Mentored Back To The Basics
Captain Todd Lensing
Being a professional waterfowl guide for nearly 15 years, I’ve tried many products on the market and often find myself going back to keeping it simple and basic. When I got bit by the bass fishing bug 10 years ago, you would think I would apply the same logic I’ve learned from my waterfowling experience to my fishing.
Captain Todd and Mike with a couple nice smallies.
I have more rods and reels than I could use in a week, rigs for every technique going, and so much tackle that I had to buy special labels to identify all my boxes in order to keep somewhat organized. I’ve even put together a binder with color coding for my different rig set-ups. My wife says I have far too much stuff, which brings me to the reason for writing this story.
My buddy, Mike, is the guy who got me started with this fishing addiction. He’s a retired school teacher and has been bass fishing for 50+ years, but unlike me he keeps it simple and basic. Mike took me under his wing and has taught me what I know about bass today.
Mike's basic rigs.
Mike is the type of guy that if I ask him a question he doesn’t know anything, but if I watch and listen carefully, I can learn a whole lot. He will have three rods rigged up with plastic, and if he’s feeling ambitious, he will have a fourth rod with a spinner bait, buzz bait or frog. His three weapons of choice are a Texas rigged ribbon worm, a Texas rigged “critter” bait (the weight is pegged by an old rubber band stuck through the worm weight), and a Carolina rig. His version is nothing more than a worm weight pegged a couple feet about the hook, which either has a worm or critter on it. All three set-ups are on 6- or 6 ½-foot medium heavy rods. His plastic color of choice is even simpler: green pumpkin or green pumpkin!
I’ve had the good fortune to have spent well over 100 days of fishing with Mike. A typical day is 10 hours or more, and we only take a break to eat lunch while we’re moving from one spot to another. We have fished pre-spawn, spawn and post-spawn. We have fished in rain, snow, heavy fog and thunderstorms. We have fished when it’s 35 degrees all the way up to 100 degrees. In any weather Mike always has the same three or four rigs on board, along with his modest little tackle box.
Feeling confident in my fishing abilities, I sometimes think I’m getting pretty good. Then all I have to do is spend a day with my buddy to become humble again. I generally start the day trying techniques that are supposed to work for the specific time of day, season, water temp, weather, etc., all according to the pros. By mid-day I find myself throwing exactly what Mike has been throwing all day.
We can take Mike’s boat with him up front or we can take mine with him at the back … makes no difference. The man can fish! Basically, if you have confidence in the technique you are using, have the mechanics of casting down, know where to position the boat and where the bass should be, you will be an excellent fisherman. Those are the biggest lessons my teacher has taught me. I hope everyone has a mentor like Mike sometime in their life.
P.S. Top-of-the-line fishing equipment for sale!
Captain Todd Lensing is owner/operator of Flyway Fowling Guide Service, Pool 9 duck hunting outfitter. He and his wife, Donna, also own the Grandview Motel in Ferryville, located on the Mississippi River in southwest Wisconsin. Contact them at 608.734.3235.