Micro Crankbait Fun

Loads of fishing photos on my desktop and not enough posts on Hunting the River King? Let's fix that. Here are three fish from a previous trip in the last few months in California, two bluegills and one small largemouth bass. All caught on 2lb mono with a Strike King Bitsy Pond Minnow in my favorite Firetiger color. More to come!

Fairmount Park Crappie Fishing

Fairmount Park is a very tough place to catch fish at consistently. The water is usually quite murky and the anglers fishing with every lure known to man hit the water each day. Fortunately, most anglers are doing the "bait 'n wait" for catfish and carp, but there is a sizable population of lure anglers targetting other warmwater species here. The worst part is the number of anglers that keep everything they catch at Fairmount, ignoring the obviously foul water in hopes of some muddy water fish-fry. I strictly practice Catch-Photo-Release (CPR) at this local city park, be it for bass, carp or sunfish. Fairmount is no longer stocked by the State and it's a pretty limited fishery overall.

The sunfish population at Fairmount can offer a nice break from the challenge of catching largemouth. Still, it can be difficult to locate them as well, given the high fishing pressure and large amount of water. Fortunately, my last fishing trip to Fairmount worked out pretty well. I fished a variety of lures, including a Bass Pro Shops micro jerkbait, a Jet Tackle jerkbait, and micro jigs/plastic worm combos. I ran into a small school of tiny crappie, averaging 6-8 inches, with some bluegill and green sunfish mixed in. These guys were a blast to catch, although the school quickly dissipated to other regions of the lake at the onset of dusk. If you do go to Fairmount, please fish responsibly and practice catch and release.

Real Fish Bait HardBait Shad Swimbait Review + Video

There's currently a vast array of swimbaits being produced in Asia. Some of these are sold through major brands like Bass Pro Shops or Cabelas, while others may be found through more specialized fishing tackle distributors, with some very unique and interesting lures available. Such is the case with Real Fish Bait, based out of Modesto, California. Tackle Tour has featured Real Fish Bait on their website several times, mostly for their large selection of affordable swimbaits, both hard and soft. Most recently, Tackle Tour showed off some of the new offerings from Real Fish Bait at this year's ISE.  I was fortunate enough to get to try some of the latest swimbait offerings from Real Fish Bait, including their impressive Hardbait Shad lures. (More after the jump with video)

wLure's Bargain Chinese Bluegill Swimbait

For the second lure in my series on wLure's Chinese swimbaits, I have the HS145F2, a jointed, chunky swimbait somewhat shaped after a bluegill. It sells for $5.49 online, with three different color options, length of  5 3/4'', and a weight of 1 2/3oz. 

(Continued after the jump)