Bass Master: Jose Silva, with a homemade crankbait mold

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Samuel is soon lost to me, deep in rapid conversation with a knot of anglers. They don't speak English and I don't habla espa¿¿ol, but through smiles and gestures, we find ways to communicate. One of the younger guys, with curly black hair and a Red Sox cap, motions me over to show off the plastic worms that he, like many others, makes himself. He uses dental clay to shape a mold of the bait to be copied, then melts down old lures, scrap plastic, whatever he can find. He mixes that with some kind of oil, heats it, and pours it into the mold. The result is a worm that looks surprisingly true to the original, right down to the faint Power Bait lettering on the tail.

The 9-inch black worm he displays has a few flecks of rubber where it shouldn't, but it will certainly catch fish. My new friend with the handmade worms is curious about something. Through Samuel, he asks my opinion: Do I prefer the Mann's Augertail worm to that company's Jelly worm? The Augertail has more flutter, of course, but sometimes the subtler action of the Jelly worm is better in heavy cover. I interrupt the translation to throw my hands up in despair. "Who the hell knows!" I find myself nearly shouting. I feel as if I've stumbled into some inverted reality-"Alice in Bassland. "Besides, you know more about American baits than I do!" I take an equilibrium-restoring swig of the rum.