Fishing
a Grand Slam
with G.Loomis E6X Rods
at La Perla Ranch (continued)
It was during lunch that we realized that one of the writers, Jody White, had
the chance to achieve this very feat. He had landed a big bucketmouth, a Wiper
and managed to catch a 30lb Redfish out of Waterworld! The hard part was already
done and the only fish that he still hadn’t caught was a big bluegill. With a
light action G.Loomis spinning rod in hand he went back out like a man on a
mission.
Jody lands a 30lb Redfish!
Fishing underneath one of the feeders Jody got it done. Landing a healthy
bluegill. That night he was rewarded with a ceremony that included shots of a
new drink consisting of TX Whisky and fresh Bass eggs! In fairness Jody wouldn’t
have to do it alone and all of us joined him in a round of shots. A shot this
epic needed to have a name and the ever inventive Ken Duke dubbed it “Whisky
Lobina.” It had a nice ring to it so it stuck.
Dr. Gary Schwartz congratulates
Jody for catching all four species
That next morning I’d be lying if I didn’t say I was still shaking off some of
the effects of the Whisky Lobina. I’m not sure what was tougher on my stomach,
the Whisky or the Lobina, but I’m guessing it was the latter. Nonetheless I
still had five more hours before needing to head to the airport and I was here
to fish.
Post "Whisky Lobina" Jody is all
smiles as he hold up a shirt from the ranch that means "Don't Back Out"
I hit La Perla Lake one last time, this time with Bob Mahoney, North American
marketing Manager at Shimano, as my partner. Bob fishes hard and clearly the
Whisky Lobina was no match for him as he slung the Jackall Gantarel cast after
cast all morning long with the new E6X 7’4” swimbait rod. This heavy powered rod is
rated up to 2oz. but I felt like it could handle baits all the way up to 3oz. pretty easily.
Bob Mahoney fishes the Jackall
Gantarel swimbait alongside the vegetation
It features a Mod-Fast action which makes casting big baits very easy. While I
landed a few fish on swim jigs Bob hammered both largemouth and Wipers on the
Gantarel. With all the bluegill and shad in the lake it is no surprise that they
were eager to chomp on this seductive 3 piece swimbait.
A closer look at the Gantarel
bluegill pattern. Notice the dual line tie. The lower eye allows anglers to add
weight
The fish at La Perla are not all that line shy, in fact most of our fishing was
done with Power Pro braided line. To help minimize pressure on the lake La Perla
limits the number of people on the lake to six at any one time in a maximum of
two boats on each lake.
Bob lands a Wiper on the Gantarel
They also limit the number of total fishing days
(including the owner and family) to eight per month, which gives the fish over
20 days, on average to not get harassed by an angler or their lures.
Bob shows us what La Perla is all
about
Just how far does the team take management of their lakes? To reduce the
possibility of their lakes being contaminated by any bad algae no outside boats
are ever allowed, instead a selection of Tracker, Ranger or Twin-Troller two
person electric boats are provided.
We go on a tour of the ranch and
get a preview of the new lake the team at La Perla are building
This will be the forth lake on the
property and is still being constructed before it is filled. The fish have
already been growing in an adjacent pond
Pylons line a point that will soon
be submerged
As good as the fishing was at La Perla the team is far from done. They are
already hard at work developing a forth lake. We took a behind the scenes look
at the new yet to be named lake that was being carved out of the landscape and
it was very exciting to see the lake from the ground up, literally!
La Perla Ranch is a bassing dream
come true and proved to be a great venue to experience the new Shimano and
G.Loomis offerings firsthand
The entire experience at La Perla Ranch was a great one. The Texas hospitality,
good food, and comfortable accommodations were all excellent, but let’s face it,
what makes this place so magical is the incredible fishing. You get the feeling
that with each and every cast you have the opportunity to catch a trophy fish.
Heck maybe even a trophy Redfish! I finished the trip with over 50 fish over two
days and the biggest right at the double digit mark. We really couldn’t have
asked for a better location to put the new G.Loomis E6X rods, Shimano Zodias
rods, and Jackall Gantarel swimbaits through the paces.
Stay tuned for more information about the Shimano Zodias Rods.
For more information about fishing packages at the ranch visit La Perla Resort’s
Website.