. There were three limits and no one zeroed.

Kwong Yu won with five weighing 6.87 pounds, Zane Fleck was second with five at 6.50 pounds and Raymond English came in third with four weighing 5.62 pounds.  Jay Gerson was fourth with five at 5.59 pounds and Wayne Teal had a 2.33 pounder for big fish.

I fished buff banks hard for more than four hours and caught one small keeper spot. I finally went to some of my old places the last two hours and landed three keepers. My four weighed 5.12 pounds and I came in fifth!

So much for figuring out something in practice! 

No more tournaments until the first weekend in December when all three clubs finish up our years tournaments.  I will be “Thankful” this week for some rest.  But maybe I will go to Jackson and practice a few days!

Then And Now Why Some Wildlife Is Increasing and Some Decreasing

  • Fishing Tips

Then And Now

  • By The Fishing Wire

By Bob Jensen

I looked out my office window today and saw a flock of swans flying by.  For me, that was a pretty big deal.  I’ve seen more swans in my home area in recent years.  Certainly more than we saw just a few years ago, but I still consider it a new experience.  Oddly, or maybe not so oddly, we’re seeing more and more of some types of wildlife and fish life.  And also not so oddly, we’re seeing fewer and fewer of some types of wildlife and fish life.  What we see and what we do in the outdoors has certainly changed from then to now.

Fishing has changed in a lot of ways.  It used to be that keeping the larger fish was the way to go.  On many bodies of water today, it’s beneficial to the fishery to keep the smaller fish.  Northern pike are a good example of this.  On some lakes, keeping the smaller pike is encouraged.  A body of water can support a certain amount of fish poundage per acre.  For instance, if a particular lake can support a hundred pounds of fish per acre, there can be twenty, five pounders, or fifty, two pounders.  Take some of the smaller ones, the ones that we used to throw back, take’em home and eventually we’ll have bigger pike.  That’s an over-simplification, but it makes sense.  And when prepared properly, those two and three pound pike are outstanding on the table.  The same concept holds true for panfish in many lakes.  In some cases, we’re doing the fishery a favor by keeping the smaller fish.

On some lakes smallmouth bass have taken the place of walleyes.  Largemouth bass have always been in these lakes, but they lived in areas where the walleyes didn’t.  As smallmouth populations grew, they moved into the walleye’s neighborhood.  The smallmouth flourished.  They were more aggressive than the walleyes and forced them out of the areas that were originally walleye territory.

When I was younger, pheasants and jackrabbits were abundant near my boyhood home in Iowa.  Now pheasant numbers fluctuate up and down, but there aren’t as many as there used to be, and I haven’t seen a jackrabbit in a very long time.  Weather plays a role in pheasant populations, but habitat, or habitat loss, is a very important factor.  Since 1990, Iowa has lost 2,637 square miles of habitat.  That’s a strip of land nine miles wide that stretches from Davenport Iowa to Omaha Nebraska.  That’s a lot of habitat! 

In an earlier era, we never ever saw an eagle around home.  When we went on our annual fishing trip to northern Minnesota, we would usually see an eagle or two, and it was always a thrill.  Today, we see eagles in the back yard.  And it’s still a thrill.  I’m hopeful and certain that it will always be a thrill.

We also see more deer, geese, and turkeys than we used to.  Seeing deer, geese, and turkeys aren’t quite as thrilling to me as eagles, but I sure do like to see them, as long as they aren’t on the road in front of my pickup.

Most people who spend time outdoors will agree that the outdoor world is changing.  It’s up to those of us who enjoy the outdoors to do what we can to make those changes, on land or water, changes for the better.

Photo Caption—As the outdoor world changes, it appears that deer and turkeys are learning to read.

Deer Stand Memories

  “There’s a kind of hush all over the world,” sang The Herman’s Hermits in 1967. The weather a week ago Sunday and Monday reminded me of that feeling when sitting on a deer stand. The fog and misty rain wetting the leaves and tree branches, and me, made everything in the woods hushed and quiet.

    It is fun most days sitting in a tree hoping deer will wander by, but rainy, foggy days were always my favorites.  Everything is very calm and peaceful. Even tree rats scurrying around on the ground searching for breakfast don’t make much noise.

    Some noises are still loud. The “crack” of a Whiteoak acorn quietly falling 30 feet to smack a limb over your head will get your attention. But most sounds are muted and there is a special quiet to the woods.

    The patter of water drops on the black plastic bag I used for a makeshift rain cover is relaxing, bringing back memories or raindrops hitting the tin roof of the old farmhouse where I grew up.  But unlike the plastic bag roof, it did not leak drops down my collar, bringing me back to the present.

    A flicker of movement gets my full concentration, but most likely it is the flip of a squirrel tail.  I look at it through my scope, cranking it up to maximum power to try to prove grey squirrels have some grey hair. They do not.

    Sometimes the movement is from a magic deer. The woods Houdini can suddenly appear, seemingly popping out of the ground where they stand.  It is no surprise they make no noise in the wet woods, but they can walk through dry leaves just as quietly, the same leaves that made your walk to the stand sound like big foot sitting beside you chomping on ice cubes for breakfast.

    If a deer does appear it is time to check it out closely. Although it is legal to shoot a deer without visible bone above the hair and count it as a doe, not one of your two bucks, you look closely. Then you don’t care because you are hunting for meat, not horns, and don’t plan on filling both buck tags anyway.

    The quiet is conducive to deep thoughts as well as more shallow ones.  Will a doe or buck come down the trail 30 yards down the ridge from your perch in the Whiteoak. Are you hidden well enough for deer “that never look up” to miss seeing you when they look up?  Can you get your crosshairs on them without spooking them?

    More important, how many other hunters have been on this ridge where some of the oaks are more than 100 years old? Did the dirt farmer that scratched out a living here, terracing the steep hillside and moving rocks so he could grow crops to feed his family in the early 1800s hope to shoot a deer with his musket for some meat? 

Did his children and grandchildren that lived on the land after he did shoot squirrels here for a stew, or wait for deer, maybe sitting on the big boulder almost under your tree?  The old man that sold you his final piece of property before dying told you he hunted here, as did his ancestors.  Remembering brought a tear in his eye, giving up the last of his ancestral land.

It almost made you regret buying his families land but if you had not, someone else would have.  And they might have developed it and a subdivision might be covering the ancestral lands now.

    I have insured through a “Land Conservation Covenant” that nothing will be built here before I die. I hope some future hunter will enjoy the peace of this place like I do but I fear some may sing the Joni Mitchell song from 1970: “You don’t know what you got till its gone. They paved paradise and put up a parking lot.”

Beau Browning Knows Bass and Qualified For the Bassmasters Classic

  • By The Fishing Wire

Z-Man® officially welcomes Bassmaster Elite Series angler Beau Browning to the family

Ladson, SC – Freshly qualified for the 2025 Bassmaster Elite Series, twenty-three year old Beau Browning recently paused to reflect on his earliest fishing memories. At seven years old, little Beau was already fishing Arkansas high school bass tourneys—and winning. 

“It’s kind of funny now to remember this old cable-drive trolling motor we had,” recalls the newly minted Z-Man pro. “At the time, I was pretty little and didn’t even weigh enough to steer it with my foot. So, I’d actually hop up there and stand on the pedal with both feet or even kind of stomp on the thing just to get it to move. Somehow, I made it work.”

Indeed, he did. For even as a first-grader, the young Browning was regularly out-fishing kids more than twice his age, “winning most of them.”

Beau’s boat captain (and father), the great Stephen Browning was adamant from day-one that he’d pilot the big motor, but otherwise, let his son figure things out on his own. “He never wanted me to run the trolling motor,” notes Beau’s father, who plans to fish select Bassmaster Opens against his son in 2025. “Never wanted me to be the reason he succeeded or failed out there.”

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Stephen and Tammy Browning celebrate their son’s Elite Series berth at Lake Martin.

Even from the beginning, the elder Browning never even needed to nudge son into fishing. “For Beau, like a lot of us, something about catching bass just clicked,” notes the legendary Z-Man confidant. “Back when we lived on Lake Catherine (near Hot Springs, Arkansas), I’d often wade out onto the shallow flat behind our house and test different baits. We have a picture of little Beau standing in the water, holding a stick, pretending he was fishing with me. Couple years later when he was 5 or 6, he’d hop into a little boat with our Boykin Spaniel and go explore the lake.

“Beau tells people I wanted him to be a golfer,” Stephen Browning continues. “But back then, they didn’t yet offer college scholarships for bass fishing. So I never pressured him into tournament fishing because I thought he was a good enough golfer to get a scholarship.” A year later, following his dreams, Beau finally earned that fishing scholarship with University of Montevallo. (On the college circuits, Beau often finished in the Top 10, winning at Lake Dardanelle in 2021 and Norfork Lake in 2022.)

This past May, while somehow managing to fish a full slate of tournaments, Beau Browning graduated with a major in communications and minor in digital marketing—savvy choices for an angling professional today.

Z-Man Pro-Staff and Promotions Manager Joey Prochazka still remembers young Beau at all the big fishing events, papa Stephen’s smiling shadow and ever-curious companion. “Pretty early on, we knew we’d eventually be welcoming Beau to the big leagues,” says Prochazka. “Through our friendship with Stephen, Beau’s been a part of the Z-Man family for a long time. We’re super happy today to welcome him to our official pro team, even though he’s been an honorary member for around fifteen years.”

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Beyond his undeniable angling skills, Prochazka emphasizes Browning’s natural ability to connect with people: “Everyone who meets Beau comes away impressed. At just 23, he’s got the bass dialed in, of course. But it’s his positive energy and laidback, approachable personality that continues to make him a fan favorite. Beau’s a good soul who takes the time to treat everyone like a friend.

“Let’s just say we’re happy Beau took up fishing, rather than golf,” Prochazka laughs.

It’s a sentiment not necessarily shared by the bass or his fellow competitors. In just his first full year on the Bassmaster Opens Elite Qualifiers (EQs), Browning qualified for the prestigious Elite Series. Helping secure his spot, Browning earned four top 20 Opens finishes, including 13th at Leech Lake, Minnesota and 9th at Okeechobee—both with Z-Man baits.

“I made the Elites thanks largely to two Z-Man baits. One was a Mag FattyZ™, customized with strands of silicone for a larger fuzzy dice profile. That thing worked everywhere,” noted Browning. 

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Browning says the new Tungsten ChatterBait Elite EVO has become his go-to bladed jig.

“The other one’s the lure everyone’s talking about these days, the Tungsten ChatterBait® Elite EVO™. I get asked about this all the time, and while the JackHammer™ and EVO both have their days, I now throw the Tungsten EVO ninety percent of the time. My dad’s the same way.

“For me, it comes down to how well I’m able to stay in tune with the bait, when the blade hits the head. The vibration’s so powerful and sharp that it tells you everything, like when you hit a blade a grass, or when a bass comes up and just nudges the lure. The tungsten is the ultimate transmitter of underwater sound, and it goes both ways— attracts big bass and transmits messages straight to your rodtip. It’s also the perfect ChatterBait for a newbie because you feel everything.”

Watching his son ChatterBait his way to success brings a smile to the elder Browning’s face. “I’ve always been a shallow water power fisherman who likes to catch the easy ones. But even though we both love the ChatterBait, Beau’s really on the other side of the spectrum: He excels at catching finicky fish, often with a spinning rod. I think there was only one day he didn’t weigh a limit during all the (BASS) Opens. That shows me he truly understands the game. And we’re so excited to go along for the ride and watch Beau grow in the sport he loves.” 

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In Bass Fishing, What A Difference A Day Can Make

Last weekend produced two very different results at Jackson Lake for me.  Although the weather was very similar, cloudy and cool with little wind both days, a lucky guess made a big difference for me on Sunday.

    On Saturday 20 members of the Potato Creek Bassmasters fished our final 2022 tournament at Jackson. After fishing from 7:00 AM to 3:00 PM we landed 42 12-inch keeper bass weighing about 58 pounds.  Three people had five fish limits and six did not weigh in a bass.

Mike Cox made it two wins in row with five weighing 8.76 pounds and his 3.02 pounder was big fish. Buddy Laster had five at 6.88 pounds for second, Lee Hancock placed third with five weighing 6.49 pound and Kenny Delay came in fourth with five at 6.27 pounds.

On Sunday 13 members of the Flint River Bass Club and the Spalding County Sportsman Club fished our last tournament of the year at Jackson in a two-club tournament. We fished from 7:30 to 3:30 PM and landed 34 keeper bass weighing about 40 pounds.  There were two limits and two zeros.

My five weighing 8.97 pounds won and I had a 2.84 pound largemouth for big fish. Raymond English had a limit weighing 5.66 pounds for second, Jay Gerson was third with five at 4.08 pounds and Zane Fleck came in fourth with three at 3.64 pounds.

Last Friday I went to Jackson after lunch to look around a little. I wanted to see how much the heavy rain on Wednesday had affected the lake.

I was surprised to find clear water in coves at the dam but the river was stained, and got very muddy going up past the mouth of Tussahaw Creek.  Tussahaw Creek was clear as it usually is and the Alcovy River upstream of the mouth of the South River was clear at least up to Rock Creek.

I found fish with my electronics in a couple of places in Tussahaw Creek and the Alcovy. One group was on a sandbar point with a creek channel running by it and another on a creek mouth point. Another school was on bluff river wall where the rocks dropped almost straight off into 30 feet of water.

Saturday my partner, Robert Howell, and I started on a shallow seawall and he quickly caught a keeper on a shaky head worm.  A few minutes later a keeper spot hit my wacky rigged Senko on rocks about a foot deep.

I moved out to the creek mouth point and could see suspended fish that I though might be bass about ten feet deep over 30 feet of water, with more on the bottom under them. I cast a Carolina rig and as it sank it took off. A keeper spot hit the worm on the way down.

At 9:00 we ran to the dam and I caught another keeper on the wacky rigged worm on shallow rocks. That made three on that pattern so we though we had something going. As I fished to another shallow seawall, a keeper hit my DT 6 crankbait right at the boat.  I had four in the boat before 10:00 so I felt pretty good.

After fishing a couple more shallow seawalls near the dam we ran up to the bluff wall and fish were everywhere on my electronics. I missed one bite on a shaky head but it was the only bite I got. 

We fished hard the rest of the day but never caught another fish. My four weighing 4.36 gave me 8th place in the tournament.

Sunday I ran straight to the bluff bank since there were so many fish there.  I quickly caught a keeper on the crankbait but could not get another bite.

I decided to try for shallow fish and caught the big largemouth at 9:00 on a jig back in a small creek. For the next two hours I tried that pattern but never got another bite. At 11:00 as I fish a main lake point coming out of a small creek I caught my third keeper, on a shaky head.

I tried several things for the next four hours with out catching anything else.  At 3:00 I decided to hit one more rocky point near the weigh-in site.  I caught my fourth keeper at 3:10 and my fifth one at 3:15 on a shaky head.

With five minutes left to fish I got my shaky head hung and broke it off. Rather that re-tie I picked up a Carolina rig and caught a two-pound keeper that culled my smallest fish!

That last fish would have helped me a lot more on Saturday than it did on Sunday, but that’s fishing.

Abu Garcia Max PRO Spinning Reel

  • Gear

Abu Garcia Max PRO Spinning Reel

  • By The Fishing Wire

The Abu Garcia Max PRO receives a stylish new look and innovative upgrades

Columbia, SC– The Abu Garcia Max PRO, part of the beloved Max family of spinning reels, has helped so many anglers enter the world of fishing over the past decade. Spinning reel technology has advanced significantly. During this time the Max PRO has stayed at the forefront leading the way with top-notch performance and loaded with features only found in this reel.

The Max PRO’s complete overhaul integrates a 7+1 stainless steel ball bearing system and a Carbon Matrix Drag System. Inspired by the Abu Garcia Revo and Zenon series of spinning reels, it provides anglers with a buttery smooth drag system normally only found in higher priced options. The Max PRO also features Abu Garcia’s Rocket Line Management system and Rocket Spool Lip design reducing wind knots and improving line control for a smooth day on the water.

Similar to its relatives in the Max family; the Max X and Max SX, the Max PRO features a lightweight graphite asymmetric body and the revolutionary V-Rotor and V-Spool design to help reduce weight and decrease start-up inertia. The Max PRO is also available as a rod-and-reel combo, which includes a 24-ton graphite blank with a high-density EVA handle for increased sensitivity and comfort. Additionally, the combo is equipped with an Abu-designed reel seat that enhances hand and blank contact, improving responsiveness and bite detection.

Key Features – Max PRO Spinning Reel
• 7+1 stainless steel bearings
• Carbon matrix drag system
• Lightweight graphite A-Symmetric body design for a more compact design
• V- Rotor design reduces weight and start up inertia
• V- Spool design for a more compact, lighter weight spool 
• Rocket Line Management system helps reduce “wind knots”
• Rocket Spool Lip allows for better line control
• Gear Ratio: 6.2:1
• Weight: 8-9.9oz (following reel sizes)
• Reel sizes: 750 • 2000 • 2500 • 3000 • 4000

MSRP: $79.99

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Abu Garcia Max PRO Spinning Reel 1

Key Features – Max PRO Spinning Combo
• 24-ton graphite construction for improved sensitivity
• High density EVA for increased feel
• Abu designed reel seat for increased hand/blank contact

MSRP: $99.99

The Abu Garcia Max PRO Spinning Reel and Combo is available now on abugarcia.com.

About Pure Fishing

Pure Fishing is a collection of the world’s favorite fishing brands. Every day, all around the world, someone experiences the joy of catching a fish with one of our products. From gear for epic battles at sea to a relaxing day with family at the lake, our portfolio includes the most recognized and admired brands in fishing tackle, lures, rods, reels and storage. Abu Garcia, Berkley, DAM, Fenwick, Fin-Nor, Frabill, Greys, Hardy, Hodgman, Johnson, JRC, Madcat, Mitchell, Penn, Pflueger, Plano, Prologic, Savage Gear, Shakespeare, SpiderWire, Stren, Ugly Stik and Van Staal.

What Is the Most Important Improvement In Bass Fishing?

Unlike my picture taken in 1994 that accompanies my Griffin Daily News article, I have aged a lot in the past 30 years.  I have also seen many changes in fishing, especially bass fishing, during my life.  Some I like, some others like but I don’t appreciate.  To each his own, I guess.

    I think the most important change in bass fishing is the development of the electric trolling motor.  I will never forget the fun I had sculling an old wooden jon boat for my uncles.  Back then one person sat up front and fished while the other in the back used a paddle to move and position the boat for casting.

    That back seat job often went to us kids. We learned a lot watching and listening, but it was frustrating, too.  Sometimes we got to make a few casts, with the adult taking over the paddling, but usually it was expected our turn fishing would come when we were adults.  We were not spoiled like kids nowadays.

    Sometimes we tried fishing by ourselves and sculling from the front. It worked pretty well, but it meant positioning the boat, putting the paddle down, picking up your rod and reel and trying to get a cast in before the wind or waves moved the boat out of position.

    Now with the touch of a button and rock of the foot you keep the boat in position perfectly, freeing your hands to cast at all times. Newer trolling motors even allow you to push a button and the trolling motor will hold you in one place, allowing you to move around the boat to fish or sit and tie on a new lure without worrying about where the boat will go.

    My first ‘depthfinder” was a heavy cord with a used spark plug on the end. Knots were tied every foot, and every yard a double knot marked it.  I even used freezer tape to put a numbered tag every yard to keep up with how much string was out.

    My newest “depthfinder,” a Garmin Panoptix Livescope, shows everything in front of the boat out to 100 feet in detail, even showing fish as they move in the water.  With a little practice I have learned to identify the kind of fish I am seeing and make a pretty good guess if they will bite. Most of the time.

    The Panoptix cost a bit more than a ball of cord and spark plug weight.  A paddle is a little cheaper than a spot-lock 36 volt trolling motor.

    Fishing line is another huge improvement.  I will never forget Edgar Reeves, Mr. John Harry’s son who was 15 years older than me, taking me with him to Clarks Hill in May. I mostly skulled his boat while he cast a Devil’s Horse topwater plug to flooded button bushes and sweet gum trees.

    He told me I could cast some but when I picked up my Mitchell 300 spinning reel loaded with monofilament line, he said it would not work with topwater. The new-fangled line was not any good compared to his braided line.

    He was right in a way.  Monofilament has improved a lot over the past 60 years since my trip with Edgar. It is much thinner, stronger and limper than the old stuff.  But I use much more fluorocarbon line when fishing since it is not visible underwater and does not stretch as much.

    Unlike monofilament, fluorocarbon sinks so it is not suitable for topwater baits.  But I seldom use mono for topwater, new kinds of braid, very similar to what Edgar used, are now the best line for topwater most of the time.  What goes around comes around!

    Spinning reels were introduced to eliminate the problems with bait casters. The first bait caster I tried to use had no free spool, the handle revolved backwards when you cast. It was called a “knucklebuster” for a very good reason.

And there was no level wind, you had to move the line with your reel holding hand thumb across the reel spool as you reeled in to keep it even.  And there was no drag system.

Spinning reels had problems of their own, from loops forming when you cast that made a mess on the next cast to line slipping under the spool and jamming.  But they were much easier to use.

Then spincast reels, also called closed face reels, were developed to make casting even easier but the first ones jammed way too often, and dirt and debris collected inside the closed face.  New ones are much better.

I fell in love with bass tournament fishing the first time Jim Berry took me to a Sportsman Club tournament in 1974.  I still fish three club tournaments each month.  But the intensity of many young fishermen, “grinding” it out and not having fun but turning it into work while fishing, worries me.  There are hundreds of other great developments in fishing. I hope I am around to witness a few more! 

Can You Be Successful Wading for Speckled Trout 

Wading for Speckled Trout 

In most of the Gulf States, the speckled seatrout is one of the most popular targets for anglers because they are often plentiful, aggressive, and willing to bite various lures. There are many ways to catch them, but wading for them is an excellent option as they typically stay close to the beach and allow anglers to be as stealthy as possible as they target them.

Noted Texas guide and tournament angler, Capt. Brett Sweeny of Matagorda specializes in inshore species such as redfish and trout and guides clients during the “trophy season” for trout in the winter. One of the best ways to target these spooky fish in shallow water is by wading and making precise casts to their hiding spots. It’s a nice change of pace for anglers accustomed to fishing from a boat, and Sweeny says it gives anglers the best chance at catching a trout of a lifetime.

Trophy Trout Time

Sweeny is looking for fish that weigh seven pounds or more or are twenty-eight inches long on the Texas Coast to classify as a trophy. He says the winter months are best for these fish, primarily because their diet changes and where they live.

“The trophy season usually starts around the first of the year, and by February and March, those fish are the heaviest they will be all year,” he said. “When it gets colder, they adjust their diet and eat more mullet. Plus, in that colder water, they don’t swim or travel as much to burn off as much of that food.”

Whether he’s guiding clients near his home in Matagorda or spending time further south in Port Mansfield as he does for long stretches every winter, the chance for a trophy trout is real every trip, and wading offers an excellent opportunity to catch them.

Wading for trout can be as simple as gaining access to a beach, walking out into the water, and casting, but Capt. Sweeny takes his clients to prime locations via boat, where they enter the water and stalk the shallows. He’s a huge fan of fishing this way because it’s effective and adds a hunting aspect to fishing.

“It’s more like hunting because you are creeping up and making casts to specific targets instead of just blind casting around,” he said. “Getting into the water makes you much more efficient than fishing from a boat and lets you work the holes in the grass more efficiently. The other benefit is less noise because these fish are very spooky, and they won’t hear the waves slap on the boat’s hull or anglers making noise as they walk around in the boat.”

What to Look For

Grass beds are critical habitat, and there is plenty to fish on the Gulf Coast. Sweeny looks for ambush areas, holes in the grass that they call potholes.

“In those big grass beds will be big sand holes in the middle, about the size of a truck, and it’s not just a bare spot but a little depression with slightly deeper water. That’s what you want to find,” he said. “Those fish are going to lay in there, right on the edge of the grass, and when mullet come into that pothole, it’s the perfect ambush point for a big trout.”

The water depth they fish ranges from “knee deep” to “belly button deep,” as Capt. Sweeny puts it. Even minor depth changes are enough to attract trout, and like everything in saltwater, tides make a difference. 

“These depressions could only be 8 inches deeper, but that’s enough to hold those trout,” he said. “When it’s sunny, they’ll be in the shallower stuff, and as it gets colder, they’ll be in deeper holes. The best tides are typically incoming in the winter, but if you have some movement either way, it will be better fishing.”

Walking in waders, Sweeny and his clients move from one pothole to the next, and he says the anticipation of each new target is part of the fun.

“It’s easy to lay out a plan together as we creep up to the next pothole; it’s very visual, which is why everyone I take out likes it so much,” he said. “We can ease around and not make a bunch of noise, and it gives you a better chance to catch these fish since the water can be pretty clear this time of year.”

Targeting Trout in the Potholes

The aggressive attitude of trout, even in the colder months, allows them to be caught with several lures. Capt. Sweeny prefers suspending baits such as a MirrOlure Paul Brown’s Original or a “Corky,” as many know them, or Down South Lures Southern Shad paddle tail swimbait. He prefers natural mullet-imitating colors and fishes both on medium power rods with extra fast tips and a Bates Fishing Co. Salty reel spooled with 30 lb Seaguar TactX fluorocarbon with a five-foot leader of 25 lb Seaguar Gold Label fluorocarbon leader connected by a Double Uni knot.

“I like Gold Label because of how much thinner it is. I can go up a size and not lose anything, and I feel like it ties better knots because of how supple it is,” he said. “I also like the feel of TactX because I’m a four-strand guy, and it’s a very strong braid that casts great. It’s a personal preference, and I know some anglers doing this with the Smackdown braid.”

When fishing these lures, especially the suspending twitch bait, Capt. Sweeny mixes up his retrieves based on fish activity, but the pause is where many bites happen.

“I always like to go with two twitches of the rod and then a pause, almost like working a jerkbait for bass in freshwater,” he said. “You want to twitch the bait over that grass, and then you want it to sit as long inside that pothole as you can before you twitch it again.”

Casting accuracy is also critical for getting the best time inside the strike zone possible. “It’s important to make a good cast because if you miss the cast by a few feet, you’re going to be up on top of that grass bed, and they probably aren’t going to eat your bait,” he said. “That’s another reason why your line is so critical, and having a good casting line like TactX makes you that much more efficient.”

For a change of pace and a chance at a massive speckled trout, jump in and wade as you stalk the shallow water. It’s a surefire way to have fun and catch big trout during the winter months when they are at their biggest sizes of the entire year.

Seaguar TactX Camo Braid is available in 150- and 300-yard spools in 10 to 80 lb tests.

Seaguar Gold Label Fluorocarbon leader is available in twenty-five and fifty-yard spools in 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 & 12 lb tests for freshwater use, complementing the 15, 20, 25, 30, 40, 50, 60, and 80 lb test leaders available for saltwater. 

When Bass Fishing Does the Big One Always Get Away

The big one always gets away.

An article in “Bassin Times” about a pro’s memories of fish he lost that really hurt him in tournaments made me think about losing fish.  Few tournament weigh-ins go by without someone telling about losing a big fish or a key fish.  

All this makes me remember some of the big ones I have lost or been in the boat with a partner that lost a big one.  They range from fishing with Linda to Top Six tournaments fishing with future pro fishermen.  Too many of the loses were at the end of my line!

Back in the 1970s big largemouth were common at Jackson Lake. I landed my first eight pounder there in a tournament in 1976 and my second in another January tournament in 1979. But one I lost in practice around 1980 stands out in my mind.

The fish hit a crankbait on a rocky point on a November trip.  I fought it for several minutes, seeing it flash in the water and knowing it was much bigger than my eight pounders.  When it came to the surface about ten feet from the boat and turned on its side, I just knew I had the bass we estimated to be at least 12 pound.

I pulled a little too hard trying to drag it to the net and the lure popped out of its mouth.  It slowly swam out of sight taking my heart with it.

Linda hooked a bass at Clarks Hill on a big seven-inch-long plug fishing a rocky bank in the early 1980s.  It too came to the top and turned on its side, with the plug sideways across its mouth. It did not go all the way across! Then it turned and swam off. Linda did nothing wrong, and we never figured out how those treble hooks came loose.

Future pro Tony Couch was giving me a lesson on fishing spinnerbaits in a Top Six at Eufaula in 1980.  We stopped at a small pocket and he said there was a big bass spawning by a stump in it. When he ran his spinnerbait by the stump his bait stopped. When he set the hook an eight-pound bass, worth several hundred dollars in the big fish pot, jumped completely out of the water and threw his bait back at us.

In a 1980s tournament Jim Berry was fishing with me at Sinclair and we had not caught much.  Late in the day he cast a Countdown Rapala between two docks and hooked a big bass. When it cleared the water on its first jump, giving us a good look at its eight pounds, it threw the plug!

More recently, at a club tournament at Oconee three or four years ago I was having a bad day. With 30 minutes to fish I caught a keeper bass on a small point and felt a little better. Then if fished some docks past the point.

A bass hit my worm by one of the docks and immediately ran around a post.  Somehow my 14-pound Sunline held and I pulled it back to open water. As it got it near the boat it surged back toward the dock twice but I stopped it. It was close enough to see it was an eight pound plus bass.

The third surge toward the dock was its charm, the hook pulled loose and it went back under the dock!

I have had many fish I never saw break me off in brush under the water.  Since I never saw them I have no idea how big they might have been, but some pulled like huge one.  I have landed flathead catfish up to 35 pounds on my worm rod so I have an idea how big fish pull.

One winter at Clarks Hill I did see what hit. I was jigging a spoon for hybrids on a channel edge when a striper lazily came to the surface chasing bait. It was about 20 yards from the boat and I saw it plainly, guessing it to be over 40 pounds. I quickly reeled in and cast my spoon in the direction it was headed.

A hard thump was following by a line screaming run, with the fish running near the surface straight away from the boat. As my line peeled from the spool I hit the trolling motor button and followed it.  After about 100 yards I started to gain a little line back, then felt sick. The fish was headed straight toward one of the three underwater trees I knew about in that creek.

As feared I felt my line start to rub on the tree for a few seconds, then break.  That was the biggest freshwater fish I ever hooked.

    I have lost many other big fish over the years but have landed some of them, including the big flathead, a 35-pound big head carp and common carp up to 30 pounds. I have also landed seven bass weighing more than nine pounds each.

But it seems harder and harder to hook a big bass each year, so it becomes more important to try to land them!

Defeat The Cold With Fish Monkey

Defeat The Cold With Fish Monkey Gear While Ice Fishing

  • By The Fishing Wire

Ice fishing is one of the world’s truly extreme sports. It’s great fun and there is plenty of action, not to mention the good times and camaraderie shared by those who participate in this winter activity. In order to be safe and successful you need the right gear, and it starts with a good pair of gloves.

Most anglers just grab a pair of heavy insulated work gloves, but fishing requires more. You need a glove that’s not only waterproof but also one that has the dexterity to allow you to manipulate small rods and reels easily. One that can go from driving a snow machine or side by side to drilling an auger to baiting tiny hooks. Meet the cold-weather glove lineup from Fish Monkey. 

First up is the Stealth Sherpa Dry-Tec Heavyweight Gloves and Mittens. These are 100 percent wind- and waterproof, but even more important, they are constructed with a durable water repellent finish. This means they won’t absorb water on the outside, which keeps them light and functional all day long.The breathable membrane also helps prevent moisture buildup, keeping your hands warm without feeling clammy. THere’s 200 grams of Thinsulate on the back of the hand and another 100 grams on the palm, which ensures optimal warmth without sacrificing that critical dexterity. The mitten has magnetic stays for the slit fingers in the index and thumb to stay out of the way when not needed. The index fingers on both styles are touchscreen-friendly, and the palms have non-slip grip.

Another option for extreme cold is the Yeti Premium Ice-Fishing Gloves and Mittens. These are the most technologically advanced cold-weather fishing gloves available today, with state-of-the-art materials and construction. It starts with a 100 percent wind- and waterproof fabric which is lined with a thermo-conductive fleece material which absorbs, retains and transfers body heat throughout the glove. The warmth level is incredible. It has 350 grams of Thinsulate in the back of the hand and another 150 grams in the palm, plus a pre-curved finger design and advanced cotton insulation throughout. There’s a premium goat-leather palm for comfort and durability plus touchscreen fingertips and an index goggle squeegee built in. The fully adjustable wrist and cuffs give you a customized fit, too. The mitten style amps up the warmth level, allowing your fingers to share the body heat. 

Don’t forget about your feet, either. Standing on ice for hours in heavy boots requires more than just a good pair of socks—you need professional-grade protection. Fish Monkey’s Heavyweight line of socks are designed for extreme conditions, with 75 percent merino wool and two styles: a boot-cut and an over-the-calf length. Both styles feature superior arch and ankle compression for reduced foot and leg fatigue as well as a cushioned footbed for maximum warmth and moisture management. There’s nylon reinforcement in the high-abrasion areas and a Y-gore heel that prevents slipping and chafing.

Don’t be afraid of the conditions—embrace the cold with the right gear from Fish Monkey! Interested in becoming a dealer? Click here for more information.