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Learning to keep control
In so many areas of our 21st century lives, maintaining control is the difference between success and failure.
On the job, at home or at play, the balance atop the fine line between control and chaos is often thin and always precarious. Stray a bit over the line and be prepared to pay the consequences.
Control is critical in fishing, too. The ability to put a lure at the right depth time after time will put walleye on the line. Casting a lure to the precise zone where the angler suspects a bass is lurking will be rewarded with an exciting fight.
Fishing control goes well beyond simply getting the lure in the right place at the right time. Being able to hold the boat at a precise distance from the fisherman’s target is a cornerstone of angling strategy.
Recently I reported I’d finally made the move to install Power-Poles on the BassCat and promised to share whether the new shallow-water anchoring system was paying off.
In a word: Bingo!
Wind is a huge variable in fishing. A breeze can be an angler’s ally or adversary.
Moving air is nature’s agitator, stirring the ecosystem and igniting the prey-predator relationships that define life underwater. But wind also can wreak havoc for the angler who is trying to capitalize on the opportunity to hook up with big fish feeding in the breeze-buffeted cover and structure.
The wind had become a force around midmorning of a recent outing at Shenango Reservoir. Willows and buck brush were freshly flooded by water rising after the previous day’s storms and the high pressure that poured in following the front whipped 20 mph directly into the cover.
Experience told me bass were in those willows. Everything was perfect. The water color was good, the depth was just right and the sun was high in the sky. It all set up for a flipping bite that required exact presentations to tease the lurking largemouths.
But I needed to manage the wind’s effects. In similar circumstances in years past, I learned that I only had one or two opportunities to make the perfect pitch before the boat was either blown into the cover or blasted past it. Either I’d catch the bass or blow it.
This time, however, I double tapped the “down” button and the twin Power-Pole Blades deployed for a fast and firm grab on Shenango’s bottom. The BassCat stopped, I flipped, my line twitched and I jerked a 2-pound bass out of the willow.
Bingo!
Ten minutes later, I encountered the same deal: a wave-washed clump of willows, with a shaded backside perfect for holding a hungry bass. Power-Poles down, bait flipped, line jumped and I wrestled a 3.5-pound bucketmouth from the green tangle.
I was on to the day’s pattern, with my new shallow-water anchors giving me the time and opportunity to thoroughly poke and prod the cover.
And so it went. I added bass to my catch throughout the balance of the day. My new tools proved they are more than trendy gadgets.
A few months ago, as I went back and forth on whether to invest in the Power-Pole system, a friend said his poles have resulted in at least one extra bass each outing. While he stopped short of a guarantee, he said I could expect the same.
He was right. Now, when I hit “down” on the wireless guidance button, I have already become conditioned to expect a bite.
Control and confidence are the most powerful one-two punch a fisherman can own.
Poles down ... fish on!