I Went With a Plan and Stuck to It

When I hit West Neck this morning, I had a plan of attack and stayed with it all day long. Fortunately, the plan worked--even better than I had hoped. I was going to fish topwater stuff until 9 o'clock this morning, then shift to soft plastic. My destination was Albright's.

This 2-13 was my biggest of the day. It was one of eight that I boated. Coupled with a 2-5, 1-10, 1-8 and 1-6, my best five combined weight totaled 9 lbs. 10 ozs.

I can't remember the last time I spent a day on the water without throwing some crankbaits and chatterbaits, but this was one of those days. I kept looking at the rods with those baits tied on all day but never picked up the first one.

Besides the eight that I boated, I lost a couple other fish en route to the boat. There also were a few occasions where the fish simply picked up the soft plastic by the tail, and it tore off in the hookset. After taking inventory when I arrived home this afternoon, I realized I need to make a trip to Dick's before I hit the water again.

Before the week is through, I also have to get with my local contact (acting on the buyer's behalf) and complete the sale of my SX-170. And, too, there are some things around the house needing my attention, so I'm guessing today will have been my only trip to the water this week. You can be certain, though, I'll be looking for a chance to get in a couple of trips next week to see if I can duplicate today's results with the same game plan.

My good friend Jim Bauer is back on Lake Gaston. He arrived there this past Saturday but, with all the weekend boat traffic, didn't venture out into the mainstream until most of the folks had packed it in and headed home. He did get out Sunday afternoon, though, for about three hours and managed to catch a couple fish--a dink and a 1-6--before calling it quits.

Then, on Monday evening, he got out again and boated this 2-3, along with a 1-10. Said Jim, "That 1-10 was an interesting catch. He picked up a worm off a post anchoring a swimming area. Then he went airborne and over the rope, so I had to let him take line before I could net him and cut the line to get free."

Jim spent four hours on the water yesterday but didn't put any fish in the boat. He missed a good one and saw some nice fish cruising, but that was the extent of his day's action. The weather was a big factor in his throwing in the towel early.

 "It was flat out ugly hot," he said. Rather than keep fighting those conditions, Jim returned to the comfort of his rented quarters and took a nap.