On a Gentleman's Handshake, We Agree Shootout Was a Draw

 

That seemed to be the best way to end our day of friendly competition yesterday--Charlie with his soft plastics, and me with my crankbaits.

En route to completing a circuit that included stops in Blackwater (Charlie's first trip there in two years), Albright's, and West Neck (in that order), Charlie caught a total of seven bass and the one striper pictured here--his first fish of the day. He also lost a couple of grindle at the boat, a fact that didn't seem to bother him all that much. As he explained to me, he's been losing a fair number of these "toothy critters" here lately because the hooks on his soft plastics fail to completely penetrate their tough mouths.

His best largemouth (pictured at right) weighed in at 1-8, and most of the others were only a few ounces off the same mark.

My tally, meanwhile, was three bass and three white perch. My best bass was a 3-14 (bottom right photo), which I hooked while using the same Bill Norman Thin N that yielded a 3-1 this past Monday.

The fish yesterday came off a wind-blown point in West Neck. As soon as he took a little drag, I asked Charlie to standby with the net, but it wasn't until I had a chance to get a look at him alongside the boat (he never showed himself otherwise) that I asked Charlie to go ahead and grab him for me.

In the final analysis, we figured numbers and size were of equal importance--hence, the reason for our decision just to call yesterday's contest a draw.

It didn't take very long for both of us to dispense with the threat of a skunk yesterday morning. Within moments of killing the gas motor and dropping the trolling motor over in the funky-to-downright-muddy Blackwater, I landed a 1-2 largemouth, and while I was getting it off the hook, I glanced up just in time to see Charlie wrestling what turned out to be the better-than-2-pound striper pictured above. We thought (hoped, actually) that this quick action might signal the start of a "stellar" day, but that wasn't to be the case.

Once we tired of looking at the yucky conditions in Blackwater, we decided to run to Albright's, where the water looked nicer, but that's about the only thing "positive" we could say for it. We fished a couple different stretches without anything happening, so we tied everything down and headed to West Neck, where the water clarity was the best we had all day. We began working an area that has proven to be productive for Rob and me on more than one occasion recently, and it didn't let Charlie and me down yesterday, either.

As luck would have it, though, and I'm not sure if Charlie captured the moment on video (you can check it out at http://vbfishguide.blogspot.com/), I managed to repeat a SNAFU like I've had with Rob a few times already. I reached back a bit too far while making a cast and snagged Charlie's line, creating one heckuva bird's nest in my baitcaster. I lifted my thumb clear of the spool the moment I felt resistance, thinking I probably had snagged Charlie's video camera. As you can imagine, braided line bubbled up on my spool about as fast as a container of Coke does if you try to open it right after it has been dropped. I took care of the matter during cleanup last evening as I usually do--breaking out the scissors and whacking away. As I explained to Charlie, the line was old and needed to be replaced anyway.

Eventually, I think I'll master this fishing-with-a-partner routine. I know a couple of people who probably are hoping it happens sooner, rather than later.

All in all, yesterday fulfilled everything Charlie and I had hoped for. We shared some laughs and caught a few fish in the process. What more could anyone want? Will there be repeat of our venture? We hope so. You'll have to stay tuned to find out, though.