"Fisherman's Luck" Is Not a One-Size-Fits-All Term...

Far from it, actually. This past Wednesday, for example, kayaker Charlie boated 17 bass, the majority of which were over a pound, with two weighing more than 2 lbs. And that says nothing about the bucket full of white perch and crappie he also nailed. In his own words, "You could not ask for a better day than that."

But then we come to yesterday, when some river fishermen decided to try our luck. To say that we "struggled" would be an understatement.

Take Skip, whom I talked to by phone yesterday afternoon about the time he was calling it a day. I learned he had a total of one strike--no hookup, mind you, just a strike, and that was after fishing a host of different baits. Later, he told me he had talked to our mutual friend, Rob P., at the ramp yesterday afternoon, and he, too, said he and his partner had found it rough going.

And if it hadn't been for my INT bait, I very likely would have ended up in the same boat, as well. I stayed with the bait all day and managed to grind out a total of six bass, two white perch, and one bluegill after eight hours on the water. My four best bass weighed 1-0, 1-2, 1-3, and 1-6 (pictured here). I caught half the bass in Blackwater during the morning, with the remaining half coming in the afternoon from Albright's. I have found one area in the latter where there has been "catchable" fish for several trips in a row now, and yesterday was no exception.

In an email report from Ron, another kayaker, I learned he went bowfin fishing Thursday evening. After landing a couple of dinks and losing a decent-sized bowfin, he tied into a "monster" toothy critter. "Had him yak-side and tried to get the lip grip on the beast. He was thrashing around as bowfin do and threw the lure. Biggest I ever have seen, easily over 10 lbs., easy.

"Closer inspection revealed the cause of loss (see the front hook in photo at left)," continued Ron. "That was an upgraded 3X strong hook! Heartbroken," he lamented in closing.

Not one ever to be lacking for energy, as far as I can tell, Ron followed that trip up with one to Milldam yesterday evening, where he landed nine perch measuring between 11 and 12.4 inches--all on topwater. "Will make some tasty tacos," he said before adding, "I know that 13-inch citation is just hiding somewhere at the moment." He also caught a few dink bass, as well as the very healthy 4-4 pole-bender in the accompanying photo below. As Ron was quick to point out, "The fish came in just shy of a Virginia length citation (has to be 22 inches)."

And, finally, from a trip Ron took this morning, I received this report: "Went to Blackwater Trading Post, launched, and headed eastward to that long creek just south of Straight Creek. Caught a decent bowfin, weighing 3-14, on topwater, as well as a 1-4 and 1-6 bass on a fluke. Also tried a hollow-bodied frog, which was getting hit often, but I couldn't get a hookset. The frog is my least confident lure"--as it is mine, too, my friend.