The friend I'm talking about is retired kayak fisherman extraordinaire Charlie Bruggemann. In the accompanying photo, he's doing a show-and-tell video, demonstrating how to make the Mylar Minnow.
Charlie is one of three anglers whom I consider among the "smoothest" amateurs ever to grace the fishing world with their stick prowess. I've watched him in his many YouTube videos, as well as on the backseat of my boat. His efforts always reminded me of pure poetry in motion...he would feel a bite, just raise the rod top, and the fish would be there.
Dave is another angler to make such an impression on me. He's good with every lure in his arsental, but for me, it's the way he handles soft plastics that really makes my day. After spending a whole tournament season with him, I truthfully can say I never once felt the slightest movement in the boat when he set the hook on a fish with a piece of soft plastic. I would see the line moving off, and then, at just the right instant, he likewise would just raise the rod tip and claim his prize.
The first fella who really got my attention with the way he handled a fishing rod (and is one of the three "smoothies" I referred to earlier) was my late Uncle Cleve. Even with those old level-wind reels like he used back in the day, this southpaw made it look nearly effortless to cast a lure a country mile. On many occasions, I watched in awe as he nearly would sling a bait from one bank of the Neosho River to the other.
Don't know how many folks followed Charlie's kayak-fishing adventures, but anyone who watched his YouTube videos knows that he caught a lot of fish with that Mylar Minnow that he assembled, using Vision 95 knockoffs. After my renewed success with it Saturday, I was hoping Charlie might still have a few he would sell me. Unfortunately, though, he doesn't, so I have to protect the three which I have left in my tacklebox. As he explained when I asked, his efforts these days are limited primarily to wildlife photography and putting together plastic models. He admitted to also doing a bit of fly-rodding from the bank during nicer days, but that's the extent of his fishing now.
Incidentally, for the benefit of anyone who would like to see the Jan. 10, 2014 video Charlie put together about how to make the Mylar Minnow, just click on the following link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XVEmtsc5KWk.
Oh, and guess what I learned during my trip Saturday with Dave. He has some skills beyond handling a fishing rod, too. He happened to mention to me that he also ties his own feathered treble hooks. I don't need any more of these hooks at the moment, but you can bet one thing: When I do, his door is going to be the first one I knock on. Surely he'll cut me a better deal than you'll ever find when buying feathered trebles off the shelves of any tackle store out there.
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