Hi everyone,
After browsing this site and reading some very informative fishing articles I decided to register and introduce myself.
Recently retired, I’ve been fishing, on and off for over 40 years, but only seriously for bass over the past 10 years. I’m from Ottawa, Ontario Canada (my license plate is FANOBASS) and I do all my fishing on the same lake, just outside the city.
I’m strictly a spinning angler although I fish much of the same stuff as the hard core bait caster guys. My spinning gear includes:
- a Dobyns Champion 6’8” med. rod paired with a Pflueger Patriarch reel (both new, haven’t used them yet)
- a G Loomis Bronzeback 6’3” med. hvy rod with a Pflueger Supreme XT reel (reel new)
- a G Loomis Bronzeback 6’3” med. hvy rod with a Pflueger Supreme (not XT) reel
- a G Loomis IMX 6’ med. rod and Quantum Catalyst
I use 20 lb braid (Power Pro and Suffix) with 20 lb P-Line fluoro leader on all these.
In addition, I use a St-Croix Avid 6’3” med. rod with Catalyst reel spooled with 10 lb braid and 8lb fluoro leader for finesse fishing.
I fish plastics almost exclusively – senko type worms and creature/ crayfish baits plus the occasional top water frog as conditions permit. I target pencil reeds (pipe stems, buggy whips, etc.), and grass but my favourite (and most challenging) technique is skipping my baits under low hanging tree branches and bushes against the shoreline (see attached pic). I’m a catch & release guy 99.9% of the time and a catch and fillet the other 0.1% . I fish with Owner and Gammy hooks, and remove the barbs – my preference, as this makes my job of unhooking fish easier and less wear and tear on the fish.
I only fish one tournament per year – on our lake. My boat weighs about 1,000 lbs and this is too much for my compact car to haul to various area tourneys.
My personal best LM bass was a 6.7 lb brute on lake Okeechobee some years ago. My PB on our lake is a 4.0 lb LM.
I occasionally take newbies out on my boat and teach them the basics of plastic bait fishing – everybody catches fish and has fun.
Unfortunately, my once-a-year tournament is tomorrow – Saturday – but I’m going to miss it and any fishing in the near future as I’m tending to the needs of my wife who broke her collar bone while cycling a few days ago. Once she’s better I’m looking forward to try out my new Dobyns rod and Pflueger reel and “terrorizing” the lake bass population.
There you have it – my (long) introduction.
Tight lines to all.
Fanobass
