TOP OF THE LINE POPPERS FOR MONSTER FISH

In my opinion, there is no better experience in fishing than having a huge Giant Trevally smash your topwater popper.  These fish practically pull you overboard during the battle so you hope your popper is up to the task!

Kermett Adams of www.klures.com has recently become famous in the peacock bass industry with his wooden Ripper Chico and Grande lures.  Recently Kermett made me a few of his newly designed Big Bopper Poppers.  These monster poppers and well up to the task of handling monster species like the GTs.  Kermett makes these handmade poppers out of premium grade Eastern red cedar and paints to your specifications.  He puts additional clear coats on to last numerous bites.  Kermett is based out of Fresno, CA in the USA.
Dave Killalea of www.olddoglures.com has been designing and handcrafting wooden lures in Australia since the early 1980s.  Dave's massive Pug Poppers are made from sustainable timber using the toughest components available.  Dave has become the go to guy in Australia for huge barramundi and Papua New Guinea Bass with his lures such as the Mutt and Guttermaster.

Being thousands of miles apart, both Kermett and Dave stress important characteristics in their lures such as quality, strength, durability, handcrafted, tank tested, and ready to fish right out of the box.
Kermett and Dave are two of the top wooden lure designers on earth.  Check out their sites before you next fishing adventure as you would hate to lose the fish of a lifetime due to a cheaply made lure!

KLures La Zona Popper

Kermett Adams of www.klures.com has recently come out with a new popper designed especially for the monster golden dorado of La Zona.  It has a super strong wire leader running through the popper to allow the hooks to rotate when golden dorados leap in the air in attempt to toss the lure.  Friend Gary Clark was recently at La Zona and had great success with the popper.  Gary was able to land his personal best, 52 lbs, on one of Kermett's La Zona Poppers.

 
Kermett also makes the best peacock bass choppers on the market and I am personally working with him on developing a line of GT poppers and stickbaits.  You can contact Kermett here on Facebook or check out his site at www.klures.com

NEW EXTENDED WATERS PROGRAM AT JURASSIC LAKE LODGE

Jurassic Lake, a.k.a. Lago Strobel, is perhaps the world's greatest fishery for monster rainbow trout.  Owner Carlos Lopez Casanello has recently announced a combined or extended trip to the Captain River area.  Here, your base will be the Estancia El Capitan and you have access to the Capitan River and the Lago Quiroga and numerous small spring creeks.  Numerous rainbows over 20lbs have been landed in these waters during exploratory trips.  There are two seasons at the Capitan area.  The early season of November and December offer a great chance of a trophy rainbow in the outlet of Lago Quiroga and the Rio Capitan.  The main season of January through April offers more numbers with trophies still a possibility.  The Capitan Estancia is only 30 miles from Jurassic Lake.

  Carlos is also offering many options such as splitting time at both Jurassic Lake and El Capitan.  For more information either contact Carlos here on Facebook or you can contact me.

Venice Redfish

With the warmer temperatures finally settling into the Midwest, cabin fever is alive.  Many of us are looking for new destinations to wet a line this summer.  As mentioned numerous times on this blog, Captain Keith Kennedy of Born To Fish Charters offers world class fishing at an affordable price.  Keith offers amazing fishing for big bull redfish out in the Gulf out of Venice, LA.  I have fished with Capt. Keith numerous times and he has always amazed me with the catch results.  He offers lodging, meals and all equipment.
All you need to do is to show up at his accommodation. You can fly into New Orleans then rent a car for the short drive to Venice.  Make sure to inquire about his 4 night 3 day fishing package.  Capt. Keith can be reached at         504-908-3108.  The word is out on Keith so he books quickly so give him a call ASAP.

YELLOW FEVER VACCINE

The Spring and Summer months here in Whiting are normally times I start to get ready for the fall/ winter season as my fishing destinations are now in there winter months or rain seasons.  As I have become older, my boat barely hits the water as I have become spoiled by fishing the top destinations in the world.  Recently, I took a look at my medical/ vaccination records.  I noticed my Yellow Fever Vaccine expires this coming Fall.  The Vaccine is good for 10 years and is required for entry in some countries in South America and Africa.  So, I called my Infectious Disease Clinic to schedule an appointment for the shot.  To my surprised, I was told the vaccine was not available at the clinic.  The nurse told me there is a national shortage of the vaccine and they probably would not have it available for at least a year or two.  So, I called the Indiana Department of Health to find out where the vaccine is available.  I was told there is only 1 clinic in Indiana which MIGHT have the vaccine and it is in Indianapolis.  Therefore, I gave my health insurance, Blue Cross in MN, a call.  The nurse did some checking and found there there was a huge outbreak in Brazil last year so the USA does not have much of the vaccine.  She did some calling and found out that only 2 clinics in Illinois and 1 clinic in Indiana MIGHT have the vaccine.  So if you are heading to countries that require the vaccination, I recommend you act fast!
Yellow Fever is transmitted by infectious mosquitoes.  Early symptoms are fever, jandice, muscle pain, nausea, vomiting, and fatique.  It can spread to a 2nd stage which can cause sever damage to the kidneys and liver and ultimately leading to death.  Over 30,000 die from Yellow Fever each year.  Africa and the Amazon jungle countries have been known to have Yellow Fever. 

Trip Travel Insurance

During my recent trip to PNG, I purchased Trip Cancellation insurance from CSA Travel Protection.  I have always gone back and forth on whether or not it is worthwhile to buy such insurance.  The insurance which I purchased covered such items as Trip Cancellation, Trip Interruption, Emergency Assistance and Transportation, baggage coverage, and many more.  Often when making numerous flight connections such as I had to, a missed connection would be a nightmare!  When travelling in the winter months I am always worried about cancelled flights, delayed flights, etc.  My policy cost me $335.40 which was based on the type of coverage I wanted and the amount I spent on the trip.  Well, the insurance paid off.  While motoring in the ocean, one of my rods/reels/lure went out of the boat and fell into the ocean.  It was impossible to try and recover the items as I slowly watched them disappear into the sea from afar.  When I got home I contacted the insurance company and to my delight I was told the items would be covered under loss baggage.  Luckily I kept the receipt for the reel and rod.  So give Trip Insurance a thought before you venture out into your next adventure!

La Zona/ Giant Golden Dorado

As I have written numerous times, the golden dorado is the strongest freshwater species I have encountered along with the Papua New Guinea Bass.  Golden dorado in my opinion do not exhibit the strong first run of a PNG bass. 

However if you can withstand the bass initial run and keep it from running into snags odds are in your favor.  Golden dorado on the other hand have numerous drag burning runs and often leap numerous times to get free and put the strong currents to their advantage.  There are numerous places in Argentina to fish for the golden, however, if you are seeking a dorado over 50 pounds La Zona on the Uruguay River in the town of Concordia is the place to go.  Currently there is 1 operator who holds the 2 permits which allow you to fish in the La Zona area.  Bookings are already filling for the 2019.  If this fishery has been on your wish list, act now before the season is booked full.  You can contact me for help making a reservation or if you have any questions on this outstanding fishery.