The past several trips have been all over the place according to the goals of the client. The way it works is that the client books the trip. The client lets me know what they want to accomplish and then a few days before the trip we confer and I let the client know how to best accomplish the goal. Then we go out and do what ever to catch bass. The goal is always to satisfy the goals of the client.
The folks who has the outstanding day brought a fourth and wanted a day like the outstanding day. The wind switched directions. The water temperature dropped seven degree (two days after the outstanding day). Almost impossible to fish the location where the outstanding day and catches occurred. I opted to for a structure almost exactally the same at the opposite end of the lake.
The bass would move on the bait and then stop. The bass would move on the bait - strike the bait and then let go. The new fourth was Christy. Christy continued the tradition of women on the boat - she caught the largest. Women always the most, first, or largest. The Lord blesses them for going along with the men folk. Just happens that way!
The following day I took a client to another series of lakes where he learned how to Pitch Vegetation the Florida Pro Way. We then went and caught a couple of bass by running a ¼ ounce Hugh Crumpler Spinnerbait over top of submerged hydrilla and pond weed. Hopefully, and most likely so, the client will be able to transfer the information and skills to his tournament participation on lakes with vegetation.
The next day two folks from The Villages of Florida area wanted to learn how to fish Florida lakes. Stick Marsh and Farm 13 are excellent fisheries with lots of large bass. However, they are not typical of the lakes found in Florida. I opted to take these clients to Garcia.
At Garcia we spent the first half of the trip using artificial lures over submerged grasses. The the remaining half of the day we fished wild shiners with balloons. The bass more readily took the live bait (which is an important lesson in itself). The highlight of the trip was the catching of a double. On this day the water temperature was also considerably lower than the recent days. Another lesson: the harder the bass are to catch the more successful the angler will be if he opts for live bait.
Then on Tuesday the client wanted a ten pounder. John has been trying for the ten pounder for decades - literally. John's first bass was a six pounder. That was followed by a seven pounder. I just knew John was going to get a ten. Then a subtle change in the weather and the bass got harder to catch and smaller. Not small - just smaller than six pounds. John caught several more bass and another six pounder. The ten pounder remained elusive.
John and I observed the wind and the wind switched directions five times. That is, basically, five minor weather changes. Each time the wind changed we could observe different patterns of the bass's bite.
My Wednesday client just wanted to get out. He indicated that he did not care where he went or what he did - he just wanted to get out. With wind predicted to be 20 mph plus from the East I opted not to go to Stick Marsh and Farm 13. This would be tough fishing and just plain old ordinary not fun. The place to go if you were dedicated and focused on catching on large bass. But, defiantly not the place if you just wanted to go out. Not on this day!
I opted for Garcia. My client brought his Nephue. They talked about fish catches of the past and of fishing and hunting trips of the future. They had little focus on the fishing at hand and had catching results equal to focus they gave to fishing. My client accomplished his goal of getting out and going where he could relax and enjoy being away from his worries and stressors.
The wind was pretty good early and my client was curious about the forecast. Then just a little later the wind kicked up its heels and blew as per the forecast. Maybe a little harder. Garcia has a few more wind breaks and grasses in the water,. These two will keep the water much clearer. Florida bass do not like muddy water.
Lures made by Hugh Crumpler are available at www.HughCrumplerLures.Com. Information on guided trips, photos of large bass, articles and much much more are available at www.HughCrumpler.Com. Give Hugh a call 321-72-3134 or send Hugh an e-mail at Hugh@HughCrumpler.Com and YOU could be next!
