Boatless Bank Trash at Boerne Lake

[Lancer6]

For the past few months I've been "mentoring" a fellow Sooner re The Wonderful World Of Bass Fishing. I've helped him select tackle, given or lent him some stuff...rods, reels, lures, old issues of Hustler...everything he needs.
He's bought a little 10' boat with a 5HP kicker, trollmotor, portable fishfinder, etc, and it's pretty kewl for something of that nature.
So far he's doing things right; Staying off of "motor" lakes, buying good PFDs for self and family, and working hard to become successful. He's a consumate family man so safety is an easy sell.
I won't set foot (or fat A55,) in that little barge so I coach from the bank, via cell phone, frantic gestures, carrier pigeon, and smoke signals. You have no idea how many Marlboro Medium 100s it takes to convey "More to the right, look for some big rocks at the mouth of the little cove. Fire for effect!"
He and a bud will be on Boerne Lake early this AM. In preparation I went to the lake with him yesterday with a handful of various goodies I'd selected to give/lend him (Two Pop'Rs, a Blue-over-Chrome Super Spook Jr., a black PICO Slasher, a Wobble Pop, and a Strike King Midnight Special; A lender reel... Daiwa 153 HST for his new TAS rod,) and we walked out on some flats exposed by low water, a belt of weeds bordering the shore. It was circa 2:30; Wind N at 10-15, hot but lower humidity than might be expected.
He's new to topwater, so I first demonstrated various retrieve rates and styles using a Super Spook Jr. As the lure sashayed over some weeds a bass no larger than the lure catapulted out of the air, only slightly engaged (Thank Zeus!) then uncoupled. I joked that this was an omen.
A few minutes later, as HE was walking the lure no more than 12 feet from the bank, a REAL bass erupted from the weeds and assaulted the Spook Jr. My bud reacted a bit too soon, something we all do at times, but he did feel the surge of a keeper bass for a brief happy instant. 3PM; hot summer day; from the bank; on a topwater...priceless. The violence of that attack; the water flying in a twinkling crystalline burst, and the flash of green and silver as a good bass charged, then turned away; All this things are imprinted in my buddy's memory. There's no calculating the worth of that.
Last night he called, wanting to verify the choice of weaponry for a pre-dawn raid. Here's the menu: Strike King Midnight Special in black/blue; 5" TikiStik, black/blue swirl, t-rigged; ZOOM U-tail in Black Sapphire; and...a leap of faith for me...my last PICO Slasher, black.
I've told him that the Slasher is the last of my treasured original PICO lures, save for a mint PICO Perch in original box, the PICO Pops having been given to another trusted friend who will, I hope, appreciate them for the history they've written. Over time I'll tell the newbie some factual stories of bass caught on that Slasher at Falcon, Medina, Calaveras, Amistad, Livingston, Travis, and some others, always in the dead of night.
So, he has that Slasher. I do not expect to have that veteran lure in my possession again except to replace battle-weary hooks. I hope it brings him luck.
It feels good, damned good, to watch someone learn and succeed.
No credit is due me but I tell this story to encourage all experienced bassers to share both their love of the game and those things which have made them successful.

Lancer6
Passin' the baton.

UPDATE: 0740... I called him a few minutes ago. No fish.
I asked if (per recommendation) he'd replaced the black Slasher with the Super Spook Jr. at FIRST LIGHT...Nope. The black/blue Tiki with Wm/Red...Nope. The Midnight Special spinnerbait with a white one...Nope. The Black Sapphire U-tail with wm/red OR smoke/blue...Nope. Had he tied on the clear Pop 'R...Nope.
Had he raked the huge weedy area by the private park, at depths from one foot to eight feet, with the S.Spook Jr, the Pop 'R, or the white spinnerbait?...Nope.
ARRRRRRGGGGHHHHH!
I am NOT giving up. Somehow, I've gotta lay hands on a bassboat and spend at least five hours with him, starting 1.5 hours PRE-dawn. Fat chance.

UpUpDate
OK, he switched and has caught two so far; one on a wm/red TikiStik and one on wm/red U-Tail. Progress.
His buddy is fishless; alternating between a wm/red lizard and a.........BANJO MINNOW.
A little scolding goes a long way. That's why I employ a lot of scolding
Wind is kicking that little craft about, so they're packing it in.