Sworming Hornet Lures! Hot Summer Time Lures!

Now that the post spawn bass are headed back to their summer time haunts, and the water heats up, we all know that the bass and other species of predatory fish can be illusive, and hard to catch. They get lock jawed and even suspend a lot of the time!

While even the most skilled bass fishermen will tell you that it is extremely difficult at best, to catch these stubborn fish. A lot of people have asked me how to locate these bass. While I don't think locating these bass is hard to do, catching these bass is where the challenge is at!

I don't think people have trouble finding bass in the heat of summer, they think that if the bass aren't biting, they are not there!
I know, there has been times I have been in that situation, and it can be very frustrating. I truely believe, that picking the right lure is the answer 80 percent of the time! You see, bass are like us they have to eat pretty regular!

This lure among a few other lures can help you during these times of difficult fishing. Sworming Hornet Lures, are go to lures when this happens! They are relatively new lures, and believe me when I say, these are just a few of the lures in my arsenal that is the ticket, for suspended bass and very well might keep you from getting skunked during these hot days, or the dog days of summer!

Below is a video that demonstrates how to rig and fish these sworming hornet lures, be sure to watch the video and then if you don't have any, get you some and use them, when the bass are not cooperating on those hot summer days, for whatever reason!
You will be glad you did!

Bass Fishing Humor!

Dear Dr. Phil,

When I retired, I could hardly wait to spend time enjoying my favorite pastime -- bass fishing. I got my own little fishing boat and tried to get my wife to join me, but she just never liked fishing. Finally, one day at the Bait & Tackle Shop, I got to talking to Sam the shop owner who it turned out loves bass fishing as much as I do. We quickly became fishing buddies. As I said the wife doesn't care about fishing. She not only refuses to join us she always complains that I spend too much time fishing.

A few weeks ago Sam and I had the best fishing trip ever. Not only did I catch the most beautiful bass you've ever seen, only a few minutes later Sam must have caught his twin brother! So I took a picture of Sam holding up the two nice bass that we caught and showed the picture to the wife hoping that maybe she'd get interested. Instead she says she doesn't want me to go fishing at all anymore! And she wants me to sell the boat! I think she just doesn't like to see me enjoying myself. What would you do? Tell the wife to forget it and continue my hobby or quit fishing and sell the boat as she insists?

Thanks,

P.S. Enclosed is a picture of Sam with the two bass we caught!


Dear Fisherman,

Get rid of that narrow minded wife. That's a nice pair of bass!

Dr. Phil

The above joke and photo can be found at http://www.rickroot.com/blog/1/2007/06/Bass-Fishing-Humor.cfm

River Fishing Post Poned Due To Rain!

Well folks, I started off going fishing today, but didn't get to go! I didn't have a break down, or any thing bad happen, but as you can see in the picture above, the Gasconade river was up, and muddy! So I turned the old truck around and sulked and pouted all the way home!

I know there will be another day, but dang it anyway, I was all excited and looking forward to another wonderful day on the river.I knew it had rained some but I guess up river it rained a
lot more than what we had experienced down river. So I hate to disappoint you all but it
couldn't be helped.

So, I have a story to tell, that I was going to post back during turkey season! I know it is a little late, but it is still a funny story and worth telling, I think! I will keep it short and to the point, so here goes!

I had hunted for 2 or 3 days and heard a lot of gobblers, but had no success in calling one up to me! So on the 4th day I changed locations and was hoping to change my luck. I got set up before sunrise, poured me a cup of coffee and listened to the gobblers gobble all around me before the sun came up. I was getting the buck acre so bad I couldn't stand it. I know it is turkey season but I still got the buck acre so hush, and just listen! These gobblers were no more than 200 yds from me, still on the roost, gobbling every breath!

By the time the sun came up I was wired for sound and Adrenalin was flowing strong. They flew down from the roost and settled just over the ridge where I was set up, of course just out of sight! I made a few calls and they blew up all around me, but I couldn't see any of them. This went on for about 30 minutes and then all got quiet!

Fifteen or twenty minutes later, I heard something behind me and I figured one of them gobblers snuck in behind me. I turned ever so slowly and .... well the picture below will tell....
the rest of the story!

Have no clue where this dang emu came from or who he belonged to but he totally caught me off guard and started chasing me around. I just called it a day and scurried to the truck and took shelter in the safety of my truck. I didn't want to shoot the darned old thing, but he ran as fast as me and he didn't get as winded as me either! ;-)

So the next time you are turkey hunting, watch out for stray emus and if you do, either climb a tree or run like hell, because they are fast and they nip hard! I left him with the turkeys and maybe next time I turn around to see what is behind me, maybe it will be a gobbler! I did get a gobbler but not on this day! ;-)

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Wade Fishing - Enjoyable, And Rewarding!

I haven't been doing much fishing as of late, due to catching up on all the things on my "honey do" list, you know, honey do this, and honey do that! Anyway, I finally caught them up,and checked them all off as I completed them.

Recently, the weather here in Missouri has been hot and humid! I finished my list, and was hot and soaked from perspiration, which can make a guy downright offensive, if you catch my drift. I grabbed my ultra light and a few lures, and headed for my favorite spot on the Piney River to do some wade fishing!

I immediately dove in and submersed my entire body, clothes and all and washed that stench off of me and then proceeded to fish a section of about a mile of pretty fast moving water! I had tied on a beetle spin and was belly button deep in nice cool water and was feeling just fine! Now mind you I caught several nice goggle eye, and some real nice small mouth bass!

Just as the sun was setting and the temperature started cooling down, I tied on a top water lure called a Jitterbug! I would stay with this lure until well after dark. Hoot owls were hooting, and coyotes started their thing howling and all, and the tree frogs were screaming for rain, some say! Bull frogs were yelling and all the night sounds of the outdoors came to life!

About 45 minutes after dark I caught a real nice smally, and was putting him on the stringer with the other 12 nice goggle eye, and was totally concentrating on this as I didn't want to lose this 21 inch smally! When I got the smally secured on the stringer, I lit up a cigarette, I know, this is a bad vice of mine that I am trying to do away with, but for me it will take time.

I was working my way slowly back to the truck and caught a few more nice goggle eye and bass and released them as I already had enough for a nice fish fry for my wife and I. When all of a sudden I stepped off a ledge and into a deep hole of water, you know, over my head and now I was swimming for shallower water. After dark when you are wet, it tends to get a little chilly and I was starting to shiver a little bit,but, still proceeded to fish to the truck!

About 100 yds before the truck , I had to wade thru a little eddie, and it was really quiet, I stopped to light up another smoke, which, when I am wading , I keep in a water proof zip lock bag! I lit up and because of the bright light and then, practically pitch black night, I couldn't see a thing, so I remain still, until my eyes readjusted to the dark. About the same time, a loud splash about 3 foot from me made me jump out of my skin. A beaver had been swimming up the river and practically ran into me.

I scared him and he scared the @%$& out of me for a second! I swallowed my heart back down into my chest and laughed so loud, that you could of heard me for a country mile! Then he smacked his tail again on the other side of me and got me again!

What a night, I totally enjoyed myself, got a good cool bath and caught a good mess of river fish! When I got home I cleaned my fish, and the wifey cooked them up, and I believe, that was the best fish I had ever eaten! My wife says That I say that every time we cook fish! ;-) I think she's right! She also said that I smelled better too! Can't wait until next time , but I guess I will have to!

So until next time, try your luck at an enjoyable evening, wade fishing, It really is super fun, and is a great way to cool off on those hot summer evenings! Oh yeah, when I got home a hot shower was necessary to knock off the chill of the Big Piney River. You wouldn't think you would get chilled on a 85 degree evening in June, But, it is worth it! The Piney is spring fed and is cold any time of the year!

Big Piney RIver - Fish Are Biting Good!

Took a day off from fishing to do some work......not really, I just went fishing! Bet I had you going though! ;-) But I just took the day off and hit the "Big Piney" river! I have told you about her many times! I have a lot of good old memories of this old river from about 8 yrs old until now! That's a long time and many float trips ago!

This old river is full of goggle eyes, and small mouth bass and it has a good population of large mouth bass too! I just grabbed the canoe and put in the river at the mason bridge access on hwy 32 west of Licking, Missouri. I floated down to the slab town access, which is roughly 10 or 11 miles on the river. It's a beautiful float trip and the scenery is out of this world!

I took only my 2 ultra lights and a box of light or small lures! I tied on a beetle spin with a brown twister. and shoved off to a day of just me and nature. Now this story kind of takes a twist because I am going to tell you about the trip, and also explain what I believe is good conservation. Most of the fish I caught were still full of eggs and I noticed the large mouth bass where on nests in the backups!

I have watched this old river grow and change in many ways over the last 47 years and believe me when I say, there has been a time or two when I was very concerned about the old river and her fish population. Today it was catch and release, just have fun and kinda just take a census of the river, once again.

I caught goggle eyes and small mouth bass all day steady and the bite was real good all day! I caught several keeper goggle eye. Now here is a point that I want to get across, They implemented this creel size a few years back, and the fishing was ruined, it seemed to me and others. But the conservation had biologist taking surveys of the fish caught and they came up with this.

They also did this with small mouth bass and found the same thing!
they implemented a creel size on the small mouth bass and basically made it a catch and release stream. Now when I was a kid there was lots of great big goggle eyes and bass, But I had witnessed without realizing, that the river was Not the same. Gigging season you could see all of the piney and fish were small and far and few between!

Now in a relatively short time the rivers fish population is better by far and getting better each year after the spawn! I caught close to a hundred nice goggle eyes, and 50 or 60 small mouth bass with a lot of the small mouth between 1ft and 23 inches. These river smallies are a blast to battle on an ultra light, they just seem to go where they want to go!

I will support these creel size limits and because I see it at work, I watched a bountiful river, go down hill and then back up hill, only because of a careful watch eye,local fishermen and conservation and biologists working together to ensure the future of our lakes and streams! While I don't agree with all of the conservation activities, This one is right on!

I had a wonderful day once again, and learned a little bit more about myself and what makes me do and think about being a conservationist and doing my part to contribute to the future generations of fishermen! If nothing else, just returning and maintaining nature and its wildlife, which I feel is the responsibility of all fishermen, and anyone who cares! If we respect our rivers and streams then nature will in turn reward us with her beauty!

Looking forward to the next adventure on the old piney, and once again she logged a good trip in my journal and I know there will be many more, if the good Lord's willing and the creeks don't rise!

So, Until next time, Keep your hooks wet and your lines tight, and remember to practice and maintain good boat safety!

Truman Lake - Bass Fishing Fun!

The weather here in Missouri is still doing its thing, some days are nice and some days are rainy and if you can catch the water color when it's right then you can have a fairly decent day! Tuesday, Jerry and I went to Truman Lake and the plan was 2 days!

We hit it hard and caught several large mouth on the deep running "fat free shad" believe it or not this lure is one of my old reliable bass getters! Pearl white colored "fat free shad" by Bill Dance is a lure I go to, and I would put it up against any crank bait on the market!

We caught bass on it all day long until about 3 pm! The bass was running small but we managed several 3 or more pounders! We caught around 40 bass. We liked 2 for our limit and moved to another good spot and I tied on a "Zara Spook!" It was a good call as soon caught a nice 7 lb bass and lost 2 more good ones! One broke my line and stole my spook! We watched him try for 15 minutes trying to get that spook out of his lip and finally threw that spook at Jerry and hit him right in the chest!

Jerry said that the bass was throwing it at me and missed! I am just glad it hit Jerry instead of me. He now has a few holes in his shirt where he had to cut the shirt to get my spook back! I think he still is pouting about that , but he will soon get over it! Jerry was tossing a glass shad rap and when it hit the water , the water and lure simply exploded and Jerry was wearing another lure in his already damaged shirt. I was of course, laughing my butt off when something blew up on my spook and off it went!

He bent my pole double, and was stripping off line with little or no resistance, and I yelled to Jerry "Grab the net!" A huge striper had snagged me and was not in the mood to stop! Now my ambassador will hold close to 300 yds of 14 lb of Berkley big game line and he was getting past the half way mark and then the line went slack! I told Jerry he came off and started reeling it in and when I got caught up to the slack, he took off again and darned near took my rod and reel with him!

And then, the line went slack and that was it! He came off! Now those of you who keep up with my posts, know that this is starting to become a habit of mine this year. These Missouri stripers are kicking my butt this year! Well enough pouting we got up this morning and started fishing again. Now if you remember earlier I said it was a 2 day trip plan, well , guess what?

Today the wind and rain provided by a northern front, was tolerable at best. It was windy, wet and the wind chill was down right COLD! Not as in freezing, but it was cool enough to make your butt pucker up to the seat and you would shiver and shake when you would rung across the lake! We fished till lunch and only caught 4 keepers and trailered the boat and pointed that old Blazer into the wind and came home!

So to sum it all up if the weather cooperates you can catch a lot of good fish, and of course you can have loads of fun either way, but it sure is a lot more fun when you catch! The bass loved the spook and the fat free shad, we didn't use much else, but then why would you change lures, if the lures you have on are working? ;-)