Finally...A Decent Fishing Day

I had begun thinking I had PO'd the fishing gods good this time, after repeated outings with absolutely nothing to show for it but a bruised ego.

Before I get into that, though, let me bring everyone who's interested up to date on a different matter...that being the sale of West Neck Marina. Per the notice I saw today in the window of the marina store, the new owners are Bethany and Jimmy Vaughan. The notice goes on to say that no immediate changes are planned.

Unfortunately, the new owners didn't provide an address for mailing checks to pay your storage fees, so until one is forthcoming, I reckon we're left with two options: Send monthly payments to them at the marina's address, which is 3985 West Neck Road, Virginia Beach, VA 23456, or put your checks in sealed envelopes and drop them in the metal box beside the store's front door. If you happen to find the new owners around the premises, you also could hand the money to them directly.

Now for my fishing day. It started with a bit of a hiccup. Seems I had remembered to perform all the necessary preparations, save for looping one end of the launch rope over the stanchion on my trailer. As a result, the end had fallen in the water and was drifting away by the time I walked around the van and got hold of it, and tied the boat off at the ramp.

From there, it was a short ride south for what I had hoped would be some topwater action. After throwing a popper for an hour, though, I had yet to have the first strike, so I put that rod down and picked up the one with a spinnerbait tied on. Things started happening then.

In no time, I had found two 1-pounders on back-to-back casts. A bit later, I added a 1-9, then capped off the day with a 1-15. The bright sun was directly in my eyes when I hooked that last fish of the day, and even with my sunglasses on, I couldn't tell what it was for a few seconds as I fought to get the sun out of my eyes. Admittedly, I thought it was a bowfin until I got my first clear look. Had a good hookset, however, and soon boat-flipped the bass.

As I idled alongside the dock at day's end, my friend, Rob C. showed up in time to back my trailer down the ramp, then pull me out once I had secured everything. All in all, it was a good day, compared to the last several outings I've had. Will settle for 4 any day of the week, especially when they're all keepers.