Quick Trip to Upper West Neck Creek

Ron launched at Indian River Road yesterday afternoon and headed south to see what he could find. His first hookup was with "something of some size," as he described it, noting that whatever it was took some drag before throwing the hook. "Pretty sure it was a bass---guessing 2-plus," he said.

Before the trip was over, he managed to catch a total of six bass, but none of them eclipsed the 12-inch mark on his ruler. The catch of the day, though, was with a fish that turned out to be his first citation of the year: "a nice toothy and fat chain pickerel that came in at 24.2 inches and weighed 3-6 (see right)," to borrow his words.

Ron then noted that he had a guy recently tell him he had caught a 7-lb. pickerel in Tecumseh, which, to Ron's thinking, seems a stretch, considering that the Virginia state record for that species is only 7-10. That fisherman's story, however, paled in comparison to what a guy he met on the upper North Landing told him. This dude said he had caught a 12-lb. bass.

"I take all those kinds of stories with a grain of salt," said Ron. "My fishing log," on the other hand, as he explained, "is as honest and full of integrity as was my 30 years of service. I simply don't understand 'fabrication.' My usual response to being asked on the water what I caught is 'just a few dinks,' adding a pointer on where to find 'em."

This evening's email from Ron let me know that he took another short trip (4:30 to 6 o'clock) this evening to Tecumseh. He noted that the "weather was almost perfect, but the bite wasn't so good. Lost a few but managed a 22-inch chain pickerel seen here, as well as two dink bass.

"Fog rolled in near dark," he continued, "and it got real cold with the dampness all about. A buddy of mine caught one crappie, but we neither one could find the sought-after stringer."

Ron referenced what he sees as "odd weather for this time of year" and said he's trying to figure it out. He mentiond that he didn't fish freshwater last year until March, "so it is all new to me. The chain pickerel are much fatter than I remember from late last winter/early spring."

In closing, Ron noted that he wants to find some decent yellow perch.

Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2017...Other than for a bummer launch and recovery because of low water and a lot of mud on the banks at Indian River Road, today's return trip to upper West Neck Creek wasn't half bad. Ron found four bass, the biggest a 16-incher (right) that weighed in at 1-13. The other three all were dinks. Today's only productive lure was the XTS Minnow. "Spent more time unhooking snags from all the stumps in the area than fishing," he said, but it wasn't a bad day, given the fact he only fished for an hour.

Ron's talk about tall fishin' stories in his first trip report above sparked an idea that was just too good to pass up without some kind of action. Don't reckon I need to tell you what the subject of my next post will be, huh?