I fell in love with her the moment I saw her.  She was slim, sleek, and tall, oh boy was she tall.  She was probably 20 years older than me but that didn’t matter, it’s just a number anyway right?  Her glossy candy apple red finish had faded over the years, and she was a tad to the heavy side but looks aren’t everything.  No, she had personality, miles and miles of it.  They showed through every scratch and ding along her hull.  That’s right, my first love wasn’t a girl, or even a car, it was an Old Town Discovery 174 that showed up in our yard on my 13th birthday.

Continue Reading

…Just thought I would share a product with you that has been working for me lately on the grass laden rivers in Florida.  Be warned now that flipping and pitching can be addicting when you get into using that technique.  You’ve been warned.

Article by:  Bo Painter (VaSmallieGuy89)

…Eddie Cochran said that “there ain’t no cure for the summertime blues”.  I never understood quite what he meant, because I never had a problem with the blues coming in the summertime.  Summer’s full of  long, warm, lazy days, and of course; bass.  What self respecting river fisherman has time to be blue then?  No the summertime blues never gave me any trouble, its the wintertime blues that are getting to me, and sitting around the house is doing me about as much good as ol’ Eddie calling his congressman. Continue Reading

….. This story starts at work in the cubical of my good buddy Zack. A Serbian refugee, now an American citizen, Zack lives in St. Pete and fishes saltwater exclusively and has never fished for bass.  So being the confident “jacked up” bass fisherman that I am, I told him, “I’ll take you fishing on the Santa Fe River and I promise you’ll catch a bass!”  Ok, that was mistake #1…never promise anyone that they will catch bass or anything for that matter.   In the mean time, circumstances changed and Zack and I decided to fish the Myakka River instead.  Mistake #2, if you promise someone they’ll catch bass, at least take them to a river you have previously fished.  I have no previous experience fishing the Myakka River.  Although a very beautiful river, the Myakka failed to produce a single fish for either of us…all we caught was sunburn.  Back at work, I have not heard the end of our failed fishing trip.  Zack keeps reminding me about “broken promises” and the bass he never caught.

Myakka River...you promised me fish!

Fast forward two months later, Zack and I are finally headed to the Santa Fe River for a weekend of fishing and camping.  This time all I promised was that we were going to have a good time, but my bruised ego is determined to put Zack on some bass.  I’m writing this intro on the eve of our fishing trip.  How did the weekend turn out?  It’s time to go fishing.

Zack and I set up our base camp at Ginnie Springs which gave us the convenience of floating back to our campsite.  We finally launched the canoe late Saturday afternoon.  Our plan was to troll up river past all the Ginnie Springs “tubing traffic” and start fishing as soon as the river quiets down.  Once through the “tubers”, I immediately started casting to lay-downs and brush-piles.  Zack was working on his casting accuracy, but adapted quickly to the “lighter” freshwater tackle.   With daylight falling fast, I managed two bass this evening caught on 8” junebug ribontail worms.  I was positioning the canoe up to lay-downs so Zack could cast into the best spots.  Never fishing with worms before, Zack lost a couple bass after the initial “thump” and was fascinated by the feeling of a bass strike.  I assured (not promised) him that if he kept casting into likely targets, that he’ll have more of those “thumps” on our long Sunday float.

Sunday morning greeted us with a headache and hopes of catching more bass.  It got down into the lower 50’s, but with the sun coming up it warmed up quickly into lower 80’s (perfect Florida weather).  We secured our campsite and headed to the US 27 access point.  Our plan is to float from US 27 back to Ginnie Springs.  We started a little later than I wanted to, but that’s just the way things go sometimes.  While we were launching our canoe, a trailer load of kayaks showed up from one of the local canoe liveries.  This appeared to be a corporate outing with at least 8 kayaks and a couple of canoes.  You can expect to see a lot of canoe traffic on the weekends.

Once on the water we were treated by a very nice tail-wind that kept us moving comfortably, but not too fast that we couldn’t fish.  We started casting immediately.  The fishing was very slow on Sunday.  We really had to work hard for the bites.  Zack alternated between a Zoom Ultra-Vibe (www.zoombait.com) in watermelon/red and an ultra-light spinner for bluegill’s.  Since my main goal today was Zack’s fishing, I tried to coach him by pointing out proper rod positioning, eliminating slack line and hook setting.  However, learning worm fishing requires catching a bass until the “light bulb” actually turns on.  Zack’s very first largemouth was a tiny bass that swam away with a 6” curly tail Zoom worm…no “light bulb” moment yet.  I alternated between a buzzbait and various worm patterns.

It wasn’t until we reached the springs, mid-float, when the Suwannee bass fishing picked up.  I caught a fat Suwannee bass on a laydown.

These little dudes can put one awesome fight!

After more of my coaching which consisted of, “cast over there, cast up there, in that tree, over that grass…” the light bulb turned on.  Zack hooked up with the biggest fish of the day!  Under an overhanging tree next to the mouth of a spring run, I suggested to Zack, “Cast under that tree”.  I positioned the canoe for him and a few casts later he yelled “FISH”!  Zack landed a nice 1.5 lb Suwannee bass which fell for the Zoom Ultra-Vibe Speed Worm.

Unfortunately, the rest of the trip was uneventful.  I was able to manage a few more non-keepers, but the group of corporate kayaks kept “dogging” us until Rum Island (thankfully their take-out spot).  It was late in the afternoon and we needed to get back to break-down our camp, so we paddled-out below Rum Island.  This was an unusually tough day on the Santa Fe River, but overall we were not disappointed.  Zack was still on cloud 9 after catching a very nice Suwannee bass.  Considering the state record is only 3lbs, his was a great catch! And for their small size they put up a great fight.

Zacks first ever "keeper" bass, and a Suwannee at that!

Now back at the office, I’m longer getting the “broken promises” ragging that I got for weeks after our Myakka River trip.  I’ve learned my lesson NOT to make any promises when it comes to fishing.  So if you’re planning a trip to Central Florida and want to experience the Santa Fe River or any of our other great rivers, drop me a line…I promise that you will have FUN!

Article by:  Phillip Scearce (philscearce@yahoo.com)

….. The Zoom Bait Company’s Magnum Ultra-Vibe Speed Worm is quickly becoming a staple among my “go‑to” soft-plastic selections.   It’s no secret that I love the standard ultra-vibe speed worm, and I didn’t think it could be improved.  But the guys at Zoom Bait Company (www.Zoombait.com) used the old adage of “bigger is better” and Continue Reading

Would you like to video your own fishing trips?  Do you already have a video camera but only take videos of others but not yourself?  Well, here is a simple Do-It-Yourself video camera mount you can make yourself with only a few items you can aquire at a Home Depot, Lowes & Walmart……….. Continue Reading

About the river: The North fork of the Shenandoah River is an entirely unique river. Where the south fork is wide, with lazy sweeping bends with wide vistas and scenic views of the Blue Ridge and fairly benign in nature, the north fork tends to be narrow, winding, heavily forested with overhead tree canopy and have some chutes and drops that can be downright dangerous at certain water levels. You can float the south fork all year round, regardless of gauge levels, although I don’t recommend trying it above 6.0 . The north fork is best floated between 1.0 and 2.5 on the USGS gauges. Lower than 1.0 and you’ll be dragging your boat a lot in some areas. Starting at a 3.0 level on the gauge, the north fork begins to get swift and squirrely in places. Please note that because of the narrowness of the north fork, any tic up or down makes for a profound change in character of the flow. A strong rainstorm upriver from you can cause a marked change in just a few minutes on the north fork.  In some areas when the river narrows down to just a good cast-length in width, Large deadfalls can stretch from bank to bank necessitating a portage or doing the old “limbo” trick if you have enough space under the tree.

The north fork probably figures larger in the Civil War history of the Valley, being the site of a number of Bivouac areas over the course of the war, for both North and South. Stonewall Jackson used the North Fork to his advantage several times during his famous “Valley Campaign”. It is not unusual to come across guys with a metal detectors combing the banks and adjacent fields searching for artifacts. After the battles of New Market, Cedar Creek, and Seven Bends, the water of the North Fork was said to run red with the blood of the combatants of both armies. Ghosts of the dead soldiers and even some civilians who were killed over the course of the war are said to walk the banks and old fords in a number of places. Do not scoff at these stories from the locals…too many good and otherwise sane people have a story or two to tell from personal experience. As for me?  I’m gonna be off the water before dark, just to be prudent.

Also bear in mind that actual Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries (VDGIF) ramps and access points are few and far between, so long floats can be the norm in a number of places. There are several “traditional” put-in/take outs that are next to bridges and roads that are used. If you choose to use one of these ‘traditional’ spots, get there early and set your shuttle vehicles as parking space is usually at a premium.

Bass Species Present: Largemouth, Smallmouth, other ,

The Bassin’: The north fork of the Shenandoah was hit hard by our die-offs in the early 2000s. Fishing was virtually non-exisitant for 5 years on the river. Only a handful of small smallmouth and virtually NO sunfish were all that were left after 3 straight years of devastating kills. Even now, certain areas close to the town of Woodstock and Strasburg remain virtual dead zones. but some good fishing can again be had between Cootes store near Harrisonburg and Red Banks near Mt Jackson. Mind you, the fishing is still not nearly what it was at one time, but a pleasant day on the river can still be had.

A good top water bite is usually going on early in the AM and evenings on the north fork due to the heavy overhead and bank forestation. But for the most part, small plastics and creature baits are the way to go. There’s never been much of crank or spinnerbait bite on the north fork for some reason. Most folks who go over there generally pack light, 3 and 4″ senkos, a few lizards and creature baits and some 1/0 hooks and 1/16 oz bullet sinkers and you’re good. Be particularly attentive around small feeder streams and such because you may catch yourself a trout or two in those areas.

The North Fork is an excellent trip to bring along a fly rod and fling some flies. If you do, be sure to stop by Murry’s Fly shop in Edinburg. The folks that staff the shop and the old guys hanging out there generally have all the local info you’ll need to catch a limit if you’re so inclined and like chasing the “slime rockets”.

There are several dairy farms along the north fork and invariably, the Largemouth fishing is generally excellent adjacent to them if you don’t mind dodging the cows cooling off their udders in the water.

Obstacles or Rapids to beware of: As I’ve already mentioned, deadfalls, strainers and rapidly changing water levels are the norm for the north fork. Stay out of old mill races and island cuts, they tend to be heavily silted in and full of strainers and dead falls.

There is an old mill dam just down from the Bridge put-in at New Market. The river takes a 90 degree turn to the right here and drops a good 3 feet in less than 30 yards. Now when I say a 90 degree turn I mean an immediate perpendicular change in the direction of the river, not a bend or a jog to the right, but literally the river goes to a hard bank dead ahead of you and whats left of the old mill dam directly ahead of you. The river flows off to the right of this. It’s dead flat and straight for a half mile and you’d swear the river just ‘ends’ for the longest time until you get close enough to hear the water cascading over the gravel bed. I suggest going a little ways up into the eddy formed by the dam and get turned straight so you can enter the cascading water parallel to the current. It’s mostly a fist-sized gravel bed now, but there are some basketball sized rocks in the chute that can easily knock you sideways if you just lazily make the turn into the chute at an angle and not straight. I speak from experience on this one.

Another tricky area is where the north fork drops under the I-81 bridge. This another good change in river elevation, probably 4 feet of change over 50 yards. This rapid is tricky in that it changes where you need to run it with water level. Most of the time, a center right line will be the way, but you may need to jog left or right, depending high or low levels. It’s not a BIG rapid, class 1-1.5 at best, but it’s changing nature will always throw a degree of difficulty into it. When in doubt, eddy out on the right and scout it using the bridge rip-rap as a walkway.

The north fork basically follows RT 11 thru the Valley and series of small towns are located about five to ten miles apart as you make your way downriver. Just about EVERY town has at least one low-water bridge crossing the river. Do NOT attempt to run under these bridges! The small openings underneath may look like you have enough room to clear it, but they tend to be built over bedrock chutes and old fords and the openings collect old wood, trash, tossed out washing machines, old docks that have broken loose in a flood and such debris as that. You get in there and dump underneath one of these bridges and the swiftness of the current coupled with strainers, old logs, and debris underneath and it will just absolutely ruin a fishing trip…word to the wise.

Likewise with low head dams. There are four between Mt. Jackson and Strasburg. ALL need to be portaged, especially the infamous Burnshire Dam. This dam has probably killed more boaters, canoeists, and careless swimmers than any other on the north fork. There are also several old concrete viaducts that carried water that set up one foot drops at three places between Mt Jackson and Woodstock. Couple this with the Seven Bends area with no public access anywhere for 27 miles of river, and you can see why only a couple of floats up around New Market are the floats of choice. VDGIF is still trying to secure some 2 acre parcels in the famous Seven Bends area but so far have been unsuccessful – maybe one day. From Strasburg to the Conflux at Front Royal you have one low head dam that backs up water for the Winchester water uptake. This dam has a fish migration chute through it but it is barely wide enough for a canoe to fit through and sets up a wicked hydraulic on the downstream side. This is another site of numerous tragedies over the years as well. I highly recommend portaging on river left. From there to Front royal is eight miles of very shallow, very flat water and generally holds few fish other than sunfish, carp, fallfish and the occasional catfish in a pool here and there. Even before the die-offs, this float was and still is strictly a novice canoeist run. There is the Riverton Mill/Hydro dam at Front Royal that you will need to portage on river right over a very nice (well marked along the river) portage path constructed by the Front Royal Parks and Recreation Department (thank you Dan Lenz).  You’ll know you’re getting close when you see the old inverted truss bridge that carries RT 522/340 into Front Royal just upriver of the dam. When you see the bridge, you’re about a mile up upstream of it. There is a proposal to remove this dam in the near future but as always, politicians are hemming and hawing over the proposition so who knows if it’ll ever happen. The landing at Riverton, just on the other side of this dam is the last VDGIF ramp before reaching the conflux with the south fork.

Gauges: Use the USGS gauge marked at ‘Cootes Store’ to determine water levels on any of the North Fork floats. Bear in mind that even slight changes in level on the gauge will indicate a marked change in the character of the river because of it’s smaller size. The North Fork is at it’s best when gauges are reading 1.0 to 3.0.

There has been a lot of talk on the forums lately about where bass go in the winter.  Well, I hope to shed some light on the topic based on my experience in this article.  Be warned that not every river is the same due to several factors each could have – dam downstream or upstream, large tributary entering it, warmwater discharge by a power plant, a lake downstream etc.

The key to this question is to know more about the bass and the priority of their needs to survive.  It is no different than humans really.  We have certain needs that must be met in order for us to stay alive.  I would put oxygen at number one on that list.  If I am not getting oxygen then everything else is moot because I will be dead.  I’m not thinking about women or food if I can’t breathe!  Likewise, if I am Continue Reading

Review By: Danny Bell (Stumphumper)

Item reviewed: Yum Money Hound

Condition: New

Number of trips used: 10-20 trips

How it performed: I always avoid treble hooks whenever possible on the river for obvious reasons. Because of this I seldom fish “Spook” style baits…until now! The Yum “Money Hound” allows me to “walk the dog” in the heaviest of cover. I rig mine on a 5/0 EWG hook, and throw it into places the old treble hooked lures dare not go. The weight and profile of this bait makes long, accurate casts a breeze.

I would rate this bait a 10 if not for two small issues. First, if you are not very particular about keeping the hook straight while rigging, it will “roll” during the retrieve. Second, due to the stiffness of the plastic, hooksets can be  problematic in the beginning. To counter this use a long, sweeping, sideways motion.

Overall Rating: 8 out of 10

On September 4th I was lucky enough to be back in Peru helping install a water treatment system in a small village in the Amazon Jungle.  I am fortunate enough to be in Peru 4 times a year working on community development projects and on this trip I was able to get away on three separate days to do some fishing.

This is the same area BasserDrew, TyGa 10, Sumter Shoalie Fan and I were back in June but at an oxbow lake that was close to the lodge (Palo Verde Lodge, operated by Amazon Expeditions) where I stayed.

I don’t make videos as well as BasserDrew, but here is my first stab at a video – the first of what I hope to be many.  Enjoy!

Amazon River Runner