One of the most frequent questions that I am asked about Bass fishing is "How did you get started with this Fishing business?" Well here it is. Straight from the horses mouth.
I was 12 years old in the Spring of 1983 and the grass cutting business was booming! I had managed to secure a couple of yards on the street we lived on and was rolling in the dough. I had developed a tooth ache an Momma had insisted on a trip to the dentist. A painful, yet fortuitous event transpired on this wonderful occasion. While waiting in the dentist office I had made my way through several periodicals, when I stumbled upon a tattered old worn out edition of a BASSMASTERS magazine. Growing up watching Orlando Wilson, Roland Martin. and Bill Dance I was instantly HOOKED. As I made my way through the magazine one of the sales cards dropped to the floor. If memory serves the price was around $15.00 a year for a subscription to this sublime publication. The card also stated that with this subscription I would also receive a tackle pack valued at $10.00 and an official membership sticker from B.A.S.S.as well as some type of insurance . I folded it up and stowed it away in my blue jeans pocket and headed off for certain pain and misery. when we got home and I could talk again I pulled the sales card out of my pocket and began to explain to Momma why I just had to have it. Momma was nice enough to fill out the card and mail it in for me, Oh Happy Day !
As the Spring turned to Summer and school was drawing to an end, I had some how managed to make the HONOR roll. For my hard work and extreme dedication to my school work (lol), Pop had purchased me my very own Bass Tracker two man Bass Boat with a 35 pound thrust Minn-Kota trolling motor. Son, I was in High Cotton!
Pop preached on Sundays and worked for Georgia Power Co. through the week. He was an Electrician at plant Bowen in Cartersville, Ga. . The plant had a large lake that held water for use in there Power Generation. I would catch a ride with Pop into work and fish the holding pond until he got off. Day in and Day out I fished. Trying to mimic all of the techniques that I had read about the previous month.( On a side note, That's why I hate to fish a Carolina Rig. It seemed to be the rage in 83'.) As was the case with the men at the power plant it didn't take too long before they had put together a Little team derby on the holding lake. Pop asked me what I thought about fishing it and I was ecstatic. I simply could not wait to fish that thing with Pop. My Dad was not what most of us would consider an avid fisherman, Maybe once or twice a year he would take a hankering and go Crappie fishing with my Uncle Glenn but that was about it. I had purchased Two Cherry wood rods and Two Zebco 33's. I had managed to work up a decent tackle box for a 12 year old that had a little bit of every thing...or so I thought... I tied Pop on a Little N shad colored crank bait and I tied on a #6 Rapala Shad Rap in brown crawfish color. Pop and I smoked them all evening on those two baits. We won Big Fish, Total weight, if it was a category we won. We tore out of the plant that night with a couple hundred dollars and a passel of coolers and other prizes.
"A Seed Had Been Planted"
By now your probably wondering," Where in the world does the Holy Ghost meeting come into play?" Well I'll tell you. It was late afternoon on a Saturday, Middle of the summer, and I was in the front yard trying to learn how to cast my very first Shimano Bantam Mag bait casting reel. That's right folks I had parleyed mine and Pops derby victory into a brand new bait caster with a brand new Ugly Stick to mount it on. My tackle box had also grown quite a bit as well. As I struggled to figure out the adjustments to make the reel work for me a feller walked up from down the street and began to watch me. It didn't take him long to come on up in the yard and begin to help me out. As he was adjusting knobs and fiddled with the drag Pop came out and began to chat this cat up. Turned out he was a traveling BIBLE salesmen from Ohio, out of college for the summer and traveling through the south. With Pop being a preacher they instantly hit it off. As they sat on the porch chewing the fat he explained to dad that his goal was to someday be a professional Bass fisherman. I stood in the yard casting away , but listening to every word that he said. At some point of the conversation Pop told this guy that there was a lake just a short distance from the house ( Lake Weiss) and that if he didn't have anything going on that we could load the little boat up and he would drive us over and let us fish awhile. It was a grand day! Most of the things that I had only read about in the pages of BASSMASTERS magazine , he brought to life. Knots, Line, Gear Ratios, he ran the gamete. I have no idea if that cat every made it on the tour but I do know that there was a "Holy Ghost Meeting" that day in Cedartown Georgia.
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