ran down, and then he went under the
boat, pulling Mike’s rod down.
“Hold the rod out away from the
boat!!” I yelled.
In the excitement, he pulled “up”
on the rod, causing the line to drag on
the boat bottom. Sad to say, the line
broke, and the fish ran to safety in the
deep water. We caught a good number
of fish that day, including some big
ones, but I hated it that Mike lost his
prize. Needless to say, now Mike is
“hooked” on fishing.
Another time, in late March or
Early April, a customer called and
asked about going for bass. He had
been working a lot, and did not have
much time to fish, but his bass club was
having their first spring tournament. He
was determined to enter, and wanted
help with his techniques because he
had not had the opportunity to practice.
I suggested finding a creek running
north and south, and to fish the point of
a cove and the north bank of the cove.
I knew that there would be a moon lit
night before his fishing day (that is, a
night within the period of 7 days before
and 7 days after a full moon). I told him
that the fishing would be slow for about
the first three hours of the day but that
he should stay put.
“Don’t leave!” I admonished him.
Well, at about 10 AM, it had been
so slow that he was about to pack it
in, but he remembered me telling him
not to leave… within an hour, the fish
started hitting. After the tournament,
he called and said “I owe you a steak
dinner!” He had won both total weight
and biggest fish! Good advice always
works best when you follow it.
One January, I was working a trade
show where I was giving seminars, as
was Tony Bean. I have known Tony
for many years. He was a guide on
Percy Priest Lake in Tennessee, and
was doing a National TV show at that
time. He told me that he wanted to
come to Smith Mountain Lake. He was
scheduled to arrive on April 20th, but
he was delayed until the 24th, so we
started our trip on the 25th. He brought
a camera crew from a Chicago TV
Station and they filmed from another
boat most of the time.
The previous night had been a
“moon-lit” night, so we knew the fish
would not hit early. We fished a north/
south creek outside of and in a cove on
the north bank. The fish activity started
late that morning, about 3 1/2 hours
after day-break. The catch was good
as far as numbers were concerned, but
all were small “buck” bass. We really
wanted some larger bass for the show,
but the day ended with no larger bass to
show for our efforts.
The next morning, I decided that
we should go down the lake where the
water was deeper (and therefore cooler)
and maybe the fish would be more
active. The weather had warmed quite
a bit from April 21st until now (the
26th), and I was thinking the bass on
the upper-end of the lake were probably
on the beds. We went down to the area
of Saunders Marina and started fishing.
It was slow, and the show producer
wanted shots of striper fishing also, so I
sent him to the dam.
Before the camera boat returned,
we started hitting large female bass,
but it was in an area where the marina
was restoring some old docks. Upon
returning, the producer did not like
the back ground, so we moved to
another cove where there were some
lay-downs. Tony cast to the shore and
suddenly shouted, “There he is!” and
then he yelled “I got him!”
The fish gave a good fight and as I
netted the fish for him, it was obvious
why that this was really a good fish. He
released the fish, and as he was retying
Fishing Continued...
he said another fish had followed his
fish, and for me to cast there. I did, and
slowly moved the worm on the bottom.
The fish picked it up and started to take
it home, and I hooked him. The line
pulled my rod down and it kept pulling
line straight down. Since the water was
only 15 feet deep there, I figured he
must have gone under a tree limb or
something similar. We realized that he
was going under the boat away from
the shore, so we turned around so that
the fish would not be pulling line under
the boat. The camera boat was now to
our stern, and the lens was on the water,
looking for the fish to rise.
He did not disappoint. He came up
out of the water and tail-walked straight
into the camera. Tony netted the fish
for me, and we had the biggest catch of
the day. The shoot could not have been
better even if it had been directed.
To sum up....In the spring, I like
fishing worms of the colors mentioned,
and I always fish according to the moon
phase. Remember to fish a short bank
on the north on any lake whether off
a creek or the channel, depending on
which direction the water runs (north/
south or east/west)…And be patient…
fish slowly. I’d also like to point out
that moving down the lake for the show,
there was only 1 degree difference
in the temperature, but it made a big
difference in the fishing. That show
was recorded by WGN and was shown
on WGN, OUTDOORS CHANNEL,
TNN, and probably elsewhere as well.
Tony Bean eventually came to be
the top smallmouth fisherman later. If
you would like a good book on small-
mouth fishing, read TONY BEANS
SMALLMOU’TH GUIDE, by Tony
Bean and Don Wirth. It’s published by:
OUTDOOR GUIDE PUBLICATIONS
202 RIDGEFIELD CT.
NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE 37205
If you follow my guide lines, you
will make your fishing time more
productive! And don’t forget to TAKE A
KID FISHING!
Good luck and take
a kid fishing!
~Bob King
MOON PHASES
FULL MOON TIMES & DATES:
MARCH 16, 2014
12:10 P.M.
FULL WORM MOON
APRIL 15, 2014
2:45 A.M.
FULL PINK MOON
MAY 14, 2014
2:16 P.M.
FULL FLOWER MOON
JUNE 12, 2014
11:13 P.M.
FULL STRAWBERRY
MOON
11
Discover Smith Mountain Lake
Spring 2014
10
