What a swell day for January....

So I've been down with the awful bug that has been going around for seemingly all of January. Finally starting to feel myself again and even went fishing twice. Once Friday which produced zip. Which was to be expected since it was the first day it didn't feel like the north pole outside. Today was much nicer though spitting a little rain every now and then. Trying out two new bits of gear. Both passed the test with flying colors. One was a custom rod by rodbuilder Jeff Byrd. He calls his rods Little Miami Rods, if you want a top quality rod put together just the way you want it Jeff is the man. Plus I love the idea of supporting the idea of a local guy building something one at a time that is top quality. Bravo Jeff. The other is a new little bait by Vic. It looks just like his curly swim with the mylar tubing and realistic eyes. Except it has a little split tail for a more subtle action. This thing is the most lifelike thing I've ever seen. I'll have to post some pictures of both sometime soon. Anyways back to the fishing. Today was starting to feel like a repeat of Friday. I'd fished a pretty good while with nothing going on. Well not really, it was warm, ducks were flying overhead, I'd jumped a doe on the way in. It was just good to be out of the house. Then bump and I set the hook. The rod bent double and the drag sang a bit. Something that doesn't normally happen with bass in 35 degree water so I figured it was a carp. After fighting the thing for a bit it rolled on the surface. That is no carp! A few moments more and I had a firm grip on the jaw of an absolutely swell smallmouth bass. A couple of quick pics and back she went. Hopefully no one saw this goofy old man doing a fist pump all by himself back in the bushes