I'm in the early part of a three week trip away from
home. I spent last week at a resort called Candlewyck
Inn on the shores of Grand Lake of the Cherokees near Grove, Okla. I was there
for the Gene Larew Lures, Lew's and Plano Media Days
event. from there, I am on my way to Kentucky Lake for the Strike King Lure
Company Writer's Conference and then I'm on to the next Major League
Fishing event.
This extended trip will be the longest I've been away from home at any one time
since I started working in this industry. It certainly will be the longest I've
been away from my family since we got married 15 years ago. I know, you're all
weeping for me as I toddle across the country spending time with bass fishing's
best and brightest. But, while I love what I do, there are sacrifices that are
made - for all of us.
It's always amazing to me how connected I can feel to people when I'm away from
Christina and the Girls, and how many people I know across the country who work
so hard to make me feel at home wherever I am.
We started out our Larew, Lew's and Plano conference
at Daylight Donuts' headquarters in Tulsa. I walked in the front door and was
greeted by someone I've been around for two weeks at Major League Fishing
events over the past year. John Bond is the owner of Daylight Donuts, and he
has been one of the Boat Officials for MLF.
I had forgotten that John was at Daylight Donuts, and it was really nice to see
him. They treated our whole group to breakfast that day and then delivered
breakfast to us each morning at Candlewyck Inn. We
also visited the Gene Larew / Bobby Garland Lures factory
in Tulsa, getting the whole tour. after that, some of the group headed to Grand
Lake, and others visited the BOK Center; where the 2013 Bassmaster Classic
weigh-ins will be held.
I also got to spend some time with my friends at Dollahon
PR, and colleagues and friends like Ken Duke from B.A.S.S. I spent great time
with Gerald and Gayla Brown, whom have become great
friends of ours, and along with them, I hung out with Tommy and Sharon Biffle at their home in Wagoner. The folks there really
made me feel like family and it helps take your mind off of missing your
family.
Now I am on my way to see friends at Strike King and Major League Fishing that
are the same type of people. I really need that kind of interaction on the
road, because the more I'm away, the more I miss my family, and the harder it
is for me focus on my job.
How do these people help you, the readers of Advanced Angler?
Relationships = Better Info
the longer I get to know the pros and people of the industry, the better we
work together, the more information I get to share with all of you. At Grand
Lake, I started out Tuesday evening with Bobby Myers, the Bassmaster Opens pro
who lives in Tulsa. Myers was able to show me some of the lake, and was really
informative about what he felt would win the Classic in February.
Myers said that he felt a jerkbait and a football jig would be a pair of lures
that would play a big role in the tournament if the weather is normal for
Northeastern Oklahoma throughout the winter. He said that a heavy winter of
rain and snow could leave Grand muddy, and then things would change.
I spent my first morning session on Wednesday with Stephen Browning, the Elite
Series pro from Arkansas. Browning ran into a small creek channel that had been
beaten by the winds the day before and gave me a lesson on how to deal with
immediate post front conditions.
Browning said that his experience is that the first day after a storm front
does not immediately show the effects of the post front doldrums that often hit
the lake. He said that he recommends anglers to stay with the baits and
patterns they were using before and during the storm the next morning, but as
the days wear on, and change into the next day, fish start to respond
negatively to the effects of the rising barometer.
Kevin Short, also from Oklahoma shared with me his approach to dock fishing
with his trademarked balsa WEC crankbaits by Ed Chambers. Short showed me how
he approaches the docks in regard to boat alignment, casting angles and even
the retrieve.
Then there was my session with Biffle, who showed me
how he keeps track of falling water during the summer and fall. Being from
Northern California, I pay attention to the waterline by looking at the wet mud
banks to see what the water level is. Our lakes tend to drop quickly and there
is no way for vegetation to establish itself.
Biffle remarked how he pays attention to the moss
line on the bank and the vertical pieces of cover that get coated by the green
slime. His approach is to look for the green layer around the shallows and he
can tell how much the lake level has dropped by making a mental measurement of
how much moss is visible.
Tim Horton is known as a crankbait angler, but like any other bass pro, he is
adept at many other things. One thing that surprised me was the fact that
Horton likes to swim a grub for schooling fish when they make themselves
available.
All of these tips are available in our video coverage of the Lew's / Larew / Plano Media Days on the site.
Thankful
While I'm there to gather information to share with all of you, I leave with a
sense of thankfulness of being able to reconnect with people I truly enjoy
working with. I'll be gone for three weeks by the time I get back, but at least
I'm with people who I enjoy being around, learning from and working with.
Hopefully, with the videos I'll share with you from each event, and with the
articles that will come out of it in the future, you will get as much from them
as I do when I'm gathering it.
I truly appreciate all of your visits every day, and while I'm away from my
favorite people in the world, at least the people I'm with help me feel like
I've got a little sense of home away from home. Because truthfully, this job is
about all of them, and you. Because without all of you, I don't get to do what
I do.
Read more like this at AdvancedAngler.com
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