By Dave Wolak

Across much of the country, it’s approaching spawning time. The water temps are right and during that first spring full moon, the ladies will move into the shallows to pair up with the fellas. These shallow bass are notoriously spooky, so it’s more important now than during the rest of the season to be stealthy.

I grew up sneaking around little smallmouth and trout creeks with fly and spinning gear, and I learned early that wearing muted earth tones increased my success. If I had been wearing a modern, vibrant bass tourney jersey back then, every minnow and nymph in the stream would have swam full speed in the opposite direction. That's why I don't wear a tourney jersey this time of year, even during tournaments. Yet I still see guys that look like Jeff Gordon in full race attire on the water during the spawn. This makes no sense.

By Joe Cermele

Here's a confession: I secretly wish I had the talent and money to restore old cars. It's been a life-long dream of mine to buy a '77 Bronco and rig that sucker to the nines. But the truth is I can barely change the batteries in my keyless entry remote let alone fix an engine or paint a truck body. I'd have no choice but to pay top dollar for a Bronco someone else has already restored, and that's not on the short list of things I can afford. The same goes with custom reels. Try as I might to pick up cheap flea market junkers and turn them into mean, modern fishing machines, I inevitably lose a spring or bend the shaft while tinkering. 

By Dave Wolak

There's a small cluster of pads and grass in the back right corner of my favorite pond (below) that only grows in summer. That’s where I always get a bite on a red worm. The runoff pipe from my neighbor Jim's yard is good for a fish, especially on rainy days, and his little dock is worth a skip or two with a wacky worm as long as it's sunny and the brim are around. In winter, I'll spot a couple fish swimming by the rocks at the dam only on the warmest days, and every once in a while I get one to hit a small jig or crankbait. In the spring, I've caught two five pounders on back to back buzzbait casts against Jim's lawn. Last year, the water got so high I even saw "Grumpy" (that's the pond's alpha female) spawning in his kid's sandbox. If this pond sounds familiar, it’s because most bass anglers know one just like it. 

By Joe Cermele

This week's vintage tackle contest winner has me day dreaming about a local pond I love on a summer's evening just as the sun is going down and the bluegills are sipping the surface. It comes from Steve Neher, along with this great back story:My wife's great Aunt Freda worked at Creek Chub Bait Co. in Garret, Indiana, in the 50's and 60's. When she found out I fished, her gift to me was a bait from Creek Chub every Christmas. The last bait she ever gave me was this Fly Rod Lure, and she apologized because all she had was a small bait for that year. The bluegill is my wife's 10-incher for size comparison.

Well Steve, per Dr. Todd Larson of The Whitefish Press and "Fishing For History" blog, the last bait Aunt Freda ever gave you might be the best.