On Wednesday January 17 my buddy Irv and I went up to Lake Simcoe to set up the huts and get ready for the ice fishing season. There is a real shortage of minnows and after a considerable length of time trying to get minnows we succeeded. Our huts are out about 6 miles from Beaverton so did not get there until about 9 A.M. At that point we put the minnows in the bucket and hung them down the hole while we cleaned and set up the huts. At aprox. 11 A.M. we had everything ready so we pulled up the bucket and put 4 minnows on the lines and sent the bucket back down the hole. In a few minutes a fish came along and stole my minnow so I went to pull the bucket and the handle broke and down it went to the bottom full of minnows. For the next 2 hours we spent trying to retrieve it and finally gave up. At this point I went for a walk to see if anyone had a few

By Roger Lee Brown The Bass Coach

When it comes to bass fishing, boat positioning is probably just as important as having your rods and reels on board with you. Using your boat properly while bass fishing can definitely make the difference between catching bass or not catching bass, especially when certain circumstances prevail during the course of the time spent on the water. For example, let’s say that you were fishing for bedding bass during the Spring. Many anglers are aware of the sensitivity nature of the bass during this time of the year, they can be very skittish and frighten (or you can spook them) very easily right? Now, you certainly wouldn’t want to motor the boat right up on top of the beds and scare the bass before you had a chance to fish for them would you? of course not! In this article I hope to help you understand the importance of boat positioning by giving you a few scenarios that many anglers encounter during the course of their time they spend on the water.

— by Steve vonBrandt

Most bass fisherman, because of their use of jigs and worms, have forgotten some of the most important baits that can under the right circumstances catch numbers of hard to catch bass, and many times mean the difference in winning a tournament. These baits don't have the appeal, or tournament winning reputation of such baits as topwaters, soft plastics, and spinnerbaits. Anglers that are just starting out in bass fishing are many times unaware of how and when to use these lures. Even some really good bass fisherman don't understand the role of these hard metal baits. Some of the better baits we use for these techniques are the jigging spoon called a Silver Buddy, and the Strike King thruster tail spinner. These baits can really help you out at times. We never actually won a tournament just using these baits only, but they can really add some decent bass to the bag when other baits fail.

by David Christian

Changing daylight hours are somewhat obvious and we are all affected by it. The amount of daylight hours is significant to all creatures, it is their internal time clock. As humans we may not notice these conditions due to our homes and offices providing unnatural light conditions, but keep in mind that nature knows exactly what is going on outside.
In late February thru early March there is a time frame of three weeks when the amount of daylight hours

increases by fifty minutes, that is 2.25 minutes per day. Most anglers overlook this solar edge. Is one the greatest triggering effects of Mother Nature. This is the true sign that winter has ended and the muskies will start to prepare for their annual spawning rituals. As a southern muskie hunter on Cave Run Lake I wondered if this increase in daylight hours had an effect on the muskie. After almost ten years of fishing it appears that, despite water temps this solar change placed fish very close to the spawning areas. After talking with a number of other anglers that have early open water and learning of the big fish captured, I was convinced this is a pattern!

I wanted to share with our readers a recent bass fishing trip I made with my wife Linda and my good friend Steve Sergeant, to Orlando, Florida.

"Stevo" and I had to fly to Florida on business and Linda was coming along for a well deserved break! Our first morning was going to be "open", so the fishing trip seemed like a great idea.

Searching through the Internet looking for a sensibly priced, reliable fishing guide service can be a daunting task. As a New York State guide and professional tournament fisherman, you can imagine how particular I am when it comes to choosing someone to take me fishing!

By: Roger Lee Brown The Bass Coach

A few weeks ago in the late afternoon while I was re-spooling one of my fishing reels my wife had yelled down to me in the cellar and said that I had a phone call. Right in the middle of my winding I had asked her who was on the phone to which she responded, “I think you’d better get this call.” So I stopped what I was doing and picked up the phone and said hello. The voice on the other end of the phone introduced herself as Cheryl from the “Make A Wish Foundation,” she then proceeded to ask me if I was the Bass Coach?, to which I responded yes!... She then asked if I was the person that had the bass fishing school and a bass charter service located up in the Lake Champlain region in upstate New York, to which I again said yes!... I was thinking to myself (kind of dumbfounded) and was wondering why she would be calling me, so I asked what I could do for her. Cheryl then told me that a 17 year old boy by the name of Jared who presently resides in Michigan had made a wish. Now, I had heard of the Make-A-Wish-Foundation in the past and even donated to it’s foundation but I wasn’t sure how the foundation really functioned, I just knew that they had helped people with terminal illnesses make their wishes come true, but when Cheryl had told me that

— by Eric Elshere

If you are looking for some of the most fun fishing all year round, well it is here. Even though the fish are out after the spawn it can be absolutely awesome. The Topwater bite is on and hot. Come the middle of June or when the shad start to pop up around the lake, the bass will be eating off the surface. This is when you go to the topwater baits to catch them. I have a few pointers to help you out as you chose tackle and baits to

throw at these fish, plus some hot spots to look for.

If you are going to chose any rod to throw topwater baits with, it should be medium action. You don’t want a heavy rod due to not having action to move the bait at best. I prefer to use a 6’ to 6’6” rod in medium actions. This gives you the little extra snap in the rod to move the bait at best and to not pull the treble hooks out of the bass’ mouth. There is fishing reel preferred when throwing these. Try and get a reel with a high gear ratio, preferably 6.2:1 or higher. I like to throw my baits with a G. Loomis rods and a Shimano Curado or Chronarch reels. These have good drag systems and they won’t give out on you.