Big Piney Late Summer Fishing!

It's that time of year again, you know, schools are gearing up again, August is drawing to an end and we are getting near the end of summer! Baseball is gearing up for the final pennant races and fishing starts to pick it up once again! We are all doing all the outdoor stuff that we can possibly get into each and every remaining day of summer.

I went fishing today and floated on the river. You could just feel the weather and sense the changes about to come. I caught several goggle eyes and small mouth bass, before noon and I was just enjoying the 82 degree day, kinda over cast and a gentle breeze blowing across the water. Squirrels were jumping from tree to tree, and I saw a few deer getting a drink from the river! They are really beautiful with their velvet attire and all. I lost a couple of good smallies, so I settled in for a noon time sandwich and a soda and of course some chips!

I spent the rest of the day just relaxing and enjoying the scenery, the sounds, just taking it all in and catching some decent fish. I took out of the river and went home and cleaned all of my fish and while the wife was cooking the fish and fries and hush puppies, I was out side building a fire to enjoy after dark, when the temperatures drop down into the 50s again! We sat around eating fish and chips and drinking cold soda and watching the great fire as the sun went down.

We were enjoying the fish, listening to all the nite creatures, like frogs, crickets, hoot owls, coyotes, and whipper wills. Of course the smell of the fire and listening to the noises a fire puts out like the wood cracking and popping, and the gases hissing as It burns of as the wood is consumed by the blazing blue fire. Was a pretty neat picture and a wonderful evening in the "Great Outdoors!"

Oh, by the way, we ate all the fish but 2 pieces and the fire felt good all evening! Just taking in the outdoors and enjoying the rest of summer! It just seems natural to be in the outdoors and enjoying all it has to offer, see ya out there, I hope!

Norfork Bass - Full Moon Possibilities!

We all know how hot the weather can get, especially in August! It gets down right nasty, in fact! The heat and long days of summer are on us and we resort to the a/c and some TV! I was sitting around the house and wanting to go fishing so bad, but not wanting to endure the heat! I realized the full moon was getting close and knew if the weather stayed the same then the nights would be clear as in "no clouds!"

Now I got on the phone and called a good friend, who happens to live right on "Lake Norfork" at Henderson, Arkansas! He said the night time bite was right on and the stripers were hitting good at night also! That was music to my ears! So off to Norfork Lake we headed and soon met up with my friend Larry, who bought us breakfast and filled us in on the bite. He had to work and wouldn't be able to join us on the first night. We went to a hotel and got some sleep and hit the lake about 5 pm.

It was still pretty hot but we had a pretty good ride to our first fishing spot for the night. Jerry tied on a black jig n pig and I tied on a 10 inch texas rigged black worm. Jerry got bit several times but all came off pretty quick and one was a good one too! He made a good run and let Jerry know real quick that he had a bad place on his line and it broke him off!

We decided to try our luck at some whites when we noticed them surfacing about a hundred yards from us so we tied on some rooster tails and eased in on the school of whites with just the trolling motor on slow. We both made a few casts and both rods were bent and bouncing with a couple of nice hybrids! They were in the 8 pound range! In the next 45 minutes we would limit out on whites and it was getting pretty dark so we rigged up and proceeded to get after "Mr" large mouth.

We got on this fairly shallow flat next to deep water and it was about 3 or 4 hundred yards long, lots of logs and rocks. I tied on a black buzz bait and Jerry tied on a white buzz bait.We both quickly caught 2 bass a piece and they were all 4 bass about 4 1/2 lbs! We really thought we had found the meal ticket when they quit them altogether! I tried something that worked years ago on Norfork, I put on a large black single blade spinner bait, and basically started bouncing the bottom with it and "WHAM" I had a big old large mouth on and she was mad! But she wasn't no match for my ugly stick and ambassador 6000 reel! She finally gave it up, rolled over on her side and we weighed her at 9.50 lbs!

Jerry quickly tied on a spinner bait identical to mine for some reason and we both proceeded to catch the fire out of those Norfork bass! We ended up with 9 bass with the biggest being 9.50 lbs and the smallest weighing in at 4.75 lbs. We had a great night and we even caught 2 keeper walleyes, what a night! Now mind you we started this night time fishing expedition on August 3rd and it was a rock n roll trip start! The 4Th and the 5Th were both good nights, but the quality of fish was down. The last 2 days we caught a lot of whites and bass but they were smaller.

So when it gets too hot for you in the dog days of summer, then try your luck on those full moon nights! It will be quite a bit cooler and sometimes you can really get into those big old bass! But, you need to know the lake that you are fishing because while the full moon is bright, the lake is different to navigate at night, so , be careful out there and boat safe! Watch out for the other guys and yield right of way to other boaters, and enjoy, the "Great Outdoors!"

Keep your hooks wet and we will see ya out there, we Hope!

You, Might Be A Fisherman, If...

1) You have a power worm dangling from your rear view mirror because you think it makes a good air freshener.

2) Your wedding party had to tie tin cans to the back of your bass boat.

3) You call your boat "sweetheart" and your wife "skeeter".

4) Your local tackle shop has your credit card number on file.

5) You keep a flippin stick by your favorite chair to change the TV channels with.

6) You name your black lab "Mercury" and your cat "Evinrude".

7) Bass Pro Shop has a private line just for you.

8) You have your name painted on a parking space at the launch ramp.

9) You have a photo of your 10 lb. bass on your desk at work instead of your family.

10) You consider viennies and crackers a complete meal.

11) You think MEGABYTES means a great day fishing.

12) You send your kid off to the first day of school with his shoes tied in a palomar knot.

13) You think there are four seasons--Pre-spawn, Spawn, Post Spawn and Hunting.

14) Your $30,000 bass boat's trailer needs new tires so you just "borrow" the ones off your house.

15) You trade your wife's van for a smaller vehicle so your bass boat will fit in the garage.

16) Your kids know it's Saturday---Because the boats gone!

Summer Time Bass- How Important Is The Thermocline?

As we near the dog days of summer,we all will experience, the lock jaw temperament of the "Large Mouth Bass!" You know those days when they just don't seem to bite anything! I have several articles in my archives on what lures to use during these times!

Today I want to share with you all something that will help you, when you brave the hot sun and tough fishing days that lay just ahead of us. Now a lot of people ask what lures do we use during the dog days of summer, and some ask what color? Now while lure and lure color choice, are important, Depth is probably more important than anything else!

Now you're probably asking, "why depth?" During the hot days of summer the surface temperature gets in the upper 80's and fish go deeper to get to cooler temperatures. Now after they go so deep, and the temperatures drop, so does the oxygen level drop! This is the level just below the "Thermocline" When the surface temps get too warm, fish seek out the thermocline. Cooler temps with lots of oxygen!

Thermocline - a zone of rapid temperature change!

These conditions are also ideal for bait fish, which by the way bass, stripers, walley, etc., love to eat! The best way to find the thermocline is use your graph and graph the fish and bait fish clumps at a certain level, and concentrate your effort with lures that are fished in that depth range, this is why, knowing what depths crankbaits, or spinners or whatever lures you use go down to and use the lures that are fished at that depth.

So, if you keep the thermocline in mind, then the next time you are experiencing hot summertime, slow biting bass, find the thermocline and fish that depth wherever you fish on the lake, this will drastically improve your chances of a successful trip in mid summer time waters!

Just remember, in the hot days of summer, find the thermocline by locating the clumps of bait fish, and bigger fish whatever level they are at and fish this thermocline all over the lake with lures that are running just above or in the thermocline and you will have more success, at catching those hot summertime bass.

I hope this fishing tip gets you better results, and contributes to more catches for you this summer, so , until next time, enjoy the "Great Outdoors!" See Ya all out there, soon, I hope!