How It All Started.

Passion starts somewhere.  A little flicker of a glowing ember in a darkened void yearning to be stoked into a flame and, eventually, a fire.

I don't remember if it was Wired2Fish or Bass Brigade that had asked the question on their Facebook page asking when you got passionate about bass fishing.  I didn't answer the question then, but I knew when.  Exactly.

I remember my first largemouth like it was yesterday.  Every major holiday weekend, my family, grandparents, uncle and aunt, and some friends would spend time at a campground up north in between Osakis and Alexandria in Minnesota.  I was eight years old and it was 4th of July weekend.  We had just finished launching the boat and getting it back to the public dock, only to find that it was full.  Thankfully, one of the permanent campers, Ted, was kind enough to let us use his dock

I was heading down to the boat later that afternoon to fish for pannies, because that's what eight year olds did on the dock.  We fished for sunfish.  I was sitting there having a fine time watching that red and white bobber float around in my little piece of water and the lack of a bite naturally led to me being curious about other things.  That's when I saw him.  A largemouth bass tucked underneath the dock that I was sitting next to, not a foot and a half away from me.  I reeled in my rig and started digging around in the tackle box that my Grandfather had given me and put on a round head jig and a mangled old cream colored plastic worm.

When I finished all this, I looked again and the bass was gone, I must have spooked him with all the racket I was making.  Well ok then.  I went back to the camper for supper and came back the next day.  There he was again.  So I dropped the bait right in front of him, and I mean inches.  Nothing.  I shook it, moved it, whatever.  Nothing.  Just when I had given up, WAM!  Scared the hell out of me and I nearly dropped my rod in the lake!  But he wasn't hooked.  I kept this up for a little longer, replaying the same situation except this time I got him.  I don't know how big he was, but when you're eight, everything is huge.  But it was fun to catch him! 

This isn't where my passion started though.  Not yet, no, this was just the ember.  Fast forward 18 years.

I married my best friend, Jess, in 2005.  In 2007, we were lucky enough to have the resources and time to travel to Louisiana to spend Christmas and New Years with much of her side of the family.  I was told "bring your fishing pole", so I did.  One of my wife's uncle and aunt's have a little place on one of the lakes near Vacherie that is tucked into a network of canals.  The first thing that was truly weird to me is that it was the weekend after Christmas, and I was fishing.  In open water.  I'm from Minnesota, and most of us spend our winters staring down a hole in the ice wondering how we can snag the the six pack we just kicked through the hole!

The afternoon we arrived was hot and sticky.  I've never felt humidity like that.  Holy crap!  We tied on 1/4 oz. beetlspin type baits.  We caught a few the first day, but not many.  A cold front had come through overnight and our second day was "cold".  But the bite was just on fire.  The fish were right up against the wooden retaining walls looking for warmth, but they were willing to chase your bait down.  On one of my last retrieves, I had bruiser follow just behind.  Immediately I repeat my cast a few more times, hoping to coax a hit but with no luck.  That's fine, I'll be sure to find him again next time we're down.  But it sure would have been nice to see him up close.

That is when my passion flickered from an ember, to a flame.  A weekend spent walking the shoreline along a canal in Louisiana.

Most Productive of 2010.

Here in MN, most of our water is now locked underneath 6+ inches of ice.  It's time to reflect on the year that is now in the books and to look forward to what's to come once the water thaws and bass season reopens in May. 

This year, because of my penchant for screwing around with different baits and presentations, I fished a little bit of everything.  Frogs, poppers, cranks, spinnerbaits, plastics, jigs, just about everything.  But one stood out as my top producer this year that really surprised me.

The Lake Fork Ring Fry, was by far my top bait.  I say it surprised me because I've never felt very confident with plastics before.  I've always been a spinnerbait guy.  Always.  Period.  I haven't used the Ring Fry until this year and I think that the pungent scent of the bait (it stinks garlicky good though) and the ribbed body made the difference between this and the other plastics I've fished.

I was able to use it in a variety of ways, but my two most common was as a weightless worm on a 4/0 EWG hook and the other, of course, was wacky rigged.  What really caught my attention with the wacky rig was when I popped it, I could feel the bait vibrate, which was huge for me because the water that I fished the most could be called very stained on its best day.  I think that is also the reason it outfished the Senko.

Another thing I noticed in clearer water is that the fall rate was a little bit slower, but the "wiggle" was a little bit faster compared to the Senko.  I'm not sure how much of a difference that really made, but add the vibration from popping it off the bottom and I've seen fish come from 20 yards away to eat the thing while sight fishing in the spring.

One thing I'm already thinking about for next year is giving this drop shot rig a try with this bait.  I think it would make an interesting combination.

Shimano Caenan.

I received this reel a week ago Saturday and I have been itching to spool this thing up and let 'er rip.  Yesterday, in spite of a blizzard and 16" of snow in the backyard, I took a little time give it a go.

First the specs:

It's got a 6.5:1 gear ratio so it'll likely be a general work horse reel for me, though I plan to match it up with my crankbait rod to start next season and we'll go from there.
7 bearings which are smooth out of the box.
Quickfire II Clutch Bar which will be odd to me because having used the Abu Garcia Revo, I'm not used to having half a clutch bar.
The reel is aluminum and light at 7.2oz.


Now for the performance:

The first thing I noticed is the single line feed on the spool, dead center. Being my first Shimano reel, I'm not sure if that's a standard thing or what, but I'm used to dual line feeds on either side of the spool, which can make things a tad messy at times.  Anyway, I liked that since it made it easy to get things going and I had her spooled up in a few minutes.  I paired the reel up with a 6'6" Medium action rod and a 1/4oz casting plug.


Once it came time to brave the elements, and I mean the word brave to every extent reasonably allowable, I adjusted the tension and let 'er rip.  And that she did, right into my neighbors tree about 100 feet away bucking a 16mph head wind the entire way.  So making long casts with light baits shouldn't be an issue with this reel. 

Next I tried pitching, which is a real challenge in 16" of white stuff, but we made it.  Again, with the 1/4oz plug the reel sang perfect.

The reel is comfortable to handle, being both light and super easy to fit in the palm.  The EVA grips are very comfortable compared to the grips on my Revo STX which can be kind of a pain to work with after a while, especially if they get a little wet.

As for the half clutch bar I mentioned earlier, I never knew the difference.


Overall, I have no complaints with the reel and I'm looking forward to some open water next May so I can give it the real workout.  Until then, she'll be back in the box.  You can tell that Shimano took their time with this reel and made sure they got it right the first time.  And at $89, it's the perfect price for the Casual Basser.

To Get Things Started...

To get things started, I'm just going to share a few links to blogs and sites that I follow actively:

Rich Lindgren- A local MN basser, he's established in the MN tourny scene. Lots of info if your looking to step up your game. Here. He also has a blog at Versus here.

Tyler Brinks- A Florida guy, he is also a tourny guy with a lot of good info. He's opened my eyes to different baits and techniques. Here.

Wired2Fish.com- This site is a must. It's got news, blog articles, vids. You name it, they've got it.

Bass Parade- They started this blog earlier this year and it has got to be one of the most entertaining basser blogs out there.

Facts Of Fishing- While I've never seen his show on TV (no cable), this wouldn't be a true list of blogs and sites to see if Dave Mercer weren't on it. He'll outfish you and outwit you, just check out one of his FYI vids, and, well... Look at the rest too when you get done cleaning up coffee you spilled during your laughing fit.