Everybody Seems to be Catching Fish

Proving that a furlough isn't altogether bad, Charles Murdock holds up a 2-lb. 3-oz. bass that he caught in West Neck Creek yesterday. "It (the furlough) has given me time to catch up on my favorite hobby," he told me in today's accompanying email. "I've been fishing all week"--twice yesterday, he added in a phone conversation with me this evening.

Charles' email also noted that he caught two more bass yesterday, weighing 1.1 and 1.2. Rounding out his day on the water were two stripers that tipped the scales at 1.6 and 1.7.

In closing his email, Charles thanked me for my blog, saying, "It has made me a better fisherman. May God bless you for all that you are doing."

I sincerely appreciate your kind words, Charles, and as discussed during our earlier phone conversation, I'll be looking forward to all your future fishing reports. Inputs like yours always are welcome. "The more the merrier" is my motto.

Rob Powell also sent me a report on his trip today. He launched at 7:30 this morning and, by 9:40, had boated his first keeper. A bit later, while fishing the east bank of West Neck Creek, he found a spot that was strange in the respect that it lacked cover. However, he had a big fish break him off while working that spot. He quickly retied and nailed a small keeper, plus a dink and a huge mullet. "I caught two of those things (mullet) today," he said.

Sticking to his usual habit, Rob stayed on the east bank until he reached marker No. 6, then crossed to the other side. The "all-day steady action" he described resulted in a total of seven keepers, with his five best weighing 3 lbs. (pictured here), 2 lbs., 1-13, 1-7, and 1-4. He also lost another fish that he estimated at 2 lbs. Said Rob, "The problem here was a handling error on my part."

All of Rob's fish fell for a 4.5-inch Roboworm in pumpkin punisher color. Incidentally, he Texas-rigs these baits and uses a 1/8-oz. pegged weight. "I've caught more fish on this bait this year than all the others put together," he explained.

The final report here today is a digest of my day on the water. The fish you see here is one of the two 1-5 bass that I boated. My other three keepers included one that weighed in at 1-3, one at 1-1,  and one at 1-0. Besides the five keeper bass, I had four dinks, plus two stripers and one pickerel.

My only successful lure this morning was a Bandit Footloose in an out-of-production color (chartreuse with a gray back and an orange belly). That bite lasted until about 11 o'clock, when I shifted to a Bomber Square A in a honey-mustard color and continued catching fish. I lost a couple nice fish today when they hung me up en route to the boat. My line didn't break--the fish just ran into some wood and pulled off.

Weather-wise, it was another one of those days that was nearly picture-perfect. Any day that I don't have to wear out the trolling motor is a good day, and this was one of those.

Until next time, "Tight Lines!"