How to Catch the Big 'Uns

Anyone who knows Bob Glass knows that he loves to tinker with boats. He buys an old one, fixes it up, tests it on the water, refines his tinkering if necessary, fishes out of it for a spell, then sells it, buys another old fixer-upper, and the process starts all over. It's nothing unusual to see him fish out of as many as three or four different boats in the course of any given fishing season.

Now, however, Bob has added a new wrinkle to his process. After he has worked on the motor, and the boat is ready for a test run, he takes it to West Neck and drops it in the water. He then runs it for 20 to 30 minutes, at which point he grabs the one rod he always takes along. I'm guessing he believes in the adage that "all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy."

Whatever the reason, that one rod is always with him for that test run, and here's conclusive proof that it serves him well. He caught this 6-plus pounder trip before last while fishing below the bridge on the right shoreline.

As Bob explains, "I seem to catch big ones almost every time." There's just one problem. "They leave town on tournament days," he says.

In his latest test run, however, Bob boated this 5-plus pounder on the other side of the bridge, about 200 yards down, on the left side.

Bob won't hesitate to tell you that he can't always claim success from the test runs of his boats, but the "fishing part" of those test runs is an altogether different story.

Here's his advice to anyone who would like to achieve the same kind of success: "If you want to catch the big ones, do as I do by first getting yourself an old boat and motor. Then tinker with it a while and carry it to West Neck for a 20-to-30-minute test run, being sure to carry along one rod." As he promises, "You'll be amazed."

The only problem I see with this whole process, personally speaking, is that I would be scared to death to run any boat that I had tinkered with. It would be nothing short of a miracle, for that matter, if I even was able to get the motor to fire, much less drive the boat away from the dock.