Hook, Line & Sinker...

I received an email earlier today, in which the writer took exception with my practice of photographing bass on the deck of a boat. He quoted chapter and verse from "Keeping Bass Alive - A Guidebook for Tournament Anglers and Organizers," noting that such a practice removes the protective slime as a barrier to disease and adds more stress to the fish. He went on to say, "They know that a fish that lays on carpet will die later (due) to disease."

Accordingly, I'm suspending the use of such personal photos (I'll use whatever others send me, though) in future posts. I'm using the photos I took of my catch today, too, but it'll be the last time. I also will be looking for alternatives. [Be sure to read the epilog at the end of this article.]

That said, I'll move on to an email report of the success Chris Fretard had today in West Neck. He originally planned to fish Blackwater Creek, but when he saw the color of the water (cafe au lait), he headed to West Neck. He put in at 11 o'clock and, in his words, "had non-stop action through 5 p.m. I must have caught 30--half of them bass and the remaining pickerel."

Chris started at the bridge and worked his way down to the duck blind all the way in the back of the creek. "The worm still received no respect, with only a few taps," he said. "Those that did tap would drop it." He also tried a crankbait and spinnerbait, to no avail, so then he tied on a Smithwick Rattlin' Rogue, "and it was game over.

"I was catching a fish every 5-10 minutes and had a few back-to-back hookups. I found success by twitching the Rogue parallel to the 2-to-3-foot breakline. The warmer the water got, the more violent they wanted the bait twitched."

Chris said his average bass size was 11 to 14 inches. His biggest (the middle fish) weighed 4-4. This fish hit in about a foot of water--moments after he realized he hadn't swiveled his fishfinder so he could see it. He fixed that and took just one crank on his reel when she took the bait. He figures she probably had been eying his lure while he played with the fishfinder. Chris also boated a 2-4 (top fish) and the keeper in the bottom photo.

"When the clouds arrived at 2:30, the bite stopped," said Chris. Guess it's a good thing that was the same time I quit for the day.

I have to admit I was a little surprised when I turned into the West Neck parking lot this morning and didn't see another vehicle. I was betting that, with the warmer temperatures, "everybody and their uncle" would be taking advantage of the nice weather. Moments before I was ready to launch this morning, another vehicle finally did arrive, and the fella was busy getting his johnboat rigged as I passed him, en route to the ramp.

My first stop this morning was "Charlie's Point." He happened onto it by accident some time back and only recently shared it with me. I worked the area for about a half-hour before a fish--the top one in this column--hit my Bandit crankbait from yesterday. It was one of the strangest bites I've ever had. When I felt the first tap, I set the hook, and for just a moment, I felt the fish. Then, my line went slack before I felt another tap. I set the hook again, and this time, the fish started taking drag. I'd work him toward the boat, only to have him make another run and take more drag. When I did get him to the boat, where I could see him, the only thing visible was his tail--a good sized one, at that. I grabbed the net and slid it under the fish and saw why the battle had gone down as it did. The fish was hooked in the tail. My theory is that I first hooked the fish in the mouth, and then as he spit the hook and was trying to get away, he slapped the bait with his tail, and that's when I set the hook the second time. My scales registered him at 3-9.

After working the point a while longer without any more hits, I circled to the other side of the creek and hadn't made but a dozen casts or so with the chatterbait from yesterday, in the same area as where I caught the 3-3 yesterday, and another nice fish stopped my bait--the second one in this column. He weighed in at 3-5.

I then caught a couple of dinks on the Bandit before switching back to the chatterbait and boating the last two fish in this column: a 1-15 and a 2-1.

The last email I received today was from Skip Schaible--the official AWNCWW. If you can't figure out this acronym, it stands for Assistant West Neck Creek Water Watcher. Skip told me he had been by the marina late this afternoon and found the water up to about 4 or 5 feet above the joint in the ramp. That's exactly what I noticed when I came in off the water this afternoon. I saw some northeast winds 10-15 predicted for tomorrow when I watched this evening's forecast, so that level undoubtedly will drop. If it comes back out of the southeast on Friday, as the weatherman also predicted, everyone should be able to launch OK through the weekend.

Epilog: After some careful thought and online research, I think I may have found a way to reduce the stress on any bass I catch in the future. I'll try to leave the fish in my rubber net, with the net resting on the water's surface, do a quick photograph, unhook the fish with pliers, get his weight, and let him swim out of the net, or just turn the net over and dump him out. With any luck, I'll never have to touch the fish with my hands, nor bring him inside the boat. It'll probably take some time getting used to this new method, but I think it'll work, and, too, all the critics should be satisfied.