June 30, 2012 Dewey Mullins Tribute Bass Tourney

Gary Coderre guides his boat to the dock for weigh-in.

According to the words of an old tune, "Every little breeze seems to whisper Louise." I don't know what the breeze was saying that greeted the 12 anglers in 7 boats at the start of today's tourney, but it sure was swell while it lasted. Once the day warmed up, though, the breeze turned into a hot one. At least, it was a few degrees cooler today than it was yesterday.

Dewey said the thermometer hanging on the corner of the store showed 106 degrees yesterday, compared to 97 degrees today. Because of the temperature, Dewey gave us the option to end today's tourney a couple hours early, but the vast majority said, "Let's fish to the regular 2 o'clock weigh-in," so that's what we did.

(Left photo, l-r) Chris Sims and Wayne Hayes, 1st place and
big fish winners.
(Right photo, l-r) Mike Evans and Jeremy Gatewood, 2nd
place winners.

Claiming first place and big fish honors today was the team of Wayne Hayes and Chris Sims. Meanwhile, second place went to the team of Jeremy Gatewood and Mike Evans. Both teams weighed five-fish limits.

The big fish belonging to Wayne and Chris weighed in at 4.09 lbs. Other participants who weighed big fish were the team of Jeremy Gatewood and Mike Evans, with a 2.97-lb. bass; Gary Coderre, with a 2.95-lb. bass; the team of Bob Glass and Randy Conkle, with a 2.53-lb. bass; Ken Testorff, with a 2.25-lb. bass; and the team of Tucker Blalock and Aaron Phillips, with a 1.21-lb. bass.

Here's how all the other participants finished in total weight: the team of Bob Glass and Randy Conkle, five fish, 9.25 lbs.; Ken Testorff, five fish, 9.20 lbs.; Gary Coderre, four fish, 5.72 lbs.; and the team of Tucker Blalock and Aaron Phillips, three fish, 2.61 lbs. A new team, consisting of Nathan Rochester and Jerry Baldia, didn't weigh any fish today, and John Matyiko never made it out of the starting blocks. His day began with a dead battery after launching his boat. He recovered the boat, then ran home for a fresh battery. Once back in the West Neck parking lot, he installed the new battery, but to his chagrin, his problems still weren't over. While relaunching his boat, one of the trailer wheels fell off, and he had to repair that problem. Given the amount of fishing time he had lost, he decided just to go home and try again another time.

Those 10 anglers who participated in the weigh-in accounted for a total of 27 bass weighing a combined total of 48.11 lbs.

Angler Wayne Hayes joined a growing list today of those who have qualified to fish our season-ending two-day Classic on Oct. 13-14 by virtue of having fished four tourneys. The addition of his name brings the total to 18.

For planning purposes, our next tourney is scheduled for Saturday, July 14. Start time will be safe light (or approximately 0600). Weigh-in will be at 1400.

Anyone with questions can contact me at kenneth34@cox.net.

On a personal note:  I finished the day with a total of 16 bass, 4 stripers, 1 bowfin, and 1 white perch. Most of my fish came early this morning on two topwaters: a Baby Torpedo in bullfrog color and a Buzzjet Jr. in real shad color. I had one fish miss a topwater and was quick enough with a follow-up 10-inch junebug red worm to get the fish. I also boated three or four bass on a Bandit Footloose this afternoon. I was culling fish by 10 o'clock. One of my 4 stripers was a nice 3- or 4-lb. fish that I normally would have taken to Dewey for table fare, but since I was fishing a tourney, I simply released the fish. My topwater bite lasted until 11:30. I then picked up the Bandit Footloose in firetiger color, and the action continued just like it had been with the two topwaters all morning. All in all, it was a fun day, despite the hot temperatures--both air and water. When I cranked up the outboard down in Albright's to come to weigh-in this afternoon, the water temp showed 88.8.

In Some Cases, Tattered, But Still Prized

A fisherman just never forgets those fish that have given him/her a bigger-than-usual adrenaline rush over the years. My first fish in that category (see left) dates back to Saturday, Oct. 12, 1974, while I was fishing the Shenandoah River, out of Front Royal, VA. It tipped the scales at 5 lbs. 8 ozs.

You don't have to look very closely to see the results of having hung on the wall for all of the past 38 years. I still treasure  it, though.

As I launched an old johnboat that morning, some old-timers sitting on the bank and dunking live bait said, "Hey there, young feller, we've been watching an ol' bass break water around that tree yonder," pointing to a giant tree that lay perpendicular to the shoreline just below where I launched the boat. "You might want to check it out before you head upriver." These fellas all knew my habits well because, most times, they were sitting in the same place when I launched.

Back in those days, I didn't have the vast assortment of baits that I'm lucky enough to have in my arsenal today.  I dug around the lone small box that I had without finding a single topwater bait. However, I found a chrome-with-black-back Big O that I knew I could work on top without too much trouble. I backed off and started casting upstream and toward the shoreline, twitching the Big O the whole time as it came alongside the fallen tree and down its front end. It didn't take but three or four casts before ol' bucketmouth jumped all over my Big O. He leaped into the air multiple times after feeling the bait's hooks, shaking his ol' head from side to side, but stayed buttoned long enough for me to get him in the boat.

Another one of those magical moments came on Saturday, Feb. 28, 1976, when I hooked this fish (see right--look closely, and you'll see a crack in the rear section) while spending the day on Lake Anna. He fell for a chartreuse-with-black-back Balsa B and weighed in at 6 lbs. 5 ozs.

For better than a week, anglers had been pulling 6-pound-plus bass from Lake Anna. One of my friends and a fellow bass-club member already had brought home two wall-hangers and was taunting me to see if I could match his success. This particular morning, I was wearing out a series of coves that reportedly had been yielding most of the big bass that anglers had been weighing in with the same color of Balsa B I was throwing.

After repeated long casts along both sides of this particular cove, I was about ready to move on when, all of a sudden, my Balsa B just stopped. I first thought I was hung on one of the laydowns present, but then I felt some movement and saw my line jump. It didn't take long for all the acrobatics to start, each time causing my heart to skip a beat or two. Back in those days, I fished with 12- and 14-lb. monofilament--not the "anchor chain" (40- and 50-lb. braid) that I use today. Despite all the graceful but "ah shit" moments I endured, this bass finally dropped in my net, with both hooks of my Balsa B still lodged squarely in his jaws.

My last "magical moment," for which I still have the skin carcas hanging on my wall, was this 6-lb. 10-oz bass (see left) that I boated on Friday, June 19, 1987, from North Landing River--Milldam Creek, to be exact. He fell for a brown-orange Slider worm fished on a Slider rod, rigged with 6-lb. monofilament. Of all my prized fish, this one is extra special because my pop was holding down the backseat of my boat the day I caught him.

The giant tree roots I pulled this fish from don't even exist today, but I never pass the entrance to that cove where they used to be that I don't remember that day and the battle I had on my hands before getting him in the boat. This bass immediately wrapped in the roots when I set the hook, and I could feel his ol' head shakin' down there. I kept pressure on him for the longest of times with absolutely no luck--he just stayed put.

Eventually, I started moving slowly toward the fish, making sure I held pressure the whole time. Once over the roots, I lay down on my stomach, where I could see the fish and my wrapped line. I asked Pop to pass me the clippers, and then, while clamping the bass by the lower lip with one hand, I reached out with the clippers in the other and cut my line. Using both hands then, I worked the fish out of the roots and lifted him aboard to Pop's beaming approval smile.

I took a few minutes to retie another brown-orange Slider before moving to the other shoreline to work some cypress trees. Only two or three casts into these trees, I hung another bass that would have made a perfect match to the other one I just had boated. Neither Pop nor I could believe our eyes when we saw this bass do his first tail walk. His second time out of the water, however, was the last time we would see him--the Slider came flying back in my face.

The rest of that particular day was uneventful, except for Pop losing a rod over the side, but Lady Luck was with us, and after making repeated casts with a bare hook and heavy sinker, we snagged the rod and pulled it back to the surface and into the boat.

None of these fish were as big as one I boated from Back Bay when it was the area's hot spot. Late one evening, while fishing with a friend, I pulled a 7-pounder from that grass on a Johnson's silver spoon. I never even got a photo of that bass. We stopped at our pastor's house on the way home and gave him the catch for a fish fry being held at the church the following evening.

My biggest bass of all times so far came many years ago while fishing a stand of lily pads in the Chickahominy. I was holding down the back seat that day for the same pastor I had given the 7-pounder to for the fish fry. Like the Back Bay bass, this one fell for a Johnson's silver spoon. I should explain here that I always fished this lure on a snap swivel to reduce line twist. Once I had the bass alongside the boat, the pastor reached over the side but, instead of grabbing the fish, grabbed the line just above the snap swivel. The giant fish jerked his head at the same instant, shattering the snap swivel and my dreams of a citation bass--perhaps forever, if the current trend continues. He easily was an 8-lb. fish. My preacher friend felt bad for a long time afterward over that incident, but I kept assuring him all was forgiven. We fished and prayed together for a lot of years yet and still were friends when he passed.

In the past two years, I've boated a couple of bass over the 6-pound mark but nothing approaching the 8-pounder I keep hoping to land. Perhaps it'll happen, perhaps it won't. Either way, I've had a lot of good times on the water, and I'll cherish all of 'em to my last day. 

A Day of Experimentation That Went Nowhere

(Left) 2 bass, (Right) 1 white perch

4 stripers

So went today, as I experimented with a whole host of topwater lures, in an effort to find something that might yield more than the usual 3 or 4 bass--and, perhaps, something that might closely resemble a "kicker" fish. The only thing I proved to myself today, however, is that, for the time being, I need to fish anywhere but West Neck Creek. Every one of the fish I boated were under a pound.

While I had a decent early spring here, my last several outings in West Neck have been nothing short of dismal. I even forced myself to spend the last 1.5 hours today fishing a Senko, which as anyone who knows my habits, will tell you is a strong signal that I'm having a super bad day. Soft plastics very rarely make my personal fishing "menu." I need to keep moving--just so I can stay awake.

The lure that accounted for all but one of the fish was a Bill Norman Thin N, in chartreuse with black back.

Given the way this day turned out, I'm not going to sit here and bemoan my failed experimentation. I plan to try getting my licks in one more day before this Saturday's tourney and hopefully find something that works. 'Till then, toodle-oo.

June 23, 2012 Dewey Mullins Tribute Bass Tourney

The team of (l-r) Chris and Al Napier make their way to the dock for weigh-in.

It was a day of limits. All but one of the 9 boats (encompassing 15 anglers) weighed 5-fish limits, and most of the participants reported having their limits by mid-morning. The team of Tom Acree and Joe McDevitt claimed the 1st place prize with a total weight of 9.68 lbs. Meanwhile, the team of Bob Glass and Randy Conkle took 2nd place with a total weight of 9.37 lbs. Big-fish honors went to Chris Napier, who weighed a bass that tipped the scales at 3.13 lbs.

(Left photo, l-r) Joe McDevitt and Tom Acree, 1st place.
(Right photo, l-r) Randy Conkle and Bob Glass, 2nd place.

Chris Napier, big bass.

Here's how all the other participants finished in total weight: the team of Chris and Al Napier, 5 fish, 9.27 lbs.; the team of Jim Bauer and Rob Powell, 5 fish, 9.20 lbs., the team of Eddie Sapp and Paul Celentano, 5 fish, 7.60 lbs.; Ken Testorff, 5 fish, 7.02 lbs.; and Gary Coderre, 5 fish, 6.32 lbs. One team of anglers, who shall remain anonymous, also had 5 fish, with a total weight of 9.32 lbs., but were disqualified for a rules violation. Rob Peppers said he had 1 fish but chose not to weigh it.

The grand-total weight for those 14 participants who weighed in 40 bass, including the team that was DQd, was 67.78 lbs.

Runners-up to Chris Napier for big bass were as follows:  the team of Jim Bauer and Rob Powell/2.98 lbs., the team of Tom Acree and Joe McDevitt/2.73 lbs., the team of Eddie Sapp and Paul Celentano/2.64 lbs., the team of Bob Glass and Randy Conkle/2.49 lbs, Ken Testorff/2.15 lbs., and Gary Coderre/1.37 lbs. The disqualified team had a big fish weighing 2.81 lbs.

Rob Peppers joined the list of anglers who now have qualified to fish the annual season-ending two-day Classic on Oct. 13-14 by virtue of having fished four tourneys. Rob brings the list to a total of 17 anglers, which already exceeds the number who qualified last year.

For planning purposes, our next tourney is scheduled for next Saturday, June 30. Start time will be safe light (or approximately 0600). Weigh-in will be at 1400.

Anyone with questions can contact me at kenneth34@cox.net.

It Was Like Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid

Raindrops kept falling on my head, off and on, for about an hour or hour and a half after I launched this morning. It wasn't heavy, but it was steady enough I was forced to pull out the top to my rainsuit and put it on.

As usual, I started the morning throwing an assortment of topwater baits, with very limited results. I had several boil under the baits or swipe at them and miss. However, I heard that Bobby Moore was throwing a Pop R right through the heat of the day and catching fish with it. The Pop R is one that I threw for a while this morning, too, but to no avail. I saw several instances of fish attacking bait pods, and I threw to several of those, too, but again with no results.

While Bobby apparently was doing well with a Pop R, I talked to an old-timer (and, yes, I'm saying that with tongue in cheek) in one of the West Neck coves, and he was bagging bass with a Tiny Torpedo. He said he already had boated 4 when I talked to him.

Here's what I ended up with after six and a half hours of fishing:

(Left) 1 bowfin, (Right) 3 bass

(Left) 2 gar, (Right) 1 striper

(Left) 2 white perch, (Right) 1 yellow perch

None of my 3 bass weighed a pound. I boated 1 of them on a Bang-O-Lure; the other 2 came on a 3/8-oz. Bomber, as did all the other fish. As has been the case for weeks now, I had to be cranking the Bomber dead slow, with occasional pauses in the retrieve.

I learned from talking to Dewey this afternoon that Bob Glass boated a nice striper (mine was tiny) today. It already had found a home in Dewey's freezer, and he indicated it would be eaten before week's end.

I also talked to Jimmy Bauer today. Here's what he caught:

(Left) 2 bass, (Right) 10 crappie

His bass, like mine, were small. All the crappie came at the West Neck Bridge on a flyrod, and one of them was a dandy. The crappie were getting a ride home this afternoon in Jimmy's livewell because they're going to become table fare.

I guess you could say the day wasn't a bust for anyone, but it also wasn't necessarily something you would want to write home about.

If You're Looking for Custom Crankbaits...

I would at least encourage you to take a
look at the work of Richard Prager,
pictured here with a 6.5-lb. bass he caught July 3, 2010, in the Florida Everglades. Richard is the man behind 152nd Street Baits. 

For five years, until February 2010, Richard had poured all kinds of soft-plastic baits. Then he was diagnosed with emphysema and had to give up that line of work. Shortly thereafter, though, he bought an airbrush and learned that he could paint and has been turning out all kinds of quality crankbaits ever since.

Richard paints almost daily and then puts his work on ebay for bid/sale. He used to take custom-paint orders, but with his health problems and other issues, has found he can't operate that way any longer. "It just doesn't work for me anymore," he says.







Richard is a family man. Pictured here is his wife, Naomi, with their daughter, Hannah (left), and son, Zachary (right).

This June 16, 2012 photo shows Richard in his mom's swimming pool with Zachary and Hannah.








Those "other issues" mentioned above start with the fact that Richard's wife is in college. And as you've just seen, he has two children who need his attention. So, there just isn't time to meet the deadlines involved with running an order-taking business and take care of his family matters, too.

What follows is but a mere sampling of Richard's work. To get the full scope, I urge you to check out his Facebook link at https://www.facebook.com/152ndStreetBaits. You also can check out what he has posted for bid/sale at any given moment by going to http://stores.ebay.com/152nd-Street-Baits.

(Left) Rocket 2.5
(Right) 2.5 Wake Bait

(Left) Prop Buzzin' Wake Bait Jr.
(Right) Combat Flat Side

(Left) Sambo Walker 100
(Right) Jackerbait 70

(Left) Pointer 100 Jerk
(Right) Strike King Red Eye Shad

(Left) MRx
(Right) Combat Flat Side

(Left) 2.5 Wake Bait Rodent
(Right) Jerk 110 Slow Floater

(Left) Jackerbait TN 70
(Right) SRx

(Left) RC 1.5 DD
(Right) FX 130 Walker

(Left) Griff DD
(Right) LVR 500

(Left) RC 1.5
(Right) 2.5 Wake Bait

(Left) Popper
(Right) Bill Lewis Rattle Trap

I personally own and fish the Jerk 110 Slow Floater, Prop Buzzin' Wake Bait Jr., Rocket 2.5, and the 2.5 Wake Bait Rodent and have found that they all perform superbly right out of the packaging. "How's the finish on them?" you may be asking. I sum it up as "eye popping." And, if you're wondering how the prices compare to what you'll find for name-brand versions on commercial-store shelves, consider this. The going price in most online stores for a Deps Buzzjet Jr. is about $25. If you buy the same thing from Richard--called a Prop Buzzin' Wake Bait Jr.--the standard price is $12.99 to "buy it now" on ebay. Or, you always can join the bidding and perhaps get it for less. Any way you slice it, that's a pretty hefty savings, if my math is correct.

Richard jokes that he paints better than he fishes. However, I find that hard to believe, given the fish he's holding at the start of this story, then checking out this 7.4-pounder, his 3rd personal best, which he caught Oct. 15, 2006. His 2nd best was a 7.5-pounder he caught while flipping a frog in the Glades. His best to date, a 7.8-pounder, came on a Rattlin' Rogue while fishing Lake Okeechobee. It would seem to me that he does a pretty fair job at both painting and fishing.

For all your custom crankbait needs, especially if you're looking for some colors you likely won't find in brand-name lines, remember this name: 152nd Street Baits. And refer back to the links provided above often.

Table Fare With a Bonus

The first week of June, fellow West Neck friend Skip Schaible and one of his buddies went up to their hunt club to relax and to do some fishing in a few private ponds. They ended up with this good-looking and undoubtedly tasty table fare.

As a bonus, however, on Skip's last cast of the day, he hung this nice bass on an 8-ft. crappie rod and 4-lb. test line.

Quite a bonus, huh? And with that light gear, "It was a great fight," said Skip.

Well done!

Charlie Bruggemann--A Fisherman Who'll Try Anything

How many guys do you know who, while once driving a Ranger boat, would find themselves paddling a kayak like this around today, as Charlie does--and enjoying the crap out of it, too? Probably not many--wouldn't you say? But that's the way it is for this retired Navy STGCS.

I've known Charlie for a lot of years now. The boats we each had at one time (not his Ranger or my Skeeter, though) used to be stored side by side just inside the entrance to West Neck Marina. That all changed the year that Tropical Storm Bonnie blew through the area and felled one of those giant old pine trees right across both of our boats. We each were left with picking up splinters from that call by Mother Nature.

The thing with Charlie is that he's not afraid to try almost anything when it comes to catching fish. For that matter, he's not even prejudiced about the kind of fish he catches. The Charlie I knew back a lot of years ago used to fish for--now hold on to your hat--carp. Yep, you heard me right. I'm talking about none other than ol' "rubber lips" himself, of all things. Furthermore, he made no apologies for going after those bottom dwellers. He just was having one heckuva good time catching those "suckers"--pun intended.

Most times today, Charlie goes after bass, and I've got to hand it to him, he does a darn good job of it, too. He's already recorded a better-than-15-lb. bag of five bass one day this year, and that says nothing of the 300 mark he's closing in on for the total number of bass he has boated since January. In this photo, he's showing off a nice 3-0 largemouth that he boated earlier this year down in Alton's, or as some know it, Albright's Creek--just depends on what map you happen to be looking at.

"So what does Charlie fish with?" you may be asking about now. For the most part, he uses spinning tackle, but he also carries a fly rod in his kayak once in a while. And, in case you haven't already guessed, he ain't fishin' with live bait, either. No, sir. He's carrying a selection of proven fish-catching lures, most of which he has learned to use by none other than good ol' experimentation.

In Charlie's own words, "Experimenting is my favorite thing, even though we all know there is no 'magic bait.' I used to fish a creek off Blackwater a couple of years ago, and it was full of grass and good fishing. The last time I was there, though, I found no grass and no fish. It seems to me like the grass cycle is changing again."

Charlie breaks down his favorite-baits list as follows. In shallow water (less than a foot), he prefers these baits in the order as numbered: (1) 3" green pumpkin tube, (2) 1/4-oz. beetle spin /w/ 3" twister tail and No. 3 Colorado blade, (3) Yo-Zuri SS Minnow, (4) Pop-R. In normal water (1-3 feet), his choices are: (1) Senko 5" green pumpkin /w/ black flake, (2) Strike King 1/4-oz. Bitsy Jig, blue/black, with Yum Craw Papi trailer, (3) Yo-Zuri Crystal Minnow, (4) Pop-R, (5) 1/4-oz. beetle spin /w/ 3" twister tail and No. 3. Colorado blade. In deep water (3-10 feet), his favorites are: (1) Strike King 1/2-oz Swimming Jig, blue/black, with Yum Craw Papi trailer, (2) KVD 1.5, shad color, (3) 1/4-oz. beetle spin /w/ 3" twister tail and No. 3 Colorado blade, (4) 1/2-oz. Bomber Fat-Free Shad.

Now, as I said a bit earlier, Charlie isn't partial to any one species of fish, especially if it's BIG, like this 15-8 gar that he also boated here not long ago. I don't know about anyone else reading this, but for me, I go out of my way to keep my baits away from critters like this. I've seen gar this big coming after my baits before and, more than once, have wrapped braided line around my neck and lots of other places as I snatched my lure out of the water. That, however, is not Charlie's style. He's a man who's all about trying something different for a change.

Back on May 3, Charlie got another big fish in the boat. He had launched his kayak at Lotus Garden this particular morning and was fishing Ashville Bridge Creek when something suddenly smacked his KVD 1.5 with a great deal of authority. To use Charlie's exact words, "It felt like a freight train had slammed into it." Several minutes, one weary angler, and a smoked reel later, a big ol' 7-4 channel cat rolled up alongside Charlie's kayak.

For those of you who don't already know, Charlie is author/publisher of "The Freshwater Fishing Guide to Virginia Beach," copies of which usually are available for sale at West Neck Creek Marina. You can check out his website at http://www.vbfishguide.com and watch his videos at http://www.youtube.com/user/vbfishguide. From his website, you can click on the "blog" button and get all the details of his various fishing trips, in his own words.

I should explain here that it was Charlie, who got me started with this blog. He came to my place and spent one whole afternoon in May getting it set up for me, then has answered every dumb question I've asked since. If it hadn't been for him, I don't know that I ever would have started my own blog. He volunteered, at the start of this 2012 Dewey Mullins Tribute Bass Tourney season, to post our tourney results on his blog. I felt badly, though, about the extra work I was causing him, so I asked if he'd show me how to start one of my own, and I haven't been happier since. It's really nice having friends like Charlie around. And I sincerely hope this article will, in some measure, make up for all the time he has spent helping me become a blogger--and, again at Charlie's urging, a photographer, too, in learning.

As a retired Navy chief journalist, I had to know how to operate a camera in my day, but that camera was an old Speed Graphic that I'm willing to bet very few people are familiar with today. It weighed a ton and, as if that wasn't bad enough, you had to develop the images afterward in a series of trays containing different kinds of fluids. Believe me--it was anything but fun. As a result, I had sworn I'd never hold a camera again, and for the most part, I kept that promise until recently, when I purchased a couple of new ones. I wanted something that would give me decent quality for use on my blog. I'm just now starting to get comfortable with the camera I use for my blog, but note: I said "comfortable," not "good." Those two words are a world apart.

Back to the topic at hand, however--Charlie. I reckon you might say he's a well-rounded fisherman, and I thoroughly enjoy following his adventures on his blog and his videos. If you haven't already done so, please do yourself a favor and take a peek. I think you'll be happy you did.

Epilog: Please note that all photos used with this entry were provided by Charlie.

What's Your Favorite Lure?

That's a question I asked all the fellas who have been fishing the Dewey Mullins Tribute Bass Tourney series out of West Neck Marina the past couple or so years. As I expected, the responses were varied. In my case, the No. 1 choice has changed over the years.

Remember back in the '70s, when Charlie Brewer came out with Slider worms? I was hooked on 'em the moment I attended a presentation Charlie put on locally a lot of years ago. It just so happened that in the same audience that night was a local rod builder, who let all the anglers in attendance know that he was going to start building custom Slider rods for everyone who wanted them. Don't you know I was one of the first to put my name on the waiting list.

While I was waiting on that rod to be built, I started buying up every color of Slider worm that Charlie Brewer produced. My stash grew so quickly I had to buy a huge, double-sided Plano box just to carry all of them. The box was so big that I kept stumbling over it every time I went fishing--and don't even ask me about the time I unceremoniously dumped the contents of one whole side in the floor of my boat. But for two or three years, Slider worms were my favorite bait. I fished them on 6-lb. mono, which means I lost a lot of big fish, but I also boated some beauties. I still have a wall-hanger (a 6-pounder-plus) that I caught down in Milldam Creek with my custom Slider rod and one of Charlie's worms. To this day, I have many of the Slider worms I originally bought, but they're no longer in that Plano box--I got rid of that nuisance a long time ago.
 
After that "love affair" with Sliders, I got enthralled with spinnerbaits--including some of those so-called indestructible Terminators. As I learned, though, they're no better than any other spinnerbait on the market. Eventually, they all break, and as was my experience with Terminators, the "break" often came when I was hauling a nice sized bass to the boat. My collection of spinnerbaits stopped way short of the number of Slider worms I bought, but I did once own quite a few. Today, I usually carry some 1/4- and 3/8-oz. models, mostly in chartreuse, white or a mixture of those two colors, but they take up very little rooom, and none of 'em are anywhere close to being my favorite lure.

About five or six years ago, I had a good run of luck with the Bang-O-Lure and many days wouldn't put it down all day long. I fished it every trip that one whole season and scored unbelievably well with it--from early morning through the heat of the day in summer. But my success only lasted that one season. In fact, it wasn't until this year that I've started fishing it again and have been catching a fair number of early-morning bass with it. I'm having to fish it the traditionally recommended way, though, whereas I used an overly aggressive retrieve that one year I caught fish with it non-stop. I occasionally repeat that aggressive tactic now but have yet to get a fish to hit it.
 
A more recent "go to" lure for me was chatterbaits. I fished them hard both last year and the year before that and caught a lot of bass with them. My preference was gold-bladed models, mostly in the 3/8-oz. size, and, although you'll probably not believe this, with pink or pink/white skirts and trailers. Thus far in 2012, however, I've had absolutely no luck at all with chatterbaits and sometimes don't even take one out of my box during a whole day on the water. When I do take one out, my first choice still is one with the pink or pink/white skirt and trailer, but I also occasionally throw one with a chartreuse/white skirt and either a chartreuse or white trailer.

(Left) Square A. (Right) Pro Model 1XS.

My lure of choice today is the crankbait--in both 1/4- and 3/8-oz. sizes. My best producers are the Bomber Square A in firetiger and the Strike King Pro Model 1XS in both firetiger and chartreuse sexy shad. I go to these lures every fishing trip as soon as the morning topwater bite turns off. In August 2010, I won a tourney and the seasonal lunker award with a 6-pounder-plus I caught on a Square A. Last year, I won another tourney and the seasonal lunker award with a 5-pounder-plus, again on a Square A. This latter fish was one of three in the 5-pound class that I boated last year on this lure. I originally started throwing the Pro Model 1XS last season in areas where the grass was thickest--I found it would come through the mats a lot better than the Square A. Since then, I've used it with some success in all conditions.

That's the story about how my favorite lures have changed over the years. Now we'll look at the responses I got from other West Neck tourney anglers when I asked for their choices.

A Rapala Skitter Pop is the favorite of Steve Bailey.

Steve Albertson likes a hollow-body frog for the strikes it draws, coupled with an ability to throw it into the thickest cover and still work it back.

A buzzbait (left) is the favorite lure of Bob Glass, but he rarely uses it in tournaments because too many fish miss it by striking at the blade. In its place, he uses a Horny Toad (middle), which, if set up correctly, rarely misses. His favorite active lure is the Senko worm (right). "My mindset is that big fish like an easy meal--something slow most of the time," he says.

 

Skip Schaible prefers the Rebel
Pop R. "Nothing beats the sheer exhilaration of a fish busting a topwater bait," he says. "Pop,
pop, pop, nothing.
Then, pop, pop, pop, boom! Fish on!"

When it comes to soft plastic, Jim Bauer says his favorite, "hands down, is the Slider worm" (left). However, he admits he also has gotten attached to Bomber square-billed crankbaits (center). And, up until a couple years ago, he didn't throw any kind of topwater but a Pop R (right).

Gary Coderre likes a finesse worm (left) and a square-billed crankbait (right).

These baits are the preferences of Len Hall: (top left) KVD 1.5 square-billed crankbaits (he uses a bream-colored one the most), (top right) Zell Pop (second topwater choice is Bang-O-Lures), (bottom right) pink (and white) floating worms, and (bottom left) Zoom finesse worms.










Al Lemieux is partial to 6-inch zipper worms in junebug color with a chartreuse tail. He rigs them Texas style for flipping.

The favorite lures of Randy Conkle are Senko worms (left), Culprit worms (in black shad or purple) (middle), and a Devil's Horse (right). He also likes a silver spoon with a white skirt.

Rob Peppers likes lizards (left) in the spring. Later, his favorite is a popper (middle)--shown here is the Rebel Pop R. In the fall, his choice is a crankbait--perhaps something similar to the Rapala Shad Rap (right), which I know a lot of locals fish that time of the year.

In Bobby Moore's own words, "A popper works for me all times of the day."

Kris Hammond describes his all-time favorite lure as being a 2-inch grub fished on a small jighead in the color he calls "Virginia Beach pink." Whether this shade of pink even comes close I'm not sure. Suffice it to say, though, that Kris swears he has used the jighead/grub combo very successfully in small rivers in the mountains of Virginia, where largemouth bass never before have seen a lure. "This combo works especially well in heavily pressured waters," he says, "and as a bonus, it'll catch just about any kind of fish that swims. That's why it's my favorite."


This mini-sampling indicates that, if you're among those anglers who fish poppers, finesse worms, and/or crankbaits, especially those of the square-billed variety, you're in the majority. In no way, however, do those results diminish the value of other lures named herein that some of you said were your favorites. I've always believed there's more fact than fiction to the idea that fishing often is more a matter of luck and how much confidence you have in whatever lure you're fishing than any skills you may possess. So my advice to all of you is just to "keep chunkin' and windin'." It's all about what works for you. Tight lines!

Epilog: To those anglers who participated in this little venture at my request, I offer a heartfelt "thank you."