For the Week Ending Sunday, June 25, 2017

Monday, June 19...From Ron: Fished upper West Neck Creek from Indian River Road. Gauge was 3.6 and rising. Lost a bass and two gar on the Whopper Plopper. Saved from a skunk by a 7-inch crappie on the Beetlespin. At least the breeze made for a nice evening. Oh well.

Tuesday, June 20...From Ron: Launched at Old Pungo Ferry Road for a trip to Albright's. Fished from 5 o'clock to 8:30. Lost five bass on the Heddon Spook before I switched to a Pop-R. Think the slower Pop-R helped. Ended up with a 1-0, 1-10, and a 2-8. My son went out with me for a rare trip (all busy now with friends and surfing--no time for fishing). He landed a dink, 1-2,  2-4, and had a bunch of misses on a Buzzbait. Gauge still was way too high. I thought they would be back in the creeks, but most of my hits and catches were on points of feeder creeks. While following up a topwater miss with a fluke, I had the Whopper Plopper dangling on the surface with the rod across my lap when a bowfin hit the WP. He only was on for a second or two, but I suspect that is what the original miss was. The WP generated a bunch of short strikes. Tried the XTS Minnow, Flukes, Senko, and Beetlespins, but the Pop-R was the only productive lure tonight.

Wednesday, June 21...From Ron: My son and I launched at Lotus Garden about 5 p.m. Within 10 minutes, I had landed a small chain pickerel, a crappie, a white perch, and a bass on a Beetlespin. They all were dinks, but the bite was on. Alex ended up with nine bass, including a 1-0, 1-14, and 2-0. The rest ran about a pound each. He was getting them on Zoom Flukes and buzzbaits. I ended up with seven bass, including a 1-7 and 2-1. All the rest were dinks. I also caught five small white perch, two crappie, and a small sunfish. The panfish were hitting the Beetlespin. The bass fell to the Pop-R and Flukes. Was a really good trip, with a consistent bite. Lotta fun 'till the bugs came out at sunset.

Thursday, June 22...From Ron: Launched at 5 p.m., with gauge at 2.77, and fished Milldam Creek. Recovered at 9 p.m., with gauge at 2.55. Think the outflow helped with the bite. Target was panfish, so I trolled two Beetlespins under bobbers (one right side, one left), while throwing Flukes or topwater baits to the shoreline. Everything was going according to plan, and I was building a stringer of taco fare, with an occasional bass. Entrance to Snake Creek south was chock full of gar that were pestering my Beetlespins and swiping at my Pop-R. Decided to throw a Fluke and caught my first-ever gar on a plastic, hooked right under the jaw. With stringer almost full, headed to Snake Creek north. Was entering the feeder creek and hooked into a decent bass on the Whopper Plopper. As I was reeling it in, ultralight rod with Beetlespin doubled over with drag screaming. Quickly landed the whopper (1-10), placed him near my feet, and grabbed the ultralight rod. Great fight resulted in a 3-2 bass on the Beetlespin. Shortly thereafter, I was working the WP when the beetlespin rod bent a bit with a 12-inch crappie. I stopped reeling the WP to deal with the crappie, and my WP line took off with a dink that gently sucked up the motionless lure. Needless to say, it was good evening trip: six bass (three dinks, plus a 1-5, 1-10 and a 3-2), as well as six white perch and three crappie in the 11-to-12-inch range.

Friday, June 23...From Ron: With the wind blowing, decided to seek some protection in upper North Landing and hopefully a bowfin. Found wind protection but no bowfin. Saw a bunch of gar being active but no bait swimming around. Water still was rising and very clear when I launched at 6:20 and never went out as I hoped for. Managed to catch six bass, including three dinks, a 1-8, 1-10, and a 1-11. Also caught a couple sunfish on the small Pop-R. 'Twas a nice evening, and the bugs were absent due to the wind, I guess. Wind predicted to shift out of the north Saturday night...maybe will help the bite.

Saturday, June 24...From Ron: Launched about 6:20 p.m. with the kid. We headed north under the West Neck Creek Bridge and worked the feeder creeks. I ended up with six dinks on the Pop-R. Meanwhile, Alex caught a 4-2 bass. My six dinks would not have equaled half that weight. He got the big one on a Mann's 1-minus crankbait. This was a case where quality won out over quantity.

Sunday, June 25...From Ron: Launched at sunrise and fished House Cove, Back Bay, 'till about 9 o'clock, when the water clouded up and the bite seemed to turn off. Caught eight bass, including a 1-5 and seven dinks. One hit a fluke following a miss on the Whopper Plopper. All the rest came on a WP when the grass would allow. Also tried the Silver Minnow, Pop-R, and swim Senko. Alex caught four, his biggest a 1-10. This evening, Ron launched at Blackwater Road and started fishing Milldam Creek about 5:30. Hooked into a 13-inch chain pickerel in the launch creek on a Pop-R, then headed eastward. The bite improved about 7 p.m., and I managed a dink, two 1-5 bass, a 1-6, and a 2-7, all on the Pop-R. Also caught a couple crappie and six white perch but released everything this evening. It was much cooler, making for a very pleasant trip, with a rewarding sunset.