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.

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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)

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

May 1, 2008! The last time I have fished on a river. Cancer came calling at my door and I went through chemotherapy and radiation in the attempt to rid my body of the deadly disease. For one year I’ve looked out my kitchen window to see my kayak calling me back to the waters I love; back to the beautiful creation God has handed to man for enjoyment. My fly rod and casting reels collected dust and I slowly watched the months pass by with nausea, vomiting, fatigue, weakness, shingles, blood clots and peripheral neuropathy. I kept looking at articles and websites related to river bassing and longed for the day when I would get to return, but I had bigger things on my mind as survival, family and friends took center stage. Continue Reading

Sumtershoaliefan, RatherBfishin, and myself (ShoalieSeeker)had a trip planned to fish for shoal bass all week but the weather didn’t cooperate. So looking at the surrounding states and the water level continuing to rise, we needed an alternative for our week long fishing trip.

Pursuing the Guadeloupe Bass had been a long time thought of SSF and mine. So it only took one suggestion of a trip to Texas and we pulled the trigger. Continue Reading

By Phillip Potter, aka TarDevil

Driving to the river recently I passed an elderly fella walking by the road and he raised his hand to me as I drove by.  Got me wondering about salutations, waving, acknowledging folks ya don’t know – never met and perhaps never will.  Just a friendly nature?  The desire to impart a wee speck of goodwill and a warm “hello?” I dunno, do you? Continue Reading

By:  Phillip Potter, aka TarDevil

On a beautiful June day in 2007 I came to two important conclusion; 1) flyrods and sunglasses are perfect tools for something other than catching fish, and 2) ALWAYS bring my camera.

I ached all over.  I was so sunburned I glowed.  But it had been a satisfying day… not particularly productive (three smallies and several green sunfish caught and released) but six hours of blessed solitude on a gorgeous day. Continue Reading

By:  Phillip Potter, aka Tardevil

It was an annual ritual; my father and I flew west every August for a week of fishing and camping with my cousin Troy. We floated the famed Deschutes river for rainbows, waded the Salmon River for steelhead and fished for sturgeon in the Columbia. After several years of cramming a smorgasbord of adventures in one week, the three of us decided the most enjoyable and productive of our outings was casting from the north jetty at the mouth of the Columbia for a variety of fish, depending on the tide. Continue Reading

By: Derek Porter (AKA Boyscout)

The month is July and it’s already hot by 10 am. I am drenched in sweat after paddling 2 miles downstream on a river in South Carolina. As a bonus, there is no car waiting at an access point down river. Why not another car waiting? Because this is a solo trip and I will have to take out where I put in. However far I go, I will have to paddle back upstream against the current to my car. Another factor becomes clear; there are no houses (with helpful people) anywhere near since I am surrounded by the beautiful forest of Sumter National Forest. Continue Reading