Getting in My Licks One More Time Before I'm Grounded

When my dermatologist gets through with me tomorrow, he's already put me on notice that I should plan on being grounded for two weeks while waiting for the spot on the back of my hand to heal after he takes a knife to it. Accordingly, I wasn't about to pass up the chance to get out today and see if I could catch a few fish.

I wouldn't exactly say it was the kind of day you want to write home about, but I found it satisfying, even though I did struggle for much of the day. My best fish was the 2-4 in this photo. I also boated a 1-7 and two 12-inchers, plus a pickerel. There were a few missed strikes, as well.

Productive lures today were the Pop R and a Strike King 1XS (one of those custom-color jobs I had painted over the winter months).

There were about seven rigs in the West Neck parking lot this morning when I shoved away from the dock, but that number had dwindled to two by the time I came in this afternoon. I'm not sure if that means everyone went out and caught a bunch of fish early, or they just got tired and decided to quit early.

The bottom line here is that I'll be relying solely on the reports I get from others for the next couple of weeks, so send me those emails and photos. I'll be looking forward to getting them.