For the Week Ending Sunday, June 4, 2017

Monday, May 29...From Rob C.: It was a good day for Mitch and me. We launched at 5:45 and fished for a little over an hour. Had to leave earlier than planned, though, to fix an issue with the water-pressure gauge on the boat. Caught a total of six bass, with the largest coming in around 2.5 lbs. My buddy, Craig, grabbed Mitch after we got my boat on the trailer, and they fished until about 12:00, catching a total of 12 bass and a few bowfin. All of the fish this morning came on a Pop-R and soft plastics.

Monday, May 29...From Ron: Went to Lovitt's this morning, with the high murky water. Only managed three dinks, all on the Whopper Plopper. Evening Milldam trip was awful. Only caught handful of tiny white perch. Missed three bass.

Tuesday, May 30...From Ron: My West Neck Marina launch this evening was better. There was no shortage of tiny perch on the beetlespin, but I also found some decent bass on the Whopper Plopper, including a 1-0, 1-4, 1-7, 1-11, and a 3-4. It was a satisfying trip with decent weather. Water was clear but still very high. All the bass were caught at the mouths of feeder creeks around structure. I ventured into the creeks but only had a few short strikes. This was the first trip in what seems like a long time that I found something over 2 lbs.

Wednesday, May 31...From Ron: Launched Indian River Road, headed south, almost to West Neck Marina, and slowly worked my way back. Got lucky with the thunderstorm cell, as it passed slightly north. Missed about 10 bass that were all decent size but managed to land eight of them. Most were dinks, but a 1-1, 1-11 and 1-15 were scale-worthy. Caught them all on the Whopper Plopper. Also caught a surprising, pole-bending chain pickerel on the WP that was not a pleasure to unhook. The chain pickerel weighed in at 3-6 and was just a hair shy of citation length. No bowfin, though.

Thursday, June 1...From Ken: After having good luck in Albright's last Saturday, decided to return there for seconds today. Once again, I had an all-day topwater bite, split between two different baits: a Whopper Plopper and a Buzzjet Jr., with the better fish coming on the latter. My totals included two small stripers and 11 bass, including six dinks, a 1-2, 1-9, 1-14, 1-15, and a 2-1. Nearly every fish came from a grassy area but one with some wood close by. Spent time in three different areas of Albright's, but the one without any visible wood on hand proved to be a waste of my efforts. I couldn't entice a single fish into taking a pass at anything I was throwing. It was an enjoyable day, given the pretty water, light winds, and all the action I had--far more than necessary to put a smile on this country boy's face.

Thursday, June 1...From Ron: Launched at West Neck Marina and headed south for a change--may have been a bad call? About third feeder creek on east side, I caught three bass (1-6, 1-7 and 2-2) in four casts on the Pop-R, then nothing for an hour and a half. Managed two tiny white perch on the beetlespin. Shifted to western feeders and had a few followers and short strikes. On way back, found two dinks along western shoreline. Slow evening overall. A guy at the ramp said he caught a slew of sunfish on the fly rod.

Thursday, June 1...From Tom: Caught 10 bass after Joe and I saw you. Two went over 2-and-a-half pounds, the rest were around a pound each. Caught them on sundry baits. Really didn't seem to matter if we were throwing buzzbaits, swimbaits, spinnerbaits, or worms--they were hitting everything. We had to be in tight to the grass, though, with the water being so high, 'cause otherwise, we didn't catch a thing. We stopped fishing at 1:30.

Saturday, June 3...From Ron: Launched Lotus Garden on Sandbridge Road Friday evening and found a few: a 2-13 and a dink bass, three small white perch, one 8-inch yellow perch, and three crappie between 10.5 and 11.5 inches. Kept the crappie in hopes of a few more today. Launched Milldam Creek this morning, trying to add to my taco fare. Caught several crappie (had to throw a few back), an 8.5-inch sunfish on the Pop R, three dink bass, plus a 2-1, 1-1, and 1-4. Bite was very good, but I had to call it quits early. Having better luck on the Pop R, compared to the Whopper Plopper. Many hits came while waiting for the initial cast rings to dissipate after landing. Interesting soft strikes; they just sucked it under while at rest. Had a great taco dinner!!! Chasing black sea bass Sunday.

Sunday, June 4...From Ron: My son and I were on a head-boat trip chasing black sea bass from 0800 to 1300. The kid caught three shorts, and I got a short flounder. All in all, it was a crappy trip. There were only about four keeper sea bass caught among 35 people. This evening, I launched at Blackwater Trading Post at 1700 and fished until 2100. River was way high and murky as all get out. Lost a very small catfish yakside and had a couple of gar strikes on the Pop-R. Not the best day. While recovering, noticed a snake on the dock that was just about underwater that had hooked up. Snake was about 4 feet long. At least someone was catching.