Bass Fishing

Keep the party going

Spotted bass are an aggressive, competitive lot; but even a robust school sees peaks and valleys in its feeding. When this happens, you certainly have the option of giving them a rest and returning later. However, Bassmaster Elite pro Gerald Swindle would first try a little spot stimulation strategy.[…]

Bass Fishing

Frog follow-ups

Frogs can’t do it all by themselves. But fishing frogs in combination with other lures is the most productive plan of attack. That’s especially true when a bass blows up on a frog, but misses it. When that happens, Tyler Stewart has three very specific baits he follows up with.[…]

Bass Fishing

Shimano’s Curado casting rods

Lightweight, strong, sensitive and affordable. Those are all great attributes for a bass fishing rod, but they don’t always go together. Usually, the affordable part is left out when the other three are mentioned -; but that’s not the case with Shimano’s Curado casting rods.[…]

Bass Fishing

Culprit’s Water Dragon

Soft-plastic lizards were all the rage 20 years ago when the Carolina rig ruled the bass-fishing world, but over the past decade, you haven’t heard much about them. The creature bait has been the hot lure.[…]

Bass Fishing

Busting Delta marsh bass

With morning glories blooming across the canal, Capt. Cody Obiol was pushing away from the dock as I waited for his boss, Capt. Ryan Lambert to launch his Skeeter bay boat. Obiol was after bull reds that morning, but he knew my mission involved something much different, so his gracious salutation stoked my optimism.[…]

Bass Fishing

Johnson’s Blind River bait calendar

Topwater frogs and Texas-rigged craws are “in season” on Blind River for Lyle Johnson from March to November. But he is quick to admit that the Texas craw is his mainstay lure. The clear water coming out of the sloughs draining into the river is what prompted his heavy use of the frog the day we fished.[…]

Bass Fishing

Don’t cook a record fish

“Get in the books.” That’s Lyle Johnson’s message to his fellow fishermen. 

As chairman of the state’s Fish Records Program, he encourages people to enter their fish, even if it isn’t a No. 1.[…]