Fishing
a Grand Slam
with G.Loomis E6X Rods
at La Perla Ranch (continued)

We started fishing Lake La Perla, the largest lake on the property, and it
didn’t take more than another 20 minutes for us to start getting into some nice
fish in the 3lb. class. The water at La Perla was stained in color and
visibility was right around two feet in most areas. The lakes are relatively
shallow in depth but the cover is very diverse, making for an ideal testing
ground to experience firsthand how the new G.Loomis E6X rods felt.

Chris fishes with the new E6X rods
Chris and I proceeded to fish an area of the lake where there was a lot of soft
cover so I changed out my crankbaits for plastics and a bladed jig. The bladed
jig was the ticket and I started boating a lot of fish up to four pounds. Chris
was also catching fish but the bladed jig that I was fishing was definitely the
hot bait. I asked if Chris wanted to give the bait a shot as I had brought one
more of these lures with me. He tied one on and we talked about the new rods as
we continued to fish down the bank.

La Perla offers plenty of
different types of structure
We talked about how the new G.Loomis rods felt different when it came to their
tapers and one of the biggest things I was noticing immediately was just how
much more sensitive and responsive they felt versus the current GL2 Series. A
lot of this has to do with how much lighter the new rods are, they just handle
better. Just as we were talking about how powerful the rods are Chris set into
what he immediately knew was a bigger fish. The rod bent beautifully as he
played the fish back to the boat and we landed a largemouth that weighed in
between 6 and 7 pounds. Not a bad way to start out the trip!

Chris kicks things off nicely at
La Perla with a quality fish
That evening I got to sit down with the team at Shimano and G.Loomis as well as
some great writers that were also here for the event which included Ken Duke
(Managing Editor at Fishing Tackle Retailer), Jay Kumar (Bassblaster), Jody
White (FLW), and Brad Wiegmann (Outdoor Writer and Professional Photographer).
We were also joined by two B.A.S.S. Pros and Shimano Prostaffers, Jonathan Van
Dam and Jared Lintner, who like us were getting their first hands on look at the
new E6X rod series.

Bruce Holt (PR and Communications
G.Loomis) and Pro Anglers Jared Lintner and Jonathan Van Dam kick back at the
lodge
It was at this time that I learned that Shimano was also preparing to unveil a
number of other new products at the upcoming Classic, including a slick new
bluegill imitator swimbait from Jackall called the Gantarel, as well as making
the Zodias rod and Aldebaran reel available to U.S. anglers. Even better, they
had a few samples for us to check out at the event. Suffice to say I didn’t
hesitate to rig the Zodias and Aldebaran for the next day.

Bruce pulls a fish away from
submerged structure
After a Texas sized dinner (Bruce from G.Loomis always likes to give me a hard
time about how much I eat, though it is warranted), we geared up for the next
day. The forecast was for some nasty weather, but as you might expect with the
group that we had here in attendance there wasn’t anything that was going to
stop us from going fishing.

The fish here are extremely clean
The next day I fished with Bruce Holt and Scott Kinney from Loomis in the rain
and we put the E6X to the paces against both largemouth bass and Wipers, a
hybrid of striped bass and white bass, and are known for their aggressive
strikes on reaction baits. It was during this time that I heard that on “Waterworld,”
the smaller of the two main lakes there was yet another species here at the
Ranch… freshwater Redfish.

The Jackall Gantarel swimbait
proved to be a quite a hot bait at La Perla
The chances of catching one of these elusive redfish was low but they are there.
At La Perla a grand slam is catching all four prized species, a trophy
largemouth, a giant bluegill, a big Wiper, and a Redfish, all within a 24 hour
period.

Writers Jay Kumar and Jody White
fish with Jared Lintner
Next Section: A 30lb. Redfish? 