Saw a Lot of Dead Bluegill Today...

And heard a couple of splashes, too, but that was the extent of my interaction with any fish today.

My day began with a bit of a surprise, in that the water didn't come back as much last night as I had thought it would. It was coming in at a rate of about a tenth of a foot every hour when I left the marina yesterday about 2:30 but had to have slowed dramatically overnight because the level stood at slightly less than 2.3 feet when I launched this morning. As a result, I had to bump my brakes two or three times to get the boat off the trailer. I wasn't worried, 'cause I knew the level would be rising all day. Nevertheless, I kept a close eye--I didn't want any more surprises.

I watched the water temperature move as high as 58 degrees from a low of 43 this morning when I started. I stayed in West Neck until about 11 o'clock, then ran to the grain canal. From there, I moved to the Pungo Ferry Bridge and ended my day fishing stretches of Albright's all the way from the mouth on the oxbow back through the cut-through. In all that time, I went through a series of crankbaits, jerkbaits, chatterbaits and Senkos without ever feeling anything that even resembled a strike.

A kayaker (not Charlie) launched right behind me this morning, but that was it for anglers today. In talking to Jane in the marina store this afternoon when I came in, I learned that all the bank fishermen using live bait also had drawn blanks for their efforts, except for one gentleman who landed a small pickerel. So once again, I felt like I had been in good--albeit disappointed--company today.

I didn't see any fish belly up in my travels today, other than the bluegill, and don't really have a clue what that might be all about. As for the water quality, it overall was better than I expected. I did run across a few really muddy areas, but by and large, I thought the clarity was fairly decent. As I told my buddy, Rob, in an earlier phone conversation, I think, on a scale of 1 to 10, I'd have to put the overall conditions at a 6 or 7.

With any luck, there'll be no degradation in conditions between now and Saturday morning, when we launch the new season of the Dewey Mullins Memorial Bass Tourney Series. I'm certainly keeping my fingers crossed.