jim k

I use a rubber net. Easier on both of us.

I see you posted that muskie walleye video up on muskie first. After the first three replies, you can see what I mean. I'm sitting here chuckling to myself. People believe what they want to believe. What they were told to believe. I showed people what I saw. But they dismiss it. Just a crazy yankee diver. Must be a real wacko to dive in that river upstream of the falls!

I just retired as early as well. And I sometimes get the LOOK from the wife because I am out fishing or diving almost every day. I worked since I was 17. Time to play. While I still can. As long as you're not spending 40K a year on it while your house is falling apart, what the heck. It's not like we're sitting on a barstool or at the casino. We're not wasting away in front of the TV. Seems to me if you have a passion for something like fishing, golf or cycling, it keeps you moving and healthier.

I have shared them on Musky sites, and walleye as well. I was actually on the board of a local musky club in a conservation role for several years. The walleye musky interactions video is the only one I really get any backlash over. Because it challenges long held notions. I always remind myself that I'm very privileged to see a world that few others get to see, and when I show something like this, I may be challenging someone's beliefs. People tend to believe what they want to, in spite of any evidence to the contrary. A scientific study can show something, and further study can re-affirm it. However, if it doesn't fit into their personal agenda, religious, or political tenets, people will deny it or discredit it. I myself thought it was an oddity. A freak of nature. I heard that muskies ate everything. I wore a tee shirt years ago "Muskies- Everything else is just bait". They sell muskie lures in a dozens of paint schemes, including walleye. I have loved fishing since I was 4 years old. I grew up in the sport. It was so ingrained in my brain that I couldn't believe it myself. It defied what I was brought up to believe. I had to see it with my own eyes a half dozen times before it started to sink in. IT CHALLENGED MY OWN PERSONAL BELIEFS. It's a funny thing, Belief. So, It's on my channel. People can watch it. I think it's got 20 K views. But this is a world where people routinely bomb each other over their beliefs. I think they are less receptive than ever to challenges to it. It was well worth doing. I learned as much about myself and people as I did about walleye and musky.

Thanks for all the kind words guys. Dove the river yesterday, and the moss wasn't too bad. Light stain with about 10- 12 visibility. Same deal with the bass. find one , there's more there. Gotta go, we are heading out perch fishing from sturgeon Point. Jim

Thank you. The walleye seems to be the most social fish, often hanging with other gamefish. You can bet I've seen some strange things and learned that some commonly held beliefs weren't true. I always heard that the musky was a killing machine. Everything else is just bait. An underwater terror. I saw a musky and a walleye laying side by side and thought it strange. We then saw what we think was the same two fish together again. We called them the odd couple. As the years went by, we saw it time and time again with different walleye and muskie. I recorded in Hi 8 tape in those days, and fortunately never taped over , always using fresh tapes. Over the course of many winter evenings, I reviewed all my footage and came up with about a dozen examples, then made a you tube video about it. I actually had an instance where I was filming close in on an 'eye and a musky got in my face about it. Another time , my partner and I decided to split go around a small rock pile. There was a muskie and a walleye on the corners. they didn't like it and decided to swim off. I glided towards the walleye for a close shot when the muskie didn't like my proximity and nudged the walleye with his snout to get him moving. I thought I was going to witness an attack, but it was clearly a friendly nudge. Smallmouth bass give muskies some room, as they are on the menu. A smallie is always uneasy around a muskie. You will never see them resting side by side. I've had 2 bass hit by muskies as I fought them while fishing.

To some extent, I think diving has made me a better fisherman, and fishing has helped me be a better underwater videographer. It sure can be aggravating at times though, KNOWING that there's fish where I am fishing, and being unable to come up with a presentation that is effective. For sure! What a huge difference between smallmouth and largemouth for instance.

Thank you. Most of the bass come up to within inches of me. They are easily the most aggressive North American freshwater fish. If they had teeth, they would be scary. That makes them easy to film. The other species, well.... I have to work at it and get what I can.

That was a sturgeon. He is horribly deformed. You wouldn't think he could get by like he is, but we have watched him grow over the last several years.

Here's a 3 minute video I put together yesterday. I thought you guys might enjoy it. If you don't, it's free and short. It shows bass and walleye, sturgeon, and muskies, along with some baitfish. I will check back and try to answer any questions you might have as best I can.

It was early winter. I was in my waders in an icy tributary. There wasn't much happening, and I thought to myself "what am I doing standing here freezing when I could be home tying flies and watching football ?"

They are the easiest freshwater fish to work with. Smallmouth sometimes actually mug for the camera.

Niagara River

We ran into this big school of smallmouth near an old shipwreck in about 25 feet of water. I thought you guys might like to see it;

on lake Erie, we do some live bait rigs using a 3 way, and some drop shot rigs. we also troll some. I like a baitcaster in those situations. when jigging, or using crankbaits, I always use spinning gear. I always seem to use both every time we go fishing.