Times Spent Outdoors: Priceless!
Times Spent Outdoors: Priceless!
Sorted by date Results 26 - 49 of 49
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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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
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
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 went to Roosevelt one night with Clifford Pirch, and I was a bit surprised when he started throwing a spinnerbait. He explained that with a spinnerbait, you can cover quite a bit of water fairly quickly, looking for active fish, and even in the dark, a single large Colorado blade thumping along really gets attention. Spinnerbaits are also resistant to snagging on rocks and submerged trees. When you're fishing one at night, a dark color is best so it silhouettes against the sky. Hop It Up And... Website
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
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
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
You can still get to Apache Lake – you just have to go to Roosevelt Lake and drive south from there. Right now the Apache Trail is still washed out, but access to the lake from the north is still possible. You may not remember the name Casey Iwai – he was a youngster who was quite a stick back in the day. He even fished the Bassmaster trail for a year and was featured on their television coverage. He had a great reputation in the tournament circles in Arizona as well. Casey is now a doctor, but... Website
Nitro and Bass Pro Shops pro Matt Shura has been fishing bass tournaments since he was just a kid, and in fact, he held the state record for largemouth bass for some time a few years back. If you go to the fishing seminars at the Mesa Bass Pro Shop store, you've seen him there and probably heard some great bass fishing tips from him. Rig It Straight Matt took us to Saguaro in March and showed us how to fish one of his favorite early spring baits – the Reaction Innovations Little Dipper. This bai... Full story
This is a huge year for Dylan with tournaments and marriage ahead. We wish him well. February can be a tough month at Bartlett. The water isn't warm yet, but it's coming, and a degree or two a day can put the bass in pre-spawn mode. This time of year, Dylan Maxon reaches for a big spinnerbait to get a limit at Bartlett. Dylan is a long-time tournament bass fisherman with some great sponsors – Signature Gates and Welding (the owner is another great fisherman – Kevin Finley), Irod Fishing Rod... Full story
McMillan Stocks pro and Nitro State Team member Kevin Finley runs up to Lake Pleasant frequently – he lives close by, so he has become extremely familiar with this lake. Pleasant has a reputation as a tough lake to fish, but Kevin always manages to pull a few out of the water, and usually some big ones, even in January.... Website
AZ Lakes, AZ Pros: Daniel Pecotte At RooseveltDaniel Pecotte of Holbrook has been fishing for bass Roosevelt for many years, and he says that winter is the trickiest time – it's harder to get them to eat. The fish move out deeper and school up, so when you find them you usually find a bunch, but since their metabolism is so slow in the winter, they don't attack a lure the way they might in the summer. Pay Attention To find them pay attention to areas where they don't have to go far to feed, s... Website
Cool Days Mean Great Crappie Fishing Cool days mean great crappie fishing, and nobody knows Roosevelt crappie better that Curt Rambo, Leroy Price, and Art Chamberlin. Curt is a jig guy and Art and Leroy like to troll. Here's how they do it. "I drive around and look for brush in twenty to thirty feet of water," Rambo explains. "Sometimes it takes an hour to find a good spot, and sometimes you don't find one all day." Just about any cove with submerged brush can be good. Drop A Jig Down There Look... Full story
An old friend of ours, Tony Gaillombardo, has been fishing since he was five years old. He hosted Fishing Arizona, a local television show, for a year, and pro-staffer for Mepps and Mister Twister for many years. He's got an extensive collection of antique lures, and although he specializes in bass fishing, he also fishes for trout, catfish, sunfish, and even crawdads. He took us up to Bartlett one fall and we caught a ton of fish. As soon as the water starts to cool off in the fall, bass move... Website
If you go to the Mesa Bass Pro Shops bass seminars, you've probably seen Jerry Weston. If not, get out there and meet a bunch of Arizona bass pros! Jerry was kind enough to take us out to Bartlett Lake one morning and show us how he puts fish in the boat during these dog days. GOOD CATCH! - Ron Flewellen's kids show off their striper catch. The water temperature was in the high 80's right from the get-go, but it was cloudy and the barometer was falling, so Weston opted for a reaction bait first... Website
Years ago, pro bass angler Gregg Warne took us out to Roosevelt for some night fishing one August and taught us how to fish a football head jig at night. A football head jig is just what it sounds like – the lead is shaped like a football and they are usually pretty heavy. We usually fish a one-ounce jig at night, and everyone calls them “one-tonners”. On the beefy hook, you rig a Yamamoto Hula Grub, which is a soft plastic bait with a skirt at the top that snugs up against the jighead, a chubb... Website
Years ago, pro bass angler Gregg Warne took us out to Roosevelt for some night fishing one August and taught us how to fish a football head jig at night. A football head jig is just what it sounds like – the lead is shaped like a football and they are usually pretty heavy. We usually fish a one-ounce jig at night, and everyone calls them "one-tonners". On the beefy hook, you rig a Yamamoto Hula Grub, which is a soft plastic bait with a skirt at the top that snugs up against the jighead, a c... Website
Alamo Lake can be dynamite in April. The average high temperature is 79 degrees and the average low is 44 degrees. Bass may be spawning, and crappie fishing will be great. With all the rain we've had, the ramps are open now and it's a great place to go. April At Alamo Should Be Great One of the reasons I like Alamo so much is that it's far from anywhere and it's not on the way to any place either – you have to want to go to Alamo, and it's a pretty good drive no matter where you live, so the l... Website
A new lake opened in Arizona just this year – Hidden Lake near Buckeye. This is a private lake, and you pay to get in, but you pay to get into any lake, right? Hidden Lake is being managed as a trophy bass lake, and has been stocked with Florida strain bass. The Gila River feeds this lake, which used to be a gravel pit. There is an inlet at one end and an outlet at the other, but for the most part the water is kept fresh because the Gila actually flows underground here, but the gravel pit was d... Full story
The Key To Success Is Being Versatile Back in the day, Wes McCracken was one of the best anglers on the All Star Bass trail. The key to his success: he knew that you have to be versatile to catch fish consistently. "Every lake is different, and every year it's different, too," says McCracken. One thing that he can count on most of the time, though, is a worm bite of some sort. "Finding the fish is the hard part," says Wes. "Figuring out what they want is simply a process of elimination." This... Website
Patagonia Lake is a small reservoir about an hour south of Tucson. Formed by damming Sonoita Creek, this beautiful little lake offers good crappie, catfish, and bass fishing in Southern Arizona. The terrain around Patagonia is very different from the deserts surrounding the central Arizona lakes. Patagonia is at an elevation of 3,750 feet, and the surrounding country is grassy hills and scrub oak and juniper. Dan Marzano Takes Us To Patagonia Patagonia looks more like a midwestern lake than an... Full story
Johnny Johnson is one of the best-known and best-loved fishermen in Arizona. With his popular television show Fishing With Johnny Johnson http://fishingwithjohnnyjohnson.com/ and his trademark hee-hee-hee laugh, he has made thousands of fans. At the recent Wild West Bass Team Championship, crowds of people jumped up and ran over to take photos the minute his truck and boat came into view. He has a way with kids and never turns them down when they ask for a photo with him. We once fished with him... Full story
Tai Au is one of the best-known bass pros in Arizona - he started a Facebook page called "AZ Anglers" and there are now over 13,000 members. Tai is all about sharing his love for and knowledge about fishing, which is why he created a place where Arizona anglers could share, ask, learn, and even brag a bit now and then. Started As A Kid Tai got into fishing when he was just a kid, going out with his dad. His mom and dad were actually "Boat People" from Vietnam, and he was actually born in a car... Full story
