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!
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!
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!
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.
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!
