Ansin/Garcia Reservoir

Picking your days is nowhere near as important as picking your baits. This holds true in almost any freshwater environment, and Ansin Garcia is no exception. For those of you unfamiliar with Ansin Garcia it's a small body of water adjacent to Stick/Farm 13, just outside of Vero Beach, Florida.

Like stick Marsh, Garcia is also managed by the St. Johns Water Management District. Navigation on this lake can be a little tricky, especially during low water conditions, so common sense and safety are essential. However, just because you're unfamiliar with the territory doesn't mean you can't find the fish. Even with the countless hours I've spent on this lake, I still have great deal of success catching quality bass in the main ditches that surround the "blocks" that most people migrate to once they familiarize themselves with the layout of the lake.

With the spawn coming to a close, many of the brood stock are seeking refuge in the deeper cuts where they can recover from the rigors of spawning. Not to say fish can't be caught in the shallows this time of year, but in my experience, the trophies we're all looking for are abundant in these deep ditches that typically receive a great deal less pressure from anglers that frequent Lake Garcia.

Last week I received a care package from Secret Weapon Lures, a new sponsor of mine, and I couldn't wait to put these new goodies to the test. After launching my Triton I proceeded North along CR 512 on one the main canals or ditches surrounding the impoundment. As I idled away from the ramp, an unusual amount of activity appeared on my Lowrance sonar unit and I felt compelled to investigate. Within 200 yards of the ramp I started cranking a 7A Bomber that produced several short strikes. At that point in time I switched to a Secret Weapon 5/16 oz. Quickstrike Spinnerbait that immediately produced a big female in the 7 pound range. From that point on for the next 2 hours, I continued North along the CR 512 canal where my partner and I landed 27 more fish, all of which averaged 3 to 4 pounds. Slow rolling the tandem willow Quickstrike Spinnerbait was the key to our success. With all the color patterns available to me in Secret Weapons arsenal, I was most impressed by the "Green Sunfish" and "Baby Bass" patterns. Although both of these colors appeal greatly to the Largemouth's carnivorous instincts, they were far more productive than the common white spinnerbaits frequently used by recreational anglers.

At the end of the canal, the ditch makes a hard left (West) away from CR 512 and with our current success with deep water finds, I wasn't about to change up our strategy We then continued west in along the levee trying different color combinations, blades, and retrieval techniques. The most impressive feature of the SWL Quickstrike Spinnerbait is the ability to change blade combinations at the drop of a hat utilizing Secret Weapons innovative quick change system. If you haven't tried one of these baits yet, put it on your list. Or better yet, visit their website at www.secretweaponlures.com.  And though it may sound like a shameless sponsorship plug, I can assure you that once you've tried a SWL Spinnerbait, you'll forever more keep one tied on to your Spinnerbait stick. Before reaching the end of that canal, we boated over 20 more nice bass with the largest one just over six pounds.

Having observed the physical condition of these larger females, it was obvious they were in recovery mode from the spawn and were simply waiting for a big, slow snack to "roll" by. Therefore, at that time I recommended to my partner that we switch to a bigger bait with larger blades to create a larger bait profile, which often tempts big females after the spawn, being that bass always weigh the value of their food source. Simply put, a bass almost considers the size of it's meal compared to the energy it will exerted to catch and digest that meal. In a nutshell, if the big post spawn females were ordering take out at the McDonald's drive thru, they would "Super Size" it almost every time. With that said, the next time you're looking for one of those post spawn pigs, try a 9/16 oz. SWL with the two biggest willows in the box and see if that doesn't improve the quality of you catch. It did for us. In fact, the next two fish we landed were 8 and 10.5 pounds respectively. A very impressive test run for the Quickstrike. At that point in time, we were so pleased with the results of our trip that we decided to call it quits after only 5 1/2 hours of fishing. And though these are not typical results for us on Garcia, we definitely had our mojo working that day. So the next time you're out on the water, resist the urge to follow the crowd onto the shallow spawning flats and try slow rolling a SWL Quickstrike in the deeper water. You'll be glad you did. Everyone please take care have continued success on the water and in life.

Christopher Hill
Professional Bass Angler
Secret Weapon Lures ProStaff
(772) 473-8766
proangleredge@aol.com