BIRD BRANCHES

by John McKean
former writer for the original Fishing Facts magazine

While anxiously awaiting the migration of BIRDs from manufacturer to our tackle boxes, I thought it would be interesting to share a tale of an "early bird" from the 1950s. My late fishing partner,Earl Cartwright, often told me about amazing exploits of the best bass angler he ever knew, known locally as "Quick Vic". Working the many small lakes around Akron, Ohio it seems Vic was famous for ALWAYS producing limit strings (they kept em all back then!) of 5 to 7 pound bass (huge for the northeast). And he usually was coming back into the dock early in the morning, as others were just starting out.

Quick Vic used only ONE lure. Quite fitting for this blog site, his special bait not only was bird-like in appearance, but fished to act just like our feathery friends! His tackle box looked like an aviary,because it was crammed with every size, color, and style of what eventually became a most popular bait among early bassers. These lures were among the first to feature a colorful rubber skirt (usually rigged backwards for extra fluff & flapping action), had a wide triangular head with a hint of a "beak", huge realistic avian eyes, and a splashy wing-like propeller up front. However,this bird was"on steroids"-constructed like a Mack truck with a massive, thick wire single hook, long, sturdy V wire snag guard, and a massive, flat lead head weighing about an ounce. Still, for such bulk& weight, its unique shape pushed it right to the top of the water column with minimal retrieve speed.

Vic made the most of the unusual planing design . He sought "jungle" areas in each lake worked, making sure they were laden with fallen trees, semi-submerged logs, exposed root systems from felled timber, and other types of hardwood lay-downs. Mr. Quick was diligent to landing every cast over wood or a series of low hanging, in-water branches, then chirping his bird across the surface so it could approach and crawl right over the obstruction. Few others, not that loner Vic saw many, had the nerve or precision, nor those amazingly stiff weed guards to work the dense tree limbs that he focused on exclusively. Having seen the lure, though, danged if I can figure how he HOOKED anything! (but I did see the eye popping old photos, and Earl saw the stringers-and tackle box-firsthand!).

Ole Vic woulda been even quicker in heading back to the dock each day if he'd possessed a 2011 BIRD ! Considering his old time cumbersome lure, super stiff weedguards, and huge "shark hook", he musta lost 3 bass for every one stung; while a BIRD's carefully angled, extra sharp double hooking could have yielded perhaps FIVE times the fish ! (talk about a legend maker!) Not to mention a soft, more natural BIRD "splat" on touchdown, and the delicate flutter across water or while dropping off sticks and branches. Then, too, the BIRD can literally "fall off a log" and, while floating, made to kick up an injured appearing fuss in that one ULTIMATE strike zone!

As the post winter poem goes:
"Spring is sprung,
the lake's unfriz,
I wonder where the BIRDies iz?!"
Well, Sam Kennedy promises his very finely tuned BIRD will hatch very shortly! Then it'll be up to us fishermen to put em in the branches!