Making Lemonade!

Recently my career has required more time than it had in the past, making it harder to be out in the tourneys and among the local anglers, in short I've been unable to maintain my relevance in the area. This time requirement doesn't seem to be changing in the near future forcing me to find ways to remain relevant in the sport fishing industry. A few ideas have come to mind, as I always add some new technique to my bag of tricks and as with all anglers we try out new gear or equipment that makes our outings more enjoyable, be it by comfort or success. Considering the above I thought I would share my findings with you. The 2018 season brought me two new techniques, "using" a Jerk bait and throwing shallow crank baits. The equipment I've tried this year are Vicious fluorocarbon line and Colombia out door clothing. You may be wondering why I put the word "using" in quotations in reference to the Jerk bait. I have had one tied on for longer than a year but actually using it on a continual basis was the change I made this season. What are my results so far this year; big bupkis. I did catch two chain pickerel's but no bass to speak of. As with any new trials, I'm sure it's me and not the lures. Moving on to a more pleasant experience, the shallow billed crank baits. I found three shallow running crank baits from the bank last year and thought this year instead of decorating my rear view mirror they should get some time on the line. So, I set out to see how my free treasures would perform and I have come away pleasantly surprised. They not only put bass in the boat on a consistent basis but they put nice fish in the boat. I even went as far as to try some of the flat sided micro chip shallow divers with good results as well. I was suspicious at first about their ruggedness but the bills hold up just fine, bouncing off lay downs and rip rap banks.

Moving on to Vicious Fluorocarbon Line, I will say, it seemed wiry and cumbersome when first spooled. I stayed on task and allowed the line to show me what it can do. You need to break in the line for a trip or two, sometimes you have to smash the "I believe" button to find out how good things can be. I used 17 lb. for 3/8 oz. and lighter jigs and 22 lb. for 1/2 oz. and heavier jigs. I tried my best to put into conditions that the line would fail and to my surprise it gained my full confidence. If I felt the tug, I would let the rod load up and just hammer what ever was on the other end, be it in brush, hard wood, rip rap, monsterous lilly pads or any other junk I could find, it answered the call.

The Colombia line of clothing has protected me in all weather patterns available. From winter winds to summer sun, they have options that don't require a cash out option from your mortgage. As a matter of fact, if you live near a Colombian outlet you get even better deals. I use their; anti- mosquito, SPF with hoodie, light rain top and bottom and heavy parka with heavy rain pants for the coldest of weather.

Colombia Parka, 3 in 1.

Colombia Anti- mosquito shirt and vicious Fluorocarbon line.

Now I'm working on sharing my experiences in order to stay relevant in the sport fishing industry, this is not something I've done in the past but look forward to the lessons I'll be learning in the future. I hope you got some good information out of this short article. Godspeed and tight lines!

Very respectfully

Dicky