Sun Protection—Cover Up to Stay Cool Update

Bass Editor Tips for Keeping Cool on the Water

I bass fish many times when it is around 100 degrees (this is Texas after all). In fact, the largest bass I caught was taken when it was 106 degrees and at 2:00 p.m. That was hot.

Cover up to cool down.

The first reaction is to think night fishing — and a lot of us do.

But, the fishing is really good in mid-day in late summer.

So, how do you beat the heat? Sun screen is one option. But the best option for me is to dress up, not down.

The more I cover up, the better I feel. It's still hot, but it doesn't feel as hot as when the sun is beating down on me.

This picture with the bass is from a recent August trip. It was 104 degrees, but we caught some good top water bass in the middle of the day.  

Over the last few years, I've experimented with many ways to cover up. I feel pretty comfortable with how I approach it now. (My goal is all about sun protection, not fashion.)

Sun Protection Clothing Options

I start with light-colored shirts and pants. I add sun sleeves, sun gloves and a sun hood over a visor. The hood keeps the visor from flying off when I'm running down the lake. 

I tried hats with good ventilation, but when I pulled the sun hood over them, it was too hot. And, hats with flaps that covered my ears and neck would blow up in the wind, exposing my skin to more sun.

Neck gaiters almost work to hold my hat on, but occasionally I still struggled to keep the sun off my face. 

Simms Sun Hood

Sun Hoods

When I saw the sun hood (from Simms), I knew it would work. And it does. Very little skin is exposed, but I still put sun screen on around my eyes, nose and upper cheeks because sometimes I pull the front of the face mask down a little. I don't like the face mask over my nose. That is just a personal preference.

Columbia Visor

Wearing a visor rather than a hat is much cooler too. I really like the Columbia visor with Omni-Freeze Zero liner.

Visor and hood shown together

When I found the Simms hood, I thought the camo would pull double duty for fall hunting, but the sun feels hot on the camo side so I just turn it inside out so the lighter color is out when I'm fishing. It feels cooler. Pull the hood over the top of the visor and it really works to keep the sun off.

Cabelas Balaclava

Another option is the Cabelas Guidewear Balaclava. After using many different hoods, I think I like the Cabelas best. They come in three colors and I use the solid light gray color.

Sun Sleeves

Now let's look at sun sleeves. I find it cooler to wear a short-sleeve shirt and use sun sleeves. That provides a little more ventilation to my underarms and back. I have several styles from Columbia and other manufacturers, but one I found online is called Hi Cool. The fabric is very thin but effective. I hardly know I'm wearing them and they are very inexpensive. (You can buy five pair for less than one pair of the others.) However, the Columbia has the Omni-Freeze technology that starts cooling when you really need it. Again, Cabelas is also a player in this field.

Hi Cool sun sleeves

Columbia sun sleeves
note the inside fabric pattern with Omni Freeze

Sun Gloves

Wearing gloves in summer seems counter intuitive. Several decades ago, a friend would go to Mexico bass fishing. He'd tell me the heat was so intense he started taking cotton gloves and cut the fingers tips off and wear those while fishing. It was always the back of his hands and wrists that got super sun burned. If I was clued in then, I should have designed a sun glove.

My first foray into gloves were "fishing gloves" that were smooth fabric. They kept the sun off but made holding the fishing rod slippery. Since then, many companies have improved on the design.

Sun Glove Tips

I'm don't review products that manufacturers send to me, but items I buy and use myself. This is first hand experience and you will notice the gloves are used and worn.

Look for gloves that have some type of grip on the hand side. It makes holding your gear easier. I have Buffs, Columbia and Cabelas brand gloves.

I find that using a slightly smaller size for a tight fit is better than loose on some brands. Loose gloves get caught on everything. Hooks snag easily in the loose fabric. And fish teeth get hooked up in them too. But you need to try on the gloves before buying. With one brand I use men's small and another brand I need men's large. There is no consistency in sizing. 

Buffs

Buffs sun gloves

The Buffs have a little thicker fabric so they feel bulkier. I wear them when the weather cools some. But they are not designed for cold weather fishing. Once they get wet, they cool rather than warm your hands. But they grip better than some others I've tried when wet. I'm picturing used products so you can see I really use them.

Columbia

Columbia sun gloves

I like and use these a lot. They are light weight and comfortable. It is especially important to buy a size smaller than you think. They stretch out as you use them more.

Cabelas GuideWear

Cabelas GuideWear Sun Gloves

I looked at these gloves several times when I was shopping at Cabelas. One day I thought, well at least let me get some and try them. I'm glad I did.

They are now my favorite sun glove. They are comfortable and have good grip. They hold their shape really well and I've gotten some as gifts for friends. 

And, I carry several back up pairs.

I store everything I need in a little duffel bag that goes in the boat every time I go out.

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Jerk baits aren't just for winter

Catching schooling bass

Late summer bass begin schooling to chase shad. It continues into the fall.

Get out the jerk baits. You can catch so many fish in a short amount of time!

Watch the video for some non-stop action.




Our video was from late last summer when it was very hot. Our concept was validated when the B.A.S.S. Elites were on Sam Rayburn in May 2017 — post spawn and very warm weather! They slayed the bass with jerk baits.

By shopping with these affiliates you're supporting this blog! #sp



Amazon Has Great Deals on Fishing Rods and Reels

Modifying frogs for best hook up and landing

The best way to modify hollow-body frogs.

Everyone loves fishing with hollow-body frogs. The problem is, most people land a small percentage of fish that strike. You can fix that now.

Modify your frog for better results. Here's how.

We add a larger hook. That doesn't hurt the weedless nature of the bait, but sure helps with landing percentages!

Secondly, we add a spinner blade to the back of the bait for a little flash.

Watch the video to see how it's done.






Amazon has a great selection of fishing reels

Decker Lake (Walter E Long) Frog Fishing

Fishing frogs for bass.

Our favorite lake and the best way to fish it.

Decker Lake is a great frog lake. The best time to fish it is in mid-summer and in the middle of the day. Throw hollow-body frogs.

The hotter and the calmer it is outside, the better the frog fishing.

Other times of the year, early or late is better.

Be sure to check out the frog modification video in another post.

Spinning Reel Product Review

How do you choose a spinning reel? Some of the things I like are looks, number of bearings, how smooth it feels when you turn the handle and of course, price. For my needs, I don't think I need to spend more than $100.

Take a look at the this new reel. The company is Piscifun. The model is Honor 2000.

Honor Spinning Reel and Saex Elite casting reel

Piscifun Honor 2000 Matches Kistler Zbone Rod
and the reel comes with a nice cover

Here are the specs:

• Graphite body
• 10 + 1 Stainless Steel Ball Bearings and Roller Bearing
• One-way clutch
• Sealed carbon drag
• Patented spool design
• Machined stainless steel gear shaft
• S-shape slider so lines lays smoothly
• Direct handle into main gear
• Gear ratio 5.1:1
• 7lb. mono capacity—160 yards
• Weight: 8.5 oz.
• 24.2 in. line take up per turn 

First impressions:

This reel looks really sharp! It matches my Kistler Zbone Rod really well. The reel turns so smoothly. I put a small drop of oil on the shaft. Put it on a Kistler Spinning Rod and took it fishing. I wish I could say I caught a lot of fish on it, but only caught a couple on a tough day of fishing.

I loaded it with 14-pound Nanofil. I used an eighth-ounce Charlie Brewer Slider head and a 4-inch Berkley Powerbait Worm. I was was surprised how far I could cast with the reel/rod and line combo.

Would I buy another? Yes, most definitely.

You can find these reels on Amazon.

The Best Crankbait Storage Option. Carry More Baits and Not Get'em Tangled.

Managing Crankbaits Just Became Easier

One of the things I dislike about using crankbaits

 is how to manage all of those hooks.

It seems I spent more time untangling baits, than fishing.

Until now.

I've tried so many crankbait boxes.
The dedicated crankbait boxes work OK
for separating some of the baits,
but even then the hooks go under the slats
and so it's hard to just grab one and go.
I've tried boxes where you put one bait per slot.
No good. It takes too much space
in the boat to carry so many boxes.

Individual baits stored in a plastic box are easy to get to,
but then you have to carry so many plastic storage boxes.

Big crankbaits are a real pain to deal with.

It gets even worse for big cranks. 

This box takes up so much space.

So it was back to trying

to use the dedicated crankbait boxes.

I bought a bunch of hook bonnets,
but they too had disappointing results.

Another method I tried was using hook bonnets.
As you can see below, they solve part of the problem,
but not the space issue.

And baits with hook bonnets
need more space than without.

Previously, I bought quite a few specialty
crankbait boxes. That helped,
but I still had to carry
way more boxes than I wanted.

Some of you may remember these crankbait storage boxes.
The idea never really took off.

Then I saw a video online about

how someone had put a bunch
of small cranks in a little round container.
I didn't care for the container,
but the elastic band was a brilliant idea.
So, I borrowed the idea and made my own modifications.

Wrapping the hooks
made the baits much more compact.

As you can see,
when you wrap an elastic band
around the hooks, they won't tangle.

Adding elastic bands around the hook
and securing to the bait body
made the crankbaits easier to get out
of the storage box.

But they still take up too much space.
Then it hit me —
the elastic bands do a great job
of keeping the hooks from tangling —
so I don't need all those slots.

I took the dividers out of the
special crankbait boxes.

Rather than go buy more boxes that don't have dividers, 

I removed the slats from all of the crankbait boxes I had.

It was easy to remove the slotted base
of the crankbait box.

I went to the local supermarket and
bought large bags of sturdy elastics.

I wrapped all of my unpackaged crankbaits in very little time.

I was amazed at how many baits fit in a box,

once the hooks are wrapped up.

I sort the baits by size and diving depth per box.
I mix some of the brands because I can see exactly what
I need with out any effort.

You can sort the baits by brand or size. I sort by size mostly.

Here are some of the boxes full of crankbaits.
It works for stick baits as well as top water and lipless baits.

Here are some of the boxes stacked up on my work table.

Now, I buy single-tray boxes only for all of my hard baits.
Crankbaits, jerkbaits, topwater poppers, floating Rapalas, etc.
are all stored this way. I can carry a lot of baits in not much space in the boat.

Thank you for reading.

If you are looking for good deals on some of these products and more,
you can follow the links below to eBay,
Amazon and one of my favorite tackle outlets, Monster Tackle.

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Canyon Lake, Texas — Brush Piles

TPWD and partners maintain a series of brush piles on Canyon Lake, Texas.

The brush piles are updated annually (for the most part),
especially on the lower half of the lake (nearer the dam).

Here are the GPS coordinates.

Canyon Reservoir Fish Attractor Project Updated April 26, 2016 Site # Lat/Long Attractor Description Installed Last Supplemented 1 N 29o51.697' Mouth of Turkey Cove on east main lake point along river channel drop. W -98o13.027' 2005 2014 2 N 29o51.597' In Turkey Cove on rocky bald Y-point splitting cove. W -98o13.190' 2005 2014 3 N 29o53.707' Along Jacobs Creek channel drop off.  W -98o12.911' 2005 2016 4 N 29o51.096' Along creek channel drop in small cove uplake from dam. W -98o12.693' 2005 2014 5 N 29o51.676' Bald secondary point on North side of Turkey Cove east of ramp. W -98o13.394' 2005 2013 6 N 29o53.918' West side of long rocky point between Cranes Mill and Potters Creek along river channel drop.  W -98o16.949' 2005 2015 7 N 29o53.979' West side of long rocky point between Cranes Mill and Potters Creek along river channel drop.  W -98o16.994' 2005 2016 8 N 29o54.554' On main point splitting north side cove along deep ledge. W -98o17.814' 2005 2013 9 N 29o54.467' Main lake point up-river from water pipeline along deep river channel drop. W -98o17.361' 2005 2013 10 N 29o54.118' End of bald clay point at Potter's Creek Park near river channel drop. W -98o16.157' 2005 2015 11 N 29o53.492' Cranes Mill fishing pier. Along North edge of pier and in middle pier hole. W -98o17.690' 2005 2013 12 N 29o53.343' Ledge along steep bank near point. W -98o15.866' 2005 2015 13 N 29o53.698' Ledge on rocky bank along east side of Canyon Park in ramp cove. W -98o13.840' 2005 2014 14 N 29o53.756' Ledge on rocky bank along east side of Canyon Park in ramp cove. W -98o13.839' 2005 2014 15 N 29o54.539' End of extended point west of Canyon Park area near drop off. W -98o14.247' 2005 2015 16 N 29o51.530' On southeast side of Comal Park cove along creek channel drop.  W -98o14.722' 2005 2014 17 N 29o52.762' End of west Jacobs Creek main lake point. W -98o13.514' 2005 2015 18 N 29o52.669' End of east Jacobs Creek main lake point. W -98o13.467' 2005 2015 19 N 29o52.181' East side of North Park main lake point. W -98o12.362' 2007 2015 20 N 29o51.913' Along drop off on North Park extended main lake point. W -98o12.422' 2007 2013 21 N 29o51.835' Southeast corner of dam. W -98o11.844' 2007 2015 22 N 29o52.419' Northeast corner of dam. W -98o11.994' 2007 2015 23 N 29o52.301' On the end of island/hump marked with buoy. W -98o13.973' 2007 2014 24 N 29o51.642' Along creek channel near Comal Park. W -98o14.892' 2007 2015 25 N 29o52.608' East side of Jacobs Creek main lake point. W -98o13.269' 2007 2013 26 N 29o52.538' On the end of point northeast of Tom Creek boat ramp. W -98o15.475' 2007 2016 27 N 29o54.033' Along ledge on east side of Potters Creek Park. W -98o15.873' 2007 2014 28 N 29o54.246' Along ledge between Cranes Mill Park and water pipelines. W -98o17.323' 2007 2016 29 N 29o54.150' On point south of Potters Creek West boat ramp. W -98o16.668' 2007 2016 30 N 29o53.392' On Canyon Park main lake point. W -98o14.405' 2007 2013 31 N 29o54.571' End of extended point west of Canyon Park area near drop off. W -98o14.239' 2007 2016 32 N 29o54.416' Along creek channel northwest of island across from Canyon Lake marina. W -98o15.077' 2007 2016 33 N 29o54.754' On submerged Cranes Mill Road Bed, south of County Ramp 23. W -98o17.483' 2008 2016 34 N 29o53.496' Near Cranes Mill Park, north of marina. W -98o17.268' 2008 2013 35 N 29o54.079' Off east side of point, on opposite side of cove from Potters Creek ramp. W -98o16.844' 2008 2013 36 N 29o54.442' Hump near river channel, south of Mystic Shores. W -98o17.619' 2009 2016 37 N 29o53.974' River channel edge, east of Potters Creek. W -98o15.828' 2009 2016 38 N 29o53.334' Flat point near river channel ledge. W -98o15.211' 2009 2016 39 N 29o53.768' Hump North of Cranes Mill Marina. W -98o17.171' 2010 2016 40 N 29o51.619' Creek channel bend near Comal Park. W -98o14.837' 2010 2014 41 N 29o53.794' Hump on end of point near Canyon Park boat ramps. W -98o13.711' 2010 2013 42 N 29o53.648' On big point in Jacobs Creek splitting arms W -98o13.278' 2011 2014 43 N 29o51.968' Near drop off on extended main lake point near North Park. W -98o12.413' 2014 GPS coordinates are in degree decimal minutes. Sites 1 through 15 include artificial fish attractors. Some sites have been removed/renumbered from previous years.

Check out this time-lapse video.


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Black Friday is for Fishing #BlackBassFriday

The last few years many of my friends have been fishing on Black Friday. There is a hashtag too #BlackBassFriday so how cool is that.

What a great way to spend the day off.

But we can't ignore Black Friday sales; however, many of us buy tackle online so we can still go fishing on Friday.



I would like to see the movement for #BlackBassFriday get more attention—much like the publicity REI got for #OptOutside.

Help me spread the word guys.

#BlackBassFriday

I'd rather be lucky...than good. Rookie mistakes.

I've used that saying so much in fishing. See, if your lucky, you can explain away a good day even when it was comedy of errors. For those of you who are good, well, you have to be good all (most) of the time.

You know how it is when you have a bad day. You break off a fish. You have multiple backlashes in a row. You miss a good fish cuz you were daydreaming, etc. You finish just out of the money.

In my last tournament, right off the bat, I hooked a big fish on a spinnerbait. It was still pretty dark so I couldn't see the fish. I felt it go down in to the grass and hang up. I thought it was off because I couldn't feel anything.

I gave it some slack and it swam out. We netted it and then I realized how big it was (23 inches). Nice start! With a limit I could have a high place finish. That was lucky.

Finally, I got it untangled from the net. I checked my line and somehow the line had slipped up the R-bend of the spinnerbait up into the swivel and blade. Rookie mistake. And, the line didn't break. But the line was very shredded for about a foot. Why didn't it break? Lucky.

I cut the line and tried to retie while the fishing could still be good. But I couldn't see in the low light to retie. It was still too dark for my eyes. It took like 10 minutes to retie. I made few more casts, but by then it was pretty light.

I changed to a frog because it had been working for the last few months. I get a big fish to suck in the frog — hardly any noise. He just slurped it under. I set the hook but nothing happened. My line peeled off. Nothing. I don't feel the fish. Oh. Oh.

It was a brand new rod and reel I spooled up with 65-pound braid the day before. I forgot to set the drag. Rookie mistake, again.

All I ended up with was a frog stuck in lots of grass.

I continue throwing a frog but no more hits. My partner (my son) started using a weightless 5-inch Senko. He smoked three good keepers in a short time. I'm still on that one fish. Of course, my one weighs more than his three.

I switched to the Senko, but the wind was blowing a little hard. I couldn't feel the Senko down in the grass like it needs to be. I change to a 6-inch Senko. Boom. Get one. Then another. This is turning into a good day.

Bouncing from the Senko to the frog and back isn't working. Hey dummy, stay with the Senko, I convince myself.

What was that? Set the hook. Fish number four is in the boat. Lucky.

As we're drifting around some matted grass, my son spots a fish on a mat with it's back out of the water. Must be a gar I'm thinking. But no, it's too compact for a gar. It swims off toward deep water (we're in three feet of water so it isn't going far).

I toss the Senko out in front of where it might drop to. I wait and wait. Nothing. But I set the hook any way. Fish on. Fish number five. Done. Limit. Lucky. And I have a little more than 20 pounds. Six hits and five keepers. Wow. Lucky.

And there are several hours left. We go all over. Nothing.

Run into a couple of guys fishing the tournament. One has 19 pounds and the other around 20 pounds. They tell us one guy has about 24 pounds. So, my day isn't all that great after all.

I need one more good keeper to cull a 15.5 - inch fish.

I want to try something different but we only have 10 minutes to fish.

When loading the rods at 3:00 a.m. I grabbed the wrong rod. I saw a blue fleck worm rigged and thought I had the 7-inch worm rod, but no I had grabbed the 10-inch worm rod. I realized that soon after first light. I was ticked at myself. Rookie mistake.

Well, 10-minutes left. Not much I can do. I run back toward the ramp and hit a deep point that drops to 30 to 50-feet. I've run by this point hundreds of times, but never stopped. I pull up and grab the 10-inch worm rigged on 20-pound line with a half-ounce sliding sinker. (It was rigged from my last trip to Lake Falcon.) But it was the rod I had grabbed by mistake that morning. Oh well, I've got nothing to lose at this point.

First cast, I bounce it back toward the boat, fast. Tick. Fish on. I cull up 1.5 pounds.

Final tally. Second place with nearly 22 pounds. I'd rather be Lucky than Good.




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