Fishing with World Series winning Phillies
Shortstop Eric Bruntlett (continued)
As
the rest of the crew fished jerkbaits Cal continued to toss swimbaits of
different types. As usual Cal didn’t want to mess with small fish and used
swimbaits as his natural culling tool, deciding he would rather go big than try
and catch small fish. Eric landed his forth fish before any of us had any luck,
and he did with a Lucky Craft Staysee. The fish barely got any of the bait and
was actually hooked on the outside of his left cheek.
JIP doesn't give the second fish a
chance to get away
JIP finally broke the TT
bad streak when he landed a fish with a Jackall squad minnow, it was nothing
like the fish he had lost in the morning but we weren’t in any position to be
picky. Leo decided it was time to get back to the basics and tied a drop shot
rig, there was no way he was going to go home with another skunk on the record!
Zander and Eric work a bank with
ripbaits
With the slow fishing
Zander had plenty of time to talk to Eric. “I guess it goes without saying the
World Series was pretty amazing huh?” Zander asked. “It was incredible, one of
those once in a lifetime moments,” Eric replied. “When I’m not playing baseball
fishing really is one of my favorite things to do. I try and get out as much as
I can, and when I do Clear Lake is my first choice.” The more Zander talked
about baseball the more Eric talked about tackle and fishing. It was clear that
while Eric loved playing baseball he also loved fishing, and could spout all his
favorite tackle brands and techniques without even pausing.
Looking for an underwater edge
Eric prepares to drop a buoy marker
His favorite rod was the
original Kistler Helium series, and he really likes the light weight and
sensitive blanks on those rods. He fishes a complete range of reels but when
asked what his favorite was he narrowed it down to Daiwa, “they just feel really
smooth and refined,” he said. Then when asked what his favorite technique was he
had to stop and think. “The way we are fishing with plastics right now isn’t my
favorite way to get them, given the choice I would prefer to use hardbaits like
ripbaits and cranks, but in the winter you do whatever gets the fish,” Eric
responded.
Eric's favorite rod a classic
Kistler Helium LTA
The fishing continued to
be tough through the next hour and with nobody pulling another fish we decided
to break for lunch. With boats side by side Cal reached into his bag and pulled
out a number of new lures including a yet to be released Mattlures Bass
swimbait.
Eric points to one of his favorite
submerged humps
While Eric liked the baits
he was more interested in Cal’s enthusiast rod and reel rigs and proceeded to
try casting them one by one. When told the prices of some of the rigs he put
down the outfit gently turned to Cal and joked “you know you have a problem
right?” Cal responded “they don’t call me the dark lord of tackle for nothing.”
