WEBVTT - Ep. 123: THIS COUNTRY LIFE - Bream Fishing 0:00:05.160 --> 0:00:09.200 Welcome to this country Life. I'm your host, Brent Rieves 0:00:09.920 --> 0:00:13.720 from coon hunting to trot lining and just general country living. 0:00:14.080 --> 0:00:16.040 I want you to stay a while as I share 0:00:16.079 --> 0:00:18.479 my stories and the country skills that will help you 0:00:18.560 --> 0:00:22.360 beat the system. This Country Life is proudly presented as 0:00:22.400 --> 0:00:25.880 part of Meat Eaters Podcast Network, bringing you the best 0:00:25.920 --> 0:00:27.520 outdoor podcast. 0:00:27.120 --> 0:00:28.480 The airways have to offer. 0:00:29.120 --> 0:00:31.920 All right, friends, pull you up a chair or drop 0:00:32.000 --> 0:00:34.239 that tailgate. I think I got a thing or two 0:00:34.280 --> 0:00:44.720 the teacher. Brim fishing. Brim Fishing is an absolute hoot, 0:00:45.040 --> 0:00:47.720 and when you're done fishing, the best part is still ahead. 0:00:48.800 --> 0:00:51.479 When I'm shooting ducks, even after I've shot a limit, 0:00:51.520 --> 0:00:54.040 I always want one more group. 0:00:53.760 --> 0:00:55.160 To work in the decoys. 0:00:55.760 --> 0:00:59.080 Fifteen minutes after the gobbler stop flopping. I want to 0:00:59.120 --> 0:00:59.880 do it all over. 0:01:00.160 --> 0:01:00.400 Yeah. 0:01:01.520 --> 0:01:04.840 A successful elk, deer or bear hunt, it's the same. 0:01:05.640 --> 0:01:08.600 I'm kind of sad it's over. I love it, and 0:01:08.680 --> 0:01:13.440 eating all those critters is a definite reward. But catching 0:01:13.480 --> 0:01:16.600 a mess of brim man, while it is as fun 0:01:16.640 --> 0:01:19.800 as a bush of basket full of puppies, catching brim 0:01:19.840 --> 0:01:22.800 and eating a mess of those jokers is my absolute 0:01:22.959 --> 0:01:26.080 favorite I'm gonna tell you how easy it is for 0:01:26.120 --> 0:01:28.480 you to enjoy this, and it's one of the best 0:01:28.520 --> 0:01:31.759 ways to spend time with your family and friends. And 0:01:32.160 --> 0:01:35.800 you get to eat. But first, I'm gonna tell you 0:01:35.880 --> 0:01:47.320 a story. Located in south central Cleveland County, Arkansas, and 0:01:47.560 --> 0:01:51.840 four miles north northeast of our house was Crane's Lake, 0:01:52.680 --> 0:01:56.120 a small ox bowl lake formed eons ago when the 0:01:56.160 --> 0:01:59.960 planets aligned and the heavens gave birth to the perfect 0:02:00.320 --> 0:02:05.120 blue gill brim Factory and the Canary Hole. Oh well, 0:02:05.200 --> 0:02:09.200 it was the perfect spot on the perfect lake. We 0:02:09.280 --> 0:02:12.200 named it after the small, brightly colored yellow birds that 0:02:12.320 --> 0:02:16.440 we called canaries. They lived all over that lake during 0:02:16.480 --> 0:02:19.960 the summer. Later I would learn their real name is 0:02:20.080 --> 0:02:26.480 prothonotary warbler. Ben Batten would call them Prodenaria citria. Ben's 0:02:26.520 --> 0:02:29.119 my friend and the assistant director of the Arkansas Game 0:02:29.120 --> 0:02:33.040 and Fish He's got a master's degree in animal smart ology. 0:02:33.680 --> 0:02:35.639 He's hander than a pocket on a shirt, and he's 0:02:35.680 --> 0:02:39.320 always grading my pronunciations of the Latin names for animals. 0:02:39.960 --> 0:02:41.840 Last week he scored me eight out of ten on 0:02:41.880 --> 0:02:46.519 the bullfrog. Anyway, these pretty little bright yellow birds with 0:02:46.600 --> 0:02:49.680 the dark wings spend their summers mostly in the eastern 0:02:49.720 --> 0:02:53.560 half of the United States, and the winter in Mexico, Cuba, 0:02:53.960 --> 0:02:56.880 and South America. If I had wings, believe I would too. 0:02:57.280 --> 0:02:57.480 Well. 0:02:57.480 --> 0:03:01.360 That summer in nineteen seventy eight, there seemed like a 0:03:01.600 --> 0:03:04.680 gillion of them around the edge of the lake, concentrated 0:03:04.760 --> 0:03:08.800 particularly on the east side. It was within easy paddling 0:03:08.880 --> 0:03:11.880 distance of the dirt boat ramp where we'd lost our boat, 0:03:11.919 --> 0:03:15.000 and always the starting point of where we liked to fish. 0:03:15.960 --> 0:03:18.400 Our plan was to fill our brim basket with supper, 0:03:18.720 --> 0:03:21.200 armed with nothing more than a john boat, a couple 0:03:21.200 --> 0:03:24.840 of fly rods, and two buckets of crickets. Spring rains 0:03:24.840 --> 0:03:27.400 had caused an overflow of water from the Slain River 0:03:27.480 --> 0:03:30.919 that filled the slews and boughs beyond capacity. Now, when 0:03:30.919 --> 0:03:34.160 the water goes down, that rich fertile bottom land and 0:03:34.200 --> 0:03:37.040 the soil and the nutrients found within them always to 0:03:37.120 --> 0:03:40.720 make the summer lake fishing better by boosting the growth 0:03:40.840 --> 0:03:43.400 of all the critters and what they fed on within 0:03:43.480 --> 0:03:46.920 the confines of the lake, especially bluegills. I sat in 0:03:46.960 --> 0:03:49.280 the back of the boat and watched my dad paddle 0:03:49.320 --> 0:03:52.240 us across that lake, and the air was slapped full 0:03:52.400 --> 0:03:54.920 of those yellow birds and the sweet sounds that they 0:03:54.960 --> 0:03:58.320 were singing. As we fished down the east bank, the 0:03:58.400 --> 0:04:01.320 bites were few and far between until we reached the 0:04:01.400 --> 0:04:04.280 area that would be remembered and talked about for the 0:04:04.280 --> 0:04:07.760 rest of my father's life. There were four or five 0:04:07.880 --> 0:04:11.440 dead sweet gum trees that stood at the water's edge. 0:04:11.560 --> 0:04:14.120 The trees have been dead for several years, making some 0:04:14.200 --> 0:04:17.480 real good fish structure. The snags that were left standing 0:04:17.680 --> 0:04:20.440 had been the home of countless woodpeckers over the years, 0:04:20.839 --> 0:04:23.640 and the canaries had taken advantage of it and were 0:04:23.720 --> 0:04:28.480 nesting in every available hole. They were everywhere and buzzing 0:04:28.560 --> 0:04:32.120 all around us. Dad dropped his cricket near one of 0:04:32.160 --> 0:04:36.080 the tree tops and his cork disappeared immediately. He pulled 0:04:36.120 --> 0:04:38.400 him in, and we were surprised at how big he was. 0:04:39.400 --> 0:04:42.679 He tied his end of the boat, rebaited and caught 0:04:42.720 --> 0:04:46.000 another one before I could get my end tied. He 0:04:46.080 --> 0:04:48.800 pulled in his third fish before I finally got my 0:04:48.839 --> 0:04:51.560 hook in the water, and no ciner had the slack 0:04:51.600 --> 0:04:54.159 gone out of my line. I was taking the line 0:04:54.200 --> 0:04:58.440 back in and catching my own big blue gill. The 0:04:58.440 --> 0:05:01.599 canaries sang and flew around under our boat, and huge 0:05:01.640 --> 0:05:05.400 brim continued to bite. With every fish we pulled out 0:05:05.400 --> 0:05:08.159 of the water, another one would take its place. It 0:05:08.240 --> 0:05:10.919 was like they were fighting amongst themselves for a chance 0:05:10.960 --> 0:05:14.039 to eat crickets. Taking them off the hook and dropping 0:05:14.080 --> 0:05:16.160 them in the brim basket that hung over the side 0:05:16.160 --> 0:05:19.400 of the boat was repeated until fish would no longer 0:05:19.440 --> 0:05:22.719 fit in that basket. It was constant, and it didn't 0:05:22.800 --> 0:05:25.880 last an hour. All the brim we'd caught seemed to 0:05:25.920 --> 0:05:28.279 have been made from the same mold. They were the 0:05:28.279 --> 0:05:30.920 biggest dash that he'd ever seen, and it only took 0:05:31.080 --> 0:05:34.600 fifty five to fill that basket. Putting my thumb on 0:05:34.640 --> 0:05:37.039 his back, keeping that dorsal fin locked down in my 0:05:37.120 --> 0:05:40.600 fingers under his belly, I could barely hold one secure 0:05:40.680 --> 0:05:43.280 enough to take off the hook. That's how big they were. 0:05:43.800 --> 0:05:43.960 Now. 0:05:43.960 --> 0:05:46.680 I don't know how many we could have caught that day, 0:05:46.720 --> 0:05:50.160 there's no telling, but when number fifty five hit and 0:05:50.200 --> 0:05:53.200 filled that basket, they were still biting as hard and 0:05:53.279 --> 0:05:54.600 fast as they had. 0:05:54.600 --> 0:05:56.120 When number one went in there. 0:05:57.160 --> 0:06:00.680 We went home clean fish froze b we wasn't going 0:06:00.720 --> 0:06:05.720 to eat that night, and had one more good supper, fish, 0:06:05.800 --> 0:06:08.680 fri tators, fresh onion, and hush pubbish man. I can 0:06:08.720 --> 0:06:11.599 taste it right now. The next day we went back 0:06:11.640 --> 0:06:14.720 to the Canary Hole, but it wasn't nearly as good 0:06:14.760 --> 0:06:15.960 as it was the first day. 0:06:16.160 --> 0:06:16.960 It never is. 0:06:18.000 --> 0:06:23.000 Sequels seldom surpassed, are even equal the original. It's hard 0:06:23.000 --> 0:06:25.800 to catch lightning in a bottle twice. And even though 0:06:25.800 --> 0:06:29.520 the original cast of Canary Hole, Brent and Buddy Reeves, 0:06:29.520 --> 0:06:33.000 had returned for a Canary Hole too, it just wasn't 0:06:33.000 --> 0:06:36.800 the same. Instead of filling the basket with fifty five, 0:06:37.600 --> 0:06:38.760 it took fifty six. 0:06:40.680 --> 0:06:42.000 And that's just how that happened. 0:06:46.920 --> 0:06:48.960 Now. I'd run into a few folks through the years 0:06:48.960 --> 0:06:51.400 that liked to fish, whole bunch of folks, I'd have 0:06:51.520 --> 0:06:54.159 to say, and we'd get to talking about what we 0:06:54.360 --> 0:06:55.160 like to fish for. 0:06:56.080 --> 0:06:58.640 And I like to fish for just about anything that swims. 0:06:59.040 --> 0:07:01.159 And that asked me what my favorite was, and I 0:07:01.279 --> 0:07:04.719 tell them brimfishing some but never had the opportunity to 0:07:04.720 --> 0:07:08.240 brim fish. And others were somewhat dismissive of it, like 0:07:08.279 --> 0:07:11.920 it was a waste of their time or beneath them. 0:07:12.280 --> 0:07:14.200 And I don't know that I'd let those folks borrow 0:07:14.160 --> 0:07:17.040 a drink of water. How could you look down on 0:07:17.120 --> 0:07:20.840 the greatest tasting fish that ever swum a swim? Name 0:07:20.920 --> 0:07:22.840 something that you like to eat, and give me the 0:07:22.960 --> 0:07:25.360 choice of that or fried brim, and I'm gonna pick 0:07:25.440 --> 0:07:26.640 brim every time. 0:07:26.880 --> 0:07:27.960 I could eat it every day. 0:07:28.520 --> 0:07:31.280 But before we eat them, let's talk a little more 0:07:31.280 --> 0:07:35.480 in depth by what we're fishing for. Bluegill, brim, green 0:07:35.600 --> 0:07:39.960 sunfish also known as rice paddy, slicks, red ear sunfish. 0:07:40.120 --> 0:07:42.960 That's the government brim. They didn't invent them, but they 0:07:43.000 --> 0:07:46.119 were preferred in the early stocking efforts around the South 0:07:46.160 --> 0:07:49.480 and earn that moniker. The last one is the brightly 0:07:49.640 --> 0:07:53.880 orange colored long eared sunfish known as the punkin seeds. 0:07:54.480 --> 0:07:57.640 They're all sunfish and in the sun charcoty family of fish. 0:07:58.080 --> 0:08:00.920 Locally we call them all brim. And our favorites that 0:08:01.000 --> 0:08:03.800 we target to catch and eat are blue gills and 0:08:03.840 --> 0:08:07.840 punkin seeds now red ears they grow the biggest, followed 0:08:07.840 --> 0:08:09.680 by blue gills and then the slicks, and in the 0:08:09.680 --> 0:08:14.040 punkin seeds. The punkin seeds they are the absolute fiercest eaters. 0:08:14.520 --> 0:08:17.240 They nearly always hit your bait like they're starving and 0:08:17.280 --> 0:08:21.120 pull way beyond what you'd think. I've always said that 0:08:21.120 --> 0:08:23.440 if they weigh a pound, they'd crawl out on the 0:08:23.480 --> 0:08:26.640 bank and take over the world. Get a little current 0:08:26.680 --> 0:08:28.840 in the river when you're catching them, and you'll think 0:08:28.880 --> 0:08:31.120 you're about to set some kind of record, And then 0:08:31.160 --> 0:08:32.960 you pull up a fish that you could lay in 0:08:33.000 --> 0:08:36.880 one hand and cover it up with the other. They're fighters, 0:08:36.960 --> 0:08:40.600 and they taste so good. Now during the early summer 0:08:40.600 --> 0:08:43.920 here in Arkansas, you'll find them bedding up to lay 0:08:43.960 --> 0:08:47.560 eggs in groups called brim beds or colonies. The male 0:08:47.640 --> 0:08:49.400 fish will go to the bottom and dig out a 0:08:49.440 --> 0:08:52.600 divid about the size of a fat hit pitching wedge. 0:08:52.880 --> 0:08:55.560 The female will swim by, checking out the new digs 0:08:55.559 --> 0:08:58.520 and hang around for a little light cording with love 0:08:58.720 --> 0:09:02.040 figuratively in the air and literally in the water. She'll 0:09:02.120 --> 0:09:06.439 drop off anywhere from twelve to sixty thousand eggs and vamoose, 0:09:07.000 --> 0:09:09.360 leaving the house and the young's for Pappy to look after. 0:09:09.840 --> 0:09:11.160 That have for ought to be ashamed. 0:09:12.320 --> 0:09:15.640 The good thing is all his single dad. Next door 0:09:15.679 --> 0:09:19.160 neighbors are doing the same thing, literally next door. The 0:09:19.200 --> 0:09:22.559 whole cul de sac is a literal donny brook a fisticuffs. 0:09:23.120 --> 0:09:25.880 That colony can host dozens of beds, and all the 0:09:25.960 --> 0:09:29.160 fathers are in town duking it out with anything and 0:09:29.240 --> 0:09:31.280 everything that tries to get in there and snatch the 0:09:31.320 --> 0:09:34.079 babies out of the crib. Now, that's when you find 0:09:34.120 --> 0:09:37.440 them bedding up and the bites are so aggressive. That's 0:09:37.480 --> 0:09:39.720 what will shake it down at the Canary Hole when 0:09:39.720 --> 0:09:42.160 me and Dad were stacking fish in that brim basket. 0:09:42.200 --> 0:09:45.640 Like cord wood, they don't cotton the trespassers and will 0:09:45.679 --> 0:09:48.720 square up with just about anything until they run it off, 0:09:48.880 --> 0:09:52.240 eat it, or eat eats them. I know of three 0:09:52.280 --> 0:09:56.080 ways to find them that are successful. First, let's narrow 0:09:56.080 --> 0:09:58.880 it down where we're gonna find our potential bed in areas. 0:09:59.360 --> 0:10:02.360 Go to the shep, usually near the edge of the bank, 0:10:02.679 --> 0:10:06.520 out to as much as twenty feet deep. My experience 0:10:06.559 --> 0:10:09.200 has found that anywhere from three to six feet is 0:10:09.240 --> 0:10:12.640 pretty normal. Now, I'll talk about the two old school 0:10:12.679 --> 0:10:15.760 methods that we've used over the years. The third one 0:10:15.800 --> 0:10:17.800 is a cool way to do it, and it will 0:10:17.840 --> 0:10:20.840 get you on the fish quicker, especially if you're fishing 0:10:20.880 --> 0:10:24.520 in an unfamiliar area or time is a limiting factor 0:10:24.600 --> 0:10:28.800 for your fishing trip. It's also more expensive by requiring 0:10:28.800 --> 0:10:32.560 some equipment that wasn't issued to you at birth. Old 0:10:32.559 --> 0:10:36.959 school way number one, use your eyes. Just fish along 0:10:37.080 --> 0:10:39.920 until you find them. If you come upon the spot 0:10:40.000 --> 0:10:42.640 and see that your cricket supply is going down add 0:10:42.720 --> 0:10:44.920 or near the same rate your basket is filling up, 0:10:45.559 --> 0:10:49.440 stop the boat for you have arrived. If you think 0:10:49.480 --> 0:10:52.320 back a few minutes to that Canary whole story, that's 0:10:52.320 --> 0:10:55.280 how we did it. We started fishing down the edge 0:10:55.320 --> 0:10:58.480 of the lake and weren't catching anything until all at 0:10:58.480 --> 0:11:02.280 once we started loading. The number two is to use 0:11:02.280 --> 0:11:07.320 your smeller, your probosis, your nose when conditions are optimal, 0:11:07.640 --> 0:11:10.520 like little to know when you can actually smell and 0:11:10.720 --> 0:11:14.440 pinpoint a brim bed. It's much harder when there's a breeze, 0:11:14.480 --> 0:11:17.360 but you'll immediately know that you're in the right area. 0:11:18.160 --> 0:11:20.800 If the wind's blowing, you'll just have to start drawing 0:11:20.800 --> 0:11:24.800 the crickets till you find them. The fragrance is aromatic, subtle, 0:11:24.840 --> 0:11:28.240 and it's not unpleasant at all. Some folks describe it 0:11:28.280 --> 0:11:32.320 as having the fragrance of a fresh cut watermelon. Now 0:11:32.360 --> 0:11:35.520 I can't argue against that. Description, but I can't say 0:11:35.520 --> 0:11:38.280 I never thought to describe it that way. It smells 0:11:38.320 --> 0:11:41.080 like we fished and to eat fish to me. My 0:11:41.160 --> 0:11:43.480 dad pointed it out to me several times when I 0:11:43.520 --> 0:11:46.240 was a kid, and I've never forgotten it. It's one 0:11:46.240 --> 0:11:48.760 of those things that if you ever get it cataloged 0:11:48.760 --> 0:11:52.719 in you'll cranium, you'll immediately recognize it, regardless of how 0:11:52.760 --> 0:11:55.800 long it is between encounters. It is there to stay. 0:11:56.640 --> 0:11:59.440 The number three is one that I've never done, but 0:11:59.520 --> 0:12:02.480 I've heard it about it and watch some real interesting 0:12:02.559 --> 0:12:08.080 videos on YouTube demonstrating the technique. Side image and sonar 0:12:08.600 --> 0:12:11.440 will give you a real time picture displayed on your 0:12:11.520 --> 0:12:14.640 depth finder that you can watch as you crew slowly 0:12:14.679 --> 0:12:17.160 along the bank looking for the neighborhood of brim beds. 0:12:17.559 --> 0:12:19.640 The bottom will be slick as a whistle, and then 0:12:19.720 --> 0:12:22.440 all at once you'll see a brim bed that looks 0:12:22.520 --> 0:12:25.320 like little craters on your screens showing you where they are. 0:12:26.080 --> 0:12:29.000 You can market it as a GPS point or float 0:12:29.040 --> 0:12:32.120 close enough to drop off a marker buoy. Then you 0:12:32.160 --> 0:12:34.559 need to back off a little bit and commence to 0:12:34.640 --> 0:12:36.560 send it in the crickets to see if any single 0:12:36.679 --> 0:12:39.839 dads are down there looking to run. Sometimes you can 0:12:39.880 --> 0:12:42.160 even see the fish gardening the nest. It's pretty cool. 0:12:43.240 --> 0:12:46.720 Coves and protected areas of lakes and slow moving portions 0:12:46.720 --> 0:12:49.599 of rivers are good places to start looking for beds. 0:12:49.920 --> 0:12:52.400 The water temperature needs to be bumping close to seventy 0:12:52.440 --> 0:12:54.920 degrees for the fish to start bedding. And if you 0:12:54.920 --> 0:12:57.959 can add a full moon in that mix, I know 0:12:58.040 --> 0:13:00.360 you better send somebody to the store for the You 0:13:00.760 --> 0:13:11.960 what you're all about to load the boat? Okay, we 0:13:12.080 --> 0:13:15.400 know what we're after, We know where and how to 0:13:15.480 --> 0:13:18.880 find them. What were gonna catch them with? Now, if 0:13:18.920 --> 0:13:22.080 you listened last week, you heard me say how inexpensive 0:13:22.160 --> 0:13:25.080 it was to gig frogs. Well, catching the brim is 0:13:25.120 --> 0:13:28.360 no different. You can cut your own pole, catch your 0:13:28.400 --> 0:13:32.079 own bait, and fashion your own hooks from wire. Heck, 0:13:32.160 --> 0:13:34.960 you could even make your own fishing line from thread. 0:13:36.040 --> 0:13:38.600 You can catch brim from the bank or by waiting. 0:13:39.000 --> 0:13:41.520 You don't need a boat. You could turn this into 0:13:41.600 --> 0:13:45.920 an amazingly fun DIY project with the kids this summer, 0:13:46.160 --> 0:13:49.959 teaching them survival skills that are enjoyable, have them make 0:13:50.000 --> 0:13:53.040 their own fishing rig, catch one, and then show them 0:13:53.040 --> 0:13:55.400 how to cook it. They'd love it and it would 0:13:55.440 --> 0:13:58.800 get them eyeballs off the video screen. Brim are just 0:13:58.840 --> 0:14:02.840 about everywhere there's water, so accessibility can't be a reason 0:14:02.920 --> 0:14:05.360 not to go. You just heard me say that you 0:14:05.400 --> 0:14:08.200 don't need any money to do this, so what's stopping you? 0:14:08.800 --> 0:14:11.480 If you look hard enough, you can always find a 0:14:11.559 --> 0:14:13.760 reason not to do something, but brim fishing. 0:14:13.840 --> 0:14:14.199 Come on. 0:14:15.280 --> 0:14:18.360 Here's my setup and I have two one I use 0:14:18.440 --> 0:14:21.160 most of the time, and that's my fly rod. It's 0:14:21.200 --> 0:14:25.400 a nine foot five weight made for fly fishing. Ideally, 0:14:25.640 --> 0:14:28.880 a smaller three or four weight rod is better. They're 0:14:28.920 --> 0:14:31.080 more limber and you can get a lot of good 0:14:31.120 --> 0:14:34.640 action playing the fish after he's hooked. My setup has 0:14:34.640 --> 0:14:37.080 a real spoon with fly line that matches the weight 0:14:37.080 --> 0:14:40.040 of my rod. If you're building your own rig, just 0:14:40.080 --> 0:14:42.480 look at the weight listed on your rod and match 0:14:42.520 --> 0:14:45.320 it with the package of line that it's indicated for. 0:14:45.840 --> 0:14:47.560 It'll say on there, and believe it or not, it 0:14:47.600 --> 0:14:51.120 makes a difference. I like floating line, and on the 0:14:51.200 --> 0:14:53.440 end where my hook goes, I'll tie a leader line 0:14:53.440 --> 0:14:56.680 that's marked appropriate for my fly line and real and 0:14:56.720 --> 0:14:59.360 then add a short length to smaller line. Maybe two 0:14:59.400 --> 0:15:03.200 pound test, and that's called tippet. Maybe I don't know, 0:15:03.240 --> 0:15:06.240 three feet long, and that's where I'll tie my hook 0:15:06.360 --> 0:15:09.920 and place my spit shot. Now, for years, I use 0:15:10.000 --> 0:15:13.040 nothing but a small cork that had my leader threaded 0:15:13.080 --> 0:15:15.440 through a hole in the middle and held in place 0:15:15.520 --> 0:15:18.880 with a separate peg inserted in the same hole preventing 0:15:18.880 --> 0:15:21.640 the cork from moving up and down. There's lots of 0:15:21.680 --> 0:15:24.680 different styles of corks and bobbers, but they're all doing 0:15:24.720 --> 0:15:27.760 the same job of maintaining your bait at a constant 0:15:27.760 --> 0:15:30.560 depth and giving you a visual clue that your daily 0:15:30.600 --> 0:15:33.000 limit is about to be reduced in number by one 0:15:33.120 --> 0:15:36.360 more fish. I could do a whole podcast on different 0:15:36.360 --> 0:15:40.920 types and styles of corks and bobbers, plastic foam, porcupine quills, 0:15:41.000 --> 0:15:45.400 turkey feathers, There's all kinds of items that folks use. Also, 0:15:45.720 --> 0:15:48.360 I don't want you fly fishing purists to be left out, 0:15:49.080 --> 0:15:52.120 so I'll talk about strike indicators too. Well. Guess what, 0:15:52.320 --> 0:15:55.920 mister fancy pants fly fishermen. The difference between a cork 0:15:55.960 --> 0:15:59.040 and a strike indicator is the same difference between a 0:15:59.080 --> 0:16:03.320 fiddle and a island. It's the cat using it. However, 0:16:04.000 --> 0:16:07.080 I have a new favorite that I was recently introduced 0:16:07.080 --> 0:16:10.640 to by my bar grease render brother and fly fishing guide, 0:16:10.960 --> 0:16:15.240 josh Spielmaker. Y'all know josh it looks like he could 0:16:15.240 --> 0:16:17.960 do stunts for Yukon coornelias with that red beard and 0:16:18.000 --> 0:16:21.040 handlebar mustache so big it's got its own zip code. 0:16:21.520 --> 0:16:24.800 But Joshua and I were flyfishing for trout recently and 0:16:24.880 --> 0:16:28.600 he handed me an in line strike indicator. That's cork 0:16:28.680 --> 0:16:31.400 for the rest of us, made by the folks at 0:16:31.560 --> 0:16:38.240 Ouros Flyfishing. That's O r S Flyfishing. These folks are 0:16:38.280 --> 0:16:40.960 based out of Montana, and as far as I'm concerned, 0:16:41.360 --> 0:16:44.480 they have created the world's most perfect cork. It's a 0:16:44.520 --> 0:16:47.480 two piece foam bobber that has a short threaded stud 0:16:47.560 --> 0:16:50.240 on one side and a threaded hole on the other. 0:16:50.840 --> 0:16:53.120 The stud is slotted, and as luck would have it, 0:16:53.520 --> 0:16:56.240 you just lay your line in that slot, put the 0:16:56.280 --> 0:16:59.480 two halves together and tighten the side with a threaded hole. 0:16:59.720 --> 0:17:02.960 Keep and you were lying straight, unkinked and held in 0:17:02.960 --> 0:17:06.600 place with tension. Need to change depths. Just loosen the 0:17:06.640 --> 0:17:09.160 whole side a bit and slide that unit to where 0:17:09.200 --> 0:17:13.720 you want it and retighten. I'm convinced, without a shadow 0:17:13.760 --> 0:17:15.919 of a doubt that if we hadn't already gone to 0:17:15.960 --> 0:17:19.880 the moon, the Oiro Strike the Indicator design team could 0:17:19.920 --> 0:17:25.040 get us there. Good job, folks, Now hooks. My dad 0:17:25.119 --> 0:17:27.879 liked a long shank number eight wire hook, and I 0:17:27.920 --> 0:17:31.040 do too. We fished around a lot of old tree 0:17:31.080 --> 0:17:33.679 tops and structure, and if you happened to snag a 0:17:33.720 --> 0:17:37.080 limb or something solid on the bottom, nine times out 0:17:37.119 --> 0:17:39.440 of ten you could pull that hook and it was 0:17:39.440 --> 0:17:42.160 straightened out enough to come loose. Then all you had 0:17:42.160 --> 0:17:44.600 to do was re bend it and keep on fishing. 0:17:46.040 --> 0:17:48.520 A stronger hook would dig in and you'd break your 0:17:48.520 --> 0:17:51.080 line trying to free it up, or require you to 0:17:51.080 --> 0:17:53.760 cut it off, losing your rigging. And while I was 0:17:53.800 --> 0:17:56.760 retying my dad to be catching fish and keeping score, 0:17:57.560 --> 0:17:59.679 you can't be in the game sitting on the bench. 0:18:00.640 --> 0:18:02.520 That long shank on the hook was easier to get 0:18:02.520 --> 0:18:05.000 a hold of and remove from a fish then a 0:18:05.160 --> 0:18:07.919 shorter one too. Now all you need is a small 0:18:07.920 --> 0:18:11.080 split shot, put it about two or three inches above 0:18:11.119 --> 0:18:13.080 the hook, and you're ready to get busy giving them 0:18:13.080 --> 0:18:17.240 brim the sore mouth. My other rig is an ultra 0:18:17.320 --> 0:18:20.159 light fishing rig with a spinning riel attached to a 0:18:20.200 --> 0:18:24.000 five foot rod. It's easy to rig and cast accurately, 0:18:24.040 --> 0:18:26.600 and it's fun to rill and fight those clowns to 0:18:26.640 --> 0:18:28.840 the boat. Some folks will go with a jig pole. 0:18:28.880 --> 0:18:31.400 It's up to nine feet. It's just whatever you want. 0:18:32.000 --> 0:18:34.359 The advantage of being able to cast into a brim 0:18:34.400 --> 0:18:37.280 bed instead of setting over it, especially if the fish 0:18:37.359 --> 0:18:40.160 or shallow, will keep your boat further away from where 0:18:40.160 --> 0:18:42.119 you're fishing, so you're not as likely to spook to 0:18:42.160 --> 0:18:44.800 fish off. Now, the last method is the tried and 0:18:44.880 --> 0:18:49.040 true cane pole. It's probably the image that most folks 0:18:49.080 --> 0:18:52.320 have when brim fishing is mentioned. And I could build 0:18:52.359 --> 0:18:54.240 a house and a good sized barn from all the 0:18:54.280 --> 0:18:57.560 cane poles I made and fished with growing up. A 0:18:57.560 --> 0:18:59.720 fella could use the tube before if that's all he had. 0:19:00.160 --> 0:19:02.520 For that matter, you don't even need a rod, just 0:19:02.600 --> 0:19:04.760 chunk of line with a baited hook out amongst them, 0:19:04.760 --> 0:19:07.160 and well rope their little fannies in when they get 0:19:07.200 --> 0:19:10.640 the chomping on your bait. It's so easy to catch them. 0:19:10.680 --> 0:19:13.560 I wonder sometimes how we didn't catch them all, because 0:19:13.600 --> 0:19:16.399 we sure tried. Now, we got a rod rigged up 0:19:16.400 --> 0:19:18.280 and we were ready to fish except for one thing. 0:19:18.920 --> 0:19:23.680 We need bait. You can use artificial or natural. Artificial 0:19:23.720 --> 0:19:28.159 baits include brim flies, jigs, beetlespins, rooster tails, man. The 0:19:28.200 --> 0:19:31.360 list just goes on and on. They'll bite anything they 0:19:31.359 --> 0:19:33.719 think they can get the jaws around, even more so 0:19:34.240 --> 0:19:37.840 if it's trespassing in their bed during the spawn. Oh yeah, 0:19:38.000 --> 0:19:41.480 don't forget about gummy bears. My son was six years 0:19:41.520 --> 0:19:43.439 old and him and my dad were sitting on the 0:19:43.480 --> 0:19:46.560 pond bank fishing one evening with a few crickets that 0:19:46.640 --> 0:19:50.479 was left over and eating gummy bears. He didn't take 0:19:50.520 --> 0:19:52.960 them long to run out of crickets, but Hunter wasn't 0:19:53.000 --> 0:19:56.320 ready to quit fishing, so he handed as grandpa gummy 0:19:56.359 --> 0:19:59.040 bear and sit here, Paul put this on the hook. 0:20:00.080 --> 0:20:02.800 Being a good grandpa. My dad did what Hunter asked, 0:20:03.080 --> 0:20:05.760 and they caught fish with gummy bears until they were gone. 0:20:06.480 --> 0:20:08.360 Dad said he didn't know who ate more of them, 0:20:08.400 --> 0:20:11.760 the brim or the boy. Bait to taste good to 0:20:11.800 --> 0:20:15.600 the fisherman too, well, that's a bonus. A few years later, 0:20:15.680 --> 0:20:17.680 that boy and I were fishing on the White River, 0:20:17.760 --> 0:20:20.600 with a guide. We were floating with the current for 0:20:20.680 --> 0:20:24.280 a trout, using cooked shrimp for bait that the guide 0:20:24.320 --> 0:20:26.960 had brought. And after a little bit, the guide gets 0:20:26.960 --> 0:20:29.199 to grumbling and digging around in the boat looking for 0:20:29.200 --> 0:20:31.720 that second bag of boill trimp, and he can't find it. 0:20:32.119 --> 0:20:35.119 I started helping him look under boat seats, in the 0:20:35.160 --> 0:20:40.480 live well, behind the tackle boxes, everywhere, no luck. Finally 0:20:40.640 --> 0:20:43.280 I told Hunter look under his seat and see if 0:20:43.320 --> 0:20:45.960 that shrimp was there. Man, he looked at me like 0:20:46.000 --> 0:20:48.159 he'd just been sentenced to life in front of a 0:20:48.160 --> 0:20:52.080 B B gun fire squad. When he stood up, the 0:20:52.080 --> 0:20:55.679 missing bag of bull trimp was located, and it was empty, 0:20:56.520 --> 0:20:59.399 but natural bait. That's my favorite growing up here. It 0:20:59.480 --> 0:21:02.439 was worms, crickets. Some folks would raise the worms in 0:21:02.560 --> 0:21:05.679 old chest type freezers or a junked out ice box 0:21:05.760 --> 0:21:08.360 laid on inside. My wife and kids, and probably most 0:21:08.400 --> 0:21:11.679 of humanity would call that refrigerator. Anyway, You fill it 0:21:11.720 --> 0:21:14.840 with dirt and meal scraps and cut a double handful 0:21:14.880 --> 0:21:17.000 of worms loose in there, and they'll do their thing 0:21:17.080 --> 0:21:18.320 making more bait. Me. 0:21:18.760 --> 0:21:19.919 I prefer crickets. 0:21:20.280 --> 0:21:22.640 They're less messy than worms, and boil those brim will 0:21:22.640 --> 0:21:25.600 wear them out. Now, we'd stop by the bait shop 0:21:25.600 --> 0:21:27.640 and get a couple tubes of crickets, that's a hundred 0:21:27.680 --> 0:21:28.800 crickets each, and. 0:21:28.840 --> 0:21:29.840