"Today Certainly Beat Painting"

That was Jerry's comment to me today, just moments after he had come off the water. He explained that, after spending the previous six workdays painting at his church, he simply couldn't bring himself to pick up a brush again today. Instead, he picked up his fishing rod and tacklebox and headed to West Neck Marina.

Having launched at 6:45 this morning, Jerry said, "I had 10 bass in the boat by 9 a.m." He boated another five bass in the next hour. "From 10 to 11:15 a.m.," he then added, "I couldn't buy a hit, so I called it a day."

Jerry told me in an email subsequent to our face-to-face conversation that his camera "was nothing more than dead weight today," with just one fish reaching the 14-inch mark on his golden rule. "All my fish were caught on a watermelon fluke."

I'm only guessing here, but I think Jerry may have momentarily forgotten he was fishing Virginia waters. Today was his first trip this side of the border with North Carolina in several weeks, so it's understandable he might have forgotten he only needed a 12-inch fish today to be legal--and, therefore, as far as I'm concerned, "camera-worthy."

While fishing "up north" seemed to be a winning ticket today, the same couldn't be said for the angling "down south." Charlie told me he only boated four bass down in the Alton's Creek Oxbow. His best bass weighed in at 1-8. However, he also caught a 2-0 pickerel and a couple of gar. As I just told Charlie in an email, though, I'm sure he'll bounce back with style--he always does.