Jake Ormond: Making more, better fishermen

ULM coach Terry Bowden and Sterlington pro fishermen Jake Ormond

There are a lot of differences between us old timer fishermen and the new breed of anglers. None is greater than this: With old timers, you have to administer Chinese water torture to even get them to tell you what lake they are fishing on.

Today’s younger anglers not only tell you where and how to catch fish, a lot of them even guide people on trips and put on special instructional sessions. One of those is Jake Ormond, a pro fisherman on the Major League Fishing Toyota Series, who lives in Sterlington. Making more, better fishermen for the future.

“Teaching others how to catch fish is what will keep new generations of fishermen coming and it’s also a lot of fun,” he said.

I was fortunate enough to spend some time in the boat recently with Jake fishing in his back yard on Bartholomew Lake, also affectionately known as the Cutoff. The bass were biting and it was a fun trip. He had also just finished up a couple of days fishing with ULM head football coach Terry Bowden.

“Coach Bowden is primarily a fly fisherman, but he wanted to learn more about bass baits and casting for bass,” Jake said. Jake must have been a good teacher. Coach Bowden caught the biggest fish of the day on his first day.

Ormond offers a full array of fishing services, from regular guiding trips for bass, crappie and even bream this time of the year to instructional trips showing how to use everything on the boat from the trolling motor to electronics and all sorts of fishing gear and lures.

He charges $475 a day for a full day and $275 for a half day. But he also adds, “If you buy a full day trip and they are still biting at 3 p.m., we will stay if you want to because I want to be out there just as bad as you do”.

You can reach Jake at Jake Ormond on Facebook, by phone at 318-366-0975 or by email at jakeormondfishing@gmail.com . His sponsors are Bill Lewis, KastKing, Battery Pros, Ouachita Valley Credit Union, B&L Marine, Mack’s Express Lube, Phoenix Boats and his most supportive sponsor, his wife Lena. Besides MLF, Jake also fishes the Ark-La-Tex Team trail with his dad, Jimmy.

Right now, Jake is just about as excited about the bream as he is about bass. He has located several big bream beds and he’s just waiting on folks to call for a trip. It’s first come, first serve, he said. Some of the beds he has located are bigger than his boat.

“Seriously, when they are bedded up and you can catch them – especially big ones – fast as you get a bait in the water, it’s hard to beat summertime bream fishing,” he said.

One thing Jake is looking forward to is his first attempt at doing summer fishing lessons for kids, primarily in the 10-15 year-old range. He has developed a “fishing skills assessment” that young anglers can fill out and he will develop a plan to teach them “basically everything I know” about the subjects they are interested in.

That includes fishing techniques, how to work different types of baits, how to read water and what to look for, how to maneuver a boat and just how to be more efficient fishing. With so many youngsters getting into competitive fishing, this can give them a leg up on the learning curve.

The lessons will cost $300 for two days, three hours a day or $600 for four days. He said you can drop him an email for more information or to take a look at the assessment.

“I want to make sure I tailor what we do to what that young fisherman already knows or doesn’t know. It will be a one-one-one situation, unless possibly a team wants to come together at the same time,” he said.