Gary, Doing It Right

I wanted to write this post a few weeks ago but Gary kept sending me pics so I kept waiting. While this is a bit about my lures in that they are seen in some of the pics, it is really about Gary who has the stripers and bass on Logan Martin scared. I have known a lot of people that fish for stripers but he catches more quality fish than anyone I know.

Gary does more than fish, he is an electrician, amazing gardener, founded a program to get kids fishing and on and on. On top of that he is a good friend and just a good person. Not a couch sitter that’s for sure. Like I said in the Pro Staff post he also helps in designing shapes and colors for some of the lures I make and doesn’t mind telling me what doesn’t work. But I wanted to show everyone what he does on the water and why the fish are scared.

He sent me some shots from his last few trips on Logan Martin which just makes me wish I could get there to fish with him. Remember he does all of this out of a canoe in a part of the country ruled by high powered bass rigs. I won’t spend a bunch of time telling about each fish the pics do it better than I can, but can you imagine getting these just about every trip? He told me he had 9 a few days ago before switching baits to go after spotted bass. I couldn’t do that in a month of fishing here especially on topwater.

If you are on Twitter you would be hard pressed to find a better person to talk to about fishing or just talk with, period. He takes time every day to study what is going on in the sport then pass it along to others. Unlike some people or companies using social media, Gary talks. Need to ask a question or just talk for a bit, he will gladly do both.

So thanks to Gary I don’t need to write a lot to get this one done. He provided some cool shots that saved me from thinking and on that note here we go……

In no particular order, a photo essay on a few of Gary’s trips to his honey hole in Alabama.

 

 Photo Credits: Gary Hanson

This is the kind of fishing I wish I got to do as often as Gary does. I can promise it wouldn’t be hard to find me if my truck wasn't in the driveway.

Fly By

I remembered this one after talking with all of my flyfishing friends. I’ve said before that I’m not a fly fisherman but at one time me and my buddies thought we would be. We even managed to catch fish which is amazing considering how bad we were. But we tried and good trip or bad we still had fun.

This is what we invisioned. Photo credit: James Cates


Me and Joey had decided to become the next great thing in flyfishing in our area. Of course we knew exactly zero about it but that didn’t stop us or even slow us down. After reading articles in magazines guaranteeing our present and future success we set about our new adventures as fly fishermen. I had been given a couple heavy fly rods with automatic reels loaded with some kind of floating line, Joey had gotten a combo pack from one of the local stores with everything included. These things had to be 8 weight rods which we deemed suitable since we were going to be big time bass catchers with them. We bought some flies shown in a magazine, tried to figure out how tippets worked, picked out a couple of popping bugs and headed to the pond.

Photo credit: Shamelessly used from the internet. Thanks to poster.


The idea that just maybe learning to cast in the yard before we went fishing had been mentioned then disregarded as unnecessary. Our test pond in Shelby Park is full of fish. Bass, bluegill and crappie were there for the taking, all of which, the magazines assured us, would willing leap onto all of their top picks in the fly department. We got pond side, rigged up, then proceeded to head down the bank least infested with trees. We stripped line off our reels then started what can best be described as flailing about, trying to get our popping bugs moving forward in the general direction of some water. This resulted in several sonic booms as line tips cracked like whips and popping bugs became as dust in the wind, gently drifting to earth in a puff of balsa and feathers, leaving sad bare hooks behind.

We repeated this until we got our timing down enough to (A) not destroy the fly (B) not hook ourselves or tangle on our rods (3) finally hit somewhere in the pond without a splash like we had thrown a log in. We began a strip, pause, strip retrieve which much to our surprise little bluegill would check out and take despite our bad technique. We caught a few that day, even a couple of small bass which led us to believe we were ready for bigger and better things like big bass or maybe a nice rainbow trout. The fact that all of our streams are pretty much warm, slow moving water which didn’t have trout mattered not at all. We had it figured out.

Photo credit: another shameless use of the internet. Thanks to the poster.


A couple of counties away from Nashville we knew of a trout farm that used a spring to form ponds with water that stayed cold year round. Some fish got loose to inhabit the creek downstream for a mile or two. I can’t remember how we knew this but it really was true. People would fish this creek, Yellow Creek as I recall, to catch good trout in a part of the state where they normally couldn‘t live. That was enough for us, so off we go.

We drove for an hour or so arriving at streamside just as the sun was coming through the trees to light our way as mist lifted off the water. Pulling off to park on a gravel spot used by locals beside a road barely wide enough for our car this was our first step into the world of trout fishing. Summer temps were headed up fast but we were wet wading a shaded stream with cold water so didn’t need to worry about that. It turned out, just about midday, to be a good thing that we weren’t wearing waders. Choosing some trout flies, we eased into the water to get busy with the catching. Joey headed upstream while I headed downstream casting in our newly learned stealthy manner, barely raising more than a light froth and foam from the water.

Photo credit: James Cates


I went along getting the odd cast or two in the general vicinity of an undercut bank, mid stream rock or clump of tree roots. I was awarded for my effort with some bluegill along with more than a few flies left dangling from branches which had somehow gotten in the way of my backcasts. This was how I spent my morning until I decided to head back to find Joey to share notes and grab some lunch.

I waded back upstream, finally finding him at the downstream end of a large hole. He had his rod tucked under his right arm pointing straight up as he tied on a new offering. Just as he started to tighten the knot I saw a few ripples form around his knees, which was how far the water came up on his legs. He did that half lurch forward we all do when slipping on rocks while wading, hips going forward as his shoulders tilted back, then just disappeared. Hardly a splash at all, just not there, like the creek had inhaled him. As I stood there with my jaw hanging open all I could see was about 2 feet of his rod sticking above the surface. I threw my rod down on the bank to try and help when his rod began thrashing around in circles, bobbing up and down, then he popped back up amid much cussing and splashing. I got to him and helped him get to the bank. Other than being wet turns out he was fine, didn’t even drop his rod or lose his fly case.

We sat there getting warmed up, laughing about his swim. Turns out he was standing on the edge of a drop off he couldn’t tell was there. Some optical illusion caused the bottom to look flat even though it dropped a good 8-9 feet which is where Joey had decided to stop. One more step before I got there and I would have missed all the fun.

We finished up our day without anyone drowning or catching a single trout. This last part isn’t a surprise considering our complete lack of skill or knowledge. This was about the point we realized we weren’t good at creek fishing with fly rods, switching our efforts to local ponds and lakes with more success on warm water fish. We did get fairly good at catching bluegill or an odd bass or two but moved on before long to casting and spinning tackle never really going back to fly rods.

All my friends talking about fly fishing makes me want to pick one up again to revisit my youth as a would be fly slinger. Watching them post great pics of flies they are tying or have ordered just adds to my wanting to give it another go. Maybe I will get a chance to pick up a half decent outfit to join back in their fun, catch a few fish, add to the selection on my rod rack, tackle boxes and memories.

Summer Dreams

I’m a true fan of top water fishing. I love to fish with anything from worms dug in my backyard to custom lures but top water for me is it. The skill in reading cover, conditions of the water and weather then even more skill in working that bait to tempt strikes is the challenge I want. I hardly ever claim to have a favorite in anything but in top water lures I have three, a #9 floating Rapala, Crippled Killer in small size and a Jitterbug. These have been around forever but have fallen on hard times as other baits take their place on the lines of fishermen. This works to my advantage, fish aren’t used to having them drug past their snout every day during warm weather when top water strikes can make your day. Another technique I rarely see anymore is buzzing a spinner bait just under the surface, creating a wake that drives bass nuts. And last to add to my chances on top water days I like to swim a worm rather than drag it along the bottom. All of this I learned long ago from Don McIntyre who was one of the best all around outdoorsmen I have ever known.

I hitched up the boat and headed to Priest for some bass fishing. It was mid summer, the forecast called for a blue bird sky, blistering hot temps and no wind. We, we being me and the twins Brian and Keith, spent all winter working building fishing spots with logs, stumps, rocks and brush piles to prepare for this time of year . When spring rolled around and waters began to rise we had close to 200 spots out. We had planned well, as the water got to summer pool no brush was more than a few inches above the surface. Any poking above the surface were cut off with hedge clippers to keep them hidden. We knew our lake well and none of the spots were wasted by being placed where fish wouldn’t use them.

My favorite area was and is mid lake on Percy Priest fishing out of Four Corners boat dock. I launched and headed to the Spot bank, my normal place to begin, it got it‘s name from the number of Cordell Spots we found there during low water. This is a chunk rock bank that takes hundreds of yards to slope off to 15 feet of water. About a dozen brush piles had been placed along here and a good rock fence runs just under the surface along a long section. I had rigged with 7 ¼” purple worms and a small Crippled Killer, these were about all I fished during the summer months since I never fished in more than 10 feet of water. Don, the twins’ Dad, had taught us three baits consistently caught big fish, spinner bait, top water bait and a worm, we used these to catch many a limit on local lakes. I know that part of it was learning to use a limited number of baits really well rather than spend all day changing and hoping, those ideas worked then and work now.

I pulled up to look for a dark spot that signaled a brush pile was there. The first few casts will be with a Crippled Killer but if it doesn’t bring a strike then it was time to throw a worm to see if that would work. This simple two bait technique caught fish when cranking was just exercise. The Crippled Killer is fished in a fast twitch pause method but pauses were very short contrary to what all the magazines tell us about slow, long pause top water. I want aggressive fish on top and the worms take care of the lazy ones.

Coming along side the first brush pile, I made a cast past it by several feet and started the retrieve. The bait walked and sputtered it’s way past the dark water marking the brush without a taker. After a couple of more casts without a hit I tossed a worm past and swam it by the pile. Just as it got to my side the line jumped followed by a solid thump. Dropping the rod tip, spinning the reel handle gave the fish a second to take and me a second to tighten my line. Pointing the rod tip at the running fish I set back and had a nice 2 pounder on. It didn’t take long to boat him since I fished 17# line on my bait caster/worm rod combo. While it might seem like a fish story saying I got one right off this was normal fishing these spots during summer the fish loved them. I got it unhooked, released and moved on.

A few spots later as the Crippled Killer spit and splashed to the edge of the twigs just under the surface I saw a flash of green and silver. I managed half a twitch more before water flew in sparkling crescents as a solid 3# plus largemouth blasted out of the lake. It crashed back down then put on a show of head shakes and tail walks, thinking it was far bigger than it was. I got it in, thanked and as I tossed it back in it was probably wondering about aliens and abductions.

I spent the day repeating this process at each brush pile, rock pile or log we had put in. While not all hold fish it is an effective way to target summer bass. The good part it allows you to catch fish during a part of the day when most people are out on the ledges or stump rows fishing deep so you have the shallows to yourself. They couldn’t believe I was catching fish in 3-4 feet of water on top. In fact when I went to the dock for a break I would change baits to fool anyone sneaking a peek into my boat. During the summer months this simple method of fishing has caught me many a fish. Hot water, aggressive fish and, in my case, man made cover allowed me to catch fish when other folks struggled or went to night fishing. This is keeping with my idea of going after fish where other people pass them by or simply refuse to believe that fish are in these areas.

These are all techniques that were used back in the day but have fallen out of favor in the run faster jump higher fishing of today. These techniques worked then and still do although most people spend time trying all of the new thoughts of pros rather than listening to the grizzled old guy at the dock that knows his stuff. Many days all I need are three simple baits which can be fished in many different ways to catch fish. Some times all you need to do is step back from the glitz to find things that catch fish rather than fishermen. Here are a few pics of the baits and rigging I use to go after shallow bass on miserable hot days.
　
This is how I rig worms for swimming. I usually use an 1/8^th ounce egg sinker rather than a bullet style slip sinker but either works fine simply thread it onto the line. Instead of Texas rigging I use a 4/0 hook with a weed guard which I soften by bending the wire back and forth. This keeps it from hitting the fish in the mouth when they take the bait. Lightly clip the weed guard under the hook tip after threading the worm onto the hook. When I fish these shallow spots with a worm it never touches the bottom. You make a soft cast past the spot then add action by raising and lowering the tip of your rod a few inches, reeling fast enough to keep the worm at the same depth as you work it back. The more erratic the rod tip moves the better. You let the worm sink to different depths to find fish but don’t drag it along the bottom. Watch your line since it will jump several inches almost every time a fish hits before you feel it. This is old school rigging but still works for this technique.

The Crippled Killer isn’t easy to find in stores these days so I make my own out of cedar. The nice part is painting them in whatever pattern I want but most wind up in a standard shad. I buy all of the hardware in bulk since it is cheap then add it to the finished lures. It also lets me add larger props if I want to have a bait that creates more splash and noise.

Many days the things Don taught me 40 years ago work as well or better than anything new. Good techniques, old or new, are still good techniques to have in your arsenal. Take a look at how it used to be done, there are many surprises to be found.
　

Walk in the Park

6:00 Friday morning and I had worked a night shift. Me and my future ex wife had plans to go somewhere, can’t say I remember where, Florida maybe, but I had time to kill till she was able to leave. I went home to find out what time we were meeting and found out it wasn’t for several hours. Now the smart thing after a 12 hour shift would be get some sleep but it is summer, warm, raining and Shelby Park is on the way to where we will meet. The park, you see, is where in it’s 5 acre pond chock full of good fish, I learned most of my bass fishing.


Thinking it over for all of 3 seconds I grabbed a spinning rod, some #9 floating Rapalas and took off. The pond has a couple of good banks bass cruise whenever it is warm and raining and I love to throw Rapalas on cloudy, rainy days especially in ponds. I pulled into the parking spot at what we call the spillway bank, possibly because it has a spillway on it, which is my favorite spot to start. This bank has a couple of ledges stair stepping down to about 4 feet of water and fish stack up on it to feed either early, late or during dreary days.


It was rush hour, people on their way to work cutting through the park using the road on the spillway bank staring at me as I rig up. They had to wonder why anyone would waste time in this pond on a good day much less with rain coming down. Typical, most folks don’t know what I know, to them this is a place to take the kids on a Sunday afternoon and feed the ducks. It is an almost completely overlooked bass fishery right under their noses, at one time even held the world record for carp.


I eased down to the water’s edge and started making casts paralleling the bank starting just about a foot out. Many people fish this spot but they will throw out towards the middle not realizing fish are right by their feet. Bass hold just at the drops and rush into a couple of inches of water to grab food swimming along the bank. I work my bait slowly twitching and pausing giving the fish time to take it. I make a series of casts from each spot working the bait from a foot to maybe six feet from the bank then move up to where my bait was landing to start again. After just a few casts a solid 2 ½ pounder took the Rapala in a boiling strike. A fun, quick fight and I was able to release him back in good shape. I made my next cast and had another fish on almost as soon as it hit the water, a twin to my first one. This turned out to be the program for the morning.


As I fished along I was getting strike after strike. The fish were hitting just the way a top water fan hopes for. Some came up in a big boil, swirling under the bait to suck it down. Others came up to blast it out of the pond, twisting in the air, throwing spray back at the rain. Normally I move along the bank faster than I was but I slowed down to make sure I didn’t miss fish. I have fished this pond for many years and knew this was one of those mornings that rarely come along. Fish from 1 to 4 pounds were hitting everywhere.


The spillway bank is about 100 yards long, is the best bank on the pond and today was covered in fish. The spillway is just over halfway down and by the time I got there I caught 8 or 9 fish plus had more hits. The rain was still coming down steadily, just enough to keep the fish up but not enough to run me off. As I walked past the spillway a car pulled over, a friend on his way to work gets out, comes over and asks what I’m doing. Just as he walked up another 2 pounder latches on as if to answer for me. When I landed it he says he wouldn’t mind catching one like that. I handed him the rod, pointed to a spot at the corner of the spillway, telling him to cast just past it and twitch the bait back past it. He’s a good fisherman and does just what I had told him. As the bait gets even with the concrete corner a fat 3 pounder rolls out and smacks it. He has a huge smile on his face as the bass tail walks, shaking it’s head trying to throw the bait. I land it for him, he is saying he can’t believe that just happened so I tell him what the fish are doing. Now all he wants to do is skip work, go grab some tackle and come back. He says that isn’t going to happen, thanks me for letting him catch one and heads off.


I worked my way back along the bank to my truck, catching a couple of more good fish and missing a few. It was hard to believe fish were this aggressive in these numbers. Beyond where I parked there is a pipe bring fresh water into the pond. This was meant to go farther out but had broken about 20 feet from the bank creating a small area with current. I made a cast into the fast water, letting it pull the Rapala out several feet then closed the bail to start my retrieve. That was as far as I got. A 4 pounder nailed it and took off, my light rod bent double, drag buzzing in protest. I got her to the bank and released, checked my line and knot then put another cast in the same spot with exactly the same results. I stood in this one spot and hooked 6 fish, none smaller than the first, managing to land 4 of them with one leaving with my bait as the line snapped when it brushed against the end of the pipe.


I tied on another bait, tried a few more casts into the fast water without a hit. Moving to my right I cast to a couple of old stumps rotting away a couple of feet under the surface. I cast past them, started the crippled minnow retrieve and it was blasted out of the water. This had turned into one of my best mornings ever. After casting back to the stumps without a strike I got into my truck and drove to the small bridge going out to the island. I wanted to fish this before I ran out of time.


Most of the island isn’t worth fishing but near the end closest to the main part of the pond there are big rocks hidden underwater. I got fish after fish along the whole point. Finally running out of time I made my last cast and headed to the truck. I had a final total of 32 fish hit and landed 24. Most were over 2 pounds with the biggest a football shaped 4 pounder. All were caught on a #9 floating Rapala fished on top. This was years ago but man what a morning.


There are so many overlooked or under estimated ponds. Some, like Shelby Park, right in the middle of cities. I try to find these small waters for those days when a single rod and walking the bank is all I want.

Nostalgia in Cedar

I’m not a fly fisherman, I don’t tie flies, I do appreciate the artistry of the sport and the amazing art in the flies. I’m not a fly fisherman. I am an artist and sometimes woodworker, oh yeah and old. I remember when the original Big O came out. Hand carved, fat bellied crank bait that took bass fishermen by storm. We were just kids, along with my buddies, Brian and Keith, the twins, we drooled over magazines showing this new wonder bait. Not having a great deal of money but with time and inventive minds we set about making our own version of wooden crank baits.


Brian came up with a couple of slab sided designs that we caught quite a few fish on in our favorite pond in Shelby Park. This 5 acre pond in the middle of East Nashville was our training grounds, test facility and, just so happened, to hold some really big bass. We learned to cast bait casters there, tried all of the techniques we found in the books and caught many a big fish where people thought there was nothing but little bluegill. I caught my first 2 pound bass in the moat like channel that surrounds the lone island. When we carved a new bait this was the first place it hit the water.

Time went on, our income increased so the need to carve baits wasn’t an issue. We had tackle boxes full of everything we wanted so our carving days pretty much ended. Still over time I repaired, repainted and at times, carved wooden baits. What does this have to do with not being a fly fisherman? Well, they tie flies and several people I know have been showing off their flies. What happens when their beautiful work inspires you? I decided since I can’t tie flies, to revisit my youth, carve a quick top water bait and show folks how it’s done including a paint job.

Living where I do cedar is almost considered a weed. It is everywhere and either free or cheap. I make a type of cedar box so I always have plenty of aged stock on hand. The good part about baits, being small you can use scrap wood that normally goes to waste.I grabbed a cutoff laying in the shop and split it using a hammer and wood chisel. Then headed over to the band saw to get rid of the sap wood and start shaping.

This bait is 5 inches long.


This bait is a simple cigar shape used for the walking the dog technique. Once it is roughed out on the saw I move to the belt/disc sander for final shaping. This could be done on a lathe but I want it to be less than perfect, showing it is hand made, plus I can have it done by the time I get a lathe set up. I just eyeball the shape, adjusting with the sander until it is very close to what I want. After the sander I use 3 different grits of sand paper to hand sand it into the final shape. Usually from 100 to 220 grit paper.

After sanding I used the drill press to drill a hole large enough to hold the weight I add to the rear of the bait to make it tail heavy. I used a bullet sinker that I put on the anvil and whacked with a hammer to slightly flatten it. I used a Dremel tool to shape the hole to get a good fit. You can do this with a sharp knife or Exacto, too. After the weight was below the level of the wood I used CA glue to hold it in place. I used 2 part epoxy to overfill the hole slightly. Push this into any voids around the sinker and make sure it is just higher than the wood. It takes a little more sanding but works as a filler and sealer. After it dries, sand it down to match the contours of the cedar. For this I use fingernail files I get from a beauty supply store. Now to seal and paint.

At this point add your attachment points for line and hooks, remember you need something to hang onto while painting and to hang them by while they dry, so add one at least. I use an inexpensive primer most of the time but a good wood sealer isn’t a bad idea. Once the sealer is dry prime the bait using flat white. This keeps your colors from becoming muted as it does with grey or black. If you want your scales to be edged in black then you have to lay black down first.

Painting is as simple or as complex as your imagination, ability and equipment will allow. I painted many a productive bait with a brush or can of spray paint. This one is going to be painted with three techniques. I will use spray cans for the first two colors, airbrush the next few colors and then add eyes and gills with a brush. Then I seal everything with a polyurethane spar varnish, again from a spray can. This stuff gives a good high gloss, helps protect from exposure to sun and water and is a snap to apply.

After deciding I wanted this one to be in a golden shiner pattern I laid out what I needed. I used an almond base simply because it was what I had on hand. After this dried I painted the entire bait silver, again with a spray can. I allowed this to dry for a couple of hours before starting with the airbrush. I like to use transparent airbrush ready paint and there are several good brands out there. Some people use lacquers or taxidermy paints but I like using water based. I paint with a Paasche VL double action airbrush and a Badger airbrush compressor, this setup works great for whenever I need an airbrush.

I used a piece of tulle that I have mounted in a cardboard frame to add the scales. I leave some slack in the material to allow me to make it form to the bait by pushing it until tight. I used a transparent pink along each side leaving the bottom silver, this is the only step where the tulle is used.. After this dried I mixed transparent yellow and Indian red to get a light yellowish/bronze color. This is blended into the top of the scales and then painted solid across the top of the bait. I added more of the Indian red to darken the color and painted the top of the bait. I let this dry and decided to add a bit more of the red to darken it again and painted this along the center of the back.

After painting the main colors all that is left is detail. I went with hand painting these to keep with the hand made theme. You can buy eyes in many different styles which work great if you are one of those folks that has to have everything perfect. I painted black circles for the eyes and kill spots with a simple crescent shape for the gills. I painted the center of the eye with yellow leaving a bit of black showing around the edge then added a fat crescent shape for the pupil. All that is left is coating everything repeatedly with the spar polyurethane. I let this dry until it is just a little tacky and add another layer. Most baits get around 5-6 coats.

Will there it is. Hand carved cedar top water baits. I make several versions of this in whatever sizes someone wants. Since they are all custom painted I can have tons of colors and patterns. Just think them up and get them painted.

Disclaimer: I was not compensated by any of the brands mentioned in this article.