Search Results for ‘smallmouth bass fishing tips’

by Bob Jensen Last week, my nephew Sam and I took our annual bass trip to west central Minnesota. We've been doing this for about ten years and have only missed one year. Sam was in grade school when we started doing this; this week he heads off to college. Time flies. Sam Amsbaugh with...

By Corky Cramer You've likely heard chatter about smallmouth bass growth rates in Lake Erie's eastern basin and the big numbers of oversized bronzebacks caught-and-released by anglers each spring. Most of it's true, there are few places on earth where you can catch as many big smallies as here...

by Bob Jensen There is still a lot of ice-fishing to be had in the next few weeks, and in fact, some of the best ice-fishing of the year is ahead of us. But it's at about this time every year that I like to look ahead to the open water season and the things that I'm looking forward to in...

By Nick Simonson Cold air is streaming down from the north, making these January nights the perfect occasion to stay inside and tie up your spring and summer arsenal for whatever lurks in your waters. I am constantly exploring new ways to use the feathers from my favorite upland bird - the...

by Bob Jensen Labor Day 2011 has come and gone. For some folks, that marks the end of summer, and to some people that means it's time to put the boat and their rods and reels in storage. If they want to pull the plug on fishing in early September, that's certainly their decision, but, if...

Our Outdoors: Smallmouth Bass Jigs By Nick Simonson Learning how to fish on the Sheyenne River in southeastern North Dakota during my late teens and early twenties allowed me the luxury to go after smallmouth bass from the first warm-up in early April until the fish really got going in May...

By Jason Mitchell The fact that shallow water fishing is productive during the early part of the open water season is no secret. This general pattern is fairly universal with both warm water and cool water fish that spawn in the spring. Whether the targeted species is bass, walleyes...

By Nick Simonson It's a jungle out there. Every man for himself. Greed is good. These mantras aptly describe the competitive drive in the world around us; natural laws that even mankind hasn't rid from our collective psyche after millennia of becoming civilized. Whether it is in big...

By Nick Simonson When I was just getting the hang of what worked and what didn't on the water, I stumbled on what was, at the time to me, a miracle lure. It was a banana head jig with a fan-shaped skirt made from krystal flash called the Gypsi Jig. For that summer, it was available in 1/32-...

Our Outdoors Nick Simonson In the outdoors, it is tough to beat a hot cup of coffee in the morning. In the pre-dawn twilight of a fishing trip, a steaming hot Thermos-top-cup of java gears the senses up and gives an angler a reason to pause between casts, all the while adding a...

Our Outdoors Nick Simonson We should all be so lucky to fish small waters, and fish the same small waters often. Time and time again Ixve said that our affinity with a certain river or small lake helps us take stock of the resource, to treat it respectfully and to see what a...

Nick Simonson Summertime and the living's easy. The fishing is pretty good too as predator species begin to enter a warm-weather pattern of eating, eating and more eating. Bass hide along weedlines, under docks and around stumps in wait for any prey to swim by. One of the most effective rigs...

Our Outdoors Nick Simonson "Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it." This line, an eye-to-eye plea by Matthew Broderick as the title character in the 1986 film Ferris Bueller's Day Off, sums up our very existence. For anglers, month...

Our Outdoors Nick Simonson Whether your treasure on the water is colored gold, bronze or silver, the X-Rap by Rapala (www.rapala.com) marks the spot for great fishing. My experience with crankbaits has been limited; being predominately a river angler has restricted my usual arsenal to...

Our Outdoors Nick Simonson The orange jig and twister shot out from the tip of my rod, driven by the laws of physics and anticipation. The gray Fireline in tow spiraled wildly like the contrail of a botched rocket launch. The lure hung in the air, suspended indefinitely in the blue...

By Jon Mitzel Long-awaited May is a great time to enjoy catching fish on surface baits. Northern pike and largemouth bass are aggressive fish and will readily attempt to chase food on or near the surface. The action is tough to beat, and most hits are vicious in nature. What an exciting way...

Our Outdoors Nick Simonson Hang in there, it can't snow forever. As if spring fever wasn't bad enough, a fresh 16 inches of snow over the last week has put the "cabin" into "cabin fever." But while nature-induced lockdown might dampen most spirits; anglers know that now is the time to stock...

Nick Simonson Slop, gunk, or matting, call it what you will, but by this time in the summer, the combination of weed tops and surface vegetation has sealed off water access for shoreline anglers and limited the area that boat anglers can work. But those anglers who overlook this green...

PJ Maguire The first step I took as a fisherman was from catching sunnies off the dock to casting for bass along the docks. It is true that bass are a sunfish, so in theory this is a logical step. Most of my friends, like me, first started serious fishing for bass and then transitioned into...

By Nick Simonson As the last few inches of ice fade from the shorelines of area rivers, it is next to impossible not to think about springtime fishing. It is even more difficult not to think of the hundreds of bronze flashes from springtime fishing trips in the past. In the land...