Pride.....

There is no greater sensation of pride in a father than seeing his own son succeeding using the techniques and teachings passed down over the years.  My son and I participated in a Heroes On the Water mini-event this past weekend where we helped a local veteran out by taking him out for the day and putting him on some fish.  That in and of itself was fulfilling in its own right, but my son's day on the water was the icing on the proverbial cake.

In the past, my son has lost patience when fishing for bass and the bite is slow.  I sent him out in our new Hobie Quest 13 armed with a YakAttack 8' Parknpole and two Bull Bay Rods - one rigged with a 5" PowerTeam Lures Finicky Tickler and the other rigged with a PowerTeam Lures Jacked Whacker jig head and a Sick Stick.  After a few minutes giving him pointers on how to work each lure and showing him what each lure looked like underwater when worked, we ventured into a protected cover where our good friend Chip had told us there were fish.

We made our way into the cove and proceeded to stake out and work the area slowly and methodically.  He spotted a tree limb sticking up in the shallows and knew there was a good chance at a fish being nearby.  He cast the Sick Stick near the shore and slowly twitched it and let it fall, a couple more twitches and the fight was on.   He worked the feisty bass away from the cover and got him into the kayak.  I myself was in the middle of photographing my own fish, but I put the fish on the FishGrip in the water and made my way over to him to help him.

Little did I know that my son had just caught a nice chunky Largemouth Bass that would end up measuring out at 17 3/4" for his new personal best!

The winds were up for most of the day with a storm front moving in later in the afternoon.  We spent the day working every type of contour change, lay down, rock pile and grass line we could find.  The bite was tough and only got tougher as the day wore on.  At one point, the winds were so strong, I had to move us into some shallow flats, so that my son could stake out and wade for a bit.

Even though the bite was slow, he had a few bites that came unhooked as he attempted to put the fish in the boat, including his last fish of the day that was a feisty chain pickerel that was easily over 20" that spit the hook as he was lifting it into his foot well.  All of us saw him fighting the fish and can attest to the size of it.  He was bummed, but we all encouraged him letting him know that chain pickerel are notorious for that!  He only managed to get two bass for pictures, but it was a success in my book.



My son fought through the doldrums of the slow bite, kept his focus and caught fish by staying persistent and determined through it all.

At the end of the day, I was further elated to hear my son utter a simple phrase before he nodded off for the long ride home....

"Thank you......"

Playing Hooky....

Sometimes you have to trust your instincts and just do it - so I did!  I took a vacation day mid-week and went fishing.  The weather window was favorable for a change, and I didn't have a single meeting or task due at work the following day.  No brainer!

The arsenal for the day was the same rod selection from last week but the lures of choice were different due to stained water conditions.  I tried a couple lures in lighter colors (a vibrating jig in chartreuse/white tipped with a PTL Grub and a PTL Sick Stick in Pearl) but the water clarity was less than 6".  So, I switched out to a PTL Sick Stick in Okeechobee Craw and a PTL Gator in Junebug.

This pond is mostly flat with an average depth of 4' and a multitude of overhanging brush and trees with several laydowns and brush piles from trees and brush that have fallen into the water over the years from strong storms.  With the water clarity as it was, you are forced to slow down and work literally every square inch of an area.  I come here a few times a year to simply hone my skipping and pitching/flipping skills.  The added bonus is that there are some fat bass lurking about and always manage to give me a nice fight.

It took a couple hours to find some takers but I finally managed to get into a few managing only three on the day and missing a few as well including one pesky bass that managed to break me off not once, twice but three separate times!   The first bass of the day was the best and measured in just shy at 20.75" and was very fat and rather perturbed that she was caught.

I had skipped my cast to a cut in between two big bushes and was met with a violent strike as the lure hit the water.  This big girl hit the Sick Stick so hard and fast that I barely managed to get the GoPro turned on in time to catch the last few seconds of the fight.

When the Sick Stick found no more interest, tried using a heavy tungsten pitching weight to punch through pockets of thick brush with a PTL Gator but to no avail.  Flashback a few hours earlier to the point of loading my gear for the day.  I stood there in my house looking at my gear and made the conscious decision to leave my terminal tackle tray thinking I would not need it - big mistake.  I'm sitting there in my Hobie Outback cruising about and chastising myself for not having different rigging options.

As luck would have it, one of my casts became entangled with a previous anglers broken line.  I cleared the tangle and found a busted bobber and hook at the end along with a small split shot on the line.  "DING" lightbulb moment.  I cleared the tangle, removed the split shot and rigged up a simple split shot rig and a texas-rigged PTL Gator.

Apparently, it was the right decision.  Not five minutes later, I noticed my line swimming towards me but felt no hint of a fish.  I reeled in the slack and swung for the fences - hook sets are free right?  I was rewarded with another angry female bass that was none too pleased with her predicament.  After a brief fight, I brought her in and measured a healthy 19.75".

She must have really liked that PTL Gator because she choked it!

The last bass of the day was nothing to brag about but confirmed to me that the bite was over for the day.  A slow but productive day away from work.

Catching fat bass like this makes me want to play hooky again and very soon.......

I think I can find a window and know a "spot" I could target.....

Until then, enjoy a video summary of my day on the water........

Tight lines and stay safe!

Four for Four ......

The last month has been a less than stellar time for me with regards to quality fish.  I have had the chance to fish four times and two of which were in the rain.  The first outing was my least productive of all the trips.  It was during the annual YakAttack tournament to benefit Heroes On the Water and Project Healing Waters.  I fished Bear Creek Lake for a change of pace and landed several fish, but none worth a photo.  I landed more 14-15" bass than are needed unless you are going for a five bass limit in a tournament.  My best of the day was only a 17.5" bass on my favorite rig - a Draggin' Head and 7" Finicky Tickler.

The next day was no better and the rain was worse.  I tried to fish with Vic of Appomattox River Company but the weather had other plans.  So after only an hour or two on the water, I packed it in and made my way home.  Although the fishing wasn't the greatest, it was still a blast meeting new friends and faces that had traveled from far away.

The next outing was actually a video on how I use the Pro Angler and other common FAQs I and others have responded to in the past.  While rolling the tape, I landed five fish including this feisty 20" Chain Pickerel that fell victim to my favorite yet again, the 7" Finicky Tickler!

My latest outing was a double header where I spot hopped between two lakes.  At the first lake, I only managed two bass, both on the 15" small side of the measuring tape.  At least the first one was on a crankbait, a technique I promised myself I would work at diligently this year.  The second came on my least favorite technique of all time - the wacky rig.  I know it produces and is a favorite technique of many anglers just not this one.

When that lake didn't produce as I had hoped, I loaded up and moved to another location.  I started with both the crankbait and the wacky rig and quickly had an aggressive strike on the Sic Stik again.  Only this fish put up no fight as I reeled it in.  And for good reason!  It was a freaking Pumpkinseed!!  An 8.5" fat Pumpkinseed slammed the Sic Stik!

I kept working the wacky and crank combo but landed every fish on the wacky rig.  And these hits were ultra aggressive and solid strikes.  The first of many 15" bass were landed over the next few hours on the Sic Stik, but none on the crank for some reason.

I worked a shady bank with some huge laydowns and pockets to cast to and was rewarded with three more fish - two more 15" bass and of all things a spunky channel cat!

As the sun crept further towards it's zenith, the temperatures started to climb and the surface temps of the water did the same reaching 87 degrees at one point.  I kept working the shaded areas and found a nice spot with an extended submerged point, so I fired a cast towards the shore and slowly worked the Sic Stik back towards me.  On an extended pause where I took a water break, the line twitched a little and started to move.  I went to set the hook, but I didn't feel any movement.  Thinking a fish had hit the lure and hung me up in some submerged brush or something, I applied a little leverage to see if it would come undone.  That's when the laydown turned into a hooked bass that was not too pleased!  A short 30 second fight later and the best one in a month was finally landed.  A fat 18.75" hoss of a bass!

It won't win me any awards for certain, but the feeling is still rewarding when you tough it out and stick to a technique.  When I look back on the month, maybe catching four measurable fish for Kayak Wars on four separate outings isn't bad after all......

Tight lines!