Jonesy on the coast...On paying attention...This is a post about outdoor observations basically. Many years back when I considered myself a very competent fisherman of the day, I had the privilege, while working at Laurention Trading Post in Ottawa, of meeting and befriending, and then fishing, with the legendary Robert H Jones of British Columbia.
Way back then Bob was living in Ottawa at Uplands Air Base with the R.C.A.F. and he fished for everything around here. He was a Master Fly Fisherman and Fly Tier and that is how he started out making lead head jigs, on a semi-commercial basis, for friends and the PX. Bob's the Man that took me under his wing and shared freely many, many tips and tricks with me to do with jig makin' and jig fishin' as well. Anyway...
Being the lighter of the two of us, I was positioned in the bow of his Sportspal canoe for ballast and he manned the stern and the little trolling motor. I faced the front with Bob behind me, using little jigs that I had made through Bob's excellent coaching. Now, these jigs were very similar to Bob's. The thing is, he started out fishing me right off the bat. He was up to his twenty third Black Crappie and I had managed five. I decided that something was really wrong here and asked if I could go ashore to water some beautiful Day Lilies that were growing near the bank and looked a little on the dry side. When I climbed back into the canoe I changed my seating position so that I was now facing good ol' Bob, so I could watch his every move. Now if you know this Master Angler, you'll know that he has more moves than a snake and is twice as smart as your average bush guy half his age.
Well, we started off kind of slow like and after about ten long minutes I finally lured a very aggressive Crappie to the side of Bob's "Tin Goose". I made certain to whoop it up a little and tease Bobby that his charm must have worn off and that now the Kid, would show him a few tricks. Time to grandstand maybe? :-) I then tied on a floating/diving, customized, micro-crank-bait to capitalize on the hard hit I had received. By the time I had landed my sixth fish with a bonus Large Mouth of around 2 lbs thrown in, poor ol' Bob had only managed one undersized Perch. He grumbled a little for a few seconds then fumbled around in his pack for the tie breaker he had hidden there. You see, he had to 'fess up in order to get back in the game and even try to catch up to me, now that I had such a rockin' lead in HIS canoe. Chuckle, chuckle. :-)
He told me it wasn't actually his charm after all that had caught all the fish earlier. :-) Nope. What Bob had done while I couldn't see him was ad a little piece of smuggled dew worm to his jig. Gilding the Lily, we used to call that. Sort of a semi-cheat way/manner of getting results.
As young kids in our pre-teens, we always thought the biggest trip of all with this cool fishin' stuff, was to actually trick, hook, play, and land, a real fish on nothing but an artificial lure made of wood, plastic, metal or hair and or feathers, yarn, wool, string, or that you built your self even. NO BAIT ALLOWED. We simply called that real Sportsmanship.
Of course, not to miss out on the fun, there were other times like when we went for 'pout in the early evenings, that we used nothing but bait. And then we tried ALL kinds of live or even partially alive or even fresh dead, live bait. That is just how a few of us cooler budding fishin' dudes felt back then and it has simply carried through my whole life.
Anyway, back to Mr. Jones being able to spank me that first hour or so. Because I failed to add a simple hidden factor (observe/pay attention/make note) into the equation and didn't have the opportunity to see his manner(style,method,etc)of fishing,I was definitely at a disadvantage and he was just soakin' in the ol' Top Dog feeling, that a lot of folks like to express on their fishing trips. :-)
We both had a real good laugh over the whole thing and talked at length about the morals and the general love of fishing, that we both share. What rules do you want to make when it's your turn to show your kids or your friend's kids how to go about fishing? Sportsmanship has always been a big word to me and by showing others how You think the thing should be played, you are making it better for future generations of folks who love to fish, are good at it, and share it with their loved ones.
The main moral of this little blurb here to-day is of course, Observe,observe and observe. :-) Then, put all the here-to-for unknowns, into the known categories and the odds are GREATLY increased in your favor for a successful day on the water! Pay attention to everything. Little details, are important when fishing.
Sadness arrives...
Robert H. Jones - Beloved Friend...The Epilogue of this old story of an old friend of mine, is that I just heard the other day, by a chance meeting on the Rideau Canal,through our mutual friend Grant Hopkins, that our beloved friend Bob Jones, had passed away in October 2008! Man! Was I floored or what? :-( I felt like I had just lost a brother. When Grant went east and I went west, from Dow's Lake, all I could think of were memories. Times that Jonesy and I shared that wonderful canoe of his and spanked an awful pile of fish together. And what about the times when we fished the little bay/creek at the second bridge in Kars, for Black Crappies in the spring? How many hours did we spend in his basement on the base at Uplands, tying jigs and talkin' tackle? So many good memories of a really, really good man, saturated my little brain, all the way home on the bus. :-(
Here's a link or three to some of Bob's legacy, so You can know this Legendary Fisherman a little, even now, after he's gone.
Outdoor Writer - Bob Jones...Fly Fishing...Best In B.C.And finally, this one, to Bob's own article about an old Outdoor Friend's passing...
Remembering Bill Macdonald...My deepest condolences go out to his wife Vera and Karen his daughter and to Bobby Jr. his son! We miss him over here too, my friends...
