Times Spent Outdoors: Priceless!
Times Spent Outdoors: Priceless!
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The weather is still acting like a lion instead of a lamb. At press time, winds are still blowing this week. Check the weather report while planning a trip. There is usually a calm day or two each week. Fishing on a calm day instead of a windy day often produces more fish and more happy anglers. (Check the weather at the bottom of the home page on Wayneswords.net). Lake level is still going down. The Castle Rock Cut is closed. Bullfrog Main ramp is closed. Launching is still possible at the... Full story
Mark Kile was the guy to watch at any local tournament a few years back. We were lucky enough to go out with him several times at his home lake, Roosevelt, and he just flat knows how to catch them. This time of year, Kile would be catching forty-plus bass in half a day at Roosevelt, usually with at least one kicker over five pounds. "The fish are moving into the shallows," he'd say, "and some of them are spawning." Kile says that throwing a worm in a channel three to five feet deep will often... Full story
The legend is that an angler eating lunch on the lake accidently dropped a spoon overboard. As he watched the silver spoon drift downward, sun glinting off the handle and bowl, he saw a fish dart out and try to eat it. A typical angler, this guy was inventive and always looking for a new bait, so he went home, sawed up some spoons, and put hooks and a place to tie the line on them. Voila! A new killer lure is born! All Designed To Do Same Thing Today's spoons are usually store-bought, and they... Full story
Perhaps the ultimate audio solution for boat owners, the JBL by Harman BassPro Go from Prospec Electronics combines convenience, performance and portability in a single speaker. On the vessel, it's a subwoofer that delivers deep, powerful bass. When it's time to hit the beach, it disconnects and becomes a standalone streaming Bluetooth® speaker perfect for parties. It's so unique, it won a 2021 C.E.S. Innovation Award. Onboard, the BassPro Go functions as a small box subwoofer. Offering... Full story
AZGFD’s Canyon Creek Hatchery will provide some trout for the department's Community Fishing Program waters this winter. The current drought conditions have caused reduced spring water flows at the hatchery, making it difficult to maintain the quality water flow needed to support the large number of fish in its raceways. Utilizing some of the fish for winter stockings in community waters will reduce numbers of trout at the hatchery and help ensure the fish there have adequate water to grow a... Full story
The year 2020 saw a lot of people venturing into the outdoors for the first time. According to the National Shooting Sports Foundation, this past year 6.2 million new shooters took up the sport. There was also a spike in camping and other outdoor activities. Some people were afraid to gather together inside, but outside is a different matter. If you are one of the newbies, I hope you continue to enjoy the outdoors this year and for many years to come. Many Good Reasons There are a lot of good... Full story
Ben Matsubu once took sixth place in a WON Bass Tri-State Championship on Mead with a split-shot rig. He said he watched another guy fish a bank and catch nothing, then Ben went behind him with a split-shot rig and caught eleven fish off that same bank. A split-shot rig is hard to beat when fish are cold and sluggish, and won't move far or take a big bait. Set Themselves ...... 
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Winter is the perfect time of year to visit the lower Colorado River lakes because the weather is fantastic. Martinez Lake is typical of the southern Colorado River Lakes: reedy and shallow, it still holds plenty of fish of all different species. You can have fun at Martinez even if you don’t fish, but if you do like to fish you can go after bass, crappie, catfish (channels and flatheads), carp, tilapia, sunfish, stripers, and even bullfrogs. Highly Developed Martinez is highly developed – the... Full story
Anglers are encouraged to participate in the Arizona HAWG Bass and Fat Cat challenges. These incentive-based, citizen-science conservation rewards programs are designed to encourage anglers to learn about and pursue large bass or catfish while emphasizing immediate live release of individual fish that exceed a designated weight or length. Goals of the program include conservation through catch-and-release of the largest, oldest fish; generation of excitement among anglers about Arizona fishing... Full story
Years go by and fishermen change, but the bass sure don't. We went fishing at Roosevelt one November many years ago with an AllStar Bass angler named Dave Prothe, and he schooled us on spinnerbaits and crankbaits in cold weather. Baits To Start We started out with spinnerbaits and crankbaits on a rocky bank where the channel swings in close to shore – in the Tonto end across from Cholla on the edge of Goose Flats. The boat was sitting in just three feet of water. Dave says that when the water s... Full story
Havasu Havik Grand Prix An epic two-days, beginning Saturday, Nov. 7, of off-road racing UTVs-Quads-Trikes-Bikes is hitting the Island track with the debut of the Havasu Havik Grand Prix! The gate is open Saturday and Sunday from 6 a.m.-10 p.m.; registration is Friday, Nov. 6 6 p.m.-8 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday, 6 a.m.-1 p.m. Daily gate fees are adults: $10, youth (6 years-12 years), and free for children (five years and younger). The camping fee is $20 per vehicle for the weekend (fires must... Full story
Water temperature at Wahweap Marina has dropped below 70 F in the early mornings. It has been a long, hot summer, but the intense heat is finally departing. Daytime air temperature is still in the 80's but next week drops into the 70s. The long-awaited Fall season is late, but very welcome now that it is finally coming. Hopefully, fish will respond positively to the cooling water. This past week they were a bit lethargic. The best time to catch stripers and bass was from 8-10 a.m. Then it... Full story
In Other Words, Know Before You Go If you have taken a Concealed Carry class and have gotten your permit, congratulations! Now you need to start thinking about what that permit does and doesn't do for you. Within Arizona, there are still many places where you cannot legally carry a firearm, even with a permit. As for travel, well -- Native American Reservations, National Forests and Parks, and other states have different rules, even within your home state. I'll try to cover some of those rules,... Full story
Bass Pro Brett Hite has won over $1.6 million fishing tournaments. We got to go out with him on Bartlett a couple of years ago, and he gave us some great fall fishing tips. He's a cool guy. Keep It Basic Brett says keep it basic in the fall. He likes topwater, jigs, and drop shot rigs for the most part this time of year. He took us into the river at Bartlett and fished rocky banks that pretty much no one else fished, targeting banks on the deeper side of the river channel where it swings close... Full story
The warm blanket of water was ripped off the surface by an unprecedented cold blast from the north. At press time, daily air temperature has been in the 100s, with low air temperature in the 80s. The water temperature has been holding in the 80s but is now 76 and may be lower tomorrow. How will fish respond to the quick cold front? Stripers In the past week, stripers have been feeding on the surface at dawn and dusk. They were not dependable each day but when it was about time to give up, they... Full story
Curt Rambo is arguably the best crappie jigger in Arizona. We've been fishing with Curt for decades, and he knows Roosevelt like the back of his hand. While bass fishermen will tell you that staying on one spot too long is a big mistake, the opposite is true with crappie, according to Rambo. A tournament angler is on the hunt for big fish. Curt, on the other hand, just wants to have a good time and put some dinner in the livewell, since he has all but given up guiding. His Te... Website
We began the weekly fish-sampling trip with a quick run to Warm Creek before the sun cleared the horizon. Last week we found quick boils and caught stripers on surface lures and spoons. This week was a bust with no fish on top and no fish showing up on the graph. That was what I expected so we headed uplake. We scanned the surface as we ran directly into the rising sun. Leaping stripers are often backlit while heading east in early morning light, making them easier to see. Still no fish showed... Full story
Lake Powell water temperature in the morning remains at 72F. It will get warmer but now the wind is still mixing the warm surface layers with cool deep layers of water. The lake remains very busy with lots of boats over the length of the lake. Get to the launch ramp early to head out for a morning fishing trip. Run Uplake I followed that advice recently and headed out to Warm Creek to test fishing success. We trolled for stripers but did not catch any. Then we switched to bass lures. We caught... Full story
Willow Springs Lake isn't the only lake on the Rim with bass, but it's one of the largest, and certainly one of the most popular. A lifelong resident of Pinetop, Ariz., TV host Johnny Johnson has spent countless days on Willow Springs fishing for bass. His television show, Fishing With Johnny Johnson, often features the lake as well. "My biggest bass from this lake was almost nine pounds," he says. A lot of anglers are surprised that such big largemouth are found in a lake in the high country,... Website
Lake Powell is now back to normal and open for fishing, recreating and camping 24 hours per day. Smallmouth Bass fishing has been incredible with a consistent catch of 40 fish or better each day. Most anglers are pounding the shoreline from 5-30 feet deep with plastic baits including Ned rigs, plastic grubs, Maniac Cutter bugs, and various crankbaits. Many have enjoyed topwater fishing in the early morning and evening in coves and the backs of canyons. Lake Powell bass seem happy to have anglers... Full story
Surprise Dad With The Perfect Gift/Gifts If you're lucky enough to have a dad who loves the outdoors and shares his adventures with you, Father's Day is a great time to show your appreciation by giving him a little something to make his outdoor times even better. I've included ideas at many different price points, so hopefully you will find something that you think is just perfect for your dad. Fishing Dads Baits There are so many options if your dad likes to fish! Is he a bass fisherman? Head f... Full story
The key to enjoying a night fishing trip is organization. If you have all the equipment you need, and everything is kept where it should be, fishing in the dark is a real pleasure no matter what kind of fish you're after. Art Chamberlin has a lot of experience fishing at night, so he knows all the tricks that make night fishing fun and easy. Black Lights Black lights are a huge help when paired with fluorescent line at night. The black light makes the line glow, so you can see it jump or move... Full story
OCEANSIDE, Calif. (May 4, 2020) - Whether you're talking the expansive rivers of the Dakotas, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan, or the reservoirs and rivers of Nebraska, Ohio, Tennessee, Arkansas and Oklahoma, primetime walleye fishing is happening right now. In all these places, walleyes are moving to the headwaters, narrows and dams, making them quite uncomplicated to find and catch. A kayak is a great alternative to fishing walleyes by motorized boat or from the bank. Specific models like... Full story
I was lucky enough to get out on the lake when it opened to locals last month. Lake Powell bass were spunky, bold and ready to chase or eat anything in the tackle box. I started with a simple single-tail green grub and dropped that straight down 8-15 feet in front of isolated rockslides. Smallmouth from 1-2 pounds were all over the bait. Catching was quick and easy and a whole lot of fun. Every rockslide had a bunch of agreeable bass. The success came because bass were in spawning mode and they... Full story
Television host and musician Johnny Johnson has lived in Lakeside for most of his life and knows these lakes intimately. He lives about five minutes from Rainbow Lake, and spends time on the water nearly every day. Johnny is an avid fisherman and has a good record as a tournament bass fisherman. He is probably one of the best-known bass fishermen in Arizona because of his television show Fishing with Johnny Johnson. ...... Website
