Where is Spring?

When I posted my first blog of 2013 back on March 10 with my first river smallmouth bass of the year, I didn't imagine it would be two weeks before I would get out fishing again.  But winter returned in a BIG way.  We have not seen a day of sunlight since March 11, but we have seen the snow and felt the cold.  Finally a day above freezing arrived on March 23, and Frank Malek called to say the river ramp had melted off enough to launch a boat.


On Frank's 3rd cast of the day to a wintering hole, he hooked and landed a nice smallmouth bass on one of his custom finesse jigs.  Our hopes of a spectacular day soared.  However, our expectations were soon dashed.  The 32 degree water (drop of 6 degrees from March 10) apparently could not get the bass motivated.  In four hours, only one small northern pike was added to the catch.

This morning - almost six inches of fresh wet snow on my boat.  I've had enough!

First 2013 Smallmouth Bass

I've been out of touch with my Going Fishin' blog for some time, with most of my day to day fishing reporting going to the NW PA Fishing Report done on behalf of the PA Great Lakes Region tourism.  And I was sidelined during 2011 & 2012 from long-distance fishing trips due to injuries which took a long time to heal.  But with the start of a the 2013 open-water fishing season here in PA, I hope to stay current on the blog.

While all northwest Pennsylvania lakes remain ice covered, the ramps on the Allegheny River were clear of ice a week or so ago.  Saturday, March 9, was the first opportunity to get out.  Allowing the sun to warm things up a bit, I met Dale Black, president of Gamma Fishing, at the Oil City ramp at noon. River temperature was 36/37 degrees.  We checked a few deepwater wintering spots in the pool, but were fishless until Frank Malek called on his cell to say he had located a bunch of fish and to come on down.  Dale and I each 'broke the ice' with our first smallies of 2013.  We fished by Frank for awhile, and then went exploring to another downstream pool.

Dale and I ended the afternoon with 10 or 11 smallmouths, caught mostly on hair jigs.  We met up with Frank just as the sun was going down and air temps were dropping.  He proceeded to 'school' us on how to catch ice-out smallmouths with one fish after another - all taken on special hand-crafted jig.  His total for the day was 25 smallmouths!

Tide Has Turned

The exceptionally cold, wet spring in Western Pennsylvania continues with high, muddy water everywhere.  Most depressing for someone like me who has been looking forward to the warm, sunny days of spring all winter long.  Fortunately, I had opportunities to fish outside Pennsylvania in March and April - but even then those accursed spring cold fronts preceded my arrival.

I caught crappies on Lake Eufaula with Todd Huckabee while testing new Yum crappie baits.  And I caught my first smallmouth of 2011 on Tennessee's Center Hill with Jim Duckworth as he demonstrated a Bandit crankbait pattern.  And I spent a cold night in Arkansas with Mitch Looper chasing double digit pre-spawn largemouth.  But I really longed to return home for the early Erie smallmouth fishing.

Finally, after a couple false starts on Presque Isle Bay of Lake Erie, I had a most exciting day of fishing with my wife Marilyn on April 30.  It took us about 45 minutes to locate a mid bay hump with a group of smallmouth hanging at the inside break.  Marilyn scored first with a Hopkins jigging spoon.

After that first fish, however, it only took 15 minutes to catch a smallmouth on each of our 10 pre-rigged rods.  Our early season PIB challenge is not to use a bait that has caught a smallmouth until every pre-rigged bait has produced a fish; it keeps us from settling into using the same old lures all the time.  So, in addition to the jigging spoon, we quickly caught bass on a Galida Grub; Kalin Lunker Grub; Marabou Pro 2.0 Road Runner; Rollin' Runner with Baby Shad; Northland Bug-A-Boo Jig, Storm WildEye Swim Shad; Silver Lucky Blade Bait; Poor Boy's Tube; and a Mann's Sting Ray Grub!  All lures were slow-rolled or deadsticked on the bottom.

With the green light to fish anything, it was tubes and grubs that produced the majority of our fish.  We landed 20-some smallmouth (missing a good number of strikes) that include six bass in the 5 to 5.5 pound range.  But our best accomplishment was a pair of 20-inch 6-pound smallmouth (weighed on digital scales).  This was the first time in nearly 40 years of fishing together that Marilyn and I each caught a six-pound smallmouth on the same day!

We are now energized for the rest of the fishing season! 

Rx For Late Winter Blues

This has been a particularly long and difficult winter in Northwest Pennsylvania.  So when Bruce Holt of G.Loomis invited me on a trip to Dream Lake Lodge in Alabama to test their new NRX bass rods this past week, I eagerly accepted.

Not only was I motivated to get out of the cold, wet, miserable Pennsylvania weather for a chance at double digit bass, but I was equally excited to try out G.Loomis' NRX rods that are all the talk in the tackle industry.  Even though NRX won Best of Show at ICAST, at almost $500 per rod, one has to wonder if a single rod is really worth it.  Besides, how could G.Loomis improve on the sensitivity of their GLX rods?

"Using new nano resin technology, we built a stronger rod with less material, resulting in blanks that are 15% lighter and 20% stronger than anything on the market." explains Bruce.  "And I want to stress this point: there is no change in our warranty.  NRX rods are covered by the long-standing G.Loomis Limited Lifetime Warranty."

"But are NRX rods more sensitive than GLX?" I ask.

"Fish the rod and see for yourself," replies Bruce.

My test rod - a NRX 7'1" 3-power casting rod - is as light as a feather.  Light weight is immensely important to me due to a lingering bout of tendinitis.  Two days of casting the rod with a Shimano Core Reel mounted on it did not impact my mildly inflamed elbow - thank goodness!

Fishing was unusually tough on both of the lodge's lakes due to a severe spring cold front, but we still managed to hook numbers of 2- to 6-pound bass.  The extremely light bites received on worms and jigs would have gone undetected with an ordinary rod.

While the really big fish were uncooperative, the chance to simply catch largemouth on the NRX rod was just what the doctor ordered.  My hot baits were the Gene Larew Salt Flick'r Worm; Yum 5-inch Dinger and Tabu jig with Berkley HAVOC trailer.  Bruce scored with a Strike King duo - a 3.5" Shadalicious Swimbait and VanDam Square Bill Crankbait.

Hospitality at Dream Lake Lodge was Five Star, and the home cooked meals were simply out of this world.  Next year when the northern winter wanes and spring lags behind, I know exactly what to prescribe: a trip to Dream Lake (http://www.dreamlakelodge.com/).  But don't wait until then to check out the NRX bass rods (http://www.gloomis.com/) - you'll want one for this fishing season.  And yes, if you are a serious angler, NRX rods are worth the price! 

"Ode to Endless Winter"

Fresh snow, deep snow

Wet snow, powder snow

Dirty snow, yellow snow

But never "no" snow

Snow blowers and snow plows

Snow shovels and snow piles

Slippery roads, salt, grit

Blowing snow and snow drift

Short day and long night

Lead to lack of sunlight

Vitamin D deprived

How do we survive?

Outrageous heating bills

Force supplement thrills

Use wood stove beater

Or kerosene heater

Wear a hat we are told
Or risk nasty head cold
Nasal drip, drip, drip
Lead to a doctor's trip

Artic Express forebode

Layered clothes overload

Thinsulate, polar fleece

Toe warmers for our feet

Nothing to do but ice fish

So safe thickness we wish

Hoping for solid clear blue

But crusty white often will do

Oh winter be gone

Open water we long

Desiring more on our line

Than these tiny perch we malign

Darl Black

February 2011

OZ 2

Early in November I spent several days in the Missouri Ozarks. This past week found me a little further south in the Arkansas Ozarks for more fishing adventures in the Land of Oz.

I was taking part in Arkansas State of Fishing sponsored by Frabill, Northland Fishing Tackle, MarCum Technologies, Arkansas Tourism, Arkansas Game & Fish Commission, and area resorts.  Over 20 outdoor writers participated in this extended photo shoot, staying two to three days to experience the variety of fishing adventures.  Even though it was a massive undertaking with complicated scheduling, Arkansas hospitality was clearly demonstrated by area resort owners and staff who made everyone feel right at home.

My base of operation was Gaston's Resort, from which I had the opportunity to fish the White River for trout, Norfork Lake for bass and Bull Shoals for crappie.

On day one I joined forces with Eric Naig and local trout guide Curtis Redburn to discover why the White River is recognized as a world class trout fishery.  Small rainbows came on almost every cast with a live red worm.  But it took my bold change up to a pink suspending jerkbait to draw strikes from big browns in the river.

On day two I explored the coves of Norfork Lake with bass angler Larry Olson.  Larry guided me to the lake's triple bass trophy: largemouth bass, smallmouth bass and spotted bass.  All bass were caught on a Northland Jungle Bug with a crawdad trailer.

My final day in the Land of Oz, I fished Bull Shoals with Curt Niedermire and guide Frank Saksa as we probed brushpiles in 25 feet of water for big black crappies.  We scored crappies up to 2 pounds by following Frank's detailed instructions on counting down a 1/16-ounce jig to the top of the brush.

If you would like to arrange a magical visit to this land of enchantment, check out the following websites: http://www.visitmyarkansas.com/ and http://www.ozarkmountainregion.com/.

Land of OZ

The lighted sign at the end of the road read "Alhonna Resort and Marina."  Although I was disoriented in the inky darkness, at least I knew we were not in Kansas.

This was my first visit to Lake of the Ozarks in central Missouri.  I didn't know what to expect, except that surprises were in store.

Under the tutelage of my local guide, I learned that in the fall most of the bays and cuts on lake of the Ozarks are filled to the brim with crappies - both white and black.  The brushpiles planted for crappies also attract largemouth bass and hybrid stripers.  Turns out all these species love Bobby Garland Crappie Jigs.  However, the majority of largemouths were caught by fishing buzzbaits and Jewel Jigs tipped with Gene Larew Craws around the thousands of docks that covered every foot of this lake's shoreline.

To escape the docks, several of us took a little trip via Hobie Kayak down the mysterious Niangua River.  I quickly discovered the clear waters of this creek were filled with baitfish, smallmouth bass, trout and green sunfish - plus some largemouth and spotted bass.  But our "easy paddle" turned into an epic river runner's tale as one member of our group upset on a downed tree blocking the stream.

As we paddled hard to completed our trip before darkness covered the land, a horde of flying monkeys followed in the trees...turned out to be several squirrels chasing one another.

In all, ten different fish species were caught by our entourage over three days.  Although other anglers used a variety of lures and rods, I stuck with one outfit and one lure to catch fish in both the lake and river.  I worked my magic with a Lew's Light action spinning outfit (yes, Lew's is back) and a Bobby Garland 3-inch Slab Slay'r Double Silver Rainbow on a 1/16-ounce jighead.  When I lost the last of the Rainbow sparkle baits on the third day, my confidence also hit a snag.  It was time to click the heels of my angling shoes and return home for more fishing adventures.  

To plan your own adventure to the Land of OZ, go to http://www.visitmo.com/.