My Come-Uppins Are Coming in Spades

[UPDATE]

In the words of Gomer Pyle, "Surprise! Surprise! Surprise!" Things are starting to trend upward.

Put my ol' van in the garage last Thursday and got it back Friday afternoon, complete with a set of new sparkplugs, new sparkplug wires, and a new distributor cap and rotor. Also had them do a lube and oil change, wheel balance and rotation, and a state inspection.

Then, just a little earlier this afternoon, I went and picked up my newly repaired laptop computer. And in case you're wondering, yes, both bills are paid. One thing is certain now, though: I won't be buying any new fishing gear in the near future.

Of course, if fishing doesn't get any better than it was this morning, I won't have any need for new tackle. Boated only one fish...about a 2-lb. striper. Talked to a couple other parties who were catching a few bass but nothing to write home about.

The water was coming in hard the entire 4.5 hours we were out, and the coloration in some of it left things to be desired.

'Tis the season for the annual migration south of those "big boys." For the most part, they were haulin' butt today. We saw several go right past Pungo Ferry in total disregard for the "no wake" buoys marking the area. Of course, the sign is missing from the area, so perhaps everyone is feeling empowered to do as they please...as long as John Law isn't looking, I suppose.

Here's why I say that. First off, I broke my boat here a few months ago. Second, yesterday afternoon, I broke my computer (borrowing my wife's for the time being). Third, this morning, I broke my ol' fishin' van.

And as if that isn't enough, my vertigo is back...reared its ugly head again last week. Not as bad as the first dose, but it still frustrates me a bit at times.

Don't have a clue yet when I'll be seeing my boat again. Last I heard, "I'm next," but your guess is as good as mine as to what that means. Feelin' more sure by each passing day, though, that I probably can kiss my fall jerkbait fishin' goodbye this year.

As for my laptop computer, it, in a manner of speaking, "exploded" yesterday as I opened it to do a blog article. The layers of plastic holding it all together separated, allowing me an "inside look" I just as well could have done without. The repairman tells me I may get it back this weekend but says not to pin my hopes too high on that estimate, 'cause it all depends on when the new parts arrive from out of town.

And then there's the issue with my van. Got in it early this morning to take my computer to the repairman. Just two problems, though: It was running rough, and the "service engine soon" light came on while I was letting the motor idle.

Ended up nursing the vehicle to the garage just before I started this post. In talking to the senior mechanic, I leaned that the problem likely stems from some spark plugs misfiring. In any event, I was told to expect a diagnosis to be forthcoming tomorrow sometime. If it turns out the repairs don't cost a fortune, I'll go ahead and have them service the van and do a state inspection. Don't you know I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

This time around with the vertigo I spoke of earlier, it's more a nuisance than anything else. The bouts don't come as often or last as long as they did the first time a couple months ago, but I nevertheless have to deal with them.

I have to admit I hardly can wait for this string of bad-luck episodes to come to a screeching halt. Just hope my billfold "grows" some greenbacks before all the payments come due, 'cause otherwise, I may find myself in a heaping new kind of trouble.

Oh well, that's life, I reckon...which might be interpreted as "can't win for losin'."

A New Personal Best...

but where she was caught, how big she was, and what bait was used was not provided with the photo. It's my understanding the fish may have qualified as a citation, but no one weighed it, so your guess is as good as anyone else's. Landing the fish was a major undertaking, and so Rob Chatham (pictured here) opted to release his prized catch as soon as possible after snapping a few pictures yesterday. That's what I would call being a real sportsman. Good on ya! my friend.

What Memories This Photo Stirred

It has been nearly 50 years since I fished the waters of the South Fork of the Shenandoah River, but many pleasant memories were stirred the other day when I saw this photo of the picturesque river in one of the reports produced by the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources.

Surface run-off from the western slope of the Blue Ridge Mountains, parts of the Allegheny Mountains, Massanutten Mountain, and ground water from the karst regions of the Shenandoah and Page Valleys make up the flow of the South Fork. A fifth-order stream that averages around 100 feet in width, the South Fork flows north for 97 miles, where it meets the North Fork.

The subtrate of the river varies from bedrock to cobble and boulder. Several species of rooted aquatic vegetation are found throughout the river. This vegetation can become quite dense during the summer months.

The South Fork is popular for tubing and paddling. With 20 public access points along the entire length of the river, there is an opportunity to plan many different float trips of varying distances. Except for the public-access points and small sections of George Washington National Forest land on the west bank of the river, the majority of the land bordering the river is private property.

Long, flat runs and pools provide excellent fishing for smallmouth bass, largemouth bass, and redbreast sunfish. There also are decent numbers of channel catfish and even a few muskies. Anglers will find success by using curly-tailed grubs, spinners, tubes, and minnow imitations.

A float trip on this river is an excellent choice for novice anglers or paddlers. There are plenty of fish, and the river is easy to navigate.

Will never forget the period from about 1966 to 1972, when I was assigned to staff duty in various offices within the Office of the Chief of Navy Information in the Pentagon. The work was challenging and the fishing a dream come true. Many a day I spent fishing a number of different Mepps spinners (and once in a while a Big O) for smallmouth, and many a moonlit night I spent anchored in a riffle, fishing for channel catfish with live bait. I still can hear the sounds of those ol' owls keeping me company from their perches in the trees along the banks.

I can truthfully say the Shenandoah River never disappointed. I always had a couple of smallmouth as table fare for the old-timer, whose johnboat I rented on the banks of the river back in those days. He preferred the fish to his normal $2-a-day rental fee. Life was so much simpler back then.

Those Weather Forecasters NEVER Get It Right!

I dare say anglers everywhere have expressed that sentiment at one time or the other, or may have heard buddies sound off with something similar. Right?

Consider this example of a fella who was planning a fishing trip after he got off work. Just 90 minutes before heading out the door, he had checked the forecast, and it called for only 9-mph winds.

By the time he got to the river, though, the winds were sustained in the high teens, with gusts north of 20 mph.

"The weatherman flat out missed the forecast!" he said. "No two ways about it!"

Or take this example of a guy who headed out fishin' after the forecaster called for no chance of rain, let alone any bad storms. He subsequently got caught at the wrong end of a heavily timbered, 200-acre lake in his johnboat that only had a 30-pound transom trolling motor and a 45-pound bow-mount trolling motor.

"Literally, I was about as far as I could get from the ramp when it first rumbled out of nowhere. I put my motors on high and headed back, but navigating around all the trees was time-consuming. And it got to me while I still had a few hundred yards to go, not including the fact I then had to cross the main lake. It was not a fun experience!" Take a look for yourself, by clicking on this link, which will take you to a video of the experience: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=udItbQwj74o&t=1096s.

There's also this example of a kayaker who was fishing a narrow cove with a heavy tree canopy that blocked out most of the sky when he suddenly felt a wind shift and temperature drop.

"I popped out of the cove and found dark skies, with lightning and thunder approaching," he explained. "Luckily, my launch point was in the other direction...almost 2 miles away, however.

"So now I had to make a choice: Take the shorter path over open water, with lightning all about, or take the longer path, skirting the shore. My normal pedaling cruise speed is about 3 mph, but I decided to kick it into overdrive and risk open water.

"When I hit 5.8 mph, my Yak Attack transducer arm came shooting out of the water. I folded it up quickly and kept going, with the storm closing in. By the time I made it to the docks, I was sucking wind. But now I had to get the kayak out of the water, load it on my CTug, then pull it up a big hill to store in my hotel. I didn't even bother draining it or breaking it down. That was a good thing, because about a minute after I put it in storage, the skies opened up, and it got really nautical out there.

"Lesson Learned: Keep the weather alerts energized on my cellphone."

As one angler explained, "It's not really how often the forecasters are wrong that's the issue...it's how far off they are when they're wrong. A few weeks back, the locals said it was gonna be 80 and cloudy. When the day arrived, it was 96, and not a cloud in the sky. That's not even close. My hatred stems from pure jealousy. Who doesn't want a job where you can blatantly lie to people over and over, and it's completely acceptable?"

Yet another angler saw it like this, "I mean...really...who cares what the weather report is, or how accurate it is, as long as it's coming out of her mouth?" relating, of course, to the young lady doing the weather reporting in this photo.

Of course, there's always the hard-core anglers who come prepared for whatever the weather gods wish to hand out. They just don some rain gear and get with it, as the young lady in this video is doing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mP1WqQaSCUM&t=401s.

For Period Ending Sunday, Oct. 3, 2021

Sunday, Sept. 26 (from Ron)...Fished the annual TKAA Charity Tourney. Started slow with a few dinks and then managed to find a decent 4-0 at 18 inches that actually qualified for second place. Was able to find seven bass but fell shy of the winner, which was 21.5 inches. I caught my fish on SwimSenko, a chatterbait, Husky jerk shad, and a spinnerbait. The fresh water slam division (bass, chain pickerel, and pan fish) did not see any complete entries of all three fish. Only two chain picks were caught and no panfish out of the 22 Fresh Water Division of anglers. I tried to find each, but just couldn't. Going to be hitting the saltwater for a few weeks.

The Benefits of Remembering Lessons Learned on the Water

Read the other day about a fella who caught his first bass on a Mister Twister plastic worm back in the early 70s...about the time I was just getting into bass fishing. He was taking note of the fact that, as a result of that catch, curly-tail worms usually have been his first choice over straight-tail worms.

"It's the adage about catching the fisherman before catching the fish," he explained.

"Over time," he continued, "I found that I used straight-tail worms in certain situations, be it drop-shotting or skipping, but rarely did I choose a straight-tail model when Texas-rigging them to be fished around docks or brush. Mentally, the image of the worm 'swimming' on the fall with the curly tail gave me confidence."

This angler explained that he fishes a lot of docks, which are the most prevalent cover on his home lake. He fishes them two different ways: casting a Texas rig with a 1/8-ounce tungsten weight to the corners and skipping a wacky-rigged Senko under the docks.

"Typically, early in the day, or when there is a lot of cloud cover," he said, "the Texas-rig outproduces, but as the sun rises, and the fish move back under the docks, the Senko catches increase. Probably a third of the strikes on the Texas-rig are on the fall, with the remaining coming as I work it back along the dock or out in front of it."

A couple months earlier, while trying to better imitate a medium-sized bluegill (the main forage in his home lake), this fella tried a 5-inch straight-tail Roboworm Texas-rigged. He immediately saw a huge increase in bites...probably two to three times the amount he had been averaging with various curly-tailed worms.

"Not just numbers," he explained, "but size as well, including an 8-pound pig the second trip I used them. This continued for the next seven outings...not that unusual, given my SoCal location. Water temperature was within three degrees of the same every trip, and every day was sunny and bright. Once I figured them out, there were only minor adjustments to make.

"The first day we had any type of real cloud cover for any length of time," he continued, "I immediately noticed that the number of strikes on the straight-tail worm were way down. The number of strikes on the Senko were the same (increasing as the day wore on), so I tried a couple different colors and sizes without much difference.

"It wasn't until I finally rigged up a 7-inch purple Berkley Turtleback worm with a curly tail that the light switch went on. It was producing like the straight-tails had over the previous trips. That action continued until after the clouds cleared and the sun stayed out. I went back to a straight-tail worm and got the expected results for that time of day.

"My fisherman's hunch is that in low light, when fish are scattered a bit more, not only are darker colors better, but more action makes the worm easier for the fish to find. When the light and the fish visibility increase, the more natural and subtle presentation of a straight-tailed worm then will win out...at least during the summer, with 80-to-83-degree water temperatures."

As another reader outlined, "What you experienced, is textbook. You're fishing neutral fish. They aren't actively feeding, but they will eat an easy meal should it come within their strike zone.

"You have better results with the straight-tail worm during times when finesse is the way to go. The tail doesn't undulate and displace water. Instead, it quivers and looks alive but easy prey.

"The cloudy conditions more than likely involved a barometric-pressure drop, and the fish were actively feeding. When that happens, the strike zone gets bigger, and larger offerings become good producers. The swimming action and water displacement alerted the fish to its presence, and they responded by attacking it.

"Your experience was a classic example of how less action is better when the fish aren't in a feeding mode, and it has happened to everyone who has fished for bass with lures for any length of time. You made a great observation, which just added to your 'on the water' knowledge. Remember it, and you'll make good lure choices in the future."

From the Latest Issue of Jay Kumar's BassBlaster...

A short video guaranteed to get your attention. Just click on this link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HDIGyozPnKI

A Look at How Much Difference Lure Color Makes...

In the opinion of weekend warriors...

I think color makes more of a difference in deep water than shallow water. I proved this to myself more than 30 years ago while fishing a new reservoir. A half-mile offshore was a drop from 12 to 18 feet. A tremendous amount of water was being pumped into the new reservoir, and there was a slight current. The bass were stacked up at that drop, and my buddies and I routinely caught 30 or so apiece in a morning's fishing.

My preferred lure was a six-inch light blue Creme worm, with a pretty heavy sinker.

One day, a small piece of debris had washed up to the lip of that drop-off. If you could drag your worm through that little bit of debris, probably the size of a garbage-can lid, you almost were guaranteed a fish. After catching four bass on four casts in that debris on the blue worm, I switched to a purple color in the exact same worm, made four casts, and felt the debris every time but didn't get a single bite. Changed back to the blue worm, made four more casts, and caught a fish each time. To this day, I always fish deeper water with a blue-colored lure.

I know that a lot of guys don't consider 12 to 18 feet of water deep, but in my home waters, that's pretty deep.

As far as normal fishing with plastics goes, I usually start early morning with black. When that slows, I switch to purple. And when that slows, I go to junebug with a little bit of glitter or green pumpkin. For hard baits, I normally use gold with a black back, due to our dark tannic-stained water. If I'm in clear water, which doesn't happen often, I go with silver with a black back.

For what it's worth, that's my approach after about 50 years of this crazy nonsense we call fishing.

I'm from the school that puts a lure's color somewhere near the bottom of our priority list when it comes to what's important to catching fish. I do, however, admit there are times when those items near the bottom can make the difference between catching and being skunked. My reluctance to recognize those times, in my opinion, has kept me from becoming a better angler.

Today was a perfect example. My partner and I were both throwing RedEye Shads. His was gold/black back, and mine was chrome/blue back, both in 1/2-ounce. He boated four keepers and missed or lost four others to the one dink I boated over the first two hours. I switched to the same color as his and started getting bit on par with his numbers.

My difficulty in recognizing the importance of color is the fact I fish alone more often than not. I change baits or techniques before ever considering changing the color of a bait that isn't producing.

When I'm fishing lake largemouth, my color choices aren't many: green pumpkin and watermelon for clear to lightly stained water, black for dirty water, and sometimes brown (instead of watermelon) if I'm fishing rocks in high-visibility water. For the river smallmouth I pursue, color is really important. Just ask a gentleman from Florida whom I took out for three days of smallmouth fishing.

He caught a total of nine fish, while I boated 104. Yeah, I know it sounds like a story, but it's true. He refused to believe that the smallies in clear water were really keyed in on color, opting instead to just throw downsized baits. The color was smoke purple, and it didn't matter if it was a tube or a swimbait, those were the only two baits I used. My friend from Florida didn't have anything in that color and wouldn't take my baits. Instead, he insisted they eventually would eat a different color. The short story was they didn't.

Now that doesn't happen all the time, but it happens enough to place color a few rungs higher than the bottom, and that is another thing I've found. When it comes to smallmouth, color factors way more than with largemouth, at least in every body of water I've ever fished for them in. You may be able to catch them on several different colors, but you'll quickly notice that certain colors will get bit more often or by larger fish on average, and I've had a lot of days in which the bait had to have glitter.

Black wouldn't buy me a strike during a small club tournament, but black neon was getting hit so hard I had to change baits every two fish. For the most part, I'm with the general consensus on color, in that it's the least important element, with location and presentation being on top. In clear-water smallmouth fishing, however, color is much more important than some would like to believe.

In the opinion of bass pro Greg Hackney...

I believe that color is a huge part of the reason fishermen catch bass. If you are using a lure that imitates what the bass are feeding on at the time of year and on the body of water you're fishing, of course you'll get more bites than if you disregard the color of lure you're fishing. Another factor that makes lure color so important is if you're fishing a color in which you have a lot of confidence. Then you'll be more expectant of a strike and catch more bass than if you're fishing a lure color in which you have little or no confidence. If that color looks like something you believe will make a bass fight, then fish it thoroughly, slowly and aggressively enough to get bites on that color (in other words, wear it out!).

When I go to a lake I've never fished before, I'll look at the water color and say to myself, "According to this lake's water color, this color of lure should work," and I'll start fishing it. Once I catch a bass, if that fish spits up a shad, bluegill, crawfish, or some other bait when I put it in the livewell that's a different color than I'm using, I'll change colors to try and match that bait. If I can match the color exactly, then I believe I'll get even more bites. I'll say to myself, "I've got it figured out now. I know what the bass are eating, I know the color of the bait, and I have that exact match for the color of lure." So, for me, having the right color and the right type of lure that I know the bass are feeding on is a huge confidence builder.

Now having said that, I know you can cast any color of lure, get a bite, and catch a bass. But what I've learned is I'm not trying to get just one bite in a day of fishing. I want to get 50 bites. I believe if I can fish a lure the size and the color that the bass are feeding on, I'll have a much greater chance of getting those 50 bites than I will if I don't pay close attention to what the bass are eating.

If I only can have two colors of lures to fish all over the nation, under all weather and water conditions, I'll fish either a solid black, a black-and-blue, or a black-and-red lure. I want one of those lures to definitely have a black overtone. And the second lure needs to be a brown lure like green pumpkin, because those two basic colors are what most colors are based on, especially in soft-plastic lures. Then I'll add some other types of colors off those two basic colors, such as watermelon-red, green-pumpkin-sapphire, black-blue, or black-neon.

From Holy Grail to Just Another Tale

A lot of anglers probably remember when water temperature was believed to be the primary factor that influenced bass behavior. Early bass-fishing literature often cited specific temperatures at which bass would spawn. This theory implied that if you rode around a lake until you found water that was exactly 68 degrees, every fish in the lake would be in that very spot spawning.

Thanks to research over the past 25 years, however, we now know that's not the case. Bass spawn in waters ranging all the way from 55 to 80 degrees. Michigan's bass pro Kevin VanDam (see photo) thinks water temperature is still a bit overrated in terms of the emphasis anglers put on it for catching fish. He cited a week's worth of fishing small lakes around his home as the basis for that take on things.

"I came up with several other variables that I believe trumps water temperature," he said, starting with length of day. "Keep in mind, the water temperature in Michigan had just barely reached 40 degrees...that's cold water! Yet, the bass already had made a move to the bank in the 3-to-5-foot zone.

"To me, the lengthening of daylight hours during the spring has far more to do with moving fish to the bank than water temperature does. Yes, water temperature naturally increases with daylight hours, too, but when a front slams the water back down to 37 degrees and the fish still are up there in 2 or 3 feet of water, that's the photoperiod telling them it's time to get ready to spawn, not the water temperature."

Another variable VanDam cited was moon phase.

"I fished through the full moon in April," he said, "when the water temperature was 40 degrees, and I saw fish already up cruising around like they were spawning. They obviously weren't on beds, but their behavior was identical to spawning behavior. I've seen this before, and I'm convinced it's a sort of false spawn that is triggered by the full moon. It's almost like a practice courtship, even though the water is still 40 degrees.

"In my opinion," he continued, "lunar influences play a larger role in positioning fish than water temperature throughout the year. Lunar cycles not only affect bass themselves; they also govern the activities of so much aquatic life: sunfish, shad, crawfish, mayflies, frogs, etc. You can bet wherever this prey is being summoned by a full moon, the bass will be there to take advantage of it, despite the water temperature. The latter plays a major role in finding fish when you change locations."

Yet another variable VanDam tossed out was current conditions.

"Bring in a warm wind on 40-degree water temperatures, and bass will get active," he said. "The actual water temperature reading on my graph may not budge on a south wind, but the bass sure do!

"Also, if the sun beams down into 40-degree water on a cold spring day, any dark object on the bottom becomes a fish magnet. Again, the water temperature itself may not move much, but dark rocks, clumps of dormant vegetation, even rotting leaf debris all create solar-heat sinks on the bottom, and bass love to get on them."

For a long time, the fables of bass fishing dictated that bass in cold water wouldn't eat fast-moving lures. The reasoning was that bass metabolism is so low in super cold water they would only eat slow lures that had very little action.

"I'm calling 'fake news' on this one, too," noted the Michigan pro. "I catch plenty of fish on a Red Eye Shad and a jerkbait in 40-degree water. In fact, I experienced a new benchmark when I caught bass on a KVD 1.5 squarebill in 38-degree water. That really opened my eyes in terms of just how far you can push a squarebill in cold water."

In conclusion, VanDam pointed out that water temperature is just a number.

"Don't get me wrong," he said. "Water temperature does play a role in the fish-finding process, but the main thing to be aware of is a change in water temperature with a change in locations.

"Ask yourself these questions: Is the water in the very back of the creek cooler than the water at the mouths of creeks? Is the stained water warmer than the clear water? Is the water behind a bridge or inside a harbor or marina warmer than the outside? These differences in water temperature can be a big help in defining a pattern.

"Other than that, water temperature is just a number, and there is no magic number that is a silver bullet to catching fish."

Only One More Event Remaining This 2021 Season

Fifteen anglers in nine boats showed up this morning to mark the end of our qualifier tournaments this year. At the end of the day, the anglers in seven of the boats weighed five-fish limits, for a grand total of 35 bass, weighing a combined total of 76.41 pounds, for an average weight per fish of 2.18 pounds, and an average weight per boat (of those seven weighing fish) of 10.91 pounds. Anglers in the remaining two boats did not weigh any fish.

Those anglers who walked away with a little extra spending money in their pockets today included the following:

1st Place, the team of (from left) Gabe Himmelwright and Fred Crawford, 18.73 pounds total weight, with a big-fish kicker and today's Lunker Prize weighing 6.14 pounds. In addition to these accolades, Gabe also claimed bragging rights as our 2021 Angler of the Year, with a grand total of 159.71 pounds of bass.

2nd Place, Andy Morath, 13.27 pounds total weight, with a big-fish kicker weighing 3.85 pounds.

3rd Place, the team of (from left) Dennis Dean and Steve Bailey, 11.78 pounds total weight, with a big-fish kicker weighing 3.08 pounds.

Here is how everyone else finished the final qualifier:

     * Chris Napier, 10.58 pounds total weight, no big fish.

     * The team of Rob Peppers and Don Carter, 7.84 pounds total weight, no big fish.

     * The team of Mark Ingram and Bob Clarkson, 7.60 pounds total weight, no big fish.

     * The team of Gary Coderre and Dave Anderson, 6.61 pounds total weight, no big fish.

     * Chris Fretard and the team of Wayne Hayes and Ken Testorff did not weigh any fish.

Two more contestants became eligible to participate in our season-ending two-day Classic tournament on Oct. 16 and 17. Bob Clarkson and Chris Fretard join Mark Ingram, Rob Peppers, Don Carter, Craig Jones, Rob Chatham, Dave Anderson, Bobby Moore, Fred Crawford, Gabe Himmelwright, Steve Bailey, Dennis Dean, Andy Morath, Diana Morath, Jim Calhoun, Rusty Girard, Gary Coderre, Chris Napier, Wayne Hayes, and Ken Testorff as the 21 anglers who will be vying for the best payouts of the entire season. Following Day 2 weigh-in, they are invited to attend a cookout for the group.

To those winners today, as well as all those who have shared the winners' circle over this past season, I offer my hearty congratulations on a job well done.

For those 21 eligible to fish the Classic, plan on starting both days at safe light (about 7 a.m.), with Day 1 weigh-in at 3 p.m. and Day 2 weigh-in at 2 p.m., in order to accommodate the cookout. I will be contacting you in coming days by email to find out how many of you plan to fish, as well as how many plan to hang around Day 2 for the cookout. Accordingly, please stay tuned to your email so you can respond as soon as possible, and I can pass the numbers to our tournament director, Wayne Hayes, who will be attending to all the necessary arrangements.

One Last Cast

I've known for a very long time now that my tournament partner is one of the luckiest guys I've ever known. For openers, I have been at various fishing events over the years in which raffle prizes were awarded during a drawing, and I've frequently watched as one or more (frequently the latter) of Wayne's ticket numbers were called as winners.

That being said, I watched today as he not once, but twice again demonstrated just how lucky...and good...he really is.

In the first instance, he had broken off a crankbait after it became lodged in a submerged stump. But don't you know that only seconds later, his crankbait floated to the surface, and after not more than a couple of casts, he had hooked it with another crankbait and salvaged both for use another day.

Then, this afternoon, as he was releasing three dink bass we had caught but decided not to weigh, one of the dinks accidentally slipped from his grasp while a culling clip still was attached to its jaw. He subsequently backed his boat away from the dock, and there, a short distance away, the culling clip was bobbing on the surface. It disappeared for just a couple of moments before Wayne had another opportunity to grab the clip. Once again, though, the fish pulled the clip under before he could get to it. On the third pass, however, he was successful.

I've had a couple of personal encounters with accidental release of culling clips over the side of my boat, and I've yet to ever recover one of them. I can only hope that if I spend enough time around Wayne, perhaps some of his luck will rub off on me. At the same time, I pray my clumsiness and lack of fishing skills don't rub off on him. I wouldn't wish those on my worst enemy.

What a Day! Eh?

That's how Bob summed up a bass-fishing day on his favorite electrics-only lake.

The water level at the time was the lowest he ever had seen it. The lake didn't have a boat launch, so he hauled his gear to the water's edge and got his boat setup done in record time. Air temp was in the 70s, water temp in the 50s.

And Bob was thinking, "Sure, it's shallow...but, hey, low-water levels just mean the bass are all concentrated into a small area, right? I only have to avoid the rocks and play it nice and slow. With these calm and cloudy conditions, I'm excited about my chances to pull out some nice early pre-spawn monsters today."

It bears mentioning here, though, that there was one major difference between this trip and all the others Bob had made. He didn't have a partner this time.

That being said, Bob launched "Sink-O-Pottomus," the name he lovingly had attached to his Sevylor FishMaster, complete with a wooden floor ("carpeted and very swanky," according to him) and a tall bass seat in the front, with a bench in the rear. The short boat, combined with an extra-long trolling-motor handle, let him control the boat by standing behind the front seat. He leaned against the seat to cast.

The launch went without issue, other than for Bob being eyed by an angry looking duck. He climbed out of the water to the sound of applause from the casting docks, took an obligatory bow, removed the sleeve from his spinnerbait rod, and started considering where he should look for bass. Almost simultaneously...as any bass angler knows from experience...the wind began to blow.

Bob subsequently deployed his 15-pound mushroom anchor, which, not more than 10 minutes later, was bouncing along the bottom of the lake, as Sink-O-Pottomus careened toward the far shore.

"I had the trolling motor (with 50-pound thrust) going all out," he said, "and I was paddling with all I had, but the wind still was pushing me backward.

"If memory serves me correct," Bob thought, "this lake covers about 65 acres. I've never seen waves out here, except for now, and they're crashing over the front of my boat."

Soon enough, the Sevylor boat was stuck on a little rock island in the center of the lake, surrounded by water about 15 feet deep...with no control of the boat. The wind and waves were slamming him against the rocks. Bear in mind that the water was calm as glass when he had launched. And now his anchor rope had snapped (new rope, too), and his trolling motor had fallen out of the boat.

"I don't know how that happened," Bob said. "The mount and everything lifted off the Sevylor transom and dropped to the bottom. To make matters worse, a crew of folks at the far end of the lake, who had been fishing from shore, put their poles down to laugh and heckle me."

At a loss for anything constructive and embarrassed by the growing crowd of onlookers, Bob looped some stout rope around the tow ring on the front of his Sevylor and waded over to rescue his trolling motor. It was in only about 2 feet of water against the rocks, so there was no real risk.

"Once I had it on the deck," he explained, "I took hold of the rope and manually dragged my poor boat out into deeper water. By the grace of God, I managed to get myself back to the launch area...dripping wet and beet red, as the locals were letting me know how hilarious it all was from their shoreline perspective. By then, the wind had died down enough for me to deflate my boat and drag it up to the car."

As Bob was packing up, a park ranger showed up. Someone apparently had called and told him that a young guy was stranded on the rocks in the lake.

"We both had a good laugh...and I helped some young kids on the shore catch a 'monster' bass...but in the end, I didn't even wet my line.

"I will say this, too: The Sevylor proved itself today. The guys on the shore were telling me it was the boat's fault, but I couldn't have asked it to do any better, given the bad situation. Wind is a weakness with inflatables, and had I known it was going to be windy, I never would have left the shore. The boat got hammered against rocks and literally dragged over gravel, but I couldn't see that it had suffered any ill effects.

"My only real worry was how I would pull my 270 pounds into the inflatable. I don't think I could have pulled myself into a 10-foot aluminum jonboat without flipping it over. The Sink-O-Pottomus, however, didn't even bat an eye."

Bob's only regret was that he didn't get a chance to properly thank a young Middle-Eastern man who, while everyone else was heckling him, rolled up his Sunday-best pant legs, took off his shoes, and waded out knee-deep in the water to offer encouragement.

"If it weren't for him and his wife offering to call the ranger, and even offering to swim out and help, I might have lost my cool," noted Bob. "But hey, what a day!"

Another Testimonial About Keeping Your Head in the Game...No Matter What

Like Jay Yelas, Scott Canterbury (left) of Springville, AL, is someone else who knows how important it is to stay focused, especially on a day when things aren't going your way. This full-time bass pro, who also works construction and is a part-time plumber, has a story of his own to share.

"I guess one of the worst bad days that a bass fisherman, especially a bass-tournament fisherman, can have is to experience equipment failure," he noted.

"Several years ago, I was running 15 miles down the lake and lost the lower unit on my boat. The officials sent out a rescue boat to pull me and my boat back to the launch site. I had to wait to have a new lower unit put back on my motor. So, instead of starting to fish that tournament at 7 a.m., I didn't begin until 9:30 a.m.

"When I was 40-miles down the river, about 10 miles from where I wanted to fish, I lost power to my boat's powerhead," he continued. "I looked at my watch. It was 11 a.m., and I hadn't been able to fish at all yet. I hadn't even made my first cast.

"I had enough power to idle, so I idled for about 40 minutes to get to one of the places where I thought I could catch bass. I actually was able to fish for only 45 minutes, but I caught 13 pounds of bass. Then I turned the boat around and idled all the way back to the launch site. When I reached it, I weighed in my bass. Those 13 pounds allowed me to move high enough up the leader board to be able to fish the Forrest L. Wood Cup. I finished second there and earned $100,000...all because I didn't give up after two major engine failures.

"If I just had given up and not tried to fish, I wouldn't have made that end-of-the-season tournament. When it looks like everything is going wrong for you, I think one of the biggest ways to salvage a day is to still find a way to fish. If you have to paddle your boat when the trolling motor breaks down, or your big engine gives out and you're on the water, regardless of what happens, you need to find a way to fish."

Losing Big Bass Is a Problem, But You Can Solve It

As pro tournament fisherman Jay Yelas (right) explained, "You can have the sharpest hooks ever made; reflexes as fast as a running back dodging tacklers, making cuts, and running for daylight; the best rod, reel and line; and do everything you're supposed to do to catch a big bass and still lose that fish."

Yelas harkened back to a tournament on Kentucky Lake when the water was up in the bushes, and he was flipping a jig to get a bass bite. The first day of the tournament he had a 19-pound limit. The bass seemed to be in every bush. Often he could see the bass in the bush before he made a flip to it.

"I didn't lose any of the bass that took my bait that first day," he said. "On the second day of the tournament, I'd see the bass in the bush, pitch the jig to it, pull the bass to the top of the bush where I could see it, and the fish would come off the hook. Other times I'd set the hook solid on the bass and pull it out of the bush, and it would jump and throw the lure. Sometimes I'd be leading the bass to my dip net, and for some unknown reason, the fish would come off the hook before I could get the net under it."

On that second day, he felt like the main character in a horror show...one who had something terrible happening to him, every way he turned.

"There's no rhyme or reason as to why you lose bass one right after another," he continued, "but those days will happen to everyone who bass fishes. On those days, I've seen bass fishermen lose their tempers, break rods over their knees, and mentally go berserk or have temper tantrums. However, I've learned that you'll always have bad days and lose bass, and...generally most of the time...they are big bass. That's all a part of bass fishing, so on those kinds of days, I just reason that at least I'm getting bites. As long as I keep trying to catch bass, the chances are extremely good that I'll have other bass bite that won't get off my hooks."

As it turned out, Yelas weighed 15 pounds that second day, instead of the 25 pounds he would have weighed if he hadn't lost any fish. To keep his efforts in perspective, he kept telling himself that weighing 15 pounds was better than weighing no pounds.

On the third day, Yelas fished the same pattern, flipping a jig into the bushes, and only lost one bass. He finished the tournament in the top 10 and got a good paycheck, even though he'd had that disastrous second day.

"When you have a bad day of losing bass," he cautioned, "don't give up mentally on your ability to catch them. Often you can find bass, learn a new technique or a new way to fish and turn a bad day into a good one," he concluded.

For Week Ending Sunday, Sept. 19, 2021

Tuesday, Sept. 14 (from Wayne and Ken)...With today marking the end of Wayne's first vacation in he-can't-remember-how-long-it-has-been, we decided to spend the first part of today by checking out some more potential targets for this coming Sunday's tournament. Let me clarify right up front that it would be a giant understatement to say the morning's search was anything but oh-so-painfully-s-l-o-o-o-w. We spent the better part of two hours even finding the first hint that any fish still were alive. By the time we called it a day, four keepers had come across the gunwale, and a couple other "better fish" had earned their early freedom by way of burying our plastics in submerged cypress knees the moment we hit them with a hookset. Unfortunately, this scenario has been playing out for several outings in a row now...for both of us. On a positive note, we saw that the water temperature has dropped 10 degrees from a week ago, so perhaps there is hope yet that an improved topwater bite soon may be in the offing. I, for one, certainly hope so. Only saw a couple other folks fishing out of West Neck today, one of which was "Doc," with whom we exchanged pleasantries, then continued on our separate ways.

Some Fishermen Help(?) a Young Lad Understand Women

Was reading some old forums last evening when I happened across one that piqued my interest. It started with an entry from a young lad who wanted just one thing: to go fishin'. Here's what he had to say:

"Today sucked for me.

"I woke up excited 'cuz my mom had said she would take me to the local park for some fishin'. I could hardly wait.

"I packed up all my gear, loaded it into the car, and after a quick lunch, we headed down the road to the park.

"When we got there, though, don't you know it was closed, so we turned right around and went all the way back home. I was very disappointed.

"Later, I learned that my mom and sister were going to the mall. I decided I wanted to go, too, so I could pick up a few DT-10s at Dick's Sporting Goods.

"My sister needed to get a formal dress for her senior flute recital, and I figured that couldn't possibly be too bad. But don't you know it took her four hours to finally settle on a dress. She was getting so stressed about each little thing and was being a real b**** to my mom, who also was getting stressed. Everything was just wrong.

"Four hours later, when I finally got to Dick's, I rushed to the Rapala aisle...to the DT section...only to find they didn't even have the colors I was looking for. As of that moment, my whole day had been ruined. Having suffered through that scene at the dress shop hadn't even paid off. Sure hope you guys had a better day than me."

One of the first respondents answered like this:

"If you think waiting on a woman is bad now, you are in for a real surprise later on. I deserve the French Medal of Honor or something as there are six...count 'em, six women at my house (not counting visitors)...to just one male--me. Aargh!!! One day you will understand... . Just trying to point out that it can always be worse. Don't sweat the small stuff. Instead, just sit back and girl watch for four hours."

Another fella wrote:

"That does suck, man. Better luck next time. By the way, never ever ever go shopping with women when you have plans in the same day. Even if they say, 'I just have to grab one thing, and that's it.' Don't fall for it! Now you know."

Yet another dude, whose nickname is Popeye, answered this way:

"Cheer up, young man! As Bruce Dern said in a movie called 'Posse,' every day above ground is a good day. Sorry to hear that you had to suffer all that frustration and stress, but things like that don't kill us. They make us stronger. Hope you get those DT-10s real soon. Relax and eat a can of spinach. You'll feel better and stronger."

Piggy-backing on that previous remark, a fella added this comment:

"Listen to Popeye. Spinach will put some hair on your chest and make your forearms friggin' huge. Did you ever stop to think about why all women's dressing rooms have chairs outside of them? I like to call those the 'boyfriend chairs' because you'll almost always see some dude sitting in one looking like he'd rather be getting a root canal without any novocaine. Anytime you go shopping with a female, look for one of those chairs and immediately pull it up 'cause, chances are, you're gonna be there for a while."

"Electric Boats Making Waves"

That was a headline from this morning's The Virginian-Pilot. The article went on to note that the boating industry has been sputtering far behind the auto industry in this regard, bogged down by low-horsepower engines and batteries that take up nearly half the boat. That, however, is "in the process of changing," according to Associated Press writer John Marshall, who bylined the article.

"Bolstered by new technology, the electric boats are now faster, have smaller batteries with longer ranges and are still zero emission," he said.

Shortly after reading that article, I did some research on the Internet and found that electric boats indeed are starting to mount a coming-out campaign of sorts, starting with the Tracker Pro Team 175 TXW bass boat (see above). Pure Watercraft of Seattle, WA, is advertising America's best-selling fishing boat, packaged with a 25kW electric outboard motor with power tilt/trim (112 lbs.), one (or more) battery packs (118 lbs. each), and a trailer for $27,500. A $500 pre-order deposit is required. This rig has an advertised top speed of 24 mph and a range up to 41 miles on a full charge.

Other features include a Minn Kota Edge 12-volt, 45-lb. thrust trolling motor, a Lowrance HOOK2 5 combo swivel color fishfinder with SplitShot transducer, a mobile charger that connects to 120-volt and 240-volt outlets (30 lbs.), connecting power cables, and a Bluetooth-enabled throttle.

Top speed for this rig is 24 mph. Range at top speed is 20 miles (two-battery pack) and 10 miles (one-battery pack). Range at 5 mph is 41 miles (two-battery pack) and 20 miles (one-battery pack). Recharging from half-to-full capacity can be accomplished in as little as 90 minutes.

Marine manufacturers are excited about the potential for these electric-outboard rigs. They are quick to point out that the increased sales of powerboats in 2020 were up 12 percent, with more than 310,000 new sales, the highest recorded numbers since before the recession of 2008.

For those interested, here's a list of some video links I found online for your viewing pleasure:

     * https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ru0IhU2C8tQ 

     * https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OhL55rFNHsg

     * https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cMer4S6phFY

     * https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJLgra0553k

     * https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YsPHNaj369o

     * https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sps90QsfiVg

     * https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v35nWrjLtLc

Who Says You Can't Teach an Old Dog New Tricks?

I'm living proof that you can. In many cases, it's a matter of unwinding some of the bad habits I've picked up over the years.

Back in the day, for example, I fished soft plastics with worm hooks and pegged the lead sinkers with toothpicks, until I came to realize the damage I was doing to my line. I subsequently graduated to using little pieces of rubber bands to peg the sinkers. With the passing of time, though, I fell out of fascination with all soft-plastic fishing. When I started back again, I adopted a lazy man's style: using weighted hooks, so I didn't have to bother with any sinkers or any pegging.

That, however, was all before I started spending concentrated amounts of time in Wayne's boat. As he has pointed out to me on a number of occasions, he's a guy who's "anal" (his choice of words, not mine) about everything he does. I've witnessed that for a lot of years now, as he performed maintenance on my boat. It's only been recently, though, that he has been getting a first-hand look at my bad habits on the water and realized some changes were needed.

With his help, I'm getting back to using unweighted worm hooks and tungsten sinkers pegged with bobber stops. Had no idea the latter is what a lot of folks are using nowadays. As a result, did some research online and found out that bobber stops can serve multiple purposes.

Bass pro and Phoenix Boats founder Gary Clouse, for instance, says they also work for adding versatility to a lightweight Carolina rig in shallow water. He puts on a bobber stopper, then a 1/4- or 1/8-ounce sinker, then another bobber stopper before tying on the hook. This gives him flexibility as needed to shorten or lengthen the distance between the lure and the weight. Or, if you decide you don't want to Carolina rig, simply slide the sinker and stoppers downs to the top of the worm, and you have a Texas rig without having to re-rig.

Clouse went on to explain that, with a little ingenuity, you can create other uses for bobber stoppers if you put some thought to it.

For example, he was fishing a Smithwick Devil's Horse one day and kept having problems with the bait's nose prop and/or front treble hook getting caught in his braided line during a retrieve. Some guys reduce this problem by tying a 6-inch, heavy monofilament leader between the braid and the lure. Just by trial and error, Clouse discovered he could do the same thing with a series of bobber stops.

He picked up a rod that had a pegged sinker and 40-pound braid, cut off the lure and removed the sinker, then shoved the bobber stop forward, in case he wanted to put the worm back on that rod. He subsequently got to thinking and added three more bobber stops, tied on the Devil's Horse, and slid the stoppers down against the nose of the bait. "It worked beautifully," said Clouse.

However, I digress. Getting back to me and my faults, I've also learned the value of using Real Magic line dressing on my braid. I use it on all my rods to start the day and add, as necessary, to keep all of them casting smoothly throughout the day.

Coupled with a little luck, perhaps this back-to-basics course I'm undergoing will register a boost in my numbers...oops! make that our numbers, 'cause as Wayne keeps reminding me, we're a team. In any event, the retraining certainly can't hurt.

September 2021 Best Fishing Times

Wasn't a Great Bite Today, But...

Most of the 18 anglers in 10 boats managed to catch some fish. All together, 40 bass came to the scales at weigh-in for a combined total weight of 79.57 pounds, which produced an average weight per fish of 1.98 pounds and an average weight per boat (of those eight that weighed fish) of 9.94 pounds.

Heard a number of anglers during weigh-in talking about catching quite a few non-keepers today, as well as a number of others talking about the timidity of today's bite. In some cases, the fish slammed the baits, but more often than not, you either would see your line moving off, or you would just feel pressure.

Here are those anglers who took home a cash reward for their efforts today:

1st Place, the team of  (from left) Mark Ingram and Bob Clarkson, five fish, total weight 13.01 pounds, big bass 4.03 pounds.

2nd Place, the brothers team of (from left) Allen and Chris Napier, five fish, total weight 11.53 pounds, big bass 2.50 pounds.

3rd Place, the team of  (from left) Dave Anderson and Gary Coderre, five fish, total weight 10.97 pounds, big bass 4.25 pounds, which was good enough to earn them the day's Lunker Award.

Here is how everyone else finished:

     * The team of Fred Crawford and Gabe Himmelwright, five fish, total weight 9.84 pounds, no big bass.

     * The team of Wayne Hayes and Ken Testorff, five fish, total weight 9.74 pounds, big bass 4.03 pounds.

     * Chris Fretard, five fish, total weight 9.73 pounds, big bass 3.59 pounds.

     * The team of Rob Peppers and Don Carter, five fish, total weight 9.41 pounds, big bass 3.90 pounds.

     * The team of Rob Chatham and Craig Jones, five fish, total weight 5.34 pounds, no big bass.

     * Andy Morath and the team of Steve Bailey and Dennis Dean did not weigh any fish.

Three more anglers, including Rob Chatham, Craig Jones and Chris Napier, became eligible to fish our two-day, season-ending Classic tournament in October. That brings the number of qualified anglers to 19, with one more qualifying tournament remaining on the calendar.

Congratulations to all of today's winners and thanks to everyone who came out to participate. For planning purposes, our final qualifier is scheduled for Sunday, Sept. 19th. That event will kickoff at safe light, with weigh-in at 2:30 p.m.

One Last Cast

Not sure what the reason was, but barge traffic on the North Landing River today was exceptionally heavy. In addition, pleasure boaters and jet skiers were out in force by late morning and dominated the scene this afternoon. As if those weren't sufficient reasons to maintain a close watch while running the river today, there also were a couple of floaters in the water that could have been catastrophic for anyone not paying attention to their Ps and Qs.

As is always the case, you can pretty well tell when most of the fishermen on a body of water are having less than a stellar day. If you hear lots of boats running, that's a sign that folks are having problems finding the mother lode, if one even exists on any given day. That was happening throughout today.

Doesn't seem possible that another season is quickly drawing to a close. With only two more of these tournament reports, the 2021 year will be in the record book. I, for one, am happy that COVID allowed us to get this season in without any cancellations of scheduled events. Here's hoping that success continues next year, too.

Tight Lines! to one and all.