Ice is Out...Bring On Spring
The end of ice fishing on Scugog brings with it the immediate urge to again wet a line in the Kawarthas. Is this separation anxiety or simply the desire for what I can’t have? Regardless, it gnaws away at my very being. How do I deal with this? I immerse myself in reading, writing and watching everything to do with fishing. The bad days are still tough though and when I am having one, nothing short of hands-on will do. I organize my gear in preparation of the upcoming season.
I am always pleasantly surprised at the memories that a favourite bait or scarred-up reel can embody. I find myself spending as much time daydreaming about days gone by as I do actually organizing my tackle. This not only offers some temporary relief from my anxieties but it also offers a few valuable lessons.
To think back on the previous year’s events and make note of what went wrong and what I would do differently to remedy the situation in the future is time well spent. I can learn as much from this train of thought as from actual on-the-water experience.
It leaves me with a growing confidence for the season to come. I’m sure you have felt the same thing.
In digging through the depths of your tackle jungle you will have no doubt come across hot baits from season’s past. Baits that were somehow pushed to the wayside for other newer, trendier lures that produced well. These old baits are a veritable gold mine. This very thing has just happened to me, sparking the idea for this article.
An oversized soft plastic salamander, Bushwacker spinnerbaits, double buzzbaits, Mann’s Jelly worms and the Johnson Silver Spoon are but a few of my oldies-but-goodies. Some, like the salamander and the spinnerbaits, are replaced by newer and better baits, so they remain as good memories. The buzzbait and the jelly worm, well, they are good but not really confidence baits anymore; they get put away.
The Johnson Silver spoon is another matter altogether. I can’t really remember why I put this bait down. Taking the spoon’s place are frog's and soft jerkbaits. The replacements have worked well for me. Well enough to keep them tied on at all times. I still think there may be a place for the Johnson spoon. It will cast farther, sink faster and has that tantalizing wide-wobbling action.
What’s old becomes new again. I can see it now. I am throwing a ½ oz. Silver Minnow with a Reaction Innovations Mini Skirt for a trailer. I make the perfect cast just inside a large pad bed. I begin my retrieve allowing the spoon to slink it’s way between the stems. Four feet away from my bait a pad stirs, the telltale sign a bass has seen my offering. Seconds later I am fighting a real hog and just as I am about to lip a mouth the size of a bucket - I awake from the daydream.
I think I may just leave the spoon at the top of my box.
Bass Wishes,
www.blitzcreek.com
Copyright © 2005 Chris Hockley
It is illegal to reproduce or distribute this work in any manner or medium without written permission of the author, Chris Hockley c/o Blitzcreek Pro Fishing 47 Lorne St., Sunderland, Ontario, chris@blitzcreek.com