What a Difference 24 Hours Make

Here's what West Neck looks like today.

Effects of the Storm

I had an email from Skip Schaible yesterday, telling me about the grim scene he had found at West Neck--channel markers completely out of the water, only a couple inches of water at the ramp, etc., as a result of Hurricane Sandy. I decided to grab my camera this morning and go have a look for myself.

When I returned home a bit ago, there was an email waiting for me from my kayaker friend, Charlie Bruggemann, giving me a heads-up about a new posting on his blog. A friend of his had gone to both West Neck and West Landing on Oct. 27 and taken some pictures, and Charlie has posted a comparison of those shots with some he took during a 2007 storm. You can see all of them by going to http://vbfishguide.blogspot.com/.

After checking out those pictures, you might want to look at these I took this morning. Please let me apologize up front for "fuzziness" in some of the photos. Part of the problem was due to the fact I was shooting through the windows of my van in several cases. Anyway, here's what I got:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Water on one side of the culvert that crosses the road behind the boat barn was 
running bank full...

 

...While the water on this side (next to the barn) was gushing out as fast as it
could go.

 

 

Looks like this house near the intersction of West Neck and Indian River has a
lake in the front yard now.

 

With a Storm Breathing Down Their Necks...

The anglers did show, and members of this club stayed true to their word: An open tourney indeed was held today out of Bob's Fishing Hole on the Northwest River. According to Mark Ingram, a total of 13 boats with 21 fishermen showed up to find out who the best would be among them this day, as Hurricane Sandy continued spreading her wind and rain in our direction.

Taking top honors today, with 11.05 lbs. of fish, was the team of John Guzman and Jessie Munden. Second place went to the team of Charlie Reed and Chris Carmell, with a bag of fish weighing 10.90 lbs. Charlie and Chris also claimed big-fish honors with a bass weighing 3.25 lbs.

Well done to all.

Epilog: For those interested, Mark tells me that Stateline will be hosting another open at Bob's Fishing Hole on Saturday, Nov. 24. Mark your calendars now.

Hook, Line & Sinker...

"Another one of those crankin' days"--that's how Jim Bauer described his trip to West Neck Creek yesterday. Between 0900 and 1610, he boated a total of nine bass, six crappie, six bream, a white perch, and one of those "nasty, toothy rascals"--his way of describing a bowfin. The latter weighed close to 5 lbs. Unfortunately, he had to net the bowfin. "The ugly cuss had my crankbait all the way in his gut, and I wasn't about to lose the only one I have," said Jim.

Here are his three best bass of yesterday, weighing (top to bottom) 1-4, 1-5, 2-4:

 




                                                                      



 



Besides these three, Jim had one other keeper that weighed in at 13 ozs. The bream all were nice size, but only one of the crappie was "respectable." Everything got released yesterday.

Like Tuesday, the only productive lure was a Bomber Square A. Jim said he held the boat off the shoreline in about 3 feet of water and tried to make casts that went about halfway between. The fish still were hanging on wood, "and you really had to stay on the 'feel,'" he explained. "They just seemed to be picking up the crankbait and swimming along." Only one bass inhaled it and ended up with a nicked gill. A quick dunk over the side, though, and the fish was OK.

The water temp at launch time was 65, compared to 71 when Jim quit.

On a personal note: When I was out to the marina earlier today, the water still was about 18 to 24 inches above the joint in the ramp but retreating. If the current weather prediction holds, you may be able to wade across West Neck Creek in another 24 hours and not even get your ankles wet. Whatever your plans for the next few days, stay safe.

Hook, Line & Sinker...

These three fish, weighing (top to bottom) 1-7, 1-14 and 2-1, were the best of 10 that Jim Bauer boated today while fishing both directions in West Neck Creek. He also boated three other keepers, weighing 14 ozs., 15 ozs., and 1 lb. even.

 

Two lures produced all but one of the day's total catch. Between 0900 (launch time) and 1100, Jim boated five bass, including the 2-1, on topwater. After that, until quitting time at 1600, everything came on a Bomber Square A in sexy shad color, except for the one fish that fell for a beetle spin.

 

The water temperature when Jim started this morning was 63 degrees. It had reached 68 by the time he called it a day.

 

Today's fishing trip was more about a man on a mission than anything else. After what happened to Jim during the recent Classic tourney, he needed to restore at least some of the confidence he lost during that two-day event. I think it's fairly safe to say that he likely feels as though it's "mission accomplished," with the way things went for him today.

 

As Jim noted in his email to me this evening, "I'm beat and a bit pink (from wind burn), but I had a pretty good day."

Hook, Line & Sinker...

Never knowing how many more nice days there may be to get on the water, I decided to take advantage of what today offered. As it turned out, I'm glad I did.

The water temp when I launched at 0900 was just slightly above 60 degrees. When I quit at 1500, it had reached 67 degrees.

Because I've been concentrating all my recent attention on that part of West Neck Creek going toward the river, I opted to start the other side of the bridge this morning. I spent the first hour working a couple different topwaters and boated two bass with each one. When that action seemed to die, I tried a spinnerbait and the Bandit Footloose that worked fairly well last week, but the fish weren't having any part of either one.

Shortly before passing back under the West Neck Bridge and heading toward the river, I tied on a Mann's Baby 1-Minus in chrome with black back, and things immediately started happening. They weren't big fish, but it doesn't take a big fish to keep me happy. I just like to feel a tug on the line, and I had plenty of that. I didn't keep count, but I'm certain I missed more fish than I boated. Nevertheless, I managed to catch nine more bass (for a total of 13), two pickerel, and a yellow perch--all on that 1-Minus. The best four bass weighed 1-0, 1-1, 1-3 and 1-6. The 1-6, like the 2-0 last week, ended up with a hook in one of its gill plates, so like the last time, I gave it about a 30-minute ride in my livewell, with the aerator running, and then it was ready to be released.

All in all, it was a pleasant day on the water, with only a couple other boats in the vicinity, and if I'm lucky, I plan to get in one more outing before the weekend arrives--while we have these 70-degree temperatures. On Saturday, barring the unforseen, I'll be at Bob's Fishing Hole with my camera to cover the open tourney being sponsored by the Stateline Bass Anglers that day. That's in response to a promise I made to Mark Ingram a couple days ago.

Tight Lines!

Bassin' Buzz--Boat For Sale

 

2000 Triton 186DC

 

150 Mercury XR6

 

Lowrance Globemap 4000

and

Hummingbird Electronics

 

Asking Price: $9,000

 

Owner: Tucker Blalock

 

Email: tucker.blalock@cvw3.navy.mil

or call his cellphone:

1-678-882-6512

 

If this notice looks familiar, it's because I had a similar one posted on my blog awhile back but took it down at the owner's request when he decided he was going to keep the boat. He evidently has rethought that decision and asked me to run another announcement, so I agreed. Please understand that I have no stake in this matter--I'm simply doing a Navy shipmate a favor.

Bassin' Buzz--Open Tourney Next Saturday

I learned tonight that the Stateline Bass Anglers are holding an open tournament out of Bob's Fishing Hole on Saturday, Oct. 27. The entry fee is $25, with a $5 ramp fee. Fishing hours are 7 to 3. If you have an itch, here's a great way to scratch it. All you have to do is show up with some tackle in your boat and a little cash in your pocket.

Hook, Line & Sinker...

The weather forecast I heard Julie Wilcox give at the breakfast table this morning said sunshine this morning, with clouds moving in and thickening this afternoon, and rain overnight. I should have known better than to believe her. I didn't even get out of the channel to the main creek before dark clouds were rolling in fast overhead, which convinced me just to stay in West Neck.

Because I had finished the day last Sunday with a bang-o-lure, I started with that this morning, and in no time, had two bass in the boat. The first one weighed 2-0 and went on to become my best fish of the day. Unfortunately, the lure's rear hook had caught a gill plate, and the bass already was bleeding like a stuck pig when I swung him over the side. I quickly unhooked him, snapped the accompanying picture, weighed him, and tried to release him over the side of the boat, but he wanted to roll belly-up on me. I worked with him several minutes with no luck, so decided to put him in the livewell and run the aerator for a while. I kept checking on him for the next 30 minutes, and by that time, he was fully upright and splashing at will, so I released him to be caught another day.

A matter of only a few minutes passed before a dink jumped on the bang-o-lure, and by the time I turned him loose, raindrops already were falling on my head. For most of the next hour, they kept falling intermittently--enough so that I had to break out the rain gear. During the showers, I hooked but lost three fish on a spinnerbait, and when the showers died off, so did the bite. I didn't even see anything moving in the water.

In frustration, I decided to get off the main creek and ease into one of the coves. That, too, seemed dead for a good spell. When the sun came out bright, though, I grabbed a silver with blue back Bandit Footloose that my friend John Goodman recently gave me and literally wore most of the paint off it in the remaining hours of the day. The only way I could get bites was to toss the Bandit right up against the shoreline, into the thickest stuff I could find, then just twitch the bait--usually only once--before a fish would unload on it. I missed a lot of the strikes, but managed to boat seven fish for the day. Besides the 2-0, I got a 1-3, and the rest were dinks.

It wasn't until later, after I had gotten home and was talking to my friend Wayne Hayes, that I learned he and Gary Coderre had found their fish the same way during the Classic.

It wasn't a day I'll brag about, but at least I didn't sit home bored out of my mind.

Oct. 13-14, 2012 Dewey Mullins Tribute Bass Classic

The Participants

 

Twenty-one anglers in 14 boats participated in today's Classic tourney.

 

The Winners

 

1st Place
(L-R) Al & Chris Napier
2-Day Total No. Fish: 8
2-Day Total Weight: 16.78 lbs.

2nd Place
(L-R) Mark Cable & John Matyiko
2-Day Total No. Fish: 9
2-Day Total Weight: 16.39 lbs.

3rd Place
(L-R) Wayne Hayes & Gary Coderre
2-Day Total No. Fish: 10
2-Day Total Weight: 15.15 lbs.

How Everyone Else Fished

 

Mark London, 2-Day Total No. Fish: 10, 2-Day Total Weight: 13.78 lbs.

Joe McDevitt & Tom Acree, 2-Day Total No. Fish: 10, 2-Day Total Weight: 13.45 lbs.

Bobby Moore & J. P. Twohig, 2-Day Total No. Fish: 9, 2-Day Total Weight: 12.22 lbs.

Jeremy Gatewood, 2-Day Total No. Fish: 9, 2-Day Total Weight: 11.87 lbs.

Al Lemieux, 2-Day Total No. Fish: 9, 2-Day Total Weight: 11.26 lbs.

Duane Kessel, 2-Day Total No. Fish: 6, 2-Day Total Weight: 11.15 lbs.

Bob Glass & Randy Conkle, 2-Day Total No. Fish: 7, 2-Day Total Weight: 9.68 lbs.

Paul Celentano & Ken Testorff, 2-Day Total No. Fish: 7, 2-Day Total Weight: 9.34 lbs.

Steve Bailey, 2-Day Total No. Fish: 3, 2-Day Total Weight: 3.70 lbs.

Jim Bauer, 2-Day Total No. Fish: 0, 2-Day Total Weight: 0 lbs.

Skip Schaible, 2-Day Total No. Fish: 0, 2-Day Total Weight: 0 lbs.

 

Tourney Big Fish Winner

 



Duane Kessel
3.67-lb. Bass

 

Big Fish Runners-Up

 

Bob Glass & Randy Conkle, 3.23-lb. Bass

Al & Chris Napier, 2.99-lb. Bass

John Matyiko & Mark Cable, 2.93-lb. Bass

Wayne Hayes & Gary Coderre, 2.32-lb. Bass

Bobby Moore & J. P. Twohig, 2.15-lb. Bass

Joe McDevitt & Tom Acree, 1.79-lb. Bass

Jeremy Gatewood, 1.73-lb. Bass

Al Lemieux, 1.65-lb. Bass

Steve Bailey, 1.33-lb. Bass

Mark London, No Big Bass

Paul Celentano & Ken Testorff, No Big Bass

Jim Bauer, No. Big Bass

Skip Schaible, No Big Bass

 

Seasonal Lunker Winner 

 

Bob Glass
5.71-lb. Bass
Caught 7-14-2012

 

Classic Tourney Stats

 

 2-Day No. Fish Weighed: 97 (Day 1: 52, Day 2: 45)

2-Day Total Weight: 144.77 lbs. (Day 1: 80.08 lbs., Day 2: 64.69 lbs.)

2-Day Average Fish Weight: 1.4 lbs.

 

Year-to-Date Tourney Stats

 

No. Fish Weighed: 862

Total Weight: 1,567.34 lbs.

Average Fish Weight: 1.8 lbs. 

 

Miscellaneous Classic Tourney Photos

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Classic Cookout Photos

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It has been a very good fishing year--we've caught a lot of bass and logged numbers unlike any in previous years. None of these accomplishments would have been possible without the direction and assistance of our friend and mentor, Dewey Mullins, who runs West Neck Marina. In case you don't know, Dewey is the gentleman on the right in the last two photos directly above. Seated next to him is his long-time good friend, Marvin Warren. It's been a privilege working with you these past couple of years, Dewey. I feel sure I speak for all the tourney anglers when I say, "Thank you for everything."