MAY 23, 2007

The Winni Derby has come and gone. A fair amount of fish were caught but I still haven't heard the final results. I'm sure Rick Davis will post them over on the Winni Derby web site.

Most fisherman have long believed the notion that using bigger bait will result in bigger fish. Not so! A 7.7lb laker was caught on a SMALL Arkansas shiner. The size of the bait doesn't make so much a difference as the way its presented. Fly fisherman have known this for years as many large trout are caught on size 20 and smaller flies. My personal best was a 2 1/2lb brookie caught on a size 20 Griffiths Gnat.

The bass fishing is what's on the menu coming up in the next few weeks. The bass moved back into deeper water with the cold temps we experienced last week, but they were back yesterday. The forecast looks good for this upcoming holiday weekend and the bass should be on their beds by next week. Bass fishing is restricted to artificial lures and flies only, catch and release until June 15. Buzz and spinner baits will begin to work well and soft plastics will continue to produce fish. I had an outstanding day on Mothers Day with a pumpkin/red flake colored plastic bait that consistently produced fish in the 2+ pound range.

For you saltwater fisherman, the stripers are starting to come in. Mostly schoolies, but there is always a few big fish mixed in with them. This is my favorite time of year to surf cast for stripers because of the numbers of fish. Also the cod and haddock are in close. Myself and a few others went out of Hampton yesterday and although the fishing was extremely slow, the quality of the fish caught was tremendous. One thing to keep in mind is don't be afraid to try something different. My 45 pound, pool winning cod and another 25 pound cod I caught on a green and white jig that nobody wanted to try. When the fishing gets slow feel free to mix it up a little.

Good Luck Fishing!