Thursday, May 3rd, a private water was the place set out for my last fishing article during my senior school year at GMG Jr/Sr High. This was originally supposed to be about a trip to Twin Anchors, in Colo, but I found this day far more interesting to share! My friend Richard was my partner for the day (and at Twin Anchors, Sat. May 5th). Short recap: Richard and I totaled 9 bass, mostly all on Hot Rod tubes. Trying all the tubes I had in my tackle box (Puke, Dirty Craw, River Minnow and Black & Blue) and succeeding! Don’t you just love watching Bass come up and smack your lure? Well, that was the case Saturday. They were spawning, which made it a rather slow day, but sure fun to watch them hit then catch them when we did, but they were pretty small. Richard and I fished all the time in 2011, we made about 20 trips last year. This years been different, he’s been busy with priorities, so I’ve had to find new partners. Which is also a good thing until, this week, he got his chance! Right after a day of school, I rounded up my rods and tackle box. My starting lineup for rods included a Berkley AMP with a Producto 7 inch worm, and a Berkley Lightning Rod with a Hot Rod Baits tube. I also brought my Berkley Ultralite Bluegill & Crappie rod, with some jighead hooks. I bought some nightcrawlers at Walmart, it’s very easy access, I live just 2 blocks from the store. I figured I’ve done enough extreme fishing of late..a competitive tournament (where we placed 9th, weighed in 1 Bass), practicing with Hot Rod Tubes, using and showing off all my Producto’s..I’ve done a little bit of everything of late, except use live bait. I haven’t used lived bait in over a month, I guess I could go all out and write on this for a change also since I’ve done everything else! This was one of those nights where everything goes right, couldn’t ask for a better evening. I’m not all Bass, I also will occasionally go for Bluegill and Crappie. It was hot out at the start, so we did the easy type of angling to tie us over, and keep us busy till it cooled off for the Bass. We put on some live nightcrawlers, (2nd time I used them all year) and soon I landed this nice Gill (pic shown) and my first Crappie! Richard and I totaled 48 Bluegill! After that, we tried for the BASS. I hit 2 right off the bat. Then I thought this would be a great time to brown my horizon and use a brand new lure that I’ve rarely used. Jim Wiegand is a member of the club I am in, and has his own lures he makes, “Wigs Jigs”. I decided to use one, first try ever on a Wigs Jig..cast, jig, jig, felt the hit, set the hook HARD, showing the fish who’s boss, then reeling it in STRONG!!! Result: A 15 inch bass, BOOYAH! Things went even better, I started throwing spinnerbaits and nailed a couple off that. The great story of the night was when Richard learned how to use my expensive bait-caster. He had a backlash at first, but figured it out and got the hang of it, and nailed 2 good fish off it! When Richard smarted out a Bass, I promised him a picture in the paper, so we got it done! (pic of him with Bass off a WIGS JIG) 2 1/2 hours..48 Bluegill, a Crappie, and 12 bass together = 61 fish & FUN! Just a terrific evening and getting him a chance on the water! Richard is a member of Sea-Cadets, and has been busy dedicating time with this, instead of fishing. I would like to thank him for his courageousness. He doesn’t have to do this, but he dedicates some of his free-times to train on protecting the greatest country on earth. Kudos to you bro! My graduation is less than 2 weeks away! Therefore, with all that’s going on, I will be away from fishing for awhile. I get out almost every weekend to practice, but these next two weeks the rods and reels will be on break. It’s gonna be tough, but his also gives me time to get my 12 foot Bass Hound boat fixed. I’m getting a bit tired of pond fishing from a bank, need to get the boat on the water!!! Nevertheless, I still will find way to get the line wet, and try to hound some fish. It’s a great honor to write for the Northern Sun Print. I love writing, and feel sometimes I write to much fishing articles, and need to write them only on special occasions and notable new topics, instead of the same stuff. But, I’m glad I did write all these. These series of articles were sort of a project. I mainly wrote a lot of late because I wanted to get a few close friends in the paper as soon as I could. Then once I got all of it accomplished, I was going to lay off and write only when a new interesting project is thought of. Now I got it accomplished! I look forward to writing again, whenever I am free and have a good topic to cover. I hope the community enjoys my passion and love for the game of fishing, and hope you’ve learned a few tips along the way. You also got to learn a little of my personal background, along with the fishing! I also plan to write some non-fishing articles! I hope that I keep these stories as wide open and interesting as possible! I’ll be back for more as my busy schedule clears up. Just for a spoiler, my plans to write on include possibly a couple new lakes, and I also plan to write on a couple more lures that I haven’t mentioned, and haven’t tried that often. This would be a GREAT time to test these lures out and write on them! I got Hot Rod tubes and Wigs Jigs figured out well, now onto a couple more lures to master in the future! Also, one more thing..if anyone would like more short recaps, and descriptive pics, go to Facebook-Jer Ridout OR Fishing With Jer Ridout at www.blogspot.com. I put a lot of my pics on Facebook..cause trust me..if you thought I write on every fishing trip, I don’t. If I did, I’d have about 10 a stories week. A pond by my house is a everyday practice spot for me!!! That’s all I have to say for today, I’ll be back soon, hope ya enjoyed!