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.

glad you enjoyed it. I tend to draw smallmouth like the pied piper. Most don't want you to touch them, but a few will let you. I seem to be able to relate to fish well. Women are a different story.

We just shot this yesterday (7-13) the wreck has a lot of SMB on it, and I thought you might enjoy seeing it.

This forum seems to have active members from across the land. With much of the country suffering a severe drought, I was wondering how many lakes, rivers, ponds and reservoirs were heavily impacted? From unusable ramps and impassible nav channels, and dried up marinas, to fish kills, tell where you are from and what has happened on some of your favorite bodies of water?

Thank you. I dive that area frequently. It's only 5 miles from the house. We try to get out twice a week in July and August. I've been doing the underwater video thing for over 10 years and freelanced for several TV fishing shows over the years. It took a bit to learn how to be accepted and get in close. SMB are the easiest to work with. Natural camera hogs.

We are seeing a good number of 4 lb plus SMB in the upper Niagara. Here's a underwater video with a little something for everyone.

Man, these fish are entertaining to dive with!

Sure. That said, I would look to pick up a 6'6 lighter action spinning combo to go along with the outfit you have. Spooled with 8lb fluro, it will allow you to pitch lighter, smaller baits. If the water's clear, or the fish get picky, the low vis line and ability to cast that smaller bait a decent distance might save your day.

How smart are they? I've done quite a bit of scuba diving, and the waters around here are loaded with Smallmouth. They pick things up quickly. A couple stories. We were catching nice bass regularly along a section of lake Erie shore. We decided to dive it to learn what made it productive. The bottom was rocky. As we went along we turned over a few, and bait (crayfish, goby, darters) would shoot out. Then, a few bass began to follow us. As we turned over the stones, the bass would attack the prey, soon we had better than a dozen around. after a few stones, we could put our hand on a stone, nod to the bass, who would assume an attack posture, and flip the rock. All you saw was the flash of bronze. I dive the same section of the upper Niagara river Regularly. I began to notice the same few bass stayed with me the entire dive. As I work slowly along the bottom, I would kick gobies out of the alga that tends to collect in the slower parts of my drift. These bass knew it and flocked to us as soon as we hit the water. they must have keyed in on our exhaust bubbles. It went on for two seasons. The ringleader, who we named Tyrone must have passed on, because I don't see him this year . I could touch him, he became so comfortable with us. They are smart, for sure. Their brazenness and aggressiveness is their weakness. Here's one who has his own place

Thank you for the warm welcome. I fish some of your favorite waters for trout and salmon, Clayton. Most of the fish reacting to lures clips I film are no longer mine. The fishing shows want that stuff, and I do a little freelance to help with the expenses of SCUBA. If a host has Berkley for a sponsor, for instance, a fish hitting a Berkley jig is a shot he wants. Here's a fish reacting to me, Though. Pesky devil.

Hi. Sudbury is up there. I remember passing through your city on our way to a fly in trip. Big Copper industry if I remember correctly. We had a good trip. Welcome