Something Different

[Mobasser]

There's an older man who's earned a reputation in my area for being one of the best bass fisherman in my town.                          In September I was finally able to meet him, and talk with him about his fishing. I expected to see a fully rigged bass boat, with multiple rods, and the latest electronics. What I found was the exact opposite.                          JP fishes from a twelve ft jon boat. The only things in his boat are, one casting rod, one spinning rod, a small one tray tackle box, and a home made padded seat, along with an 8ft push pole.                                                Here's his method: he launches his boat and always stays no more than 10ft from the shoreline. He makes long cast in front of his boat, with only two baits, a lightweight tube, or a straight tail plastic worm. When his bait hits the water, he starts a slow steady retrieve, keeping his bait high in the water, close to shoreline cover.                                                     When his bait reaches anything different along the shoreline, he kills the retrieve, and let's the bait fall. As the bait is falling, he gives the butt of his rod a light tap. This is when he gets almost all the strikes. He said he feels that the push pole is better than rowing, and he insists on a quiet presentation.           He originally started fishing this way with plastic grubs many years ago. When tube baits became popular, he switched to tubes for the slow, deadly falling action. He catches scores of fish each season with this method, and, has caught some big fish over the years.                                                  The basics to his fishing are things many of us know.                1. There's always some fish hanging around shallow shoreline cover.                                        2. Bass love to get under a falling, wounded food source, and attack from below.                         3. A quiet approach works best around shallow cover. Shallow fish are easily spooked.            4. Probably the most important for JPs style, bass always relate to something different, even the smallest change in cover.                                     JP probably outfishes me every season with his simple style.                                                         Thought I might put this out there. He catches a lot of bass each year. He's come up with a method that works perfectly for him, based on old bass fishing principles which still hold true.                                                I'm glad I got to meet JP. Sometimes, in the high tech world our sport has become, it's good to be reminded of the basics.

[Team9nine]

There’s a person or two like him in every region that time or technology has seemed to pass by, guys like “Topwater Charlie,” Ned Kehde and Charlie Brewer to name just a few. They’re usually the best at what they do, because it’s all they do. A lot to be said, and appreciated, for a simple approach these days.

[A-Jay]

1 hour ago, Mobasser said:

There's an older man who's earned a reputation in my area for being one of the best bass fisherman in my town.                          In September I was finally able to meet him, and talk with him about his fishing. I expected to see a fully rigged bass boat, with multiple rods, and the latest electronics. What I found was the exact opposite.                          JP fishes from a twelve ft jon boat. The only things in his boat are, one casting rod, one spinning rod, a small one tray tackle box, and a home made padded seat, along with an 8ft push pole.                                                Here's his method: he launches his boat and always stays no more than 10ft from the shoreline. He makes long cast in front of his boat, with only two baits, a lightweight tube, or a straight tail plastic worm. When his bait hits the water, he starts a slow steady retrieve, keeping his bait high in the water, close to shoreline cover.                                                     When his bait reaches anything different along the shoreline, he kills the retrieve, and let's the bait fall. As the bait is falling, he gives the butt of his rod a light tap. This is when he gets almost all the strikes. He said he feels that the push pole is better than rowing, and he insists on a quiet presentation.           He originally started fishing this way with plastic grubs many years ago. When tube baits became popular, he switched to tubes for the slow, deadly falling action. He catches scores of fish each season with this method, and, has caught some big fish over the years.                                                  The basics to his fishing are things many of us know.                1. There's always some fish hanging around shallow shoreline cover.                                        2. Bass love to get under a falling, wounded food source, and attack from below.                         3. A quiet approach works best around shallow cover. Shallow fish are easily spooked.            4. Probably the most important for JPs style, bass always relate to something different, even the smallest change in cover.                                     JP probably outfishes me every season with his simple style.                                                         Thought I might put this out there. He catches a lot of bass each year. He's come up with a method that works perfectly for him, based on old bass fishing principles which still hold true.                                                I'm glad I got to meet JP. Sometimes, in the high tech world our sport has become, it's good to be reminded of the basics.

JP sounds like quite the accomplished Basshead.

While his equipment may be considered simple, especially by today's standards, 

That approach might not be so different really.

 

Fishing shallow shoreline cover, targeting bass with something that appears like a wounded food source, being somewhat stealthy, and seeking areas or spots where bass are relating to something different, aren't we all doing that at some point ?

 

I know I am.

Even have a push pole

A-Jay

 

 

[the reel ess]

We had a guy on our home lake when I was growing up who was a dedicated structure disciple. He had a 16' V bottom Tracker boat with a 60 HP motor and trolling motor. I never saw him use the electric motor. I never even saw him standing to fish. I only saw him anchored near structure and usually casting away from shore. He only used T rigged worms and deep diving cranks as most of us did back then. It seemed he won about half the tourneys on that lake in the era when big, fast boats and electronics were becoming the standard. I guess his opinion was there should almost always be bigger bass offshore. I suspect he sweetened those structure spots. He was rumored to sink old appliances at night.

[Mobasser]

1 minute ago, A-Jay said:

JP sounds like quite the accomplished Basshead.

While his equipment may be considered simple, especially by today's standards, 

That approach might not be so different really.

 

Fishing shallow shoreline cover, targeting bass with something that appears like a wounded food source, being somewhat stealthy, and seeking areas or spots where bass are relating to something different, aren't we all doing that at some point ?

 

I know I am.

Even have a push pole

A-Jay

 

 

A-Jay, yes, we all do this to some degree. I thought this was cool because he catches so many fish each year.Hes been doing this forever, and I guess saw no reason to change.He told me that a lightly rigged tube bait was the best thing he's ever tried. He called it" the death spiral".  I'm sure many guys would dismiss him, but, his catch rates prove his system works so well.

[gim]

1 hour ago, Mobasser said:

He said he feels that the push pole is better than rowing, and he insists on a quiet presentation.   

I can confirm this.  If you are in a square front jon boat, paddling is pretty useless by yourself.  I've tried.  You basically just go in a slow circle.  A push pole is a much better option.  Not necessarily because its quieter, but because its far more efficient.

 

This is how I found out: one time duck hunting with 2 friends, one of them had shot at a goose that was on the edge of range.  He winged it, and down it went.  We didn't have a dog.  So its just swimming away from us.  I get volunteered to go retrieve it after some arguments.  I get in the jon boat and I'm trying to catch up to it by myself.  Well paddling by yourself in a jon boat doesn't work!  I spent the next 30 minutes trying to catch that dumb wounded goose and working up a massive sweat.  Meanwhile, back at the blind, those 2 hooligans are just murdering ducks.  I finally just gave up on the goose.  When I got back to the blind, they said "Hey Grant, we shot your limit of ducks for you.  Where's the goose?"  Sweating bullets, I told them to go drown themselves.

 

So when you hear the term "wild goose chase", I've actually been on one.

[Jigfishn10]

1 hour ago, Team9nine said:

There’s a person or two like him in every region that time or technology has seemed to pass by, guys like “Topwater Charlie,” Ned Kehde and Charlie Brewer to name just a few. They’re usually the best at what they do, because it’s all they do. A lot to be said, and appreciated, for a simple approach these days.

Charlie Campbell?

[Jig Man]

38 minutes ago, Jigfishn10 said:

Charlie Campbell?

That could very well be him.  He was one of the masters of the Zara Spook but that was only one small part of his Arsenal.

[Jigfishn10]

8 minutes ago, Jig Man said:

That could very well be him.  He was one of the masters of the Zara Spook but that was only one small part of his Arsenal.

I'm assuming it is.

 

I read an article sometime in the ought 2000's by Bernie Schultz titled something like "Charlie Campbell Walking the Dog" or something like that. Schultz must have collaborated with Campbell on it, but it was a terrific article on not only how to walk the dog but also how to make it walk in different directions. It was THE article that taught me how to walk the dog.

 

I remember how it illustrated how Charlie would make a spook walk almost around a tree stump and went on to explain ho he did it. Again, a fascinating article. 

 

To put a time frame on the article, one of Charlie's favorite dog walking lures was a Woodwalker.

[Mobasser]

3 minutes ago, Jigfishn10 said:

I'm assuming it is.

 

I read an article sometime in the ought 2000's by Bernie Schultz titled something like "Charlie Campbell Walking the Dog" or something like that. Schultz must have collaborated with Campbell on it, but it was a terrific article on not only how to walk the dog but also how to make it walk in different directions. It was THE article that taught me how to walk the dog.

 

I remember how it illustrated how Charlie would make a spook walk almost around a tree stump and went on to explain ho he did it. Again, a fascinating article. 

 

To put a time frame on the article, one of Charlie's favorite dog walking lures was a Woodwalker.

I met him years ago at BPS in Springfield Mo. Very nice, humble guy. He told me all about spook fishing. One of the best from Missouri.

 

[GreenPig]

When folks mention their great bass catching locals I can't help but think of Pat Cullen with 1,113 over 10lbs primary on a Buzzbait. 

[Jig Man]

1 hour ago, Mobasser said:

I met him years ago at BPS in Springfield Mo. Very nice, humble guy. He told me all about spook fishing. One of the best from Missouri.

 

I knew him when he coached in Forsyth.  He was always a nice man.  He and Jack Emmett took Johnny Morris under their wings when he was a young pup.  He never forgot it and looked after them right to the end.

[WRB]

When you fish the same lure for decades you experience every type of bass strike and detect a high %. JP is fishing water he is very familiar with and that helps to anticipate when and where the bass are located.

Bass get conditioned to boat anglers casting toward shore, not hearing a boat approaching the bass is unaware of the anglers presence. 

I knew a angler similar to JP and fished Lake Casitas and only around the big island using a floating F13 Rapala Minnow in black back silver. Very similar technique following the shore about 10’ off it. He did have a old Shakespeare TM hand steering in the bow setting on a cushion.

Tom

 

[Team9nine]

4 hours ago, Jigfishn10 said:

Charlie Campbell?

 

Nope - "Topwater Charlie" was Charles Orme of Ocala, Fla. Pretty much the only lure he threw was one particular size and color of Devil's Horse, which he started using in 1957. He started fishing tournies in 1986 and won tens of thousands of $$ locally fishing just that one bait. It was said he had between 300-500 Devil's Horses in his possession.

 

[Mobasser]

11 minutes ago, Team9nine said:

 

Nope - "Topwater Charlie" was Charles Orme of Ocala, Fla. Pretty much the only lure he threw was one particular size and color of Devil's Horse, which he started using in 1957. He started fishing tournies in 1986 and won tens of thousands of $$ locally fishing just that one bait. It was said he had between 300-500 Devil's Horses in his possession.

 

In some ways Top water Charlie and JP remind me of Bill Plummer. One bait, one style, and catch a lot of bass. Guys like this never follow the hot trends. They only fish what works best for them. There's a lot to admire about them.

[Jigfishn10]

14 minutes ago, Team9nine said:

Nope - "Topwater Charlie" was Charles Orme of Ocala, Fla.

Oh man Team9, I had a feeling I was gonna flunk that mid-term. ?

 

Great info you provided, tho. Love researching history like that. 
 

I got some interwebz searching to do. 
 

Happy New Year

[Team9nine]

18 minutes ago, Mobasser said:

In some ways Top water Charlie and JP remind me of Bill Plummer. One bait, one style, and catch a lot of bass. Guys like this never follow the hot trends. They only fish what works best for them. There's a lot to admire about them.

 

Bill Plummer was another unique guy, but he did fish a handful of different baits. His favorite that he caught the most fish on was actually the jig-n-pig. He also used his 4 baits a bunch, too. He hated tournaments, also rowed or drifted into most places, and was a big fan of Dacron line and drags tightened with pliers  He reminds me a lot of Bill Murphy - small boat, sneaky, simple approach, anchorer, loner.

[king fisher]

     I know a kid that fishes with a line wrapped around a soda bottle for a rod an reel.  His lure is a tooth brush handle, with a hole drilled in both ends he runs the line through.  He adds split shot for weight if he needs it.  He can walk the dog on the surface as well as any one can with a Spook.  He can also work the tooth brush lure slow on the bottom, but his biggest talent is he knows by the time he makes his third cast what retrieve he needs to use.  He fishes where I launch my Kayak, and if he is there, I can't get away from launch fast enough.  

[Catt]

Kinda reminds me of "Fish Chris" Wolfgram who use to be a member here. Big bass legend who fished simple techniques out of a small vee bottom jon boat.

 

Google Fish Chris bassresource 

 

 

[MGF]

There's a guy on our river who fishes out of a 12 foot jon and uses nothing but a push pole. He carries one rod in the boat and hand full of small crank baits and surface lures. I know him we;; because I used to work with him. He's in his 80's now and knows the river really well. The river is the only place he fished with the exception of some ice fishing he does on some local lakes and an annual trip he makes to LA to fish with his brother.

1 hour ago, Catt said:

Kinda reminds me of "Fish Chris" Wolfgram who use to be a member here. Big bass legend who fished simple techniques out of a small vee bottom jon boat.

 

Google Fish Chris bassresource 

 

 

That's a 25 hop motor...that's a big boat. LOL