Monday, Oct. 2 (from Charlie)...It was a good day, even with the muddy water. I decided to make it a major fly-rod day and had a blast with some quality fish on my 6 WT. Started with a black Bee Pop and got five bass, the best a 1-12, which proved to be a real drag-puller. After things slowed down on topwater, I switched to a Clouser minnow and was surprised to land a 6-2 channel cat. He almost had me to the backing before I turned him. That battle really made my day. I also tried a SwimSenko and a white Yo-Zuri 2" 3DS Crank SSR F (ghost shad). Both got bass, another 2-1 channel cat, a crappie, and a striper. The trip ended at 1 o'clock, with 10 bass boated. The top five weighed 1-12, 2-0, 2-1, 2-7, and 2-8, for a total of 10 pounds 12 ounces. As I told Charlie in an email, "I'm gonna have to start calling you 'Mr. Perfection,'" since he nearly always has a perfect 10-something total weight after a day on the water. Incidentally, I found out that my friend has been sharing his water the last three times with a total of nine cottonmouths. As he explained, "You need to keep your head on a swivel." Sounds like good advice to me, especially when you're lookin' at all of 'em from kayak level.
Monday, Oct. 2 (from Ron)...Was having a very disappointing evening. I fished Milldam from 4 to 6 p.m., with only a wee small crappie not big enough to keep to show for it. Then I found a bowfin at
18 inches and was pretty happy. A bit later, caught a dink bass and decided to head
home. Water was murky and they just were not biting. En route to heading back, I had my trusty beetlespin on a bobber, trolling it along in hopes of panfish, when suddenly, my rod bent over, BIG TIME. Grabbed hold and, for the next 200 yards and 10 minutes, had the fight of a lifetime. Thought I had a record
bowfin because he wasn't jumping. Struggled to get him close to the yak, but he
kept screaming drag. When he finally tired out a bit, I was able to get him
close and realized I had a big catfish--a really big one. Somehow pulled
him aboard and got a weight at 24.1 lbs. The tape on my paddle is faded, and the
beast wouldn't lay flat, but am pretty sure he was right about 36 inches long. Covered in catfish slime, I headed back to the launch. On a whim, threw a
Whopper Plopper at that mid-channel falldown, and a 2-14 bass slammed it. 'Twas much easier
to land!
Wednesday, Oct. 4 (from Ken)...Decided I wasn't going to waste this whole stretch of nice weather and spent seven hours on the water today. Once I got there and saw the color of the water in West Neck and Albright's, I wasn't too hopeful I would catch anything at all. As it turned out, though, I managed to catch four dink bass (everyone of them weighing 11 ozs.), as well as a 1-6. Caught two of the fish on a Buzzjet Jr., two on a Bomber Square A, and one on a Whopper Plopper. Can't remember the last time I saw Albright's muddy, but that's the way it was today. You could find a few cleaner spots, but none of them were very big. Can only hope things clear up before the tournament on Saturday. Ran across Rob P. and Dave on the water this afternoon and learned they, too, had had a very slow day. Put a nice finishing touch on my day by finding a crankbait like the one I was using today. Was evident it hadn't been in the water very long, because the hooks weren't rusty yet. Only had a couple of light scratches, too.
Wednesday, Oct. 4 (from Ron)...Launched upper North Landing in hopes of finding something to peel the
drag. Found three dink bass and then the bowfin. Was throwing small spinnerbait
and, between all the snags, managed three bowfin at 5-8, 3-11 and an 18-incher
that I didn't weigh. So, yeah, had some drag scream and made up for yesterday's
skunk. Lost one good size bass (2.5 ish). All the snags were frustrating, so I
tried SwimSenkos and flukes, but they were not interested. The water was very clear and flowing inward (north). I guess as long as it
is moving, the bite is OK.
Friday, Oct. 6 (from Ron)...Did a long trip to No Name Creek Thursday evening, but should have stayed in upper North Landing. Murky high water was the death of me. Only caught one dink bass and lost a chain pickerel. Hit the salt this morning and found a nice speckled trout.
Sunday, Oct. 8 (from Ron)...Received an email this afternoon, letting me know he has decided to pursue saltwater species for a while. What does that mean? "More bass for everyone else," as Ron explained it.
Sunday, Oct. 8 (from Ron)...Received an email this afternoon, letting me know he has decided to pursue saltwater species for a while. What does that mean? "More bass for everyone else," as Ron explained it.
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