We Both Were Throwing Wakebaits, But...

With vastly different results. He was catching bass after bass, while I was scratching out one here and one there. The "he" in this scenario is none other than my kayaker buddy, Charlie.

What can I say but that it's almost like his hands have magic in them when he's holding a fishing rod. I'm here to tell you that, anytime you're in the mood to have one of the nicest guys I've ever known put on a bass-fishing clinic from the backseat of your boat, just give Charlie a call. You won't regret doing so--that much I promise you.

I met Charlie at the West Neck ramp about 7:30 this morning, and we were fishing about 15 minutes later. Fortunately, both of us made sure we had our rain gear in the boat. Off and on for a good spell this morning, we encountered light showers. They were light enough that all we ever needed were the tops. Just to be on the safe side, both of us left the tops on throughout the day, but they both were bone-dry when we returned to the launch ramp around 2:30 this afternoon.

With that explanation out of the way, let me just say that Charlie--to put it very bluntly--kicked my butt all day long. He masterfully put 13 bass in the boat, with the biggest being the 2-2 he's holding in the accompanying photo. Nearly all his other fish, if we had taken time to weigh them, would have run around 1.0 or 1.5 pounds. Besides all the bass, he also caught three or four white perch, as well as one yellow perch.

When I earlier said I was scratching out "one here and one there," I really wasn't joking. I in fact boated a total of 2 bass on the day's efforts. The first, somewhere around a 1-pounder, came fairly early this morning. The last occurred about 12 noon or maybe a little later. It weighed in at 2-9 (see photo at left), which prompted Charlie to remark, "You did it to me again."

That remark, of course, referred to our head-to-head challenge we had a year or two ago, in which Charlie crushed me with his day's totals, while I waited until the 11th hour to boat the biggest fish of the day. As I said in an earlier post, though, there was no "competition" involved in today's trip, so we just had a good chuckle in seeing the results turn out so similar to what happened on that earlier occasion.

And just for the record, let it reflect that once again, as on that same earlier occasion, I came home and promptly placed an order for the same bait Charlie used to beat me into submission today. Of course, if his success indeed is, in any way, tied to some kind of magic he possesses in his hands, I don't think I need to tell you that my efforts undoubtedly will prove to have been in vain. Nevertheless, I shall give it the old college try.