Big Turnout; Lots of Fish Caught, Too

Despite a lower-than-normal water level and a biting northeast wind, anglers turned out in force to compete against one another today. A total of 23 anglers in 14 boats motored out of the basin this morning when I gave the "go" signal.

Those contestants who walked away with a money envelope today included the following:

1st Place, (from left) John Goodman and Mark London, five bass, 19.50 lbs. total weight, 5.59-lb. big fish.

2nd Place, (from left) Rob Peppers and Dave Anderson, five bass, 13.70 lbs. total weight, no big fish.

3rd Place, Paul Celentano, five bass, 13.03 lbs. total weight, 3.69-lb. big fish.

4th Place, Ronnie McLaughlin, five bass, 12.11 lbs. total weight, 4.94-lb. big fish.

Lunker Award, Mike Evans, three bass, 9.91 lbs. total weight, with his 5.84-lb. winning fish.

Mystery Weight, Ken Testorff, two bass, 3.33 lbs. total weight, no big fish. The weight drawn was 4.45 lbs.








Here is how all the other contestants finished the day:

     * The team of Zack Rhodes and Alec Wommack, five bass, 11.45 lbs. total weight, 3.02-lb. big fish.
     * Steve Bailey, five bass, 11.44 lbs. total weight, 3.23-lb. big fish.
     * The team of Nathan and Marjorie Gottsch, five bass, 10.56 lbs. total weight, 3.13-lb. big fish.
     * The team of Gary Coderre and Lenny Hall, five bass, 9.97 lbs. total weight, no big fish.
     * The team of Mitch Portervint and Skip Schaible, five bass, 8.65 lbs. total weight, no big fish.
     * The team of Mike Speedy and Docota Fox, five bass, 8.55 lbs. total weight, no big fish.
     * The team of Jake Milligan and Jack Rhodes, five bass, 6.83 lbs. total weight, no big fish.
     * The team of Randy Conkle and Bob Glass didn't weigh any fish.

Overall, today's anglers weighed a total of 60 bass for a combined total weight of 139.03 lbs. The average weight was 2.31 lbs.

To date, 14 anglers already have qualified to fish our season-ending two-day Classic.

Congratulations to all the winners and thanks to everyone who came out to participate. For planning purposes, our next scheduled tournament is Saturday, May 14, from safe light (probably about 5:45) to 2 p.m. I hope you can join us.

We've had anything but what I would consider good weather so far this 2016 season, but that fact in no way diminishes the reality that we're off to one of the best starts ever as far as numbers of fish caught, as well as total weight and average weight.

I only wish ol' Dewey was here to celebrate with us. He always got excited with the kind of numbers we've been putting up to this point in the current tourney season.

Only time will tell if our current success will continue for the long haul. I, for one, hope that it does. The way I see it, Dewey made this gig of ours possible in the first place, and any degree of success we achieve is a fitting tribute to this man who so loved the sport of bass fishing. I still can visualize that mile-wide grin that used to spread across his bewhiskered face anytime someone brought a big fish or a big sack of fish to the scales for weigh-in.

If Only the Walls of My Garage Could Talk...

Maybe then I'd have better luck remembering all the many different long-buried fishing treasures I have stored out there. As it is, however, it usually takes someone or something to jog my memory.

Case in point: Last Saturday, I was talking to an old friend who suggested I should be throwing a lizard at this point in the season. At that moment, I remembered I have a fair-sized stash of lizards in the garage that I haven't used in probably 10 or 15 years, or maybe longer.

I originally got hooked on fishing lizards for springtime bass, thanks to a couple of young military fellas with whom I became friends at West Neck Marina. They made a believer of me when they started showing me photos of some bass they were catching on those soft plastics. It wasn't long before I began finding some success of my own with the same baits.

Lizards or salamanders are natural predators of bass. They will ransack a nest, eating both eggs and fry before the guardian has a chance to react. As a result, bass won't think twice about attacking a plastic lizard dragged into their nest. For best results, the experts suggest that you slowly shake your rod tip once the bait is in the nest, which will get the attention of the adult fish guarding the nest.

The most common techniques for fishing plastic lizards are flipping, pitching and Carolina-rigging. Targeting various wood and rock cover are favorites of anglers. Slowly dragging lizards along humps, ledges and points also can be productive. The ideal retrieves are nearly identical to what you use when fishing plastic worms, e.g., dragging, hopping, crawling, shaking, or swimming the baits. Experiment with different speeds and retrieves until you find what the fish want for that particular day or time-frame.

Swimming lizards is a simple but often overlooked tactic. With this method, simply make your cast and allow the bait to sink to the bottom before starting a slow retrieve. To add a little motion, move your rod tip up and down ever so slightly. Anglers generally agree that bass will take a lizard just as quickly as they will a crankbait.

According to experts, the drop-shot rig is another good presentation for lizards. After you have set up the rig, nose-hook the bait. Now you can cast the lure, put it in the strike zone, and leave it there for as long as you want--all of this while adding considerable movement. Quickly shaking the rod tip and slowly raising the lizard will cause it to dance so tantalizingly that bass can't resist it. The experts contend this setup can and will dominate during the spawn, as well as produce nice limits throughout the fishing season.

Lizards long have been a staple of bass diets and angler tackleboxes everywhere. Why? Because the key to catching bass is to appeal to their biological instincts, and nothing says "attack me" more than a lure designed to imitate a natural predator of fish eggs and fry. If you've never tried one, now might be a good time to do so. The first time you toss one out there, drag it across a bed, and feel that often vicious strike, both you and the fish will be hooked.

Other soft plastics touted as good picks for spawning bass include worms, grubs, crayfish, frogs, and insects. Spinnerbaits, jigs and crankbaits, especially those crankin' models with rattles, also are recommended. Whatever lure you decide on, make sure the hooks are sharp because a bedding bass likely will try to spit the bait out almost immediately.

Raindrops Were Falling When We Launched This Morning

Fortunately, however, they pretty much had ended by the time those 18 of us in 12 boats blasted off from West Neck Marina about 6:15 a.m.

I figured the fishing today would produce some big bags, and I was correct. The top three winning teams and individuals were in a league of their own, so to speak, as evidenced in the following statistics:

Finishing in 1st place was the team of (from left) Don Carter and Rob Peppers, who weighed five bass with a total weight of 17.69 lbs. Their big fish was a 5.23-pounder.

Capturing 2nd place was Al Napier, who weighed five bass with a total weight of 17.47 lbs. His big fish, a 5.43-pounder, secured the day's lunker prize.

In 3rd place at the end of the day was the team of John Goodman and Mark London, whose 14.95-pound bag was more than 5 lbs. ahead of the next nearest competitor. Their big bass weighed 3.29 lbs.

The mystery-weight award went to Mike Evans, who weighed three bass with a total weight of 7.38 lbs. That weight was closest to the 7.25 tab that was drawn.








Here is how all the other competitors ended up at the 2:30 weigh-in:

     * Ronnie McLaughlin, five bass, 9.37 lbs. total weight, no big fish.
     * The team of Gary Coderre and Lenny Hall, five bass, 8.38 lbs. total weight, no big fish.
     * Steve Bailey, five bass, 5.66 lbs. total weight, no big fish.
     * Ken Testorff, three bass, 4.78 lbs. total weight, no big fisih.
     * Jim Wilder, two bass, 3.70 lbs. total weight, no big fish.
     * The team of Mitch Portervint and Skip Schaible, two bass, 3.10 lbs. total weight, no big fish.
     * Neither the team of Nathan and Marjorie Gottsch nor the team of Nelson Anderson and David Dozier weighed any fish.

Overall, today's anglers weighed a total of 40 bass for a total weight of 92.48 lbs, The average weight was 2.31 lbs.

As part of today's presentation of money envelopes, anglers (from left) Skip Schaible and Rob Chatham received small plaques from the tournament director for their recent man overboards--the real deal, not drills. Fortunately, there were no injuries to either angler.




Congrats to all the winners and thanks to everyone who came out to participate. For planning purposes, our next event is scheduled for next Saturday, April 30, from safe light (about 6:15) to 2:30 p.m. I hope you can join us.

It's that time of year when you often will get a bunch of strikes, but more times than not, the fish will come unbuttoned before you get a chance to touch them. Such was my lot today. I think I probably had a total of about 20 strikes on my topwater, with about 15 of them being hooked so poorly they got off long before I could bring them to the boat. With one leap, they would be gone.

I'm fairly certain I buried the hooks of my topwater in the jaws of a big ol' gar this afternoon, and he made very quick work of my 30-pound braid. In the next couple of minutes, he splashed the water silly, evidently trying to dislodge those hooks. I never went back and checked, though, so I don't know if he was successful or not.

Kept Pepe at Bay Today

Had put two fish in the boat by 10:30 this morning and missed one strike--all on topwater plugs. In order, they weighed 1-2 and 2-2 (pictured below), and the last proved to be the most fun of all.

I tossed my Pop R just past a wind-blown point, popped it once, and had a fish snatch it, but he came unbuttoned almost immediately. I went back a second, third and fourth consecutive time, all with the same results. Finally, though, on the fifth consecutive cast, he got enough of the hooks to stay buttoned. Can't remember the last time I've had that much fun with one fish.

Unfortunately, on one of the hooksets, I had nicked a gill plate, and the fish was bleeding like a stuck pig when I brought him aboard. I immediately put him in a livewell, though, and 30 minutes later, he was as full of himself as ever, so I released him, and he took off for parts unknown.

I spent my day in Albright's. When I came out of the cut-through, I turned left, cut the gas motor, and started fishing my way to the mouth. Once I got there, I fished the entire outside perimeter of the oxbow. I had decided I had enough of West Neck on Tuesday, and figured, too, that the water in Albright's would be cleaner. In areas, it was, but there were stretches of not-so-good-looking water there, too. I just stayed on the trolling motor all day.

Once I got home this evening, I had received another note from Ron Ameika, telling me that he had launched at Old Pungo Ferry Road earlier this evening and went to Spitzle Creek. He tried a variety of lures but only had action with a couple of them.

According to Ron's report, he had a few bumps on a Zoom fluke and lost something rather large that he suspects was a gar. He also landed a few surprise catches, including a channel catfish and this small striper, but no largemouth. The catfish took a fluke; the striper nailed the XTS.

Said Ron, "At least, I didn't get skunked."

Last but not least, I found a note in my inbox from my tourney partner, Rob Chatham, letting me know he had made a trip north today and picked up his new Phoenix bass boat. He included the accompanying photo.

I understand the plan is to start break-in of the outboard this Sunday. He tells me the old 50-hour break-in is a thing of the past--lucky him. I didn't think I'd ever complete those 50 hours I had to log with my SX-170. 'Tis a nice looking rig, my good man.

I'd Be Lyin' If I Said It Was a Surprise

Having read Charlie's fishing report last evening, I knew there was a better than average chance ol' Pepe would show his face today, and my instincts were right. Charlie said West Neck was muddy and filled with all kinds of floating debris yesterday, and those same conditions still were prevalent today--both above and below the bridge. Without sounding too gross, you might say the creek was "butt ugly."

Even so, Charlie managed to catch a few bass yesterday, and while I came up empty-handed today, some fared better. I twice talked to a couple guys fishing together, and during the second conversation this afternoon, I learned they had boated a couple of nice bass earlier on topwater baits. The man on the front seat told me they had caught a 5-14 and one over 3. He and his buddy both were throwing buzzbaits as they relayed this information to me.

I also ran across Steve Bailey and Rob Peppers in the creek today, but I didn't get a report from either one--just exchanged greetings, instead.

I can't tell you how many times over the years I've seen West Neck and other creeks along the North Landing during low water, but I still am amazed at some of the stuff you see that's usually completely underwater. It's an education I would urge all to get but only when the conditions are safe.

I bring up the matter of safety because of something Charlie shared with me in his email last evening. He told me there were a couple of guys launching boats at the ramp when he came in yesterday, even though their trailers were at the end of the ramp, with no water touching any part of the boat. Both parties somehow managed to get their boats in the water, but I don't need to have been there to tell you that whatever they did was, in no way, safe.

We all were given a brain--the problem is that it's up to us as to when, or if, we use it. I love to fish as much as the next man or woman, but I can assure you I will not, under any circumstances, ever try to launch my boat when it won't float off my trailer. That's just asking for trouble, and even though those gents yesterday dodged a bullet, there's no guarantee they'll be successful the next time.

My email inbox this morning (Wednesday, April 20th) had a note from Ron Ameika, giving me details of the Tuesday evening trip he and his son, Alex, had taken to Tecumseh.

Ron scored this 1-12 bass on a Pop R, as well as his first gar of the season on an XTS Minnow.

Meanwhile, Alex used a jig with craw trailer to boat the 1-15 bass at right.

Said Ron, "It was nice to be out in the warm and windless weather. He also noted they had spotted a few snakes and many birds of prey that "were catching many more than us."

I didn't mention it in my post above, but I watched the birds in West Neck yesterday also put on a clinic in how to catch fish. And, near the end of my day, I saw a moccasin all curled up in the hollow of an old cypress. Don't reckon I need to tell you that I just kept on keeping on in the direction I was headed.

The Challenge: Finding Enough Water to Launch a Boat

When was the last time you heard low water was responsible for a vehicle backing off the end of the boat ramp at Munden Point Park? Yet, that's exactly what happened earlier today, according to a duty park employee I spoke to this afternoon.

I already had checked the NOAA water-level chart, so I knew the water was low (and has been for days now), but that didn't prevent me from wanting to get a firsthand look.

My first stop was at West Neck Marina, where I took a measurement at the extreme end of the ramp (pictured left) and learned the depth was 17 3/4 inches--just shy of knee level on me. As one would expect, given those conditions, the parking lot was empty, except for some sightseers and a lone bank fisherman.

From there, it was on to Munden Point, where there were a fair number of people enjoying the day without the benefit of having access to the boat ramp (pictured right). After touring the grounds with my wife, it was back to the van and headed home.

I'm chafing to be able to get back on the water, but for the moment, I'll just have to settle for living vicariously through the fishing report I got from Ron last evening and the one I'll probably get from Charlie tomorrow evening.

Kayaker Ron fished Lake Smith yesterday morning with a friend, who caught a bunch of crappie, while Ron picked up a few dinks and a 2-9 on a craw.

He spent the afternoon on Crystal Lake with his son, Alex, who also caught a 2-9. Ron's biggest, though, was this 3-15 (see left) bedding bass--his personal best to date this season and the first time in a good spell that he's bested Alex. Said Ron, "She wouldn't touch the craw, but I switched to a chatterbait with a fluke trailer, and she nailed it."

In today's email, kayaker Charlie indicated he'll likely try West Neck tomorrow. If today was any indication, he should have the whole place to himself--just the way he likes it.

No More Paddling the "JennyB"

From now on, Will and Jenny Bauer will be going first class when it comes to taking their boat out for a day's fishing trip.

You may well remember the Blue Fin V-bottom in this photo from the first blog post I did on it back on July 11, 2014. In case you don't remember, the boat originally had belonged to Will's granddad and had been in the possession of his dad, Jim Bauer, since the passing of his granddad many years earlier.

Will completely gutted the original boat and rebuilt it in his free time. The re-do also included getting the boat's Evinrude outboard running in tip-top shape. As I learned just this week, though, additional work on the "JennyB" has been completed here recently.

Among the improvements are brand new pedestal seats fore and aft and a new foot-controlled trolling motor. "No more paddling for me," said Will, who, as I understand it, also has installed a new fuse panel.

Until this point in time, Will and Jenny have pretty well limited their fishing trips to minnow dunking, but as Will told his dad the other day, "Reckon now I'll have to show Jenny how to use some crankbaits and worms."

"Tight Lines!" to both of you this season.

The Three Rs of K-Pink

By Kevin Short

(Reprinted from the most recent issue of Jay Kumar's BassBlaster)

Over the course of this wild and sometimes wacky journey we call life, I've learned a couple of things. Some have come from Hard Knock U, and others have come just from keeping my mouth shut at the right time and observing.

Several of the most important lessons I've learned, especially with respect to derby fishing, are what I call the Three Rs of the Bass World, aka The Three Rs of Life. Not unlike the Three Rs of Education (Reading, wRiting and aRithmetic), these three Rs have certain undeniable truths and very specific conditions they exist within. Then again, they sometimes can be pretty flexible and nowhere near static.

My Three Rs are Respect, Responsibility and Righteousness.

Respect

The first and possibly most important R is respect.

The dictionary defines respect as "esteem for or a sense of the worth or excellence of a person, a personal quality or ability, or something considered a manifestation of a personal quality or ability." And "deference to a right, privilege, privileged person, or someone or something considered to have certain rights or privileges; proper acceptance or courtesy; acknowledgment."

Respect is a two-way street--you have to give it to receive it. We all know people who have little or no respect for others around them. It's no surprise these same people are not highly regarded: They don't respect anyone or anything around them, so why should anyone respect them?

I was told about an incident that occurred during a recent jackpot derby on Lake Dardanelle that is a perfect example of a complete lack of respect. In addition to the jackpot, there also was a college derby out of the other end of the lake. A couple of the jackpot anglers were fishing a shallow backwater area when one of the college teams sat down 20 feet in front of them, dropped the Power-Poles, and informed Bobby Joe and his partner they had to leave since they were anchored. I wish I'd been a frog on a lily pad to witness 75-year-old Bobby Joe blow a gasket. I'm surprised he didn't get in the boat with the college kids and give them an old-fashioned Johnson County butt-whippin'.

Self-Respect

Not only do we need to respect others around us, but we also need to respect ourselves. There's no way in the world you can succeed in life if you don't respect yourself--no way.

The person with no self-respect is on a short trip to Nowheresville. Respect for yourself is the root of confidence, and you MUST have confidence in yourself and your abilities to succeed in anything.

Tournaments are not won by anglers with no self-respect. Doesn't happen. Can't happen. I guess that someone could just get bat-poop-crazy lucky, but the odds of that happening are miniscule.

Call me crazy, but I firmly believe that fish can feel negative energy coming down the line. I honestly believe they can feel bad vibes coming into the water via your line. I know, I know...sounds goofy, but there's a whole lot to be said for having a positive attitude as opposed to negative. People with positive vibes get things done. Negative vibes create negative results. Respect yourself--you'll go a lot further in life, I promise.

Respect is such a simple thing, yet it seems to be in short supply at times. When it comes to ego or money, respect is sometimes easily forgotten. It doesn't have to be like that, either. That's the sad part. A little more respect in the world would go a long way to solving a bunch of issues.

As derby anglers, we have to respect other anglers and their space, as well as other people using the waterways. Just because you paid more for your entry fee, your boat, truck, rods, reels, or whatever doesn't mean Jack Crap. It's a small world, and we all have to get along. That fancy boat could have issues, and you might need the man on the flatbottom to tow your disrespectful butt back to the ramp. Ya never know.

Respect the Game

Not only do we have to respect one another on the water, but we also have to respect the game. This thing we all get so enthralled with, this derby-fishing thing, isn't finding a cure for cancer. We're not solving world hunger here. We're just going fishing.

The overwhelming majority of time, we're not even putting food on the table--we let the things go!

It's nothing more than a game to pass the time and recreate. Nothing more. Nothing less. Get over yourself and show the game some respect. If you fish derbies, read and follow the dang rules. There's nothing more disrespectful to the sport of bassin' than people who either break the rules because they don't know them, or worse, break them because they know them and ignore them.

There are enough people who don't derby-fish who think we're all a bunch of beer-swilling cheaters, as it is; we don't need any more help with this ill-conceived notion.

Responsibility

Responsibility is a heavy burden, my brothers and sisters: "the state or fact of being responsible, answerable, or accountable for something within one's power, control, or management." My definition is pretty simple: You do what you're supposed to do.

Whether we want to admit it or not, we're all responsible and answerable to someone. Even the 1-percenters in the world have someone to answer to at some point in time. To some degree, we're all responsible to our boss, our spouse, our family, friends, and myriad other people. As derby anglers with sponsors, we're responsible to those sponsors who represent them in a positive manner at all times. That's what we do. We're also responsible to tournament organizations, as well as our fellow anglers.

Righteousness

The final R in K-Pink's world is righteousness. I'm not talking about good ol' Southern Baptist hellfire and brimstone righteousness. I'm talking about doing the right thing. I'm talking about doing the right thing, even when no one is looking, because it's the right thing to do.

Righteousness is stopping to pick up the dude who respects no one when his boat is disabled, even though it would have been easier to keep on going down the river to weigh-in.

Righteousness is returning a dude's box of Bagley crankbaits that fell out of his boat in the middle of Sam Rayburn.

Righteousness is turning yourself in for a rule infraction, even though you didn't have a marshal in the boat that day, and no one else in the world would have known what you did.

Righteousness is doing the right thing every time.

So there you have it: K-Pink's simple Rules of Life, the Three Rs. The bassin' world and this whole planet would be a better place if we all followed 'em.

The 54-year-old Kevin Short is a Bassmaster Elite Series pro from Mayflower, Ark.

Superstition for Some Spurs Old-Timer to Action

As a species, fishermen are a fairly superstitious lot. Traditions and folklore often are passed down among generations on the banks of rivers and lakes, while a fire gently crackles and Coleman lanterns hiss their lives away.

Over gentle conversations between grandfolks and grandkids, the lore of decades is imparted in the minds of eager young kids. Some becomes vital years later in the pursuit of fish, while some provides fodder for superstitions.

We all see superstitions for what they really are: beliefs based on irrational assumptions. Within a sport or hobby, though, these superstitions help to link generations that have few, if any, other connections. For many families, it is the superstitions that are the best remembered and the last forgotten.

In any family that fishes, the superstitions of fishing often play a central role in the connection of family members, even if the lore is not readily remembered. Dad's favorite fishing hat, for example, ratty as it may be, can bring about nostalgia for the carefree days of a youth spent at the family cabin. It may not be remembered immediately that the reason the hat was favored was because Dad was wearing it the day he caught the biggest bass of his life and had considered it lucky forever afterward. In that way, superstitions also play a role in capturing a moment, preserving it forever, without the need for camera or words.

Another popular fishing superstition is the "first-cast curse," or the belief that, if you catch a fish on the first cast, you are doomed not to catch another one for the rest of the day. For this reason, a lot of anglers use a "throwaway" cast the moment they get to the water, in order to purposely avoid hooking a fish at the start of the day.

However, I also read about an old-timer who saw the matter of a day's first cast in an altogether different light. He once asked a fishing buddy, "Have you ever wondered why, when you catch a fish on the first cast, you never get another bite on that lure?" The buddy acknowledged this phenomenon had happened to him several times over the years but that he never had thought anything about it.

The old-timer said he had a theory about why it happens. "Because the lure is laying on the deck, it gets very hot," he explained. "Bass are cold-blooded, just like a rattlesnake, and are constantly seeking prey that has a different body temperature than their own. A worm or spinnerbait, for example, thrown in the shallows is several degrees warmer than the water and represents a critter that has been in a bush or on a rock sunning before it enters the water. More often than not, it gets eaten immediately as it enters the water.

"For my first 20 years of fishing," continued the old-timer, "I threw spinnerbaits exclusively without ever winning a tournament. I changed my presentation, though, and won two tournaments in a row one early spring, when the water still was cold.

"I had noticed that the blades were hot from laying in the sun, and if I was on fish, I usually could catch a fish on the first cast. But then I wouldn't catch another fish until I picked up a different spinnerbait. I subsequently developed a 6-cell flashlight that could be plugged into a cigarette-lighter receptacle. I lined the inside with cork and aluminum foil to hold the heat and used the tail light of an old car flipped over and shining inside to heat up the blades of the baits.

"I kept a dozen spinnerbaits tied on and hanging inside this homemade 'hot box.' It was somewhat time-consuming to unscrew the lens cover, take one out, and replace the one just used, but it worked. It produced 12 keeper fish on 12 consecutive casts to win both tournaments. I did this at the beginning of February on one lake and at the end of February on the other lake, which gave me the confidence to know my theory was working.

The only downfall, noted the old-timer, was that the blades always were cold by the time he retrieved a spinnerbait back to the boat after only one cast. "If I wasn't on fish, I worked my azz off and lost interest pretty quickly," he said.

Everybody Appears to Be Catching Fish

In a recent email from schoolteacher Mark Kinzel, I learned that he and his children were celebrating spring break week before last. Besides attending both boys' baseball games and his daughter's field hockey contests during that period (and throughout each season), Mark and his son, Gray (pictured here with a largemouth beauty), managed to go bass fishing seven days in a row on North Carolina and Virginia rivers.

At week's end, they had tallied 13 fish over 4 lbs., 6 over 5 lbs., and their biggest of the week, a nice 7-2.

"It seemed that all were pre-spawn, as we were fishing chatterbaits and jigs," said Mark. "Visibility was always a factor. We avoided the lakes and sightfishing due to the weather." Make no mistake about it--catching all those fish was a lot of fun. For Mark, though, his biggest enjoyment was watching Gray forget all about his arm injury--a cast just had been removed. "That was priceless," said Mark.

Incidentally, if Gray looks familiar, it's probably because you remember him and Mark from our 2015 Dewey Mullins Memorial Bass Tourney Series. They fished a couple or so contests with us last year, and Mark tells me they plan to fish some more with us again this year.

In an email I received late last week, Nathan Gottsch sent me this photo of one that he estimated would have gone about 2 lbs. It was one of those windy days we had (and yes, I know you're probably getting a good chuckle from that statement, seein' as how nearly all the days here lately have been windy), so Nathan had gone looking for a little protected water.

As you can see here, he found what he wanted, and the rest is history. You don't have to look very hard at this picture to figure out that the protected area where he caught this bass isn't in West Neck Creek.

The final email report I want to share with you came tonight from kayaker Ron Ameika and his son, Alex, who returned to the borrow pit otherwise known as Crystal Lake today. They fished from about 2 to 7 p.m.--"until it just got too cold," said Ron, adding, "the wind wasn't bad, but 10 degrees warmer would have been nice. The water in the lake was 58; the air temp was about 50."

Their first fish, a 2-11, was boated at 2:25 by Alex, using a chatterbait with a Havoc craw trailer. Two hours then passed with nothing. About 5 p.m., Ron boated a healthy 2-14 and a 3-pounder even (pictured right) on a shallow shadow rap shad.

Alex switched to a swim jig with a craw trailer and bagged five more in about a half-hour. They all weighed between 1-9 and 1-13, for a total of six bass weighing a grand total of 10 lbs. 15 ozs.

Ron then lost two on a chatterbait before landing one that weighed 1-14, for a three-fish total weight of 7-12. He felt he would have scored more, but his day ended when something slammed his chatterbait hard. He suspects it was a toothy gar or bowfin. He described it as "a solid hit, then slack line, and a clean cut." At the time, he was working the chatterbait with a craw trailer, just jigging it off the the bottom along the brush line.

"The kid outfished me again," admitted Ron, "but I'm glad. It was a good day."

Your Job as TD Is To Keep 'Em All Safe

"Today, I'm very happy to be alive after my experiences yesterday on Amistad. If I could step outside of my body and kick my own butt right now, I'd do it, because I certainly deserve it."

That's how a young non-boater in only his second season with a bass-tournament trail began an item I found online. He continued, "Deciding to fish yesterday, knowing we would be making a 25-mile ride was just poor judgment, a choice that could have cost my life. I have seen bad conditions before on Amistad (photo above depicts 30-mph winds, with 3-foot waves), but nothing like what I experienced yesterday.

"I'm happy my partner was experienced enough to get us back, but it didn't come without some drama." That drama amounted to rough waves ripping off both of his partner's gps/depthfinders and losing a net that was strapped down to the deck.

"I've always loved water," said the non-boater," but I have a newfound respect for it now. After the third wave got us, I started actually sizing up all the waves and quickly realized we had no business trying to combat them in an 18-foot Nitro. I was totally floored by the size of some of the waves we were surfing--it was unbelievable. I had no idea a lake could get like that.

"Lesson learned: 30-mph sustained winds, or gusts over 40 mph, and I'm staying home, no matter what's at stake. I'd rather live to fish another day. I love bass fishing, and I'm passionate about tournament fishing, but never again will I let the love of the sport cloud my judgment.

"And to think, we did all that for only 12 pounds of fish. What idiots!"

Back in the day, when testosterone guided a lot more of my decisions than anything else did, most notably common sense, the non-boater in that incident just described easily could have been me. I never wanted to hear that our Saturday bass tournament had been cancelled. "How dare them to take away my one day of fun for the whole week?" was the way I looked at the situation back then. Plain and simple, the tournament director (TD) had wimped out, and it made my blood boil.

Having lived through some harrowing boat rides of my own, though, coupled with other experiences I've had over the past nearly 73 years, I see things in a far different light today. And I take this responsibility as a tournament director very seriously. The last thing I ever want to have happen on my watch is for one or more of the competitors to be injured--or worse--during a tournament all because I neglected my duties.

Considering that we seldom pay more than $200 for a first-place finish in any of our contests, it is stupid to launch a field of competitors when weather conditions dictate otherwise. I would hate to try explaining to a next of kin why I had allowed a tournament to blast off in extreme weather or what was predicted to turn extreme during the day when the best-possible payout was only $200.

That's the sort of situation in which I fully would expect the next of kin to employ the services of a personal-injury lawyer like Lowell "The Hammer" Stanley. I have no idea if he's as tough as those TV commercials make him out to be, but neither do I want to find out the hard way.

For those reasons, I cancelled our scheduled West Neck Marina tournament today. All the local meteorologists had been calling for strong winds, with even stronger gusts, and the chance for some kind of moisture throughout most of the week, and I had a gut feeling they probably were right this time. Based on what has happened around my place today, their forecasts were spot on.

Had the weather dudes been wrong, I still wouldn't have felt bad about cancelling today's tournament. After all, who can argue with the proverb "better safe than sorry"?

Lots of Wind But Very Few Fish

Kayaker Ron rarely passes up an opportunity to wet a line. This past Wednesday, while Kayaker Charlie was trying his luck at Buzzards Bay, and I was checking out West Neck Creek, Ron headed over to Godfrey's Creek. He spent four hours in there Wednesday evening, thinking that he would have some protection from the wind but, instead, learning it was just as bad there as most other spots. He also had to deal with one other problem: His peddles kept getting stuck in the mud.

About halfway in Godfrey's, Ron took a stumpy arm off to the left, which limited the wind movement he had been experiencing. He also found lots of minnow activity in the area, along with several distinct Vs in the water, created by something chasing them. It was 7 p.m., however, before Ron got his first tap on a fluke, with some added "visual disturbance," as he labeled it. After waiting forever, he slowly reeled in the wind-blown line to see if anything was on it. The line ended up straight below his kayak before he felt anything, and he subsequently missed the hookset.

A half-hour later, Ron finally landed a 1-lb. dink, followed by a 1-8 bass (pictured above). He stayed with the fluke, which seemed the logical choice, given the fact he only had 6 to 8 inches of water anywhere around him. Both bass were right up against the shoreline.

Yesterday, then, Ron spent 5 to 7:30 p.m. in West Neck Creek, once again seeking shelter from the incessant wind. His search for a little tranquility took him to the first cove on the left after you pass under the West Neck Bridge. While in there, he missed a few hooksets with a Zoom fluke--hits that he suspects were gar. Right at sunset, though, just as he noticed baitfish disturbing the surface, the nibbles on his fluke picked up, and in short order, he landed three small bass, measuring 10, 11 and 13 inches (pictured above). Said Ron, "They were too small to rate a weigh-in with the scale."

Once again, all the fish were found in the very shallow nether regions of the cove, right up against the banks.

With darkness settling in, Ron switched to the BPS XTS floating minnow and chalked up the "monster" in this photo at right.

"This weekend, I suspect I'll be blowin' in the wind," noted Ron, adding, "Can you believe that Saturday night is forecast to be 29 degrees?"