Captain Phil

The history of fishing reels is very interesting. My understanding was most early fishing reels were made by watch makers? This must have made them very expensive? Inexpensive tackle allowed common people to enjoy fishing. When I was a kid, bass fishing was a poor man's sport. It wasn't until money tournaments took off that things went the other way. Bass being bass, don't care.

I received a message correcting my statement above. I am not an expert on fishing reel history. The Internet contains conflicting information in reference to the patent for a level wind mechanism. From what I see, there were a number of law suits filed around this issue. Perhaps someone with greater knowledge would like to chime in? Most larger offshore salt water reels do not use level wind. Those reels are not used for casting. They are normally used for trolling or with live bait where feeding the line on by hand is not an issue. Then there is the question of what happens when a level wind mechanism meets a 600 pound marlin. Reels used in bass fishing went through a number of improvements to get to where we are today. Level wind was one of the first. Free spool was a great improvement. I remember casting with the handles spinning around and it was more like throwing rocks than fishing. Star drags saved a lot of knuckles. Spool brakes and anti backlash devices cut down on backlashes. Personally, I believe the greatest innovation in modern casting reels is reduced weight. There was a time when the Ambassador 5500C was the ultimate bass reel and we couldn't wait to get our hands on one. Hold one in your left hand and a modern reel in your right and you will see the difference. It's no wonder my old arms and wrists are so beat up.

William Shakespeare, Jr., invented the level wind. His patent was issued in 1896. By the late fifties, all casting reels used for bass fishing had level wind. Most reels were not free spool, so the handles turned on the cast. As far as I know, Pflueger made the first affordable free spool casting reels. The Pflueger Supreme reel was the ultimate bass reel back then. A new Supreme free spool reel cost over $20, a lot of money to a young boy like me.

Fishing for "yard bass" was popular back then. I trained myself to use a fly rod in my front yard with a mail order bamboo rod. Yards were bigger then too! ☺️

My first baitcasting reel was a Pflueger Akron. Other than tightening the spool, there was no brake other than your thumb. Bass fishing was different back then. Reel spools were heavy metal and hard to start and stop. Backlashes were so normal we called them "professional overruns". Bass lures were big chucks of wood or heavy spoons. Fishing line was thick woven material that absorbed a lot of water. There was no such thing as finesse. This did not deter us. Good casting ability was something to be proud of. I spent hours and hours casting into a bucket on my front lawn until I could hit it every time. There was no YouTube videos to tell you how. Despite these handicaps, we caught lots of fish.

Some years back I got a call from the fishing editor of the local newspaper asking me if he could tag along on my next fishing trip. I was pre-fishing for an upcoming Tournament, so I told him to meet me at the ramp the next morning. I was a little nervous because he told me he had never been bass fishing before and I didn’t know what he would expect. Unlike on TV, real bass don’t commit suicide on every cast...or do they? We left the ramp and ran to one of my favorite canals. I knew the bass were beginning to move into the canals to bed and was hoping to catch a few good ones for my guest. It was a warm morning, so after settling down I cast a Devil’s Horse top water lure toward a sea wall. I wasn’t expecting much, but I decided to use a top water lure just to get my arms moving. I hadn’t moved the bait more than a few times when the canal exploded under my lure. I struck the fish and immediately felt the weight of a big bass. But something was wrong. The fish stayed down and sort of just wiggled at the bottom of the canal. I slowly worked the fish to the boat wondering what I had hooked. As the fish came to the top I was surprised to find two three-pound bass hooked on my lure. To say the guy with me was impressed was an understatement. It took a while to get over this guy telling everyone in Lake County that I catch two bass on every cast! In fifty years of fishing, I have only had this happen four times. The first time, I actually got to see how it happens. I was 16 years old at the time and was fishing on a small catwalk hanging over a Miami canal. The bass were schooling directly under me and would come up every now and then to hit shad that were circling below. Each time the bass would start chasing the shad, I would lower my lure into the water and catch one. One time I lowered the lure and hung a nice bass that immediately ran out into the center of the canal and started jumping on top of the water. I could see everything because I was at least 10 feet above the water level. In the middle of one of the jumps, a huge bass tried to take the lure away and got hooked at the same time. I was using a spinning rod with 10-pound test. Through some miracle I was able to work the two fish to the bank. The bigger bass weighed 6 ¼ pounds and the small bass weighed about 3. Why doesn’t that ever happen in a tournament? Since then, I have had this happen two more times.

Zoom Trick Worm

Me too!

Not all fish respond the same. The same spinnerbait configuration that works in a Florida swamp will not necessarily work in a clear Northern reservoir. Fish preferences change with the seasons as well. When bass are feeding on small fry, you will do better with smaller blades. Bigger food means bigger baits and blades. Experimentation is key. When you find something that works for you, stick with it.

I am partial to tandem spinnerbaits with a small colorado on the front and a willow leaf on the rear.

A black and chartreuse spinnerbait with chartreuse blades is a great rainy day lure.

You can buy balsa wood at most hobby stores that sell model airplane supplies. My local Hobby Lobby store has a small selection as well. Balsa wood is not cheap.

Tylenol Arthritis

The key to successful spinnerbait fishing is fishing close to cover. Rarely does a bass hit a spinnerbait out in the open away from cover. If it does, it most likely followed the lure from cover. Most anglers position their boat perpendicular to the shore or weed line and cast into it. When you do this, your bait is only in the strike zone for a short period of time. With the fishing pressure we have today, the strike zone may only be a few inches. Try positioning your boat directly on the shore or weed line and cast down it. This puts your bait in the strike zone for the entire retrieve. Don't be afraid to make numerous casts to the same cover. Slow down, a spinnerbait is not a buzz bait. Stop and go. This mimics a deflection. Watch KVD, he knows how to fish spinnerbaits.

I first stated bass fishing when I was about 12. My father didn't fish, but he hooked me up with another Dad from church that was an avid bass fisherman. Back then, I thought he was the greatest bass fisherman in the world. This was before electric trolling motors became popular. He taught me to scull the boat with a paddle and we would take turns at fishing. Anyway, he was a Chief in the Navy and had some money. He used Pflueger Supreme reels with black braided line. As I remember, a Pflueger Supreme like his cost over $20. I couldn't afford a reel like that, so I purchased a Pflueger Akron. I used Akrons until the Mitchell 300 came out and changed everything.

Years ago, I had a neighbor who was a golf pro. I used to take him fishing. Before he passed he gave me a fishing reel that his father had used as a boy. I think it's an old Hendryx cane pole reel from the early nineteen hundreds. It doesn't have much collector value. It had a lot of sentimental value to him. Thought you might enjoy seeing it. It needs cleaning. Been sitting a long time.

I don't know this guy. Rules are rules. However, some rules may be interpreted in different ways. Fishing in the gray areas of the rules does not make you a cheater. Professional sports are full of people who bend the rules to use them to their advantage. Bill Belichick and Smokey Yunick were good examples. I remember a bass tournament on the Kissimmee Chain years ago. Before the tournament, one angler cleared out a canal to a tiny lake off the main lake. He had to use a chain saw to get the job done. A big cold front came through and that angler was able to fish that lake when others thought it was closed off. He was protested because some thought he had gotten out of his boat during the tournament. The rules committee allowed the win to stand. Many participants thought he had cheated.

I've had practically every brand of bass boat made from Terry Bass, Lowe, Hydrosport, Ranger, Storm and a couple of Skeeters. Skeeters are quality boats. There is no wood in the hull. I consider them a best buy for the money. Yamaha engines are great. The only drawback is service as there aren't as many Yamaha dealers as Mercs. The good news is you won't need much service when you own a Yamaha. I bought a new Skeeter bass boat in 2000. I guided and tournament fished with that boat for ten years. When I sold it, the boat had it's original gray carpet, the hull still shined and the engine ran like new. The man I sold it to is still fishing out of it.

Things can get pretty funny in bass club competitions. I used to cut the baits off my rods before heading to the ramp. At each club meeting, the tournament winners were required to stand in front of the club and tell how they caught their fish. This got hilarious at times. I once won a winter tournament at Rodman on a Mepps spinner. When I told the club, the laugh turned into an uproar. I've trained hundreds of people how to fish for bass. Today, I do it for free. If you want to learn something of real value, pay for a day of the person's time. I guarantee that person will go out of his/her way to give you your money's worth.

When you fish a lot of tournaments, you get used to having other anglers fish near you. When I was younger, this used to bother me. Eventually you learn that 90% of anglers can't catch your fish even if you put them directly on them. What bothers me more is jet skiers and boaters who run the shorelines.

I'll be 74 in a couple of months myself. Years of casting has taken a toll on my hands and arms as well. I traded in my go fast boats for a pontoon and am enjoying a different kind of fishing. I find myself using a spinning rod more often than not. I search the rod racks and find the lightest 6 1/2 foot rod I can find that still has some backbone. I use Daiwa BG 13 reels and 8 pound mono. My casting reels are Shimano Chronarch Bantam 100s. I buy them used on EBay. They are the lightest smoothest reels you can buy for the money. Fishing with light tackle does not mean you have to settle for small fish. A 6-7 pound bass on a light spinning outfit will give you all the thrill you can handle. Getting old is a challenge. It's not for wimps. The advantage is you can fish when others can't. God willing, I will be fishing when I'm 94.

You should know flipping is not about catching a boat load of fish. It's about catching fish others don't catch. You need patience. Some days, you won't get many bites. The bites you get will be fish worth catching. Once you catch some quality fish flipping, you will have enough confidence to stay with it. Good Luck!

There are many misconceptions about the flipping technique. An inactive bass will not chase a bait. When this occurs, fishing is thought to be poor. When fish are inactive due to weather conditions or fishing pressure, they go to where they feel safe. In shallow waters they hunker down in heavy cover. If you repeatedly drop a lure directly in front of a bass, you can trigger an inactive fish to strike. When flipping, the fish normally strikes the lure on the drop or shortly thereafter. This reaction strike is the same thing that happens when you rip a rattle trap across it's nose. Learning to catch inactive bass is the secret to catching more bass. Here's a nice Harris Chain flipping fish. The fish weren't biting that day.

Flipping is an acquired skill. It works best in waters with low visibility. It is effective when fish are highly pressured. The biggest mistake most anglers make when flipping is influencing the drop. When flipping, the drop is what triggers a strike. Anything the angler does to slow or impede the fall of the bait is counterproductive. Personally, I do not believe a quiet entry of the bait in the water is as important compared to letting the bait fall under it's on weight. If you want to learn to be better at flipping, force yourself to flip by leaving all your other rods at home for a month. This builds confidence. Confidence is what separates winners from average bass fisherman.

A great American hero. His book is a great read.