No, I didn’t walk through a field of poison ivy—well, not yet, anyway.
I was recently down in Tennessee for the Bassmaster Classic, and while the weather wasn’t much different than back home in New England, something about being on the floor of the Classic Expo—surrounded by thousands of fishing fanatics—made the urge to fish almost overwhelming.
In recent years, I’ve gotten pretty good at not getting too far ahead of myself in late winter, keeping the shack nasties at bay with a mix of spring prep and busy work. There was a time when I couldn’t wait to make my first striped bass casts of the season, often heading out well before my spots held any real potential for success. Lately, though, I’ve been more patient, and my first outings have come later as a result.
This year feels different. Not because I think the season will be early or late, but because I’ve put a lot of time into preparing and researching a handful of things I want to test. The anticipation of seeing whether they succeed or fail is hard to ignore. I’ve been tying flies, rigging soft plastics, and reevaluating how and when I fish the spots in my regular rotation.
I also dug out some eel bobs I made years ago after recording an episode with Steve McKenna (you can see a photo of them, along with an eel de-boner, at the top of this page). Truth be told, I never really gave those early versions a fair shot. But between that conversation with Steve and the article he wrote for Surfcasters Journal, I’m starting to think 2026 might just be the year of the eel bob.
So, will you be rigging up some eel bobs, do you already fish them, or will you be on the sidelines for the Great Bob Blitz of ’26?
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Not sure I will be trying the eel bob but I will be making a point to try more soft plastics and eel style lures for sure. Listening to the pod made me realize what I could be missing. Dare I say, I almost want to give “active chunking” a try…
My buddy lives in Tennessee and he gets some fat stripers…
Ohh I got the itch and want to Bob in 26 also
Can’t wait to start this year. Passing on the eel bob not because I doubt it’s effectiveness, but my hit and run fishing style often leaves my gear hidden in my car while I’m at work.
Pretty much same here on the eel bob , I rig eels fish them live also I find a sluggo or a GT eel has same or sometimes better effects, easy to carry also ! I will give the eel bob a try but if it were that affective I would think everyone would be fishing them! In the time they came along there were not many soft plastics like we have today .