Fishing on Gaston Still Oh So Slow

That's the two-day report I just got from Jim Bauer (right). After getting a late start yesterday, he headed to the back of Pea Hill Creek, hoping not to find as much grass as was there on his trip to the same spot on 9/11/01. To his chagrin, it was choked with grass. He tossed a couple of topwaters for a spell, with no luck, then moved to another cove, with the same results. By 2:30, he only had managed to land a couple of dinks, so he decided to take a break from both the fishing and the searing sun.

He headed back out at 5:30 and quickly picked up one keeper that went just a whisker over a pound. Before calling it a day at 7:30, he got to "look" at two good fish. The first, said Jim, "was at least 4 lbs. I stuck her, only to watch her go airborne and toss the hook." Less than 10 minutes later, the same thing happened again with a fish that would have gone about 2 lbs. "Frustrating" doesn't even begin to describe how Jim feels, given the luck he has had so far.

Today's fishing was highlighted by this bass that weighed in at 2.12 lbs. He caught it in the same cove where he boated a 6.5 just last fall. "She really wanted the French fry," said Jim. He feels pretty certain the same fish had missed the bait about 10 minutes earlier. He also managed to put three dinks in the boat by 1 o'clock, when he again decided to head in and get out of the heat and wind for a spell.

Jim returned to the water this evening but only picked up one more dink before hearing boomers starting in the distance. He hurried back to the boat dock, tied up the boat, then hot-footed it to the house. "We had a pretty good light show, with a bit of rain," he said.

Jim ended his email today by reminding me that he only has "one more day to find bubba" before wrapping everything up and heading back home. I wish you the very best, my friend and shipmate.