New Page 1

It was 1986. As we trolled onto the freshly flooded field next to the Texas River, Chris my partner in a B.A.S.S. tournament we entered picked up his second fish and lost two others. He looked over at me as I reeled in my floating rapala, "You’d better tie a buzz bait on if you want to catch any fish". "Oh, is that what you’re using" I replied. Back then I had never used a buzz bait and after looking at it I couldn’t believe a fish would eat such a thing. But Chris was slamming keepers on it and I had to try it. He let me use one of his and I caught six fish that day on it. Several buzz baits have been with me on every trip since.

There are few other exciting methods of fishing than catching them on the top. When a fish pounds a top water bait it stops your heart. They’re also more interesting baits to fish then submerged baits. You watch the bait the entire time you’re reeling it up. When the fish hits the lure you see the fish, hear the fish and feel the fish. If you don’t feel it, don’t set the hook.

That’s an important statement. Fishing top water baits require a patient fisherman. It’s hard for a lot of people to deal with. With all the excitement going on, you have to wait until the fish pulls back, than set the hook. If you can’t, you had better have a trailer hook on your lure.

One such bait is the "buzz bait." It resembles that of an in-line spinner bait body with an egg beater type blade. Its best run as high as you can get it on the top of the water and makes a nice wake. It needs to be thrown with a bait cast reel for optimum accuracy. They come in sizes ranging from an eighth once up to a half ounce, with the quarter once being most popular. Size can be a factor. I like using the bigger buzz baits down south in places such as Texas but in my home state of Wisconsin I rarely use bigger then a quarter once. Colors vary as in all spinner baits. My favorites include yellow, white and chartreuse. They do make double bladed buzz baits but that’s simply too much racket for me. This bait should almost always be used with a trailer hook to prevent losing the fish by yanking it out of his mouth before he’s hooked.

The buzz bait is being used more and more in the north. I don’t know if a buzz bait will catch many more fish then a spinner bait would on a given day but I do know the buzz bait is a lot more fun to throw and it generally produces only keeper bass. The buzz bait is a noisy bait causing bass to either strike it out of anger or hunger. Down south the Bass is the dominant fish and will strike bigger and noisier baits then in the north. The northern bass has to worry about walleyes, northern pike and muskies. That’s why the southern bass are more aggressive towards baits such as the buzz bait. But if your fishing up north, like Wisconsin, and your running the bait past a fish that’s never seen it and maybe there’s a little chop on the water tuning the bait down a bit, he might just strike it.

Buzz baits are big fish baits. A friend of mine that fishes bass tournaments down south used to tell me "If I get anything on this buzz its going to be a good one". And it usually was.

I have caught some little tough guys on the buzz but the majority of bass I have caught on it were legal fish. A couple five pounders succumb to it in a fifty acre lake close to my house not long ago. A five pound bass in Wisconsin is a nice fish. Two of them will win most tournaments.

I like to throw a buzz early in the morning when there is a light chop of an inch or less in fairly shallow water. Throwing them in a newly flooded area is deadly. The fish in flooded areas are there for one reason, food.

I run them fast. About three quarters full speed on a high ratio reel. You need to keep the bait high. As soon as the buzz bait hits the water I stop the spool with my thumb, lift the rod and crank it in.

Make a little noise and have some fun, throw the buzz.

spinner bait

The Spinner bait

By Rick Spoerl

Some lures look like small bait fish some look like worms, frogs or bugs but the bobby pin spinner bait looks like, well, nothing really. The in-line spinner bait while being retrieved does resemble a minnow but this article will focus on the bobby pin spinner bait which doesn’t really look like anything. This is the spinner that’s in the shape of a V with the hook on the bottom wire and the blades on the top. The first time I saw someone fishing a bobby pin type spinner bait was in the mid eighties. A friend of mine that fished many a bass tournament asked me if I’d like to go fishing. New to the Fort Worth Texas area and boat less I agreed. I had heard many stories of big bass in Texas and was excited to fish.

I grabbed my tackle box filled with plastic worms, lazy iks, mepps in-line spinners and rapala’s and met Chris at his house.

We launched at a nearby lake. As Chris dropped the troll motor and slowly crept up to the first shoreline we would fish, he gave me kind of a funny look as I tied on a number two mepps aglia. Than I looked at him kind of funny when he brought out a shimano bait casting rod with a funky looking yellow bait dangling from the line. "What’s that?" I asked Chris. "A spinner bait" he replied. "Oh, that’s what I have on too." I told him. Mine of coarse being an in-line spinner. "Haven’t you ever used one of these?" Chris asked. "Uh, no." I replied. He went on to tell me it was his favorite bait in shallow weedy water.

Later that morning I found out why. Chris boated thirteen bass that morning. He was using a three eighth ounce yellow spinner bait with two chrome colorado blades. We were fishing a shallow shoreline in two to four feet of water. The water was brown with some scattered weeds. I on the other hand was spending more time cleaning weeds off my bait than fishing.

Since my early spinner bait education I’ve studied them and they have become my favorite bait. There is rarely an occasion I go fishing and don’t throw one of my spinner baits. And it’s usually my first lure out of the box. I use it to locate some active fish and then perhaps cover the area more precise with a slower bait. When thrown with a bait cast reel you can become deadly accurate. I remember seeing Jimmy Houston in his younger years tossing the spinner baits in coffee cans a good thirty to forty feet away.

The bulk of them are made from stainless steel wire although titanium spinner baits are becoming more popular. They are also more expensive. They don’t bend like a stainless but they do break. The manufacturers have been great as far as replacing broken titanium spinner baits. Common sizes are three eighths of an ounce and quarter ounce.

They also come with different type blades attached. They have one, two and even three blade styles. One or two blades are common. The shapes of blades are different too. They have long thin blades called willow leaf blades and fat blades referred to as colorado blades. They also have blades in between both extremes. The mepps company makes such a blade called a french blade. The colorado blades create more vibration but the thin willow leaf blades go through weeds better. The fat blades will spin with the slowest retrieve and the thinner blades must be moving at a pretty good clip to give off the required vibration. The blades also come in different colors but the chrome and brass are the most popular. You can provide the color on the skirt but stick with flash on the blades. I pretty much stick with the chrome blades on clear days and gold or brass blades on cloudy days. I have caught fish on both types in nearly all weather conditions.

Skirts on spinner baits are also important. This feature usually separates the cheap spinner baits from the more expensive baits. Look for a full skirt. Tied on to the bait is best, but the tiny rubber bands that hold the skirt on are becoming the norm. Their easier to change, but wear out much quicker. Multiple colored skirts give you some additional opportunities for getting it right.

Color can make or break you at times. Down south the yellow spinner bait seemed to be everyone’s favorite. Up in Wisconsin it’s hard to beet chartreuse. White is good on sunny days but seems to attract more northern strikes. Northerns do a real number on spinner baits.

My personnel favorite is the quarter ounce model in chartreuse with double french blades.

The spinner bait is great in heavy weeds, even Lilly pads. The way the bait is designed with the hook pointed upward hidden by the bulk of the lure it captures few weeds. Spinner baits are shaped in a V; this also helps it to be nearly weed less. On some models the lead weighted end is molded to a point and that to helps in the lure picking up few weeds.

I think spinner baits work best when the fish can’t get a real good look at it. You don’t want to use it in open clear water with few weeds. That would be a place for a more realistic looking bait like a crank bait. Dirty water or weedy areas in shallows are great spots to use it. Slow rolling it and letting it drop down into pockets of weeds can work well also. I like to pound the shoreline with a spinner bait. I toss it on to the bank or close to the bank and reel it in quickly leaving a small wake behind the lure. I run the lure past logs, chunks of weeds, pier legs, rafts and other structure. I also like working shallow bays slowly pulling the spinner bait through the hydrilla and coontail. If you don’t yank the lure but just keep a consistent speed you’ll pull it right through the weeds. I have caught some nice bass running a spinner bait across the tops of Lilly pads letting it drop into small openings in the pads. If you’re using it in dirty water with few weeds you can put on a trailer hook to reduce losses from short strikes.

When a fish takes the bait it’s similar to a hit on a crank bait. The fish basically sticks itself. However, you still must rear back and set the hook through the fishes lip to prevent him from shaking off. Keep the line tight as in all lures.

Although the spinner bait looks silly it certainly works. And they’re fun to cast.

Throwing Rattlen Crankbaits

By Rick Spoerl

Years ago a thin, heavy, lipless crankbait came on the market with a black spot on its tail that rattled. The preferred color back then was chrome with black highlights. It was called the "Rattle Trap", produced by the Bill Lewis Company. Bass fisherman down south started slaying the bigmouth on these baits and soon other company’s such as Cotton Cornell and Rapala began making them. Now a days nearly every lure company that makes crankbaits makes a type of rattle bait. They come in many varieties of colors. They now also produce rattle baits with lips built on them to let the angler dig the bait up to twenty feet deep and keep it down there running it at a slow pace.

The baits create reaction strikes as well as feeding bites. Because of its susceptibility of getting hung up in the weeds its primary use was near rip rap, sand bars, gravel beds and rock ledges. Give me a little wind and some submerged rocks providing lots of oxygen and I’ll show you a Bass caught on a rattle bait. Bass do throw the bait out of their mouths occasionally when they shake coming out of the water while jumping, so you have to keep the line tight throughout the fight.

Other game fish will eat them also. Midwest and fisherman that live up-north found out that Smallies, Walleyes and Northern pike could also be caught on the baits as well as trout and salmon in Lake Michigan. The preferred colors on smallmouth bass are crayfish colored and chartreuse and orange. The walleyes seemed to prefer the chartreuse and orange colors while the trout and salmon liked the chrome with blue highlights.

They are a noisy bait that can be worked fast, slow, jigged on the bottom or just about worked anyway you want. Part of the reason is its weight. It’s a heavy bait for its size and very controllable.

The first time I used a rattle trap was down in Texas for Largemouth Bass. Every time I pulled up to a break wall I’d grab the chrome colored rattle trap with the black highlights and make a couple casts. More times than not I’d come up with a fish. If I saw a school of minnows near the surface I’d also toss the rattle trap out there and again, more times than not pick up a fish. I also picked up numerous nice stripers in Texas on the bait. I became so confident in its abilities to create strikes that it became my number two or three favorite bait. I wouldn’t think about throwing any other color than the chrome bait.

Once while on a Bear hunting trip in Canada I caught a couple nice two to three pound Smallies on the chrome colored rattle bait but only getting hits every ten to twenty casts. For the heck of it I tied on a crayfish colored rattle trap and couldn’t keep them off. It was literally a hit every cast. My friend John was casting to the same area with a different crankbait and couldn’t pick up a fish. He didn’t have any rattle baits and begged me for one of mine. I gave him one and he started nailing two to four pounders like I was. That’s when I realized that other colors do work.

The next year in Canada I tried some chartreuse colored rattle baits with lips on them and picked up several two to three pound walleyes along with an occasional northern off the rock ledges. Again, my partners didn’t have any in their tackle box and were pretty much walleye-less until I lent them one. A guide from a nearby lodge had some clients with him and stopped by our camp to see how we were doing fishing. He told us they tried using jigs tipped with minnows and leaches but weren’t having much luck. When we showed him and his clients a couple walleyes and the baits we caught them on they freaked.

So put a couple rattlen crankbaits in your tackle box and give them a try this year. You won’t be sorry.

A Fishing Line Test

By Ralph Spoerl

This is a different sort of article for the Tackle Box. Normally, I don’t "push" a particular product or even review products from the fishing world. I leave that to the real "pros." However, in this case, I’m making an exception. This is good information all of us fishermen should have.

A friend asked me to take a look at some line he was using. He handed me a box of twelve-pound Sufix Elite Gold Monofilament (I think he gave me the gold knowing my eyes aren’t what they used to be). I did some checking and found out that Sufix has incorporated a new G2 winding process into its Elite line series. They claim this will increase casting distance. I thought, "Okay, let’s give it a try." So, I loaded about 50 yards on my Quantum Energy PT (Burner) reel and attached that to a Quantum Tour Edition PT bait cast rod (seven-foot, medium-power, fast-action). My test bait was a Brovarny ¼-oz. swim-jig. I also made up the same rod-and-reel with some of the line I usually use. I’ve used that line about ten years now, but I’ve heard they’re going to a new manufacturer, so I’m keeping an open mind.

My test field is my front yard, which gives me 300 yards to cast out. I placed a marker spot about 120 feet away from myself (that’s about my normal casting distance). Okay, my reels set, spot marked… all systems are go! First, I cast with my regular line. That (as usual) hits out at about 85 feet. My second through tenth casts show me an average of between 95 and 105 feet, after some line stretch. I then tried the Sufix Elite. The first cast sailed out to about 100 feet. The second cast motored out to about 130 feet. I shot out another, grabbed my tape rule, put the rod-and-reel down, didn’t touch anything, and walked to where the line and swim-jig lay and measured just what was happening. One hundred and thirty-six feet! That means my casting distance increased about 36 feet! I completed my ten casts, finding each one to be as consistent as the first. Wow! I was impressed!

I went into the house and called my friend to let him know what was going on. He laughed and said, "That’s why I gave it to you. I knew that with your quality control background, you’d check it out to the next level." He hadn’t done what I had—he had just started throwing it out into the water. He could see it was really sailing out there.

We met the next Saturday and put the line to the real fishing test. I’m not sure if we caught more fish, but reaching way out there sure was a lot of fun! We were able to stay further away from our targets and, knowing what’s said about that, we should get more fish.

Here’s another thing… I tried this line on my finesse rigs. It didn’t seem too bad, but I did have to turn it a few times. I’ll have to do more checking on that.

Needless to say, that secret compartment in the Tackle Box marked, "Special Use," now contains Sufix Elite Monofilament.

Back Home

stick baits

Stick Baits in the Wind

By Rick Spoerl

As we pulled away from the pier on this northern Wisconsin lake we noticed the wind picking up. This lake was almost totally round and didn’t have much protection from wind. The upwind side of the lake would be the calmest but we didn’t want to fish there. We wanted to fish some small islands out in the middle of the lake. We didn’t want to anchor. We wanted to cast.

The temps were in the forties this second week of May. It was cloudy and gusts of wind at around twenty miles per hour would warrant quick casting as we would really be cruising along. A water sock would have been great to slow the drift but we were sock less.

We determined the wind direction and positioned the boat a hundred yards or so up-wind of the first island. With a little help of the nearly useless troll motor we should drift within casting distance of the island. Now, what lure to throw?

How do we determine the first bait to toss? Usually we decide this before were even on the water. But this time we were on unfamiliar fishing grounds. Ok, were drifting across a bay in depths ranging from three to fifteen feet. Although it’s early in the year the weed growth on this lake is well underway. The water is clear and water temps were in the mid fifties. I decided to use ole’ reliable, the spinner bait, a dark purple metallic color. Dark sky, dark bait right? The weeds would conceal my spinner bait just enough to make it realistic. Ideal conditions for this bait. My brother-in law Bob picked a four inch chrome stick bait to start with. I was skeptical to say the least that he would raise a fish.

We knew we were going to drift so fast that we would have to make several drifts to cover the area well. On the first drift Bob scored a nice two pound largemouth a couple smaller bass and two northerns. I connected with one small bass. Huh. The next pass Bob boated four more northerns and I was fishless. The fish were nailing that stick bait and didn’t want anything to do with my spinner bait. I tied on a four inch thunder stick bait in chartreuse and I to was now enjoying some catch and release. Bob was still catching more fish with the chrome colored stick bait so I tied on a six inch red and chrome stick bait. Then I really started slaying the fish. Both Bass and northerns couldn’t resist those baits.

What I call stick baits are shallow running (small lipped) long and thin crank baits. These lures resemble a long skinny minnow such as a northern fingerling. Popular brands are Rebel and Rapala. As far as colors go, chartreuse has worked wonders for me in Canada but than again nearly every color I’ve thrown has worked wonders in Canada. White and chrome is what really worked for us on this trip in northern Wisconsin. Four to six inch baits seemed to be the best. We could easily cast the six inch versions with our bait casting reels. We started reeling fairly fast as soon as they hit the water.

In two days we ended up boating 58 northerns, 36 bass, 6 crappies and 4 perch. It probably would have been many more had I not lost my only six inch red and chrome stick bait. Not all of the fish were caught on the stick baits, in fact the crappies, perch and the biggest bass (a four pounder) were all caught on minnows that we were using trying to catch walleyes. We never did catch any walleyes or the one pound bluegills my brother had promised us. We did however have a great time catching bass and northern on those stick baits.

All the northerns were caught on the stick baits, none over four or five pounds, but still great fun. Thirty of the bass were caught on the stick baits with most fish weighing one to two pounds. About half were legal. The only fish we kept for dinner were the crappie, perch and three or four of the northerns that were foul hooked and bled like stuck pigs. These fish would have died if released.

There were three other fishermen with us on this trip. My Dad, Brother Ryan who graciously provided the accommodations from his wife Julies Uncle, who has a beautiful house on the lake and Uncle Al. All who are seasoned fisherman. None of them used stick baits and only caught a couple fish in the two days.

I remembered this tactic of windy day stick baits and used it several times since then in southern Wisconsin. I was always successful. I never equaled the slaughter Bob and I put on those fish in northern Wisconsin but did catch both northerns as well as bass. Why does the chrome work on these cloudy days? Why does the wobble of the shallow running crank bait attract fish more than the vibration of a spinner bait? Who knows? It works for us. We can speculate about all different theories but the important thing is that it does work.

In the past I had used these baits in calm water early in the morning throwing it out, letting the ripples settle and slowly reeling it in. Most strikes I’ve had, have been while the bait was sitting still in the water. On occasion you will catch fish like this. But don’t forget to pull out those stick baits on windy, cloudy, cold days and reel um in over the tops of the weeds at half speed of your reel. You might be surprised.

Fishing Trailer Hook’s

By Rick Spoerl

As the buzz bait ripped across the shallow weed flat zipping by clusters of lily pads I here a loud "pop" and see the buzz bait disappear in a large splash of water. I lower the rod and rear up setting the hook,,,,,nothing. The line goes limp. "I lost him" I thought to myself.

After losing another 16 inch plus bass I switched to a spinner bait. Sometimes my reflexes are too quick. Using a buzz bait you have to wait until you feel the fish before setting the hook. If you don’t, you’re liable to pull the lure out of his mouth. With a spinner bait you can’t always see the fish hit the lure and you won’t prematurely set the hook.

As I began my retrieve I kept the quarter ounce spinner bait a couple inches down from the top of the water reeling fairly fast. Than I felt the tugging and quickly went for the hook set. After a couple bumps the bait again went limp. I lost him too. He must have hit the bait short. My Dad who is an amateur bass tournament angler was along on this outing and said; "Are you using a trailer hook on those baits?" "No I replied". "Why not?" my father asked. I explained to him that I wasn’t using a trailer hook because of the weeds.

I’m not surprised he asked me since I had lost a bass tournament in Texas on Lake Whitney because I kept pulling the hook out of several keepers’ mouths. I quickly learned my lesson and adapted. From than on I always used trailers in tournaments.

A trailer hook is simply a single hook of the same size as the one on the bait or close to it. It has a large knot hole (end of the hook you tie your knot to) that slips over the barb of the hook on the bait parallel to it. Usually it is held in place with a small piece of rubber like a tiny rubber band. Huh? Basically it’s another hook hanging off your baits hook. They are sold in kits at most fishing sports shops like bass pro shop, cabelas and gander mountain.

The trailer gives you an extra chance at hooking the fish. Jig fisherman trying to catch finicky walleyes were probably the first fisherman to use them. As far as bass, northern or musky fisherman are concerned in-line spinner baits and buzz baits are the primary candidates for the trailer hook.

The trailer hook can be rigged two ways. With the hook point facing up, the same as the hook on the bait or with the hook facing down. Installing the trailer with the hook facing down gives you another angle of attack so to speak. Although with the hook facing down you are more likely to pick up weeds. But fish coming up at your bait from the bottom will most likely encounter this hook first. The rubber holder on the trailer will have to be repositioned frequently to remain parallel after every cast. This is important to keep the bait swimming properly.

If you’re fishing in heavy weeds, trailers aren’t practical. The amount of time you’ll lose cleaning weeds off and getting un-stuck wont be worth it. Running the spinner bait or buzz bait with a trailer attached off the shore into dirty water with light to medium weed growth is deadly.

A lot of fisherman are tying treble trailers on the back of there crank baits also. This will catch short striking fish too but for me it’s a reel pain getting two trebles out of a northern pikes mouth much less three. I stick to trailers on jigs, spinner baits and buzz baits.

If you have quick reflexes, to quick sometimes can hurt you. Than trailer rigs on buzz baits are definitely for you. And early in the year cold water bass have a tendency to strike short, maybe just trying to scare the bait instead of eat it. By using a trailer you will catch these short strike fish.

Jig & a Pig

By Ralph Spoerl

Jig and Trailer (Lead Head, Plastic or Wire Weed Guard, Hair or Rubber Skirts, and larger than normal hooks and trailers of pork, plastic, or whatever works) It Works! We as bass fishing people have used the Jig and Trailer by hopping it, dragging it, skipping it and, what seems to be the latest technique, swimming it. I ask you, is there any one lure in the bass tackle box that is more versatile? I'm sure there isn't a bass fisherman around that hasn't depended on this jig at least once. In the fall and winter, whether you throw it in and let it sit there or drag it, or in the spring and summer, whether you hop it, skip it or swim it-it just plain works! My thinking when I started using the jig was, "Hey! Fish must think it's a crawfish." But, as I changed to the swimming technique, I thought it also appeared as a bluegill or minnow trying to avoid a predator. But whether the lure appears as a crawfish when it's being hopped, or a minnow, as when it's being swam, the lure's appeal to the fish is unaffected. There's no getting away from it-fish just can't stay away from this lure. Color and weight don't even seem to affect the jig's performance. Personally, I prefer a black and blue jig, with a bright blue trailer. However, from white to black and every color in between, this lure gets the job done. As far as the weight is concerned, I've used everything from a 3/16 oz. jig to a one-ounce jig and yes, it still has at they spook the fish in most clear water situation worked. Using a heavier weight when hopping or dragging the jig does seem to give a better feel of the bottom, however, when skipping or swimming the jig with a trailer, I prefer something around 1/4 oz. In my opinion, this particular lure combination fits almost any bass fishing personality or preference. It will work no matter how you use it. Knowing there are a multitude of head shapes, hook guards, hook angles, body styles, and more, I believe it's appropriate in this jig's case to simply choose the one (or ones) you prefer and learn to work with it (or them). Rattles are also fine, but personally, I only use them in muddy water. It's been my experience ths. There may be traditional uses, sometimes even "rules," for using a jig with pork or plastic trailers, but sometimes, you've just got to go with what bends your pole! And if all else fails... keep the TACKLE BOX open! There's more inside!

Ralph Spoerl with a couple large Wisconsin Bass

The Push Pole

By Ralph Spoerl

After a few months of fishing and a tournament or two, the Tackle Box has made some observations. The item we’re pulling from the tackle box this time is a twelve-foot Push Pole, which has been buried deep in my rod-locker. I considered it to be an "emergencies only" item aboard my boat. Normally, when stuck, I’d use it to push my boat off sand bars or mud flats. But, if you fish the pads and mats like I do, you’ll understand why it’s now become my mobile fishing tool of choice.

With summer comes big mats of weeds and big islands of lily pads. They seem to appear just as the weather warms and the water gets hot. Depending on the depth of the water, the temperature can be ten degrees cooler under them. These spots also create oxygen and cover in the hot summer. And that, my friends, is what draws the fish!

During casual fishing, and at the last couple of tournaments, I noticed that many of the winning fish have come out of the pads and mats. We all go into those areas with our trolling motors blasting. It’s tough work pushing that little motor through thick weeds and pads. You know… chop, chop, chop, pick up the motor, clean it off, drop it back in, and again… chop, chop, chop… We do this over and over again because that’s where the fish are. Yes, we catch a few fish, but I think we probably spook twice as many as we actually catch—there’s just WAY too much noise!

Let’s face it… most of the fish we do hook up with come with longer casts. We need to keep in mind what the books tell us… fish hear two hundred times better than humans and sound travels faster underwater. Like all fishermen, we’ve lost good fish in those pads because of a long cast or a break-off. In one situation, I broke off on fifty-pound braided line. If you don’t break off, then you worry about when "Mr. Fish" will wrap your line around those lily pad stems sixty feet away. By the time you chop your way to him, he’s off! What can we do to eliminate this? In some cases, absolutely nothing. But what if we could get a little closer a little more quietly? Would our odds change?

Someone once told me that whether you win or lose a fishing tournament, or you just get skunked on a regular fishing day, you should always take something with you when you leave the water. With this in mind, I began to evaluate my weed fishing and some tournament situations I have had, as well as considering the effects of spooked fish due to the noise. This brought to mind a bass tournament television show I was watching about a month or so ago. The Pro that won the event on the show attributed his best days’ catches to the fish that came out of the pads. He said that he was able to get up close and personal by slipping up to them very quietly using a Push Pole. I’ve also heard this on a couple of other shows lately. Seems there’s a trend developing here. Interesting…

So, guess what? Because I love to fish in the heavy weeds and pads, I now have my Push Pole out and ready to go. Yes, I’m bringing in a few more fish. Is it the pole? Is it because I feel better being quieter and able to sneak up on the fish? Who knows? The one thing I will say is this: there’s definitely less chop, chop, chop, and a whole lot less clean up. Oh, and there are also those two four-pounders in the live well!

I do find that it’s getting pretty hard to close the Tackle Box with that twelve-foot Push Pole in the way. I may have to build a bigger box!