My First 6 Pounder

Jigging with a Hotrod Tube, I landed this beauty in a private lake. My nephew and his friends were down at this place 5 times before me, they ended up with a 19 incher for there biggest catch. My other friend who told me about this lake, has fished it for two years..his biggest was only 22 inches. My 4th cast and I get myself a 23 1/2 inch 6.7 pound PIGGY. It was a private lake, but its still a heck of an accomplishment..some people may never get one this big, I got mine, now going for more!

Tubes, A Rising Favorite

It has been an intersting last few weeks in fishing, and in general..just an interesting last month in life. Being called out on a stage and being graduated was one milestone, ending one chapter and then starting a new one. It's been a rollercoaster, thats for sure, but one thing stands the same..whenever I am free..I gotta fish.

Nothing stops me, even after a hard day of hauling scrap metal to Mcgervich & Sons will not keep me from the water. Its been a different type of fishing season though, taking a new level with tournaments, trying out new waters, and of course..new lures, let me share!

Private ponds can be considered "cheating", because it is an easy way to find good fish, but can also teach you a lot..and what I like most about ponds is that you can use more lures and catch more fish with them. When you are less-confident about using this bait, or that bait, try out a pond..but get permission first. Use a lure that you seldom throw and see what happens, thats what I've been taking time to do. One lure that was on the bottom ofmy tackle box was the tube from Hot Rod Baits. Just about a month ago is when I decided to give them a shot..well, now I can say they are possibly my favorite. What happend to Producto? Well, I have been using them also, but not as much. I've been so confident on these tubes!

It was a cloudy Sunday morning when I used every color of tube I had with me, at a private pond. Doing the same tactic of jigging like a worm has resulted in MORE hits that anything else. Well, I thought to myself, "maybe its just the pond thats good for the hits on tubes". A week or so later, I tried another private water, this time with Strike King and Hot Rod tubes. In just one hour, I brought in 11 Bass, and used a different color each time! Two fish were over the keeping limit, at 16 and 18 inches, but gently released back into its home for future catches! Then, just last week, things went NUTS! Bringing in over 20 Bass in just an hour anda half, and 5 were keeper sized (pic shown--18 inch PIG). My tournaments have brought the same..no keeper sized, but I surely have nailed a few on them, now its just got me wondering..is this now my favorite bait?! I didn't even trust them strongly a month ago, now its my top weapon!

I hope you all enjoyed my first article outside of the classrooms, making time work for these isn't easy with the work I am doing, but I find ways because of this passion I have caught. I hope you learned a little about "tubing" and always give a lure a shot..cause who knows..it may get you some memorable fish along the way..sure did for me!!!

Seeking Time To Try Out New Lures

Thursday, May 3rd, a private water was the place set out for my last fishing article during my senior school year at GMG Jr/Sr High. This was originally supposed to be about a trip to Twin Anchors, in Colo, but I found this day far more interesting to share! My friend Richard was my partner for today (and at Twin Anchors, Sat. May 5th). We fished all the time in 2011, we made about 20 trips last year. This years been different, he’s been more busy with priorities, so I’ve had to find new partners. (which is also a good thing) Till today, he got his chance! 

Right after a day of school, I rounded up my rods and tackle box. My starting lineup for rods included a Berkley AMP with a Producto 7 inch worm, and a Berkley Lightning Rod with a Hot Rod Baits tube. I also brought my Berkley Ultralite Bluegill & Crappie rod, with some jighead hooks. I bought some nightcrawlers at Walmart, its very easy access, I live just 2 blocks from the store. I figured I’ve done enough extreme fishing of late..a competitive tournament (where my partner & I placed 9th, weighed in 1 Bass), practicing with Hot Rod Tubes, using and showing off all my Producto’s..I’ve done a little bit of everything of late, except use live bait. I haven’t used lived bait in over a month, I guess I could go all out and write on this for a change also since I’ve done everything else! 

This was one of those nights where everything goes right, couldn’t ask for a better evening. I’m not all Bass, I also will occasionally go for Bluegill and Crappie. It was hot out at the start, so we did the easy type of angling to tie us over, and keep us busy till it cooled off for the Bass. We put on some live nightcrawlers, (2nd time I used them all year) and soon I landed this nice Gill (pic shown) and my first Crappie! Richard and I totaled 48 Bluegill! After that, we tried for the BASS. I hit 2 right off the bat. Then I thought this would be a great time to brown my horizon and use a brand new lure that I’ve rarely used. Jim Wiegand is a member of the club I am in, and has his own lures “Wigs Jigs”.  I decided to use one, first cast ever on a Wigs Jig..cast, jig, jig, felt the hit, set the hook HARD, showing the fish who’s boss, then reeling it in STRONG!!! Result: A 15 inch bass, BOOYAH! Things went even better, I started throwing spinnerbaits and nailed a couple off that. The great story of the night was when Richard learned how to use my expensive bait-caster. He had a backlash at first, but figured it out and got the hang of it, and nailed 2 good fish off it!  When Richard smarted out a Bass, I promised him a picture in the paper, so we got it done! (pic of him with Bass off a WIGS JIG) 2 1/2 hours..48 Bluegill, a Crappie, and 12 bass together = 61 fish & FUN!  Just a terrific evening and getting him a chance on the water!

Richard is a member of Sea-Cadets, and has been busy dedicating time with this, instead of fishing. I would like to thank him for his courageousness. He doesn’t have to do this, but he dedicates some of his free-times to train on protecting the greatest country on earth. Kudos to you bro!

Why Not Double?!

Cloudy skies, and cold temperatures is what was to be on Sunday, April 29th. I quickly rose up though, It was soon to be just another day outdoors, trying to accomplish another goal of mine on the water. This trip was an experiment, and was also a nice little friendly competition. My friend Richard, who was supposed to come and get his first opportunity to get fish number one on the season, had priorities to take care of, and had to miss out. Kruz, who also wanted to come with, did tag along, and we had ourselves a friendly competition.

A mistake of mine to start off, was forgetting my spinnerbait rod. Arriving at the water we were fishing is when I noticed it was left at my apartment. Oh well! I still had other things to experiment. My WFL tournament on May 2nd is at Pine Lake, and i’ll give you all a hint, PLASTIC TUBES really work well at the Pines. I figured this Sunday would be a great opportunity to test these baits out. Hot Rod baits plastic tubes is one product that I really don’t use much, due to all the success with my Producto worms. I know I can get Bass off Producto, and have got thousands off them in the past, so why use them today really, especially when this is a great practice day? I needed to try these tubes out for practice, get some confidence and experience with these. 

Kruz and I started off very slow, which was rather shocking. We made a bet..who ever gets the first fish, gets a dollar. Well, the TUBE struck through! Oh yeah, double pump that!!! I suggested that he used a spinnerbait, since I forgot mine. I told him, “lets see what I can do slow bait fishing, while you use fast flashy baits”. Fast flashy spinnerbaits in colder 40 degree weather are a great tool to use. Kruz nailed quite a few off them, I just laughed and said “Doctors orders, told ya they would work!” He was really hammering them, I wasn’t doing to well, but I was fine, I needed to really work on the tube, and I knew it would be slower fishing with slower moving baits, rather than Kruz’ flashy white “Booyah Pond Magic” spinnerbait. It was really getting cold, but thats when I started coming on with the fish! 2 Bass in 2 minutes, off the tube! Kruz soon pulled up a very strange fish in a lake like this..a WALLEYE! We put our fish in a basket for another thing I wanted to do..my goal: Why not get a double picture? Once we finished, we lost the stringer and basket off Bass, but somehow managed to snag it with a jighead hook, boy would I’ve been mad if we lost our fish! We didn’t though, and we got our pics for showcase. Kruz came in with the bigger fish today, with his biggest 2 fish being 15 and 16 inches, all caught on a Booyah Pond Magic. My two big ones were only 14, and just slipping over 15, and mine were hooked on the Hot Rod Baits tube! We then RELEASED ALL THE FISH, and saved them for another time. Good fish off the baits we attempted to get em on, and good pictures..MISSION ACCOMPLISHED! Remember, colder waters, like today, and warmer waters, like in July & August..fish will tend to be in deeper waters, but can also be found in the shallow areas also with some luck (like today).

I’m glad I got this trip accomplished! Ever since I found a real enjoyment for writing to the paper, I’ve been very busy trying to set up fishing trips, which I can write on, and atleast change a few things within the writing to keep it interesting, instead of the same thing over and over again. Unfortunately, after next weekend, I will not be writing fishing articles AS MUCH..but still will, whenever I’m free this summer. Next week, I plan to hit a lake previously mentioned before in an article called “Twin Anchors”. Its about 40 miles west from Garwin, and I plan to meet up with a friend from the Colo-NESCO area, a good known friend who I haven’t fished with for awhile. After that article, the fishing slow down quite a bit. The reason why fishing will slow down a bit will be revealed in next weeks Twin Anchors article, so you’ll have to wait and see! Hope you enjoyed reading about my exiting and FUN day!  

Always Have a Plan B

Once again, I couldn’t resist to get out and get fresh air and feel the freedom of being outdoors. My close friends Lane & Austin Williams were telling me about this pond  a ways out of town for awhile now. So, we just had to try it out, which exited me. I LOVE  testing out new waters. This time, I was the one getting the ride, instead of giving rides. I learned Sunday, April 22nd, that you always should have a “plan B” with you. Luckily, I did. 

We arrived about noon, and saw this pond was very shallow, had a lot of shallow flats for structure. I tried my Producto like always..but I couldn’t get them no matter what. Lets jig slowly, nothing. Faster jigging and more action..still nothing. My friend Austin was out to a quick lead, he had 5 and I only had one..but the one I got was from “Plan B”. Spinnerbaits were definitely the key today. (Browning Silaflex rod) Austin and Lane were using small twister tail jigs and getting Bass and Crappie. Plan B, the spinnerbaits saved me once I started using them. Off the dam, the water was a but deeper, and I hammered them off a white & green spinnerbait. I never caught Largemouth like I did of spinnerbaits this day! I did not get a crappie because I had no crappie gear with me, as Austin and Lane got about 6 beautiful slabs of pond crappies! I only got one off my Producto worm, which was shocking, but spinnerbaits saved me from getting skunked. We got some pics of the spinnerbait Bass and Austin & Lane’s Crappie for description. The Crappie (around 14 inches in length) were a nice dinner for Austin! We left around 6. We totaled 24 Bass between the 3 of us. 

Austin won, catching 12 Bass, and I only got 10. Yep..I was outfished, but hey..thats the beauty of fishing. Somedays are just a little off, but still..I was very satisfied, because I luckily had my spinnerbaits saving me. You can’t win em all!  A great weekend, taking my nephew Ethan on Saturday, then fishing with Austin & Lane Sunday. It’s great to have friends who share the same hobby!!!

A Saturday Filled With Producto

Again, the weekend came. I didn’t go fishing last weekend, so of course I had a lot of outdoor ambitions to do this time. I got my nephew Ethan again for my fishing buddy. Once again, we chose another farm pond, because my boat is having a few issues, I need to get on fixing it before it gets on the water. So, we did the easy type of fishing, I just wanted to do something as a little project, and the pond was great for it. Yes, farm pond fishing is way easier than boat fishing from a lake, but no biggy, already had a great night in the WFL earlier in the week. My goal was to find a good bass off a Producto worm and get a descriptive picture and write on this lure.

Winds and rain coming wasn’t gonna stop me and my nephew from heading, as we arrived around 10 AM. Quickly, Ethan and I got fish, literally on our first casts, but not       big enough for the description I wanted. I wanted to fish the other side of the pond cause I never tried it before, and I quickly hammered two 15+ inch Bass off a drop-off. Ethan next got a beauty off his green Producto. It slowed down, till about 20 minutes later I found my fish I was set out for. A nice fat 16 inch Bass found in deeper water was landed, and I got my descriptive picture as shown. Rain started to pour around noon, I nailed a tiny 8 inch Bass, then decided I didn’t wanna mess with getting Pneumonia, so we left, with a total of 8 Bass in 2 hours. 

Producto is by far my favorite lure, of course they represent a live nightcrawler,  they are still in business, but you don't find them on a shelf at Walmart or Bass Pro, you'd probably need a special order. My father had a bait shop back in his day, and got to keep all the lures that were never sold. We have about 20 boxes and tubs of Producto in our garage. The boxes and tubs contain about 10 packages of lures in them..so we have got thousands! We would like to sell a few of them since we have so many, and as you people have read about..they maybe old school lures, but these lures catch Bass!!!!! If you would ever want to buy some from my dad and I, contact me at Hawkeye_1fan09@yahoo.com or on Facebook-Jer Ridout. 

A Day with the Nephew

A pond near Gladbrook was the place where I took my nephew Ethan Ridout on Friday. It was a great day, as we started off throwing my producto worms. I landed two keeper sized Largemouth in 5 minutes, and I knew I was gonna enjoy this trip! Ethan wasn't off to a hot start, till I suggested a green spinnerbait from my tackle box. Good guess, or genuis? quickly he hammered 3 fish before I got my next one, then it slowed down. I Bluegill fished for a bit and got about 20 of them, before I crossed the other side of the pond and landed a PIGGY (pic shown). Every fish was released, and the total count was 10 bass, a lot of chunky fish. Ethan doesn't get out much like me, so he usually doesn't do as good based on lack of experience..but he sure nailed them today (with some help on lure suggestions) but he got em, and was satisfied. These pics will be uploaded to Northern Sun Print, the paper I write for. He will love having his first pic in the paper, and I am glad to be a part of that opportunity. HAPPY EASTER!