“A
Second Cast”
(By “The Bass Coach”)
The
article you’re about to read is true, the names are changed to protect the
embarrassed (especially the victim within this article.)
In
the early Spring of last year (2001) towards the end of the month of March, I
received
a phone call from a prospective student who was inquiring about my 3-Day
“On-Water”
I
asked John several different questions that I usually ask prospective
students, to give me a better insight on him, and to allow me to put together
a personalized criteria for him while attending my school.
Some of the questions I asked him were:
1.
How long have you been bass fishing?
2.
What your favorite types of baits that you mostly use?
3.
What kind of equipment he used?
4.
What he expects to learn from my school?
5.
What his goals were concerning his future in bass fishing?
6.
How much understanding he had concerning bass habits, Etc.......
After
talking for a few moments about these questions mentioned, John said that he
knew of a newly formed bass tournament trail that he was interested in
joining, but
the
bass trail was a partners (or team) trail and that he didn’t know that much
about this type of trail. He
stated that his main concern about this team trail was that he wasn’t sure
about finding a fishing partner that he could get along with during the course
of the trail season. I told John
that I have taught several husband and wife teams (as well as
girlfriend/boyfriend teams) that fish these types of trails and that if his
wife might be interested at all in bass fishing to enroll both of them into
the school and give it a try. He
kinda chuckled at this idea and stated that she wouldn’t know a plastic worm
from a spinnerbait, but after a moment he thought to himself what the heck and
that he would give it a try with his wife as his partner.
Then he began to warn me that his wife would be like teaching a school
kid that probably wouldn’t give two hoots about any bass fishing subject
matter, in fact, he said that she had never even picked up a fishing rod in
her life except for the ones that he owned, just to throw them in the closet
from being in her way. John said
to give him a while to talk with her and that he’d get back to me as soon as
he could and hung up the phone. About
two hours later my phone rang, I picked it up and you’ll never guess who was
on the other end...... you guessed right, it was John.
He sounded very excited in a funny kind of way, and before I had a
chance to say much of anything, he said that the first week of June would be
great for him and his wife to come to the school if I had a three day slot
open (which I did), so they enrolled.
Now,
when they arrived in my area the night before the start of their first day of
“on-water” instruction, they called me at home to let me know where they
were staying. They also wanted to
know where they could get a
a
The
next morning while I was launching my boat I heard a vehicle drive up towards
my van and stop. I looked over to
the vehicle and there in this car was John and his wife both just-a waving
their hands in an anxious manner. I
walked over to their vehicle to introduce myself and to welcome them.
When John got out of his car, the first thing I noticed was that he was
wearing so many product patches on his clothing that he must have been covered
just about from head to toe. Then
when I glanced inside the car and especially when he popped the trunk open,
I’d say that this fellow brought enough bass baits and lures to supply the
whole town, I mean this guy had just about everything you can imagine!
His wife being a very petite woman stepped out of the car and walked
over to me and introduced herself as Nancy, shook my hand, and while looking
back over towards John as he was piling all his stuff on the ground she was
shaking her head in embarrassment and asked me; “does he really need all
that stuff?” With a big smile I
walked over to the rear of the car where John was unloading the car and looked
at the enormous stack of equipment piled on the ground.
I asked John if he minded if I might look over some of the stuff that
he’d brought with him which he said “please do.”
After going through his things he brought with him, I picked out a
couple of his boxes and said that we’ll start with these the first day and
whatever else was needed for the day I
would gladly supply. I then
started looking through all the rods and reels he brought with him (about 20
in all.) I picked out about six
rods of different assorted sizes and actions out of the bunch and said that
these would be good for him and Nancy to start with.
After selecting some of the necessary things we’d start with, I
helped him load the car back up with all the other stuff he had piled on the
ground and we were on our way....
One
of the most important subjects that I teach my students while attending my
school is “Smart Shopping” I try to help my students by showing them to
just
buy what is practical and really needed the most when it comes to bass
fishing. There are multitudes of
baits, rods, reels, lines, hooks, and so much different equipment on today’s
market that the average angler thinks that he or she just has to have all
these good looking baits to catch bass, this
is all just great company marketing and packaging.
Well,
here we go! finally in the boat and headed out to some areas of the lake
that
I like to teach at. The whole
time while being enroute to the first spot, John couldn’t stop telling me
about some of his great bass fishing stories that he experienced in his past,
after hearing some of these stories I was wondering if I should have
him teach me instead of me teaching him.
So
as the day went on, we got on the subject of Spinnerbaits.
John had said that this was one of his favorite baits and it would be
hard to beat him using one because he has already mastered this bait!
John’s wife,
Now
after a couple of minutes went by while I was instructing
spinnerbaits,
John didn’t seem to want to see or listen to what I was showing and telling
her about a spinnerbait and he kept on casting.
John must have made fifty or sixty casts while I was instructing
About
a hour or two went by since Nancy caught the bass, and since that time John
started showing a very frustrated attitude towards Nancy because she just kept
on bragging about how women were as just as good anglers as men.
Keeping in mind that John needed a partner for this new tournament
trail and talked
For
the next two days, especially after eating some humble pie, John had changed
his attitude and was convinced that women are just as good anglers as the men
are and he was proud to have his wife as his partner (sounds to me like they
had a good discussion last night). Nancy
was a amazing student and adapted quickly to the many different baits,
patterns, and techniques she was taught during the 3-day school period.
John was also a good student when he finally started listening to me
while teaching many different baits, and after he started catching bass on
these new techniques, he realized
that he didn’t know as much as he thought.
All
in all John and Nancy had a great time on the water learning many different
baits, new techniques and patterns, but the greatest thing about the whole
trip is that they both learned enough to take second place in their first
tournament they had fished together. They
had emailed me telling me this news, and to thank me again for all that I had
taught them. They also mentioned
that they wanted to enroll next season in the school again to learn even more!
To
sum it up; even though you may
fish an area with a certain bait and don’t get a strike on it, change the
technique and make that second cast, or even try a different bait before you
move on. Secondly, always
remember that women anglers can be (and some are!) just as good, if not better
than men. As much as the men love
the sport of bass fishing, why not for women to enjoy it as well?
If you wish to learn more about my bass fishing school or just wish to
charter a trip with me, you can visit my web sites at: www.capital.net/~rlbrown
or www.fishing-boating.com/basscoach
or you can drop me a email at: rlbrown@capital.net
, or you may call me at: (518) 597-4240……..
Until next time!.....Take Care & God Bless!..... “The Bass Coach”..Roger Lee Brown