I took my own advice in 2017 and did some serious traveling, which included seeking out new bronzeback adventures. During August, Lyn and I headed west across the rolling Dakota prairies and into the trout country of the mountain West. But nary a trout was caught. Instead, my angling goal was Western smallmouth in various […]
It’s amazing how many more fish you catch if you have good craft control. To see the difference, let’s look at how a typical day of fishing goes, either with or without a well-rigged boat and good craft control. I’ve seen each of these scenarios many, many during my lifetime of river fishing and […]
Your New Year’s resolution for 2018 should be to fish more. I’ll tell you why, and also how to make this happen. First of all, why. That’s easy, fishing is good for you. It’s much healthier physically than many other pastimes. This is especially true for river smallmouth fishing, which requires plenty of physical effort […]
One of the most frequently asked questions I get every year is “What kind of craft should I get and How do I Rig it For Fishing?” Sadly, there is no one perfect boat for river fishing, since what to get depends on the type of waters you fish and your physical abilities. However, lots […]
March: Trout Fishing- While Minnesota’s smallmouth fishing remained closed I took advantage of the mild early spring weather to do some trout fishing. Drifting tiny size 16 nymphs is certainly different than working bigger flies for hefty smallies, but on a 4-wt even the 10 and 12 inch browns still put up a good tussle. […]
Fellas who only fish in waters without pike, muskies or pickerel don’t have to worry much about getting bit off by fish. But in many other North American rivers and lakes, the tooth laden members of the Esox family are major considerations. And in recent years, even previously Esox free waters in the mid-South and […]
Why Use the Tiny Torpedo for Smallmouth? An editor for Field & Stream magazine once asked me for information on how to catch big smallmouth, for a special “Trophy Hunters” feature story. One thing they wanted to know was what one lure I would use to catch big smallies. That was tricky. Of course, there […]
The best way to catch a following fish is for your angling partner to quickly cast a moderately weighted bait a little to the side of the hooked fish. Spotting these fish and getting a fly or lure in front of them quickly is the key, because a shadowing smallie often shies away when they […]
BRIEF– The cold water seasons of late fall and winter produce high percentages of big fish if you shift your fishing locations and use the right techniques. Naturally, there are biological reasons why the big boys bite better than the small fry in extra cold water (below 48 degrees). But what a smallie fan really […]
You need a good anchor system, one that you can operate quickly and easily with one hand. A traditional anchor that must be thrown overboard and then hand-hauled back in is noisy, dirty, slow and very tiring. This will not do the job. You need an anchor that remains outside the hull and an anchor […]
