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I have spent many years fishing for all kinds of fish;
everything from crappie, brim, catfish and even carp. But none
compare to my love for a bass. My grandfather and my uncles took
us kids fishing on Saturday almost every week. My four brothers
and my little sister weren’t quite into fishing as much as I
was. I thought nothing was better than sitting with my family
enjoying all that God had created.
I would hear
stories of these monster fish being caught, but had never seen
one myself. I am now 37 years old and love the outdoors as much,
if not more, than I did as a child sitting there with my grandpa
and uncles fishing. Mother nature has so much to offer and her
wonders never cease to amaze me.
My husband
and I now fish with our kids every chance we get. My husband
Johnny is the one I thank for helping me find my new one true
love; bass fishing. I use to fish with an old open face reel and
whatever rod I could find. Bait wasn’t an issue either; just
good ole fashion worms worked every time. Now I am very picky
about my tackle. I went from an open-faced reel to a bait
caster, and my rods are usually a 6 to 7 foot Daiwa with 10 to
15 lb. test. I prefer monofilament line or braid.
The
knowledge my husband has passed on to me helped me land the
biggest fish of my life. And I continue to learn from other
anglers and tournament directors how the bass world works.
The last
tournament my husband fished was at High Rock Lake in North
Carolina. I often accompany him on his weekend tournaments. I’m
usually there for moral support and to help in any way I
possibly can. By doing so I have learned a lot about how the
tour works. But this one particular tournament weekend they were
short one non-boater and that meant one boater going home
without getting to fish. Lisa, the tournament director, had
asked if anyone knew someone that would be willing to ride along
as an observer so that this angler could fish. So, after the
tournament briefing, I asked my husband if he thought it would
be alright for me to go as an observer. And of course his answer
was a resounding, “of course honey”!
After the
meeting I approached Lisa and volunteered to be an observer. She
was very grateful and then she informed me that I could fish
with my angler for free. Even though my catch didn’t count for
any points or money, I would be out there with the big dogs
fishing and seeing how the tournaments worked, first hand. She
then introduced me to my angler “Jamie”. He was a very polite
and knowledgeable young man and eager to teach me
anything I wanted to know about bass fishing.
Our day
began at 5:30 am. We went through inspection and then the thrill
began. See, I had never even been on a bass boat before, so this
was a totally new experience for me all around. When Jamie and I
were past the no wake zone he hit the throttle and “Oh My God “!
The thrill
of the boat taking off with the front of the boat appearing to
be straight up in the air. Then we got on plane and the boat
seemed to be gliding across the water like it was floating on
glass. We then headed to a secret spot Jamie had been telling me
about earlier that morning. It was a river area right off the
largest part of the lake. He pulled into the cove and the
excitement began. Jamie was awesome! I thought my curiosity and
all my question asking while he was fishing would annoy him, but
to my surprise he was very eager to discuss fishing with me. He
was also surprised to hear some of what I already knew. He said
to me,” You actually are very knowledgeable.”
He was
telling me all about his preferences of baits, rod and reel
combos and how he liked to fish them. As we talked I realized
that I was fishing and actually catching fish without even
missing a beat. I didn’t catch any fish as big as Jamie’s, but I
was catching all the same. I decided to set back and take a
break from fishing and talk more with him about bass fishing.
I’ve used a
lot of baits; such as: worms, jigs, crank baits, spinner baits
and buzz baits, but never even considered a creature bait;
something I knew absolutely nothing about. So, Jamie schooled me
on how and what to do with creature baits. I was amazed to find
out just how versatile they could be. He even told me you could
use the smaller creature baits as jig trailers. Wow, I love
fishing with jigs.
After he had
caught several fish and put them in the live wells we moved on
to dock fishing; another of my favorites. He asked me what I
normally use fishing docks and I responded with “jigs of
course”. He laughed and then started schooling me some more. I
asked Jamie why he wasn’t fishing the newly constructed docks?
He then explained to me that since they use treated lumber to
build them that bass won’t go near them because of the chemicals
they release. He then proceeded to tell me that’s why he fishes
old dilapidated docks. Sure enough he was right. We caught
nothing on the new docks and we were getting hits all over the
place around the older docks.
Soon it was
time to get back for weigh-in. As usual I helped with the weigh
in process to help it go faster and smoother so that the fish
would not be anymore stressed than could be helped.
This may
sound strange to some folks but I was rooting for Jamie to win
the boater side and at the same time rooting for my husband to
win the non-boater side. At this point these were the two men
that had shared all their knowledge and experience with me, so
that I too would know what bass fishing is all about. They don’t
look at me as a competitor or a female trying to take over a
man’s sport. They just see someone very eager to learn all she
can about bass fishing.
I learned a
lot form both of these men, but there is one man I owe it all
to; my grandfather, for taking me fishing for the very first
time and teaching me that it doesn’t matter what color, race,
religion or sex we are… that out here in mother nature, we are
all equal.
Because of
all of this, I am now going to fish the Bassmaster Weekend
Series in 2008 along with my husband. We can only hope that the
knowledge we pass on will have as big of an impact on a new
fisher-person as these men did on me. |