BassBlaster

Ever Use Oars To Sneak Up On ‘Em?

(Photo: Bassmaster.com)

Yeah, we’re all “little motor” users. No tolling motor, no bassin’ fishin’. Just the way it is.

Back in the days of canoes and rowboats, before affording a boat was an option, I used oars to get around because that’s all there was.

(Reminds me of the time I took my now wife – way before we were married – on her first fishin’ trip. She was enthusiastic, which I thought was cool. Turns out she expected a leisurely day of grabbing food and beverages out of a cooler. Instead I handed her a spinning rod with an 1/8-oz jig and curly tail grub, and said, “Here ya go, have at it”…lol.)

So we all probably used paddles at one point, but lately? And would there be a reason to? Maybe. Check this quote:

The shallow, weedy lake that Jackson fishes isn’t suited for modern fishing. It is so choked with weeds that a bass boat with a big outboard and a trolling motor would constantly be tangled in vegetation.

But it’s perfectly suited for Sonnett. He uses a small V-bottom boat with a small motor to get to the general area he wants to fish. Then he uses oars to reach specific spots.

“It’s important not to make a lot of noise when you’re fishing out here,” he said. “In this shallow water, the bass spook easily.

“But if you use oars and stay quiet, you can sneak up on them.”

That’s from this article about a guy in Michigan who likes to fish the old-fashioned way. He uses old rods and reels, and antique baits like the Dying Quiver topwater he used on that weed-choked lake.

Ever pole or row into shallow areas so as not to spook fish? (Examples other than bedding fish.)

2 Comments

2 Comments

  1. Mike Fillmer

    August 18, 2011 at 11:12 am

    That’s how I started in the late ’50’s with my Granddad in Lake Wales, FL. Jon boat and oars…great memories!

  2. Alex

    August 18, 2011 at 11:30 am

    Bill Plummer, the pioneer of topwater frog fishing, and member of the Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame used oars and a wooden boat until the day he died several years ago. Probably caught more bass — especially lunkers than anybody in history. He lived in Westborough, MA and snuck around local New England ponds in a car topper. I’ll never forget him!

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