To coincide with today being Opening Day for the 2018 Major League Baseball season I’m going with a “called shot.” Not quite as epic as the legendary Babe Ruth prediction from the 1932 World Series but a called shot nonetheless.

And with one big difference.

There’s no dispute on my called shot as it’s all right here on video and audio. Of course, you can do some pretty creative stuff with software these days but those techniques are still above my editing level. Maybe someday, though.

In contrast, there remains some debate on The Babe’s feat. While video of the at bat indeed shows some sort of gesture it just depends on whose version of the story you buy as to whether it was truly Ruth pointing to where he would then hit a mammoth home run. Makes for one heck of a story and I’m all about those so I’ll buy it hook, line and sinker.

My called shot took place on a remote Knox County, IL strip mine with the bass falling to a Strike King KVD 2.5 Rattling Squarebill crankbait. I wound up with four bass on this lure and it was fun to have this one on video as it decided to strike right as I was describing where the bite should occur.

 

If you’ve fished long enough it is likely that you can relate to such predictions coming through in a fishy looking spot. You know, one of those can’t miss spots that experience and instinct prompt you to say, “There should be one here.” A well placed cast, a couple turns of the reel and bang, right on cue, you’ve got your bite. Happens plenty of times and those seem to be the ones that you remember. But, of course, whether human nature or just the nature of those who fish, we lose count of all of these sorts of called shots that just don’t materialize.

There’s no story on those failed predictions that are simply cast, reel in and cast again so not surprisingly they all fall by the wayside. Kind of edited out of the memory just as I edit out all of the uneventful footage from the GoPro sessions. For instance, a few of the clips in this Top 10 project are a part of six or eight minutes worth of footage that get whittled down to the 30 seconds or so where something actually happens.

But every once in a while you get some feedback right of the bat which I guess could also qualify as a sort of called shot. After all, why bother turning on the camera if you aren’t expecting to catch something. Below is a bonus “called shot” clip from earlier the same day that features a changeup in presentation from a Senko wacky rig to a crankbait that was met with some immediate results.

 

Always fun on the water and cool to have some video these days as a reminder that every once in a while you get it dialed in and make it work just like it does on television. Talk to you later. Troy