A Day on the Water for Son, Just Another Day at Work for Dad

Early this morning, Ron dropped off his son, Alex, at Back Bay. That act alone was tough for Ron. Imagine how he felt, though, when he went back at 11 o'clock and picked up Alex and kayak and learned the details of his son's morning adventure.

You see, Alex bagged a total of 22 bass, with three of them going more than a pound and a few more just missing the mark. He also caught one that weighed 2-1, along with two chain pickerel, a crappie, and a few white perch. Alex said the only fish he lost was a striper.

"Guess the bite was good!" said Ron.

Most of the fish fell for a Senko. A few, though, hit the Whopper Plopper.

"Suspect I won't find those numbers if I go out this evening," said Ron in an email to me and fellow kayaker, Charlie, who also spent the morning on the water. He was only able to muster 10 bass, plus a pickerel. Seems like a "birthday boy" should be entitled to a few more "rewards" than that.

I was bettin' Ron would make up for lost fishin' time today, and I was right. An email I just received confirmed it. "Had a brilliant evening at Back Bay, in the vicinity of Beggars Bridge," read the opening line. "Right off the bat, I landed a 'small' 18-inch bowfin on a Silver Minnow, followed by a small white perch and a dink bass, all within four casts," he exclaimed. "As I headed deeper into the creek, the bite stayed solid for two hours."

Before all was said and done, Ron had notched a total of 19 bass, including eight dinks, plus a 1-0, 1-1, 1-2, three 1-3s, a 1-7, two 1-9s, a 1-13, and, finally, a 1-14. As he explained, "Caught most of them on the Whopper Plopper, plus a few on Senkos when the grass got too thick. Had a swipe, miss or catch on almost every cast." He summed up the bass action as "a very exciting evening with topwater."

As darkness fell, Ron said the white perch bite picked up, allowing him to score four decent panfish for the table. His catch included two at 11 inches and two at 12.5 inches (see photo above, left), all on the Whopper Plopper. Soon after that, he landed another one of his favorites: a 23.5-inch, 4-lb. 13-oz. bowfin (see photo below, right). It then was time to call it a night.

It was one bang-up evening, and Ron assured me he has the "bass thumb" to prove it. "Horse flies and mosquitoes swarmed me the whole time, but I didn't care," he concluded. 

Ron told me he fished every day in August (sometimes twice in one day). The grand totals for his 36 trips during the month were 153 bass, two storm-outs, three skunks, and a whole bunch of miles.

"What will September bring?" That's the question Ron ponders after an August when his fishing every bit matched the hot temperatures we had around here most of the time.