Pibble Trail

  The original PPJ Jig trailers Back in da day I used many worm leftovers as trailers. Even lizards. Was I just being frugal? Sure. Did it work? Yes. Why did I stop? Because the print magazines of the day told me about “better” trailers! I began as did most bass anglers did with the old jig and pig. Almost. A rubber skirted jig, with a fiber weed guard and, get this, a gold hook! I remember the day well. A small bait and tackle shop in Wells, Vermont. I purchased two jigs. Both 3/8 ounce . A black one, and a brown one. I think the first of many bass I ever caught on these jigs were with no trailer! Imagine that! Blasphemy! No respectable bass angler would dare fish a jig with no trailer! Beyond that. I will remain silent! As things would evolve (or, as I was brain washed by fishing how too articles that were just disguised marketing) I began to experiment with trailers (the marketing worked!) I as I do, I could not throw away used plastic worms that still had good tails....

  Somebody has to do something about it. Has anyone seen the forecast for the next few days? Looks like a wash out. It is forecasted to rain for the next few days. No training, it sucks. WTF is it with this rainy weather? It means I cannot get my three mile training ride in. WTF? And I wont be having any post training ride locally brewed 9% IPA’s. WTF? Somebody has to do something about it. This sucks so bad. I'm having withdrawals. I have not trained or had post training ride locally brewed 9% IPA’s in two weeks and I have my new custom factory tuned $1200 supercharged pro tuned air coil hydro shock that will let me KOM the 1/10 of a mile DH at my local trail. The current KOM is 12 seconds. I know with this shock I can beat that guy by at least 2 seconds. The guy with it now thinks he is some sort of pro or something. I have seen him ride, he is not all that fast. I think his Strava was off. You know how Strava is off by at least 5%. Somebody has gotta do something about it. And w...

  The Process  Part 3   The process begins with preparation. In this case lack of preparation.   Preparation is another way for pre conceived ideas to develop. Ideas of how you will catch fish.   As a shallow water angler with no electronic aid, preparation does not require a lot of gear and tackle.     This forces the focus.    Most baits anglers carry are what I call crossover baits. There are two categories of crossover baits.    Crossover baits cross over in terms of applications. These applications are typically differences in presentations.    A spinner bait for example can be considered a crossover bait. As can a jig.    A jig can be presented in so many different ways. Admittedly, I do not fish a traditional jig as much as I used too. I have however, developed a fondness for a swim jig.   I am still searching for a jig design that will eliminate the need to ...

I recently wrote about the “process” The process of learning to fish quite often results in many fish less or days of few fish caught. That, believe it or not is by design. I ended last weeks piece with a question. Should I fish to catch fish, or should I fish to learn?  A great question. I would say it depends. I am a permanent student. I never want to stop learning, improving. Even though I feel that I am rounding out on a great many years of experience with still so very much more to learn, I also feel that I am in a place that I had never been skill wise.  But it may not be what you think. It is not the bass. Or my fishing skill. It is me. Me I, me I, OH! Yes, me. Hard to explain. My awareness, processing, calm, and focus has matured. Has it reached a peak or will it ever? I do not know.  I was asked a few month’s ago if I would like to fish competitively again. The answer is no.  Even though for many years I fished competitively at local and regional events, and...

  Part of the process.   I went to a body water and I consider it was a really good day, and I got to workout more details of what I was looking to learn.  I caught two Largemouth today. A 12 inch and a 14 inch. Yes. I only caught two all day. Twi bites. Two bass. This was a great day! I am still processing the day and a thought I had later in the day when I had not had a bite in hours. I went fishing with little intention of catching fish! What? Yes. I went to learn. But don’t you learn by catching fish? Sort of. When you are catching lots of fish and things are easy you are not learning as much as you would practicing techniques.  Catching a few fish while practicing are markers, showing how effective or ineffective the practice is. One major factor why practicing may not produce many or no bites? Simple. Fish. The world of a fish is very dynamic. The technique that you are looking to learn may not be a good choice for the current conditions or the body of wat...