Looks Like I'd Eventually Learn My Lesson

On what at least seems like one occasion each spring, I either have a guy on my back seat or come across someone on the water who beats me into submission with a Pop-R. Yesterday was no exception.

I "drew first blood" yesterday morning with a Bang-O-Lure. But after putting two fish in the boat and missing a couple of strikes with this lure, I only could watch my partner, Rob, put on a clinic with his Pop-R. He may have forgotten a similar tourney incident last year, but I haven't. I can't count the number of times the same thing has happened to me over the years.

Don't get me wrong. I wasn't upset he was putting fish after fish in the boat because, after all, we were fishing as partners. It's just frustrating that my topwater choice always seems to produce but for a short spell, while the Pop-R invariably "keeps on keeping on"--just like the Energizer Bunny.

Even after I finally throw in the towel and break out a Pop-R, I always wrinkle a few eyebrows with my usual choice of colors. You see, I normally grab a pink one, but there's a good reason for that choice, too.

One spring several years ago, I had a fella named Mike on my back seat, and just like Rob yesterday, he buried the barbs on bass after bass that day with his pink Pop-R. It was that demonstration which sent me scurrying to develop my own stash of the lure, and I still keep a few on hand. I have other colors, too, but the pink nearly always is my first choice. It accounted for four of my fish yesterday, plus a couple of misses.

Maybe one of these days I'll make the Pop-R my go-to bait for topwater bassin' in the spring. It's not like I need any more justification for such a switch.

On a different topic, remember my blog account the other day about absent-mindedly leaving my wallet on the back of the boat while towing it down the road? Had an email earlier today from my buddy, Charlie, who told me about his own wallet experience.

A couple years ago, he noticed his was missing while fishing the oxbow across from the old Captain George's. Said Charlie, "I paddled for miles, retracing my path, looking for the wallet. It was in a watertight case, so I figured I'd find it floating some place, but that never happened."

There was an urgency to Charlie's search. He was supposed to board a plane in three days, bound for Europe, and he knew he would have problems without an ID.

With no sign of the case, Charlie eventually gave up and returned to his car to load the kayak. It was then that he found the case with his wallet on the car's roof, along with a note from a young man saying he had found the case on the bank, knew Charlie, and recognized his car from the blog.

"I think that young man was like 18 or so," said Charlie. "I offered to take him out to dinner, but he declined. We exchanged several emails for a few months, but I then lost track of him. It's sure nice to know there still are some great, honest folks out there," he concluded.

I second that, Charlie. Thanks for sharing.