Topwater

Heddon Tiny Torpedo

Fishing with topwater lures can offer explosive action and big fun, no doubt about it. Bass will attack that twitching bit of plastic, hitting the lure like steam train before pulling it down into the depths, and the fight's on. 

The emphasis here is on can; a lot of the time, if you're me, poppers, torpedoes, spooks and the like produce no action at all. Still, the other day at Lake Whitney I had good success with a Torpedo and decided to read up on the subject. I found this article helpful, here's an excerpt:

Wham! When the strike came, I stifled my jerk reflex and waited for the fish to pull the bait down. Then, when I felt tension, I set back, and in short order a surprised three-pounder was flopping in my net.

Heddon Spook

...Most every brushpile harbored bass, and my Tiny Torpedo and that stay-put, irritating retrieve were the keys to catching them. Those fish never hit when the lure first gurgled into range. Instead, it was the twitching that changed their mood from neutral to aggressive. By tantalizing them long enough, the lure triggered their instinct to kill the "helpless prey" even though they weren't hungry.

So this is the object with topwater lures, to present bass with a vulnerable, unaware "creature" that is an easy target, then allowing nature to take its course.

You can read the rest of it here and learn something about the why, where, when and how of topwater lures. For me the why's simple, sheer excitement at the ferocious, leaping, impact of the Bass. 

Lake Aquilla, The Challenge Is On!

Nothing like it and while I'm no expert, the success I have had makes me want more. A lot more.

Fish On,

LSP

When The Man Comes

One of our churchmen died early today of a heart attack. It was sudden and a shock; we'd been talking only yesterday and he seemed in excellent health, promising to bring some quail to Mass this evening. "You might want to bring a small cooler!" he said, and that's what I was getting ready to do when I received the news.

I got on the 'phone and one man, who I respect very much, said, "When the Man calls, you gotta go." There's no arguing with that.

My friend had been an explosives person in SE Asia and carried on the lifestyle into the '80s, finishing up in Uzbekistan before becoming a civilian contractor, most recently in Afghanistan. He'd retired here to raise quail, grow herbs and be midway between his children and grandchildren. 

He was a good man and a committed Christian.

LJ, rest in peace and rise in glory. You will be badly missed.

LSP

Spanking Time!

Are you looking for that perfect gift? The one that says it all to your loved one or friend? Then look no further than this realistically styled and affordably priced action figure.

"Vladimir Putin is a charismatic president loved by many people. He has often been a subject of good and harmless jokes. This action figure is no exception. It shows how the head of the Russian Federation in the search for alternative solutions is committed when diplomacy does not work."

Sold by all_russian_treasures, the Putin Spanks Obama action figure can be bought on ebay here, for a mere EUR 51.95.

Worth it at twice the price.

LSP

It's Hard, Country Hard

Life may be easy if you're a hedge fund manager, lobbyist, or one of our privileged, deracinated, bi-coastal ruling elite. Everything's laid on; there it is, just watch the cash roll in off the gravy train. But that's not the way it is in the country, you have to get out there and make it happen. My philisophical pal, GWB, reminded me of this, sometime after Morning Prayer.

"Look, LSP, you can sit around all day in slack-jawed dismay at the Deep State of this country, or you can do something about it. Like fish." I took that to heart.

Reeled In.

Thirty minutes later I was on the water somewhere in Texas, making it happen, with worms, plastic and real, and a variety of spinners. The fish scorned that like the American public in the face of yet another Hillary lie. Contemptuous indifference was their hallmark and like I said, it's not easy in the country. Do you give up? No, you don't, you keep going at it.

Bass

With strawberry dough bait. And guess what? The fish thought it was the best thing. A Catfish went for the delicious red strawberry morsels like a commie on a five year plan. Then a Bass tore into it, fighting and leaping all the way to the bank. 

Catfish

Not the privately owned, create your money at interest for profit Federal Reserve Bank, no the bank of the lake. And it wasn't over, another cat hit the delicious strawberry bait and ended up at the shore. It was a mutated kind of yellow, which was interesting, if off-putting. 

Strawberry Dough Bait. Who Knew?

New rods vindicated, I drove through the waterlogged fields, praying that my 2x2 rig didn't get stuck in the mud. It's hard enough in the country without having to tow a fisherman out of the clay... But no worries, the truck made it to higher ground and out the gate, which I closed.

Fish On,

LSP

Get Back in The Fight

When the action goes against you, you can give up, defeated. Or you can reengage, get back in the fight and win. I chose the latter path, it wasn't easy.

After vicious setbacks, culminating in thieves stealing my rods right out of the bed of the rig this morning, I was tempted to pack the whole fishing thing in, at least for the week. But no, that would've been useless and defeated, so I rearmed.

Several Ugly Sticks and an Abu Gracia and a Mitchell reel later, there was Lake Aquilla, fish beckoning. I tried my luck by the ramp with worms, and sure enough they were biting, but no strikes. So change it up, put a red treble hook on the line and try some strawberry catfish bait. Yum, fish love that, although, to be honest, I've never caught anything with it.

First cast and... bam! Something hit the hook and ran with it. A Bass and a decent little fish at that, putting up plenty of fight and leaping out of the water like Bass are supposed to do. Great result. Reel it in.

Next up, a catfish took the line. It wasn't big but not shy of a fight either, and there it was, another fish. Then low ominous clouds scudded in from the Northeast, the wind picked up and the lake got choppy, so I called it a day.

Moral of the story? Don't give up, like a sad loser, get back in the fight and fish.

Fish On,

LSP

Ripped Off

Yesterday's fishing was hijacked by locksmithery and I thought I'd make up for that this morning. First things first, put a couple of rods in the bed of the rig and stop by Walmart to pick up a lure and some worms. 

Simple, and so it was until I returned to the truck from the store, looked in the bed and lo and behold, no rods. Some goon had ripped them off, so I drove 'round the car park looking for rod thieves but they were long gone.

Some Thieves Ripping Off a Crop

Maybe it was some crew of freaks, chancing it on their way back to Austin, trying their luck down the I35 corridor. I don't know, it's possible, but one thing is certain.

It takes a special kind of wickedness to steal someone's fishing rods.

LSP

Peasants, Revolt.

You follow the news, so you know that an anonymous politician, "Congressman X", blew the lid off something which everyone knows, that Washington is a sinkhole of graft, cronyism and corruption.

Congressman X's revelations are based on transcribed discussions spanning several decades and are published as a book, The Confessions of Congressman X, by Mill City Press. Here's some excerpts, via the New York Post and ZeroHedge:

“Like most of my colleagues, I promise my constituents a lot of stuff I can never deliver. But what the hell? It makes them happy hearing it . . . My main job is to keep my job.”

Thought for the future? Don't be ridiculous:

“We spend money we don’t have and blithely mortgage the future with a wink and a nod. Screw the next generation. It’s about getting credit now, lookin’ good for the upcoming election.”

But what about the sheeple?

“Voters are incredibly ignorant. It’s far easier than you think to manipulate a nation of naive, self-absorbed sheep who crave instant gratification . . .”

I like this one best:

“Business organizations and unions fork over more than $3 billion a year to those who lobby the federal government. Does that tell you something? We’re operating a f–king casino.”

Congressman X believes that America is in "irreversible decline and that no one in Washington seems to care... God help us."

Divine intervention aside, the question is, can this be fixed by anything less than a total reset? Let's hope it can, because the reset in question won't be nice when it comes. Not least for our ruling elite overlords.

Smart people are laying in food and ammo. Maybe they're investing in a Compound.

Kick out the JAMS,

LSP

Hijacked!

The great thing about the day after Pentecost is that you get to go fishing, at least that was the plan. Walk the dog, get a coffee at the pick 'n steal, then head off to the fish zone. A simple, elegant, straightforward Monday solution and it was going so well. Then the key snapped in the lock of the front door.

The View

I stared hard at that lock. Maybe telekenesis would move the key. No, it didn't, fail. Then I tried to pry the key out of its lair with needle nose pliers, a knife, and nail cutters. That didn't work either. Useless. So what do you do?

The Cry Babies

Sit around whining, like a cry baby, spoiled brat social justice warrior, and accuse the keyed up lock of oppressive gender stereotyping? Or maybe you stand there, open-mouthed like a Bass, hoping that the State will step in and fix the lock, with its big government magic? 

The Cylinder

You can try all that; sure, go ahead, just don't be surprised when your lock stays permanently broken. I chose a different path, I took the thing apart.

The Cam

Getting the key out of the cylinder wasn't too hard and I took it to the hardware store, where a helpful keysmith cut me a new one, using the broken offender as a model. He assured me "it wouldn't work." Thanks, key bloke. But it did, and everything turned out fine, except for the fishing, which didn't happen.

The Fix

So there it is, a fishing experdition stopped dead in its tracks by locksmithery. I'll have to make up for that tomorrow.

Cheers,

LSP

Peak Absurdity?

Via ZeroHedge: 

This talk examines the relation between Islamophobia as the dominant form of racism today and the ecological crisis. It looks at the three common ways in which the two phenomena are seen to be linked: as an entanglement of two crises, metaphorically related with one being a source of imagery for the other and both originating in colonial forms of capitalist accumulation. The talk proposes a fourth way of linking the two: an argument that they are both emanating from a similar mode of being, or enmeshment, in the world, what is referred to as ‘generalised domestication.’

Leaving aside the glaringly obvious fact that Islam isn't a race, what can we say?

ISIS laughs,

LSP 

Pentecost

It's the Feast of Pentecost, when our Holy Mother, the Church, celebrates the descent of the Spirit upon the disciples, resting on them likes tongues of fire. I like Basil the Great's exhortation:

The Spirit raises our hearts to heaven, guides the steps of the weak, and brings to perfection those who are making progress. He enlightens those who have been cleansed from every stain of sin and makes them spiritual by communion with himself... Through the Spirit we become citizens of heaven, we are admitted to the company of the angels, we enter into eternal happiness and abide in God. Through the Spirit we acquire a likeness to God; indeed, we attain what is beyond our most sublime aspirations - we become God. 

And note this, all you heretics out there who are busy reading this important mind blog: Basil's divinization, or theosis, in which the faithful participate in God's nature, shouldn't be confused with apotheosis, deification in God's essence. 

Some Crew, Goofing Off in Church

That's an error and a bad one. Like liturgical dance, which is also a bad mistake.

God bless,

LSP

Detroit Shanty Town

Do you remember Detroit? It used to be America's motor city, now it's a prospective venue for zombie parks and "sack of corn, take a mule" land grants, as the once great automotive capital reverts to green field site.

Well done, Libs. Detroit was your great experiment and now it's a wreck, some would say a shanty town,

I know I was there.

LSP

Country Life

I file this picture, from the local Walmart, under "country life in Texas." The same goes for these venison sausages, Rifle to skillet and thank you very much. I think they go well with farm fresh eggs.

Heavy Metal

And you know what? I'm not complaining.

God bless Texas,

LSP