Category: Short Fishing Videos

Rock Bass Fishing with a Kalin’s Hand-Tied Bucktail tipped with a leech is a deadly presentation almost any season of the year, any time of the day, any day of the week. This jig by Acme Tackle will catch anything, like crappie and aggressive bluegill, green sunfish and pumpkinseed – even largemouth bass – but nobody seems to love ’em as much as Mr. Smalljaw… and… well… Mr. Rock Bass.

While fishing smallmouth bass, we had a couple aggressive rock bass lunch our jigs… and when you consider I’m using a 7 foot heavy rod to set the hook… I mean you just gotta laugh!

Tight lines.

Blasting Rock Bass on a 7 Foot Heavy Fishing in Wisconsin

Let me know what you think – and if you have any luck, share your fish pics on Instagram and either tag me or shoot me a message!

Tight lines!

Smallmouth bass fishing with a Kalin’s Hand-Tied Bucktail tipped with a leech is a deadly presentation almost any season of the year, any time of the day, any day of the week. This jig by Acme Tackle will catch anything, like crappie and aggressive bluegill, green sunfish and pumpkinseed – even largemouth bass – but nobody seems to love ’em as much as Mr. Smalljaw!

On this morning fishing trip with Dad, we were looking deep to find fish that had not been affected by the recent rainy weather and cold, dropping Wisconsin temps.

We found a few… and this hookset in particular was EXTREMELY satisfying.

Tight lines.

Fishing Smallmouth Bass Deep & HAMMERING ’em on a Kalin’s Jig! (Awesome Wisconsin Fishing!)

Let me know what you think – and if you have any luck, share your fish pics on Instagram and either tag me or shoot me a message!

Tight lines!

The Z-Man Hula Stick is one of my favorite fishing baits. It’s versatile, you can use it on down-sized Texas Rigs, Carolina Rigs, Tiny Child Rigs, the F4 Rig – or you can keep it completely simple – completely minimalist – and fish it on a small piece of lead with a hook… known as a JIG.

As the weather cools, largemouth are harder to find up shallow, and when you’re bank fishing like I often do, this can make things extra challenging. Still, slowly dragging a jigworm along the bottom of your favorite lake (with a few twitches and hops here and there) can be can effective way to get the attention of lethargic bass.

Even though it’s always fun to catch largemouth bass… fishing in 35 degree weather is… challenging.

I can’t wait for summer.

Cold Weather Largemouth Bass Fishing (Illinois Bank Fishing)

Let me know what you think – and if you have any luck, share your fish pics on Instagram and either tag me or shoot me a message!

Tight lines!

Fishing a YUM Dinger is something I’m new to – believe it or not. Despite the immense popularity of this bait, I’ve never really used it all that much, tending to opt for a Strike King Ocho or Zoom Zlinkys, which are both loaded with salt and work well on a weightless Texas rig when I’m hunting largemouth bass.

The YUM Dinger has scent and it sinks on a weightless rig… but, very, very slowly… in some cases, this is good. On this particular morning it was extremely hot (as you can see from all the dead grass) and the water was VERY low. A slow sinking bait was the deal, and the YUM Dinger helped me land 3 or 4 fish on a morning that would have otherwise been a bust.

Was it hot?

Yeah.

Was it fun to catch bass?

Yeah.

Largemouth Bass Fishing a YUM Dinger Stickbait on an Extremely Hot Morning (Bank Fishing)

Let me know what you think – and if you have any luck, share your fish pics on Instagram and either tag me or shoot me a message!

Tight lines!

Z-Man TRD MinnowZ can be very effective on a wide variety of gamefish. I’ve used them to catch panfish like crappie and aggressive bluegill, green sunfish and pumpkinseed – even largemouth bass – but nobody seems to love ’em as much as Mr. Smalljaw!

Smallmouth bass are suckers for jigworms. Especially jig worms with scent and salt… which was what made this catch a little surprising. Z-Man TRD MinnowZ are just plain ElaZtech. They do not contain salt like the traditional TRDs or Hula Sticks – but they can still work well in different situations.

On this warm afternoon I was fishing the tail end of the Manitowish Chain o Lakes up near Minocqua, Wisconsin. We had fished for about 90 minutes with just a few tiny bites, and my son had broken his pole.

Well… I broke his pole when I was trying to snap his jig out of a tree he caught… but let’s not point fingers…

We continued to finesse fish along a beautiful woody shoreline – and as you can see, while finesse fishing can be slow, it can also be very productive!

Tight lines.

Let me know what you think – and if you have any luck, share your fish pics on Instagram and either tag me or shoot me a message!

Tight lines!

Fishing a Mann’s Baby 1-Minus is what allowed me to go from a crankbait novice, to a crankbait… well, not novice but whatever 1 step above that would be. I have a long way to go, but catching fish on crankbaits has quickly become one of my favorite ways to fish for largemouth (and smallmouth) bass!

Summer largemouth bass fishing comes with it’s fair share of challenges. Take sloppy, disgusting algae blooms for example. They’re gross. Now reduce the amount of water in a lake because of the heat, and that thick snot on top becomes a disgusting green blanket of dead bugs and line-discoloring stink.

The good news though, it it provides a lot of overhead cover for largemouth bass that are sitting up shallow, or even a bit further out from shore – like where this bass was caught. The thick snot blanket also hides YOU from the fish, which is a nice added bonus.

I can’t wait for summer.

Let me know what you think – and if you have any luck, share your fish pics on Instagram and either tag me or shoot me a message!

Tight lines!

Summer largemouth bass fishing comes with it’s fair share of challenges. Take sloppy, disgusting algae blooms for example. They’re gross. Now reduce the amount of water in a lake because of the heat, and that thick snot on top becomes a disgusting green blanket of dead bugs and line-discoloring stink.

The good news though, it it provides a lot of overhead cover for largemouth bass that are sitting up shallow… and it also hides YOU, as you approach them. This sloppy bass was caught on a simple jigworm 2 or 3 feet off the bank. I was using 8lb fluorocarbon but my entire spool was colored green after just a few casts, and this was on a spinning reel combo. Actually, it was the BBFF pole that we fixed in a previous video.

I can’t wait for summer.

Let me know what you think – and if you have any luck, share your fish pics on Instagram and either tag me or shoot me a message!

Tight lines!

Summer largemouth (and smallmouth) big bass fishing at it’s finest! On a recent trip to Wisconsin (Rice Lake) my Dad and I were fishing jigs as the sun came up over the trees. It had been a slow morning of fishing, but for whatever reason when we rolled into this area we immediately hooked into two active fish – a largemouth AND a smallmouth at the same time!

Then Dad made fun of my GoPro… or “Ned Camera”, as he called it.

We caught several other fish on this Wisconsin fishing trip, but this was the most memorable moment of the morning.

Fun stuff!

Let me know what you think – and if you have any luck, share your fish pics on Instagram and either tag me or shoot me a message!

Tight lines!

Fall Bass Fishing in Illinois can be off the charts fun. Fat largemouth bass are cruising, and even though they might be a bit lethargic… they know that it’s time to feed heavily to prepare for the cold, cold Midwest winter.

This is my least favorite time of the year… but leading UP to this time… it can be lights out.

On this morning I took the jon boat out to a lake not far from my house and worked the shoreline for about 3 hours total. It was close to November but still October, I think. While I did catch 4 or 5 largemouth bass total… it was a slow morning. Crankbaits that had worked previously came up short. Topwater was not happening. Even larger worms rigged wacky were not getting the attention they usually did… but then I downsized and started working a simple 5″ jigworm tied straight to my mainline.

This bruiser made the morning, and after a quick net + photo, she was released back to the depths to fight another day.

It’s freezing as I write this, and I can’t wait for the snow and ice that covers the lakes to thaw so we can get back to work…

This too shall pass.

Let me know what you think – and if you have any luck, share your fish pics on Instagram and either tag me or shoot me a message!

Tight lines!

Smallmouth Bass Fishing in Minocqua Wisconsin. Dang! It don’t get much better than that! This smallmouth fishing tip (the trailing “bonus leech” under a bobber) is a nifty little trick that will put more fish in your boat… or livewell… and Wisconsin fishing with family?

EVEN BETTER!

On this morning my Dad and I had started bright and early throwing leeches on hair jigs. We also wanted to use a trick that a guide had shown us a few days earlier and put a third rod out with a slip bobber and a simple ballhead jig (with a leech on that as well) trailing far behind the boat. We would just pick it up if we saw the bobber drop, and the hope was that we might snag a “bonus” walleye or two for dinner. We worked our jigs all through some thick weeds anywhere from 8 to 15 feet deep, not really seeing a definitive edge, with the wind constantly pushing us here and there. It was a comfortable, cool breeze. Crisp. We soon found ourselves floating over a big sandy flat that came up shallow. The water was crystal clear, and we could pick out several sunken logs scattered throughout the sparse vegetation below. Then all of the sudden we noticed that a HUGE ball of tiny baitfish that had moved into the shadow of our boat… and a sizable group of smallmouth was following right behind ’em. They acted like sharks. As you can see when I noticed them I became silent, dropped my jig in the mass of bait, and almost instantly got bit by one of the SMALLER fish. A much larger smallmouth tried to take the jig from the fish I was fighting, and Dad tossed his jig in to try to get her attention as well, but no luck – and then to make matters worse, my small bass popped free and my leech fell off the jig during the fight. CRAP! I remembered the bobber floating behind the boat and reeled it in as fast as I could so the “bonus” leech would float right through the ball of bait… and fortunately this gal decided to inspect it… and inspect it… and inspect it again… until finally, she couldn’t take it and pulled the bobber under.

Tons of fun on the Manitowish Chain o Lakes.

Let me know what you think – and if you have any luck, share your fish pics on Instagram and either tag me or shoot me a message!

Tight lines!

Minocqua Wisconsin is a beautiful place to fish for walleye! Walleye are some of the best fighting – and best tasting – fish that you’ll find anywhere you fish for things that swim. This walleye fishing tip is a nifty little trick that will put more fish in your boat… or livewell… and Wisconsin fishing with family?

EVEN BETTER!

On this afternoon we were simply floating leeches on jigs, suspended beneath slip bobbers to pick up a few extra fish. Pike, walleye, smallmouth bass, rock bass – tons of fun on the Manitowish Chain O Lakes.

Let me know what you think – and if you have any luck, share your fish pics on Instagram and either tag me or shoot me a message!

Tight lines!

Northern Wisconsin is a beautiful place to fish for pike! Northern pike are some of the best fighting – and best tasting – fish that you’ll find anywhere you fish for things that swim. This pike fishing tip is a nifty little trick that will put more fish in your boat… or livewell… and Wisconsin fishing with family?

EVEN BETTER!

On this afternoon we were simply floating leeches on jigs, suspended beneath slip bobbers to pick up a few extra fish. Walleye, smallmouth bass, rock bass – and yes, even this pike that my son had a ton of fun catching.

Let me know what you think – and if you have any luck, share your fish pics on Instagram and either tag me or shoot me a message!

Tight lines!

Northern Wisconsin is a beautiful place to fish for crappie! Fishing both black crappie and white crappie and everything in between never fails to disappoint. This crappie fishing secret is a nifty little trick that will put more fish in your boat… or livewell… and Wisconsin fishing with family?

EVEN BETTER!

If you fish crappie in Wisconsin – give this trick a try and let me know how you do!

Let’s get better.

LaSalle County has multiple fishing locations that are accessible by boat or bank. Often I find myself casting from shore and pulling up decent largemouth bass… the smallmouth bass, however… they like to hide in much more remote areas.

But let’s focus on the great fishing that LaSalle County does have to offer via public lakes & ponds. This one gave up a 3 pounder to a simple worm rig with a Charlie’s Worm in dark & light purple.

If you fish largemouth in Illinois – give these a try and let me know how you do!

Make sure to check out this critical fishing tip for catching more fish in LaSalle County, Illinois!

Let’s get better.

Illinois fishing can be great at times – if you can stomach the way the state is run… and the taxes, the potholes, the corrupt politicians… it all comes with the territory. That said, the bass fishing helps make a lot of that nonsense tolerable.

I recently went out with some Charlie’s Worms to fish from the shore – and man – was I surprised when I hooked into this bugger. There were several fish caught on this bank fishing trip, and this was one of several to hit a green spade tail worm on a simple jig.

If you fish largemouth in Illinois – give these a try and let me know how you do!

Make sure to check out this critical fishing tip for catching more fish in LaSalle County, Illinois!

Let’s get better.

A #short little fishing video to get you pumped up for the weekend – get ready to get out and catch some fish my friends!

Let me know what you think – and if you have any luck, share your fish pics on Instagram and either tag me or shoot me a message!

Tight lines!

A #short little fishing video to get you pumped up for the weekend – get ready to get out and catch some fish my friends!

Let me know what you think – and if you have any luck, share your fish pics on Instagram and either tag me or shoot me a message!

Tight lines!

A #short little fishing video to get you pumped up for the weekend – get ready to get out and catch some fish my friends!

Let me know what you think – and if you have any luck, share your fish pics on Instagram and either tag me or shoot me a message!

Tight lines!

A #short little fishing video to get you pumped up for the weekend – get ready to get out and catch some fish my friends!

Let me know what you think – and if you have any luck, share your fish pics on Instagram and either tag me or shoot me a message!

Tight lines!