Some may wonder how I came up with the handle Jake St. John that I use. I think this story will show why I use it. --- Have a nephew's wedding this weekend, so posting it before I leave. I wrote this story 8 or 10 years ago.
“Coming Twenty One” was a great duck hunting story Nash Buckingham wrote about when he turned twenty one. Nash was truly a great wing shot as demonstrated by that particular story.
My dad was a great bass fisherman. He could find the pattern they were hitting on, under any condition, at any time of the year. He taught me where they were lying or what kind of retrieve they wanted only after he had put 6 or 8 on Jake’s stringer. He would sit in the middle of the 14' Alumacraft with Jake in the rear double sculling slowly thought the moss draped cypress of Lake St. John in La. I have never seen anyone but Jake do double sculling. With a 5 ft. Beaver brand paddle curled around each long arm, he could move the Alumacraft right, left, forward or back her up. I would sit in the front small seat with a seat in between my dad and I. This way I had first shot at the bass. I will never forget my dad saying to me, after he had discovered their pattern for the day, “Come on John, help me out now.” Jake would be stringing my dad’s 5th or 6th fish. I would be getting more and more frustrated with each fish that he caught. Then - he would relay to me that they wanted it with a stop and go retrieve, or raise your rod tip as soon as it hits the water, and reel fast so it imparts a wake coming by the cypress tree. I would impart the knowledge learned and start catching as many as he was. By the time he had his limit of 15, I would be on #5 or #6 and often he would help me out until we had the limit.
It was a crisp fall morning Nov. 15, 1964. Dad, Jake, and I motored out the chute at the north end of Lake St. John from Harmon’s fishing camp. We angled at a 45 degree angle to the east side of the lake. As it turned light behind the trees dad put an Uncle Josh fly strip on each hook of the H & H spinner bait. All set I began placing the yellow and black spinner about 5 or 6 feet past the cypress and retrieving it past the potential strike tree. After an hour, I had tried every retrieve my dad had taught me and nothing. It seemed like it was going to be a slow day. To top that off, dad only had one fish and I could tell he was trying to put the usual 5 or 6 on the stringer first. Dad and I always had a fishing bet every trip out. 39 cents for the first, 39 cents for the biggest, and 39 cents for the most. He was already 39 cents up on me.
As we eased south, the usual shallow bank and trees next to the bank changes. A tree line forms and the tree line gets farther and farther from the bank, until it is a good 100 yards from the bank down by Mr. Godbolls pier. As the tree line starts to form away from the bank, there are groups of three, four, or five trees forming a small group. There will be a break and then another group. At the first group of trees that we came to, I made a long low cast with the H&H going thought the trees and landing on the far side. Using a medium retrieve, when the lure was about in the middle of the trees, I had a jolting strike. Jake put the net under the 3 lb. bass, and I was excited. I straighten the fly strips and got ready for the next group of trees. Jake ease the boat forward and I again repeated the process, yielding an identical 3 lb. bass.
After 5 groups of trees, I had 5 nice bass. Dad and Jake had been taking all this in and Dad said, “Well John, I believe you have discovered their pattern.” After 2 more groups of trees, I was leaning over the pointed front of the Alumacraft and making an even longer cast to yield two more fish. I was feeling proud of myself at that point, and I turned to my dad and said, “Come on Dad, help me out now.” With that said, Dad told Jake to swing the boat around and ease him up to the next group of trees. To my protest, Dad made a simple cast to him through the group of trees and proceeded to pull a nice 3 lb. Fish to Jake’s waiting net.
After that we took turns and groups of trees in a cluster and finished out a 30 fish limit of St. John bass. On the way in, where Jake idled the motor down and we eased through the chute to the “Little Lake” and Harmon’s Camp, Dad said to me “That was a great 15th birthday present wasn’t it John? Yup, 15 bass on your 15th birthday!”
I think back on that trip every year around my birthday. I used to think that it was the first time I got to 15 before he did. As time past, and I grew older, my wish changed. Now around the middle of November, I just wish that I could thank him for imparting his knowledge and love of the sport to me. I also wish we could again take turns on one more group of cypress trees on the east bank of Lake St. John.
