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.