Stolen Rod & Reel

Confusion came first. My other rod wasn’t where I thought I’d left it. Had I been settled in a little different spot than I’d remembered? I looked up and down the pier and still didn’t see it and then look back to where I had just been fishing to see if I had toted it with me. Still nothing.

Then I noticed my grungy tackle box, right where I’d left it and right where my rod and reel should have been. Then it started to sink in. My new rod and reel — a nice Penn saltwater spinning outfit that I had saved for and bought only weeks before that night — had been stolen.

It was the first thing of value ever stolen from me, and it hit hard. The pier crowd was my community, so I hadn’t even considered that leaving quality gear unattended while I hopped from spot to spot with my other rod was a bad idea. At 17 or 18, I suppose I just trusted everyone on the pier (and everywhere.)

Of course, I’ll never know if it was a fellow angler who saw me roam out of watching range and decided it was time to go home with an new rod and reel or whether it was a non-fisherman who simply saw something that could be turned into cash at a pawn shop. Either way, I felt betrayed, and I suppose to a degree I still do. 

I’ve had various other things stolen in my life — even a car when I was in college and a wallet. However, nothing dug as deep as having my new rod and reel stolen from the pier where I so much liked spending time.

I don’t recall whether I fished any more that night, but my guess is that I just picked up my old tackle box and went home. 

I’m glad to say it didn’t ruin pier fishing or even Big Pier 60 for me. And I suppose it did make me a little bit wiser. Not a lot. More than 40 years later, I still sometimes leave stuff laying around where I probably shouldn’t. I’m more aware now, though, and at least I do so knowing it’s a bit of a risk!

First Baitcasting Combo

“The Structure Cafe” Facebook page shared this 1980 fishing magazine ad, and it caught my attention. The reel pictured, a Daiwa Procaster SM2A and matching rod was the first baitcasting combo I ever owned.

And the reason I wanted that specific rod and reel? Well, that shows in the ad as well. That’s what Bill Dance used when I watched him catch so many fish on tv every weekend, so I figured I needed one so I could catch fish like he did. That was 46 years ago, and I still seldom catch as many quality bass as Bill did every weekend, but I’m glad his influence got me to broaden my game and teach myself to use a baitcaster when I was 15 years old.

My first rod and reel was a Zebco 404, and it suited me fine for my earliest learning, but my grandpa, the only other angler in our family, eventually convinced my parents that I needed a spinning rod and reel. I wish I remember what kind it was, because that was all I fished with for a few years. 

When I got my heart set on the Procaster, it was a big enough jump, cost-wise, for fishing gear, that I had to ask for the reel for my and the rod for Christmas, which for me are a couple of months apart.

My grandpa had passed away by that time, so it was just me, my new rod and reel and a rubber casting weight for learning. I stood in the front yard for hours making practice cast after practice cast and picking out backlashes until I finally figured out the timing, the brake settings and the thumb pressure well enough to begin taking my new gear to local ponds and creeks and to the bridges and piers where I would target saltwater fish.

A couple of years later, I also got a Daiwa Magforce reel, which I think was on a Shakespeare Ugly Stik with a pistol grip. I also bought (or got as a gift; I don’t remember.) a Daiwa Minicast system at some point for shiners and bream and other little stuff.

I also saved up for and bought a Penn saltwater spinning outfit. It got stolen from a pier while still pretty new, but that sad story might be best reserved for another blog.

I sure wish I still owned those first rods and reels, but it was sure fun seeing the Procaster ad!

Rebel LIVEflex Lures

Arguably the biggest change in my stream fishing lure arsenal over the past few years has been the incorporation of Rebel LIVEflex series soft plastic baits. Except in special-regs trout water where scented baits aren’t permitted, I virtual always have some LIVEflex baits with me if I’m wading a creek or walking a pond bank, and often one is tied on.

Like many lures, I began fishing LIVEflex baits before they were even released, initially to learn about them and gather photos. My first exposure was in August 2023, nearly a year before then series initially launched, at Crooked Creek in Arkansas. I realized almost immediately that these baits would be valuable for my stream fishing approach and would become a regular part of my game.

The LIVEflex material is one of those ultra-tough, buoyant plastics. The baits stay in place on the hook fish after fish, and buoyancy slows the fall on a jighead and makes them stand up on the bottom, which makes them look far more natural. Unlike other plastics that have similar characteristics, the LIVEflex baits are infused with a strong scent attractant.

As important as the characteristics of the material (at least), the LIVEflex series is sized right for multi-species fishing and comes half a dozen shapes that accurately match critters that creek fish very commonly eat. They also come with two of the baits in each package pre-rigged on jigheads they match up with perfectly and with one extra jighead in the package.

The rigged are a bonus that undeniably affects my lure choices when I’m out. Having soft-plastics rigged and ready to fish that I can simply tie on is very nice, and they are always rigged straight for the best presentations.

I most often fish the LIVEflex baits as they come pre-rigged, dragging or hopping them along the bottom, letting them tumble in current, or swimming them. I especially like to swim the Shore Shiner. I also really like to dropshot LIVEflex baits in order to keep them just off the bottom and soften the action. A light Texas rig or weedless jighead provides a good option for working the bottom in snaggy areas.

LIVEflex Series

• Creek Craw
• Hoper
• Creek Critter
• Cata Crawler
• Tadpole
• Hellgrammite 

Anticipating Autumn Fishing

Joe Pye weed growing from a rocky mid-river area and blooming caught my attention during a recent wade-fishing outing. It always does. I think it’s a beautiful and wild looking flower, I often spot it first in a year while fishing, and it reminds me that summer’s end is drawing near.

I’m not a hater of hot weather. More so than most folks, I think, I value aspects of the every season and have never seen myself as a “cold weather” or “hot weather” person. If forced to pick a favorite season, though, it would be Autumn, so I admittedly get a little ahead of things anticipating the season change.

That’s precisely where we are right now. The 10-day outlook mostly shows highs in the low 90s. Hardly fall weather. But tomorrow we turn the calendar page to September, college football kicks off next weekend, schools are back in season, and pumpkin drinks are on coffee shop menus.

Those things all tell me that cooler mornings, the vibrant colors that define the season, boosted activity levels in many gamefish, and fishing action that can extend throughout the day are not far away.

Arguably my favorite thing about autumn fishing is that I frequently have the waters I fish to myself. Between school’s return bringing most vacations to an end, many sportsmen turning to the woods, and many anglers only associating fishing with spring and summer, even many popular fishing spots are largely uncrowded during fall. 

Delayed-harvest trout streams that open to catch and release fishing in October or November (depending on state) are an extreme exception, but that’s another story for another time.

For now, I’m just enjoying the promise brought by the mid-stream Joe Pye Weed.

New Chattooga Area Exploration

Last week I explored a new stretch of the Chattooga National Wild & Scenic River. Not a new access point. Just new to me from a fishing standpoint. I’d hiked to the river at the Woodall Shoals access twice  previously  — but didn’t fish either day and don’t recall thinking about fishing prospects.

The first was a fall rafting trip nearly 35 years ago, and when I think back, I think it was the first spot I ever entered the river. When the water is very low, which it was that day, Section IV rafting trips sometimes begin below Woodall, instead of at Highway 76, a couple of miles upstream.

The second time was with my wife on an anniversary outing in the South Carolina Upcountry, and we just went to climb the rocks, see the infamous rapid and enjoy the river. I say infamous because Woodall Shoals is extraordinarily dangerous, and a keeper hydraulic beneath the main drop has taken several lives over the years.

I’ve fished the Chattooga for more than 30 years, fishing near many different access points and fishing some sections that can only be reached by significant hikes. Why I had never explored the access at Woodall Shoals or even thought much about fishing prospects I really don’t know. It is a shorter drive for me than several parts of the river I have fished many times, and it’s a quick walk (maybe a 1/4 mile or so) to the river.

What I found there was pretty good wading access to a significant stretch of river, with plenty of varied and great-looking water. The water is pretty low right now, and I think that’s important. Some of what I waded through to get to spots would have become sketchy even with typical flows. For low-water times, though, it’s excellent access, and I could have reached more water than my time and total plan for that morning allowed.

Woodall is well downstream of where trout ever get stocked, although some rainbows and browns find their way downriver or come in from tributaries. I briefly hooked one fish that I think was probably a trout. Native Bartram’s bass are the main attraction. Thankfully Bartram’s are some of my favorite fish!

I didn’t catch a bunch of bass, but I wouldn’t have expected a bunch on a mid-August bluebird-sky day. I caught just enough to confirm that the fish are where they should be and that this is an area that warrants more attention in the future!

Jacks of Jacksonville

Jacks ruled in Jacksonville last week. They weren’t the only game. Chris Holleman and I caught several fish species, and a couple of good snook and some quality trout were in that mix. Jack crevalle were the most plentiful and widespread and provided our best action, though.

That’s no complaint from me. Jacks are hard fighting fish that absolutely slam lures and are really fun to catch. From my perspective they are extremely underrated by the general sport fishing community.

Holleman noted that jacks have been abundant all year, and that they’ve made a lot of days for area guides and their clients. Species like redfish and speckled trout are more acclaimed and what anglers have in mind initially. However, most fishermen don’t have to catch many jacks to discover how fun they are and want to catch more.

What really struck me last week was how the jacks were in such a variety of locations. We hit a pretty diverse range of area and caught jacks all over the place. 

We also caught them a variety of ways, but of course my favorites were the ones that crushed topwater lures!
 

New Lures for Creeks, Rivers & Ponds

Heddon Spin'n Image Jr

Late summer often delivers new lures to my tackle selection. The ICAST show takes place in mid-July, and that’s when many fishing tackle brands introduce new products for the upcoming year. Because I work in marketing for a lure company that owns multiple brands , that means I typically have new lures that I need to get photos of and gain familiarity with for writing projects.

What stands out this year is that several of the new offerings from our brands really hit home with the way I like to fish the most and are perfectly suited for the waters I fish the most. I expect at least a few of these to remain a key part of my arsenal for years.

Heddon, Bandit and Rebel Lures all released new baits this summer that are extra well suited for the creeks and small rivers I love to wade and for walking the banks of ponds. All are small in size, but my expectations are big. That sounds like marketing talk, but I’m not wearing the marketing hat when I’m writing this blog. It’s just fortunate for me that some of the lures I currently need photos of the most are really good fits for my personal fishing preferences.

I won’t detail the features of each. Again, marketing isn’t the objective here. However, I will run through the stuff I’m excited to use. In truth, I’ve been catching fish on a few of them for a few months. One nice thing in my job is that I get some stuff early for photography needs.

Heddon Lures added a couple of topwater lures I know will excel in smaller waters. The Spin’n Image Jr is a downsized version of a proven rotating-tail topwater lure. The Spook Stick is a slender profiles small-sized surface walker. There is also a Spook Stick Crawler that I know will be an excellent lure, but it fits a little different niche.

Bandit Lures, meanwhile, added the Bandit 50 and 50D, which look and act a lot like the iconic Bandit 100 and 200 but are substantially smaller. They were designed for small water and for finesse situations and match perfectly with the light travel rod and spinning reel that live in my car all the time.

Finally, Rebel Lures added a couple of great new shapes to their LIVEflex soft plastic series. One is a hellgrammite, and every stream angler knows that hellgrammites are candy to creek fish. The other is a tadpole, another important forage species in ponds and creeks that surprisingly is not often imitated with fishing lures. The LIVE Hellgrammite and Tadpole are the two I’ve already used to catch a lot of fish!

You’ll likely be hearing more from me about some of these new lures. I need to go sit at the computer this morning, bit I really just want to go fishing!

Bandit 50

Heddon Spook Stick

 

Rebel LIVEflex Tadpole