Getting Back to My Roots

Some of my fondest childhood memories are bass-fishing trips I made to local Oswego, Kansas, farm ponds with my dad and brother. And as I was making my way around a pond today, I had a lot of flashbacks to those earlier days. It almost was like Pop and my brother still were there with me.

I have to be honest--I can't claim credit for the idea of finding a pond to fish today. It was the culmination of being tired of sitting home, listening to the northeast winds blow and receiving an email from a friend the other day, telling me about a trip he had made to a pond. Suddenly, I remembered that I know someone in the area who has a pond on his property, so I called him this morning and got permission to fish there a couple hours this afternoon.

And, as luck would have it, while I was making my way around the pond this afternoon, another friend happened by and stopped to invite me to fish his pond down the road a ways. So now, I have a couple ponds I can fish anytime I want, with only two provisions attached: (1) that I release everything I catch, and (2) that I don't tell any of my friends where I'm fishing. As the star of Hunter, an old TV detective show, used to say, "Works for me."

It wasn't more than 15 minutes after I parked my van and got out a rod this afternoon that a bass snatched my spinnerbait and scratched the itch I've had for days now. He easily would have gone about a pound and three-quarters. I just had unhooked and released him when the owner showed up to talk a spell. Our conversation just was winding down, when a big 'un leaped clear of the water on the far side. I quickly took my leave and headed that way to see if I could get the attention of that fish. As it turned out, I didn't have anything in my box that would fool him, but you can be certain I'll be back for another go in the not-too-distant future.

The owner told me he caught one back in early spring that weighed more than 9 lbs., and he assured me there are others pretty close to the same weight still swimming in the pond. I look forward to finding at least one of those, as well as some of the nice resident fish in the other man's pond down the road.

Best of all, I can travel light, there aren't likely to be a lot of other anglers in my way, and I won't have a boat with a scum line to clean up at day's end. I hardly can wait to see what this coming fall holds in store for me.

Finally--There's a Topwater Bite

That's the report I got from various anglers among the 17 who participated in today's contest. I launched all 12 boats about 6:30 a..m., and we weighed in at 2:30 p.m.

Winners of this next-to-last regular tourney of the current season were as follows:

1st Place, the team of (from left) Rob Peppers and Don Carter, five bass, 12.67 lbs. total weight, no big fish.

2nd Place, the team of (from left) Bob Glass and Randy Conkle, five bass, 11.11 lbs. total weight, 4.12-lb. big fish.

3rd Place, Mike Evans, five bass, 10.56 lbs. total weight, no big fish.

Lunker Award winners, Marjorie Gottsch and her husband, Nathan (not pictured), who weighed a 4.97-lb. bass. Total weight for their three fish was 8.33 lbs.

Mystery Weight winner was yours truly, with a three-fish total weight of 3.51 lbs., which was closest to the weight drawn of 2.35 lbs.








Here is how all the other contestants finished the day:

     * Chris Fretard, five bass, 9.67 lbs. total weight, 4.12-lb. big fish.
     * Gary Coderre, five bass, 9.19 lbs. total weight, no big fish.
     * Wayne Hayes, five bass, 9.13 lbs. total weight, no big fish.
     * The team of Ronnie and Chandler McLaughlin, five bass, 7.19 lbs. total weight, no big fish.
     * Steve Bailey, Tom Acree, and the team of Jesse Milligan and Bobby Moore didn't weigh any fish.

Overall, today's anglers weighed a total of 41 bass for a total weight of 81.36 lbs. The average weight was 1.98 lbs.

Two more competitors joined the 29 already qualified to fish our season-ending two-day Classic. Those two new ones are Tom Acree and Chandler McLaughlin.

Congrats to all the winners and thanks to everyone who came out to participate. For planning purposes, our final regular-season event is scheduled for next Saturday, Sept. 26th, from safe light (about 6:30 or 6:40 a.m.) to approximately 2:30 p.m. Registration will close about 6:15 a.m. Running lights will be required until official sunrise at 6:55 a.m. Those who don't have running lights or they don't work will have to stay on the trolling motor until that time.

I was happy to see a topwater bite develop this morning, even though all the fish I caught with my Pop-R were only running 10 and 11 inches. I had five in that range by mid-morning, after spending time in both West Neck and Pocaty.

It wasn't until I decided to check out the front end of Albright's that I found a few keepers. Two of those fish fell for my spinnerbait, and another went for my shallow-running Scatter Rap.

Duck season evidently started today. I say that because we were sharing the ramp at oh-dark-30 this morning with some fellas dressed in camouflage. And, of course, deer season kicks off next month, so it will behoove all of us fishermen to remain alert as we head into our out-of-the-way honey holes from this point forward. I speak from experience when I say that duck hunters don't take kindly to a bass fisherman running through a bunch of their decoys.

An Old Friend Saved My Day

And that old friend was none other than Pocaty, which I've largely been ignoring for a good spell now.

As I headed out of West Neck this morning, I turned south, bound for Milldam. I completely missed the entrance to start with, which should have been a signal to alter my plans. My hardheadedness wouldn't allow that, though. Instead, I aligned myself with the boat ramp at Munden Point and quickly found the entrance.

I ran to the back and started fishing all the wood I could find, but after three hours, my only achievement was in spooking a few fish. Having gone through all my regular starting arsenal without a single strike, I decided to run back north. In hindsight, I realized that the water level was too low to be fishing that area this morning.

I stayed on the hotfoot until I approached Pocaty and decided to at least check out the water color there. To my complete surprise, it was the best looking water I've seen in several recent outings, so I shut down the gas motor, threw over the trolling motor, and started fishing. I soon was feeling some bream hits, which was sufficient motivation to keep moving.

I ultimately boated a striper that was about 14 or 15 inches long, as well as two largemouth. My best was the 1-5 pictured here; the other one weighed 1-3. Once again, the only bait that worked for me was a white spinnerbait. A worm, crankbait, topwater, and Johnson spoon did absolutely nothing for me.

I've been fishing the North Landing for a lot of years, but never in all that time have I come across what I saw today. While heading south this morning, there were two tugboats that had pinned (with engines running) their respective barges against the shoreline beyond the Pungo Ferry Bridge. One had its barge pushed against the shoreline at the oxbow on the left after you pass the bridge. The other tug had its load pinned against the opposite shoreline a short ways this side of the entrance to Blackwater. More interesting was the fact these vessels still were in the same position, with their engines running, as I headed back north more than three hours later. I don't have a clue what was going on, unless perhaps they were trying to avoid grounding.

[UPDATE: I think my pal, Charlie, may have solved this puzzle about the tugs and their barges. He went to Blackwater yesterday and to Indian Creek Monday, and both times, North Landing Road to the draw bridge was closed in the afternoon. The draw was stuck open. "I'll bet the barges were on hold, waiting for the repairs to get done," he offered.]

The one nagging question I have about the fishing is this: What has happened to the topwater bite? I haven't talked to a soul who has been having much, if any, luck with their topwater baits.

Had an email from Jim down on Gaston this evening. It opened thus: "I fished my butt off today, and all I got for my effort was two super dinks. One little dude wasn't much more than 6 inches long; the other was just a bit bigger. I threw everything but the kitchen sink."

If you remember, I mentioned earlier that Jim had had some problems upon his arrival at Gaston that had him considering just turning around and coming home. He worked past those obstacles, but it seems Murphy's Law may once again be rearing its ugly head. He was running down the lake this afternoon when his Yamaha started missing.

"Not noticeable on the tach," he said, "but I could feel it--just what I didn't need."

If you recall, it wasn't all that long ago that his outboard had a "big bang." Said Jim, "I'm sure not looking for another one."

He summed up today's note like this: "Dang shame the weather is great, but the fishing sucks."

Here's wishing you better luck for the rest of the week, my friend.

Everybody Is Catching a Few

That's the bottom line this evening, as it relates to three different anglers. Those anglers include Jim Bauer, "Doc" Murdock, and yours truly.

Jim is spending another week on Lake Gaston. Without getting into the specifics, suffice it to say this trip got off on the wrong foot this past Sunday, and for a spell, Jim wasn't sure but what he might just cut his trip short and come home. Two and a half hours on the water that first day yielded only three bass, including a 1-3 and two dinks. He also lost one right at the boat.

Monday, however, Jim was singing a slightly different tune, primarily as a result of boating the nice 4-8 in the accompanying picture.

"I had tossed a worm, two different crawfish, and a swimbait, and all I had to show for it was a dink," he explained. "So 'bout 2 o'clock, I broke out a French fry, and on the second cast, this big girl ate it. She had me sweating because she went airborne several times, plus ran under the boat before I finally got her in the net."

Jim called it a day after two hours and headed back to his rented quarters to find some relief for his tired, aching shoulder and elbow.

Today was another abbreviated fishing day for him after failing to hear the alarm this morning, coupled with having to make a run to Food Lion for some rolls to replace some that, in his words, "had come down with the 'blue fuzzies.'" It was 4 o'clock this afternoon before he got on the water, and when he quit about three hours later, he only had located a couple of dinks. "I also had a few bream teasing me," he added.

"Doc" made his way to the north side of the West Neck Bridge first thing this morning and soon boated this 2-7. As I learned in a later discussion with him, he often scores with a fish or two from this area when he's on the water.

"Doc" was using this swim jig when he caught the 2-7, his only fish of the day. He wrapped things up and headed to the ramp once the coolness of the morning air disappeared.

My day in West Neck started slowly. I spent an hour or so tossing a Spro frog and a Bang-O-Lure, with absolutely no interest whatever shown either one. Of course, part of the problem was that I couldn't keep the Bang-O-Lure in the water. Instead, "it" was finding every limb, stump and you-name-it in the creek.

When I had tired of having to go get the Bang-O-Lure, I started alternating among a Johnson Silver Minnow, a Rapala Scatter Rap, and a curly-tail worm. I had no problem keeping these baits in the water, but it made no difference, because, again, I couldn't buy a strike.

At that point, I picked up my favorite white spinnerbait and went to work. This hump-backed dink at right was one of the first bass I boated. Before the day was over, I would catch one more that could have passed as a twin to this one. It's a bit unusual--for me, at least--to land two of these hump-backs in the same day. Makes me wonder if other anglers are running across more like these in their angling pursuits.

My total on the day was four dinks and this 2-2. I caught everything on the same white spinnerbait and missed about three more fish that swirled at it but didn't take it. Incidentally, this 2-2 had a distinctly bloody tail.

My plan at the moment is to try and drag my fanny out of the sack in the morning  and hit the water again. Don't know for sure yet where I'll be going, but the odds are that it'll be somewhere south of West Neck. I like to stretch the boat out a little bit, especially now that I seem to be past all those annoying overheat alarms.

Threatening Skies Didn't Dampen Spirits

When I gave the "go" signal this morning, the dark skies made it seem like a downpour was imminent. However, as it turned out, the day passed with only a couple of sprinkles reported by the 14 anglers in nine boats.

Those who went home with a pay envelope today were as follows:

1st Place, the team of (from left) Red Bruun and Al Napier, five bass, 11.96 lbs. total weight, 3.36-lb. big fish.

2nd Place, the team of (from left) Randy Conkle and Bob Glass, five bass, 11.29 lbs. total weight, 3.86-lb big fish (today's lunker), caught by Bob.

Mystery Weight Winners, the team of (from left) Mitch Portervint and Skip Schaible. They had three bass for 5.56 lbs. total weight, which was closest to the weight drawn of 3.40 lbs. Their big fish weighed 2.74 lbs.




Here is how everyone else finished the day:

     * The team of Gary Coderre and Lenny Hall, five bass, 10.18 lbs. total weight, 3.35-lb. big fish.
     * Ashley Bishop, five bass, 8.86 lbs. total weight, 3.53-lb. big fish.
     * Steve Bailey, five bass, 7.38 lbs. total weight after 0.25 deduction for one dead fish, 2.72-lb. big fish.
     * The team of Jesse Milligan and Bobby Moore, five bass, 6.99 lbs. total weight, no big fish.
     * Wayne Hayes and Ken Testorff chose not to weigh their fish.

Overall, anglers weighed a total of 33 bass for a total weight of 62.22 lbs. The average weight was 1.88 lbs.

One more contestant became eligible to participate in our season-ending two-day Classic tournament. Jesse Milligan joined these 28 other qualified anglers: Chris Fretard, Al Napier, Jared Allbritten, Wayne Hayes, Mitch Portervint, Skip Schaible, Rob Chatham, Ken Testorff, Paul Celentano, Sid Ryan, Randy Conkle, Bob Glass, Steve Bailey, Ronnie McLaughlin, Gary Coderre, Chris Napier, Jim Wilder, Jake Milligan, Jim Bauer, Rob Peppers, Don Carter, Mike Miller, Chris Vitovich, Lenny Hall, Nathan Gottsch, Marjorie Gottsch, Duane Kessel, and John Matyiko.

Congrats to all of today's winners and thanks to everyone who came out to participate. For planning purposes, our next event is scheduled for next Saturday, Sept. 19th, from safe light (about 6:20 or 6:30) to 2:30 p.m. I hope you can join us.

There are only two things positive I can say about my day. First, I once again dodged a skunk. And secondly, the lone fish I boated came on a hollow-bodied Spro frog. The fish initially blew up on the bait but missed. Then he came back, sucked it in, and started swimming off with the frog--not exactly what I was expecting.

I hooked two other bass on the same frog this morning, but both went airborne after I set the hook and, to my chagrin, gained their freedom. I also had the same result this afternoon while fishing a curly-tail worm. I had pitched the worm up to the base of a cypress tree, saw it moving off against the wind, and set the hook, but the fish was gone after just one leap.

I was one of several who thanked all the weather dudes for those "5-to-10 mph" winds they predicted today. Of course, they also were calling for a 60-percent chance of showers and/or thunderstorms when we shoved off this morning. As we all know, you'll be sitting home a lot of otherwise nice days if you plan your fishing trips around their forecasts. If you have a day off, just go--that's my advice.

Took a Ride Down Nanney's Creek Today

At the boat's helm was my friend, Chris Vitovich (left), who had invited me along today for a few hours of fishing an area I haven't been in for a mighty long time.

We got an early start, hoping for a little topwater action, but that was not to be--not where we were looking, at least. After a couple of stops, Chris said he knew where we probably could make something happen, and it was then that we entered Nanney's Creek.

Once we got to what Chris described as his "favorite area" of the whole creek, things indeed started happening. In no time, he was swinging fish over the side of the boat, and I eventually managed a couple of my own. The tally for the day was somewhere around 12 or 13 bass for Chris, including 6 or 7 keepers. He also caught a couple of catfish and one grindle--the latter of which he released from the side. "Those things don't come in my boat," he said, which is the same way I feel about those toothy critters.

I managed to put two fish in the boat, both of which were keepers. We didn't weigh any of our fish, but all the tournament-sized bass for both of us would have gone between 1.5 and 2 lbs. They nearly were the spittin' image of one another. The bait Chris used was a black finesse worm. My choice was a magnum-sized curly-tail worm in junebug red.

It didn't take long for both of us to realize we would have to keep one eye open for snakes today. They seemed to be everywhere we looked, and none of 'em were what I would describe as "little fellers."

All in all, it was a most enjoyable day, and we agreed on parting to have some more outings together down the road. I'll likely show Chris one of my favorite spots on the next trip.

I failed to mention one point while writing this post last evening. As I was putting together a scaled-down tackle bag for the Back Bay trip, I came across some stuff I long had forgotten I even had. So while I was throwing things in the tackle bag, I also was creating another stack of things to sort through later. Bottom line: I now have an expanded bag of soft plastics. The one I had been using just wouldn't hold all the stuff in my pile, no matter how much I crammed. There are three old tackle boxes and bags I still haven't opened for a long spell--and likely won't, given what already has happened.

A Reminder to Stay Safe This Labor Day Weekend

When I arrived at the ramp from my fishing day yesterday, there was what looked to be a rather new pleasure boat, likely purchased from Bass Pro Shops, getting ready to head out on the water. The occupants included, to the best of my recollection, an adult and at least three exuberant young boys. I waited off in the distance while they made final preparations to get underway. Then, as they approached my holding position, the adult looked my way and asked, "Am I supposed to stay between the markers?"

I answered with a simple "yes," but I couldn't help wondering about the experience level of this adult, who was taking responsibility for so many young lives. I wondered if he ever had completed a boating-safety course, or for that matter, even had reviewed a list of Coast Guard boating-safety instructions.

It's no secret that the country's waterways really heat up over the Labor Day weekend, as many boaters take advantage of the last holiday weekend of summer. Accordingly, legendary pro angler Shaw Grigsby (right) was asked to be spokesperson for this year's Wear It! annual boating-safety campaign. This campaign is designed to make sure everyone on board is wearing a life jacket and boats responsibly.

As Grigsby reminded, "It only takes a moment for an accident to occur."

A professional angler for 35 years, Grigsby is a Bassmaster Elite Series Angler, finishing within the top 10 places 59 times and bringing home first place in nine Bassmaster tournaments. Weekly, he shares his love of fishing as the host of "One More Cast" on The Sportsman Channel. While serious about fishing, Grigsby always tells his viewers it's all about having fun while sharing his passion for the outdoors with others.

"We're honored to have Shaw's support of the campaign," said Rachel Johnson, executive director of the National Safe Boating Council, the lead organization of Wear It! The campaign is produced under a grant from the Sports Fish Restoration and Boating Trust Fund, administered by the U.S. Coast Guard.

Whether you're boating, fishing, paddling, or waterskiing, Wear It! offers these reminders:

     * Be sure everyone always wears a U.S. Coast Guard-approved life jacket and follows navigation rules.
     * Check the weather forecast before departing the dock, as weather conditions can change rapidly.
     * File a float plan with someone you trust, providing your vessel, passenger, destination and return details. Make sure that person will be staying ashore.
     * Don't rely on a cellphone to be your only source of communication in the event of an emergency. Consider carrying a DSC-VHF radio, Personal Locator Beacons worn on a life jacket, or an Emergency Position Indicating Beacon on board your boat. These devices can quickly notify rescuers that you are in distress and, with a properly registered DSC radio, even the nature of the distress.
     * Operating a boat under the influence of alcohol or drugs is deadly and illegal in every state. It's the reported cause of 21 percent of all boating fatalities.

For more boating safety tips, visit www.safeboatingcampaign.com.

Protected Pockets Along Windblown Grass Lines Was the Key Today

It took me until 12 noon to find this pattern, which didn't leave much time to catch numbers, but I nevertheless was pleased with the final tally, because it was the best I've seen in several trips. I finished the day with three white perch and three bass, including this 1-8, which was my best of the day. The other two weighed 1-6 and 1-7.

Having gotten on the water later than I wanted, I had a very narrow window in which to try getting a topwater bite going this morning. I was armed with the froggin' rod Wayne had loaned me, so I went straight to the hollow-body frog again. On about my fifth cast, I was working the frog about 2 feet in front of a stick up when a fish blew up on the bait, but I pulled the string too early and yanked the bait away from the fish. As a result, I'm still batting .000. I may never "master" the fundamentals to become a proficient frogger, but I'm dead set on becoming good enough to at least catch an occasional fish with the hollow-body frog.

My only productive lure today was once again a white spinnerbait. I also fished the Johnson Silver Minnow, an extra shallow-running crankbait, and a Ribbit-style frog without eliciting a single strike.

In a conversation I had with Jim while we were cleaning up our boats this afternoon, I learned he basically had repeated his results of Wednesday. He boated two crappie and a striper and had a bass hooked up until it decided to dive under the boat, at which point it pulled off. The 1-8 I boated managed to first wrap around my trolling motor, but as I lifted the motor from the water, the fish unwound itself, and I swung it over the side.

With the holiday upon us, neither Jim nor I have any plans to venture out in our boats this weekend. Business at West Neck already was picking up throughout the afternoon, so I can well imagine what it'll be like out there all the way through Monday. Besides, I have a date to hold down a friend's backseat on Back Bay Monday morning, so I'll have to put together a small box for that trip. That, a couple of rods, my lifejacket, and some bottled water probably should do the trick. It's been a lot of years since I was out there, so I'm truly looking forward to this outing.

Have New Bunks, Will Travel...

Thus sayeth my buddy with the handlebar mustache. As I learned in a late-night email from him, he had been to West Neck yesterday, stirring the same nasty-looking water I had found on Tuesday. "Had ugly brown crud on both sides of the boat," he noted.

The one noticeable difference was that he didn't encounter any of those dead fish I saw floating around the ramp when I came in Tuesday and evidently didn't smell any of them either, as I did at various spots along the creek.

The one similarity Jim experienced was a lack of cooperation from the fish. "I didn't have a strike or bump until close to 11 o'clock," he said. "Had a total of four fish: two crappie (one keeper), a 15-oz. bass, and a striper that weighed 1 lb. 14 ozs. Also lost a good bass that looked to weigh between 3 and 4 lbs. He snapped my 16-lb. fluorocarbon and hauled butt."

Jim caught both crappie and the striper at the bridge, and the bass that broke his line grabbed a worm. "Tossed a spinnerbait, crankbait, and topwater crank but got nothing," he added.

The water temp at launch time (about 8:30) was 80 degrees, compared to a reading of 87 when Jim quit about 1 o'clock.

He managed to get the boat cleaned up and just had headed out of the marina parking lot when the first shower out Pungo way hit. He saw several stretches of wet road then but encountered no more rain himself until after he arrived home and had gotten the cover on his boat.

Unfortunately, the rain wasn't his only concern. Once he got inside the house, he quickly realized he had some computer problems that required attention. He called his provider and got some help, but not before having to deal with a trying dose of language-barrier difficulties. Like me, Jim wants to know one thing: Why is it these things always happen when you're so tired all you really want to do is sit down in a chair and relax?

Letting the Numbers Do the Talking

Had an email yesterday from my friend and fellow blogger, Charlie, talking about the fact he had had "another miserable day" on the water. He had gone to Straight Creek, where, as he noted, "even the fly rod let me down."

Yesterday's trip marked the second consecutive one that Charlie had planned to skip doing a blog post about until one of his readers urged him to write it up. "We want to see the good, with the bad," she said.

When Charlie had finished the post, he decided to research his bass stats for the past few years. Here is what he found:

2012 (as of Sept. 1) - 514

2013 (as of Sept. 1) - 521

2014 (as of Sept. 1) - 399

2015 (as of Sept. 1) - 286

"At this rate, I'll end 2015 with 429," said Charlie. "Sure hope this current trend doesn't continue into 2016."

Here's how his full-year totals look when combining all species that he caught:

2010 - 553

2011 - 568

2012 - 866

2013 - 799

2014 - 627

"Looks like we were spoiled by the 2012 and 2013 numbers," continued Charlie. "Back in the mid- to late-1990s, I was an 'ultra light with a beetle spin aficionado' and once during that period had more than 1,500 bass, including, of course, a plethora of dinks. Than I switched to much larger baits, and the numbers dropped by more than half, but the quality of bass caught took a big jump.

"My best year for big bass was last year when I recorded 19 fish over 3 pounds. So far this year, I have only 3 in that range. My math tells me I should finish the year with 5, if I'm lucky," Charlie concluded.

There is a certain amount of irony in all of this because, earlier in the day, I had spent some time mulling over the possibility of a blog post along these same lines. It follows several recent conversations I've had with different anglers, some of whom are "pretty good sticks," but who currently are struggling somewhat.

Using the same years as Charlie researched for his bass totals, I checked our tourney stats and came up with the following numbers:

2012 (thru August) - 592 bass weighed, for a total of 1112.60 lbs.

2013 (thru August) - 522 bass weighed, for a total of 1040.89 lbs.

2014 (thru August) - 609 bass weighed, for a total of 1163.46 lbs.

2015 (thru August) - 539 bass weighed, for a total of 968.52 lbs.

Make what you will of these numbers. They're provided for informational purposes only. I'm no numbers analyst, so you won't get any grand predictions. The only personal goal I have for the rest of the year is to get a little bit closer to my 192 total from last year than the 130 bass I've caught to date. With any luck, the frog bite will turn on, and I'll clean up with it--and if you believe that, let me tell you about my oceanfront property for sale in Arizona.

Lures Sometimes Need a Little/Lot of Fine-Tuning... Or Not

"Patented in 1923, the Johnson Silver Minnow (like Charlie is removing from this toothy critter) is the 'Original Weedless Warrior.' Comes out clean and weed-free every time! Thirty-five-degree wobble rocks back and forth, but won't roll and twist line."

So says www.johnsonfishing.com, but I--and a lot of other learned fishermen, too--know better than to believe that claim in its entirety. Specifically, don't believe that the Silver Minnow won't roll and twist your line. I also would suggest that you not wholeheartedly swallow the idea that it's next to impossible to hang up one of these lures. I have chalked up as many as three hangups with my Silver Minnow during a single outing.

I only recently restored this lure to regular-use status, following a long hiatus. In that time, I had forgotten about the line-twist problem. I've since restored the "fix" I first found a lot of years ago: using a snap swivel with the bait. While not 100-percent effective, it's far better than tying directly to the lure or only using a snap. And if you happen to be fishing clear water, there are those who would advocate tying the swivel about a foot ahead of the bait and running a leader to the lure.

I'd venture to say the vast majority of anglers have encountered more than their fair share of lures that didn't entirely work as advertised--whether it be directly out of the box or otherwise. For example, I read about this fella who had bought a cheap topwater prop-bait, which had props that wouldn't turn, or the body at times would turn, instead.

He finally got so aggravated he removed the props and turned the lure into a Spook-type bait. Then, by using light line, he found he could make it walk just beneath the surface, somewhat like a Rapala Sub-Walk. "Turned out to be a great lure!" he exclaimed.

This same fella, though, one day met a young boy who invited him along to fish a neighbor's pond. It seems this boy had only one lure--a cheap knockoff crankbait that was so badly out of tune it just spun in tight circles on the retrieve. Before he could offer to tune the bait for the boy, though, he already had caught a nice bass--then another and another.

Noted the fella afterward, "He and that ridiculous plug caught more bass that morning than I did. Needless to say, I didn't 'fix' that problem. However, neither did I de-tune any of my own crankbaits."

As is usually true, there's a flip side to this story. Consider an account I was reading about an angler who was remembering a fishing experience from earlier days. It was one day in late August, and the then-teenage angler just had caught one of the biggest pike he'd ever seen on his favorite little balsa crankbait. In his words, the pike had "hammered my precious little cranker and literally torn it to shreds. To make matters worse, the big fish went absolutely ballistic in the landing net...," causing even more damage.

After retrieving the lure from the net-mesh tangle, he made a short cast to see how it would run. "It didn't," he said. "As soon as I began a retrieve, the lure rolled upside down and popped out of the water. I was done, or so I thought. My prize lure was history. Yet, just for kicks, I took a pair of pliers to the bait... straightening the hook hangers and forcing the wire frame back into place. I also made an effort to repair the facial cosmetics... .

"Admittedly, I was amazed when the badly battered lure resumed its tantalizing wobble. I also was surprised to see it running perfectly true... but would it still catch fish? It didn't take long to find out. A few casts later, I had another largemouth, then another and another... ."

I'm pretty sure I've told you, too, in a previous post about the floater crankbait I once had that developed a pinhole leak after considerable use. When you had fished it for 30 minutes or so, it would sink ever so slowly following a cast, rather than rest on the surface. I was about ready to toss it in the trash until one day, as I was watching it sink, a nice bass inhaled it. From then until the day I snagged it and had to break off, I caught a lot of fish, thanks to the flaw that had developed in the lure.

I feel it's pretty safe to assume the vast majority of fishermen want their lures to run true. However, I also see nothing wrong with trying something oddball on occasion. As Ralph Waldo Emerson once wrote, "All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make, the better." As evidenced here, there's always a few fish that will fall for both the true and the not-so-true. Tight Lines! to one and all.

What's Happened to the Creek?

That's the $64,000 question a couple of friends asked me today while we all were fishing West Neck Creek. I'm not sure what the answer is. However, you easily could get the impression the sun is setting on the creek--in more ways than one, albeit only temporarily, though, I'm sure.  Hence the reason I'm using this nice photo Skip sent me here a few weeks ago.

With the serious cloud cover that existed for most of the day, along with the fact there were abundant signs fish were moving all day, I would have bet you money there would be a topwater bite. I couldn't have been more wrong, though, at least by my results. I threw two different kinds of frogs, a Bang-O-Lure, and a Buzzjet Jr. without ever getting the first strike, and that included different stretches of the main creek, as well as a couple of coves.

Ralph and his son told me they picked up three bass on topwaters this morning in one of the coves but said their bite ended just as abruptly as it began, without either one getting another hit the rest of the day on anything.

When I talked to Bob, he said he had had one good strike in a cove and set the hook on something big but never got to see what it was. "Could have just been a big grindle, as far as I know," he lamented.

I also talked to Rob P. today after he came back to West Neck from Pocaty. His comment as he came alongside for a chat was, "Nothing happening over there, so I decided to see if I could find something here." Don't know how his or Bob's day ultimately turned out. Rob already had departed when I arrived at the ramp this afternoon, and Bob still was out fishing.

I certainly can't brag about my luck because my grand total was one 12-inch bass on a white spinnerbait. Also had one fish follow my Johnson Silver Minnow to the boat. As for my Bomber Square A, let's just say it "bombed out" totally today.

The only time my adrenaline stirred (I actually about jumped out of my hide) during the whole day was when a big bird smacked the water a short ways behind my boat, trying to catch his lunch. He flew away empty-clawed, though.

The best part of my day was the discussions I had on the water with Rob and Ralph about frog fishing--they both had read my earlier blog post about the same fish I missed three times the other day. Rob gave me some tips about the type rod I should be using and when to set the hook, while Ralph shared his philosophy about using only Ribbit-type frogs. He gave me a couple of the ones he routinely uses and wished me luck. Then later this evening, I met Wayne, and he, too, passed along a tip he employs with using hollow-bodied frogs. He also loaned me a "frog rod" to test the next time I'm on the water, which likely will be Friday.

As I indicated in my original post on this topic, I do plan to master this frog fishing, regardless of how long it takes. I just hope when I finally get hold of one, it's about the same size as the one in the picture Rob showed me today. It was a big 'un, and he had swallowed the "whole enchilada." Sends shivers up and down my spine just thinking about how it would feel to get hold of Bubba on a frog.