Bass Breaks More Than a Boy's Rod

It also broke his heart. You see, the bass in question was big--and, believe me, this boy, Alex, knows "big," because he's already boated one that weighed 6-3 (the one he's holding in this photo), as well as one better than 4 and another better than 5.

The setting for this broken-rod episode was the first cove on the left after the West Neck Creek Bridge this past Friday evening. The water was high, and the bite was low. The only thing working was spinnerbaits. Ron and his son were fishing out of their kayaks when the boy suddenly hooked what he described as "his largest bass ever."

"It took a last dive, and when my son's pole (a Berkley baitcasting rod) hit the side of the kayak, it broke," said Ron. "Lost the fish. Poor kid was heartbroken, and I'm out $80."

Ron (pictured here with a 4-3 "personal best" bass that he caught July 16, 2015) and his teenage son have had their kayaks since last fall and love to fish, as evidenced by the fact they routinely wet a line on an average of 5 or 6 days a week.

As Ron explained, "Last fall, we tore up the inlets, chasing specks and puppy drum. This past summer, then, was freshwater intensive. Alex frequently nips over to Courthouse Estates retention ponds after school, too, where he seems to have good luck.

"We're still novices, just trying to figure it all out," added Ron. However, very few novices can claim the kind of success this dad and son have had. Young Alex, for example, already has scored multiple citations, starting with one for a 22-inch bass he caught in Blackwater Creek.

In describing that occasion, Ron said, "I was having a good day, with a small bass and a bowfin. Alex, meanwhile, was looking at a skunk. Then about 1200, while throwing a jig and pig to the base of a cypress tree, on our way back to Blackwater Trading Post, he landed the ugliest bass ever."

It was during a trip to Tecumseh a few months ago that Alex caught a 28-inch citation chain pickerel (the one in this photo). On the very next cast after getting that fish unhooked, he caught a 25-inch citation pickerel--"and here I have yet to break the 24-inch mark on a pickerel," noted Ron, adding, "I had one yesterday that was 23.5 inches."

And the citations don't end there, either. It seems that Alex also has picked up a few red drum citations while fishing from Sandbridge Pier, the same place where he landed two cobia on an otherwise uneventful morning. One of those fish measured 50 inches but fell shy of a citation by 5 lbs. Said Ron, "My biggest cobia wasn't even a keeper!"

This past summer found Ron and Alex getting a case of gar and bowfin fever. They landed some nice ones but want to figure out how to target the big boys. Alex, meanwhile, has acquired a taste for crappie, "so we're now trying to figure them out, as well," Ron added.

Thus far, the upper North Landing has been good to Ron and Alex. When launching from West Neck, though, they haven't done so well.

Ron sums up the situation this way: "We wouldn't have had as much success if not for following Charlie's blog. We try all the places he posts about, as well as the methods he uses. We would be lost without his guidance, and I am grateful for it."

There couldn't be a more fitting tribute for a guy whom I'm privileged to know and happy to call "friend."