CRYSTAL SPRINGS — Anyone who doesn’t believe tournament fishermen earn their money ought to try it sometime.
I got my baptism Saturday when I joined the Anvil Jaw Bass Club for a polar bear event at Lake Ouachita. It was Anvil Jaw’s second tournament of the year, and I fished as a nonboater with Gary Hubble of North Little Rock, who many anglers in central Arkansas know as the trolling motor repairman at N.I.F.E. Marine.
I awoke Saturday at 4:30 a.m., and arrived at the Crystal Springs boat ramp at 5:30 a.m. The temperature was 29 degrees, which meant we were in for an extremely cold ride across open water at dawn at freeway speed.We assembled at the outlet of the Crystal Springs chute. Ron Plate, the tournament director, told us check-in time would be 3 p.m. He called the boats by number, inspected their livewells to ensure they were empty and sent them on their way.
After the coldest boat ride of my life, we arrived at a tributary on the north side of the lake. I took several minutes to warm my hands while Hubble extracted several rods from the rod locker on his 12-year old Bass Cat Jaguar. He threw out a black/blue jig with a black trailer, and I tossed out a shad-colored Long A floating bomber. Hubble got a bite almost immediately, but was dismayed to find that the fish was a chain pickerel.
The floating minnow didn’t work, so I borrowed a suspending model in a pearl color from Hubble. I pitched it out and waited several seconds between jerks. On the fourth jerk, the bait hesitated and felt heavy. I set the hook hard and reeled in a bass that weighed a little more than 2 pounds. About 30 minutes later, another bass slammed into the lure like a linebacker. It was a little bigger than the first one, and after a spirited fight, it joined its buddy in the live well.
A long lull followed, and I asked Hubble what got him interested in tournament fishing.
“I started doing it about 1996 or 97,” Hubble said. “I’ve always loved fishing, and when I fished my first one, I just fell in love with it. It’s an obsession. I don’t know if it’s because I like the competition, or the fishing, or just hanging around with the guys, you know, goofing around and acting stupid.”
Big fish bit Hubble’s suspending jerkbait, too, but for some reason they hit it tentatively. He got one that looked to be about 5 pounds almost to the boat, but as he maneuvered it to the net, it let go of the bait. Then, a probable 4-pounder wrapped around a stump and spit the bait. A third fish got loose after wrapping around the stem of Hubble’s trolling motor.
“There’s something about this bait that’s just not quite right,” Hubble said. “It could be the color or who knows what?”
When it was obvious the fish had shut down at that place, we went to the marina at Lena Landing to try our luck with Carolina rigs. The water was muddy there, and Hubble immediately caught two keepers on an olive worm with its tail dipped in chartreuse dye. On a lark, I tossed out a firetiger Terminator spinnerbait with a spinning rig and caught my third and final fish of the day, which was about the same size as the other two.
Then, Hubble made the decision that changed his day. He tied on a rod with a blood red Rat-L-Trap, a lipless crankbait, and began catching fish off isolated rocks, stickups and brushtops. He even got to cull his smallest fish.
By then, the temperature was in the 60s, and the wind blew hard. By 1:15 p.m., the fish quit biting, and when Hubble’s cranking battery got balky, we returned across a very wild and rough Lake Ouachita for the weigh-in.
As we idled to the ramp, Jack Wood of Benton cruised past us.
“You’ve got to watch that ol’ boy,” Hubble said. “He’s the best fisherman in this club.”
Hubble’s remarks were prophetic. Wood caught five bass that weighed 18.58 pounds worth $182. He also took Big Bass honors with a 5.18-pound fish worth an extra $110.
Duane Paquette finished second with five fish weighing 15.20 pounds.
After about seven consecutive hours of repetitive casting and lake pounding, my back muscles burned, my shoulders were sore and my forearms were stiff. The other guys looked beat, too.
But they’ll be right back at it next week, along with countless others obsessed with catching those little green fish.
Sports, Pages 29 on 02/27/2011