Bob Holland

BOB HOLLAND

I had a good chat last week with Bob Holland, up there in Wisconsin. Well, I say "chat," but I mean text session. Thats how it goes these days - we text as much as we speak.

So, I'll say we had a bonding moment, and leave the term, "chat" to your interpretation.

We talked about ultralight fishing and gear, and Bob was especially interested in small lures for light tackle fishing this summer.

This means light weight spinning for small bass, what I call "rocket bass." Basically, he wanted ideas for fishing artificials, instead of bobber watching. And he wants to use 4 lb mono... that is a sporting fellow after my own heart!

NO FRILLS

I didnt break any rules or suggest the latest "revolutionary" bait for Bob...

"Pretty much the same stuff you’d use for bigger bass," I said:

• Micro- and mini-crankbaits
• Small weedless spoons
• Small in-line spinners, 1/16-1/12 oz
• Beetle Spins, size 1-3
• Mini poppers, like the small Hula Poppers available today.
• 1/8 - 1/32 oz jig heads and twister tails
• 1/8 oz Sliders (a fave)
  
  BEETLE SPIN 
  You'll notice I included the Beetle Spin in that list, and it turns out Bob is also a fan, too. He calls em, "easy to fish," and I cant say I disagree.
  Its probably my single, most-used spinning lure in the warm season.

I have tons of other lure types; boxes full, to be honest. But when I reach in my tackle bag, I usually have to make myself choose something else.

They're easy to cast, almost impossible to fish wrong, fast or slow, and they tend to shrug off snags. I wont call them snag-proof, but they can be bumped and knocked into rocks and wood without too much worry.

The little grub bodies can be mixed and matched with different blades, and you can add rubber legs to them by pulling the strands through with a needle. These often get strikes when the plain ones don't.

Finally, you can buy a Beetle Spin with a couple of extra grub bodies in an array of colors, for a dollar or so.

Versatile, with a capital, "V" applies to the Beetle Spin.

You can hardly ask an artificial lure to do more. Old Virgil Ward had a good one one with the Beetle Spin.

SLIDER

Our discussion also gave me the chance to remind someone about Charlie Brewers, “Slider.”

Do you old timers remember the Slider? Today, its called the Crappie Slider, and is sold in sizes that appeal to those fish. But other fish, including bass – especially bass - will take them.

More on that in a minute.
So, if youre too young to know what a Slider is, well, here's the general idea.

Actually, the Slider is a pair of items: a hook-and-soft plastic combination. Each is a fish out of water without the other, you might say.

The hook is unique, as it is shaped like a bass worm hook, but with a broad, lead head, like a jig.

The Slider "grub body" has a ribbed front half with a squirmy, disc-shaped paddle tail that wiggles if a fish even farts near it.

So, add a very soft plastic body with a seductive tail, on a sorta-Texas rigged hook. But, they are smaller and lighter in weight than most bass lures, and it fishes slow.

And that's slow spelled, "S-L-O-W." 

That really was Old Charlie Brewers technique – he called it, "Do Nothing" fishing. He fished his Slider creepingly, agonizingly slow. The lure was crawled and worked across the bottom and over obstructions like a living thing, in no hurry to get anywhere. ,

He said if your reel handle makes more than a full turn in 30 seconds, you're working it too fast. "Its harder to fish something that slow, than to crank em fast," he used to say.

Here's the kicker - He won a lot of tournament money with it in his time.

Today, it's a safe bet not many fish have seen em.

My first experience with the Slider is a bit different than one might expect. It lead to the first spotted sunfish I ever saw, lepomis punctatus, which came out of Langley Pond in Aiken, SC on a homemade Slider hook.

I had never seen a genuine Slider hook at that time, but that wasn't going to stop me. I figured I could make one; and it wasn't hard. With a chartreuse twisty tail grub, I pulled that big spotted sunfish right out of some tree roots by crawling my ersatz Slider through its tangled lair.

Yes, I just recommended a crappie lure, that catches large sunfish, for rocket bass. Put those three together, let it percolate, and the question becomes obvious: Why are you NOT using Sliders?

FLIES

As we both love fly fishing, in addition to spinning, we eventually got to flies. What he was most interested in is small streamers for the bass in his local ponds and rivers. We brainstormed up a couple flies to cover the water, again without shaking the pillars of the earth in the process.

- Clouser Deep Minnow
This classic fly needs little introduction, Some bucktail on a hook, with dumbbell eyes, that's pretty much it. I like to work a little marabou into the tail for movement, but I try to keep them sparse and not make them too heavy with whopper-sized eyes.

"I took a fly tying class 30 years ago, and the instructor said most people overdress their flies, so I gotta watch that."

Good advice.

THE CREASE FLY

"Hey Bob, you want a killer surface fly that murders bass when they are feeding there?"

"Of course not," he said. He didn't meant it.

Bob is not only smart, but a wisecracker.
I like him.

"Good man," I said. "Its a hybrid, between a popper and minnow.

What you do is tie up a simple foam fly called The Crease Fly. Use some bucktail and marabou in the tail. You cut the body from craft foam, use a little super glue, and voila!

It's simple, easy and cheap, and it’s a killer in shallow water feeding situations."

NYMPHS

"How about Nymphs?" he wondered. "I've wanted to get a nymph game going."

"Dragonflies – think dragonflies," I told him.

"Well, dragonfly nymphs to be precise. Dont waste your time on all the fussy little mayfly nymph patterns for this kinda fishing.
Everything eats dragonfly nymphs, nearly all year - everything.
There's a pattern called, "Jim's Damsel," to check out. 

Its an odd name, because it really has no resemblance to a damsel nymph. But, it passes well for a dragon, and is also easy to tie.

I also like the Briminator, for the same purpose, and it is virtually the same thing with a shorter tail."

(Yeah, I got in a dig for that great little fly from Texas. In case you missed it, search my earlier post about the Briminator.)

THE BEST FOR LAST
A last good thing that came out of this discussion.
Bob has accepted the role of Research and Development Coordinator for the Palmetto Fly N Fish, Northern Division. This includes all the perks and benefits of the position..., which boils down to a beer coozie and a handshake.

Hey, PfnF is family friendly, but were on a budget around here!

So what this actually means is I'll send some of my "experimental flies" to Bob, and he'll see how they work. I guess I better say, here, that they're not really MY flies - I got the idea from some other flies and just kind of evolved from there.

And isnt that kind of how it goes? We think we’ve got something special, and then we find out we don't; somebody else beat us to it.
Usually a long time ago.

But I have drafted a little wrinkle into the whole thing so with Bob’s assistance, we’ll see how that works out.

So, looky there – a list of good spinning lures to cover most situations, a trio of proven flies to take fish under many circumstances, and someone to send flies to.

Now thats a good day in anyone's book.

Tight Lines

David