(Bottom row, l-r) 1-8, 1-1, 1-3
These 5 fish were my best for the day. If they were the only ones I had boated, I'd be a bit disappointed. However, there were 12 more bass to go with these today, along with a big bowfin and a white perch.
All 19 fish came on just 2 baits: a bullfrog-colored Baby Torpedo and the firetiger Bandit Footloose I repaired over the weekend. The Baby Torpedo accounted for 9 bass and the bowfin, which were caught between 6:30 and 10:30 this morning. The other 8 bass and the white perch were boated on the Footloose between 10:30 and 2:45. And every one of the fish came from working both shorelines between marker No. 4 in West Neck and the mouth of the creek. I had 5 or 6 fish come unbuttoned today as I was bringing them to the boat, including one that was taking some serious drag.
I often catch fish in the area I fished today, but I seldom catch as many there as I did today. The fish were active all day--perhaps because the water was in the low 80s. It was only 85.3 when I quit today.
I had an email from Charlie Bruggemann waiting for me when I got home, telling me that he had a nice day in the Alton Creek oxbow. He caught a total of 13 bass--the biggest weighing 2-0, with 2 more tipping the scales at more than a pound. His "killer" bait today was a Zara Puppy in frog colors. He also got his first bass on a hollow-body frog. "You really have to wait a long time from strike to hookset to get a good connection," said Charlie.
He went on to explain that his topwater bite died about 10 o'clock. He then tried everything in the book but didn't have much action--"one here and one there" is the way he described it. "I couldn't figure out a pattern or lure that would work all the the time," he said.
At day's end for the 6 hours Charlie was out, he had caught a couple of white perch, several small stripers, and a big gar--about 5 lbs.--to go with his 13 bass. To boat the gar, Charlie used his new gar glove. "Works great!" he said, adding, "Those things are slimier than catfish!"
Charlie also told me that he had one casualty today--the battery died on his GoPro video camera. As a result, he had to use his backup camera, which, unfortunately, doesn't have a wide-angle lens. One thing about Charlie: He always goes prepared for anything. To check out his blog and see the full story of his day's results, here's the link to his site: http://vbfishguide.blogspot.com/.
Epilog: Incidentally, the work I did to repair that Footloose bait wasn't 100 percent effective. It still sinks slowly in the water when I pause my retrieve, but it's evident that malfunction doesn't affect the lure's fish-catching ability, based on today's totals.
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