It's the Terribullet Fishing Radio Show on Gold
Country Radio. Here's your fishing expert and
host, Michael Ruffino. Welcome back to Terribullet
Fishing, everybody. Oh, it's been a strange few
weeks, hasn't it? Now, this last Tuesday was
the... the meeting at the Waffle Hut for the
Fly Fishing Club. There's one member, Mark, he
passed away this last week, and condolences to
him, or to his family, and he was an avid fly
fisherman, and he just, we just don't live as
long as we want to. condolences to his family.
As for fishing right now, we still don't have
the rivers open, so don't hit them just yet.
We'll get there. I think it's next month. And
we've got the lakes that are got ice on them.
It's a little sketchy right now. I would not
trust the ice at the moment. I think we're seeing
the end of our ice fishing season. and we want
to sort of now start planning, unless you want
to do a little trip someplace, but start planning,
you know, putting away our ice fishing gear and
then working on our spring gear. Prep our boats,
and if you've got a boat, and re -spool your
reels and get good line on it and just get ready.
Now I've been pretty much getting ready for um
spring because i was i was beached because of
my frostbite but uh and that's coming along really
good by the way i think you know all's all's
well so but we're going to uh see some good well
we should have really good spring fishing this
year got a good winter i mean it's snowing out
and uh it's cold but uh We had a good winter
an epic epic winter when it came to snow 32 years
storm So very good Now I you know part of prepping
for spring is Getting all my rods, you know and
all my line and all my rails, you know serviced
So this is something I do. I enjoy it and So
when I remove all my line off of my reel, I take
apart my reel and clean it, relubricate it, and
put it back together. And you can get real oil
and real grease for your reels over at the store.
So you can get it over at Buy Mart and get it
at Walmart and pretty much anywhere, Amazon,
whatever. And get your reels working better than
new. And that's what you can do right now. And
then, as for your line, don't go cheap on line.
I mean, I know we go through it every year, but
I'm a big fluorocarbon fan. Fluorocarbon is invisible
in the water. You know, it has the same refractive
qualities as water. So as that line hits the
water, it disappears. And that's perfect for
fishing. Now I use fluorocarbon for just about
everything, including my heavy rods. It's just
heavier and it's the leader. So typically on
my heavy rods, super heavy rods, I use a braid
on the reel with a fluorocarbon leader. So a
leader is usually about six feet five six feet
long and you tie it to your regular line and
then to the bait itself and That get gives the
bait the illusion of you know to the fish of
Suspended without anything attached Fish can
be scared. It's not like they think they go.
Oh look a fishing line. That must not be a real
lure or it must be a lure. They don't really
think, okay? They run off of instinct. So if
you're using, let's say, braid line, which is
awesome line, casts far and strong, doesn't stretch,
and you do it directly to your bait, the fish
can see that. Now they're not thinking, oh look,
fishing line. They basically just have been hit.
They've bitten that before and their instincts
were trained not to do it again. That's what,
you know, what I like about bass fishing. Bass,
we give them intelligence because their instincts
are constantly being modified when they bite
a lure or a bait. So we think we call them smart
fish, but they're not really. They're just trained.
That's all. They're just trained. Now, there
are some not too smart fish out there. You can
catch them the same way over and over and over.
Things like panfish and trout. You catch them
over and over and over again, all the same way.
These fish's brains are not modified. Now, mind
you, I mean, there are some like the brown trout.
Brown trouts are, that's kind of the smart trout,
is a brown trout. You know, they can get modified.
You know, their brains get modified and trained
where a rainbow trout doesn't. Rainbow trout,
you could throw a little rooster tail out there
and catch them all day long. Same one, probably,
if you could put them back. So, it's just the
way it is for these fish. But, you know, next
month the rivers are going to open up, some of
them. I think the Klamath will. And the Klamath
is getting very, very exciting, guys, and gals.
The Klamath River, we're seeing salmon and steelhead
up to Kino and probably past. That means they're
in our front yard. So, Juana, I think, is named
that because you want to catch a fish one day
there. Well, you want to catch a steelhead or
a salmon? It might happen this year. our front
yards. I could see it, you know, on the Link
River here. It's going to be an exciting, exciting
time. They've seen the Klamath River, and if
you've gone to my YouTube channel, Terrible at
Fishing, then you've seen what I've done on the
Reclamation. I was a skeptic. skeptic because
everything was guesswork, you know, for the most
part, hypothesis. The biologists that are monitoring
this are dumbfounded. They thought it would take
three years for the migration to come back to
us and it's not even going to take a year. Well,
it's been a year. It's been a little over a year.
It's fast. It's really, really fast because our
first dam was removed last year about this time.
So they, yeah, so it's been about a year, less
than a year really because other dams had to
be removed. So it's faster than anybody would
have thought. And we are living a pretty sweet
spot for fishing. So this year I expect to do
a lot of river fishing and then of course my
lake fishing because you know I like bass. I
love bass. My favorite pattern colors is a black
lure with blue patterns on it. like a like a
navy blue it's dark too and a yellow belly. Now
Sixth Sense they call it their Black Magic and
I love that bait and I paint it you know on different
styles and if I got a four and a half inch square
bill that actually does very very well I mean
it'll catch a big old giant you know I put one
odd hooks on it And it is just my big fish, big
bait for spring. Square bales work really good
for spring, as well as craws, soft plastics.
Spring is one of those things where as the water
warms up, the bass will come up. And they're
hungry, because they've pretty much been dozing
off. hibernating you know but they don't really
hibernate but they they do eat but very very
little because they don't move much they really
don't so the bass will come up and they're ready
they they gorge themselves and then they they
make a bed they make a bed and you're thinking
Mike why do fish make a bed when they've been
sleeping all the time. Well, because they need
to make, you know, I used to call it a nest,
but people got confused. In fishing terms, we
call it a bed. And they're going to lay their
eggs. In the fish, fish eggs are very similar
to any other egg. They have to be heated up in
order to hatch. So, what ends up happening is,
let's say a bass, they'll find an in -cove, you
know, a little, you know, a cove out of any kind
of current. And it's usually, it's a hard -packed
bottom, rocky bottom, or even a log or something.
usually within three feet, but on the sunny side,
wherever that is. Because they don't want to
go too deep because then the eggs don't get warm.
They need sun in order to heat up the bed and
the eggs. And they want to keep it out of the
current so they don't wash away. That's pretty
much a bass bed. That's pretty much a bass bed.
Now, some people, they like to fish beds. Personally,
I find that rude. Once you're in bed, you don't
want to move. But, we want more bass. So, I don't
fish beds at all. So, typically while the bass
are bedding, I will fish other fish. and then
they'll come off their beds and they're hungry,
and the water is nice and warm. I'm diving shallow
baits or topwater baits. That's actually the
cool part about spring. And I do have some wonderful
videos on the migration of fish because they
actually are very predictable. As they come up
from the deep, Where they're going to be hit,
you know feeding and then where they're going
to be bedding and then yeah So much fun in the
summer But it's going to be a pretty exciting
year for everybody do not forget if you you know,
you're you're licensing please get a fishing
license and please if you've got a motorized
craft you're going and it's expired like mine
did you kind of renew it these are just things
that are very practical to do it's legal to do
and the money goes to a good cause which is keeping
the fisheries or the hatcheries or fisheries
whatever um going we want to we want to not only
protect our forest, but also sustain it so we
can enjoy them more. But that's, you know, something
I had to think about. Alright, we're going to
take a break and we'll be right back with Terrible
at Fishing and we'll talk more about the end
of winter and the beginning of spring. Out in
the backwoods under the stars I turn in the radio
from my old car Go country radio on Friday night
Terrible at fishing but it feels just right Want
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VR. Welcome back to Terrible at Fishing, everybody.
All right, well, you know what? Let us happen
this last week with me. I'll give you a little
update. I was in the hospital last week, this
time. So a little stroke So my usual self But
today is my wedding anniversary. I know 38 years
Wow 38 years married most people usually people
that know me Have great admiration for my wife
to put up with me for 38 years plus That's just
what we've been married Some people think I'm
rather obnoxious or way too sarcastic, but that's
just the way it is. You get used to it. You must,
because she's been with me that long. So, you
know, we did a cooking class at the Wellness
Center last night. And that was fun. It was,
you know, healthy cooking and stuff. There's
quite a few other people and we all made dishes,
eight dishes. You get to eat them because that
was delicious. That was fun. And so it's, you
know, kind of a fun week, you know, recovering
from last week, my health and then new medications.
There's always new pills. There's always new
pills. Um, and then you gotta get used to it.
But, I did post a good video on what terrible
at fishing on my favorite bait. And everybody's
got a favorite bait. Don't you have a favorite
bait? Everybody's got a favorite bait. It might
be, you know, fly fishing, there's a certain
fly that you like. At trout fishing, it might
be a certain spinner that you like. You know,
a certain color, a different, you know, a different,
you know, with or without a feather on it. It
might be soft baits. It might be live baits.
It might be, you know, you just don't know. But
everybody's got an opinion. But more than likely,
it's a bait that you know how to fish. I mean,
come down to it. You work that bait better than
anybody else or most people. And that's what
makes it your favorite bait because you've got
down what we would call the presentation. the
bait very, very well. You know how to cast it.
You know how fast it sinks. You know the way
it looks in the water when you retrieve it. You
understand the motion and movement of that bait
so well that you manipulate it in such a way
that, well, you catch fish better than other
baits that you use. And that really is why you
have a favorite bait. Because it works. Because
you know how to work it. Now, my favorite bait,
depending on water temperature, I have two. I
love wake baits for topwater fishing and I like
squarebill baits. Both of them are easy. Now
the cool thing about topwater baits, wake baits,
is that you get to see it. it's always in front
of you it's on top of the water so you can manipulate
you know its presentation its action better than
anything else because you're seeing it and you
can you can present it differently now a square
bill dives about three to six feet this is a
pretty easy bait they have their own motion And
once you understand the speed of the bait, you
know, how fast you want to retrieve it, just
toss it out there and retrieve at that speed
and you'll catch fish. It's just a very simple
thing. Now, I mentioned my favorite color for
big fish, which is black. You know, black baits.
And you're thinking, Mike, why a black bait?
Well, I talk about this, you know, black. is
good for all water clarities, whether there's
stained water, which has no visibility, or clear
water, because the fish actually see the profile,
the outline of the bait better, and it just works
more. Now it's good to have a little bit of color
on it, but not real bright color for the most
part. Now I do have a yellow underbelly on on
these black baits, but on the bait itself Blue
is seen by bass in a different spectrum and You
put a little bit of blue on the sides of it You
get yourself a pretty killer bait I just absolutely
love this color and That it is just beautiful
beautiful bait. So, I'm kind of addicted to it.
And that's what's so neat, too. Baits, too, color
-wise can change in their effectiveness by water.
I mean, the water bodies. So, what would work
in one lake something else will work in the other
lake. And a lot of that, too, is clarity, water
clarity, but black does well. Don't underestimate
a black bait. If you've never used one, try it.
Try using a black bait. It works really, really
well. It works really well. Black worms, you
know? I mean, it's just... You know, use a soft
plastic that's black. The fish see profiles really
good. Even though they may see color differently,
they see profiles really, really good. Now, the
nice thing about blue, too, is if there are German
browns, you know, brown trout in the water, trout
sees blue better than any other color blue is
their favorite color and you're thinking well
why do i use red and yellow well because you
got your stuff with it but people don't think
about these darker colors i love i love purple
purple is a really good color too again darker
colors um and my favorite power bait in the winter
is tequila sunrise power bait, and it's black
and purple, and it works really well in cold
water. So, coffee. I'm a coffee addict. It has
absolutely no nutritional value, but it has no
negative value. So, I mean, it's fat free, sugar
free, because I don't put nothing in it. It's
just like a good bean. And evidently, it's not
really a bean, because beans have protein. I
had a talk about this last night at the cooking
class. They go, what's your favorite protein?
I go, coffee beans. That's not a protein. They
go, what is my favorite? But that's the I mean
when it comes to colors on your baits You'll
probably end up going with your favorite now
six cents actually had a really has a really
good clearance sale right now So it kind of went
nuts You know you can get based for two and a
half bucks. You know the black magics. Oh my
goodness Always get the swanks A swank bait has
sort of an L -bill on it. You know, instead of
a downturn bill, it goes down and then straight
out in front of it. It cuts through the grass
really, really well. And swanks have incredible
action. Really, really fast shakers, like a baby
rattle or a castanet. I mean, they just make
noise and they zip right through the water, breaking
through weeds. It's a great bait and they had
a lot of swanks on clearance. I don't know if
they still do, but check them out. SixCentsFishing
.com, I think, or something like that. Something
like that. But that's a really good deal. I mean,
two or four bucks for one of their baits. I put
$2 hooks on mine, and they have really good hooks,
by the way, so you won't have to refit it. Like
you would, you know cheaper bait, you know cheap
lures Also, you know we've the Here in here in
town, you know, we're Yeah, I've been out and
about a little bit this last couple weeks and
the I always hit the clearance sections on by
Martin and a Walmart I hate going to Walmart.
I don't know if you guys feel the same way about
me. That store, but I hate going in there, but
I go straight to the fishing section and look
on the bottom shelf and see if anything's down
there for a buck. This is a really good time
to stock up and then break out your tackle boxes.
Resort them, more than likely. If you haven't
resorted them from last year, they're a mess.
So, re -sort your tackle boxes. Make sure that,
you know, I have lots of Plano boxes. So I've
got my Topwater Planos, I've got my Shoutin'
My Squarebills, my Lipless, my Jerk Baits, my
Soft Baits, you know, I was just, it's just,
I've got a lot of boxes. And then I make one
box, sort of all my one -shot box. You know,
that one's got my favorite baits in it, and it
has a variety in the one box. So, typically,
this is one of those boxes that people would
probably think, well, that's your tackle box.
You know, look in my boat and you'll see about
15 tackle boxes. It's just, you know, I got five
or six rods. they all use different stuff. It's
just the way it is. But I love big baits and
I like finesse baits. So really tiny baits. My
favorite rod that I fish with is a Cajun Trigger
and it's seven and a half feet and it's got the
Shimano Aldebaran on it and that's my favorite.
Rod to use so I can't use anything more than
a quarter ounce on it So I'm really working finesse
baits on that now I do have heavy and extra heavy
rods for the bigger baits so I kind of vacillate
between those the two extremes but Typically
if you see me out there fishing, I'm really you
know It's one of the two but I love my Aldebaran
I saved up a long time for that and had to manipulate
some funds, but the Shimano Aldebaran bait caster
is considered the world's best BFS. And it's
the litmus test for all other BFS or bait finesse
system reels. And that's the fun part about it.
It really is good. You don't have to be too bright
to use one, and I ain't too bright. I mean, this
is terrible at fishing, by the way. But that's
the beauty of it. I have other rods in the middle.
I do always put a spinning rod on my boat in
case it's windy and I need to, you know, toss
it out there. you're going to have to redo everything
before spring hits. So expect to get on the lake
water in about six weeks. In six weeks we're
going to be out on the lakes on our boats. So
if you have to renew your registration or you
got a You know, prep your boats, you know, things
like that. Those are all things. There are some
things I want to do to my boat this year. I bought
it. It's there. It's just a matter of doing it.
So, April is pretty much boat month. You know,
to get the boat out and ready and done for May.
And so April is the boat month. This month is,
you know, this month's busy because of our anniversary,
but, you know, this is fishing rods and reels.
This is a fishing rod and reel month. And then
you're also going to have to, next month also
is sort of my tackle box month, too. Lots of
tackle boxes. And, you know, I want to get on
the river. Next month, so I'll be doing some
fishing next month out on the rivers so go to
my YouTube channel terrible at fishing and Stay
up to date on all these things But I want to
thank you for tuning in this week, and we will
see you guys Well out on the water Happy anniversary
to anybody else take care That was terrible at
fishing the radio show with fishing expert Michael
Ruffino Check out terrible at fishing on YouTube
and tune in next week for the next episode and
more great fishing tips terrible at fishing Fridays
at 7 p .m.. On gold country radio