Found out my new Dr. in Smithville is also hard core Bass fisherman on Center Hill, so naturally we decided to hit the water sometime. Last Sat was the first opening we had so we went for it despite the rain, ALL DAY! It started out pretty rough. 50mph in a boat (he was taking it easy) through rains is a feeling I had forgotten about. Thank god for Simms gore-tex and Costas! We were hitting an area that I have been flailing at since I moved here. I’ve not bass fished with gear in well over 15 years so I was easily discouraged and never really gave it a chance. This trip hopefully would change that. We hung in there despite the lack of fish. He would catch an occasional fish and I’d get nothing. I was feeling like total newb again. I wasn’t missing casts, or hanging up, or the other newb stuff, just not putting fish in the boat. Then, I got a blow up on a fluke. That one missed opportunity was like turning on a switch. Suddenly I was confident, and determined. Not much later we switched to crank baits and it was ON the rest of the day. We probably put 20 plus fish in the boat. A mix of Smallmouth, spots, and largemouth. He hooked a monster fish that turned out to the a Drum. I hooked an even bigger fish that never came to the boat despite a long drawn out fight with 10 pound test. He just came unhooked. To say I enjoyed it would be a big understatement. It was amazing. Being back in a Bass boat with a very competent angler, casting gear, remembering lures names, feeling that thud when a smallie slams a bait. It brought back memories I’d packed away when I switched over to Striper fishing. I’ll definitely be doing this more. But,,, what I’m most excited about is taking what I’ve learned, and applying it to fly fishing. I’m 100% convinced this can be done very effectively with flies. The tying bench will be seeing some new materials in the near future. Hopefully the board will be seeing some new life too.