A few of the classics given the CAD treatment, Crank Bait, Deep Diving Crank, Stick Bait and Wiggler
The X-rays came back this morning and the diagnosis was better than I expected; it seems I am not going to die just yet but I have managed to get a good dose of pneumonia. In the delirium of the warm waiting room I imagined the doctor placing the x-ray on the light box and telling me that the problem was I had the bone structure of a fish. So I have been in bed for what seems like an eternity designing some new lures and drawing up some classics I haven’t the energy to build, but most of all dreaming of fishing and deep pools of water. Bed sores aside I have now accumulated a long list of ideas for new videos for when I recover and then hopefully I will be busy long enough to fill out an average lifespan.
I padded off down to the lake this afternoon to try out the
paint brush handle before the water had a chance to freeze up again. I briefly
had the place to myself and threw the new lure without my usual restraint, it
flew like a rocket. The hardwood and rear weights kept it on course enabling me
to place it rather than hurl it and hope for the best. With the rod tip lowered
and a steady jerk on the retrieve I could keep it subsurface gliding and
bucking with its silver sides flashing.
I slowed my retrieve and added long pauses so it sank to the bottom and
kept some depth. In among the jerks I felt the rumble of a fish but it had
gone after putting a couple of bends in the rod. I cast again and again while
trying to remember the sequence of tugs and pauses that had triggered the
attack. In the end I contented myself with the thought that it would have all
been too much to catch a pike on the lure’s first outing, especially in the
middle of winter: it didn't stop me vainly casting along the same stretch of
water.
When the Essex boys turned up I switched to a lighter drop
shot rig and a soft plastic fearing the water would quickly be covered by a web
of carp lines. Moving out of the way
while they set up I threw jellies along the reeds. One of the lads asked if I had
any old lures going spare so he could do a bit of spinning while waiting on his
bait alarm. I fished out a jig head with
a soft plastic lure, but he didn’t seem that impressed so I gave him a Phox
Minnow that I had managed to spray up in the style of a multi coloured sock.
Although I give away lures a little too regularly I still get that nervous feeling
that comes from handing over my work to be judged by someone else.
I moved a little further round the lake and continued my campaign
to either catch a fish of freeze to death in the process. Back over the lake my
Phox Minnow had claimed its first victim a small pike and I headed over while
they waited for me. I waded into the shallows and unhooked it claiming it as my
own as I had made the lure and was having no luck myself. I wandered back to
the reeds and gave a few half-hearted casts before deciding that despite Christmas
winter on the whole is crap, so I packed up and headed home.
It was a little busier at the lake than I am accustomed to. The
warmth of the winter sunshine had brought out a field of competitors, but
rather than clog up the central swim they had tucked themselves away into the
corners leaving me a sizeable stage to test my lures. I had come to get some
film of my latest project the Buzzbait, this was to be a repeat performance
after yesterday’s visit when I found once again my camera was battery- less.
The buzzbait is at best a little more than ridiculous, I know
it has its roots in the spinnerbait but there
is pushing the design envelope and then
there is farting in it and posting to someone you don’t like. Despite looking
like a unfortunate accident involving a teenager with a mouth full of dental
work and desk fan this is a lure that truly make sense once you get it into the
water. Given a couple of reel handle cranks and a slightly raised rod tip the
lure rises to the surface as the blade splashes creating a sound very similar to
that of a duckling running on water to make good its escape. Unlike the sloppy
casting spinnerbait the buzzbait flies a little longer and little more directly
all be it with a purring blade.
With all that said this is really a summer lure for use when
little critters like ducklings, rats,mice, and voles are about on the snaggy
margins where wobblers fear to tread. Until then I can just make the excuse
that I am testing it rather than fishing with it.
When I had what I thought was enough video to edit together I
put the camera away and clipped on a Montana John and went for walk along the
bank. A group of young lads decided to join me casting jellied lures across my
line while telling me about the pike they had caught last week, whose weight
seemed to be yo-yoing with every detailed addition to the story. I tried to get
a little distance on them and attracted the attention of another passer-by who asked
how it was going as I struck into a fish.
It felt a healthy size and drawn by the commotion the lads ran
over brandishing landing nets and asking if I wanted them to net it. I jumped
down into the shallow water and brought the fish in; with crowd safely on the
bank I slipped the hook out and let pike away before it became a thing to prod
at.
The lads, who couldn’t have been much more than ten, asked
what I caught the pike with and I showed them the lure. The oldest of the group
took off the jelly shad he had been using and began tying a different lure on
his line, one which I recognised and I told
him the lure he was holding was one I had made; I think he thought I was asking
for it back. His mate said he had gone into the lake to get it out and the water
had come up to his underpants. I had given it away to fisherman a few weeks
earlier who must have lost it only for it to change hands again. To show I was not trying to reclaim lost
property I gave him another lure, a plastic swim bait I had retrieved myself and
thought I better throw in some traces for safety. I had my fish, my film and smile
from hearing about a kid who wadded in after one of my lures so I packed and
headed home.
