Today let’s start out with a fishing report from Lake El Salto. Our last large group for this season had great fishing as they weighed in 56 bass over 7 pounds. Drew Daniel of Arkansas & his boat partner Windy Brackney had a 13.2, 10lb, 10lb, 11lb, and a 9lb ALL IN ONE DAY which was the 9th of June.

Those fishermen who got through all the bad press, the travel advisory and everything else had some FANTASTIC fishing this season at Salto. It seems like crankbaits in the citrus color were the HOT bait.

I am very happy to announce that Ron Speed Jr. is back with the company as he takes the place of Charlie, who retired in March. Ron Jr. and I will be in the camps a lot next season, so come on down and join us for some great fishing.

I am going to change the content of this blog to include a wide variety of subjects that should make it more informative and entertaining. Today I am going to talk some about fish fillet knives and sharpeners. I have been interested in fillet knives most of my life and also just plain old pocket knives.

My uncle Jester Layfield–my mentor in bass fishing–always carried a very small yellow-handle case pocket knife with a small 2 in blade for skinning black bass. Two cuts on top and 2 cuts on the belly and with a pair of pliers, zip–off comes the hide.

I would bet that I have bought over 100 knives through the years looking for that special knife that sharpened easy and held its edge for a WHILE. Today, I carry a Case BROWN MULE, OR A Case SODBUSTER, in a holder on my belt. I buy almost all my pocket knives from Smokey Mountain Knife Works in Tennessee. Phone number is 1-800-251-9306.

Let’s talk about knife sharpeners. Until about 3 years ago I just couldn’t learn to use a stone to get my knives sharp enough to shave hair on my arm. About maybe 15 years ago I got so frustrated that I called my friend Ray Sasser, the outdoor editor of the Dallas Morning News and asked him if he could recommend a good sharpening system for knives. He recommended the Lansky system so I bought one and liked it so much I bought another. It was a good system but it took some time to set up all the rods and just took too much time.

I kept on looking for better and easier ways to sharpen my knives. About 3 weeks ago I found a sharpener called Meyerco on the net. I bought one and it was great. I sent Ray a note about it trying to pay him back for his help many years ago.

As things sometime go, about 3 or 4 days later I discovered a better knife sharpener made in Alaska by the Eagle River Knife Company. This small sharpener is great as all you do is pull the blade through it 10 times and you have a really sharp knife. Even a dummy like me can do it with no trouble at all, which means a 10 year old child can get a knife razor sharp in one minute without any problem.

This fantastic company also hand-makes one of the sharpest and truly beautiful fillet knives. It’s a bit pricey at $100, but it is a knife of a lifetime.

You can call toll free at 866-375-6433 or go on line at www.eagleriverknife.com or www.alaskanulu.com.

After 60 years looking for the best knife and best sharpener I feel like I have found it. In closing, let me recommend to you what I believe is the best electric fillet knife on the market. It is the American Angler yellow-handle knife they call the Elite or something like elite. Anyway, Walmart used to sell them, but now I guess they have stopped. You can find them on the Net and they sell for about $30. This knife is the favorite for Professional guides all over the country.

The Black & Decker fillet knife is ok for the price of $10 at Walmart, but is not in the class of the American Angler.

Hopefully these tips will be of benefit to you in your pursuit of knives and sharpeners.

GOOD LUCK WITH YOUR FISHING AND WEAR THAT LIFEJACKET.

[Editor: this article first appeared on www.ronsfishingblog and may only be used by permission of Ron Speed]

It’s been a while since I last sent a tips letter to you. I thought I would give everyone a rest from my stories and fishing tips. Before I get started I want to ask you all a question. What happened to all the fuss about travel to Mexico, travel warnings from the state department, drug wars, swine flu? How many American travelers to Mexico were affected by the big 3? I can’t recall reading about any!!!

Today, let’s talk about fishing a bucktail jig. When I was fishing tournaments some years ago there were special times I would love to fish a jig. I preferred the 3/8 oz in a black & blue color. My tactic was to pitch the jig underhand directly into the bushes were other swim baits could not go.

I learned this way of fishing by getting up on a platform and pitching the jig into a bucket. First a large 5 gallon bucket and then worked my way down to a coffee can and after a while I could hit a coffee cup almost every time.

The ideal time to do this kind of fishing is when the fish move shallow in the spring of the year or whenever a  lake or river floods into the outlying brush and timber. You want to make the jig enter the water very softly so as not to spook the bass. Most strikes come on the fall so make sure that you engage your reel immediately after you make the cast. Take up the slack and position your rod almost straight out from your belly button and get real sensitive hands as it won’t be a big hit like using a spinner, topwater, or crankbait. In fact, many times you won’t feel a thing so it’s important to always watch your line.

If your line starts to move any direction, reel down, lower your rod, take up slack, and hit him with all the strength you have. I prefer to come straight over the top with my rod, but sometimes you can’t come over the top and then just hit him any direction you can to drive the hook into his jaw. Oh man, do I love this kind of bass fishing!!! It’s crazy how much of an adrenalin rush comes when you see that line moving off to the side. Sometimes now the fish will suck the jig into their mouth and never move; they will close their mouth to trap that crawfish or bug and just sit. This is when you have to pay VERY CLOSE ATTENTION to the depth of the water and the fall time of the jig. For example, if you are fishing let’s say 6 feet of water and the fall time is 2.5 seconds… If your line goes slack at 1.5 seconds then you need to set the hook as a bass has the jig in his mouth and is not moving.

Trust me, this kind of fishing can be a blast and when you get the technique down you will love it as it can be deadly when the fish are holding tight to the brush. My good friend Denny Brauer, who brings me a group of 20 fishermen each year down to El Salto, has made hundreds of thousands of dollars fishing a jig. I would say Dennie Brauer and Lonnie Stanley are the 2 best jig fishermen in the USA. In fact, I think Lonnie makes the best bucktail jig on the market and I believe its code number is 97. About 13 years ago Lonnie came down to fish with me and make a TV show on Comedero. Nobody had been fishing a jig and Lonnie absolutely killed the big bass, catching way over a hundred a day.

The reason I decided to do this week’s tip sheet on bucktail jigs is that a few weeks ago I noticed on our fishing reports that our clients at  El Salto were HAMMERING the 9lb bass on black & blue jigs. In fact I can’t ever recall in 38 years of managing Mexico camps having that many 9lb bass caught  in a 10-day period. I speculate that since nobody ever fishes jigs at Salto the fish haven’t seen a jig and they jump on them like mad.

On your next trip to Salto or Comedero please give them a try. I also am happy to report that we are finally beginning to get some reservations for next season. Man, it has been really dead as you might expect after all the fuss since the first of the year. Things are slowly returning to normal so if you have a special date in mind to go I would go ahead and make a reservation now as we are returning deposit money for the first time in 38 years if you cancel up to 40 days from your trip date.

Also remember, we are the only outfitter offering a free trip to the angler who catches the biggest bass each month on Salto or Comedero. We really do care and appreciate our clients and this is a good way to prove it to them.

GOOD LUCK WITH YOUR FISHING & WEAR THAT LIFEJACKET