Don't set that hook so fast!!

The wife and I took advantage of the long weekend and headed down to see my best friend Jason, his wife Brittany, and their new little girl - my goddaughter - Harper. Before heading down, Jason told me to bring some fishing rods so we could fish the little pond by his place. I, of course, am never one to say no to a bit of fishing time - especially one with a friend I've had since I was 12. After a short 2.5 hour drive and murdering at least 10,000 bugs, we made it down to Peoria. We shot the shit for a bit, put together a couple of chairs, had a few snacks, and then it was fishing time! The girls joined us for our stroll down to the pond and spent some time in the sun while Jason and I fished. The pond was probably 2 acres and the entire perimeter was thick with algae and weeds. This meant one thing, and one thing only, FROGS! I tied up a Kopper's Live Target frog on my line and hooked Jason up with a new bait from Bizz Baits called the Pad Daddy. Within our first few casts, it was evident that the bass were deep in the scum and hungry for frogs. The vegetation was so thick that they were having trouble hitting it accurately. It was evident though that they were more than willing to keep trying. After a couple of pops and misses, I finally hooked up with frog bass number 1.

If you look at the scum on the water, you can see the exact path that he came through. Shortly after this fish, the girls decided it was time to hit the pool while we menfolk decided it was time to catch more bass. After the girls left, we decided to fish the rest of the pond. It wasn't long until fish number two was on the boards. This time, when I set the hook, I knew he was big. I wasn't sure how big though because this is just a little pond and he was accompanied by 3 pounds of weeds. I was quite pleased with the result at 20" and mouth full of bass thumb causing teeth.

By this time, Jason has had quite a few bites with the pad daddy, but he hasn't actually landed any. I tried to explain the whole waiting concept of frog fishing to him, but he had a couple of things going against him. The first is that he doesn't fish nearly as often as I do and the second is that all the fishing he has done requires a hook set as soon as you have a bite. I kept trying to explain the notion of waiting, but every time he heard that pop, he got excited and set the hook. It was getting to be quite comical after a while. I think the funniest time came when I told him to cast and start working the frog. I then said, "When you hear that pop, I want you to count to 3 and use the one-one thousand, two-one thousand, etc...method." Sure enough he casts, scoots the frog a few times, and then the pop came - and so did the hook set. "Ahhh man! I waited that time too!" Jason says. I start laughing and told him, "WAITED?! You got to one-one tho...and set that hook!" "Dude, that felt like 10 seconds!" he replies. I couldn't help but laugh.I told him that he needs to catch a fish because I feel bad that I always catch fish when we go out and he usually gets the skunk. He responded to that by saying he was glad that I catch more than he does. Naturally I asked why, to which he replied, "If you didn't catch more fish than me, I would wonder why you waste so much time practicing." It was a very valid point and with that I cast my line and landed fish number three.

In total for the day - three bass landed, one frog that found the pad daddy so good looking that he attacked it like a pitbull, at least a dozen missed fish and a great time between friends.

P.S. DON'T FORGET ABOUT OUR GIVEAWAY!! http://www.brookfieldangler.com/2011/06/giveaway-time.html

Still a little bit of snow up there!!!

Some Grand river religion....

Outdoor Sports: Golf Flexibility Exercises; 3 Options to Consider When Traveling With Your Bike; Indoor Practice Drills; Methods In Order To Speed Up The Game Of Golf So You Can Play More; Beginners Guide To Surfing - Express The Learning Curve Lesson 1; Swimming Pool Supplies: A Story To Tell!; Staking a Flag on Top Florida Golf Course Resorts; Which umpire has the call?; Historic Drought Scorches California Fishing

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