Take Someone Fishing Next Week

The best time to share your love for fishing with someone else is any time you get the opportunity to do so. That truth acknowledged, June 2-10 is National Boating & Fishing Week, and within that week, most states offer at least one Free Fishing Day. A little thing like a waived license fee for a day might be just enough incentive for a co-worker and his family to join you an a nearby lake or stream for an afternoon.

If you do get the opportunity to take someone fishing who normally does not spend much time on the water, think simple. Just like when you take a child for the first time, think about low-effort high-reward destinations such as park ponds where you can fish from the shore or a johnboat with bait or use simple, cast-and-crank lures and enjoy a fairly decent chance of catching at lest a few fish. And those fish don't have to be big to add a lot of fun to an outing.

Also remember that folks who don't normally fish might run out of steam way before you would and may want to go do something else. If you want them to leave with a favorable attention and a desire to try some more fishing, be alert for any hints that it's time to call it a day.

Final Days For Delayed Harvest

Only to days remain in the "delay" period for the 26 North Carolina streams and small lakes that are managed as Delayed Harvest waters. Only single-hook artificial lures may be used or possessed and all fish must be released on these waters through 1/2 hour after sunset on Friday, June 1. Starting Saturday morning, the same waters revert to general regulations, with natural bait and a harvest of fish both permitted.

Late May days tend to produce some of the best action of the year on these waters for anglers who enjoy catch-and-release trout fishing. Fish abundance is high, and the trout typically are aggressive. Fly fishermen do well with attractor dry fly/nymph combinations. Spin-fishermen do well with fast moving reaction baits like Rebel Teeny Wee Craws or flashy in-line spinners.

Of course if you like really fast action, want a limit fish to take home and don't mind the crowds, you'll want to be bank-side on the same streams when they open to the harvest on Saturday morning, 1/2 hour before sunrise.

Simple Days

Preserves and jams served at breakfast time come straight from the root cellar behind Aunt Lucille's house. The Asparagus we enjoy at dinner is locally grown.

We spend our days in Muskegon doing simple things, like walking down the dirt road in the morning, climbing sand dunes by the Lake Michigan shoreline and playing games beneath the giant trees in the front yard.

The little swimming lake we visited this morning looked like a mighty fine place to fish. Maybe next time we'll tote a boat of some sort atop the car.

14 Today

Nathaniel turned 14 today. For the past couple of years we've camped and fished on his birthday, and I suspect we'll still make that trip eventually. We're visiting family in Michigan this weekend, though, and Nathaniel volunteered to mow his great aunt's lawn this afternoon. This evening we might go explore Lake Michigan, but not with fishing poles. We didn't bring any.  Otherwise we might have to go explore a trout stream instead.

Michigan Landing

Today was a travel day for the Samsel family. We arrived in Michigan, where we'll spend the next few days, late this afternoon. Usually I fish while we're here, often spending a day in a trout street and another on Lake St Clair. No fishing on this trip though; just enjoying time visiting family.

Green Bay Announced

The "Mystery Lake"is a mystery no more. This afternoon B.A.S.S. revealed that the June 28-July 1 Elite Series tournament will be held out of Green Bay, Wisconsin, providing the pros access to a world-class smallmouth fishery in Lake Michigan. Most Elite Series pros agree that the fishing could be fabulous, although winds create a major question mark about how the event will actually play out. It appears the reporters for BassFan are good detectives. They speculated a week or so ago that the tournament would be held in Wisconsin and even listed Green Bay as one of two likely venues.

B.A.S.S. Mystery Solved Today

This afternoon, at 1:00 Central, the B.A.S.S. officials will announce the site of the Elite Series "Mystery Lake" event June 28-July 1. After the announcement, the waters of the venue will immediately go off limits to Elite Series pros until the week of the tournament, when the official practice period begins. Therefore, unless an angler made a very good guess and gambled on that guess or just happened to spend some time fishing in the right place, there was no pre-practicing for this tournament.

BassFan recently speculated that the tournament would be held at one of two venues in Wisconsin, and they had gathered good evidence to back that prediction. We'll find out this afternoon. I had said erroneously in yesterday's blog that announcement would be yesterday. I was simply confused.

The Mystery Lake concept takes a page out of B.A.S.S. history, as the first six Bassmaster Classics were held at mystery destinations, with all the competitors boarding and airplane and not knowing where they were flying. In late June, the competitors will all be driving their rigs from the Mississippi River in  La Crosse, Wisconsin, where they will have fished the previous weekend.

Test Blog

With apologies to anyone who came here looking for a fish story, I'm really just trying to figure out whether I can blog successfully with my new phone. I downloaded a Blogger Ap that I'm just now figuring out. I'm pretty sure it will be easy to add photos just taken with the phone's camera, which will allow me to add much more current material on a lot of my trips.

Unrelated to my new phone or fishing travels, B.A.S.S. will announce the Elite Series Mystery Lake this afternoon.

Who's Counting Anyway?

Asher insisted that we were not competing; just fishing together. Yet when he landed his third bass, a fairly nice fish, he proclaimed, "So I'm winning. That's three fish for me!" And everytime anyone caught a fish, he re-capped the "score." Of course, by the the time Nathaniel and I got in the  house after returning from the pond last night, Asher had already reported the final tally to his mom and his other siblings. I chose a micro approach, favoring bluegill, and ended up catching the most fish. Asher almost certainly took total weight. But who was counting anyway?

Scott Martin Takes Potomac

Scott Martin went wire to wire with leads this weekend to win the FLW Tour event on the Potomac River. FLW photo by Gary Mortenson.

Congratulations to Scott Martin, who led the FLW Tour event on the Potomac River all four days and won the event with a four-day weight of 66 pounds, 6 ounces. The win, Martin's sixth with FLW, edged his career FLW earnings past the $2 million mark. Martin fished grass beds throughout the tournament using two different worms made by Bruiser Baits and a ChatterBait.

Added Color

The stained water we found at Shenango and Pymatuning lakes last week called for a little extra color, and a SkippyFISH Colored Marker seemed to be just what the doctor ordered. I saw immediate results when I added a chartreuse stripe to the sides of a blue-backed, pearl-bellied bait. Same Road Runner head, same vertical presentation, same spot. The only difference, other than the band of added color on each side,was that I started catching fish.

Our group had fun playing with the markers, which come in seven colors, whether to add a splash of chartreuse or orange for added visibility or to quickly transform a simple colored bait into a yellow perch imitation. Lure markers allow for quick modifications and make it easy to experiment with subtle changes as you seek to pattern fish any given day. They also allow you to "match the hatch" when you don't have a color that resembles whatever baitfish or critters the fish are eating.

I believe most anglers would agree that there's something really fun about making some little change in your presentation or alteration to your lure that you think might make a difference and then start catching fish. I know it's fun for me.

Every Angler's Fishing Lake

 At Pennsylvania's Pymatuning Lake it matters not if your only boat is a canoe or a johnboat. A lakewide 20 horsepower limit will keep anyone from blowing you out of the water. Plus, the fish use shallow cover all over the lake during spring and early summer, so there's no need to make any major runs. Cast toward stuff that looks like it should hold fish, and there's a very good chance you'll find crappie, bass, walleyes or some kind of sunfish.

In truth, you don't need a boat at all. Shoreline access is outstanding all around this lake and includes fishing piers, riprap banks and a mid-lake causeway. Lots of cover lies within easy casting range of the banks, and the bank-fishermen tend to do well.Wade-fishing is also popular, especially during the spring. By wading the tops of points, anglers can access a lot of water and they commonly catch a lot of walleyes, largemouth bass and smallmouth bass.

Pymatuning supports strong populations of a big variety of game fish, and the lake's shallow nature, plentiful cover and narrow configuration make likely fish-holding spots easy to find. It's one of those really fun lakes where you can cast a small bait such as a Road Runner matched with a 2-inch SkippyFISH and expect to catch fish -- and  you really don't know what variety of fish any given cast will produce.

Fish Biting at Pymatuning

As had been reported, the crappie were biting like crazy at Pennsylvania's Pymatuning Lake, where I fished two day this week. Not just crappie, though. In addition to black and white crappie, I caught largemouth bass, walleyes, yellow perch, bluegills, shellcrackers and a channel catfish (that I can think of off hand), and others in the group I was with caught at least a couple of other species. It was fun and simple fishing, mostly casting Road Runners around shallow cover or drifting with minnow-tipped Road Runners under floats or jigged beside the boat.

Crappie Biting?

Yesterday was a travel day, with a big bird carrying me from Atlanta to Pittsburgh. This morning, I'm an hour and half north of Pittsburgh, where I'll spend the next three days fishing lakes Pymatuning and Shenango. All reports remain great for the lakes, both of which are supposed to be excellent crappie producers, so we'll see if the good action holds up for the next few days. I believe today's plan is to drift for black crappie. If there's internet access at the cabin where I"ll be staying for the next three nights, I'll post fishing reports. If the blog gets quiet, the computer is not connecting with the rest of the world!

Erie Produces Big for FLW Walleye Pros

Kevin McQuoid brought 118 pounds, 4 ounces to the scales over three days to win the FLW Walleye Tour event at Lake Erie. Photo courtesy of FLW.

Everyone suspected that the FLW Walleye Tour Event at Lake Erie would be a toadfest. True to expectations, the giant lake produced and abundance of giant walleyes.

Minnesota pro Keven McQuoid topped the field, weighing in 118 pounds, 4 ounces of walleyes in three days. That is an average of very close to 8 pounds per fish! For comparison, his three-day total was more than 45 pounds heavier than what it took to win the first tour event of this season at the Mississippi River. Fish in Tommy Skarlis' winning sack on the Mississippi averaged a little less than 5 pounds.

It wasn't just McQuoid's winning pattern or spot, either (although he did win the event by a significant 5-pound margin). The top nine anglers at Erie had three-day totals of more than 100 pounds. Digging deeper in the results, a two-day total of 60 pounds (6-pound average) landed an angler just shy of 50th place.

Congratulations to Kevin McQuoid on his third FLW win.

This Week on the Water

A cool new web-based fishing show, This Week on the Water, really does mean "this week," and it's about the closest thing you'll find to a live fishing show. Minnesota angler and fishing industry veteran Jon Thelen will travel all over the Midwest, chasing the hottest bites happening, and the weekly shows, which started this week, will be edited and posted within a couple of days of the filming. Less than 10 minutes long, each episode will be packed with information about current trends and practical how-to information. This Week  on the Water will be posted on several website, including sites for Lindy Fishing Tackle, Cabela's and the North American Fishing Club and Lakemaster Maps.

New Fly To Try

Yesterday's mail brought a nice surprise in the form of a new fly I'm eager to try. Actually the fly is not new at all -- only new to me. The Bill Bug, made by 81-year-old William L. Cook of Morgantown, Kentucky, apparently has been yielding big numbers of bluegills and other panfish for Kentucky anglers in the know for decades. It's a slow-sinking insect imitation that Cook likes to fish either beneath a popping bug or in front of a No. 12 or 14 gnat pattern fly. Each Bill Bug comes packaged with an instruction sheet that details those two techniques, plus two spinning rod applications.

The only bad part for me is that all Bill Bug sales appear to all be done through local retailers in Kentucky. I did a search for online sales outlets an didn't find anything. If I were to lose the two he sent for me to try I wouldn't know where to get more. I plan to write Mr. Cook to thank him for sharing his fly with me anyway, so I'll have to ask about stores where I can pick up more flies when I pass through Kentucky. In the meantime, I need to go catch some bream!

Pymatuning Crappie Bite Hot

This time next week I'll be plying the fish-filled waters of Pennsylvania's Pymatuning Lake, primarily for crappie, although it sounds like any cast of a Road Runner might produce a crappie, white bass, walleye, largemouth, smallmouth or some other variety of fish. Recent reports suggest that the crappie bite is red hot, with both black and white crappie serving up big fun, and that walleyes are likewise feeding well. I'll also spend time fishing Shenango Lake, where crappie and walleyes are also tearing it up based on recent reports. It should be interesting because it sounds like fish are being caught both deep and shallow and with a variety of techniques. The fishing begins on Monday. I'll do my best to post reports about what we catch and how we catch them.

Simple Fishing

Occasionally I have to remind myself that Asher is 7 years old. While he enjoys trying out different lures and likes the challenge of trying to outwit a big bass, when the bass aren't cooperating, he still likes to feel something tugging at the end of the line. And it doesn't really matter if that something is very big. For those times, it's pretty tough to top a half a redworm fished beneath a bobber for bluegill, small bass or whatever else might choose to grab the bait.

One change I've made to my basic bobber rig this year is to trade the normal hook and split shot for a Lindy Ice Jig, which provides the small amount of weight needed and the hook in a single place, lessening the likeliness of tangles and making the rig even simpler. The Ice Jigs, which are really tiny, also come packaged with four little soft-plastic tails, so the offering still has appeal after a bluegill steals the worm. I've only begun using an Ice Jig for this application within the past couple of months, but so far it is working extremely well.

Fishing Hard Labor Creek State Park

Nathaniel, Asher and I spent a fun day exploring the waters of Georgia's Hard Labor Creek State Park in Nathaniel's johnboat. The park's two lakes, Lake Brantley and Lake Rutledge, both provide boating and bank-fishing opportunities, and park literature notes that both lakes are stocked with bass, bluegill, shellcrackers and catfish. Of the stocked species, we caught bass and bluegill. We also caught a couple of crappie and a couple of other sunfish.

Both lakes impound Hard Labor Creek. Brantley is the smaller of the two lakes and is close the park's main day-use areas, campground and cabins. It is extremely shallow, and I've only seen its waters heavily stained. Rental boats provide extra access to anglers who don't want to fish from the bank. Lake Rutledge doesn't have rental boats, but it does have a boat ramp. That, along with it's larger size, seem to cause it to get more attention from fishermen who aren't necessarily camping in the park or staying the cabins. It also offers more depth variety and can be less stained.

We heard good reports about the crappie, catfish and bluegills from a neighbor in the campground, and while we didn't catch anything very large, we saw enough fish and enough promise that we'd gladly return to Hard Labor Creek to give its waters another try.

Total Chattooga Experience

The Chattooga River is best known for its steep, technical and powerful rapids (well, that and for being the filming site for the movie Deliverance) -- but a trip down Section IV of the Chattooga National Wild & Scenic River isn't just a wild ride. The pools are as spectacular as the rapids, and highlights that stand out in most rafters' minds include the side trip to Long  Creek Falls and paddling beside Raven Cliffs. Yesterday our group had the river to ourselves from start to finish, which is more the norm than the exception, and we enjoyed the bonus of catching the mountain laurel in full bloom. Rafting the Chattooga has such a wilderness feel that it's really hard to believe you're only two hours from Atlanta. To learn more, visit Southeastern Expeditions.

Chattooga Whitewater This Morning

Photo courtesy of Southeastern Expeditions

Less then five hours from now, Nathaniel and I will be helping tote rafts and other gear into the gorge of the of Chattooga National Wild & Scenic River for a trip down Section IV! This section pours through several steep and technical Class III to V rapids and finishes with  Five Falls, which is a string of five big big rapids. Remote, rugged and strikingly beautiful, Section IV twists and turns among house-sized boulders, forested slopes and sheer cliffs. I'm really excited about this morning's outing because I haven't rafted the river for several years, and Nathaniel has never been down it. I'm bringing my little waterproof point-and-shoot and my GoPro, so I have big hopes of returning with some cool photos and hopefully some videos as well.

Same Rainbow Trout?

A 10-second glance beneath the surface of Dry Run Creek is all you need to get a good feel for why this Arkansas stream is one of Nathaniel's absolute favorite places to visit. The fish in this clip actually looks a lot like a beautiful rainbow Nathaniel caught a couple of years ago, with it thick body, hooked jaw and intensely bright coloration. Same fish? In Dry Run, it's  hard to say. Its clear waters are loade with big and brightly colored trout.

New Chug'n Spook Brings Up Fish

Any time someone talks about a new product that has "best of both world" qualities, I fear discovering something that's sort of like a spork, which makes a poor spoon and an even poorer fork. Not so with the new Heddon Chug'n Spook, which, as the name suggests, combines the attributes of a chugger with the general profile and functionality of a Zara Spook.

I got to play with a Chug'n Spook for the first time on Sunday at Lake Norfork in Arkansas, and I was impressed not only by the amount of commotion the bait created but by how little effort it took to walk it nicely. More importantly, the bass were impressed, and it seemed like the larger fish that bit favored the Chug'n Spook over some other walkers that we worked through the same areas.

I look forward to doing a lot more research with this bait!

Species Count to 21

One of the most fun things about floating Arkansas' Spring River is that when a fish hits your lure, you never know what kind of fish it will turn out to be. We floated the Spring yesterday, and I personally caught half a dozen different species of fish. Three of those -- smallmouth bass, pumpkinseed and longear sunfish -- were species I'd not yet caught in 2012, so I was able to add those to my list. That brings the tally to 21 species through the end of April. My best lure yesterday was a Rebel Teeny Wee-Crawfish; however, the group's top producer was a Lindy River Rocker, which Lawrence Taylor used to catch a bunch of smallmouth bass, rainbow trout, rock bass and various other kinds of fish.