Fall Fishing: Silverwood Stripers Video

I fished the dusk bite at Silverwood Reservoir on an evening in October and had a blast. The boils were not as numerous as I had hoped, however, the topwater bite was still on. A cold wind made the water surface somewhat choppy, probably hurting action. Even still, I landed three healthy striped bass, two 18''s and one smaller striper. Absolutely amazing to watch them explore on the surface, engulfing my Kinami Shad topwater lure. The trick was to fish it "Walk the Dog" style, just like you would fish a Lucky Craft Sammy. Cast, splash, twitch, pause, twitch, pause...BOOM! I can't wait to go back!

Drag-Pulling.

Urban Creek Bass Blast Video!

Earlier this year, during my urban creek rush, I re-visited a small Inland Empire creek. I had initially avoided even dropping a line in it as it didn't appeal to me.

However, I'm glad I returned. Despite the brief torrential downpour and suspicious fish, I managed to land several bass and a few green sunfish, all within a couple of hours. 

While the creek wasn't very impressive in length, it made up for it in width with several spots allowing full-range of overhead casting. 

Check out the photos and video, notice the two fish I scored towards the end on the dropshot + purple worm!

Ford Park Fishin'

Nothing crazy. Just a quick late afternoon fishing trip at Ford Park. Love this little place, even if the fish are hard to catch and usually small. Topwater action on my favorite ultralite lure, the Yo-Zuri Kilifish (the best!) and a solid largemouth on a soft plastic as well. Tight lines!

Bass and Trout Fishing in Vancouver Washington

This summer, I spent a few weeks in Vancouver, Washington and Portland, Oregon. The fishing conditions were considerably different from my usual spots in SoCal. I could fish for rainbow trout, largemouth bass, smallmouth bass and cutthroat trout all within a 10-15 minute drive. None of the fish I landed were huge, although I got my best cutthroat trout (14'') and a solid largemouth (2-3 pounds?) during the trip. Most of the fish were caught on soft plastics (Senkos, Yum Dingers and topwater frogs (Seizmic Toad)). It was a wonderful trip and I even landed a few odd species, like the ubiquitous freshwater sculpin, on a Yum Dinger. 

Check out the following photos and watch the video for a better idea of the fishing trips I took during this time. Watch for the topwater frog strikes in broad daylight in the video! I also took a trip up to Seattle and visited the famous Pike's fish market, shown at the end of the video. 

Reins High Quality Tungsten Sinkers

About Reins Japan's top tungsten sinker company is now in the USA. Reins tungsten sinkers give you the ultimate performance with a specific gravity of 18.2, each sinker is 40% smaller than its lead counterpart. Reins tungsten sinkers are made of 95% tungsten and 5% nickel alloy making them 1.8 times as dense as lead and environmentally safe. Reins premium tungsten sinkers cover all your soft plastic rigging needs. Pitching, flipping, punching sinkers with line-protecting inserts. Texas or Carolina rigging. Dropshot sinkers in teardrop and slim shapes with line-clip swivels. Tungsten nail weights too.

Reins Tungsten TG Slip Sinkers ~ for Texas Rigs, Flipping, Pitching, Punching

Reins offers you the widest range of sizes in slip sinkers from small to massive. Nobody delivers as many different options in slip sinkers.

The unique shapes provide less hang-ups on bottom structures with increased sensitivity which equals less drag on your line. If you have trouble feeling a bite, then you need to switch to Reins tungsten sinkers. The most important feature however is that Reins utilizes a inner core system to keep your line from being abraded, nobody wants to lose a big fish because their line was worn from the sinker as can happen with competitor's tungsten sinkers.

1/8 oz (3.5g) ~ 4 per pack $6.99
3/16 oz (5.3g) ~ 4 per pack $6.99
1/4 oz (7g) ~ 3 per pack $6.99
5/16 oz (8.8g) ~ 3 per pack $7.99
3/8 oz (10.5g) ~ 2 per pack $7.99
1/2 oz (14g) ~ 2 per pack $8.99
1 oz (28g) ~ 1 per pack $8.99
1.2 oz (33.6g) ~ 1 per pack $9.99
1.5 oz (42g) ~ 1 per pack $11.99

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Reins Tungsten TG Drop Shot Sinkers

The unique Reins tungsten Drop Shot sinker design makes it easier to pull thru rocks, weeds or brush with fewer hang ups. The dense tungsten material allows you to feel every pebble along the bottom making it easier to tell a strike from a nibble.

1/8 oz (3.5g) ~ 4 per pack $7.49
3/16 oz (5.3g) ~ 3 per pack $7.49
3/8 oz (10.5g) ~ 2 per pack $7.49

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Reins Tungsten TG SLIM Drop Shot Sinkers

Reins SLIM Drop Shot Sinker offers you the ultimate when fishing in heavy cover. The unique SLIM Drop Shot Sinker design makes it easier to pull thru rocks weeds or brush with even fewer hang ups. The dense tungsten material allows you to feel every pebble along the bottom making it easier to tell a strike from a nibble.

Note: Sizes below 1/4 oz have a knotless clip-on type line attachment. Sizes 1/4 oz and above have a standard swivel eye attachment which makes them useful not only for dropshot rigs but also as SLIM sliding sinkers on Carolina and Texas rigs too.

1/8 oz (3.5g) ~ 3 per pack $6.99
3/16 oz (5.3g) ~ 2 per pack $6.99
1/4 oz (7g) ~ 2 per pack $6.99
3/8 oz (10.5g) ~ 2 per pack $7.99

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Reins Tungsten TG Nail Sinkers

The Reins Tungsten Nail Sinker is used to fine-tune your presentation. Need to add a little weight to the right side? No problem, just press the Nail Sinker where you want it. Don’t want a slip sinker, but need to add weight to the tip of your worm? Push in a nail sinker. Whether soft baits, wacky-rigging or for fine-tuning the dangle of large swimbaits, there is always a perfect Reins Tungsten Nail Sinker to do the job.

3/32 oz (2.6g) ~ 4 per pack $4.99
1/8 oz (3.5g) ~ 2 per pack $4.99
5/32 oz (4.4g) ~ 2 per pack $5.99
3/16 oz (5.3g) ~ 2 per pack $6.99

For pricing and current availability, please visit www.BassdozerStore.com. Thank you for your business. May your next fishing trip be your best ever! Bass-t Regards, Russ Bassdozer

Bombshell Turtle Fishing Lure Review

 Perhaps you have seen the ads and banners online for Castaila Outdoor's newest creation, a soft-plastic turtle lure? Or maybe you have watched the impressive YouTube advertisement for the Bombshell Turtle, complete with a turtle in a glass, tempting hungry bass? I was skeptical but interested in this new lure and recently received a few, in two different colors.

It's recommended to fish the Bombshell Texas-Rigged and I did so as you can see in the abovevideo. You'll notice the lure doesn't have a whole lot of action, except perhaps on a quick retrieve or on a fast jerk. This is also an observation noted by Field and Stream, in their ICAST Pool video test. The lure looks great, feels very solid and durable to the touch, but seems to lack significant action in the water. Bombshell Turtle does have a nice hook slot in the bottom, allowing for easy rigging and hopefully easy hookups. I think the best application of this lure is in the spawning time, when anglers infuriate bass by dropping various predator-style lures on their beds. Artificial crayfish, frogs, bluegill, and now even turtle lures can be utilized thanks to Bombshell. I have no doubts that it should catch fish in this environment, but I tried it out over the summer, well past the spawn, without much luck for largemouth. Still, there are quite a few videos on YouTube showing anglers nailing the bass on the Bombshell Turtle, so I wouldn't rule it out too fast. 

This lure comes in a great selection of different colors, several in varied hues or mixed blends for better variation. There are 8 colors total, from Black/Silver to Softshell and Snapper. Each pack comes with 6 turtles, in a very nicely-designed bag (see above). The marketing behind this little lure is quite intense and I feel their website is worth a look, even if you aren't going to buy any lures. Castaila also makes an interesting saltwater crab lure, called the Bombshell Crab.

The Bombshell Turtle is not a terrible lure. In fact, I actually like it-I love seeing a new, unique and interesting lure design. It's quite durable, comes in nice array of colors, and has received some decent marketing online. However, I can't say I entirely recommend this lure to my readers. This is chiefly due to the limited action it has in the water. On a quick retrieve, the back fins get moving, but on a slow falls it really seems lifeless. It might work better had the paddles been more thin or angled differently. Overall, The Bombshell Turtle by Castaila Outdoors is a unique lure that may need a little more refining before I would feel very confident using it on a regular basis. Check it out today at Castaila Outdoors website!