The groundhog told us another 6 weeks of winter. After all that snow, this looked to be true. But here we are in early March and spring has sprung. The past week has been in the 50's and 60's with nights falling to around the mid 30's. Though that is cold, I see a trend working to the angler's favor here. That trend would be the warming type. Naysayers have told me that we'll dip back into the low 40's during the day later in the month, but I'm not buying it. This is an El Nino year and the same thing that gave us hell in the winter, will give us some bad ass fishing weather this spring and summer.
Was up at Bass Pro in Baltimore this past weekend with my dad. I could not help myself from purchasing some YUM money minnows. This off season I have been reading a lot of info on using swimbaits. Ya know; the when, where and how stuff. I have seen pretty good fish come on swimbaits and I would like to duplicate that this spring, before the spawn starts and I have to start throwing right at their faces.
I upgraded my jig arsenal by grabbing up a load of Explosive Tackle jigs in various natural and quasi natural colors. I love their Brown Shaka Brown color. It has an almost bronze glint to it that I think will make it contrast just enough with similar surrounding objects to collect a lot of attention. I had some other custom colors made that I'll be keeping secret until season's end. You can't expect me to divulge such information before I even have a chance to pound the scales with it, can you?
As I mentioned in another article about power vs. finesse fishing, I noted my lack of ability to perform the latter and how planned to remedy the shortfall. Enter Powell Rods. This west coast rod maker has already established it's self as a bass fishing mainstay in California and is peeking it's way into the Delmarva Peninsula angling public and could easily become a go-to brand all over the east coast, and for good reason. I have a sweet tooth for G Loomis rods. Understandable right? They are light and ultra ultra sensitive. They react nicely to the handler's direction so you can be precise with putting action on your lure and they are usually in the $250.00 range. Hold on, you just said $250.00! That is where G Loomis pales in comparison to Powell. The biggest number you will ever see on the price tag of a Powell rod... $170.00. And yes folks that also comes with all the cool accolades of the king Loomis. But if you like giving your money away for the sake of just a name, be my guest. But when I can feel that same hair drift past my line that you did, but at half the cost; don't whine like a biatch.
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Friday, February 19, 2010
The New Power: Powesse
I used to always [like] to think of myself as a versatile angler who takes advantage of all the pros in all styles of fishing. It was not until this last season I realized I wasn't really taking advantage of anything most of the time. I guess I need to detail this a little to understand what I mean.
If you look at a bass angler that builds his/her style around "power", they are covering a lot of water in a relatively short period of time. Like KVD does with a spinnerbait. If you fish in a "finesse" inspired strategy, you are giving much more subtle presentations of your lure, much more accurate casts and usually spending a much higher amount of time between casts, thus covering less water but focusing tighter on one specific area. Most anglers I know will say that these are the two different personalities you will see in bass fishing. Both have their place in varying conditions. Some pros have become masters of both which has made them very dangerous weapons on tournament days. But what if you could harness the power of both and employ them simultaneously?
Power and finesse. Two styles on totally different sides of the fishing spectrum. That is until you fold the fabric of space and time and combine the two. Just use a finesse type lure and fish it faster right? Nope. Not what I had in mind. One of the things I have noticed when fishing with others in my circle is how much they miss and pass by when full out power fishing. It never fails. They are racing the tide trying to pluck as many bass as they can on a short time span of a low tide and they miss or just pass up a prime little nook because they are in a rush. How hard would it be to drop the crankbait and pick up the drop shot rig for one cast to that bush hanging in the water? Or of more concern, how much time would that take? I assure you the possibility of a keeper is well worth the 2 minutes. In my opinion anyway. I mean, so a crankbait didn't get you hooked up on that rock pile but if you run a tube through there it might make something move! You never know.
Sometimes there is such thing as being too focused and I think that this is the reason spots inside spots get left alone. Now let me be honest here; anytime i find those [spots inside spots] they are usually sub legal fish, but I do find them. So if I have only learned one lesson in meditation this off season, it's that a major key is to absorb all surroundings, be attentive to EVERYTHING and if you can't get the lure you are fishing into that cubby hole, you surely have another bait that will get in there. And I call that... Powesse fishing.
If you look at a bass angler that builds his/her style around "power", they are covering a lot of water in a relatively short period of time. Like KVD does with a spinnerbait. If you fish in a "finesse" inspired strategy, you are giving much more subtle presentations of your lure, much more accurate casts and usually spending a much higher amount of time between casts, thus covering less water but focusing tighter on one specific area. Most anglers I know will say that these are the two different personalities you will see in bass fishing. Both have their place in varying conditions. Some pros have become masters of both which has made them very dangerous weapons on tournament days. But what if you could harness the power of both and employ them simultaneously?
Power and finesse. Two styles on totally different sides of the fishing spectrum. That is until you fold the fabric of space and time and combine the two. Just use a finesse type lure and fish it faster right? Nope. Not what I had in mind. One of the things I have noticed when fishing with others in my circle is how much they miss and pass by when full out power fishing. It never fails. They are racing the tide trying to pluck as many bass as they can on a short time span of a low tide and they miss or just pass up a prime little nook because they are in a rush. How hard would it be to drop the crankbait and pick up the drop shot rig for one cast to that bush hanging in the water? Or of more concern, how much time would that take? I assure you the possibility of a keeper is well worth the 2 minutes. In my opinion anyway. I mean, so a crankbait didn't get you hooked up on that rock pile but if you run a tube through there it might make something move! You never know.
Sometimes there is such thing as being too focused and I think that this is the reason spots inside spots get left alone. Now let me be honest here; anytime i find those [spots inside spots] they are usually sub legal fish, but I do find them. So if I have only learned one lesson in meditation this off season, it's that a major key is to absorb all surroundings, be attentive to EVERYTHING and if you can't get the lure you are fishing into that cubby hole, you surely have another bait that will get in there. And I call that... Powesse fishing.
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Water: It's Not Just For Fish
When water falls from the skies and stays on land, that means it's snowing. Otherwise it is rain and readily seeps into the ground or flows into available bodies of water. So what happens when you get about 5 inches of frozen rain? Answer, 2 or 3 feet of snow. Which as I mentioned before, does not go anywhere until it melts. Thus the situation here in Delaware and the surrounding area. Over the last week and a half we have accumulated the equivalent average of 36 inches of snow. All of you from around here know that this is NOT normal. The snowiest winter in recorded history for this area has occurred and of course in the following paragraphs of this article I will speculate how this could/can affect fishing this year.
Temperatures will not stay below 32 degrees all summer long. I can promise you that. Not even through spring. If you just thought of the word "melt", you know what I am getting at. All that snow will be melting at some point. How quickly is the important question. Worst case scenario: We get hit with yet another heavy to moderate snow before the temps start to rise for spring. This area is famous for rapidly changing seasons and temperature patterns. So following our frozen tundra like environment we get warm, heavy spring rains which rapidly melt the 36 inches of snow which blanketed the entire Delmarva peninsula and beyond. You would see flooding in ways one does not ever want to think about. This type of flood would devastate our Nanticoke fishery here in DE and in MD. Homes would be taken and bridges would be destroyed. All the stars would really have to align, but when you think about it; haven't they already?
Now the scenario I would prefer, though it would still slow down fishing, is none the less the least destructive. If the temperatures warm and cool for a period long enough to melt the snow gradually, we would see water temps staying cold for a much longer into the spring. This could put an arrest on spawning untill much later in the season than a more typical occurring spawn. I would also expect to see post spawn patterns be a little off as well. And when I say "off" that could go either way if you think about it. The fish are on a timer. They only have the length of the growing season to spawn, feed and grow fat to prepare for the cold winter. So in theory, if the fish know they are a little behind schedule because the water was a little late to warm up, they know that. It could cause a big blow up of activity after they finally do get to spit the eggs out. But Bob, the fish wouldn't know the difference if the water stays in winter mode for longer into spring right? No. That is incorrect. Anyone with seasonal depression knows that this syndrome runs on the great clock in the sky. The sun. So as the days get longer but the water temps stay cold enough from snow melt to put stop to spawning, believe me SON! The fish know it!
Let's all just hope and pray that the temporarily impassable roads are the worst we get from all this snow fall. I would really hate to see this come around to bite us in the rear later down the road with drastic consequence. This has happened in other parts of the country where it took years to rebuild top notch fisheries from terrible floods. Right now as the snow continues to mount, it's impossible to say how it will all go away but one sure bet is that it will. Let us just hope that when it does, it's in a calm manner.
Saturday, December 19, 2009
Zillion Series Gets A Zillion Stars
Since I have been fishing, which has been since I was about five, I have used all different kinds of reels and other gear. Some good, some bad. Some durable, some fragile. Before I started bass fishing as my primary mode of fishing, I didn't like to buy really expensive gear. I was fishing, at the most, 2 to 3 times a month and you do not need high end rods and reels to catch big carp and catfish. I don't have to tell you die hards out there that good gear comes with a not so good price. When you dive into the realm of catching bass on a maximized, consistent basis, the better your gear, the better your results. I remember a strange affection for carp fishing I had in my teenage years. I went out and bought a pretty cheap ultra light combo with tiny 6 pound test line and started casting night crawlers and corn, out to the huge carp in the lake I lived on as a young man. What addicted me was what would transpire after hooking up on a humongous fish. The fights would last so long and a lot of the time, the fish would just snap the line before I could ever get a chance give it the initial reel down. What never occurred to me then was that fishing for bass would be twice the vigor.
Now days I can't afford the line twist, payout, laggy drag systems of cheaper reels. When my money is on the line, I want the best to be in control of my line. In my search for the best [I could afford] I found the Daiwa Zillion series. These reels offer up the best all around performance for the money, in any reel I have ever seen. Just holding these reels, cranking the handle, spinning the spool, you can just feel the quality. The power in one turn is amazing which translates to better control of your fish, in a big fight. The drag reacts precisely and is adjustable the same using a star type knob behind the cranking handle. Another wonderful attribute is that they come in different speeds. The 4.3:1 Crazy Cranker is great for medium to deep diving crankbaits. The slow speed does not allow an over speed retrieve and gets the lure down to it's running depth faster. The 6.3:1 is a time honored classic, great for general application. And the 7.1:1 for burning buzzbaits and rolling spinnerbaits. Recently released for all you saltwater guys and gals is the Zillion Coastal. Basically, it's a 7.3:1, corrosion resistant, saltwater reel that is just perfect for all kinds of inshore species. It's a tiny bit heavier than the freshwater versions but the trade off is null in comparison. If you are in the market for good gear, these are the reels you should look at.
Monday, November 23, 2009
Why We Write
For some anglers, fishing is enough. Getting up and making it to the ramp just as the sun starts to rise and untying from the dock to try a new spot, is just enough to keep them reeling. But in my own mind, what's the bother if you don't tell about it? Well, maybe not everything but enough to brag... or in my case complain about falling short.
Some get after me about writing. I divulge to much about the proprietorship of "secret" spots or techniques. My simple opinion is, if it's not the day before a tournament then there is no conflict. If I am telling other competitors where I am going to fish the in the days prior to competition, that's just stupid. But if I talk about an area totally unrelated to an event or after the event is over, no damage done. Guys can be stingy that way. They don't share any information, anytime. My stance is that if I throw a bone once in a while, I'll get one back when I really need it. I notice a lot of anglers make the mistake of thinking they can just do it all on their own. Nothing I have ever accomplished has been done solely off of a hunch. All done by educated decisions made from things I have learned from other people in some form or another. For those who keep tight lips sealed, my secrets will stay just that... a secret (from you).
I also write because it helps me remember things I have done. Things that worked, and all the stuff that didn't work. All of it is so very important to keep for later reference. If you are fishing to do what I am trying to do, then you are fishing enough to forget plenty of what you have done wrong in the past, to make the same mistake twice; or pass up a great opportunity to use a killer technique you stumbled upon. Don't forget about bragging rights too. I can tell you from personal experience that getting my tail whipped at the scales leaves me wishing I could repay the favor someday. Retribution does happen on the rare occasion and when it does, I let the world know it by posting it here. I guess you could say it lifts my spirits to keep me fishing. Otherwise I would have curled up in some corner of my house and quit by now. So as for good advice for the mediocre anglers among truly skilled anglers getting the short end more often than not; don't give in, keep on pressing. And when you get the goods on tournament day, you need to reward yourself. It's okay to brag about yourself, especially when you have managed to fare well or even win in an event you know you are the underdog in. Rewarding yourself in these situations, to me, is imperative to future success in a mental capacity.
Don't go overboard with it. If you know my columns well, then you know I am moderate with my writing and I never bash others. Talking smack in writing can sometimes be taken the wrong way, and if you aim to be vindictive, you may find yourself a target out on the water later down the road. Say enough to talk yourself up and gain confidence in you and that's as far as you need to go. Extra banter about how bad Joe Bragger did, does absolutely nothing but start battles. You are already battling the fish. Why create yet another opposing force?
In this sport, you are your own coach, which is unique to bass fishing. You have to be supportive of yourself at the same time being realistic with a good sense of sportsmanship. If you boil it down, this is what writing is all about for me. It reminds me of dos and do nots. So I guess you could say it's more for me that it is for the people that read. Although I suppose others could gather from what I know or think. But don't take my writing for it. Try it yourself.
Some get after me about writing. I divulge to much about the proprietorship of "secret" spots or techniques. My simple opinion is, if it's not the day before a tournament then there is no conflict. If I am telling other competitors where I am going to fish the in the days prior to competition, that's just stupid. But if I talk about an area totally unrelated to an event or after the event is over, no damage done. Guys can be stingy that way. They don't share any information, anytime. My stance is that if I throw a bone once in a while, I'll get one back when I really need it. I notice a lot of anglers make the mistake of thinking they can just do it all on their own. Nothing I have ever accomplished has been done solely off of a hunch. All done by educated decisions made from things I have learned from other people in some form or another. For those who keep tight lips sealed, my secrets will stay just that... a secret (from you).
I also write because it helps me remember things I have done. Things that worked, and all the stuff that didn't work. All of it is so very important to keep for later reference. If you are fishing to do what I am trying to do, then you are fishing enough to forget plenty of what you have done wrong in the past, to make the same mistake twice; or pass up a great opportunity to use a killer technique you stumbled upon. Don't forget about bragging rights too. I can tell you from personal experience that getting my tail whipped at the scales leaves me wishing I could repay the favor someday. Retribution does happen on the rare occasion and when it does, I let the world know it by posting it here. I guess you could say it lifts my spirits to keep me fishing. Otherwise I would have curled up in some corner of my house and quit by now. So as for good advice for the mediocre anglers among truly skilled anglers getting the short end more often than not; don't give in, keep on pressing. And when you get the goods on tournament day, you need to reward yourself. It's okay to brag about yourself, especially when you have managed to fare well or even win in an event you know you are the underdog in. Rewarding yourself in these situations, to me, is imperative to future success in a mental capacity.
Don't go overboard with it. If you know my columns well, then you know I am moderate with my writing and I never bash others. Talking smack in writing can sometimes be taken the wrong way, and if you aim to be vindictive, you may find yourself a target out on the water later down the road. Say enough to talk yourself up and gain confidence in you and that's as far as you need to go. Extra banter about how bad Joe Bragger did, does absolutely nothing but start battles. You are already battling the fish. Why create yet another opposing force?
In this sport, you are your own coach, which is unique to bass fishing. You have to be supportive of yourself at the same time being realistic with a good sense of sportsmanship. If you boil it down, this is what writing is all about for me. It reminds me of dos and do nots. So I guess you could say it's more for me that it is for the people that read. Although I suppose others could gather from what I know or think. But don't take my writing for it. Try it yourself.
Monday, November 2, 2009
Nanticoke Fishing Reprort for the Week of 11/1/2009
Well everybody, here is what I promised you. A weekly Nanticoke fishing report. As long as my guys keep giving me updates every week, I will post this info (though general) on this here blog on Mondays. Enjoy!
Weather Forecast: http://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?lat=38.633868836177584&lon=-75.61675071716308&site=phi&smap=1&marine=1&unit=0&lg=en
Tides:
Tides.Info: Tide Predictions for Sharptown, Nanticoke River, Maryland
Current Water Temperatures: Upper stretches of both branches hovering in the low 60's while cooling at night. Main portions of the river in the high 50's and falling daily with consistent rain and wind. Broad Creek temps around 63 degrees with temps in Marshy Hope slightly higher at 64.
The catching seems a little tough lately with the windy and rainy conditions, however the fishing has not slacked off at least until Saturday. I went out with my son last Monday and the bass seemed to like a TX rigged ribbontail, but the bite was light. You had to really be paying attention. I was also scrounging around for some spots for a few hours on Saturday and I noticed the boat traffic had slowed down a lot since Monday. I tried my luck up-river and found some fish stuck on wood and playing very close submerged solids that you could not see with the water so high like it was. Crankbaits have helped me find this kind of stuff, though the fish don't want to take it. So I follow up with a soft plastic on the structure I find with the crankbait. I predict with all the precip we will be getting, the water temps will continue to fall and presentations will need to become slower and slower. But the feed bag will stay on. We'll see!
Others I chatted with who had fished this week claimed success with shakeyheads in skinny creeks and metallic colored lipless crankbaits on your steeper drops, when the current let off a little.
Weather Forecast: http://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?lat=38.633868836177584&lon=-75.61675071716308&site=phi&smap=1&marine=1&unit=0&lg=en
Tides:
Tides.Info: Tide Predictions for Sharptown, Nanticoke River, Maryland
Current Water Temperatures: Upper stretches of both branches hovering in the low 60's while cooling at night. Main portions of the river in the high 50's and falling daily with consistent rain and wind. Broad Creek temps around 63 degrees with temps in Marshy Hope slightly higher at 64.
The catching seems a little tough lately with the windy and rainy conditions, however the fishing has not slacked off at least until Saturday. I went out with my son last Monday and the bass seemed to like a TX rigged ribbontail, but the bite was light. You had to really be paying attention. I was also scrounging around for some spots for a few hours on Saturday and I noticed the boat traffic had slowed down a lot since Monday. I tried my luck up-river and found some fish stuck on wood and playing very close submerged solids that you could not see with the water so high like it was. Crankbaits have helped me find this kind of stuff, though the fish don't want to take it. So I follow up with a soft plastic on the structure I find with the crankbait. I predict with all the precip we will be getting, the water temps will continue to fall and presentations will need to become slower and slower. But the feed bag will stay on. We'll see!
Others I chatted with who had fished this week claimed success with shakeyheads in skinny creeks and metallic colored lipless crankbaits on your steeper drops, when the current let off a little.
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Season's End
I have to say, not a bad finish for my first full season on the ESB trail. I finished 4th overall in points and fished the State Championship Tournament, pulling 40th in my first as a co-angler. Now that it is all said and done, I can think back on different things that could use some change, and the other things that worked out for me and build on that to improve for the 2010 season which is already well under way.
Starting with the State Championships, I had no idea. I'll just say that. When you are so used to being in control of your own boat. Having first shot on new water and fishing at your pace, and then all that is taken away and you are no longer in control, you have to adjust to a different pace. Quite possibly, you may end up changing your entire style. All this on tournament day; for me it spelled total disaster. I did what I could to hold on and not zero each day, which I didn't. But I think mentally, that was the goal I eventually set for myself. "Just don't zero. Whatever you do." And that attitude was not going to get me anywhere beyond 40th place.
Things I would do differently now: For one, I would be out there learning the ropes of being a co-angler before tournament day. If you have never really fished in the back, you better learn how it works way before you go out with money on the line. Essentially, you are competing, knowing you have a distinct handicap from all the other anglers out on the water on the front of a boat. These are learning experiences only learned through trial and error. So for those of you that are new to the sport, my advice to you is this. Expose yourself to as many situations you can present to yourself. Get the experience of being in different scenarios so that when it occurs again, you be ready to answer the call by using the last experience as a gauge.
Having already kicked off the 2010 season at Chesapeake Bay, the struggle to get and stay on top is unrelenting. Out of the old and right into the new. No break yet, not until January. The tournament last Saturday [a complete train wreck on my part] and again, another learning experience. Knowledge of this fishery is key to any kind of success. You just can't go there and slay the bass without pre-meditated planning of your game plan. I had a game plan, but too much of it depended on game time decisions that were more like guesses than sound, educated decisions. The weather for the day was snotty. Gale winds up to 30 mph, rain on and off and high water all day. The bay was inaccessible and dangerous so I opted not to attempt a cross over to the Susquehanna river. It was off limits anyway due to the weather. My game time [guess] was made and I B lined it to Lloyd's Creek. Within, there was a grassy cove with a wooded shoreline and it was heavily shielded from the high wind by way of a towering cliff. I thought to myself "At some point in the day, the fish here will bite." I would run the shore line with a ribbon-tail worm and a lipless crankbait, then at the end, switch sides and cover the edge of the grass bed with a beaver tail pegged to a 1 ounce weight to punch it through the grass. I had the whole area to myself all day long; and all day long I went back and forth stubbornly with the same tactic waiting for the bait switch to activate. Never even had a bite!
On an even more horrible note, as the wind picked up more and more, the gusting bursts of wind started to penetrate my area intermittently. Just fishing, minding my own business I just happened to look over an witness on of my $650 rod/reel combos get inched a little to far off the side of my gunwale and it went in. My heart instantly shattered to pieces and I leaped back to the driver's seat to set a man-overboard marker. For the next hour and a half or more, I would try to no avail to hook up on my sunken treasure. Surely lost forever I gave up on it and returned to the the ramp hopelessly defeated by those Chesapeake bass. My fellow club members can tell you, I was about as angry as a man can get. No fish and down 1 $650 rod plus the cost of gas. Total LOSS all around on the day not to mention the 2 $10 crankbaits I will have to replace. I vowed never to return to fish and events of any kind on this particular body of water. An unrealistic threat, but at the time felt good to say. Obviously that was a threat I can't keep as that is one of the most popular tournament waters in this area.
On my way back home I began to contemplate the possibilities of getting my combo back out of the water. At the time, I had not had enough weight to keep a hook plastered to the bottom, so I never had a real chance of getting back that day. I could go back the next day, but if the current moves it I'll never find it. I concluded that for $650 it was worth going back with the right tools to try and get it back. My ramp pass was good for the next day so why not give it a shot.
I went back first thing in the morning with a big 3 oz. sinker and a big treble hook. I tied it on and affixed the sinker/barge anchor about an inch up the line from the hook. My MOB marker was still active leading me straight to the site of my lost crew member. On arrival I used the little bit of current and wind to drag the rig across the bottom. It only took about 10 or 11 passes and I could tell I had snagged an object of some kind. I noticed I was about 12 feet from my marker so I was not all that excited but when it surfaced, sure enough I was rewarded with one recovered rod and reel. Definition of near disaster.
Starting with the State Championships, I had no idea. I'll just say that. When you are so used to being in control of your own boat. Having first shot on new water and fishing at your pace, and then all that is taken away and you are no longer in control, you have to adjust to a different pace. Quite possibly, you may end up changing your entire style. All this on tournament day; for me it spelled total disaster. I did what I could to hold on and not zero each day, which I didn't. But I think mentally, that was the goal I eventually set for myself. "Just don't zero. Whatever you do." And that attitude was not going to get me anywhere beyond 40th place.
Things I would do differently now: For one, I would be out there learning the ropes of being a co-angler before tournament day. If you have never really fished in the back, you better learn how it works way before you go out with money on the line. Essentially, you are competing, knowing you have a distinct handicap from all the other anglers out on the water on the front of a boat. These are learning experiences only learned through trial and error. So for those of you that are new to the sport, my advice to you is this. Expose yourself to as many situations you can present to yourself. Get the experience of being in different scenarios so that when it occurs again, you be ready to answer the call by using the last experience as a gauge.
Having already kicked off the 2010 season at Chesapeake Bay, the struggle to get and stay on top is unrelenting. Out of the old and right into the new. No break yet, not until January. The tournament last Saturday [a complete train wreck on my part] and again, another learning experience. Knowledge of this fishery is key to any kind of success. You just can't go there and slay the bass without pre-meditated planning of your game plan. I had a game plan, but too much of it depended on game time decisions that were more like guesses than sound, educated decisions. The weather for the day was snotty. Gale winds up to 30 mph, rain on and off and high water all day. The bay was inaccessible and dangerous so I opted not to attempt a cross over to the Susquehanna river. It was off limits anyway due to the weather. My game time [guess] was made and I B lined it to Lloyd's Creek. Within, there was a grassy cove with a wooded shoreline and it was heavily shielded from the high wind by way of a towering cliff. I thought to myself "At some point in the day, the fish here will bite." I would run the shore line with a ribbon-tail worm and a lipless crankbait, then at the end, switch sides and cover the edge of the grass bed with a beaver tail pegged to a 1 ounce weight to punch it through the grass. I had the whole area to myself all day long; and all day long I went back and forth stubbornly with the same tactic waiting for the bait switch to activate. Never even had a bite!
On an even more horrible note, as the wind picked up more and more, the gusting bursts of wind started to penetrate my area intermittently. Just fishing, minding my own business I just happened to look over an witness on of my $650 rod/reel combos get inched a little to far off the side of my gunwale and it went in. My heart instantly shattered to pieces and I leaped back to the driver's seat to set a man-overboard marker. For the next hour and a half or more, I would try to no avail to hook up on my sunken treasure. Surely lost forever I gave up on it and returned to the the ramp hopelessly defeated by those Chesapeake bass. My fellow club members can tell you, I was about as angry as a man can get. No fish and down 1 $650 rod plus the cost of gas. Total LOSS all around on the day not to mention the 2 $10 crankbaits I will have to replace. I vowed never to return to fish and events of any kind on this particular body of water. An unrealistic threat, but at the time felt good to say. Obviously that was a threat I can't keep as that is one of the most popular tournament waters in this area.
On my way back home I began to contemplate the possibilities of getting my combo back out of the water. At the time, I had not had enough weight to keep a hook plastered to the bottom, so I never had a real chance of getting back that day. I could go back the next day, but if the current moves it I'll never find it. I concluded that for $650 it was worth going back with the right tools to try and get it back. My ramp pass was good for the next day so why not give it a shot.
I went back first thing in the morning with a big 3 oz. sinker and a big treble hook. I tied it on and affixed the sinker/barge anchor about an inch up the line from the hook. My MOB marker was still active leading me straight to the site of my lost crew member. On arrival I used the little bit of current and wind to drag the rig across the bottom. It only took about 10 or 11 passes and I could tell I had snagged an object of some kind. I noticed I was about 12 feet from my marker so I was not all that excited but when it surfaced, sure enough I was rewarded with one recovered rod and reel. Definition of near disaster.
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