Times Spent Outdoors: Priceless!
Times Spent Outdoors: Priceless!
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One of the best ways to catch summer bass on Lake Pleasant is with a Carolina rig. I remember back in the day when VanderKooi and his partner came to the scales with a 42-pound limit they caught on Carolina rigs! That's a 7-pound average! John Murray has some great tips for fishing Carolina rigs. He says Carolina rig fishing is simple. A large weight and a glass or plastic bead are strung onto the main line. The bead protects the knot from the heavy weight. A swivel is then tied to the end of... 
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The Arizona Game and Fish Department (AZGFD) has introduced a new option that allows fishing and hunting license holders to have their licenses automatically renewed upon expiration. The feature is currently only available for the following licenses: Resident Hunt, Resident Fish, Resident Hunt/Fish Combo, Nonresident Fish, Nonresident Hunt/Fish Combo. To opt-in for license auto-renewal, customers must have an AZGFD portal account. Customers who have an existing portal account should use that... Full story
Something Different This Month: Crappie Pros Rambo and Chamberlin Tell Us What Not to Do! Most anglers are familiar with bass pros, but Arizona anglers might not be aware that there are a lot of crappie pros out there, too. Crappie tournaments are starting to mean big money and slab hunters have learned a few tricks to help them target the big fish. Closer to home, guys like Curt Rambo and Art Chamberlin are known for their crappie prowess. What do these guys think the biggest crappie fishing... Website
Early in February it can seem like the fish are on strike," says local resident and ournament angler Debbie Blanchard, "but before long the big smallmouth start to move in and you can catch a lot of really big fish." The smallmouth begin to spawn when the water reaches about 58 degrees, and they spawn deeper than largemouth do. Easy To Spot Debbie looks for beds in at least ten feet of water. They're easy to spot, she says, because smallmouth nests are as much as three times as big as... Full story
We save most of our desert drives for winter because although our Jeep would make it through snow and mud, many northern Arizona off-highway trails are closed in winter, and we also don't like to make deep ruts in muddy roads just from a conservation standpoint. It's too hot in summer to really enjoy a desert drive, because we like to get out of the Jeep and do a lot of walking and exploring. In the summer we have not only the excessive heat to contend with, but also my constant fretting that... Full story
Prespawn can be a difficult time for bass fishermen. Marty Lawrence’s advice on prespawn fishing is “don’t overthink it”. That being said, the man probably has 14 rods on the deck by the end of the day, and several of them will have a Senko tied on. He’ll throw the Senko Texas-rigged, wacky rigged with no weight, or wacky rigged with a nail weight for deeper cover. As for the Texas rigs, he’ll have one with weight pegged or with a bobber stopper, and one unpegged. The Texas rigs are for around... Website
Christmas Gifts For Outdoorsy Types Need some stocking stuffer and gift ideas for your outdoorsy family and friends? Look no further – here are a bunch of great ones at all different price ranges. UNDER $25 STANSPORT knows it's never too early to start kids on a love for the outdoors, and they make it easy for you by providing fun stuff for your little explorers at great prices. For instance, you can get a Kids' Insect Catching Kit for $25.99 and a Kids' Magnifying Jar for 10.99. That will k... Full story
John and I have known fishing legend Fred Ward for many years, but we actually met him in Florida. At that time I was writing for a tiny publication (now defunct) called Arizona Fishing News. My day job, The New Times, sent me to Denver for a week, then to Miami for a week, and as a reward, they gave me a guided fishing trip on Lake Okeechobee and even flew John out there to join me. Fred was guiding for the Roland Martin resort, and when he found out I was a writer, he comped our stay! We got... Full story
Contest garnered 129 entries and paid out $30,000 in prizes. Recycling old fishing line and soft baits into new products is labor-intensive, inefficient and simply, for many anglers, not easy to do. This hampers the ability to grow the volume of line and soft bait recycling in the U.S. However, three BoatUS Foundation and Berkley Recast and Recycle Contest winners aim to change that. The prizewinners – a recent college grad, an outsdoorsman and 3D printing hobbyist, and a team of four college f... Full story
Lake Powell Report (6/23/21) Lake Powell is dropping. Inflowing water today is 10,000 Acre Feet less than outflow. The parched Southwest really needs Monsoon rain to fall this summer. Be careful when traveling on the lake. Stay in the middle of the main channel to ensure a safe trip. Stripers Still Hitting Bait Stripers are still hitting bait in the normal spots like Buoy 25 Cove and Wall, Rincon, and Moki Canyon. On my weekly fishing trip, we saw fewer slurping stripers in the channel between... Full story
Daniel Elias found out about the Free Rig in early 2019 from Japanese bass fishermen on Instagram, in posts that weren't even in English. The rig is fairly simple – you use a cylindrical drop shot weight, but instead of a clip, there is just a small loop at the end – a pencil weight with an eye at the top. You simply slide it onto the line before tying on the hook, and it slides freely up and down the line: Free Rig. The Hook Up Tackle (www.thehookuptackle.com) has weights for this technique; ju... Full story
[At press time] the falling lake level is slowing down slightly, but there is still more water going out than coming in. The daily water temperature now varies between 62-68 F. This is the spawning trigger for bass in Lake Powell. Expect to find male bass building and guarding nests over the length of the lake. Check The Ledges In Side Canyons Bass fishing for both largemouth and smallmouth bass is at the springtime peak. With the crazy low water levels, expect to find bass on or under ledges in...
Concert and Fireworks Planned for July 3 – 4, 2021 LAKE HAVASU CITY, Arizona (June 24, 2021) – The megadrought in the Southwest has lead to epic water shortages, but there is one bright side. While Lakes Powell and Mead are both under 40 percent of their reservoir storage capacity, the water level of the Colorado River's 45-mile long Lake Havasu, on the border between California and Arizona, remains consistent-as much as 98 percent full in the summer. In fact, the elevation of Lake Havasu typ... Full story
This is where the birds and fish, burros and deer roam. According to vacation experts, the latest travel trend is the toe-dip trip: a shorter getaway to help rebuild confidence in traveling. "We may be dreaming of that big-bucket-list trip, but what travelers are actually planning so far this year are visits to familiar destinations nearby, weekend getaways or road trips and beach trips," says Melissa Dohmen, travel expert from Travelocity. Travelocity's most popular destinations for families... Full story
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
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
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
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
