The old reliable comes through again

Successful professional anglers become money-winners for two basic reasons.

First, they are great students in the school of hard knocks and angling knowledge.

Second, they constantly follow the routines and patterns they have developed following years of contest participation.

In my case, I have a post-graduate degree from Hard Knocks University along with a minor in wandering, personal attention.

There I was, happy as a lark the other day on the Fox Chain, basking in the warm sunlight and enjoying the solitude of a quiet day. There was only one other boat drifting along enjoying the absence of screwballs and beer-can tossers.

The Chain was devoid of the speed demons because of the no-wake rule instituted by Fox Waterway Agency officials.

And because the fast-movers and jet-ski numbskulls were nowhere to be seen, we had the lakes to ourselves. We comprised a foursome -- A.J. Paul, Mike Seeling, myself and tireless Chain fixture Darrell Baker.

We had caught enough crappies to supply three families with meals for a week, and then we decided it was time to find some largemouth bass.

The Fox Chain has seen dramatically improved bass fishing in the last 10 years or so. In fact, the bassing has gotten to a level that it garners growing respect from quite a few bass clubs and magazines. It still has miles to go to compare with the likes of a Bangs Lake or Lake Geneva, but the Chain often surprises panfish anglers with some pretty hefty bass.

After heading in to Channel Lake, A.J. tied on a plastic lure that I originally turned him on to for his pond fishing. It was a 6-inch, Little Action Mac pre-rigged plastic worm. He made three casts and, in his typical A.J. style, called out, "What's this, a bass you say?"

Of course it was, without a doubt. And of course this was his second bass of the day, with the first coming from the dock alongside Barnacle Bob's Resort on Lake Marie.

On quite a few past outings there have been instances where we couldn't keep the bass off our lures.

We moved to a weed-line area on Channel Lake and made fan casts up and down this stretch of real estate. I rigged a light spinning rod with a 6-inch, red firetail Little Action Mac. On my second cast, the line started moving sideways and into the shoreline. I waited a couple seconds and set the hook.

Fishing for bass always has its surprises. This largemouth jumped with a typical burst of energy and pirouetted across the surface like an Olympic ice dancer. A minute or so later I hoisted a chunky, 2-pound fish.

I always carry a lot of different plastic critters in my tackle bag, including Power Baits, lizards, Texas rigs and tube jigs. But when push comes to shove, I get better results using the Little Action Mac pre-rigged worm.

If you use one, you'll need a small, ball-bearing, snap-swivel tied to the end of your line. The Mac comes already snelled, so just hook it to the snap. If I'm fishing shallow water, I'll place a split shot about 12-18 inches above the swivel. The worm corkscrews through the water on retrieve and always seems to be a killer triggering bait. And as the company says on its packaging, "guaranteed to catch a fish or your money back."

I prefer to go with what A.J. always says: "When all else fails, go to a Little Action Mac," and we did.