A Day When Fair-Weather Anglers Stayed Home

Only 11 anglers in seven boats showed up this morning to ply their on-the-water skills against one another. At day's end, a total of 23 fish had been caught, weighing a grand total 51.44 lbs. Those numbers translate into an average weight per fish of 2.23 lbs. and an average weight per boat (among the six that weighed fish) of 8.57 lbs.

Those gents who took home pay envelopes included the following:

Mark Ingram (left), 1st place, five fish, 14.62 lbs. total weight, with a big bass weighing 5.40 lbs., which was good enough to also claim the day's lunker prize.

Chris Napier (right), 2nd place, five fish, 13.38 lbs. total weight, with a big bass weighing 3.82 lbs.

Following is how everyone else lined up:

     * The team of Dave Anderson and Gary Coderre, five fish, 7.45 lbs. total weight, no big fish.

     * Gabe Himmelwright, four fish, 7.05 lbs. total weight, no big fish.

     * The team of Bobby Moore and J. P. Twohig, three fish, 5.56 lbs. total weight, no big fish.

     * The team of Wayne Hayes and Ken Testorff, one fish, 3.38 lbs. total weight.

     * The team of Steve Bailey and Dennis Dean didn't weigh any fish.

There were no additions to the list today of those anglers qualifying for the season-ending two-day Classic in October. That leaves the number of contestants at 16.

Congratulations to the winners and to those who came out to participate, despite knowing they probably were going to get wet before the day was over. As it turned out, two rounds of rain passed through West Neck before we concluded today's event.

One Last Cast

As has been the story for several weeks now, I heard discussions among some of the competitors that it was another day of catching a number of dink bass. One fella said he had his limit of keepers by 9 o'clock this morning, then spent the rest of the day catching nothing but 10-to-12-inch fish. "Caught probably 20 or more in that size range," he said.

Meanwhile, the soft-plastic bite continues to be a bit bizarre. More so now than ever before, you genuinely have to be a line watcher, or you're apt to miss several fish.

In many instances, you won't feel a traditional thump, letting you know to get ready. More times than not, the line just starts feeling heavy. At that point, you have to keep a close eye on the line because it usually starts moving off, sometimes at break-neck speed.

Your challenge then is deciding how far to let them run before setting the hook. It's nothing unusual to feel fish momentarily, only to have the fish come unbuttoned before it gets to the boat.

If it's any consolation, my kayaker buddy, Ron, is having a similar experience with soft plastics on the water he's fishing now. Check out his input today in the Fishing Report.