The Clarion
March 2, 2005
Fishing with Uncle Mullet
Deep Jigging with Uncle Mullet
By Uncle Mullet
Greetings once again my fellow anglers! The last glance at
the ol’ fish finder had the water temp right at 49 degrees. We all
know what that means...the pre-spawn window is here. Mr. Bass
is getting a little anxious if you know what 1 mean, and it’s time to
get your jigs in the water. Just before the lunkers start heading
for a shallower spot, they can still be found down deep. Al
though the depth game can be a frustrating one, it still has the
potential for some good early spring fishing. In this situation a jig
is still a fine option, if not the best all around bait in your tackle
box.
The Booyah Bait Company has a sweet line up of new jigs.
The various weights provide ample choices for depth and clarity
of the water you plan on fishing. The debate continues about
deeper water applications and whether or not a faster falling
heavy jig is best. As my Uncle Redfish used to say, “don’t be in a
hurr)’. Mullet, get there early, stay late, fish slow, and you’ll be
there when it happens”. So 1 guess 1 tend to favor a lighter,
slower falling jig since bass usually hit a bait on the fall to the
bottom.
Here’s a tip that I won’t take credit for, but I will endorse as
a fish catching machine: Take a beat up, used plastic worm or
grub that you would ordinarily toss in the hopper and clip the
swirly tail off midway up the body. Attach this tail to the jig
hook up in the skirt of the jig, so that the tail will provide some
additional action to the bait. This way, when you hop it along
the bottom, it’ll kick up a bit more commotion and trigger a
strike. This is a variation of the old ‘pig and jig’, which was, and
still is, a skirted or buck tail jig with a pork trailer. Don’t eat all
the pork while sitting in the boat.
However you can get to the lake and put a bait in the water,
is fine with me. I’m just an old geezer who loves to fish...and
then talk about it to whoever will listen. Give an old man a
break, try a curly tailed jig the next time you go fish’n and bring
me a fish sandwich and a cold adult beverage, for teaching you
all the tricks.
Until next time...keep your lines tight, your hooks baited,
and the fishing magazines by the can, you’ll be glad you did!
Frick
continued from page 12
and when ready, is applied to the garden.”
They use ducks for their eggs, rather
than chickens. The duck eggs taste
better than chicken eggs, Ruppert told a
Transylvania Times reporter.
In addition to the garden, the couple
harvests honey and sugar from bee hives,
trout from their trout pond, wine from
their vineyard, and nuts from their
orchard.
“Our last honey harvest yielded
about 300 pounds—enough to last for
several seasons. Some years are good,
others are not,” Frick said of the honey.
"The trout is usually our Saturday night
supper.”
Their wine production is still in its
infancy, Frick said, “We picked enough
grapes to produce two bottles of wine
this past season.” They have recently
introduced French-American hybrids that
are now producing better yields.
When their son Fritz came into the
picture, it came time to build a second
cabin, Frick said. “When we were trying
to find a place for the new cabin, nothing
seemed to compare to the site of the
original cabin,” she said.
After much debate over where to
build the new cabin, Frick and Ruppert
ended up buying a second house near
Brevard.
When asked if their days of living off
the land in Balsam Grove are over, Frick
answered, “Not necessarily. We still want
to continue all of our projects up there—
we just have a second home now.”
“Having a kid changes everything,”
she said of the decision to move.
The family still spends a significant
amount of time at their cabin maintaining
all their projects and enjoying the natural
world around them.
Cycling
continued from page 14
assigned by the Director of Athletics.”
As neither the NAIA or the NCAA
recognize cycling as a collegiate sport,
the team will compete in the National
Collegiate Cycling Association, a group
formed in 1985 and serves as a committee
of USA Cycling.
USA Cycling is, according to the
USA Cycling website, recognized by the
United States Olympic Committee and is
“responsible for identifying, training and
selecting cyclists to represent the United
States in international competitions.”
Coach Payne said the goals for the
program would be to “recruit quality
students who can excel academically as
well as athletically.”