In all the tournaments I’ve fished on the Tennessee River, I have never fished the tail race below the dams. So the other day while in Florence, Alabama at the Cabela’s Collegiate Bass Fishing Championship, Wade and I decided to try the Wheeler Dam tail race on the upper end of Wilson Lake. The amazing thing was the variety of fish we caught – from drum to catfish to white bass to black bass to small mouth. The cool thing was that we got so many bites in the current. Though we didn’t catch a whole lot of bass, the drum were biting extremely well, and we could have caught them all day long – lots of five to eight pounders. The white bass were literally every cast, and if that’s what we had been targeting, we could have filled the boat with them. If there had been a bass tournament there, I don’t think that’s where I would have wanted to fish. The bass we caught were scattered, though we did catch some nice ones. But it was cool to see what the tail race was all about

One of my favorite lakes in Texas is Lake Amistad on the border near Del Rio. It has clear water, a lot of cover. and I’ve had some great days down there over the years. The last 4 or 5 years have been rough for Amistad, however, with some kind of fish kill that made fishing really tough. I have been hearing good things recently though and went down recently to film a show for Fishing and Hunting Texas, and, wow! It was great. First, there is cover everywhere – shallow bushes and grass.  We caught a ton of fish, mostly in the 2-3 pound range.  But had one giant, an 8 pounder. I look forward to you seeing the footage!  I caught most of them on Crankbaits including a Strike King KVD 2.5, 5xd and 6xd. It was an awesome trip, and I look forward to another trip as soon as I can!

What probably used to be the most used lure in any tackle box was the spinnerbait. In the day of swim baits and vibrating jigs, the spinnerbait is often totally overlooked, but there are many situations in which it is still the best bait.  The spinnerbait shown here is a Hack Attack Heavy Cover Spinnerbait.  The one feature the spinnerbait has that many of these imitations do not is its ability to come through cover reeled very slowly, which can be especially important in the colder months of the year.  Take last year, for example.  Jason Christie was leading the Bassmaster’s Classic going into the last day, and was the only person in the field relying on a spinnerbait.  His comment was that he could keep the bait in the strike zone longer.  I think we often overlook the importance of this.  Though I also don’t throw a spinnerbait as much as I used to, but there are times when it is undoubtedly the best bait.

When the water starts to cool in Texas (about October), bass often get really active in shallow water.  Probably my favorite way to fish this time of year is to throw top water. Two of my go-to baits are a Strike King 3/8 oz. Buzz Bait and a Sexy Dawg.  I have caught a lot of great fall bass on these baits.  Another technique I often go to in the fall is working toward the backs of creeks.  Shad usually migrate toward the backs of those creeks this time of year, and I like to look for creek channels with depth from 7-20 feet. Bass will often school this time of year and chase bait on the shallow flats around these creek channels.  Crankbaits like a KVD 1.5 or a Strike King Series 3 crankbait can also bring in some great catches.  So when fall is in the air be sure to take time to hit the lakes for some great bass fishing!

When the water starts to cool in Texas (about October), bass often get really active in shallow water.  Probably my favorite way to fish this time of year is to throw top water. Two of my go-to baits are a Strike King 3/8 oz. Buzz Bait and a Sexy Dawg.  I have caught a lot of great fall bass on these baits.  Another technique I often go to in the fall is working toward the backs of creeks.  Shad usually migrate toward the backs of those creeks this time of year, and I like to look for creek channels with depth from 7-20 feet. Bass will often school this time of year and chase bait on the shallow flats around these creek channels.  Crankbaits like a KVD 1.5 or a Strike King Series 3 crankbait can also bring in some great catches.  So when fall is in the air be sure to take time to hit the lakes for some great bass fishing!

For the first time in a long time, Patti and I recently had the opportunity to go on a vacation.  Many of our friends take tropical vacations and tell us we should go, but we never could make the time.  We still don’t have the time, but we just decided we were going to make it work this year.  So in September we took a vacation to the Bahamas, and it lived up to all the hype.  It was a truly great experience – with just the right mix of relaxation and adventure.  I always want a vacation to have some kind of activity.  I can’t just sit on a beach.  And we ended up getting plenty of activity (with enough relaxing for Patti).  We were able to Kayak, snorkel and fish right outside our back door. I caught a lot of grouper and a few snapper.  We also had a chance to explore and observe the local culture, eat fresh conch salad (from conch we caught) and spear spiny lobster in the Atlantic. In fact, between the lobster and the fish we caught (and some we bought from fishermen on the docks), we ate fresh seafood all but one night.  Anywhere I’ve ever been, I always like to try to eat what we catch or kill.  But this was an all time high.  And the lobster spearing was as fun an activity as I have ever done.  We went out with Fishbone Tours on Eleuthera Island.  Our guide, Julius, found the lobster and taught me how to maneuver the snorkel gear and use the Hawaiin sling.  And before I came up on that first reef in the Atlantic, I had speared my first lobster. For someone who likes to hunt and fish, this was the ultimate thrill, and the lobster were gigantic.  The tail weighed between one and a half and two pounds.  The highlight of the trip though was getting to spend the week with my beautiful wife away from it all.  Now that’s a vacation!

I have been fishing many places in my life – all over the country.  When it comes to sheer greatness, I would probably pick Venice Louisiana as my number one pick.  It is just so vast.  You can fish for trout, flounder, tuna, jackfish, shark, snapper, bass, ling, and of course redfish.  Venice calls itself the capital of red fishing, and I would have to agree.  You can catch bull reds until literally, you cannot lift the rod.  And then go fish near shoreline cover and catch a bunch of keepers for dinner.  We stay at Venice Fishing Lodge, and if you’ve never been there, you have to try it – great atmosphere, great food and great guides.  All in all, if you have three days to fish anywhere in the country Venice would be a good place to try!