"Gone Fishin" by Jer Ridout-Hitting the Century Mark

A lot of times, its called going ''fishing''. Fishing is the opportunity for the chance to catch a fish. But on Thursday, June 14th, we didn't fish..instead it was CATCHING! This was another private lake, hosted by my good friend Todd, and my WFL partnet Zach. They've fished this place for a couple years, and that day is when I got my first opportunity! Taking his Ranger boat out, we were on the water at 5:45 A.M. I knew what I wanted to throw at this early stage of the day. BUZZBAITS! Throw these, wake the fish up, have some fun! We fished a couple points to begin with, just hammering 14-16 inch bass of the Buzzbait. That was fun, till it turned off. Now it was time for my long anticipated wait to be over--try fishing this place with a TUBE! I knew they would hammer the tube, and I was right! We all threw slower baits this time, we all were nailing them also. I used a new color of tube called "Green Pumpkin with Blue tail" and used my puke and River minnow..bingo! It was unreal, literally a hit on every cast. Hitting a beaver hut and a very mossy point and bank, we threw frogs. I never could get one on a frog (which I want to--would like to write on the Optimum frog as soon as possible) as Todd and Zach hammered quite a bit of solid healthy fish off Optimum and Furbit frogs. I only had about 4 blow ups, but never actually could bite onto the frog. Then the day became a great accomplishment. A new lure to use--another success! A swim jig was the next lure to practice with! I struggled at first, never using the bait before. You have to reel it in somewhat like a spinnerbait, but this time you DONT have to set the hook that hard. I did my first couple times and missed fish, then caught on to it. Hitting a canal on the other side of the lake just stacked with weeds, I nailed about 10 Bass off the swim jig! (pic shown is me holding a solid 15 incher off a swim!) The last spot was a great crankbait spot as I nailed a few on a Kevin Van Dam crankbait. This was also a great jig spot. I lost my favorite jig though. Northern pike are also in this lake, and one snapped my jig right off. Todd ended up getting about a 7 pounder off a jig though! Then we headed in..an unbelievable count of 101 Bass in 5 hours!!! This was satisfying. Now, these guys have been at the game of fishing a lot longer than I have..of course they are more expirienced and plain better. Zach totalled 42 Bass, Todd with 38. I only totalled 21, but actually did better than they expected..we all did better! This sure beat last year when we all went to Hickory Grove. Both Todd and Zach totalled about 15 fish that day, I only got one. Today I feel I proved I have improved, and learned a lot. Feeling a hit, knowing where fish are, setting the hook better and paying attention to detail. It has got me pretty far in these last couple years. Now time to step forward and accomplish more, people already call me ''the young pro''. I am nowhere close to it yet, but I am glad I do accomplish the thing I love well, and am able to share it. Hope you enjoyed this entertaining article, lets see what comes up next as we enter JULY!