So with all this rain in Texas, how do you deal with fishing high water?  First, do not be intimidated. What it takes is rigging a lot of poles with different baits and just flat covering water.  I like to avoid freshly muddy water. Muddy water in general is no problem; it’s just bad if it just got muddy in the last day or so. I also try to go in to it with no preconceived ideas; in other words, it can all be good, so just explore, explore, explore with a variety of techniques, and have fun with it. It will definitely be different than the last few years, but fishing high water can be very rewarding!

Summertime is always a busy time for me. Between fishing tournaments, filming, family reunions and vacations, there is rarely a dull moment.  But no matter how busy summer gets, I always find time to prepare for hunting season.  In fact, I’m pretty obsessed with it – stand placement, shed hunting and scouting pictures.  And of the three, scouting pictures are probably the most exciting. Deer are fascinating creatures, and scouting cameras are a great way to observe them – what they do in the summer, how their patterns change and how they transition into the Fall. Running multiple scouting cameras is also the best way to figure out how many deer you have and what kind of bucks you actually have. It gives you insight into their habits and how they change from place to place. You have to have quite a few cameras, but if you do, you can learn a lot about the deer in your area, information that will be invaluable during the season!

I just took a trip to Matagorda Bay to fish for redfish, trout and flounder and had the opportunity to take Ranger’s new RP190 center console aluminum boat for a test run.  Man! Did that boat perform well!  To start with, we caught a lot of our fish in really shallow water, and that boat drafts extremely shallow.  Many times, I thought we wouldn’t’ be able to make it to a spot because of the shallow water, but the RP190 floated right over it.  The next aspect I was impressed with is the fishability.  The deck is huge, there is a ton of storage, and it is extremely stable on the water.  And, finally, the most important thing you want out of a saltwater boat is the ability to negotiate rough water.  We ran it in 3 foot waves.  It was extremely stable, and we didn’t get any spray.  I highly recommend this boat. It is a great value and a good, reliable saltwater fishing boat.  When I’m ready to get a saltwater boat, this is the one for me.

One of the really cool events associated with the Icast show is the Bass n’ Birdies golf/fishing event.  This year it was played at a Robert Trent Jones Course, Celebration Golf Club.  It is the type of amazing course you would expect to find in Orlando.  Wade Middleton and I have played in this tournament every year.  This year we partnered with my brother (and cameraman), Scott, and FLW Pro, Rusty Trancygier.  We shot an 18 under score of 54, which tied for the best round of the day, but also caught one 12” bass that put us into the lead.  The tournament benefits a great cause, Keepamericafishing.org.  There were quite a few pros participating this year, including Randall Tharp, Terry Scroggins, Wesley Strader and Scott Canterbury.  I have a feeling the bar will be raised a little bit next year.

As usual Strike King released a number of new and exciting products at the 2016 ICast show in Orlando, FL.  Several of them really caught my eye.  First, the Poppin’ Perch.  It’s a bait that has been a long time in coming.  One of the best fishermen in Texas, Todd Castledine, who can fish a frog for big bites as well as anyone in the country, has partnered with Strike King to develop this bait.  It’s the easiest Frog I’ve ever tried to walk, and it also spits really well.  This bait is going to catch a lot of big fish all over the country.  Another new bait I’m really excited about is the Rage Swimmer.  It’s a round-bodied ribbed swimbait that has a big tail kick.  There are two sizes – 3.75” and 4.75”.  Fished on a jig head they are going to get a lot of bites.  Not to be outdone, Strike King has taken their incredible flipping bait, the Rage Bug, and produced a little bigger model, the Magnum Rage Bug.  I think when you’re really fishing for big bites, this compact bait will fit the bill.

I was approached during the recent Lake Champlain event about what my favorite bait was for that lake.  It was an easy answer for me – a Strike King Coffee Tube.  The great thing about a tube is that you can fish it a variety of ways.  You can Texas rig it and flip it in the grass for big largemouth or you can put it on a jighead with an exposed hook and catch big smallmouth with it.  When I’m fishing grass I prefer the 4.5” Flip-n-tube.  I rig it with a tour grade tungsten weight, somewhere between 3/8 and 1 ounce for fishing heavy grass, or 3/16 to 5/16 for fishing around shallow cover.  On the smallmouth rig, I throw the 3.5 inch regular pro model.  On both baits I usually start with green pumpkin and go from there.  For my money, the tube is still a player anytime you are out on the lake