Bruce Lee quotes for fishing and life

I Fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 techniques once, but I fear the man who has practiced one technique 10,000 times.

A goal is not always meant to be reached, it often serves simply as something to aim at.

knowing is not enough; we must apply. Willing is not enough; we must do. 

Mistakes are always forgivable, if one has the courage to admit them.

Defeat is a state of mind; no one is ever defeated until defeat is accepted as a reality.

Those who are unaware, they are walking in darkness and will never seek the light. 

If you always put limits on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them.

To hell with circumstances; I create opportunities.

Absorb what is useful, discard what is not, add what is uniquely your own. 

Learning is never cumulative, it is a movement of knowing which has no beginning and no end.

Do not pray for an easy life, pray for the strength to endure a difficult one.

Empty your mind. Be formless like water. You put water into a cup, it becomes the cup. You put water into a bottle, it becomes the bottle. You put water into a tea pot, it becomes the tea pot. Water can flow or it can crash. Be water, my friend.

Always be yourself.               

Express yourself.

Have faith in yourself.

Do not go out and 

Look for a successful

Personality and duplicate it

Take things as they are

Punch when you have to punch

Kick when you have to kick

It's not the daily increase

But daily decrease.

Hack away at the unessential.

Notice that the stiffest tree is most easily cracked,

While the bamboo or willow survives by bending with the wind.

If you spend too much time thinking about a thing,you'll never get it done.

Make at least one definite move daily toward your goal.

Life itself is your teacher, and you are in a state of constant learning.

What you habitually think largely determines what you will ultimately become.

Fear comes from uncertainty; we can eliminate the fear within us when we know ourselves better.

A wise man can learn more from a foolish question than a fool can learn from a wise answer.

Simplicity is the key to brilliance 

I'm not in this world to live up to your expectations and you are not in this world to live up to mine.

The key to immortality is first living a life worth remembering

Knowledge will give you power but character respect

If you love life, don't waste time,for time is what life is made up of 

As you think, so shall you become.

Absorb what is useful, Discard what is not, Add what is uniquely your own.

Choose the positive. You have choice, you are master of your attitude, choose the positive, the constructive. Optimism is a faith that leads to success.

Don’t fear failure. Not failure, but low aim, is the crime. In great attempts it is glorious even to fail.

“What is” is more important than ‘what should be.’ Too many people are looking at ‘what is’ from a position of thinking ‘what should be’.”

When one has reached maturity in the art, one will have a formless form. It is like ice dissolving in water. When one has no form, one can be all forms; when one has no style, he can fit in with any style.

A quick temper will make a fool of you soon enough.

Ever since I was a child I have had this instinctive urge for expansion and growth. To me, the function and duty of a quality human being is the sincere and honest development of one’s potential.

I am not teaching you anything. I just help you to explore yourself.

If you want to learn to swim, jump into the water. On dry land, no frame of mind is ever going to help you.

In order to taste my cup of water you must first empty your cup.

Knowing is not enough, you must apply; willing is not enough, you must do.

The knowledge and skills you have achieved are meant to be forgotten so you can float comfortably in emptiness, without obstruction.

Life is better lived than conceptualized. — This writing can be less demanding should I allow myself to indulge in the usual manipulating game of role creation. Fortunately for me, my self-knowledge has transcended that and I’ve come to understand that life is best to be lived — not to be conceptualized. If you have to think, you still do not understand.

Life is never stagnation. It is constant movement, un-rhythmic movement, as we as constant change. Things live by moving and gain strength as they go.

Life is wide, limitless. There is no border, no frontier.

Life itself is your teacher, and you are in a state of constant learning.

Man, the living creature, the creating individual, is always more important than any established style or system.

Real living is living for others.

Reality is apparent when one ceases to compare. — There is “what is” only when there is no comparison at all, and to live with what is, is to be peaceful.

Quotes of my own...

The more I learn...the less I know. (or thought I knew)

Fishing is not about numbers....it is about experiences. 

When I'm fishing, the world make sense.

Fishing occupies my left brain hemisphere, so I can access my right.

Percolation Ponds

            I grew up fishing these small, square, pan shaped, ponds. These ponds are designed to retain rain water, to seep into the underground water table, before rolling downstream in creeks. Almost every urban area has some within reach. They might not have names but are attributed to the water district of the city or county. There may be a dozen or so ponds linking along a creek or river which their water is diverted. They will all hold pan fish, bass, carp, suckers and even a few trout that make the creek their home. Some ponds will be more productive than others due to size discrepancies. They usually will have tules growing all around them with various open pockets which you access the water, and inlet and outlet spillways or pipes. 

At first glance, it can be difficult to identify where to fish in them. The spillway inlet and outlets are usually the best places but anywhere you can gain access to the water may hold the large, loner, type bass. Most people generally associate these ponds with only small bass but know that each pond will house one or two big bass that rule the roost.

Many first time fishermen got hooked at these ponds, you'll see evidence of this at the popular spots. Always leave them in better condition than when you came, to ensure a lifelong semi-secret spot to fix a bass jones when needed. 

While you'll never call them aesthetically pleasing, these productive ponds will grow on you and show their hidden beauty.

Here's some stuff that evolved from decades of fishing at these ponds.

When super-lines just came out, I knew it was what I needed to make my ultra light spinning/small worm set up work. The small diameter of Fireline enabled me to upsize the pound test, to keep from breaking off on a short line. The suppleness was key as well. At night the visibility wasn't a factor and the non-stretch property gave unbelievable sensitivity and hook setting power.

 4" Worm- In the summertime, weeds will choke these ponds making it difficult to fish. Small 4" worms rigged Texas with a old style 1/0 worm hook. This enables you to fish on top of the weeds that can cover the entire bottom. The top of the round worm head will grab the weeds or bottom, allowing the bait to sit with slight line tension. When the worm finally slips off the bottom towards you, lower the rod and give the handle a spin to take up the slack. Gently raise the rod tip until contact is again made. 

When there aren't any weeds covering the bottom, a small split shot can be used aprox. 8-12" above the worm. For this I like the removable type of shot. The little wings aid in the weight catching on small pebbles or crevices, enabling slight contact to be kept before slipping, where a handle spin and lowering then raising the rod tip until tension is again established.

This technique, while extremely slow and tedious, has accounted for some of my biggest fish. Both in the middle of summer and dead of winter, at night. I'd be half asleep, fishing on auto pilot because of the slow night. The rod tip will slowly bend under the weight of the fish which gently picked up the worm. I found myself suddenly jolted back into reality with a giant fish splashing me on only about ten feet of line. 

Senko- Weightless Texas Rig. Cast into current seam and let sink to the bottom. Reel up the slack until the bowed line enables contact with the bait and hold it there as long as you can stand. Slightly raising the rod tip to keep contact, when the bait finally slips towards you, lower the rod tip and give the reel handle a spin and lift until contact is established again.

Whacky Rigged, I like a weighted, weedless, jig head. Cast close to the tules and let sink on a semi slack line. After it has sat for a spell, I'll give it a small jerk to lift the bait and get the ends to flutter. Give the handle a spin raise the tip till contact is made again.

When a bite is felt, wait for your rod tip to be pulled down before coming back with the hook set. This gives them time to get the hook portion into their mouth and the hook up percentage climbs.

Drop Shot craw or lizard-The drop shot enabled me to give the bait action without pulling it out of the strike zone. The idea was to have the bait "lie in wait" for the fish to come up upon it. A slight twitch action would let the fish believe that it found the bait, instead of having the bait come to the fish. It also lets the split shot I used snag the weeds while leaving the bait clean.

Flippin' the bird-The tules that lined to shoreline would have gaps where animals had gotten a drink. I could walk behind the tules undetected and flip the blackbird over the tules and have the line come through the small space in the line of tules. This was always fun because you would get a close up look at the fish taking the bird off the surface. 

Twice, I've had real red winged black birds attacking me because they thought I had one of their own on the end of my line. I would even put the lure on the path, so they could see that it wasn't real. They couldn't comprehend so I would have to put the lure away instead of freaking them out more than they already were.

 

Weedless Shad or Grass Minnow -The Huddleston weedless baits are perfect at the Perc ponds when the ponds are left in there natural weedy state. The last few years though, they have introduced Signet Select blue toilet dye to kill the natural weeds. ( Don't get me started on how I feel about that stuff.)

Wakebait- Black Dog Baits G2 Shell Cracker Bluegill or Live Target green pumpkinseed wake bait. Either are a great bait to throw at night. Slowly waked along like a struggling Bluegill, along the shoreline or out in deeper water reeled back to the inlet, always seems to get bit.

Original floating Rapala - This was one of the first lures that could actually rival live bait. We would cast out and wait for the rings to dissipate, then "pop the top". We would catch literally hundreds of fish the first day but that would quickly taper off once the fish started to catch on. Information must get passed on inherently because even today this will no not work anymore like it once did.

Huddy 6" or 8" - I'm always amazed at how well these baits will work at perc ponds. The fish will follow the bait all the way until they are forced to decide to strike or let it get away when it runs out of water. I've had fish hit as the bait was coming out of the water. So always anticipate a late hit. I think the 8" size works better than the smaller 6. I guess the greed factor plays into them being unable to resist. Stealth is the key.

Spro BBZ1 6" or 8" floater. Casting parellel to the shore and slowly swimming it past any anomaly that sticks out, providing an ambush point, is the way to fish this lure. It's like the closer you pass the object, the higher the strike percentage. I got hooked on Swimbait's the very first time I tried one, using this method. It resulted in catching the biggest fish in the pond. It's my favorite way to fool a fish into a vicious strike, you can predict. They'll either pounce on it or "power suck" it. I can't see anything ever beating the excitement of this technique. I believe the 8" works better again.

The ponds were so conveniently close, I could pop in anytime I needed a quick fix. Unfortunately the water district drained all 15 or 16 ponds last season. It's going to take a while for them to come back. They might not ever be as good as they once were. Fortunately, they're not the only ones around.

Haunted by waters

"I am haunted by waters"   - Norman Maclean, author of "A river runs through it".

                 Fishing spots are timeless places. Every body of water holds precious memories. Still today, when I'm arriving at favorite local haunts, I can vividly recall the very first time I ever rolled up at each place, as well as the friends whom share those  memories. The excitement, the hope, the adventure, the fun, all come flooding back into my mind upon the headlights telling me I have arrived at each fishing destination. I can almost smell the sweet exhaust of my dads pick-up truck and the comfort I felt when I was with him. He used to jokingly say, "you guys are "F-n" crazy for wanting to be dropped off way out here!" and telling us to be careful and that he'd sound the horn when he came back after sunset. (I was about 13 at the time) 

Some of these reservoirs look to be likely places a stolen car or dead body would be found, as they still do today. Back then, you'd likely see a group of "real" bikers drinking beer out there, but they were always cool and dad felt better about leaving me there when other people were present as opposed to  being alone. I have never been harassed or felt threatened by anyone while fishing. Oddly enough, I've found the only people out there looking to violate somebody are some of the park rangers, law enforcement and sex offenders (Go figure!) 

All body's of water seem to exist in places un-effected by time. The sun goes up and down but time itself has no place there, only the seasons. The rat race of humanity is still furiously spinning all around it like a tornado. ( If you listen carefully you can still hear it) Every visit is a break from that vortex. I have aged but the waters always remain the same as in my memories. 

I am always thinking about, and sometimes talking to, lost loved ones when I'm out there. It's not uncommon for me to catch myself blurting out words of angst or looking to the skies for approval. I'm always thinking to myself, "I hope they got to see that!" after a nice fish is released. 

Sometimes the nights moon can be as bright as day. (only its in black and white) It can be so calm that I'll wonder if perhaps I'm dead and I just don't know it yet, destined to wander the earth until I uncover the truth of this life's existence. 

People whom know me find it hard to understand that I would even enjoy fishing. I've always been an ADHD type personality. Impatient, bored easily, controlling and cannot sit still. Everything they say is required to be a successful fisherman, I am not. But, I am also a Gemini/multitasker type person whom needs to occupy my right brain, to get any depth out of the left. Numbers or pounds have little to do with a "good" day, and there is no such thing as a bad day fishing. Each time I go, I have worked out a little bit more of my own personal "issues", enabling myself to perhaps someday finally grow up. 

Even when faced with bad weather, you still go anyway. You never can tell when a storm will break into an epic day unless you are out there. Either way, a rainy morning spent reading a book, listening to the rain tapping on the roof of the van as I fall asleep, is another "fisherman's" well kept secret. Remember, time has no effect in these places. You can get years back in a short nap.

I trip out when I think about these reservoirs after I die. They will still be here but all the stuff I've done or experienced there will be unknown to the person who "discovers" these places next. They might set their gear on the same rock I set mine or discover there's more going on under the water and feel like it is their discovery. I wish I could pass it all on to the next fisherman who needs the water to fill a void in their life. The names like "big John Cove", "the Bass Hole", "Old Mans", "Lizard Rock", "Shit Rock", "rock slide","the Pump House" they'll get new names for different reasons, never knowing about the people who grew up and even died at these places that were special to us. My friends and I have to carve something in the rocks to leave behind when we're gone.

When I think about the first time I visited each place, it's amazing how they have stayed relatively the same. When I took my first bike ride, on my sisters ten speed, I could hardly reach the pedals. I was in fifth grade with Gallager and Tony Belbenni we rode to Almaden Res. It was like we rode across the entire state to get there. 

Eric Duran showed me how to use a spinner bait at Uvas (there wasn't any cover then too) and the old house at Uvas was still old looking back then. Jumping off Coleman bridge for two summers before they put a stop to it. The rock behind Guad. And the safe we found brand new that's still at the bottom of the res today. Rubba's tree at Calero and we can't forget the brand new handicap bathroom we partied in all those nights. The Bowl, And Echo lake, ah the girls whom I secretly loved that lived in that neighborhood. Swimming with Levon Vanderlie in Uvas after high school. The date where Yvette and Sherri were covered in Guad mud. The Quail Inn at Chesbro. The hamburgers at the Calero Inn, they were the best.

All of these reservoirs are a part of me now. If I became an un-dead zombie, I'm sure I could be found at one of these places, stuck in the mud, not knowing why. 

I live today just for another trip. I still haven't gotten enough of these places.

You can believe that after I'm gone, if possible, I will still be out there. Doing what I do. All of these places are forever etched into my mind. I care immensely about these waters and their natural habitants. They've been my stomping grounds, my sitter, my teacher, comfort, my muse, my therapist, my escape. I have vowed to do what I can to keep these waters like I remember them. 

I cannot fathom the type of person I would be without these waters effect. As a matter of fact, I'm gonna go right now.

S-Waver

             

              I'm so into the River to Sea S-Waver, lately, I barely use anything else. I bring tons of lures with me but I always end up starting and ending with one on the line. Since you can almost steer it on the retrieve, it's fun to use. Well maybe not "steer" but alter the length of the "S" either tight or wide. So when retrieving past an object, you can make it swerve at it, away from it, or just buzz it close by. Once you get the hang of it, you can visualize its movements even when you can't see it. With It's almost suspending, slow sink, action it takes on a life of its own. 

I didn't "get" the lure at first and had zero confidence that a fish would even like the action. I thought it might be another lure that catches fisherman, but not fish. But I would keep hearing about people who love them, so I kept putting time in it. Though I did manage to get a few fish to strike, they would miss it right as it was coming out of the water for the next cast. When I finally checked it out in my pool, I realized I was going a little too fast. Being a hard bait, I assumed it was like a Crankbait and expected a little vibration resistance from the tail. And to achieve that, you're going too fast. But just by memorizing the optimum reel speed you just gotta trust and visualize what it should be doing until you can get a feel for it. Go as slow as possible without losing its slalom. I'll use more stops and pauses in a Swimbait retrieve, as opposed to jerks or twitches, because of the slow and steady nature of a SB. 

I made a custom top hook version where a magnet holds a treble hook on the back of the bait, in the spot where the dorsal fin would protrude. And by doubling some 40 lb. knotted braid, the hook is secured to the front line tie. I use some "Mend it" on the knots to keep everything tight and perfectly aligned. I remove the two bottom trebles but leave the split rings on and add a small piece of lead tape. This keeps it from becoming top heavy and rolling side to side. The hollow plastic, bottom weighted body, keeps it upright on the fall and at rest. With the hook on top, it can now be fished on the bottom, Probing, tailing, pausing. It's got an action all it's own.  I still would like to improve upon the top hook somehow.

I've read that no two S-Wavers swim the same. I'd have to agree. Some just seem to be a little livelier than others. My best swimmer happens to be the bone white model. I think that the more cosmetic components each version requires in its finish,   adds a bit more weight, dulling the action ever so slightly. I could be wrong but in my collection it seems that the bone, Bluegill, rainbow trout, sexy shad, and then abalone, swim in that order. So the less paint that is used the lighter and livelier the action seems to be. I'll know more when I get a new bone one.  Mine's getting well worn and beat up. We'll see if the new one swims the same. Perch is another favorite. The gold seems to work well around here. Perhaps it mimics a Grass Carp.

Giron is a glide bluegill that is proving to be a deadly bait. If retrieved too fast it doesn't swim right and It's hard to keep down in the water column. You just have to go hella slow. Stopping during a retrieve, to let it sink, has been triggering vicious strikes lately. I don't mention this lure too much. It's not very popular and I'd like to keep it that way. Post spawn, I'll likely have this tied on before I go. It's been that deadly.

The new 8" Wavers come out this month! I ordered the perch and the ararari (?) it looks like a carp or koi with that Japanese touch.

Got the new 8" it's not exactly the same. The joint is different. It's big and heavy (3 1/2 oz.) it waves good but the weight keeps it from suspending like the 6. Still a cool bait. More on this after I've got some time into it.

I picked up a Savage Gear glide bait. I don't think its as good as the S Waver. It looks good and has rattles but Fish don't seem to like em. I'd recommend passing on this bait. Stick with the Waver.

I'm starting to like fishing with braid using an s-waver. The floating aspect helps it suspend, which lends itself to super slow retrieves. You can't have your drag set too tight or you'll straiten out hooks. Upgrade the hooks the first chance you get. You won't regret it. Wave on!

Winter Bass Fishing. 02/07/14

                Winter bass fishing can be incredibly frustrating at times, but it can be incredibly rewarding as well. A real fisherman has no choice but to fish regardless of weather. It's a time to gain confidence and lose the B.S.

Wintertime can cause you to rethink every aspect of your fishing. Action can be "few and far between" at best. When weeks go by without getting a single bite, you start to question if you are as good a fisherman as you believe? That's when you really start digging deep into the knowledge you've acquired through time, studying and questioning it. 

All of the sudden you need bass magazine's and youtube to confirm some of your ways of thinking. You ritually dial in your gear, fine tuning it, to be ready at all times. You're out back checking and adjusting your lures' actions and times in the swimming pool. You finally do look back into your journals of the previous years. You find yourself monitoring the weather, wind, and moon phase religiously. You now 'go' at the peak times instead of just reading it after the fact to see how accurate it was. You're more aware of your every movement, minimizing, stalking quietly and blending into the environment. Your senses heighten, looking for the slightest scent, ripple, or shadow that may hint your prey is in the vicinity. You fish hard and long in hopes that It will all come together, the planets align, and the Gods smile down upon thee. 

Then, when you finally do hook into a fish of quality, you respect and admire it more than ever, then slide her back into the water. There's no celebrating, nobody is out there to witness anyway. The knowledge you gained from this experience will carry you through the toughest times on or off the water. 

On your way home, you analyze the key components to your success and think of ways you could have done it better. 

All of the time and effort you spent translates into confidence acquired. You look forward to getting out there again....

That is why you must fish in the wintertime. Even though winter bass fishing can be incredibly frustrating at times.

Outcast