Rainy Lake, Ontario, CA

In 2008, Jack and I fished Rainy Lake in Ontario, Canada over the July 4th holiday weekend (U.S. Independence Day) for smallmouth bass and northern pike. This was Jack's first "big" fishing trip, although I had been to "Rainy" several times. We flew to Minneapolis and connected up to International Falls, MN via Northwest Airlines. Our Ontario home was Campfire Island Lodge, campfireisland.com, our favorite northwoods lodge nestled on 11 acre Campfire Island. The island is very easy to get to, a short boat ride on the lake from "The Sorting Gap" in Fort Frances, Ontario. This is an intimate lodge for the serious fisherman with enforced catch and release fishing. Dean Howard, from Kenora, Ontario, is the owner/operator of the camp and his love for the outdoors and fishing is evident in all he does at Campfire Island. The cabins are remodeled and comfortable, with hot water, showers and air-conditioning. The meals are tasty and the staff is extremely friendly and helpful. The dining cabin has a screened in porch with a fridge full of cold Molson beer! This is the heart of the Campfire Island, and many pleasant conversations, musings and fishing tales are told here after a long day's fishing.

We had warm, sunny weather and the fishing was superb! The smallies were in a typical post-spawn pattern in shallow water. This fishery is 250,000 acres of Canadian Shield Lake with numerous rocky islands, humps and boulder strewn shoreline! Jack caught many nice smallies and even more pike on his spinning reel. He did well trailing ZOOM Fat Albert cotton candy color grubs on a 1/8" jig head. We also used ZOOM Flukes, Rapala X-Raps and Mepps Aglia #4 spinners. The largest bass was 19", a nice fish, but I hooked a larger one that "got off". In short, I cast a Rapala jerkbait towards a big submerged boulder and we saw a large, broad bodied smallmouth slam the lure and run to my right, parallel to the shoreline. I didn't "set the hook" after he took the lure, my fault.

Paul, our guide, is a retired Ontario provence forester and he was especially patient and helpful with Jack. I can't thank him enough for making this trip with Jack so easy! Other trip highlights were Jack's 33" pike, bald eagles and the beautiful weather and scenery. This is a special place for us and one of the best smallmouth bass fisheries in North America. The bass have great habitat and an abundant food supply in the rainbow smelt they gorge on. I hope all you smallie fisherman get to fish "Rainy" someday, you'll dream about return trips!

Crooked Creek, AR

Jack and I floated Crooked Creek in north-central Arkansas on Saturday, June 19, 2010, a designated Arkansas "Blue Ribbon Smallmouth Bass" stream. We had a blast on this beautiful gem, catching about 30 smallmouth bass with a redhorse sucker and a few other species thrown in! We floated the 10.5 mile section from Snow Access to Kelly's Slab, an excellent section for fishing and floating. The scenery is great, a mixture of wooded hills, bluffs and bottom land farms. The water is clear, mostly class I-II with enough rapids to keep things interesting. Jack caught the largest smallie, estimated at 17", using a pumpkin colored Gary Yamamoto Fat Craw on a 1/8 ounce jig head.

I definately have a serious fisherman in the making, and he's competative! It took us 10 hours to float the 10.5 miles with a little swimming and shore fishing along the way. I even used my "survival kit" to start a fire on the river bank and we cooked hotdogs for lunch. Most of our fish were caught while I was paddling and steering the canoe, so I was unable to fish most of the good fish holding spots, such as boulders, downed trees and eddies. Many bass hold in the rapids and we caught several as we cast behind the canoe into the completed rapid run. Jack did well learning the nuances of his Shimano Symetre 3000 spinning reel and became fairly proficient at casting the soft plastic baits. We plan to return to Crooked Creek in the fall for more smallie action, but we'll float a shorter section of river so we can concentrate on fishing instead of paddeling! We saw many large carp in the river that got Jack's blood boiling for a return trip with carp bait!

On the way back to Kansas City, we made the obligatory stop at the original Bass Pro Shops in Springfield, MO to pay homage to Johnny Morris and purchase a few needed catfish and carp baits. They had a cool albino alligator and some huge alligator gar in two aquariums!

Lake St. Clair, Smallmouth Bass

I fished Lake St. Clair along Detroit, MI for smallmouth bass, October 3-4, 2009. My excellent guide was Gerry Gostenik, greatlakesbassfishing.com. Although the weather wasn't cooperative, I managed to land a fat 19" smallie, estimated at 4 3/4 lbs (photo). The weather was cold, overcast and very windy with decreased water clarity. During the first day, the wind and rain forced us to fish along the calmer southwest shoreline. We caught a few fish along the rocky bottom casting Lucky Craft 100DD minnow crankbaits with a jerk-pause-jerk-pause retrieve. We had better success on Sunday, with a calmer weather pattern, but rain moved in around 3:00 forcing us off the water. My gear consisted of ABU Garcia Revo baitcasters, 6'6" medium action casting rods and 10 lb. Berkley flourocarbon line. Even though the weather was less than favorable, I had a great time and plan on returning. I can't praise Gerry enough, he is a very skilled and experienced fisherman who understands the nuances of smallmouth bass behavior. He only guides for smallmouth bass and will put you on fish. If you want to "switch gears", Lake St. Clair is also a trophy Musky fishery!

Peacock Bass, Rio Negro, Brazil

I travelled to the Amazon region of Brazil from February 4-11, 2010 for my first Peacock Bass fishing trip! I stayed aboard the Blackwater Explorer, a classic Amazonian river boat, as we travelled along the Rio Negro from Santa Isabel do Rio Negro to Barcelos. My agent was J.W. Smith of Rod & Gun Resources, Inc. , Kerrville, TX(rodgunresources.com) and my outfitter was River Plate Amazon Outfitters(riverplateoutfitters.com). In total, I caught 372 fish, the largest was an 18 pound three-barred peacock bass (tucanare acu). This area is remote, with a few small villages scattered along the shore of the river. Wildlife abounds, and visitors will see many birds, parrots, river dolphin and caimen crocodile. The water of the Rio Negro is called "blackwater" and looks much like strong tea with some clarity. The color results from organic compounds and tannic acid leached from the Guyana Shield soils and vegetation.

Fishing in the jungle is a special experience, regardless of how many fish you catch. The sights, sounds and remoteness of the area make this a unique destination worthy of many return trips.