The pond up the road.

[Salty RI]

I met Fred many years ago, a friend of mine was taking him fishing on Block Island, it was a funny story, if I told it on here, I would get dinged for life. [emoji16]

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[Rustyt1953]

Beautifully penned!

Welcome back, Paul.

 

[Golddollar]

My favorite was an orange Helin Flatfish with black spots that I had ordered by mail. The others were a red Daredevle spoon, Johnson Silver Minnow, Hula Popper and a Rapala.

How great it is to hear those names again.

 

[Golddollar]

Show, teach a little brother, or sister how to fish and you have made that little brother or sister a fisherman for life. You have made them smile. Most importantly you have made memories neither of you will ever forget. And with those memories there will always be a pond up the road.

Or a son, grandson or nephew. My paternal grandfather started up a tradition of going on fishing trips in northern Canada. It was a wonderful family bonding experience to go with Granddad, my dad and his brothers on these trips. As time went on, my brother, sister, aunts, nephew and cousins started going.

Granddad, Pop, one of his brothers and one of my cousins are no longer with us, but the memories of the fishing and my mangling the Quebecois dialect in Quebec will always be with us.

 

[VaTom]

Great stories. Last time I floated the James River in Virginia was several years ago. Great smallmouth stream. Was in hot weather and fish typically in shade along the banks. I had bought several jitterbugs and hula poppers from an old guy at yard sale. Tossed one in front of a big rock and bam! 20" smallie. Old school lures still work!

 

[bigride]

One of my favorite lures is a Fred Arbogast frog pattern Jitter Bug.



Mals

The jitterbug in this story was the frog pattern. My fishing stuff is currently stored in my brother's garage. The jitterbug is still at home in the old tackle box. Good stuff.

Just pretend this is witty.

 

[bill2000]

If anybody is interested in Fred Arbogast and the history of the Jitterbug check out this link

Fred Arbogast – Jitterbug Fishing

 

[walkin jack]

To further expound on the best fresh water lures of large mouth bass, no discussion is complete without the mention of the Bagley's Bang-o-lure. it was a floater with a small "bill" and would run about 8" or so underwater depending upon the rate of retrieve. It was very effective in bright sunny days along weed lines or in "jungle" areas. My wife caught her personal best on one on her first cast with it.

 

[Kinman]

Great story...thanks. When my dad gave me his old fishing gear back in the 50's there was an original glass eyed jitterbug in the kit. He was from Minnesota where a rig like that would have been popular. A top water rig in trout water never did anything for me. I used to love to throw poppers out where sunfish, crappie, etc. would hang out. Bass are not native to our waters and for years I considered them trash fish and was bitter about people planting them because they competed with the native species.
Little by little they have moved into our water and although do not grow to the sizes down south do get upwards of six pounds. I did love the sound the Jitterbug made while being pulled through the water and on a very still night I could understand being mesmerized by the moonlight and sound of the lure. Great story...
Around here there is the old monster trout living behind a particular rock in the stream, seen while charging out from behind his rock or from under a log to grab a small fish or bug off the water. First place to throw a fly or lure is upstream of a large rock or any obstruction that where the big boy hangs out. Its funny but if you catch the big fish and keep him, come back in a week or two and somebody will have taken his place, prime locations have their inhabitants.
I remember a big trout that would break off in the current, if you went after him with heavier line he refused to take, a different lure on heavier line he still wouldn't take. The newer monofilaments catch more fish.

 

[misswired]

Nice memories OP; story is so well told I almost jumped when that lunker bass hit.

Thanks to my grandfather I have almost every old lure mentioned in this thread. Here is a couple of huge jitterbugs Mom bought me cause they were on clearance

Had these big bugs' out trying to catch a striper and was literally eaten up by small spotted bass near dark. Fishing buddy was tore-up, he didn't have a bait remotely similar to a huge jitterbug

 

[Nevada Ed]

One of my favorite lures is a Fred Arbogast frog pattern Jitter Bug.

Mals

I am lucky enough to still have and not hung up/snagged and lost, two special .........

"Bomber lures", that I use very sparingly, on special occasions,
that do well on Bass and Walleye, in Nevada's stained waters.

 

[Chukar60]

THANKS!! Good story and read.
Brought back some memories.
When I was young I was given a bunch of my Grandpa's fishing lures.
The two that stuck in my mind were the deer hair mouse and the Bayou Boogey. I think the BB was supposed to imitate a blue gill, but I could be wrong on that.
I still have those two lures.

 

[Ron In MD]

I sure miss the pond up the road.

In the evening, the water would become glassy smooth, reflecting the trees against the sunset. I would reel in my my fishing line and reach into my tackle box. I loved to pull out my secret weapon for this moment...my jitterbug. I would tie this funny looking lure on my line using a knot my brother taught me. He has always been a better fisherman than me. Of course, he's older...much, much older. Well, only 7 years, and amazingly, he was always willing to drag his little brother along to go fishing--state conservation areas, private lakes, Mark Twain, Taneycomo, the Mississippi, or just the pond up the road. This particular evening though, I was alone, tying on my secret weapon jitterbug that my brother gave me with the knot he taught me. I looked up the bank, picked my spot, and heard the satisfying little plunk as my lure hit its mark.

I began to reel. The jitterbug is a topwater lure designed to make a unique popping gurgle as it moves across calm water. It's supposed to be noisy to get the attention of an aggressive bass and entice a strike. Even if the ol' bass ain't hungry, it might come after a jitterbug just because it's mad.

I reeled about 20 feet when it happened. The lure's droning gurgle was smashed by the huge splash of an agitated bass. KASPLOOM! I paused just a moment and set the hook. There was more splashing and excited reeling and hanging on. The whole time, I could hear my brother's words: "Don't get too excited. Don't try to horse him in. Don't reel against the drag. Let him wear himself out. Nice and easy." I'm not sure that's what I did, but it's what I heard. I may have been alone physically, but somehow, my brother still managed to be there to help me...and he still is.

Lo and behold, I landed that bass. After more experience and seeing more bass about that size caught by others, I figure that bass must have weighed about 6 or 7 pounds. But I didn't have a scale. I didn't have a tape measure. I didn't have a camera. It was just a boy, a jitterbug, and the biggest bass he had ever caught...and it's still the biggest bass I have ever caught.

I didn't want to eat him, and I didn't want him to die. I wanted him to live to fight another day, yet another lesson learned from my brother, so I slid that big bass back into that little pond. With a flick of its tail, it was long gone...much like those days are long gone. The memories, though, they remain, vivid and beautiful.

I sure miss the pond up the road.

Just pretend this is witty.

Thanks for the great story. Being a city boy and not really into fishing make me realize how much I missed as a youth.

 

[GypsmJim]

Fishing with Dad and Grandpa were the greatest times of my life. When hard times fell and Grandpa sold the boat it was devastating to me.

We always wanted a place of our own in the country, but Grandpa couldn't afford it and Mom said we were not spending money on frivolity.

When I came of age I searched high and low. but good properties were too expensive. One day, at age 37, the deal came up. A rich guy was looking to sell a very small lot, just to get cash for Christmas presents. The deal was consummated in 30 days.

Over the years a $300 driveway was added and a $800 travel trailer was towed in place. Ten years later, after getting a promotion and a bonus, we hired a contractor to dig a pond. Fish were added a year later.

It doesn't matter what lure is used, my baby bass always hit on the 2nd cast. Of course, we use barbless hooks and return them all back to the water.

This was a banner year. We had 3 spawns and had more babies than ever before.

It's all good. The only sad part is that Grandpa and Dad never got the chance to fish here. But with every cast I know that they are both looking down with a smile.

 

[Faulkner]

I like the story, my kind of fishing.

 

[Stevens]

The Heddon Lucky Thirteen is another lure that was popular around here years ago.
Steve W

 

[Rustyt1953]

Paul, I have read your wonderful post at least a dozen times now and each time it takes me back to those thrilling days of yesteryear when my brother and I would go on week long fishing trips.

Boat loads of laughs with a boat load of buffoons.

Thanks for a lovely thread. This forum was definitely in need of one.

 

[anoblefox]

What a wonderful story. The best memories I have are the times fishing with my father and grandpa at lake Havasu in the late fifties. We had a 12' boat with a 10 HP Mercury outboard, towed by a box trailer that had model A wheels! I remember those exact lures and the sound they made. I remember once my father casting a red and white hula poper and a largemouth bass jumped out of the water to strike BEFORE the lure even hit the surface of the water! Those times are seared into my memory as the best childhood memories and I am so grateful that my father took me out of school for two weeks every October. We listened to the baseball world series on the transistor radios that were so popular at the time. Heck, the fist year we did not even have a tent, the next year we did however. Grandpa always fished for catfish; he used a glass jar with shrimp inside with holes punched into the lid using a nail. He would then hang the jar in a tree for a few days until the smell was very ripe. He would then hang it off the bow of the boat to attract the catfish after dark. Those WERE the days!

 

[misswired]

Dad used to tell the story of PawPaw keeping a small John boat rented the entire spring crappie season at Beech Creek on Lake Guntersville. Said very few people could afford a boat of there own in those days. They only got to fish on the weekends but had to keep the boat rental weekly or you may not have one to rent when the fish were biting. He said they felt like bid-dogs cause PawPaw had a small 4hp outboard motor they hauled over in the trunk of his car. He said the majority of boat renters only had paddles. That's a far cry from today's boat ramps packed with $50,000 trucks towing $100,000 boats. I'll pull up to a crowded boat ramp and marvel at how many millions of dollar LOANS are filling the parking lot.......and how many gallons of fuel are used towing and boating on a single fishing trip.

 

[Salty RI]

They spend a lot of money, we have a state boat ramp near me with a good size parking lot and by 6am it is full and they are parking on the street. They stop at the convenience store and gas up the boats and trucks and go in and buy ice and drinks and sandwiches to get them through the day, this store just for the months of July and August, they go through 40 tons of ice.

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