Bassin' With Brian

5lb largemouthTuesday morning dawned with a pretty good chill in the air for early November, especially for a fishing trip. My porch and Suburban were both covered with frost as the sun began to creep over the horizon while I loaded my tackle for the trip to the Northeast River and Charlestown Maryland. The short trip to a pre-arranged meeting point was long enough to warm the truck to the point where my wife asked about turning down the heat for a while. In a few minutes I would be loading my stuff into Mike’s van for our trip south.

It was pretty weird meeting him at the crack of 7AM for a fishing trip, especially one with an hour and a half drive. After a few grumbles that only men can understand we were rolling down I-95 south at a pretty good clip. A good clip that is, until we hit Center City Philadelphia. The traffic didn’t seem so bad, especially because we were going fishing and that beats real work any day of the week. Soon Philadelphia was a memory and we were exiting onto Route 272 and closing in on our destination.

Pulling up to the ramp, we could see Brian’s Ranger parked but ready to go. Brian quickly had us loaded up and we cruised about ¼ mile to our first spot. The long pier pointed out into the Northeast River from a cement bulkhead wall. Our captain stopped us short of the pier to rig up and get our camera and gear ready. Brian seemed more excited than us lures were tied on and microphones were adjusted. Soon, the first casts, more like pitches of the day landed beside the many pilings of the pier. Brian pointed out the many “pieces” of an old dock that lay beneath the new one.

I could feel the worm weight bouncing along the concrete and wood a few feet below the surface as we inched along. As we rounded the end of the pier, Brian launched a cast with a well-worn balsa crank bait. He lowered his rod tip and cranked the bait along the wreckage that littered the bottom before raising hi tip sharply. The rod bent sharply as a lethargic bass came to the surface and wallowed around while pulling line from the reel’s drag. The bass fought well until it finally gave up and was brought aboard. Brian and I guessed at the fish’s weight before putting it on the digital scale. The fish weighed an honest 5 LBS! Soon the bass was released and we headed to another likely looking spot.

This spot contained both wood and metal and was close to some of the deepest water in the area. We banged our crank baits off of the unseen submerged structure, and soon enough my rod had a good bend in it! I fought the fish close to the boat and could see the fish wasn’t hooked well. Seeing me, the fish decided it wasn’t hooked well either and released itself rather quickly. Although I was a little let down, I checked the hooks and let another cast fly. The crank bait came over a piece of cover and as it veered off course another bass took a whack at it and hooked itself in its side. The bass fought hard, but with a little luck the fish came to the boat tail first.

Brian and I fished several other fishy looking places along the river to finish out the afternoon as the tide rolled in quickly due to a south wind. In that time, I found that not only does Brian guide for Largemouth and Smallmouth Bass, but he also guides for spring and fall Striped Bass. It seems the Susquehanna flats area is alive and well these days, and he’s enjoying it quite a bit.

I could end the day by saying we had a good time and all that other stuff, but it would be a crime not to mention “the tool”. It seems that Brian has a pole with what looks like a spring mounted on the end. When one of us would snag our pricey crank baits on a subsurface structure, “the tool” would come out and we saved what could have been quite a few dollars in tackle.

So, if you want to have some fun, catch some fish and check out “the tool” contact Brian at briansgs.com. I think you’ll have a good time.

See You on the Water,

Captain Steve Horvath

Comments

[James@Bilge Pumps]

Fishing is my sport, I go fishing to get rid of my stress from work and other activities. Before I'm very busy at my work, with out checking my fishing boat's condition. One day, I went fishing then suddenly there's a leak at the side of my fishing boat, but just my luck I brought my bilge pumps to pump out the water till I've reached the shallow water.