The Heart & Soul Of A Bass/Pro
By Ed Snyder/Outdoors
Sunday, July 11, 2004, Lake Sam Rayburn, TX.
A sudden vibration alerted the bass to a possible meal as a black and blue glob of plastic, rubber, and metal haphazardly "thunks" its way down the Hydrilla stalk. Falling in front of it, the bass instinctively inhaled the noisy critter before rudely being yanked up to the surface for an "eyeball-to-eyeball" meeting with bass angler, James Stricklin Jr. "This is what its all about, James informed as he displayed the greenish, dark colored bass to my view. "I figured they would be holding out here today, and they were!"
"OUT HERE" meant out in the middle of Lake Sam Rayburn on a HOT summery day in July with the heat index wringing fountains of sweat from our bodies. After James positioned his ProCraft bass-rig along the outside edge of a grass-line, we began flipping terminator bass-jigs through clumps of bass-turf, which in this case was hydrilla grass that grew up to the surface from the 12 foot depths of a mid-lake grass-hump. The glaring brightness of the hot noon-day sun had caused the bass to bunch up under clumps of thick hydrilla patches for protection, which made for some great summer-time bass fishing for dedicated grass-bassers. And James Stricklin Jr, can definitely be counted among those dedicated anglers who are making names for themselves on the web-pages of Fishingworld.com.
The former Arkansas angler became aware at an early age of his love for fishing. "At 6 years old, our family moved to a house that had a pond, James reminisced, where I learned to fish for bream and bass, and it was also back in those early years that I developed a real passion for it. As a kid, while everyone else was tuned in to Sesame Street and Garfield cartoons, I watched the Saturday morning fishing shows. Larry Nixon became my favorite fishing show to watch as he was an Arkansas Bass/Pro and I've always looked up to him. I learned an awful lot about the sport of bass fishing from watching his shows, as they were chock full of interesting bass fishing information and winning techniques."
"There she is, James suddenly alerted to no one in particular as he hooked and landed a good bass of about 4 lbs from the inside edge of a grass-point. I started fishing bass tournaments at the age of 19, he informed while unhooking the bass to release it, and started fishing the draw tournaments on the amateur side for the first year, but then earned a spot fishing the pro/bass circuits, and have been competing as a pro/angler ever since. After fishing the professional circuits for ten years in my home state of Arkansas, my wife and I, made a life changing decision to move to a lake where I could upgrade my level of bass fishing for "hopefully" making a living while fishing full time. So, after some critical observations we decided to move to Lake Sam Rayburn, which became a wise move for our future."
Another nice bass suddenly interrupted my notations before James could get back to providing more input for this article. After landing our biggest bass so far, a solid five pounder from the same grass-point, and after some jealous approvals from myself, and "tag-along"fishing buddy, Col; Bill Marshall, James released the bass. We've been fishing for only fifteen minutes now when James managed to catch and land two bass that weighed close to 12 lbs, which could have been a great start to catching a "money" sack from just about any tournament circuit.
"Rayburn has been good for us, James stated, as it offers more bass fishing experiences than any other bass lake in the country, which is mainly due to the fact that all of the big bass tournament circuits, such as Bassmasters and Everstart, (just to name a couple) hold their national events on Rayburn each year. Rayburn provides a real challenge to most bass anglers because of its structure differences and water fluctuations, which is perfect for learning bass habits, as well as learning the necessary fishing techniques for catching them even during the most difficult of fishing conditions. "So far this year, James added, I've managed to creel seven of my top ten finishes here on Lake Sam Rayburn from fishing bass tournaments."
"My life's goal, James stated, is to be able make a living at competitive bass fishing in the "Big Leagues of Bass Fishing" such as the FLW and Bassmaster tours. I have qualified to fish the Bassmaster Pro/Tour, but just didn't have the funds to cover the expenses of fishing their National Tour as yet. But I am currently fishing the Bassmaster Opens and EverStart Tours in hopes of catching the attention of the sponsorships necessary to cover the costs of fishing in the Big Leagues."
"James has become a great asset to our lake area, Col; Bill Marshall enlightened, and we are mighty proud of his ability to represent our lake area in a positive way. Col; Bill Marshall (US Army retired) is a "back of the boat"fishing buddy of Stricklin's and a story within himself. Col; Marshall enlisted in the US Navy at the outbreak of WWII and retired from the U.S. Army 32 years later as a "full bird"Colonel. "Professional anglers such as James here, Bill advised, are a big part of what Lake Sam Rayburn is all about. "We have so many "wanna-be"pro/bass hopefuls who come to fish our waters each year, Col; Marshall pointed out, some fall by the wayside but a few manage to rise to the top, and James Stricklin JR; is definitely one of our rising stars!" (Col; Marshall, is Chairman to the Board of Directors for the Lake Sam Rayburn Pavilion Association, and an important keystone to the construction and ongoing development of the Umphrey Family Pavilion, a 12 acre special events facility located on the southern shores of Lake Sam Rayburn.)
After 20 minutes of inaction, James changed to a 1/2 oz chartreuse and white Terminator Spinner-bait with double willow leafs and started slow rolling it over the grass-tops in 5' to 10' of water and immediately hooked up to our 3rd, and largest bass of our mid-day adventure, a hefty six pound beauty that gave credence to its species as a hard fighter. After releasing her back into the lake, James offered some helpful tips on what he likes to do when fishing tournaments.
"I love to work white Terminator T-1 Buzzbaits around matted hydrilla patches and along the edges of grass-points in the mornings and late evenings, he noted, and my absolute favorite way to fish for bass is with crank baits, spinner-baits, or jigs, especially when fishing grass structure such as hydrilla. The HOT Summertime is one of the best times of the year for doing this as the grass grows fast and thick and provides great cover for the bass to hide in for ambushing bait-fish. When the bright sun is out, Jimmy advised, the bass will group up under grass-clumps, which offers a possibility of catching several bass from just one spot. But on cloudy days the bass will scatter, making them harder to catch. My favorite summertime rig for fishing grass is a 7' heavy Compre Shimano rod and Curado 200 reel spooled with 65 lb Power/Pro Braid and a 1-oz black & blue jig with a green pumpkin craw. When I try to locate summertime bass with a jig, I look for the thickest hydrilla clumps I can find on the main lake points and humps. Try to cover lots of water by moving along the edges of the grass-line until you've located just where the bass are holding. You don't get many bites while doing this, but the ones you do get are always good ones. And this technique is usually how most tournaments are won during the summertime."
"I'm doing this for my wife, Deanna, and family, Drew (11 yrs old), Tyler (6 yrs old), and Kade (2 yrs old), James began to finalize, as the sport of bass fishing has been an important part of my life for as long as I can recall, from my youngest of memories to my present day experiences, bass fishing has always been a great love for me. And, like most pros today, James informed, I have suffered through many sacrifices and struggles over these past years in this highly competitive sport, but have never lost sight of my goal! You have to make lots of sacrifices if you want to make it all the way to the top, James advised, as I'm not doing this just for the money, but out of pure passion for the sport which is the "Heart and Soul" of a Bass/Pro!"
James Stricklin JR; is sponsored by www.fishingworld.com -Tracker Marine Group -Pro Craft Boats -Mercury Outboards -Castrol Oil -Shimano Rods & Reels -Terminator Titanium Lures- James Stricklin JR, can be contacted by calling (409)-384-5609 or clicking to the pro/angler section of
This Ed Snyder/Outdoors article is sponsored by - The Stump Restaurant & Club- The Bass Buster Inn- and The Lake Sam Rayburn Pavilion Assn; -- E-Mail: Ed Snyder at pressangler@jas.net or cell-phone contact -(409)-382-5478.
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James Stricklin (L) and Col; Bill Marshall heft two of their noon-day bites
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