Florida live shiner fishing for monster largemouth bass

Friends Gary Clark and Jeff Stagg recently spent 3 days fishing the St. John's River in Florida with guide Eddie Bussard of Bass Challenger Guide Service for monster largemouth bass. The guys landed 8 trophies over 8.8lbs with Gary landing a monster 10.0lbs bass and Jeff catching his personal best at 9.8lbs. Guide Eddie says the bite is on, so come on down and hook into the biggest bass of your life. For more inforation check out Capt. Eddie site at www.basschallenger.com

Murchison Falls National Park

There is nothing better than catching monster fish in beautiful jungle surroundings. The sights, smells, and sounds in the jungle are something to behold! Murchison Falls National Park is Uganda's largest national park. This is where the Nile River flows violently through a narrow cliff in the Rift Valley dropping 40 meters into a pool where giant Nile Perch swim. The Nile River homes some of AFrica's largest population of hippo and crocodile along with large amount of elephants, giraffes, cape buffalo, warthog, and a wide variety of antelope. Lion and leopard are also present. In the southeast part of the Park, ample populations of chimpanzees and monkeys exist. Murchsion Falls is a 6 hour ride from Entebee via Kampala. There are numerous options for housing within the park. We stayed at the Red Chili Rest Camp which was great. The meals and drinks after a days of fishing was quite satisfactory. We booked our trip with Wild Frontier, www.wildfrontiers.co.ug which have various trips and options including mountain gorilla viewing in Uganda's Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. Here you get really close up with gorillas. Cannot wait to get back to Uganda, Murchison Falls to catch more monster Nile Perch and observe the thousanda of animals you will encounter. Next time, we are planning on making a visit to see the gorillas. As most have seen, due oil exploration, etc. things are changing out there, so get to Murchison Falls before it is too late!! I cannot say enough good things about this trip!!

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Nile Perch at Murchison Falls in Uganda. Africa

Had the opportunity to fish for NIle Perch at Murchison Falls, Uganda. Murchison Falls is located in a National Park and is on the Nile River. We left Chicago on Jan 31 for a long flight to London then onward to Entebee, Uganda. Here, guide Paul Goldring of www.wildfrontiers.com.ug greeted us and took us to our overnight hotel. In the morning we were off for a 6 hr drive to Murchison. Fishing was everything we hoped for and more. The groups largest Nile Perch were 135, 100, and another 100 pounds along with numerous others in the 50 to 30 pound range. Nile Perch can be caught on either live bait or casting rtifical lures. The wildlife was abundant with hundreds of elephants, thousands of hippos, baboons, cape buffalo, giant Nile crocs, antelope, warthog, etc.. seen each day while travelling in a boat along with river. I will write up a recap on the wildlife later as it will take a full page along with great photos. I highly recommend this trip for the wildlife viewing alone plus this is probably the last remaining place on earth to catch monster Nile Perch.

Early Season Louisiana Redfish Action

Tired of shovelling snow? Sick of the cold winter weather? Got cabin fever? Well, avid redfish angler, Dr. Gary Clark, reports redhot action out of the Gulf in Louisiana for monster bull redfish. Yesterday, a group of anglers guided by Capt. Keith Kennedy landed 70 redfish. They landed 8 big bull reds between 30 to 40lbs and 2 monsters over 40lbs. As evidenced, fishing in the Gulf is good year long. Capt Keith knows where to put you onto the big reds with lots of action. Keith provides everything from housing, meals, and even your fishing license. Keith books quickly so make your 2014 reservations now while a few openings exist! Capt Keith fishes out of Venice, Louisiana and operates Born to Fish Charters. You can contact Keith at (504) 908-3108

IGFA Top 10 of the year

Between Oct 15, 2012 and Oct 15, 2013 the IGFA (International Game Fish Association) reported over 490 new records of 40 various species. The IGFA narrowed this down to their Top 10. Anglers can vote for the best of the best by going to their site at www.igfa.org/contests/AnglersChoice and vote by April 1. The award will be presented at the 11th Annual World Record Acheivement Award ceremony on April 26,2014 at the IGFA Hall of Fame & Museum. Good friend Jason Yip of www.sportfishingpng.net made the top ten with his World Record Papua New Guinea Black Bass which weighed in at 46lbs, Please give Jason your support and vote for him to be the "best of the best" and bring home the trophy!!

FLORIDA MONSTER BASS

Looking to get out of the cold winter and catch some monster largemouth bass? Guides Hugh Crumpler, www.hugh-crumpler.com and Eddie Bussard, www.basschallenger.com can put you on these brutes. The next 3 months are prime time to land trophy largemouths over 10lbs. Hugh concentrates on the famous Stick Marsh near Vero Beach which is located on the East Coast of Florida, while Capt. Eddie concentrates on the St. Johns River and other lakes in Central Florida. Friend Gary Clark has fished with both and has exceeded the magic 10lbs mark on numerous occasions. These trips book fast to get in while some openings remain. Give either Hugh or Eddie a call on your next trip to Florida.

Winter Fishing Shows

Each and every winter, I look forward to attending the various fishing shows in the Chicago area. Yesterday, I attend the Chicago muskie show. The show features top muskie anglers giving seminars and answering questions. This is a great opportunity to get some questions answered by pros. Looking for some of the new tackle and good prices? Well the shows have various tackle representatives available to answer questions and sell you there new top products. Yesterday at the show, I talked at length with Terry Trattner from Wolverine Tackle www.wolverinetackleinc.com. Wolverine Tackle has without question the strongest split rings availble on the market. Why take a chance on losing your fish of a lifetime due to subpar components. I have used these rings on all my world adventures and would not arm my lures with anything else. The rings are triple coiled to give it tremendous strenth. Make sure to put these on your lures before your next trip. Another item which caught my attention was the SS Shad constructed by Smoker Tackle www.smoker-tackle.com. I talked with owner Kyle Marsanick. The SS Shad is a super shallow, wide wobbling lure which can be casted over shallw structures such as weeds, rocks, etc... The SS Shad is made of high density balsa wood and has wire through construction. I hope to land a few monster golden dorado on this lure later in the year. So, if you at home with "cabin fever", make sure to hit some of the fishing shows in your area and check out the latest in tackle!