Gotta Watch a Bed's Runaway Headboard

I was trying to change the frame settings on our bed today to accommodate a queen-sized mattress when the headboard got away from me and took a bead on my left knee. What you see in this picture is what the doctor and x-ray tech at Patient First saw a little earlier when I went in to find out if I had broken any bones.

Turns out all they found tonight was a lot of tissue swelling that, as the doctor explained, is going to take a lot of ice and probably a lot of months before it resumes any semblance of normal. And if the current swelling happens to double overnight, I'm directed to go see an ortho specialist tomorrow and have them drain the excess blood off my knee. Had that done to my eye once before, so I know what it's all about.

Not sure how this is going to affect my fishing. I very well may find that Wayne would just as soon not have anything to do with me for a spell, and if that happens, I'll understand. This problem may be a bridge too far for anyone to undertake.

A Whole New Ballgame

I have to admit that I can't remember the last time I had to look for anything other than shallow-water crankbaits...ones capable of reaching only 5- or 6-foot depths.

That has all changed, though, since my tournament partner, Wayne, persuaded me to get a North Carolina freshwater fishing license and accompany him to the tournaments out of Bob's Fishing Hole on the Northwest River. Now I need crankbaits that will reach depths of 12 to 15 feet. There's more to it than just that, however.

As bass pro Greg Hackney outlined in an article for Bassmaster, "The first factor that affects running depth is line size. The thinner the line, the deeper the bait will run. As a practical matter, you should think about fluorocarbon line in the 10- or 12-pound-test size, which will handle most situations and give you a reasonable depth for most lures.

"The next thing you need to consider is your reel. The faster your lure is moving, the deeper it'll run. Gear ratios can be misleading," he continued. "A 7.3:1 reel only works at that ratio when the spool is full. After a long cast, or if your reel isn't full, it's cranking at a much lower ratio." (On this point, I found some differing views among the pros. Some say a slow-speed reel is the best choice for crankbaiting. One with about a 5:1 gear ratio is going to help you get your baits to their maximum depth and also give you superior feel, so you know exactly what's going on with your lure.)

Hackney contends that the size of the spool matters, too.

"A 300 size spool will pick up a lot more line than a 200 size or a 100 size," he said. "Not all manufacturers size their spools that way, but you can look at a reel and compare it to other models before you buy it. This isn't brain surgery...it's common sense.

"A third factor," said Hackney, "and one that many anglers misunderstand, is that for a bait to reach its maximum running depth, it must run true. Lots of times, a lure that's being brought back at a medium speed will look like it's running perfectly straight. But, if you increase the speed to superfast, you'll find it's running slightly to one side. That will affect depth, even when you can't see the difference on a normal retrieve.

"The final thing is the length of your cast. The longer the cast, the deeper the bait will run. Most professional anglers can cast farther than most recreational anglers. That's one reason our baits get deeper.

"If you think about these things, you'll realize that manufacturers aren't misleading you when they estimate running depth. It's just that most of us--including pros--don't put everything together just right. We can overcome those shortcomings by doing a number of things.

"The obvious is to pick a bait that'll run a little deeper than what we need to reach the bottom. If we're fishing water that's 10 feet deep, we can pick a crankbait that'll run 12 or 14 feet. That'll get us down to the bottom, even if we don't have all our ducks in a row.

"Another trick is to add a little weight to the lure by swapping out the hooks. Replace the factory ones with a bigger size and a shorter shank. That helps more than you'd think.

"Think about these things the next time you're trying to get a crankbait down to the bottom. They'll help you avoid frustration and help you catch more bass," Hackney concluded.

Like I said in the beginning, I find myself in a whole new ballgame. How it turns out is anyone's guess.

A Thanksgiving Prayer

By Helen Steiner Rice

Thank You, God, for everything...

The big things and the small,

For "every good gift comes from God"...

The Giver of them all.

And all too often we accept

Without any thanks or praise,

The gifts You send as blessings

Each day in many ways.

And so, at this Thanksgiving time,

We offer up a prayer;

To thank You, God, for giving us

A lot more than our share.

First, thank You for the little things

That often come our way;

The things we take for granted

And don't mention when we pray.

The unexpected courtesy,

The thoughtful, kindly deed,

A hand reached out to help us...

In the time of sudden need.

Oh, make us more aware, dear God,

Of little daily graces,

That come to us with "sweet surprise,"

From never-dreamed-of places.

Then, thank You for the "miracles"

We are much too blind to see,

And give us new awareness

Of our many gifts from Thee.

And help us to remember

That the "key" to "life" and "living,"

Is to make each prayer a "prayer of thanks,"

And every day THANKSGIVING.

For Period Ending Sunday, Nov. 28, 2021

Thursday, Nov. 18 (from Ron)...Fished upper West Neck this afternoon to avoid the wind. However, the bite was miserable. Did manage a dink bass and a small crappie to avoid the skunk. Tried little crankbaits and spinner baits to no avail. Only the micro spinner elicited any bites. Had a couple really small taps, which I figured were yellow perch...like it was the other day. The saltwater bite was on fire Wednesday morning, and I got into some mid 20-inch stripers.

Sunday, Nov. 21 (from Ron)...Went out and tried a new, small, gold-colored crankbait (by Berkley). Had never used that color before. The bait is a floater that gets down to about 3 feet. Waters I am fishing average a depth of 4 feet. Slime darts and yellow perch loved the thing. Nothing of any size would have anything to do with it, but I had fun on a beautiful morning. The micro spinner and the ol' XTS Minnow worked on the bass. Caught a total of about 20 fish.

Saturday, Nov. 27 (from Wayne and Ken)...The air temp was around 40 degrees when we pulled away from the front of my place this morning, and the water temp when we launched at Bob's Fishin' Hole was 43 (topped out at 49), but those numbers didn't stop us from participating in the regular Saturday tournament there. We joined 22 other stalwarts who spent the next seven hours looking for some of those favorite green fish. The day started OK for us. We put eight bass in the boat in the first hour and a half, but only managed one more in the remaining hours...we couldn't even buy a strike, even though we were throwing everything but the proverbial "kitchen sink" at them. For that reason, we didn't hang around after weighing our catch this afternoon. We could see the handwriting on the wall. Not sure if it explains the reason why the fish suddenly took on such a serious case of lockjaw today, but came across the following information online, courtesy of Wired2Fish, after getting home this afternoon: "As the temps bottom out, you've really got to slow down. You'll notice patterns, too, this time of year. Often, your most productive times of the day will the the first 30 minutes, last 30 minutes, and the middle of the day, from say 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., on sunny days. That's the time of day the fish will get the most sunshine to warm them up. So there's often a lull at times, especially mid-morning after the initial bite. Then, if there's a front moving through at anytime of the day, the norm holds true, and the fish will typically be more active then. Keep those windows in mind, and try to make the most of them by putting yourself in the most productive places at the right times. Take one of these baits (a squarebill crankbait, spinnerbait, jerkbait, compact jig, or flat-sided crankbait), and take your time, and you'll be setting yourself up for a good day on the water...one with far fewer boats than you'll see the rest of the year." The time we spent fishing today was very comfortable, but anytime we ran to a new spot, it was a "numbing" experience. We both couldn't say enough for the 100-mph rainsuit pants we were wearing today, among lots of other things.

12 Boats, 21 Anglers, and 129.74 Lbs. of Fish

Air temp at launch time was in the 40s, with water temp in the 50s. At day's end, both were hovering in the 50s.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
That was today's final tally in the Boundary Bass Club's second tournament of the 2021 - 2022 season.

The event launched out of Pungo Ferry at  8 a.m., with weigh-in at 3 o'clock.

Fifty-eight bass were brought to the scales, and all of them were released alive. Average weight per fish was 2.23 lbs., with an average weight per boat of 10.81 lbs.

Bragging rights today went to the following competitors:

1st Place, Chris Napier, five-fish limit, 21.31 lbs. total weight, 5.40-lb. big fish.

2nd Place, the team of (from left) Dave Dozier and Nelson Anderson, five fish, 15.93 lbs. total weight, 4.85-lb. big fish.

Lunker Prize, Wayne Hayes, with a 6.34-lb. bass. He and his partner, Ken T., also brought in a limit, weighing a total of 15.75 lbs.

Here is how everyone else finished the day:
     * The team of Rob Peppers and Don Carter, five fish, 13.26 lbs. total weight, 3.85-lb. big fish.
     * The team of Sid Ryan and Kevin Massie, five fish, 13.17 lbs. total weight, 5.55-lb. big fish.
     * Andy Morath, five fish, 9.87 lbs. total weight, 3.62-lb. big fish.
     * The team of Steve Bailey and Dennis Dean, five fish, 8.88 lbs. total weight, 3.15-lb. big fish.
     * The team of Cotton Wynne and Dustin Alley, five fish, 6.67 lbs. total weight, no big fish.
     * The team of Dave Anderson and Gary Coderre, five fish, 6.67 lbs. total weight, no big fish.
     * The team of Mark Ingram and Gabe Himmelwright, five fish, 6.62 lbs. total weight, no big fish.
     * The team of Leo Boisvert and Vince Stuccio, five fish, 6.34 lbs. total weight, no big fish.
     * Richard Woods, three fish, 5.07 lbs. total weight, no big fish.

The next Boundary Bass Club tournament is scheduled for Saturday, Dec. 4, with an 8 a.m. launch and a 3 p.m. weigh-in. Anglers that day will be fishing the Pasquotank River. Watch for full details on the Boundary website at https://www.boundarybassclub.com/.

Keep Your Fishin' Gear Handy 'Cause It May Be a Mild Winter

I say that as a result of finding the woolly worm in the accompanying photo crawling across my driveway this morning.

These creatures, also known as woolly bear caterpillars (specifically, the larva of the Isabella tiger moth), have a reputation for being able to forecast the coming winter weather. If their rusty band is wide (as in the photo), then it will be a mild winter. The more black there is, the more severe the winter.

Granted, there's very little science involved here. However, I figure there's a better chance of this prediction coming true than one I heard just the other day on national television.

In that case, a bunch of "whack jobs," otherwise known as "conspiracy theorists," had gathered in Dallas, TX, awaiting JFK, Jr.'s return from the dead to run as Trump's VP in 2024. And no, I'm not BS'n anyone. Unfortunately, they all went away greatly disappointed...duh?

In any event, the woolly worm legend dates back to the fall of 1948, when Dr. C. H. Curran, curator of insects at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, took his wife 40 miles north of the city to Bear Mountain State Park to look at woolly bear caterpillars. He collected as many caterpillars as he could in a day, determined the average number of reddish-brown segments it had, and forecast the coming winter weather through a reporter friend at The New York Herald Tribune.

Dr. Curran's experiment, which he continued over the next eight years, attempted to prove scientifically a weather rule of thumb that was as old as the hills around Bear Mountain. The resulting publicity made the woolly worm one of the most recognizable caterpillars in North America (alongside the monarch caterpillar and tomato hornworm).

Between 1948 and 1956, Dr. Curran's average brown-segment counts ranged from 5.3 to 5.6 out of the 13-segment total, meaning that the brown band took up more than a good third of the woolly bear's body. The corresponding winters were milder than average, and Dr. Curran concluded that the folklore has some merit and might be true.

But Curran was under no scientific illusion. He knew that his data samples were small. Although the experiments legitimized folklore to some, they were simply an excuse for having fun. Curran, his wife, and their group of friends escaped the city to see the foliage each fall, calling themselves The Original Society of the Friends of the Woolly Bear.

Thirty years after the last meeting of Curran's society, the woolly bear brown-segment counts and winter forecasts were resurrected by the nature museum at Bear Mountain State Park. The annual counts have continued, more or less tongue in cheek, since then.

For over 40 years, Banner Elk, NC, has held an annual Woolly Worm Festival in October, highlighted by a caterpillar race. Retired mayor Charles Von Canon inspects the champion woolly bear and announces his winter forecast. Similarly, there is a Woollybear Festival that takes place in Vermilion, OH, each October.

Most scientists discount the folklore of woolly bear predictions as just that: folklore. Mike Peters, an entomologist at the University of Massachusetts, doesn't disagree, but he says there could, in fact, be a link between winter severity and the brown band of a woolly bear caterpillar.

"There's evidence," he says, "that the number of brown hairs has to do with the age of the caterpillar--in other words, how late it got going in the spring. The band does say something about a heavy winter or an early spring. The only thing is...it's telling you about the previous year."

Weather is local, so you need to read your own woolly worms. Look for these fuzzy wuzzies in the fall. According to woolly worm watchers, there are two generations of worms each year. The first appear in June and July, and the second in September. The second generation worms are the "weather prophets."

To find a woolly bear, start looking under leaves and logs. Some are just crossing the road. Once you spot a woolly worm inching its way along the ground or road, you'll see them everywhere. The caterpillars are most active during the day (not at night). After filling up on food, including violets, lambs quarter, and clover, their goal is to find a place to hide for the winter. Interestingly, the woolly worm overwinters as larva. Their entire body will enter a "frozen" state until May, when it will emerge as the Isabella moth (see photo above).

Every year, the woolly worms do indeed look different...and it depends on their region. So if you come across a local woolly worm, observe the colors of the bands and what they foretell about your winter weather.

A Thanksgiving Tale

Here's a story about a guy...single, low-key, not easily ruffled, well-liked by all accounts...and a parrot.

About a week before Thanksgiving, he got a call from some good friends who were moving. They had a parrot, and they couldn't take it with them. They asked if he might want it. The guy wasn't real excited but agreed to give it a home.

He found out in short order that the parrot had the most foul mouth of any bird that ever had worn feathers. When he got home from work each day, he'd be greeted with a string of profanities, and the way this parrot talked about his mother would make a pornographer blush.

Upon returning home one evening, this guy was in no humor for more verbal abuse...he'd had enough at work. When the parrot started in on him, the guy grabbed it by the neck, opened the freezer door, and stuffed the bird inside.

"Squawk! Squawk! Squawk!" came the retort from the freezer.

When the bird quieted down, the man opened the door, the bird hopped onto his outstretched hand, and with its head down said, "I know I've been a very bad bird, and I am so sorry. Please forgive me. I will become a well-behaved parrot...I promise."

"Okay," said the guy.

"Sir," said the now humble parrot, "may I add something to what I just said?"

"Sure," the fella replied.

Wanna know what the parrot said to him?

"Happy Thanksgiving!"

This tale was attributed to a fella named Bill Wetline when it was published back on Nov. 24, 2020.

With that, please accept the following greetings from my house to yours.

Wishing you and your family a day to remember...one filled with laughter and joy, great conversations, along with thankful hearts and a renewed appreciation for all that life has to offer.

Bass Anglers Should Think Like Hunters

That's how bass pro Mike Cork (left) characterized the gist of an interview he once did with the late Aaron Martens. During their one-on-one, the discussion mostly centered on how Martens, as a "natural angler," prefished a new body of water. A statement Aaron made has stuck with Cork ever since that event. He said, "An avid big-game hunter makes for a good bass fisherman."

Martens elaborated some, saying that bass are similar to deer or other big game in that they have trails they use to move back and forth between feeding grounds and resting grounds. An angler who can keep that in mind can understand that there are three places to catch bass: where they eat, where they live, and along the trail they use to move between them. According to Aaron, the best place is a bend in the trail they travel...not so much as it may or may not be a gathering place, but it gives the angler a target to concentrate on and cross paths with all the bass using that area.

"As I try to zero in on off-shore bass," noted Cork, "I am continually thinking, and this has become part of my process. The bend in the road...what did he mean by that? I have come to believe that a bend in the road allows an angler to target all the bass that might be using that road. Whether bass are traveling to feeding grounds or going to resting areas, the bass using it will go past that bend. So instead of working up and down the road and possibly casting at a lull in traffic, if an angler stays put and keeps casting at the same bend, traffic eventually will catch up, and you can load the boat.

"I try to think of it like this. You're sitting on a side road of a very busy street, and you want to turn left onto this busy street. Unfortunately, traffic just keeps coming. Once one direction clears, the other is full, and you're still stuck. Eventually, though, the traffic clears, and there's not a car in sight, and you easily can make your left-hand turn.

"What if you found that perfect travel route, with a great feeding area on one end and a perfect ledge to suspend at and rest on the other? You work up and down the ledge and just can't get a bite. Could you be in that lull of traffic that you waited on while sitting on that side street? If you pick an area that is recognizable to you, you can repeatedly cast your bait to the same spot and wait for the traffic to catch up to you.

"Just something I wonder about," Cork concluded.

Lightning: Never To Be Taken Lightly

Read today about a bass angler who, when he was in his 20s, believed that, as long as he wasn't the tallest thing in an area, was safe from a lightning strike. That, however, was before he was fishing a club tournament some years later on a lake, with cypress trees standing all around him.

"As a storm blew through the area," he said, "I simply nestled my bass boat up next to a group of these trees and kept fishing. Lightning was getting closer, and the wind was picking up. In a split second, the rain was falling so hard that I couldn't see the chartreuse spinnerbait hanging on the end of my rod.

"In a flash, literally, I was blinded," he continued. "The hair on my arms was tingling, and I couldn't hear. As I was coming out of this tingling disorientation, my partner asked, 'Are you OK?' Not knowing what to say, I simply stated, 'Well, the batteries should be fully charged now.'"

As it turned out, the duo hadn't been struck by lightning, although for a second, they thought they had been. A tree right next to them took a direct hit. As the angler on the front of the boat was coming back to reality, he noticed there were ripples coming from the boat like a bobber that had just been bounced in the water. The thunder clap was so loud that the boat transferred the noise vibration into the water.

That storm blew out of the area as fast as it had moved in. However, it was the last storm the angler failed to treat with respect.

"I probably have missed out on a fish or two," he said, "and I know I've missed out on a complete day on the water because of similar threats. You won't ever find me without cover during a thunderstorm again.

"My No. 1 option for when storms come up while on the water," he explained, "is to spend the time and gas to get back to the truck. Once there, I've been known to wait out the storm and then go back out. I always put the boat on the trailer, though, 'cause you don't want to have it beating against a dock in a bad storm. If getting back to the truck is not an option, I'll borrow a covered boat dock. Most dock owners understand. If you have to duck into their dock, please be courteous and don't get out of the boat. An owner probably will see you there, and if you remain in your boat, they'll be a lot more comfortable that you're not in their dock to steal something.

"Staying in your boat also allows you to maintain control of it and prevent any damage from the dock. Last but not least, and I had to do this once, is to beach your boat and head for shelter up on the bank somewhere...not the best option, but it's safer than trying to ride out a storm on the water."

The fact of the matter is that lightning strikes, to the best of our knowledge, are random. Without extreme controlled conditions, we cannot predict how, when or where lightning will strike. For the angler, that means if you can see the storm, you already should be under shelter. No one's life is worth risking for a bass...even a trophy-sized one.

For Period Ending Sunday, Nov. 21, 2021

Saturday, Nov. 13 (from Ron)...Last three freshwater trips have not gone well. Fished Stumpy Lake, targeting bass and carp, skunk. Fished Asheville Bridge Creek, targeting anything, skunk. Fished Munden Point to Milldam, with a trip into Oakum Creek, 1 dink bass. Saltwater fishing has been better. Maybe I'm losing my freshwater touch???

Saturday, Nov. 13 (from Wayne and Ken)...We went to Bob's this morning and signed up for their tournament. As it worked out, we just "contributed" but had a good time, too. Proved to be a windy day, with lots of leaves in the water...to the point where we went looking for some protected stretches in the last few hours to just get some relief...especially Wayne on the trolling motor. Didn't cash a check, but we each caught two keepers, and Wayne worked a couple of nice fish alongside the boat, only to have them spit the hook at the last minute as he was trying to steer them into the awaiting net. Wayne introduced me to a lot of new water today, and I wasn't really prepared for the greater depths in the Northwest. Had no crankbaits in my box that would reach the appropriate depths, so had to borrow one from Wayne. Will be sure to have my box of deeper crankbaits the next time, though. Wayne tried fishing some soft plastics and a spinnerbait today, to no avail. And I tried a chatterbait and jerkbait, with the same results. Crankbaits seemed to be the one and only ticket to success. Saw a few folks we both know, which is always nice.

Am I Really Ready to Fish, Or Is My Mind Playing Tricks on Me?

That's the question an angler was asking himself after the latest in a string of back surgeries. Unfortunately, he didn't come up with the right answer.

Originally, the doctors had decided to install some rods in his back to help keep the spine straight. This "hack job," though, as he termed it, had failed miserably. The rods had ended up irritating some nerve endings, making it nearly impossible for him to spend an entire day fishing. Accordingly, the doctors had gone in again and removed the rods, with hopes to eliminate his pain.

It was while he was recovering from this latest surgery that the mind games had started.

"After recuperating for about three weeks, I was up and walking," he said, "though very slowly at first...and with the aid of a cane. My mind began telling me it was time to get back on the boat and do what I felt like I was born to do: bass fishing."

Deciding he was going to take the bull by the horns, he grabbed a handful of medications, hooked up the boat to his truck, and proceeded to the boat launch.

"My thought process at the time was that there is no doctor in the world who can tell you if you're ready for a day on the lake after a surgery. Only you will know if you're ready...and I felt ready."

Soon after launching his boat and running a couple of miles to a honey hole that had produced for him in the past, he picked up his rod with a shallow-diving crankbait tied on it, reared back, and let the bait fly. He instantly knew beyond the shadow of a doubt that he had made a BIG mistake.

"Not only did I feel like every nerve in my back had split wide open, but I was left in a bent-over position from which I couldn't recover," he explained. "I felt like the last three weeks of recovery never had happened. More precisely, it was as though I just had left the hospital the day before.

"Somehow, I mustered up the strength to lift the trolling motor and start back to the boat ramp," he continued. "I knew from that first cast I was not ready to be out on the water and now had to find a way to get the boat home. Thankfully, I now have some great new friends who came to my rescue after arriving back at the launch site.

"They approached me, asking how I had done, as they were just heading out. I explained my situation to them, and they were only too happy to help me put the boat back on the trailer. I also was very lucky to live just seconds away from the boat ramp.

"In retrospect, when I thought I was ready to be out there on the water, I wasn't. I needed more time to heal.

"Whatever the reason, be it physical or mechanical, don't let your mind play tricks on you. Make sure you are ready to be out there. Otherwise, you could set your recovery back so far you might never be able to go again. I was lucky and only needed another couple weeks of healing before I was back on the water.

"I learned that it's probably best to consult with your doctor and follow his advice about when it's safe to get back on the water. Just because you're tired of being laid up, and your mind may be telling you one thing when the truth is something else doesn't mean you should act on those thoughts."

The wise man remembers this saying: "He who acts as his own doctor has a fool for a patient." Words all would do well to live by.

Fish Often Enough, and It's Bound to Happen: Muddy Water

Let's face it: The inflow of sediment into an otherwise pristine paradise can ruin the perfect trip. As one angler I read about put it, "Chocolate milk, brown gravy and molasses are all fine on the breakfast table, but they can turn a fisherman's stomach upside down when describing his favorite fishing spot being overrun with dirty water. Especially during spring, rainy tournaments can go from a blowout to a washout in just one evening."

To catch bass under these conditions, it's important to understand that they use three major senses to locate and attack their food. Those senses are scent, the lateral line, and sight. While the lateral line often has been thought of as the primary way bass locate prey, more recent studies have shown this may not be the case. These later tests have shown that bass feed first and foremost by sight, then scent, then feel. Except in the worst conditions, bass use their lateral line last.

In clear to stained water, bass feed primarily by sight. Muddy water, though, puts them in a negative mood. The reason is simple: They no longer can count on their vision to locate prey. As a result, they must depend on their lateral line. Because muddy water prohibits light penetration, the bass tend to move to shallower water because it's the warmest, especially in cooler weather. Since they can't count on their vision to keep them safe, they stop roaming and draw tight to cover.

The fisherman's challenge is to find the shallower water with the best cover, and you'll have a good chance of locating the fish. There are three keys to effective lure selection for muddy water: vibration, noise and water displacement. A lure with any of these characteristics should prove successful.

Single Colorado-blade (the larger, the better) spinnerbaits, a rattletrap, a big, wide wobbling crankbait, or a rattling flipping jig with a chunk trailer are all good choices in muddy water. Fish them slowly and as tight to cover as you can get. The bass won't chase them very far. The best muddy-water color, by far, is chartreuse.

In early spring, as well as late fall and winter, when faced with cold muddy water, look for warm-water discharge areas or steam plants. The water here can be as much as 25 degrees warmer than surrounding water. These areas can pay off big time.

For example, one year in the dead of winter, with a water temp of 37 degrees, an angler and some of his buddies found a warm-water discharge area off the main lake with timber in it, and the water temp read 46 degrees. While most of the tournament boats were fishing deeper channels and main-lake points, these five boats stayed put in this warm-water area and finished as the top five teams.

As they encouraged, "Next time you're faced with muddy, or cold and muddy-water conditions, don't throw in the towel and write it off as bad. Instead, go for it with gusto. Tough? Yes. Impossible? Not by any stretch of the imagination."

How Much Does Color Matter in Bass Fishing?

"I'm a firm believer that most bass lures catch the bass fisherman and not the bass. Bubba Bass does not notice the pretty patterns on all those high-dollar crankbaits... . In my opinion, technique and presentation far outweigh the color factor."

The same man who said that, however, also admitted to having more than 230 crankbaits in his boat, on the counter, and in boxes in his closet.

"In those boxes," he continued, "I have every color of the rainbow, and not just one color. I have three to five different versions of the same bait. As far as plastics go, I have shades of white, black, orange, and pink, not to mention shades and hues of green, red and blue. As I pull out my three spinnerbait boxes, I notice gold, nickel, copper, silver, and even a couple of painted blades in there. Don't look at the fourth box that includes all the extra skirts in a thousand different color combinations.

"When I first started fishing tournaments, I bet I carried more than 50 crankbaits in 20 different colors and patterns. I had a hard time deciding what bait to throw. As I look back, I realize that I only used a handful of those crankbaits. The others were just space eaters and added weight to my tournament bag."

As a result, this fella decided to cut down his crankbait selection to just a few colors, concentrating on two specific forages: shad and crawfish.

"For most all of my crankbait fishing, I use Tennessee shad, silver, chartreuse/blue back, and brown/orange combos. Also, firetiger is a tremendous crankbait color for me."

He went on to explain that he's also not convinced that bass get conditioned to a certain color. He cited the example of a tournament, in which he and his partner had been throwing a silver/blue back rattletrap.

"We had been catching fish all week on this bait," he said. "But on the day of the tournament, the bass shut down. My partner switched to silver/black back traps, and I just changed depths and smoked him. He continued to struggle, even though he switched colors.

"Day in and day out, green pumpkin is in every single tournament angler's plastic bag. With presentations like flipping and pitching, bass don't have time to decide or analyze the color. They hit out of reflex, anger or hunger. Can you say reaction strike?"

There, however, is a cadre of fishermen who think differently. Many believe that the color of their fishing lures does make a difference. They answer with a resounding "yes" when asked if color matters.

Scientists are the ones who likely will offer a less enthusiastic "maybe" or "sometimes" when asked the same question. They defend that position, saying, "Underwater, where visibility is usually limited to dozens of feet, under even the clearest conditions, there is little need for long-range vision."

Fish have been described as being nearsighted and probably can focus on objects much closer to their eyes than humans can.

"Cast a popping bug near a school of bluegill," say the scientists, "and one of them will approach within an inch of the lure to inspect it--something that would leave an angler cross-eyed. Even when a fish first detects an object off to the side, it usually will turn and face the object in order to examine it. Why? The likeliest explanation is that this brings the object within the narrow range of a fish's binocular vision.

"Unlike humans, many fish have their eyes set far apart on the sides of their head, rather than to the front. This allows a very wide arc of monocular side vision for spotting predators or prey but provides only a narrow range of overlapping binocular vision to the front. There is a blind spot to the rear, and the range of binocular vision to the front encompasses only about 30 to 45 degrees. For this reason, some experienced anglers believe a fish is more likely to spot a lure if it is cast to the fish's side, instead of directly in front of it.

"Once a fish spots something, turning to face it undoubtedly gives the fish a better estimate of the object's distance. Even though fish will turn to examine objects, their eyes do have limited independent movement within the sockets. Like humans, a fish's eyes move in unison when looking around."

The big question facing anglers and lure manufacturers the world over is: Do fish see color? The answer is: Yes they do. In many cases, a fish's color vision is probably comparable to that of humans.

"So you can justify purchasing Uncle Joe's Bass Slayers in all 32 available colors," say the scientists. "Like those of humans, fish retinas possess both cones for color vision, as well as rods for black and white vision. During daylight, fish primarily use cones for vision. At night, the rods, which provide much higher light sensitivity and resolution, are used instead. The process of switching between using cones, instead of rods (and then back again) may take two hours, and a predatory fish, whose eyes adjust more quickly than those of forage fish will have a visual advantage during dawn and dusk--at least one reason why these times provide the best fishing. Sharks, interestingly enough, do not see color."

A very important factor in a fish's color vision is water depth. Water completely absorbs (or attenuates) different colors of light at different depths, affecting which colors are visible to a fish. Water attenuates red light from the spectrum first, oranges and yellows next, and blues and greens last.

"What this means," according to the scientists, "is that at a particular depth, a red lure no longer will look red but might appear as black or brown, while a green lure at the same depth could still look green. At even greater depths, colors no longer are visible, and fish probably see objects in varying shades of gray. It therefore is not surprising that within both fresh and saltwater fish, shallow-dwelling species have better-developed color vision than deepwater fish. Of course, water turbidity that inhibits light penetration greatly reduces the depth at which a particular color is visible.

"Despite the fact that red is the first color to disappear from the underwater spectrum, some research has shown that red elicits the strongest response from largemouth bass. Yellow was the next most important color for this species. Other research has suggested that largemouth bass also possess some of the better color vision among common sportfish, followed by smallmouth bass, muskie, northern pike, rainbow trout, bluegill, crappie, and gar. Fish which feed primarily by smell, such as catfish, may have poor color vision in comparison."

'Twas the Month Before Christmas 2021

{This slightly edited version of my November 13, 2012 post, like its original model, is dedicated in memory of Dewey Mullins (above), who passed from this life on Nov. 8, 2012. Hope you’re still catching those lunkers Up Yonder, my ol’ friend.}

‘Twas the month before Christmas in the year 2021,

And bassers everywhere still were runnin’ and havin’ fun.

So what if the nights were getting cold, making our old bones ache?

And God help you if you happened to hit another boat’s wake.

 

The stores already were gittin’ crazy with holiday shoppers galore,

Climbing o’er the top of one another and creating one heckuva roar.

Meanwhile, all we could think about was finding ol’ Bubba,

C’mon, fellas, what are we waiting for? Hubba-hubba!

 

Out of West Neck, we in our bass boats did all fly,

Snugly bundled up under that dark threatening sky.

We knew it’d be a miracle if we didn’t get wet this day,

But so what? It’s never bothered us before. Hey! Hey!

 

Some turned north out of the creek, while others went south,

With one thing in common, though, and that was a closed mouth.

After all, none of us were looking to catch a death of cold,

Even if we perhaps were being a bit foolishly bold.

 

From Centerville Bridge north to Milldam Creek south we did all roam,

We hit ‘em with everything, but “crap…just another dink” we did mostly bemoan.

And then, just as frustration was beginning to sit in,

We felt that dreaded moisture start hitting our skin.

 

It started as a light mist, but soon changed to sleet,

Then came snowflakes—Oh boy! I thought, now we’re replete.

With that saying about the “worst day fishin’…” running all through my head,

I went digging through my tacklebox for something that had a little red.

 

Ahhh! Maybe this red-craw crankbait will do the trick,

So I hurriedly grabbed it and tied it on my St. Croix stick.

Chatterbaits, spinnerbaits, suspending jerkbaits and much more—

I’d tried ‘em all but hadn’t found a decent keeper heretofore.

 

Having just checked my watch, I realized that time was running short,

If I was gonna catch Bubba, this crankbait likely would be my last resort.

Cast after cast, I did fire toward the shoreline,

In my feverish hope to boat a big ‘un before the approaching deadline.

 

Just as I was thinking all hope for the day certainly must be gone,

The glimpse of a swirl, indicating a sizable fish, I did happen upon.

Wheeling and casting in what luckily was one succinct motion,

The bait barely had landed when the water erupted like an ocean.

 

Running hither and yon, this fish definitely had a mind all of its own,

Nothing I did resulted in the slightest amount of slowin’.

Oh Roland, oh Bill, oh Denny, Jimmy and Woo,

What should I do to tame this ornery “Shamu”?

With dexterity, he darted from one stump to the next,

Testing my reel to see if it met all of its specs.

Then, in one wild leap to spit that hook causin’ his pain,

I realized this fish wasn’t going to gain me any fame.

 

Bubba he was, but bass he definitely was not,

That mouth full of teeth told me why the battle was so hard-fought.

Call him bowfin or grindle—whatever you like,

The way I see it, he was just another pike.

 

Unhooking the critter, I tied things down, then headed for the barn,

Where I knew I’d catch plenty of razzin’ for this piece of yarn.

But what the hey? That joyous holiday season was nigh at hand,

When people would be celebrating all across this wonderful land.

 

Up North Landing River, I went at full bore,

I was gonna make weigh-in, even though I wouldn’t score.

Eating sleet mixed with snowflakes all along the way,

I couldn’t help feeling like it had been one mighty long day.

 

I just had throttled back, as I headed to the boat basin,

Twas catching my breath, ‘cause I knew I no longer had to hasten.

And suddenly, it no longer mattered what kind of razzin’ I’d have to withstand,

‘Cause my day on the water had been nothing short of grand.

 

Happy Holidays! and Tight Lines! I say to one and all,

Enjoy this beautiful season, and have yourself a ball.

In all things, though, please keep safety at the ready,

And whatever you do, don’t let that bubbly go to your ol' "heady”.

Where It Will Stop Is Anyone's Guess

What I can tell you for certain is that at 10:30 this morning, the North Landing online-gauge reading was -0.14. At 11:30, it was -0.32. At 12:30, it was -0.48. At 1:30, it was -0.56. And at 2:30, it was -0.69. In case you didn't notice, those are all "minus" readings, and with continuing northerly winds at 25, gusting to 36, the readings are apt to keep going south.

As a result, I asked my wife to drive me to West Neck Marina. Following is a pictorial review of what I found when I got there:

At the ramp

 A hole forming in the righthand slab

The channel leading out from the marina ramp

The channel leading up to the marina store from the ramp

The channel leading up to the marina store from the ramp...continued

The area in front of the marina store

Looking across the way from the front of the marina store

Looking north from the West Neck Bridge, with camera aimed at first cove on the left

Looking north from the West Neck Bridge, with camera aimed primarily at shoreline immediately on the right, up to the first cove on the right, and beyond

Looking south from the West Neck Bridge, concentrating on the left side (channel markers you see lead to marina)

Looking south from the West Neck Bridge

Looking a little farther south from the West Neck Bridge

The Weather Channel continues calling for northerly winds (albeit not as strong as they are now) until Thursday of the coming week, when they say the winds should shift southerly. Once things do start turning around, those unfamiliar with these waters should be prepared for some muddy conditions. Be watchful for floaters, too.

A Tale of Two Clueless Anglers and Their Zebco 33s

Imagine two guys who were part of a large group of water-tower painters. They were traveling around the countryside painting water towers. As a reward for the big year they just had had, their boss was treating them to a week of guided fishing trips.

"On the first day," said the guide, "these two characters kept me laughing so hard I could hardly fish. When the plug came out of my boat, and it almost sank, one of them ripped off his T-shirt and used it as a plug. On top of that, one fella was wearing a Mickey Mouse hat with a propeller on top, and the other had a Bob Dylan shirt, with him giving the finger to a group of senators. These were my kind of guys, even though neither one of them had a clue about bass fishing.

"They each had a Zebco 33 with 20-lb. line," continued the guide, "'cause they had heard you had to have heavy line where they were fishing. You well can imagine how much 20-lb. line a Zebco 33 will hold...maybe 25 yards or so. I offered them baitcasters or spinning reels, but neither ever had used one of these."

The guide went on to explain that, during that first day, these two clients caught 50 or more fish but got hung up a few times, too, and lost some line, leaving them with very little on their reels.

"We had such a good time that day they made sure we fished together again the second day," he said. "As luck would have it, some of their friends had caught 5- or 6-lb. bass the first day, and these two wanted to try and catch a big fish, too. So I took them to an area where I had caught a 7.7-pounder in a tournament just the weekend before.

"Because I felt they weren't likely to catch a fish on a jig like I had used, I tied on a Magnum Mudbug for both of them. It was early March, and the big fish were just moving up to the ridges to spawn, a perfect situation for a large crankbait. Only problem was that I didn't think about their reels having so little line.

"We got there about daylight, and I told one to throw over yonder and the other one to throw on the other side of the boat. After a couple of casts, one hollered, 'I have a big fish on', but the fish immediately hung on a shallow stump. We could see it just under the surface, and it indeed was a toad, just tearing up the water.

"I kicked the trolling motor on high and started that direction. About halfway there, the other guy, however, yelled that he was hung up on a tree. I told him to just push the button on his reel to release his line, so we could get his partner's fish first. As luck would have it, though, there was only enough line on the other guy's reel to get about 5 feet away from the bass that was hung up on the stump.

"Being a quick thinker, I told the other guy to just break off, so he yanked as hard as he could, and his bait came loose...and, as it did, an even bigger bass grabbed his Mudbug and wrapped him around a stickup as tight as a hatband.

"I don't mind telling you," said the guide, "that I was a mess, trying to think what to do now. Both guys now had good bass on, and both were out of line on opposite sides of the boat. The first guy saw that I wasn't thinking very well at the moment and said, 'I'll cut my line, so we can try to get my buddy's fish.'

"This statement made sense since the buddy's fish acted like it might be over 8 lbs. We agreed, and he pulled out his knife and cut the line. Now this fish had been hung on that stump about 4 or 5 minutes, so I figured it was tuckered out. Just as the the first guy cut his line, though, the other fish broke off, and we only could watch as about 15 lbs. of bass slowly swam off in opposite directions. There was nothing to do then but just sit there and try to laugh and cry at the same time."

Unfortunately, It's Not "Fake News" This Time...

Three-time Angler of the Year Aaron Martens (left) passed away yesterday after a 19-month battle with brain cancer. He was 49 years old.

Martens initially honed his fishing skills on famed trophy factory Castaic Lake in southern California, fishing tournaments with his mother, Carol. After a storied career on numerous regional circuits, he qualified for the Bassmaster Top 150 tour through the Bassmaster Western Opens, and subsequently fished on various iterations of that tour, including the Bassmaster Elite Series, from 1999 through 2018. Along the way, he qualified for and competed in 20 Bassmaster Classics, finishing in the top 10 on nine occasions, including four runner-up finishes. At the 2005 Bassmaster Classic in Pittsburgh, he had the winning fish on several times and ultimately fell short of Kevin VanDam's winning weight by a mere 6 ounces. The following year at Lay Lake, he again finished second to VanDam, albeit by a larger margin.

Martens won nine Bassmaster tournaments, three of them on different waters in his home state of California, as well as in Alabama, Illinois, Arizona, Maryland, and New York. At the final win in 2017 on Lake Champlain, he was in 19th place, heading into the final day of competition, but he amassed a monstrous catch to leapfrog the other 18 anglers.

In addition to competing with B.A.S.S., Martens also fished the FLW Tour from 2001 through 2006 and qualified for the Forrest Wood Cup three times. In 2003, he won a tour event on Wheeler Lake, and the following year, he won at Champlain. He later fished the Major League Fishing made-for-television events and left B.A.S.S. to compete on the Bass Pro Tour circuit in 2019.

Despite the fact that several of his most notable achievements came using power-fishing techniques, and he bristled at being pigeonholed as a finesse fisherman, many of Martens' most meaningful innovations came using light-line techniques. He is perhaps best known for his prowess with and reliance upon the drop-shot technique, which he had a strong hand in popularizing. Indeed, he taught it to many of his fellow tour pros.

While Martens moved from his native California to Alabama partway through his career to ease the road strain on his traveling family, he remained closely affiliated with the Golden State and its innovations. He tirelessly worked to refine both finesse and big-bait techniques and was noted for his tackle-tinkering and perfectionism. He also was a conduit between Japanese innovators and the U.S. bass scene, and at times was sponsored by various Japanese companies, including Megabass, Duo Realis, Sunline, and Shimano.

The self-titled "Furious Hog Snatcher" also was an avid runner, backpacker and camper.

He is survived by his wife, Lesley; his children, Jordan and Spencer; and his mother, Carol.

This is an edited version of the article that appeared on the Bassmaster website yesterday under the byline of veteran outdoor writer Pete Robbins (left).

With thanks to Len Hall for bringing this news to my attention.