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.