Two female anglers with a Lake El Salto double on swimbaits and swim jigs

On her fourth trip to Anglers Inn, Kristine Rygas and I finally got the chance to catch up on some tea and fish together. I won't bore you with our girly talk, although you might find it tantalizing, but I will share the details of our amazing morning on the water.

Up until our day together, she’d only fished with her husband Aaron. As we drove up to our first spot and the guide turned off the motor, I saw Kristine pick up her rod rigged with a Senko and head for the seat on the back deck. I encouraged her to fish up front with me and to pick a side. She assured me that the back deck was where she was comfortable.

“Let's get you out of your comfort zone,” I replied.

Our guide didn’t want her to fish a Senko, so he cut it off and tied on a jerkbait. Kristine's eyes got big. She said she had no idea how to use this lure. Instead of being discouraged, our guide saw that a challenge. He was determined to make Kristine use the jerkbait until she caught a few fish on it and gained some confidence.. He came to the front deck, showed her how to work it properly and handed her back the rod.

She still looked unsure, but she did what she was told. After two jerks, and then another two, her line went taut and she quickly landed her first jerkbait fish. That's right -- on her first cast. Not everyone is that fortunate, of course. The fish wasn't big but it didn't matter. Kristine was on the front deck, trying something out of her comfort zone and quickly our girly talk became hardcore fish talk.

Suspending jerkbait for big Mexican bass at Lake El Salto and Lake Picachos

Throughout the morning we threw jerkbaits and Rat-L-Traps. Kristine was having a blast, and I was thrilled to see her broadening her range. I think she was surprised at how many more fish she caught using a moving bait rather than a Senko, her usual lure of choice. She realized that if she had been throwing a Senko we might not have been able to fish in the areas that held more fish because of what she thought was her handicap.

We moved from spot to spot, starting shallow and moving deep. Now I gave her a chance to dredge the bottom with an oversized swim jig tipped with a swimbait. Once again she was hesitant. She feared that as she learned she’d be taking away from my fishing session. I made it abundantly clear that I loved seeing her try new techniques. Sometimes you have to be willing to fail in order to succeed….and succeed she did.

As the wind picked up, as it does down there every day around 10:00 am, we moved to a deep spot where I knew that cranking and the heavy swim jig would be our best bets. Two challenges for Kristine were going to be cranking with her spinning reel and controlling her line when letting the swim jig fall to the bottom.

Cranking is hard work. Cranking with a spinning reel is even harder work. When it’s blazing hot outside it’s even that much more tiring. At that point I got the sense that she might want to retreat to the back deck with her Senko to soak up some sun and lay low. I wouldn’t let her. Our guide wouldn’t let her. This was her time to shine and to grow.

Sure, our lines crossed several times. We switched sides but still encountered the same issue -- the bait went right when she wanted it to go left. I cast out and thought about it and realized how and why my line stayed down and straight out in front of me. In order to teach her, I had to teach myself first. I told her, “On the next cast, do this - point the rod tip where you want the bait to land and when the lure hits the water immediately put the rod tip down and close the bail. That will keep the line from blowing in the wind.” It made total sense to both of us and immediately she was back in the game. If she needed more line in order for the swim jig to get to the bottom all she had to do was undo the bail and let out more line.

What I thought might be an issue cranking with spinning tackle was no problem at all. Fast reel and pull, fast reel and pull. We told her the proper cadence and she did it. A few casts later a healthy El Salto bass grabbed her Strike King 6XD, she set the hook and reeled in a fish. Then another. And another. Every teacher would love a student like Kristine.

A Strike King Rage Swimmer4.75 in KVD Magic fooled this Lake El Salto largemouth bass

Did she want to know why and how this bait worked? I’m still not sure it mattered to her, but I don't know but I don't like just “doing things.” I like to know how, what, when, and why. I explained to her when the crankbait hits the water it floats. To get it under the water you need to reel fast to get it down and then pull to get it to come grind into the bottom, with pauses to let it float back up. The big lip on the bait does the hard work. If you feel it hit the rocks on the bottom that's great. Pause, because the fish should be holding on those rocks, and when it backs up in their face you may trigger a reaction, THE reaction, their lips on your bait.

The morning session came to an end. We caught a lot of fish, we talked a lot of girly talk and between our patient and determined guide and myself I believe Kristine has broadened her fishing knowledge, techniques and love of the sport. ALL FROM THE FRONT DECK.

I know that Kristine likes fishing, I mean, who doesn't? But I could also sense that she liked being on the front of the boat with me. She doesn’t always have that same comfort level on the front deck with Aaron because he has one heck of a hook set.

In the afternoon session that same day, we fished from separate boats, but from afar I could still see her on the front of the boat standing next to her husband. This made me so proud. It made me feel like I took everything I learned and was able to pass it along. I just hope her husband doesn't want to ring my neck. I also hope that he doesn’t her into the drink with one of those crazy hook sets. It was worth it to see how much better and how much more confident she got.

At dinner that night, we were all talking about the very windy weather, and Kristine chimed in, to get my attention, and said she used what I taught her to keep the line down and her husband let her stay on the front deck of the boat.

Remember the proverb: “If you give a man a fish, you feed him for a day. If you teach a man to fish, you feed him for a lifetime.”

Here’s my update: If you teach a woman to fish, she may have you fish off the back deck!

Can’t wait to fish with you again Kristine Rygas. You are one of my favorite fishing partners.