G-Man Fishing

Today we strapped the canoe on top of the Corolla and drove to Lake Thompson in Faquier County, Virginia. This 10 acre lake is nestled in the Blue Ridge mountains. The water is fairly clear and the scenery is beautiful. We arrived at about 7:30am and unloaded the canoe. After unloading the canoe, I had to drive the car back down to the parking area and walk back up to the lake. Once settled into the canoe, I surveyed the area. It was a quiet and peaceful morning since we were the only ones around. There was even a bit of mist over the water.As we paddled around we heard a loud splash. What could it be? We looked over to our left and saw a playful beaver paddling around. He seemed to want to put on a show because later that morning we were on the opposite end of the lake and we saw him again coming towards us before diving and swimming away.Now down to business: fishing. I bought some Berkley Trout bait and some Berkley Power bait knowing that this lake is stocked with trout during the fall and spring seasons. Word has it that the trout do survive throughout the summer but just hang around the deeper sections of the lake. I had rigged two spinning rods drop shot style and baited both rigs. We encountered many soft bites but didn’t hook one.After just 15 minutes of drop shotting, H got bored and wanted to switch to a jig. I complied and swapped out the drop shot for a jig tipped with a curly tail grub. Without any bites, we decided to paddle around to a new location.As we settled into the new spot, I switched to a jig too. I haven’t figured out trout fishing yet so I just wanted to fish a little faster. I got a pretty good bite using the jig so I told H to keep casting in the same direction. I then hooked a decent bluegill. At this point I was just happy to get something, anything. As I was fiddling with something I looked up and saw H with her rod bent over. “Hey, whatcha got!” I said. Then she pulls into the boat a nice 13 inch smallmouth bass. I unhooked it for her and wanted to take a picture of her holding the fish but she is squeamish about touching fish and didn’t want to handle it. So…I did the next best thing: I posed with her fish! So enjoy this picture but remember thats not my fish! The day ended with many more bites and a couple of smaller fish lost by the boat. Overall, it was a fun time in this secluded picturesque mountain lake.

Hey everybody, so I’ve been Tivo’ing the Bassmaster fishing tournaments on ESPN2 the past year. The program has really changed the sport of bass fishing and has made it accessible and understandable to the average viewer. I actually attribute my recent resurgence of interest in fishing to this show. So when I heard that the latest event was in my area I had to make the trip down to Charles County, Maryland to witness the weigh in for the Capital Clash.Just some background, the Capital Clash is an Elite Series Bassmaster tournament. The Elite Series is the highest level bass fishing tournament. This tournament is held on the Potomac River and the field of anglers starts at 100. The tournament spans four days. The entire field gets to fish for two days and the cumulative weight determines who gets to fish during the third day. The top twelve get to battle it out on the final day. Where an angler places at the end of the tournament determines the payout. Check out ESPN Outdoors for more info about bass tournaments.

Anglers begin the day early and launch their boats at 6am. They are allowed to fish a large span of the Potomac River all the way from Washington DC down to the edge of the Chesapeake Bay. With the high powered motors on their bass boats, they can cover a lot of water and get to their spots in decent time. The problem is finding the fish and finding the technique that will work for that day. When time expires the anglers finish up on the water and come back to the launch point for the weigh in.Being at the event was a great experience. I could not believe that the general public is allowed to walk right up to the bass boats as they pull in for the weigh in. I got some great pictures of all my favorite anglers from the tv show as well as the fish they were bringing in. Here’s one of tournament leader Skeet Reese pulling out a keeper from his live well.

One such angler I had always wanted to meet is Mike Iaconelli. I had just finished reading his autobiography. A friend had bought the book for me since I put it on my wedding registry. Ok, that sounds wierd but I really wanted it! Mike Iaconelli was the Angler of the Year last year and had a great season. He’s also a very colorful guy who gets really pumped when he is on a roll. Its not unusual to see him yell at the top of his lungs, pump his fists in the air, or do some break dance moves when he’s celebrating an awesome catch. That makes for great tv but this guy is the real deal. He knows how to fish and spends lots of time mentally preparing for the challenge.

Mike Iaconelli or Ike as people call him and I actually have a few things in common. First, we are the same age. Second, we both are from New Jersey. Ike grew up in South Jersey and I grew up in Central Jersey. Ike’s family used to vacation in the Poconos and that was where he honed his skills as a youngster. My family used to take me to the Poconos too when I was a kid and one of my best fishing days ever was on a small lake there. So you can imagine what a great pleasure it was for me to meet Ike today. Its not the greatest picture of me but here’s a pic of our meeting:

I even got to shoot the bull a little with Ike. It went something like this:

Gman: What’s up Ike?Ike: Hey how’s it going?
Gman: Hey man I’m from Jersey.
Ike: Oh yeah, what part?
Gman: By Princeton, in Central Jersey. You ever fish Assunpink?
Ike: Oh yeah! I’ve fished Assunpink. I’ve fished Farrington and I’ve fished Carnegie too.
Gman: Really? There’s good fish in Carnegie?
Ike: Oh yeah, Carnegie is where its at.
Gman: Cool, I’ll have to check it out.
Ike: Carnegie is awesome. The fishing there is great.
Gman: Thanks man. Hey, great to meet you.

So there you have it, Ike says Lake Carnegie is great so I’ll have to take his word for it. This guy’s a pro afterall!