First time on water in a year!

Well -- it may not have been quite a year since I've casted a bass bait, but
it's been so long that I was afraid I'd forgotten how. It's deer season here in
Central Texas and I had a little time on my hands Thursday afternoons so I
decided to go hunting. It was a beautiful afternoon -- one of those high
pressure, blue sky days we all love. I had a great couple of hours in the
stand, but no deer. No bucks. No does. Nothing but squirrels and racoons.
I knew if I stayed til dusk I might get a shot, but the idea of dealing with
dead or wounded deer after dark doesn't appeal to me, so I left the stand a few
minutes before the sun went down. On the way back to town I saw my favorite
pond, and I remembered I had some tackle stowed away, so I stopped just for a
minute.

I rummaged around my toolbox and dug up ene of my favorite Zara Spooks and one
of Bob Rickard's prototype spinnerbaits (made back before he started calling
them Secret Weapons.) I'm a top water guy so I tied on the Spook. First cast
I had a miss. Second cast, a solid hit, quick fight and a two-pounder was in
my hand. Second cast, another miss, but I didn't jerk the bait away. I simply
let it sit there a few seconds, then began walking it back in. (Steve H. --
if you're reading this, I used the Walk the Dog technique you showed me when
you were here. If you remember, I've always used a short rod and of wrist
action to get the short jerky motion that makes a Spook so attractive. You
convinced me to use a long rod and you showed me how to move my entire arm so I
can fish all day without getting tired.)

It worked. Tthe spook almost made it to the bank when "Wham!" This strike was
not a miss. In fact there was no way the fish could miss. She did one of
those classic calendar poses where she leaps out of the water and falls, mouth
wide open -- back down on your plug. The strike occurred almost at my feet
and I almost forgot to set the hook I was so surprised. It was quite a fight.
I had to thumb my Curado a few times to turn the fish and keep her out of some
submerged brush. When I got her in I was really amazed at her size. Didn't
have a scale, but my first guess was over seven. Now -- after the heat of the
battle -- I'll settle for six pounds. Any way you look at it, she was a real
beauty.

So I slid her back in the water and made one more cast. And sure enough
another bass hit, this one a foot-long hammer handle. Three bass on four
casts. Can't do much better than that -- right?

I made four more casts to the same water without a strike, then as it almost
got too dark to tie the knot, I put on what I used to call the BobBait. First
cast, another strike that I missed. Now it was so dark I couldn't really see
where to cast, so I forgot about aiming for structure and tossed it into some
open water. Didn't really figure I get anything, but felt so good to simply
stand there, watching the stars come out, feeling the warmish day turn into
cold night.

Then Bam! -- another solid hit right at the bank. Wish I could say this one
was even bigger than the six-pounder of a few minutes before. It would make
the perfect end of the story to have the biggest fish come on the last cast.
But this one was probably a bit over three pounds and it still made a great
finish for a wonderful 10 minutes of fishing.

Don't think I've ever seen black bass bite so readily -- this was almost like
catching white bass on a spawning run. A cold front had moved through the day
before and I didn't really think the bass would be so active. Guess they're
feeding to get ready for the spawn -- which here in Central Texas comes in only
two months.

I've fished this pond many, many times and never have I seen such fast action.
Many day I've fished long and hard from my kayak and caught two or three bass.
Thursday I stood in one spot and caught all those fish. At any rate, my
bass-fishing blood is up and I hope I can stop working so hard and get back to
my once-a-week fishing rhythm.

I've been lurking for the last few months. It's been really good to keep up
with you guys through your posts. I dont have time for all of them, but do try
to read a few every week. I missed the Northwoods Classic but maybe I'll be
able to make one of the other ROFL events.

Family, Friends, Fishing,
Rob Storm
http://stormsrestaurants.com