If you like hunting, fishing, and the great outdoors, then come along today with Dave
Embry in search of the world's greatest outdoor adventures.
You'll go all over the world from Alaska to South America, Canada to Mexico in search
of the most elusive and dangerous game in the world, this is Dave Embry's Adventures
in the Wild.
Hi folks, I'm Dave Embry, welcome to another episode of Adventures in the Wild home video
series.
I'm here today down in deep south Texas, just about 70 miles from the border of Mexico,
right?
That's correct.
We're on the Nellie Brothers Ranch, on the Coyote Ranch.
At the Nellie Brothers only here, Mr. Meryl Marley, certified wildlife biologist, right?
That's right.
Well, if you want, just call me Bill.
You can call me Bill.
We're in Sabanel, Texas, about 60 miles to the west of San Antonio.
San Antonio, so deep south, southwest, where do you consider yourself?
West Texas, south Texas, southwest Texas?
Well we consider ourselves in a zone in between south Texas and hill country.
It's in fancy terms called an ecotone, but for us it's just called a transition zone.
We have attributes of the hill country in the central region of Texas and attributes
of south Texas.
We have both.
The only one we really have is Big Bass.
That's why we're here.
We're here today to try to teach some people a little bit about how to catch Big Bass.
And Bill, if anybody has Big Bass, it's got to be the ranch that you're managing here
for the Nellie Brothers.
And I know Bob Nellie and the boys have done a good job on this ranch.
It's amazing the quality of the fish that's here.
We've been out fishing for just the last few hours.
We just came in for a day, and it's amazing.
We've been catching, what do we call it, seven, eight, nine pounds or something like that?
Oh, we haven't even been measuring them.
These guys make me put back six and seven pound bass.
Well, he deserved it.
But it's great.
I put all the bass back anyway.
But it's been some fantastic fishing.
What we want to talk a little bit about today, Bill, is we want to talk about how someone
who's really just sort of getting into bass fishing.
We've all, since we were little kids, been out to the local farm pond and throwing our
plug in the water, throwing the old, like me, I'm an old purple worm man.
I had one package of purple worms to save my money when I was a kid.
Pass the bubble gum by and try to go get the purple worms out in the sporting goods store
and head down to the local pond.
And I know down in Texas here, you don't have ponds, you've got tanks, right?
Yeah, we do.
We call them tanks.
They're really stock ponds.
We just, tanks of water.
The main reason we have them here is for livestock.
That's the main reason these impoundments are built.
You can see this one here, of course, got a lot of the trees and a lot of cover in here.
It's excellent for bass habitat.
You bet.
A lot of structure.
We call that structure.
Right.
You know a lot about structure.
You know a lot about big bass.
What are some of the ingredients?
What are you looking forward to do whenever you go in and first start up a management
area in one of the tanks here in Texas?
Or if somebody has your own pond back home, what are some of the ingredients that make
up a good bass water?
Well, the main thing you want is a lot of variation level in the stock pond.
That helps a lot.
You like structure within the stock pond, both from the standpoint of natural standing
vegetation like we have, or you can maybe see here behind us, these different trees.
But you're also looking for variations in level of the ground.
And from the standpoint of the population of fish, you're looking for the bass, of course,
but you're also looking for a forage species or something for the bass to eat.
The bass is a predatory fish, and that's why he's such a good game fish.
Those are some of the things we're going to talk about today is how we get the bass to
strike different lures and what we're trying to get the bass to strike at and why we're
using those.
Right.
Okay.
Well, let's start with a little bit of the basic equipment that can be used for bass
fishing.
Sure.
In today's technology, a lot of people seem to think you really have to get rigged out
from head to toe.
These bass keep jumping.
I've got to get back out there and fish some more.
People keep thinking that we're getting higher and higher in technology, I think we're going
to have more tricks and more gadgets.
We can take an old cane pole and go out and catch bass, or we can fish with about anything.
We go bow hunting sometimes, you can take a stick and some string and go bow hunting,
or we can go to the modern compound recurve or whatever you wanted to use.
But in fishing, we've got several, three of the, four of the basic, I guess, biggest
types.
I use quite a bit.
As you can see, I've used probably on a little bigger of a fish than I should have, and that
is called an ultralight.
It's a small rod and reel, it's lightweight, and a lightweight reel, and I usually use
anywhere from 0.3 to 4 to 5 pound test line on here.
It depends on how many of them you really want to get to the boat and weigh, but you
can have a good time even if you don't get all the way to the boat.
But a good ultralight is not a really good bass rod for the general bass fisherman, because
it is a little bit too light.
You need a good stiff rod no matter what you're doing, because you need to set that hook up.
A bass has got a tough mouth, and you need to be able to set that hook hard and set it
deep.
So ultralight, sometimes the rods are a little bit light and flimsy, but if you can crank
that thing and get a good enough strike with it, you can really have a good time and just
hang on, right?
Yes, sir, that's right.
You know, what you mentioned there, the weight of the line, what that means is tensile strength,
the ability of the line to withstand certain ability to pull it apart.
So the way you compensate for that is you'll set the drag or the resistance of pulling
that line off the reel to a certain level.
When you set that drag, you have to set it fairly light on an ultralight, which means
you have to use a lot of skill to keep the bass out of moss, from underneath logs, things
like that, so he doesn't get hung up.
But you really get a tremendous feel on the fish with this lighter weight stuff.
Especially with the new graphite rods that just transmit every little bump.
Yes, sir.
With any of the boron, any of the new compounds, you can really get a real good feel and you
get the feel of the fish with a lighter weight.
That's what it's all about, right?
Oh, yeah, you bet.
I've fished up in Alaska on a lot of the rivers in Alaska, and we've used, for the king salmon,
which will run up to 80, 90 pounds sometimes, with the average is probably 45 to 50 pounds.
Maybe that's not the average, maybe 35, 45 pounds, but of course all the ones I caught
were 95.
Of course, R6.
Well, you'd see people out there with deep sea surf rods, and I guess the goal of these
people is to get the fish on the bank, and that's really what is cranking it in.
Whereas, this is what I generally go out there and fish with in Alaska when I went for the
king salmon with my old fly rod.
Put some back up line on it, put some reel on it, and boom, all you got to do is you
got to yell fish line on, you got to get everybody out of your way because you're going to run
up and down the river bank following that fish.
Sure, you got to give it a little bit when you use the fly rod.
I know you're a pretty devout fly fisherman too, but what about fly fishing for bass?
You seem to relate fly rod and fly rodding mostly to trout fishing, and that's just
not... I mean, you're just not getting the full use and potential out of the fly rod.
Fly rod is fine for bass fishing, right?
Oh, absolutely.
I use it as a matter of fact.
I'd prefer to use a fly rod than anything else to bass fish with.
It's a real rush because you can usually... because the end of this rod is so flexible, you can
usually really feel when the bass is on it, and usually, especially if you're using top
water type lures, you can see it, so you get this tremendous excitement of actually seeing
the fish take the lure, you react, and then you can see the bend in the pole, you see
where the line is, you see the fish dancing, it's just incredibly exciting.
I like a fly rod very much.
It's fantastic.
Now, on fly lines, we're not going to go into an in-depth detail of fly fishing right now.
We've got a video out called Fly Fishing Strategies, which will tell you a little bit
about fly rodding and how to cast and get set up in the line and the terminology and
so forth.
But briefly, for people who already know about fly rodding, what type of line do we generally
want to use for bass fishing?
What type of a leader do we want to use, and then we're going to talk a little bit later
about fly fishing plugs that we'll use or flies that we'll use out there in the water.
I think I'd use about a six pound tippet if I was going after bass.
That might be a little bit heavy, but if the bass aren't spooky like they are not out here
at the Coyote Ranch, we keep our fishing pressure pretty low.
If the bass aren't real spooky, you can use a little bit heavier leader, then I would go
with maybe a six or seven weight line.
You want a little bit heavier line so you can cast a bug out, because these popper bugs
you use on bass are going to be a little bit heavier.
Maybe a weight forward line, too, even sometimes to help you get it out there.
Yes, sir, absolutely.
I'd also use about a nine foot pole.
That's what I would look for.
About size, probably an eight or size nine pole rod?
Yes, sir.
What would you recommend, Bill, then, as far as the actual line?
Would you have to have a sinking line or a floating line?
Man, I'm just powerful to a floating line.
I learned to fly fish up in the northeast in New England on little old trout streams,
and I'm hooked on floating line.
Give me a floating line, man.
Okay.
That's my deal.
Okay.
There's a lot of preference involved in that, too.
Some people say a little bit of a sinking line.
It depends, really, too, on how much brush you're in when you're actually fishing, too.
Of course, the more of a sinking line you have, the more it's going to get down around
that stuff, too.
You bet.
Usually, you want to lay it on top.
That's why I go to a fly rod.
Now, you sure can use a streamer or something like that or something that you can strip
along the bottom if you want.
Okay.
You got the old bait casting rod reel that we always use, too.
That's a good reel to use.
It's especially good for being able to control your cast a little bit better in tight situations.
If you've got a lot of cover and structure to get around and cast up into, a lot of weeds
and brush, and you've got to get up by that old stump, the open face of it, where you
can use a little bit of thumb action, you can actually cast a reel, slow that dude down,
and pop it right in where you want to, whereas in a spinning reel...
Of course, fly rodding is left through your open water spaces, all right?
You're not going to get into a big...
You better have a little bit of room.
But you're...
In your spinning rod, the same way, you don't have the breaking control with your spinning
rig that you do with the open face bait casting reel, either.
So, bait casting...
Now, you mentioned something earlier to me, too, about kids was very important, too.
Well, yeah.
I think on the bait casting...
The bait casting is used by people who have a little bit of experience with it, also.
Right.
Sure.
It's not as easy as picking up a spinning rod is.
Take some practice, right.
There's a bait casting reel, they call it a closed face casting reel, and I think that's
a real good one to start kids out with.
That's what I started out doing on the coast.
Yeah.
Every kid has.
Exactly.
And it's...
You punch a button...
Hold it.
And you throw it out there.
There you go.
The line goes out and you reel it in.
There's no backlashes and everything like that.
Of course, there's a little bit of friction.
You mean like the ones that you always get up there?
I don't get backlashes.
We're going to show this reel.
You don't end up...
This is not the reel I would suggest you get.
As a matter of fact, this will never be seen by another human being unless you tank it right
there.
We're going to take the deep six, isn't it?
But back to the other one.
On that closed face, it restricts the distance you can cast just a little bit.
There's a little bit of restriction on it.
But it's a good kid's reel.
If you want to get a kid a first reel, get him out.
Right.
And the thing is, to get them, you want to get them out on the lakes.
That's what we need today is more people taking young kids out there.
I said something wrong.
Get them.
Whether it's a he or a her.
Get them.
Right.
One.
Now, here's Old Faithful.
This is the one I typically use everywhere because I just like spinning rigs.
I just always have.
But this is a six foot rod.
This is one of some of the new graphite rods, which is super light, also very super sensitive.
There again, it's not as easy to control, but when you get as good as me, you just put
it right where you want to every occasion.
Don't worry about breaking.
And if you believe that, we're not in Florida, though.
Okay.
So anyway, so the basics of it.
They've got the new ones now, which are pretty good because this is what I like about it.
You can take it right there and you've got the bail opening and you've got your line
on your finger right there.
You can take the rod and cast it.
Now, what is good about it, the good parts of the spinning reel for a bass is that for
lighter plugs and lures, it's good because you've got a lot more of the whipping action
of the rod.
You've got a longer, more limber rod, and you can use the action of the rod to get the
lure out to where you want to go to.
So for your lighter weight plugs or lures, you want to little small spinners and things
like that, it's good to use this and get it out there.
The disadvantage, again, is that it's not as good because it really isn't as accurate
in brushy areas.
You've got to get up around that structure.
That's where your bait casting reel comes in a little bit better, too.
But a general spinning rod, if you know how to use it and you've got a little bit of practice,
it's fine for a rod.
It gives you a lot of good action because the rod is a little bit more limber.
Remember, too, when you use one of these, you have to set the hook quite a bit harder
than you would with a good, stiff bass rod that you have on a bait casting.
The spinning reel, do you have any comments on those, too?
Well, no.
The spinning reel is my choice of tools if I'm going to any type of what I call a bait
casting thing other than a fly rod.
I use the spinning reel.
I like them a lot.
I think you can get good enough to where you can cast into small areas with them.
That one right there you just saw is probably the Cadillac of spinning reel.
I've never seen anything quite like that one.
That's a good one.
But I use one.
I like them very much.
What's about the biggest batch you've taken out of your tanks up here?
13.8 out of the big tank.
Out of this tank, I don't believe we've caught anything over about 9.5.
This is primarily Texas bass in here.
This is what we call bull tank.
You'll see some footage on another type of that tank.
We're not here to do a commercial, but I want to tell you, I've never had fishing like
I've had here in a matter of hours.
Normally, you go to a place, you'll hear about 13.8, was it 13.8 bass, and you think that's
the record here.
But I'll guarantee you, pull them out nine to 10 pounds every trip just about.
It's just amazing.
That kind of fishing does exist.
It's not something that you dream of once in a lifetime.
It's here.
We've done it.
As you're seeing all along, we're showing you, hopefully, during some of these segments
while we're talking, we're giving you a little bit of action of some of the fishing that
we did earlier in the day, just a matter of a few hours ago.
I think the world record bass, the last, unless somebody's broke it recently, was 22 pounds,
4 ounces.
It was caught in Georgia in 1932.
As of the date we made it, that's correct.
That's a good fish.
That's a heavy fish.
We probably, yeah, that is a very heavy fish, I'm sorry.
That is largemouth bass.
Now, some people are just getting started.
It may confuse you.
Some people may not even be able to tell the difference between a largemouth bass and a
smallmouth bass.
There are just a couple of basic differences.
We're going to show you a graphic chart here, a picture of the two, as I'm telling you now.
If you look at the chart here, you'll see that on the largemouth bass, you'll see where
the jaw structure, see how it's coming back underneath the eye.
The jaw where it's coming in.
Now, if you look at the smallmouth, you'll see that the jaw comes back in quite a bit
shorter than where that eye is at right there.
That's one of the main differences.
Also, look up at the dorsal fins.
You see there on the dorsal, you'll see that on the largemouth, the dorsal fin is all one
connected fin at the top, whereas your smallmouth, you see that little gap in between the two.
That's the difference.
Also, to see the difference of the striping down the fish, the largemouth tends to have
the stripe from the gill cover back down along through the back fin, whereas the smallmouth
will have vertical stripes, or actually it's a combination of dots and patterns that makes
it look like a stripe.
That's basically the difference between your smallmouth and your largemouth just so you
can recognize the two.
Some of their fishing techniques for the two types of bass are generally about the same.
A few of the major differences would be a largemouth bass will typically, it'll stand
a little bit murkier or more discolored water as long as it's not polluted, whereas a smallmouth
bass typically has to have some good, clean, fresh, clear water.
But that's your biggest difference.
It just gives you a little bit of something to look for so you know when you pull that
big bass out of the water what it is, whether it's a largemouth or a smallmouth.
What about some of the different types of plugs and lures that we can use for bass?
Well, that's great.
Let's just start out.
We happen to have a few behind us right here.
What about, let's start at the beginning of the year, the spring of the year in most
areas, and what we can do is bass is probably, the reason the bass is so widespread across
America is probably because of its adaptability.
It's like a white-tailed deer.
It can survive and adapt to almost any situation.
We've got a bunch of different subspecies of bass throughout the United States.
Right, right.
In Texas, I think we have three subspecies.
On the coyote here, and a lot of South Texas, we really have two.
We have a Florida bass, which is an introduced bass, and we have the Texas bass.
Texas bass tends to be a little bit smaller, usually below about 12 pounds, whereas the
Florida's can go up to about 16.
When you hybridize them, they can go up larger than that.
So you're looking at a bunch of different species, but the distribution of the bass,
as you know, is all over the United States.
And the temperatures that they generally like, their favorite temperature, and we're speaking
generically here now, United States-wise on the average, is about 68 to 72 degrees.
So if you're fishing at water temperature in mainstream USA, look for that 68 to 72
degree range.
That's your prime spot to find these bass.
Now they'll live in temperatures from 65 to 75, or down here in extremely southern states,
you'll find that they're even adapted to higher temperatures.
We measured the water earlier, what was it, 86 degrees or 88 degrees, and they're thriving
on it.
And in shallow waters.
Sure.
But we're going to talk about the plugs here a little bit, and I know it depends on the
structure that we're fishing and the type of a lake, whether it's a deep water lake
or a shallow water lake or a river or whatever, but in the spring we're looking for.
In the early spring you're going to be looking at, the fish are going to be primarily hitting
probably a spinner bait should be pretty good for you, or anything that adds a lot of gloss
to them.
You won't find a lot of top water stuff coming on because the bugs haven't hatched yet.
So you need to match whatever you think the bass' primary food are.
You can also go to worms during that amount of time and usually get down where the big
lunkers are.
Okay.
Generally in a deep water lake, the bass will typically go down into deeper waters.
Generally, the deeper waters are not finding the forage and the food and so forth to give
the habitat to find the food that they're looking for.
So what happens is they have to migrate almost in schools.
They'll come back up, usually in the evenings and early mornings, and they'll come back
up into the shallower areas looking for bait fish and so forth to feed them.
Sure.
So that's the time to hit them in the shallow waters, morning and evenings, even though
they're primarily living down in that water temperature range of 68 to 72 in most places.
And you can find a bunch of different written materials if you just want to research it.
The bass will seek out zones within a lake, and they will stay in those zones.
We don't have the time to go through that right now.
Find the zones, you'll find the fish.
They like fish.
Temperature is very, very important to fish.
What about some of the different types of worms that you're using?
Any particular preference?
We've got all kinds here.
We've got some water dogs here, as you can see, that Mr. Twister puts out.
Pretty nice.
We've got some of the old purple worms, red worms, some of the red ones.
I've found, personally, purple worms have been my best.
Red worms have done very well.
I guess it's just a matter of preference, but worms have always worked pretty good.
Some little jigs that we use, marabou jigs have always been a good color for bass.
One color that's pretty hot down here, at least in South Texas, this is a little bit
off of it.
This is a tequila color.
But it seems to be pretty hot along with purple down here on our bigger lakes and on our smaller
lakes.
Now, worming, of course, one of the easiest lures is a spinning reel, a spinning, what
am I saying?
Spinner bait.
Dave, on topwater lures, we use a number of variations out here, but everything that goes
along the top, what you're trying to do-
Good popping plugs.
Yes, sir.
Popping plugs, that's what they are.
What you're trying to do, and I've always theorized, is to attract the bass's attention,
to get his attention.
He hears something, and he sees it.
Now, there's two reasons that a bass strikes, we think.
One is he's hungry, and the other is he doesn't like it.
Bass are very, very aggressive species.
Especially when they're nesting, spawning.
Especially when they're nesting, but sometimes just by coming across with them with something,
something in their territory that they don't like, they'll get a strike at it.
So you want to do something across the top that makes a little bit of noise.
And this is a little bit of a diving lure.
What you do with it, you jerk it once it dives down, then it floats back up to the top.
That seems to kind of drive them nuts.
Okay, so that just sort of drives them nuts then, huh Bill?
You bet.
Let me mention one other thing.
We usually try and match the color of this to the dragonflies, because this is top water.
And they're looking for the dragonfly to hit the top of the water.
Always.
Always makes your bait natural.
And well, anyway, thanks a lot Bill.
We appreciate it.
We had a lot of good fishing here.
We got a lot of good strategies for everybody to learn.
The thing about it, folks, is no matter where you live, or how you fish, or what you normally
fish, get out there and do it.
Go outdoors and fish.
Go outdoors, hunt and take your kids out, do whatever it is.
Get outdoors and enjoy the great outdoors.
I'm Dave Embry for Adventures in the Wild.
See you next time around.
It's getting late.
Let's go get dressed up.
I'll take this one right here.
You grab a worm.
Let's go.
I'm out of here.
There he is.
Come on, you hog.
Hey, come on up here.
Dance for me, baby.
Dance.
You get one.
Double.
No, I'm missing.
I got mine right here.
Come around the boat.
Come on, man.
What is it?
Ten pounds?
Woo hoo!
Come on back here.
Good gosh, come back.
That reel is going up.
I'm going to play that fish now.
Don't let it get away from me.
All right.
There he is.
Get him on there.
All right.
What was it?
I didn't see him.
I was looking around.
Oh, he's a good fish.
Coming up.
Look at him.
Oh, what a hog.
He's a good fish, man.
What a hog.
Come on around here.
Hey, look at that hog.
Look at that fish.
Nice fish.
Nice.
Love it.
I love it.
Here he is.
Come on back up.
Do that again.
Woo hoo.
Come on.
Swirl that water, baby.
Come on up.
I love it.
There he is.
Come on.
Man, that's a...
Look at this fish.
That's a good fish.
Woo hoo.
Look at this fish.
That's a real fish.
Woo.
Wait, wait, wait.
Come on here, fella.
What a hog.
Nice fish.
Look at that.
Isn't that a nice one?
Isn't that a beauty?
Woo.
Or isn't she?
Damn.
What size fish do you think that was?
Come on, man.
That's six.
That's a heavy one.
Heavy six.
Maybe seven.
Woo.
Maybe bigger.
It's a nice looking...
May I?
Yes, sir.
Thank you.
Got him.
Hey, hey.
He keeps fish on your line.
Yeah, oddly enough.
Get him out of here, son.
Let's see what he is.
Come on.
It could be a bass.
I believe it is.
It is a bass.
Let's see what...
What do you know?
Yee-haw.
Right on, cowboy.
Good boy in there.
Yes, sir.
Come on in.
Let's talk about this.
It's a nice baby bass.
Is that one of those babies there?
Yeah, that's the problem.
That's the problem you run into.
Gets spoiled already.
Gets a good two-pound bass.
One thing y'all saw me do that you ought to do each time before you pick up a bass, and
that is wet your hand.
They're covered with a little bit of slimy covering.
You don't want to remove that slime.
That's a protective coating.
Notice how I lift the bass right here.
I put my finger underneath his lower jaw.
My top thumb under or inside of his lower jaw, and that paralyzes him more or less so
that I can release him very gently, and he'll swim off just like that, and that's the whole
nine yards.
That's what you want to do.
Put him back so I can come back and catch him next year.
Yeah, when you catch him, he'll be bigger, though.
That's the idea, right?
Catch him next year.
Yes, it is.
Well, this is pretty good at bank fishing.
That's what you need these boats for so you can sit on the bank.
Yeah, I like the banks.
This is about the only bank in Texas that hadn't failed.
I just got that all sort of slow.
You really do have to take your hats off to Texas and probably the wildlife in there.
This one's on here.
This one's on here now.
I tell you, the management of Texas is dead gum good.
Where was that?
Where was that fish?
Come on up here.
He's going to try to come up.
He's in the state of Texas, and here he comes.
All right, look at that boy go.
That's a nice fish, baby.
Get him back up here.
Come on back up.
That's a good one.
That's a nice fish.
Come on, boy.
You can stick that thing out and give it a try.
Look at him.
That's a good fight for Texas bass.
Yeah, you call this a Texas bass.
Hey, come back.
Aren't you going to come back?
You're not getting up yet, are you?
Real feisty.
He just wants to get up here and have a little water.
Oh, look at him.
Oh, he's gorgeous.
What is a Texas bass?
Well, a Texas bass, just a little bit.
We have really two types of bass on this place, or largemouth bass.
We have the Florida and the Texas, and then I guess we have a third kind we call the hybrid.
Now, all we've had in this one, and we did electrophoresis on it or electronically looked
at the genetics.
These are Texas bass.
Pure Texas strength.
Good one.
That's the little one.
The little one's a Texas bass.
Yeah.
That's a gorgeous bass no matter what kind of bass it is.
Isn't that beautiful?
Pretty big.
They seem to fight a little bit better, at least here, than the Florida's do.
He's fighting with my son.
Yeah, that's the way you...
That's the editing stuff right there that he's getting at you.
Was he right about there?
No, no.
Anything was over there.
Sir, where's he at?
This is the one you were fishing for.
This is the one you told me to cast over there.
This is what you call fishing for Lunker bass.
This is Dave's only fish all day long that he caught himself right here.
I swear, this sucker just hatched out of the egg now, I'm going to tell you.
Geez.
All right.
That looks good, man.
Get in there.
All right.
Come on in here.
Look at that.
Come on up here.
Is it one of them...
Oh, you got it, Sal.
That's good, Dave.
We're going to have to let her go.
She won't come up.
Get on up here, baby.
Come on.
Look at her.
Look at that, it's not giving an inch.
Look at this fish.
Oh, man, look at that hole.
Good job.
Come on in here.
Look at this fish.
Look at that fish.
What a fish, Bill.
Look at that.
What a fish.
That's a fish, look at that fish.
She never really got excited about that, did she, Sal?
We're putting her back, right, Bill?
Come on.
.