High Water and Getting Higher

I figured the water was going to be high this morning, and I wasn't disappointed when I rode down to the ramp to have a look before hooking up my boat. The water was spilling over the top lip of the ramp into the drive. If I hadn't known what the weather forecasters were calling for this weekend, I might have turned around and waited for a better day. Instead, though, I just readied the boat, donned my boots, and launched.

I had thought about running to Albright's this morning, but decided to stay in West Neck, in case the predicted thunderstorms moved in more quickly than the forecasters had said. I found no topwater bite at all this morning and eventually started throwing various crankbaits and my new Rapala X-Rap Subwalk. Nothing happened whatsoever, though, until I finally turned into a cove. A few moments later, I boated a small striper and a small largemouth on the Subwalk but then finished fishing the whole cove without another strike.

I came out of that cove and went straight across the creek to another cove but never stirred another fish until I almost had made a complete sweep of it. By this time, I had gone to my trusty Bandit Footloose in firetiger pattern and was cranking it dead slow. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a bass hit it right at the boat. He tipped the scales at 1 lb. 2 ozs. Staying with the same Footloose, I worked my way toward the marina and eventually boated the bass pictured above while barely dragging the lure past a big stump. He weighed in at 2 lbs. 8 ozs.

While I was cleaning up my boat this afternoon, I finally figured out why my firetiger Bandit Footloose pictured here has been taking on water and sinking slowly during pauses, instead of popping back to the surface. I've exaggerated the crack I found by wedging a nail file in the crack. This side is the good side--the crack goes only to about the diving lip. On the other side, it extends all the way up to nearly the eye. When I pried the crack open, water literally ran out of the lure at my feet. I gotta believe that 2-8 bass today had to be putting a strain on that crack.

I have a spare of this particular lure, but I also plan to see if I can epoxy the crack and make this lure watertight again without messing up the way it runs in the water--just in case I ever need a spare. If it doesn't work, I'll pick up another new one the next time I'm in a store that carries them.

Bottom line: I didn't set the world on fire today, but I still had a good time--and more importantly, I managed to catch a few fish. I talked to a couple other fishermen on the water today, one of which said he had boated a couple fish, including a 3-9. The other fella didn't have anything to show for his efforts yet when I saw him.