LOCD

Do you get easily distracted by shiny objects? When at a 4 star restaurant, does the resplendency of the metallic plated utensil that we so simply call a spoon remind you of a spinner bait? Do your girlfriend’s dangly earrings send you into a frenzy of tying nostalgia as you envy her ability to adorn hooks all day long and secretly loath her in jealousy because she can use a hook in more ways than you can? Does your boyfriend’s ability to cast farther than you backhanded make you want to push him off the boat?

Great, then it’s not just us. 

Ok, so that last one doesn’t really have anything to do with our theme this week, it’s just a thought that has crossed every female angler time and again. But, if shiny objects do interest you then you have LOCD. Lure Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. And no, it’s not curable. That will be 5 cents. Ah, shiny nickels. How we love the sight of shiny nickels. Oh that sight, that wonderful sight. 

Sure, you can lessen the side effects. All you have to do is avoid every Cabelas, Erehwon, Uncle Dans, Gander Mtn,  Outdoor world, Bass Pro, Orvis fly shop, Gas station near body of water, junk mail fishing catalogs, and fallen fur (for those avid fly tiers). You can even focus your attention on something else. Like trying to crochet or yoga. :)

But, eventually, you will start to get the itch, feel the force of a nearby fishing shop, and stop where you are. Then, you will enter that fishing shop with a pedigree of previously subdued fervor that is now raging as thoughts of lures begin to cloud your mind. You walk up to the desk in a panic sweat as you try to find your voice in front of the shop owner who has seen this rebound more times than he would like to count. And you look right into the shop owner, right into his eyes. And you know, the thing about a starved lure fisherman...he's got lifeless eyes. Black eyes. Like a doll's eyes. Until he spots the lures, and those eyes roll over white as his cart fills to the top and beyond with lures and most of them just for the sake of it. That's right, we just quoted Jaws, your welcome...

There's just no getting over it. Those that can't get out to fish, buy lures. Women have their shoes, teenagers have their phones, and anglers have their lures. So, this weekend we dabbled in just about everything. From using our spinning rods with interchangeable black, gold, yellow, and orange spinner baits to our casting rod with softbellies and jigs to swim baits. We were sure to put our LOCD purchases to good use as we visited the North Branch River for the 3rd time...

Smallie on the North Branch River
(Dedicated to my super girl in MN! From the Queen of the smallies to the Queen of the sunnies)

Dad on our fav river...

AC fishing below the Dam on the Manitowoc in Wis.

It's a bit flooded...

Old Army Ambulance

It's a long way down to the river...

Spawning Bed

The North Branch River

boulder casting...

International Treasure! 

Just off the beds...

Ultimate spawning, scattered thunderstorms, and still very flooded waters only produced us about 10 smalls. But, it was still fun to get out there and indulge our LOCD by testing out different lures and different spots. Like we said, there is no cure for what we have. So, we're just going to enable it till we're broke and living in our canoe...

Cast Away,

AC