Lessons Learned

When I'm doing a presentation on fishing I like to tell people about the first fishing trip I can ever remember going on and the lessons I learned. Each time you go fishing you should look to gain some new knowledge and experience for use at a later time. My first trip with my dad was in Baton Rouge, La., on a bayou bream fishing. 

That day I was about three years old and I can remember it like it was this morning. The wind was blowing about 40 miles per hour and my dad had tied a rope around a tree and me, so that I could stand by the water, but wouldn't fall in. I had a little pole and bobber to fish with and was as happy as if I had been in a pie eating contest. My dad would go out on a pier about 15 feet long. The big bream were probably right on the end of the pier  around a brushpile. As my dad would hold his pole out, the wind was so hard that it would blow the line straight out and the bait wouldn't even go in the water.  My dad would back down the dock and stick his pole in the water until the bait had sunk then he would just ease forward until the bobber went by the end of the dock.

Bingo! Each time he would get a big bream. Valuable lessons were learned from this trip. Do what ever you have to, in order to get the bait or lure to the fish. This is one of the main reasons you want to learn to use a spinning rod and reel when you are fishing shallow cover and around docks. 

I use the Bass Pro Shop's Woo Daves' Extreme spinning rods and Extreme reels. A spinning rod will allow you to skip your Zoom worm under docks and over hanging bushes or limbs.  This is something you can't do with a baitcaster.  You can also use lighter line. Most people know by now that I used 6 pound Stren line to win the BassMaster's Classic this year. I could not have fished this light line on a baitcaster.  Also not only can you use lighter lures and cast more accurately but you can throw into the wind without getting a backlash. Another very important reason, it allows your Zoom lures to fall straight into the bass's kitchen. With a baitcast reel you always have to thumb down your spool and this pulls your bait towards you, just enough to make it fall away from the structure. There are a lot of good uses for baitcast reels and you will find plenty of both in the rod box of my Nitro, but in these shallow situations you can bet I will always be using spinning tackle. Probably 40 to 50 percent of the tournaments now are being won on spinning gear. My favorite rig is the Extreme Woo Daves' rod and reel 6'6 medium heavy, 10 pound Stren Super Tough, 1/8 oz. slip sinker pegged, 2/0 Mustad Ultra Point hook, Zoom six inch U-tail worm or six inch lizard, spray with Jack's Juice Crawfish. Cast to as many targets as possible, work slowly around targets, reel in and repeat. This is a good recipe for success good luck this spring.

May God bless!