Our 65th Happy Birthday Afternoon on the Water

Happy Birthday Lunker ! 23 inches

Rainbow too !

This clearly outfished

 everything today and I think it was because the red feathers

He could do it for Living !

Gary Yamato Black Ika worked also today on post spawn bass in 9 feet of stained water

Posted by Wayne G. Barber

 For 49 years I have been buying my fishing license in Rhode Island and was deflated a few years ago when at 62 years of age the State raised the age for senior resident to 65. Well today I can proudly say I outlived their odds and received a FREE combination license. I had lost my hunters safety course card from 1967 years before computers and decided to take a refresher hunters safety course this April at the Smithfield Rod and Gun. This was a two day course on April 20th 3 hours and 9 more hours on April 23rd and I got a 99 out of 100 final test. I am truly glad that I took the new style course and now I can relate to anyone just what it curtails and to take away any intimidation on taking the hunter safety course.
 When I arrived back home my wife Susan of 48 (Wonderful Years) looked at me with the dreaded look that only we are allowed to give each other and said , spill the beans, what did You just do ? Hit the lottery without telling me ? Are you planning on a new purchase or did you just sign your name to something with payment ? I replied with that devilish look, Nope, just got my FREE Combination License.

I own almost every

size and color

  Well my slogan in life is have the Best Day of your Life, and then the phone rang and I received a offer to go back on the Bass Tour and I accepted even with the chance of rain. I retrieved my tournament gear and rain suit and my Canon Rebel Camera to get some OUTDOOR SCENE shots and delivered on that part of the trip also.
  The G-3 bass boat is now 13 years old and has won a whole lot of tournaments and if the vessel could talk ? Let's not go there in a PG rated story. Cold front was already here and the wind kept changing directions and the first thing I did was get a water temp in this boat ramp cove. 61 degrees so we could find the last of pre-spawn, staged or post-spawn largemouth bass on this earthern man-made dam lake. In middle May I am old-school and made my pre-fishing plan to go with Rebels to locate our target. Remember two fishers on the boat should be using totally different artificial baits to find the correct pattern in the 4 hour tournament or go home shaking your head and no live bait allowed. I dusted off my Shakespeare Ulgy Stick and Shamano 4000 Sedona reel with 8 lb test monofilament line and my partner had six different rods set up with spinner baits, grubs, senkos, powerbait worms and three different tungsten jigs with trailers.
 In this lake we had the advantage of years of fishing it but every trip changes with the weather, tournament pressure, ice or open water and depth of the water being controlled by a dam.
  Well the first great moment came when we snuck up to a green heron posing for a selfie and then we noticed a bouy marker  that was missing on one of our favorite rock piles and we both said that must be a message from the fishing gods from the cable show Vikings.

We shot across the inlet bay to where we thought the rocks were and drifted silently until I sad, You Better Get the Net for this One ! Would my knots hold ? Did he just brush a rock to fray the Line? Will my partner deliver with the Net ?
 With the biggest proud grin I ever saw on my fishing partners face, my oldest son Wayne Kieth Barber my partner said, Happy Birthday Dad, how did that Feel ?  I got Lunker of the Day and caught 5 different species of fresh water fish to validate the overall health of the body of water and then I turned to my Son and said, it's okay for putting me right on them, now why don't you start using a Rebel !  My grandson Mason also loves fishing with the Rebel with just a little twitching you can too !