February 1, 2012
I've started my offseason tackle organization substantially later than normal this year. Being a confirmed procrastinator, I will further delay the process of figuring out what needs to be trashed, repaired or replaced by blogging about little oddities that I find along the way.
The spinnerbait inventory is progressing at a glacial pace. That's what happens when you have way too many of them and each one has a story.
In April of 2003, I fished a Bassmaster Tour event on the California Delta. The "Tour" was one of the forerunners of the Elite Series, along with the Top 100 and Top 150. The tournament was won by Robert Lee, as was just about every other BASS event out there back in those days. I practiced with the late David Wharton for two days and with OT Fears for one. On the first day of the tournament I drew Tim Loper, who died this past year, and on the second day I drew former Federation champ Dalton Bobo. None of the five anglers I just mentioned still fish at the tour level -- draw your own conclusions.
Anyway, getting back to the spinnerbait, I don't think Loper was around the right quality of fish to win, as evidenced by the fact that he finished 82nd, but he had the peckerhead-quality green trout nailed down pretty well. That first morning we headed to a nearby slough and he pinned the boat to some riprap and proceeded to catch a limit in 37 minutes, all on an orange spinnerbait like the one pictured here. I was left picking at the scraps, throwing a Senko and a worm at the occasional target that presented itself to me. I think I ended the day with two little bass in my side of the livewell.
That night I went to the Outdoor Sportsman tackle shop in Stockton and bought a couple of the spinnerbaits, one in 3/8 ounce, the other in the 1/2 ounce size. I also bought a couple in the all bubblegum pattern. Of course, on the second day of competition my partner was on a crankbait bite in a totally different part of the Delta and I caught nothing on the spinnerbaits. My lone swimmer fell to a Delta standard, a Speed Trap in a red craw pattern. I ended up a pitiful and disappointing 68th.
All of the spinnerbaits (made by Lim-it Lures of California) are still in my possession. While I've caught some bass on the bubblegum models, I'm pretty sure the all-orange baits are still virgins. I've thrown 'em on the Potomac and Guntersville in the spring, and they made a return trip to the Delta in 2007, but they remain untouched. Still, they're too pretty to throw out or donate to someone else. I may have to force feed them to an unwitting fish at some point.
As a side note, while my tournament sucked, I had a great trip to Calfornia in 2007. Caught a 7 pounder with Wharton in Little Frank's Tract and learned a couple of tactics that still occasionally pay off today. The highlight may have been the day after the tournament ended, when I went crappie fishing with OT and Kenyon Hill in Discovery Bay. We absolutely wore out the sac au lait, along with a few decent-sized bass.
